With love and gratitude (Part 1)
In my previous post, “True Love and Obstacles”, I mentioned that in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), Candy wrote to Albert that she asked him to keep her precious diary (filled with her own words about her deep feelings for Terry back in London) for her and even told him that she was happy by saying, “yes, Albert-san, herein lies my happiness; in now.”
Soon after that she ended that letter “with love and gratitude”. In CCFS, this is her last letter to Albert. The way she ended her last letter to Albert in the old Candy Candy novel was different. Back in the old novel, she simply ended her letter “with love”. Either way, Candy did use the word “love” to end her letter.
So what does that mean?
First and foremost, no one can deny that Candy had strong affection for Albert. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have begged him to live with her when he was amnesiac. She wanted to take care of him until his recovery. Her reasons were that she genuinely liked him as a big brother and wanted to pay back his kindness for her (he had saved her life near the waterfall and had consoled her a couple of times in the past when she had been feeling down).
Hence, the question is whether Candy’s affection changed to romantic love for Albert. In other words, did Candy fall in love with Albert, as a man?
Well, sometimes people can’t tell if they have truly fallen in love. It becomes even more confusing if a person finds his/her affection for his/her close friend grows to a certain point where it’s no longer mere friendship. In Candy’s case, some people argued that her strong feelings for Albert were extensions of her fraternal love she had felt for him in the beginning. That is, she loved him all right, but only as a brother and nothing more.
However, I personally think that their platonic relationship might have blossomed into a romantic one. Below are some observations from the manga:
1. After Albert had vanished in Candy’s life, she missed him so much, even shedding tears when she went to bed at nights (not just once! Please read my previous posts about “Rockstown Incident” for more details). In the past, he had come and gone in her life many times, and although she had occasionally thought of him, never once had she missed him that emotionally. After cohabiting with him for slightly more than a year, her longing for him was intense, and it lasted for months. Therefore, her feelings for him had definitely changed.
2. Candy had very good friends, like Archie, Patty and Annie. She didn’t need to see them every day, and they remained close friends. However, her yearning to see Albert again was palpable, and she even drew a picture of him because she wanted to find him. This implies that Albert was very special to Candy, and she thought about him constantly, day and night. That was why she took the risk to go all the way to a remote town, Rockstown, just because there was a chance that he could be there.
3. Once Candy found Albert in Lakewood and discovered his true identity, she was initially very shocked, but afterwards, she spent a long time with Albert alone, even spending the night with him in the lodge (of course Albert was still a gentleman plus there were lots of animals around). At any rate, it is obvious that they were having a wonderful time together (just the two of them). Both enjoyed each other’s company, a lot.
4. After Albert had successfully helped Candy annul her forced engagement with Neil, Albert asked Candy to leave the party first and he would join her later. In short, Albert wanted a rendezvous with Candy, and without second thought she gladly accepted his “invitation”. Once again, it shows that they liked to be alone with each other.
Note that falling in love often involves extreme emotions like joy, sorrow, happiness, and even depression. Candy seemed to have experienced all these after Albert had disappeared in her life and later reunited with him.
So what do you think?
For your interest, I was inspired by this post:
“Platonic Love or Romantic Love: Ways to Tell” – http://neurolove.me/post/20818706300/platonic-love-or-romantic-love-ways-to-tell
For your interest, please read my other observations in the old Candy Candy novel or CCFS.
I Like Albert. He is so manly. He reminds me to Masumi Hayami in Glass Mask. I think it possible that Candy find her love for Albert in the last, such maya’s love to masumi.
