Full Moon wo Sagashite: An Endless Search; The Truth About Eichi-kun

Anime:

Ok, I feel like I need to say this: I memorized this song...And I am incredibly proud of that :). It's such a beautiful song. Her feelings of love, of the heartbreak she's been through, everything! is depicted in this. You don't even need to know what it means to feel the truth behind the lyrics. My favorite line? I love you, namida tomaranai. Konnan ja Kimi no koto, shirazuni ireba Yokatta yo (I love you, I can't keep my tears from falling. I also wish, that I had never met you) Falling in love: the one thing that can be the best thing in your life, while hurting you so much. My singing still sounds pretty strange, and nothing close to how Mitsuki sings it, but come on! It's japanese! That's a mile stone for me :).

So, I decided to post this video to explain what exactly happened in the anime. I must say, angelicsnow did a great job depicting the anime up until Eichi's death (episode 42)...Oh! I gave it away! Yes, people...Eichi is dead :'(. In the anime, Mitsuki won the International Pop Idol of the year or something like that and was given a trip to America. She also went with Wakaouji-sensei and Full Moon's manager (who know of Meroko and Takuto) to investigate a treatment so she won't lose her voice during surgery. Along the way, they search for Eichi, and we learn that he and his adopted parents died 3 months after moving to America. As shown in the video, Mistuki was devistated. Having worked so hard just to see Eichi, having no one else in mind but him, made her hit rock bottom. She laid at his headstone till Takuto rescued her and carried her back to the house.

Manga                                                           Chapter 16

The chains keep moving, which I can't control,
and even though you stay still,
I keep on moving

I hate you all, because you keep me away from Eichi.
You keep pulling me away from him...
But he's waiting. Alone. At the bottom of the deep dark sea :(

Mitsuki: Why do you keep helping me?
Takuto: Because...you're still alive

Ok, here's one of the many differences between the manga and anime: Mitsuki already knew that Eichi was dead. Takuto, Meroko, and Izumi (who has a different personality than the anime) search to find Eichi. That's when Takuto remembers one of his first jobs as a shinigami; a plane flight to America...Eichi's plane. He said he saw a young boy turning into an angel, telling him that he "hated shinigami." We also find out that Mitsuki was one of the first to know this, she's just been repressing the truth. Each time she's told that Eichi is dead, she feels as though she's being pulled farther and farther away from him. In the manga, Takuto works to help her forget about Eichi while keeping him close to her heart, but still love herself enough to want to live.

I'd say that the manga (as always) had a bigger effect on me than the anime. I understand Mitsuki's pain, having worked so hard for something only to learn that it's already gone. However, the fact that she's been holding those feelings inside her for so long, not willing to let go of her loved one, really hit my heart. We finally realize why Mitsuki wasn't afraid to die, which we never understand from the anime. It won't only spur on a more interesting plot, but it also gives us a realistic situation that many people go through. I have a friend who lost her father, and everyday I see her suffer because of it. The manga shows us that it may be hard, but sometimes letting go is the healthiest thing to do.