Flower of Life 4

It has been far, far too long since I last read something by Fumi Yoshinaga.  There was a wonderful period where something new came out every couple months, and then we caught up with Japan and there wasn’t much new stuff.  This year, we get Ooku in the fall, All My Darling Daughters in the winter (possibly January next year, but whatever), and this, the conclusion to what is probably my favorite of her stories.

I had intended to re-read the first three volumes before I tried this, but I couldn’t help myself when it arrived in the mail today, I read it immediately.  I was disappointed initially that it wasn’t quite like I remembered it.  The beginning parts of the book are great, and are about Haru and Shota becoming manga artists and all the work they put into getting published professionally.  I liked it, and I would have been delighted by it in any other series, but I remembered Flower of Life being better than that.  There was also some drama involving their teacher, her old (married) boyfriend, and Majima that was just fine, and was spot-on in its depiction of the awkwardness of transitioning through relationships and having to say no… but again, I expected better of Flower of Life.

Then it delivered.  I don’t want to spoil anything, but there is more drama between Majima and the teacher later that leads to one of the best scenes I have ever seen in a manga.  It’s a scene between Majima and Haru.  Both boys remain totally in character and are somehow there for each other without realizing what they are doing to support one another.  Haru in particular shines brightly with an amazing and very long speech that I wish could have gone on forever.  This scene was also magical because it relates back to something Shota had said about the manga he was making with Haru.

But that scene wouldn’t have been possible without the other excellent scene was between Haru and his sister and family.  Not much gets Haru down, but he loses it after what his sister tells him and what he realizes about secrets between family members.  We also find out the meaning behind the title of the series from the end of this scene (not that it wasn’t already apparent, but this made it pop even more).

The small details, things that other series would ignore that Flower of Life focuses on, also make it for the finale.  I like all the story time dedicated to the random members of Haru’s class.  They don’t have much to do with the main characters at this point, but we still learn about classmates dating and breaking up, how one girl might transfer out, and one boy working up the courage to ask an older woman out.  Lots of time is spent on this character development, actually, and while much of it was lost on me since I had a hard time remembering who these people were from the previous volumes.  As I said, it’s yet another thing that makes Flower of Life special.

There are lots of other details in the story I could call attention to.  Though I mentioned I was a bit disappointed with the beginning of the book, the first few pages didn’t let me down, since Haru’s mother was introduced and she was more funny and charming than she had any right to be.  There’s a lot of time spent with a manga editor and what he thinks of his job.  There are even discussions about how the characters have changed over the school year.  The actual ending is something like Antique Bakery’s ending in that it just sort of ends, but, you know, life goes on, and the conclusion that was offered in the two scenes that I described above was enough for me.

It’s just wonderful.  It’s funny and sad and inspirational and just… wonderful.  Definitely my favorite of Yoshinaga’s work, and it’s not an easy thing to play favorites among her series.