In my mind the ending was far off... like they're very old, wealthy men who are well regarded in society.

They are "secretly gay" hence they play golf often for 40 years so they'd have the excuse to go off in the woods together. Souma, in the end, OD'd on viagra and Tagami lived for a year more so that he can publish a memoirs book on Souma.

I can't accept that Souma could die from a stab wound after he has survived a fire, a wrist slashing and a life of beating.

"I love you like the plant that never blooms yet carries in itself the light of hidden flowers.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul" - Sonnet XVII

Ok. I just read all of this in one shot. I got to the ending and went to bed very upset. Not that it was a bad ending but not the kind of ending I wanted. Anyway when I woke up I decided to read the end again because I rushed through it before. Here are my thoughts:

Souma does live. I missed the line at first about him saying he will live or rather I initially thought him to mean he will "live on in spirit", which it very well could be, but now I like to to think otherwise for a couple of reasons.

1. It didn't seem like a life threatening wound. Like others mentioned he survived much worse.
2. If Souma says he will live then by gosh he will do it. Plus Watase herself said something to this effect.
3. It doesn't make any sense that the butler would kill him. Their conversation does show that he intends the opposite. My theory on this is that the butler will confess to the crimes, especially since Youya was involved in most of them so in way he is accepting responsibility. He only stabbed Souma so that Souma would appear innocent to the detective. It's a stretch but that's what I imagine.

But I must say now I quite like the ending. Whether he lives or dies everything was resolved in a way.

There are to many thoughts so can´t write them all down here.
My current thought is: All those people who dislike yaoi should read this then they would see that yaoi isn´t just porn for girls, it´s actually pretty deep with great art and story something that will remain in your memory for the rest of your life.

Sakura Gari is a masterpiece. No other manga can be compared with it.

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Personally, I think it would be sort of fitting if Souma did die...although I wouldn't WANT him to.
When he says he will continue living, couldn't he mean that the cherry blossom tree(which represented him) continues to live as him? I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much symbolism there.

I really wish they could reunite though. Both of them deserve it. They suffered so much. Painful, sad nightmare indeed. Masataka's really an amazing character. There are few, if any, people like him. Souma's lucky to have met him.

Quote from kayue

Still, the fangirl in me wants an omake

where Masataka becomes a teacher and meets up again with Souma in a few years, and they live happily ever after. And I'm glad the story was left open-ended enough for that possibility.

Lol, I want an omake too (at least a few scenes), but I think, in keeping with their characters, they meet, or maybe Souma sees Masataka busy with some young students, and he's just happy Masataka's happy. I don't see them together, just at peace with the world and themselves (because I feel like if Masataka sees Souma, he'll want to be together, which is only going to cause social problems again).

Honestly though, I think Souma would have died in that last scene (though I didn't exactly follow why the butler stabbed him...) No one lives through willpower alone, and if he wanted to really live, he should have gone to the doctor immediately :/ I fault not the stab wound, my friends (since he has lived through worse), but infections...

On a related note, I like Grodus's theory about why the butler stabbed him, makes much more sense to me, and seems to follow the emotions too.

3. It doesn't make any sense that the butler would kill him. Their conversation does show that he intends the opposite. My theory on this is that the butler will confess to the crimes, especially since Youya was involved in most of them so in way he is accepting responsibility. He only stabbed Souma so that Souma would appear innocent to the detective. It's a stretch but that's what I imagine.

I really hope she will continue this manga. I'm so looking forward to it. The story and its characters are bugging me even after two days. It's so heart wrenching to think that their relationship is something that is almost impossible. I am dying to know the end of Masataka's story. Since it was told in the main character's perspective, I'm hoping for an ending that will show how Masataka would live up to his old age. Maybe I'm expecting too much...

I'd like to write my take on how the story would develop. I believe Yuu Watase did this on purpose. She started the story in year 1920. If I'm not wrong, the story in the manga occupies a duration of one year, having seen at the start and at the end of the manga, the blooms of the sakura. Two years later the Great Kanto earthquake will devastate the whole of Tokyo, and I believe this will play some important role in the events following this manga ending. I've tried imagining and writing my own developments (more like fantasy project that I always undertake if I'm left unsatisfied) but unfortunately (I suck) only Yuu Watase can come up with something spectacular 😢