Three Days of Happiness
February 13th, 2023
I first read this when I was nineteen years old. I was younger than the MC at the time. Now I'm twenty-two going on twenty-three soon.
Have I lived the life I promised myself I would?
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day
This manga never fails to induce heavy introspection on me.
In fact, it makes me rather depressed. If I sold my life right now, I'm sure it'd be worth 0 yen. Considering the logic in the manga I've failed to achieve my goals, be happy, or make others around me happy.
And at the rate I'm going, it'll continue to be like that for many years to come. When will I live my real life?
Trash Human Being
I wish I was a positive kid again. Someone who tries to lift other people up. Volunteers altruistically. Loves his parents. Loves his community. Has lots of friends. Organizes lots of get togethers. Popular. Friendly. Has a lover. Strong-willed. Never gives up.
How I'd keep in touch with all my friends over the years. Check up on them. Make sure they're doing alright. Lending a helping a hand. Lending an ear to listen. Sharing my problems. Being a member of the community.
Being funny. A great storyteller. Someone who always sees the positive side of the world. Hopelessly idealistic. A romanticist.
Everyday would be a great new day. I'd meet someone new. Experience an unforgettable day everyday.
What's stopping me? Shouldn't I just start now?
There's something... 2000s about this manga though
Just the mood of it rings of a world before social media. It's a strange world. All the characters seem deeply rooted in their setting.
Nowadays, even people are barely rooted in the world around them. Everyone lives in the digital world.
Pfft. But who am I to criticize?
Self-Loathing
It's manga like this that inspired me to change so long ago. But that desire to change, to be some other form, just led me down a dark path of self-hatred and self-loathing.
How everything I did was never good enough. Even if my life marginally improved, I'd be fake, and it'd be inauthentic. My efforts at being "a better person" were just a waste.
I'd still be awkward around people and make them uncomfortable. I'd still be weak and scrawny. I'd still be too serious and gloomy for everything and everyone.
I feel like manga like this is best for people of sound mind. People who can actually see what reality is. For someone like me, who can't distinguish emotion from reality, this sort of story is my self-destructive kryptonite.
For if I'm always bad and defective underneath my judgement, that would be the worst life to live under. It's best I stop judging myself after all.
I guess "a better life" really depends on who you're talking to. For our MC here, it would be a life sharing with others. For me, "a better life" means one where I judge myself less.
