[Marionette]

Originally Posted by MikaMiaka

I was just watching Ultraviolet, and noticed that it was Nana's voice. I had no idea how much I loved her voice until I started noticing it in other shows. For someone like me, who doesn't even speak or understand Japanese, to be able to tell a difference between voices, makes her voice VERY distinctive.

It's so damn sexy! I mean, I sat through the crap that is Ultraviolet just because of her voice, heh.


I haven't read through this thread, but surely, you must be mistaken when you say that most people would convince themselves that Takumi loves Hachi the way she wants him to.

I think most people are heartbroken at the fact that she refused Nobu, because they know that his love for her is real and true. More accurately, what people are trying to convince themselves of is that Nana would be happy without the kind of love that Nobu can provide.

To me, it seems that she cannot survive on the type of affection that Takumi can provide. That's what breaks my heart about this series.

I know she can't. She's just like me, convincing herself that material goods are enough, that as long as a guy can give her stuff and that she can largely do what she wants, she will be happy.

But I think that I've realized that this is not the case.

Overall, I think that we are just used to our heroines being THE ONE, but in this case, perhaps Hachi is NOT The One to break through Takumi's barriers.

If this is so, I want to see whether she can break down the barriers (Takumi does care for her after all -- maybe he tries) or, as the ending FF tells us, whether Nobu can break down her barriers.

Either way, I still find myself questioning whether someone like her deserves such devoted true love.

The fact that this is even a question for me is very telling of how layered the characters are.

Overall, this series has deeply touched me.

Oh you will be surprised at how many people who watched this series thinks it's about Cinderella Hachi ultimately getting her Prince Chariming (in disguise) Takumi.

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

On Hachi's parents, I don't know. Papa Komatsu seems the type to opt for the "school of hard knocks". He may not like her daughter being banged by so many men, but he is very likely to say, "It's better for her to get some hard knocks, so that she knows for herself how tough life can be." He's depicted as the average Japanese salaryman, albeit one with many children, and is somewhat well-off. (Seriously, how many Japanese couple today have three daughters, and live in something bigger than an apartment?)

Natsuko herself seems a doting mother, so I will really put it down to Hachi being less than frank with her folks.

I think Hachi said they had a big house because the and is cheap where they live, or maybe that's just in the movie.

Yeah, I feel like she probably wouldn't tell her parents what she does exactly, but if she did they'd be mad but not for too long. I can't imagine any parents not caring that their 17 years old is sleeping with a married 30 years old.