Candy – Candice White l’orpheline

By now many of you have likely heard of Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS) being translated to French, and thanks to Fay for reminding me of the upcoming release. As in the original version, there are two volumes, but this time each of which is given a title, Candice White the orphan and Prince on the Hill ❤️ respectively, as shown below. For more information about the author Keiko Nagita going to Paris herself, please read the announcement. Based on what I have known about the Italian version, I keep my expectations low, but I can’t help but have a tinge of hope that the French translation is closer to the original merely because of the second title. In some languages it’s translated to Prince of the Hill instead.

These titles remind me of the Collectors’ Edition of the manga version and the manga cover of the last volume. As I’ve always said, Candy Candy is a story between Candy and the mysterious Scottish boy on the hill. Yes, many things had happened in between, but at the end of the manga story, she was happily running to his open arms.

Volume 1

Volume 2

Yet, I agree with Myra about the lack of dramatization in CCFS due to the epistolary style adopted in Volume 2. The various letters between Candy and others, combined with her retrospection, do not show readers much about how she and Albert the amnesiac patient came to live together and how Terry and Susanna interacted with each other. Regrettably, without the background knowledge of the manga story, I’d say CCFS on its own may not make much sense in some parts; as depicted by Yumiko Igarashi in her wonderful drawings, sexual tension was evident for both pairs, so we readers could imagine what could have happened that led to the dramatic breakup in CCFS. However, to be fair, in my humble opinion CCFS is not below average. Unlike some people who prefer the old CC novel, I actually like CCFS better for different reasons, as discussed in my long series Did Candy find her happiness?

My number one reason is the correspondence between Candy and Prince on the Hill; as Myra pointed out their letters serve as “a means to reveal various other aspects of Albert which were unbeknown to us in the novel as well as the anime and manga. The Epilogue reveals a few “dark” aspects of both Candy and Albert such as jealousy, insecurities, anger, frustration, neediness, guilt, angst, but also desire and possessiveness. It’s clear that the Candy-Albert relationship has entered into unknown territory as both these main characters are entering a different and far more complicated phase in their relationship.” Note that in the old CC novel, their letters were put together in the last chapter, not in an epilogue.

Furthermore, the stark contrast between Candy’s letter to Vincent Brown in CCFS and the equivalent one in the old CC novel is astonishing. I’m convinced Candy signed her letter to Rosemary’s husband in CCFS as Mrs. Ardlay. However, in her letters to Sarah Lagan and Madam Elroy, I figure Candy signed those letters with the family name because of formality. In these two letters you can tell Candy wasn’t as close to Albert as the way she addressed him in the letter to Captain Brown. For example, she wasn’t aware that it had been Granduncle’s order to make Sarah Lagan apologize and clear her name. In her letter to Elroy, Candy said Granduncle had no idea she was writing to Great Aunt Elroy, etc.

Besides, aren’t you a bit curious why Candy added an exclamation mark when mentioning Granduncle William(!) in her thirties? (Come to think of it, if Anohito was Terry, why on earth would he put the picture of Miami’s opening party in his study? I suppose this party had a special meaning to both Candy and Anohito.) At any rate, this is another proof that Albert was alive and well, because otherwise Candy would have been terribly nostalgic if not dreadfully dejected. I was told that people surmised that Albert might have died in CCFS because of some rumours about Dear Enemy, the sequel of Daddy-Long-Legs. Many CC fans know that Nagita was inspired by Daddy-Long-Legs, and some people thought that Master Jervie passed away and Judy Abbott the orphan girl then remarried. (SPOILER ALERT!) Let me tell you that it was the exact opposite. The two had a successful marriage, and Judy couldn’t stand leaving her husband for long so they always traveled together (don’t you think this sounds very familiar? 😛 ). For those who have not read these stories, you may want to read my previous posts about them, Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy. No matter what, don’t jump to conclusions based on some ungrounded rumours spread by others. 😅 You should try to find solid evidence before you draw your conclusion.

Do you know that one of the main themes in Dear Enemy was about the upgrade and reconstruction of the orphanage where Judy had spent her childhood? It was a Christmas present to Judy from her husband Master Jervie. I have reasons to believe Nagita might have been inspired by Dear Enemy when she wrote about the reconstruction of Pony’s Home. In the old CC novel this project was funded by Annie’s adoptive father, Mr. Brighton, but in CCFS Nagita gave this honor to William A. Ardlay. Though I wrote my old post a generous present solely based on CCFS spoilers, I still think that it was somewhat strange that Candy and/or her foster mothers would accept a gift of such magnitude from Albert. 🤔

Before I go, I want to let you know that Fay has incorporated many small chapters into larger documents, and you can take a look at the updated page of CCFS translations. I decided to keep the table of contents there though, for your reference. I know this is a short post, but I promise to write more by resuming my series of Lost in translation.

One last thing, more than one person have recently written private messages to me on my Facebook page, asking me questions about CCFS. I’d like to let all of you know that I refrain myself from such discussions in private because it can be very time consuming. If you can’t find the topics you’re looking for on my blog, I’d rather you leave your comment(s) on my latest post(s). I will try my best to respond to you in public, and often times other commenters have even better insights. Thanks for your understanding. 🤗