Reeka, thank you for leaving long comments to my earlier posts, Matching Pajamas and Ambiguous Letter, such that I have an excuse to write a new series. 😉 It has taken me a while to start because I’m also writing my next chapter of “Love Never Fails”. 😛
First of all, I can’t agree with Reeka more about the character of Albert / Prince on the Hill (a teenage version of Albert) in Candy Candy. He came and went in Candy’s life several times, or as Prince on the Hill in the beginning and at the end, playing a very significant role in the story. We can see how Mizuki wrote the story such that without Albert, the story of Candy Candy simply falls apart because the heroine, Candy, would have been drowned in the waterfall, sent to work in Mexico, or would never have crossed the ocean to study in London.
Even when he wasn’t with her, she never forgot about him. Her feelings for him were already strong in the beginning (judging by her reaction to surprisingly running into him again in London), and how many times had she tried to look for him? I can easily name a few scenes in the manga. Can you? 🙂
Interestingly, we don’t see Candy go look for Terry. Yes she chased after him twice (once in London and once at Pony’s Home), but Reeka was right. Why didn’t Terry or Candy find each other after ‘reuniting’ near the fast moving train? I have thought about it. Terry was probably saving money to invite Candy over to New York. His career wasn’t well established yet, and he was unlikely to find any job in Chicago.
But for Candy, what made her stay in Chicago? She could have left for New York. She knew where Terry worked, didn’t she? Was she waiting for him to make the first move? Yet, when she finally got a letter from Terry, she shockingly found out that her good friend Albert had been injured to a point that he had no idea who he was and he didn’t even recognize her. At his rock bottom, being despised and penniless, Albert somehow ended up in the same hospital with Candy, and what a ‘coincidence’! 😛
Now, as Reeka had pointed out, why did Mizuki have to make Albert lose all his memory? I think Mizuki wanted him to know Candy from scratch, totally unaware of their adoptive relationship.
From Korean Manga Version
Then this kind nurse Candy offered to take care of Albert although he had resolved to go his own way! I’m sure her kindness must have considerably touched his heart, and a few times in the manga he expressed his gratitude to her inside his heart. It was only natural for him to fall in love with her, but he chose to love her in silence because back then he knew her heart belonged to another man. In Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), he wrote to her explicitly (in two different letters from the spoilers),
…
“Adopted daughter” also sounds unbearable to me. Even though you won’t see it, I’m sensitive. (Don’t laugh)
…
Adoptive father — !
Damn, I did it myself
…
Candy,
at that time, I was nothing more than a suspicious man without memory, with no identification.
But you didn’t leave me. You didn’t leave me even when you were fired from the hospital.
…
I can never thank you enough.
I’m going to find out where your happiness lies.
…
It’s apparent that he regretted his decision of adopting her. Later he said he was going to find out how to make her happy, and soon after that, he returned her diary back to Candy. Why? I believe he wanted her to make a call. 🙂 See True Love and Obstacles if you like to read what I have said about this diary.
About Anthony, I think his role is to foreshadow what kind of person Albert is. Not only Anthony looked like his uncle a lot, his personality was similar, only less outgoing or preferred gardening instead of animals and nature in general. Poor Anthony wasn’t meant for Candy, so Mizuki made him die young before he could disclose who the prince was (otherwise the whole story would have taken an entirely different path), which was Candy’s first heartbreak. However, the anguish of indirectly causing his fatal accident is shared by Candy and Albert (see Marvelous feeling of security for details).
Regarding Terry and Candy, their first kiss is far from romantic to me (even though they both remembered it very well afterwards). See my earlier post about my perspective of their feeble relationship.
I was shocked when I read that some Terry fans said that Terry was Candy’s soul mate. Come on, Terry hardly knew Candy to say the least. Moreover, when Mrs. Marlowe pushed him away, he persisted visiting Susanna in the hospital daily on his own accord (possibly out of duty or guilt). Later, he didn’t have the guts to tell Mrs. Marlowe that he actually loved another woman. Then, when Candy selflessly decided to leave him, he didn’t protest at all. Some people, like Reeka, was disappointed at Terry’s behavior at the rooftop. I figure someone possibly informed Terry that Susanna had been missing, and that was why he rushed to the hospital right after the premiere. He held the freezing cold Susanna in his arms without a word (like it was the most natural thing to him), and it was Susanna (likely grateful) who told him that Candy had saved her from committing suicide. He was astonished but didn’t thank Candy for some reason (took it for granted or was he somewhat ashamed to have kept the whole Susanna thing from Candy?). Remember the way they silently stared at each other at that moment? It was as though Terry was asking Candy to understand his struggles — that there was no way he could leave Susanna after what she had done for him. Candy, being a kind-hearted girl, must have grasped his unspoken words right away. Come to think of it, why didn’t he even try to fight for his feelings for Candy? You can read my very old post concerning Terry’s decision.
Not only Terry didn’t know much about Candy, he also kept things from her. Never once had he mentioned his childhood pain to her. Even while corresponding with each other, she still had no idea why he had to leave his family in London or got rid of his last name Grantchester. In addition, neither brought up why he had shed tears on his way back to London that foggy night. The only thing common to them both was the days they had spent together at St. Paul and Scotland. I won’t blame Terry though. Being an illegitimate child, he didn’t have a good example of what a loving relationship was. His stepmother disliked him (or looked down upon him with distaste), and obviously he didn’t have a family life (highly likely spent most of his time in boarding school sulking or acting rebellious).
I won’t write Part 2 until after I’m done writing my next chapter. Please stay tuned. 🙂