The Final Retrace

Update: I can't wait for Fallen Syndicate's scanlation and since there are scanlations in other languages and text translations and summaries in English, I'll write up my thoughts on Retrace 104 in the end of this journal entry. It will contain rampant spoilers, so if you don't want those, do not skip to the end of this post or read the comments.


Ok, just wanted to post a quick journal to let you know that I've been sulking about the last chapter of Pandora Hearts and not drawing anything for weeks.
Pandora Hearts has officially ENDED in Japan already.
According to Mochizuki's blog, the title of Retrace CIV is "Will (The Golden Afternoon)" and it's 102 pages.
It took almost 9 years but Pandora Hearts is now complete.
It's finally over. I'm SO EXCITED and I'm also sad but happy at the same time. Oh my gosh.

I'll update this journal entry once I read the actual chapter and I'll probably write an essay about the series too, I just had to talk about it here now because otherwise I'd have exploded from anticipation and excitement.

Now I'll go and try to draw to calm myself down.
Btw thank you for the 250,000+ pageviews, I'll draw the pic for Ritusss as soon as I get over Pandora Hearts I can.

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RETRACE 104 SPOILERS


So. I'm typing this as I'm looking at the HQ Russian scans again. I remember fans theorizing about an ending where Oz wakes up from a dream and it turns out that the whole story was his dream and everybody is alive and happy and there was another where every character died but they were reincarnated 100 years later. Well, I guess Jun managed to incorporate elements of both ideas into the actual ending. I think the dream tea party scene in the beginning was very nice, even if it was mostly just a form of fanservice. It showed Oz and us readers how everything could have been. This was also a bit cruel move from Jun, showing us everyone being happy and alive before returning to the cruel reality of the plot. I have to admit I've never enjoyed the bickering between Elliot and Oz very much and the boat scene that ended the dream was pointless.

A long time ago, I hoped there would be a way to save Alyss (possibly by rewriting the rules of the Abyss/world somehow), but it became clear that Alyss had to disappear. I think she's actually one of the most tragic characters in PH. I mean she's never had a choice from the beginning. She lived all her life in the Abyss with her only contact with the outside world being Alice and Jack and now she looked so relieved finally getting freed from the power of the Abyss. And her beloved Cheshire went with her.
The chains were remade and the world was saved and - just as everyone probably expected - Rufus Barma came back to protect his lady. All the Rufus/Sheryl moments were super cute in this chapter omg.
The Abyss was restored back to its original state and Jack FINALLY realizes that Lacie loved this world. Goddammit Jack, just how slow can you get...? To be honest, I didn't expect Jack to be around till the last few pages, but I'm glad he got to realize how stupid he was. I'm a bit disappointed that Jack and Oswald's relationship never got a resolution, though.
And then comes the real heartbreaking part; Oz and Alice saying goodbye to Gil. When I got to that scene at first, I felt I was inwardly tearing up a bit. Damn you Gil, you're such an idiot, I love you. So Oz and Alice disappear and then we have only Gil's narration.

Reim/Sharon was unexpected yet expected at the same time. It was implied in the extras that Reim had a crush on Sharon, but we've never seen them interact all that much in the story. They make a sweet couple, even if kinda boring. For some reason I'm a little disappointed that there was pretty minimal mention of Break in this last chapter. I expected we'd get at least a panel of someone visiting his grave, a flashback or something after Reim had been carrying his body for SO MANY chapters before this last one.
As for Ada, I have mixed feelings. VinceAda was almost there, but in the end, it wasn't quite there. I'll ramble about this a bit more later. But that random guy who is implied to be Ada's husband looks so ugly (we can't even see his face but yeah, I decided he was ugly, lol), Ada could have chosen a good-looking man at least. X'D The scene of Vincent stalking looking at her from behind a tree made me cry a little on the inside.
In the end Mochizuki never got back to the Juror and the whole "story in a story" thing again, which made that whole revelation seem a little bit pointless, although it was important for Leo's character development, I guess. Speaking of Leo, there wasn't anything more about his relationship with Vincent which is too bad because their twisted and angsty relationship dynamic intrigued me. There wasn't a single panel of Levi either. Also, was the Baskerville system restored along with the Abyss? Like to its pre-tragedy state? With the Glens and children of misfortune sacrifices? Leo and the Baskervilles are definitely trying to come to a better understanding with the Core of the Abyss and even Jack offers his help, but we never really get to know how much of an impact this had on the future of the Baskervilles and the Glen-system.

Then 100-something years later, we see Gilbert and Vincent again. (I never understood the aging / not aging thing with the Baskervilles, especially since Gil, Vince, Oswald and Lacie seemed to age normally until they stopped when they reached their mid-20s, but I guess we can assume they all stop aging at some point when they are young adults or teenagers like Echo.) Anyway, after the trio-goodbye, this was the other scene in the last chapter that killed me. I got to see my favourite character die in my other favourite character's arms. Isn't that great. Ha ha ha...
The only thing that brings me salvation after that is the final trio reunion between Gil and the reincarnated Oz and Alice which is sweet and touching. Apparently Vincent spent his last few years searching for them, aww. Were those two really Oz and Alice, though? I mean they now have new lives, new families, new friends... (I shouldn't have watched the anime Fantastic Children after the PH finale, damn. X'D)
And it turns out that the entire story was being told by Gilbert all along.

Beautiful bittersweet ending. It may not be perfect, but it was a pretty decent satisfying ending for this outstanding series.

I'd like to ramble a bit more on pairings and personal feels and shit, but I've run out of time for now whoops... Maybe I'll write another journal later, idk.


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