Thank you! I’m not a fan of Glass Mask, but I know it’s also inspired by Daddy Long Legs. Thanks for reading 🙂 😘
Hi Mrs. Puddle, i have read the complete japanese novel translated to english, and also the italian version, i saw the animae being a teenager and read the manga three years ago, and I can say this: Gratitude was a word totally associated to Albert-san by Candy since the beginning of the story, and she mentioned that feeling for Albert-san when he saved from the waters after running form the legan´s house (Chapter 1: pgs. 150-158, Vol 1, sub 14, Page 152, Japanese edition “Thank you……Mr Albert. ……I, it’s like how many thanks I said too is not enough……” Candy was with gratitude and, stared at Mr Albert.). So I think that Candy kept the same feeling when I read that word in this letter. “Love and gratitude” for the person that behaves as a friend though all her life and made possible her adoption and as Ardley against the olders of the Family. The exchange of letters between candy and her best friends is a reality in Mizuki´s story, and Mizuki talked about that exchange specifically in her afterwords for the volume 3 of the 1979 novel edition, page 181, with the title “Mizuki´s letters to everyone”. So I recommend you to read how mizuki “asked for help to candy” to tell the story in a third volume without having enough space to write all, and Mizuki decided to ask Candy to give her for a while the letter she exchanged with all her friends (all that you mention above, also annie tha is like her sister, something that annie mention in her letter to her), and then asked Mr. Albert to give her the letters exchanged with Candy. Also Mizuki stated that she posted only the “simple and plain” letters in the third volume, excluding those that candy didn’t want to show, because had so deep feelings: Terry´s letters, that have an aquamarine ribbon and are in candy´s hands, and kept as secret in candy´s mind. You can read the translation confirmed by three different Japanese people in “las damas the terry forum” and “candyterryforum” or in the japanese fans forums. Also you can read Mizuki´s opinion about Mr. Albert in that letter. So you don´t have to guess what was the intention of the letters and the words in Candy´s letters, you only have to read Mizuki´s epilogues and afterwords of her previous novels, and the recent ones, to understand the story she wanted to tell about a girl that must suffer so much, but has friends that helped her to be a succesfull nurse to take care the children of the orphanage and the people of the village (candy´s words to mizuki as her answer to the letter, that is also in the third volume, 1979 edition). Hugs! Anneth White.
Hello there, Anneth White. Nice to meet you.
Yes, I totally agree that Candy had deep gratitude for Albert, but the same applies to him. He said so himself in CCFS that he could never thank Candy enough. 🙂
Gratitude and love (romantic feelings) are not mutually exclusive, so the fact that they had gratitude for each other doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t fall in love with each other.
You don’t have to agree with me, and I’m not going to convince you either.
Have a good day!
Hi Ms Puddle, I agree with you, we don’t´have to agree with our different opinions about what does that “love and gratitude” means in that letter, but it is also interesting what you mentioned: in the old novel candy signed only with love, but now we have a word that is repeated as a feeling from candy to albert, Gratitude, i was fascinated when readed it because that is the feeling i had for albert all the time i saw the animae, i thanks all the time that he helped candy, he was her protector, so candy used the perfect word to describe him, and yes we know why Gratitude is an important mutual feeling. Also there is another important think that must be mentioned: the open love scenes that candy and anthony had, they confessed that love trough their hearts, and minds, and also sharing marvelous moments every time they met, at the roses garden, inside the house, with the gift of the sweet candy and when Anthony took her in his horse with the light of the moon, some days before he died, it were so romantic scenes, and more powerful in CCFS than in the animae or mangae. Then we read a more intense romance with terry at saint paul, in the may festival, in Scotland (with private piano classes), the heartbreaking way terry had to left the school to protect candy´s honor, the one way ticket to N.Y where candy and terry dreamed in their common life, and the abrupt ending of the relationship because of Susana, something that changes also abruptly with CCFS with her dead , the news about not being married with susana which says so much about Terry´s feelings, and finally Terry´s note. Until here we have two open love relationships for Candy. So if I follow that logic of a girl that continue looking for love being a young adult, she is a nurse, she is free, she doesn´t have children, why the author (mizuki) didn’t´write about an open love relationship about candy and albert? why there isn´t a love declaration from albert saying I want to live with you, I love you, I want to buy you a ticked for going with me around the world,i want you to be my wife?. Also that invitation from Albert for taking candy to Africa disappeared in CCFS. On the contrary we have letters where albert talked about her sister Rose Mary, and now his name is Bert…and candy called him that way. I see a big inconsistence here, if muzuki knew how to describe a real love of a couple (Anthony-candy, Terry-Candy) what happened when reached the mature love we wait for….the adult couple declaring their love so openly but not talking about “being an adoptive father, being a prince, being the old uncle William, and the worst (for me I hate the nickname), being Bert lets… remember my sister every time you call me that way?. It is not logical for me, if I met Mizuki some day (I wish really) that will be my question…what happened with the passional love a woman like candy between the 20-30 years old must have, if she knew what was passion before…I can´t believe mizuki though in a calm, love that people of 70-80 years can have after living so much knowing what was candy personality. And worst than that, was albert a dysfunctional man that after traveling so much, and being the head of a rich family only had the love for a girl that met when she had 6 years old? so he had to adopt her, for making her his wife. that is the message mizuki wanted to give to the children that read the mangae and saw the animae being kid or teenagers? if that was her original message I will recommend to avoid all the adopting issue, and eliminate the “protector and friendly figure, not only to candy but with terry” because for me will be a so machiavelic character, and worst seeing the confrontation he had with terry in Chicago (thanks god mizuki maintained the rocktown scene in CCFS). But the good thing here is that i love albert so much, and for me is the protector and the best friend candy could have, which helped her to be happy, making him to fulfill his promise with her. So I am happy with the end of CCFS a very different one according to your posts in this blog. Thanks again for your answer Ms Puddle and for allow to post my opinion here.
