Strange Pictures

by Uketsu

People who draw pictures like this display a desire to protect, and a tendency towards strong nurturing love. It expresses the desire to defend the weak, and to create a safe haven for them to live in.

‘Adults can draw what they see, the real thing, in their pictures. Children, though, draw the “idea” of what appears in their heads. Like an artist. People sometimes say that every child is an artist, and I feel that is not far from the truth.’

When faced with true sorrow, people lose even the strength to shed tears.

Her mother had not changed. She had always been like this. She had never loved Naomi. In fact, Naomi could not recall a single time when she and her mother had talked or played together, just the two of them. All of her happy family memories had been because of her father.

Giving birth is not some beautiful sacred rite, as so many men seem to imagine. It is hours of tears and screaming, enduring pain and suffering with death always near, all to force a baby from your body. . . . In a word, it is torture.

Tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t say he had been a good father, but his love for his son had been real.

When faced with true sorrow, people lose even the strength to shed tears.

Twenty years ago, all I did was work myself half to death to satisfy the curiosity of a bunch of snoops.

Children are more sensitive to sadness and anxiety than adults. And, much like adults, they try desperately to hide it from those around them. Miu and Yuta must both surely be suffering behind those smiles. And that is why Yonezawa is so intent on showing the two of them that, for all life’s pain, there is just as much fun and joy to be found. He fills his voice with cheer.