This is a Viz Signature presentaion by Fumi Yoshinaga. The title led me to think of a precious relationship between a mother, her children and their lives. Was I ever wrong . All My Darling Daughters refers collectively to all the women in the book. Everyone has their own story and past that affects who they are now and the relationships that they seek and form. There are five stories that branch out from Yukiko and her mother, Mari. Each story can stand on its own, but together they form a complex study of the relationships, what they mean to the participants and who they find themselves to be. This is not a typical manga. It’s a one volume piece. I’m not sure how to categorize it. It’s more like a novel.
Highlights:
Chapter 1: Yukiko is in her late twenties. Although her Mom often snaps at her and the relationship seems strained to me, she feels they have a good relationship. After facing a serious illness, her mother meets a younger man, Ken Ohashi, and marries him. Yukiko is suspicious of the relationship and annoyed with the intrusion into her life. Despite her determination to dislike him, she grows to accept and appreciate his place in her Mom’s life. She in turn becomes closer to her own boyfriend. This is the anchor to the book. This introduction links with other key areas in the book.
Chapter 2: A friend of Ken Ohashi’s is troubled and confused about a “relationship” with one of his students. This creepy woman pushes sexual-type contact with him but refuses to accept anything in return. Not even coffee. Although he enjoys the contact, he doesn't see how this is really a relationship. Finally, he insists that he go out on a real date with her, and she dumps him because he is too nice. Boy, is she ever messed up. No matter how any of the other relationships seem in the book, nothing is anywhere as awful as this woman and the people and types of relationships she seeks out. Here, we pretty much see the bottom.
Chapter 3: “Falling in love means discrimination among people”. This is something said by Yukiko’s friend, Sayako, who is the nicest, most helpful person they know. They wonder why she hasn’t met and married someone. Sayako must be wondering the same thing herself. When she seeks out an arranged marriage, her aunt steps in to help out. She meets several nice guys that she likes, but doesn’t want to marry any of them. Sayako really is a wonderful, kind and thoughtful person. But there’s an answer and she figures out exactly what she is supposed to do. This was a surprising twist that I really enjoyed. This was pretty much the top.
Chapter 4: Feeling like her new husband doesn’t help enough around the house, Yukiko remembers a childhood conversation with old friends. The old classmates, Makimura and Saeki, see each other on and off throughout their lives. Saeki doesn’t understand what Makimura is doing. She had had strong ideas when she was young, but she seems so desperate now, worn out. When a co-worker makes a unrelated comment, Saeki suddenly understands what has been going on. This really cements how childhood influences our adult relationships.
Chapter 5: “ A mother is an imperfect person.” Mari doesn’t like her own mother and Yukiko is about to learn why. Her grandmother did her best in what she believed would make Mari a good person, and it stems from her own youth. Yukiko feels a deeper understanding of her mother and her mother’s relationships. This was a satisfying way to end and made the whole book understandable.
Overall
This is tough to put into words. Loneliness is loneliness, and how people reach out to each other, especially women, is explored in this book. Relationships aren’t always what they seem. These women (and men) try hard in seeking relationships. They learn to find happiness in the imperfect. Each woman has to work out the world or relationship the way that she needs. Their history plays a part of what happens. Mothers are imperfect but they try their best, just like daughters ought to.
Chapter two was the most disturbing, and saddest, because the woman in that story never learns or even tries to understand.
Sometimes, as the story shifted to another scene or the next day, there isn’t a clear break and it made things a bit hard to follow in a few places.
The first time around, the book was confusing. I didn’t understand what the idea was until coming to the end when things started to come together. I re-read the book and the concept of exploring life, personalities and relationships came through.
I would note this story is only for adults. Some of the subject is mature in theme, and some of the concepts of the relationships won’t be understood without enough life experience. This is a serious, thought-provoking book, looking at relationships from many different ways. Way to go.
ComicsOnline gives All My Darling Daughters 3.5 out of 5 family ties.