Hi there Anneth! I welcome any feedback or comments as long as the ideas are politely expressed. 🙂
About Albert and Candy, I’m disappointed that Mizuki didn’t write them the way she wrote Anthony and Terry. To me, it’s not fair, especially you can tell who was the most important man to Candy after she broke up with Terry.
That being said, almost the entire CCFS epilogue (an epilogue is supposed to give readers a glimpse of the future of the main characters) is dedicated to the correspondence between Albert and Candy. That speaks volumes. Not to mention that Candy addressed Albert as Prince on the Hill in these letters. A girl with absolutely no romantic feelings for a guy wouldn’t call him her prince. Besides, they both knew who POTH was to Candy. He was her first crush.
Yes, Candy joked around still by asking if she should call him father, but that was actually the same in Daddy-Long-Legs, the story that inspired Mizuki to write Candy Candy.
In DLL, the heroine was obviously joking because she was deeply in love with her ‘Daddy’ by then.
Anyway, about Little Bert, if you’re interested, you can read my other post, Endearing nickname.
Have a good weekend!
Hi Ms. Puddle, of course I believe that in the blogs the ideas must be expressed politely, I like to follow that rule. We are talking here about a mangae and animae for teenagers, that we saw (well at least me, 35 years ago and i am talking about the animae). Well you must be more disappointed than me about Mizuki not writing the “love” story between Candy and Albert the way you see it, after Candy broke up with Terry because of Susana, but for me she had not reason because I do not see that romantic relationship. I agree with you that Albert was one of the most important man in Candy´s life, because he saved her life, he gave without knowing a present that made her think in smiling all the time not matter the bad moments, and he made her the heir of a powerful and reach family, he was her main protector!. About the exchange of Albert-Candy letters seeing as an epilogue is another thing we don´t agree, because a) there are no dates on that, and mizuki changed the position of the letters compared with the old novels, also added some or change subtle words, and eliminated others, b) Mizuki is only showing the letters she most love between the characters according to what candy told her, but the most “´plain and simple ones” (I also tell you that mizuki appreciates so much Mr. Albert, she shows her respects for him when talks about him in her afterword of 1979, and for mizuki is an honor to post his letters with his permission, something very funny if she and we know all of them are in her mind), we are almost ready to post candy´s answer to mizuki in that edition (we are confronting just a phrase about an albert´card that Candy wants to show to mizuki, so we are waiting for the answer of one of our Japanese translator about it). For me the real epilogue of CCFS is the afterword of Mizuki, her words are the same from the old novels, she is with candy, and she left candy to show her where is she, what is she doing, what are her feeling and what is she smelling (daffodils are some important flowers in the second volume of CCFS, the roses where important in the first volume because of Anthony, also the Italian cover is so clear about that). The prince of the hill was Candy´s crush when she had 6 years old, when she thought the Prince´s badge was magical, and could change her world, also had a lovely sound that made her remember to smile, but she confessed to anthony when he asked her if she loved him because she thought he was that prince, Candy answered with her heart…she loved him Anthony by himself, and then she discovers a powerful love, that made her think in a family, with a baby and she being Terry´s wife, that was her idea when went to N.Y with the one ticket trip, also Archie and Stear, patty and annie knew that. And the love story ended there in the animae and in the mangae, we read after that in CCFS lovely letters, friendship letters, but I am repeating my self here. When I entered to the Candy forums three years ago I did it looking for answers about the albert-candy relationships that alfans affirm occur, but CCFS doesn´t have it from my point of view, and you also mention the work that you think mizuki emulate: “Daddy Long Legs”, i haven´t read it, and won´t, the images i have see are so awful, also the dialogs, so i won´t change Candy Candy