I'm so sad to see it end, and it was so good. But I appreciate that it didn't become a bitch by just going on and on forever and never coming to a real ending. This one is a ten for me because I love the very Daughter Of The Nile-girl-traveling-to-another-world aspect of the book. At the same time it made NONE of the mistakes that DOTN made. It didn't take forever with the intro and got straight to the good part. Plus it was so much more realistic, such as how Noriko can't understand their language and has to learn it (those chapters where adorable!), unlike Carol who can magically speak ancient Egyptian or like Yuri in Red River who learns the language after kissing a dude (seriously what is up with that?!). Plus the romance develops at a good pace and isn't entirely unrealistic where the girl goes, "I hate you... oh now you saved me so now I love you" (LAME). This one more realistically portrays how a romance would work out (granted the process is a bit sped up, but they're together 24/7 and they have a telepathic connection, so it's ok).
I found the ending a little anticlimactic since it was sort of not what I was expecting based off of what a friend told me (but in such a way as to be totally excited with me but at the same time to not spoil the ending. Plus she read it almost a year ago so that probably didn't help). If she hadn't said anything then I would have totally 100% predicted the ending. The symbolism and greater-meaning-for-the-world-ly-ness of it kind of reminds me of what a lot of other animes do such as Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Pretear, Mnemosyne, just to name a few. Still it fits, it gets its point across, even to the American audience which thinks that half of the Final Fantasy games are too hard, and it ties up all the loose ends. ALL OF THEM! Plus you don't feel bad about the fact that her parents think she died in a terrorist bombing and that she has a picture of herself with a black ribbon on her desk, unlike some other series which shall not be mentioned which rush the ending and don't tie up half their loose ends. This way you don't stay up until all hours of the night wondering what happens to the other characters but you can still imagine funny fan fics (or serious fan fics, whatever floats your boat).
Just a few more points about why I like this manga and then I'm done, I promise. 😉 1. there's an actual continuous plot and not just a compilation of getting kidnapped, getting into a fight and then making up at the last minute to defeat the bad guy, or any of that other overused dribble that comes out of manga-kas’ asses, 2. Everything that happens in the story, and all the main characters that you meet have an actual role in the story, no I'm-going-to-help-you-discover-yourself-then-never-see-you-again-ever, 3. The female lead is helpless, but she's not a wimp. She knows her limitations and doesn't do ridiculously stupid things. I think that's it. Yep that's it (if it's not YOU'LL KNOW).
This was just an all-around great manga, a joy to read. It has just the right mix of pulsing I-need-to-read-more and light hearted funniness that just makes you smile and happy to be human. Plus it leaves the reader better for the wear. After reading this, I want to go out and be a better person (whether I actually will or not is another matter, but I WANT to, and that's the first step right ... right?)
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