for a work that is less attractive from me. And the last think if muzuki wanted an open and romantic relationship between albert and candy, didn´t write it, because she knows how to write about a love story and twice with Anthony and Terry. About “Bert” not matter how endering can be, but there is an issue that i don´t like, first we knew and respect the prince of the hill, but after him there was a powerful name the Old Uncle William, the head of the clan, and him is reduced to Bert! really i would prefer that mizuki had eliminated that from her letter, but when i think that was the name used but the sister he loved so much, then i can accept that like a mention of family relationship of a sister and a brother that loved so much. I will let here my comments, because i am repeating myself, and because we are following very different routes. I hope you will enjoy the second volume of the Italian volume (already in the market), as the Japanese versions, and highly recommended to read the complete mizuki´s work, considering the evolution of her writing with her old novels, something that she explained by herself or through candy´s words. In the second volume of the edition of 1990, Mizuki mentioned her mail character´s preferences in her story, posted in the English forum of candyterry, and soon posted in Spanish in las damas de terry. Take care so much, and thanks for your kindness for answering my last post and allowing me express in your blog. Bye. Anneth White.
Hello Anneth. As you said, you were repeating yourself here, so I won’t respond to your arguments again. We have different perspectives, and that’s fine with me. I’m not in a position to convince you either. 😉
Anyway, I have the Japanese CCFS in my hands, and I’m slowly reading them myself. However, just so you know, daffodils also signify unrequited love, so nobody would use them for weddings. Besides that, daffodils have many other meanings in various cultures. Therefore, having daffodils in Candy’s garden doesn’t necessarily mean she’s with Terry. 😛
Also, this is such an old post, so I’ll close the comments. Feel free to read my recent posts and comment over there. Bye now. Thanks for reading my posts. 🙂
It would be very interesting if at least one Terry-fan would join your blog, just for the fun of having a discussion. But I don’t see that happening soon.
what you’re saying is very true. Of course I’m basing this on what is available on CC. I haven’t read the old or the new novel. In any case, based on the manga and even the ending of the anime, I find it very much imaginable that Candy and Albert fell in love with each other.
Yes, CKati! I wish someone else would join us for discussion! I do have people reading my posts but they don’t leave any comment. 🙁
The funny thing is that even some Albert fans don’t think Candy had feelings for him until much later. They think the Rockstown incident only proves that she’s moved on. Oh well… 😉
Hi CKati-
Actually, there are many Terry fans in the two fan pages where I post Ms Puddle’s link of her blog. I’m not surprised if they’re only interested in her works, and not the truth about Candy-Albert relationship. Like we all agree, some are too proud to accept, but give them some time and they will become one of us, and soon they will start to have a feast in this blog. I’ve met some of them (Terry fans) and accepted the true fate between the two inseparable blonds. 😉
Actually they don’t have to agree with me. ^_^ What I have written are open for discussion 😀
That’s what I mean! I can’t have the discussion with you, because your explanation of it all makes perfectly sense to me. I think I will try to find something to disagree with you on then …. Ha ha. No, I’m just kidding.
This is funny, CKati!! LOL… 😀
Hey c.a.w.
I visited both your fanpages yesterday and it did strike me that I saw a lot of Terry posts on especially one of them. Maybe they are like me; they know and love Albert and Candy as a couple, but just cannot quite say goodbye to Terry yet 😉
And you are right, they just need time. They’ve already discovered your fanpages, next on the stop will be this blog. 😀
On the other hand, I also check the CandyTerry forum sometimes (no, I’m not a member) and I must say that the Terry fans are quite fanatic. They do have a very nice forum though.
Well, I’m just trying to point out the facts ^^). However, I welcome any feedback as long as they are not rude or offensive 😛
You’re welcome! Glad you like it! 🙂