Remember in Part 1 I talked about Adele’s song, “Hello”? It’s the lyrics that inspired me to write this series even though I haven’t yet finished my other series, Overwhelmed with emotions. 😛 In addition to what I already mentioned in my previous post, these three lines from the song hit me as well:
Hello, how are you?
It’s so typical of me to talk about myself. I’m sorry
I hope that you’re well…
Really, what else can you say to the other person whom you used to be very close but for some reasons had gone separate ways for quite some time? Naturally, you will just talk about yourself. 😄
That’s not unlike what Terry did in his brief letter. My appreciation goes to all my wonderful friends who have contributed in Part 1 by writing many of your thoughts and analyses. 😍 Thank you ladies for your continued support. ❤ I wish I could update sooner, but to most of you I did my best to give you my feedback. 😊
Yet, more than one of you have believed that Terry might have sent this letter after he had left Rockstown and possibly already back to working for Stratford. However, I kinda disagree mainly because his letter was lack of sentiment. Note that I’m not even talking about an intense sentiment! His words were essentially matter-of-fact… almost like he was talking to the air. Think about it, if he had indeed “seen” Candy (or he thought it had been an illusion as shown in the manga), he would have sounded way more emotional, don’t you think? 😉 Like he would tell her that yes, he had hit his rock bottom but now he was back on his feet, etc.
Of course, you don’t have to agree with me. Nobody knows the timing for sure, except for Mizuki herself… 😉😂
Anyway, let me show you what the beginning of his letter looks like in Japanese (CCFS Vol 2 P. 283):
キャンディ
変わりはないか？
……あれから一年たった。
Many of you have read the spoilers, in which the Japanese fan had translated these three lines into:
Candy
How are you doing?
… It has been a year.
First, do you know the line that follows “Candy” can have meanings like “what’s up?”, “what’s new?”, “how are you?”, “how’s it going?”, and yet, people can use the same words to mean “hasn’t/haven’t changed”. For example,
彼女のことも好きなことには変わりはないでしょ。(I know your feelings for her haven’t changed.)
The way Terry wrote could literally mean ” you haven’t changed, right?” or “no change, right?”.
Don’t you find that very interesting? 😛 There are other ways for Terry to ask Candy “how are you?”, but why did he ask in such an ambiguous way? You know what I mean? 🙄
Also, as I have explained before, the highlighted words in yellow above implied it’s been a year since an incident that both Candy and Terry were familiar with. Therefore, I’m inclined to believe that he meant their breakup in New York, or it can even be something much, much earlier… like their first kiss? 🙄 Despite being a stolen kiss, they both remembered that May festival very well, don’t you agree? 😆
After explaining why a long time had passed because he had wavered, Terry wrote
ーーーぼくは何も変わっていない。 (— I haven’t changed at all.)
I wonder if you can read that it’s the same kanji that Terry used (変), just that this time it’s a verb, not a noun. Literally, he meant “For me, nothing has changed.) I agree with some of you, that if Terry meant his feelings for Candy hadn’t changed, he should have mentioned “his feelings”… But he didn’t. Again, another ambiguity.
See? The complete lack of emotion makes me doubt it’s after he had finally emerged from his depression. Not only that, he was unsure if this letter could reach Candy at all, as though he had no idea where she might currently reside. Moreover, he signed this letter as “T.G.”, like he wanted to hide his identity.
Unfortunately, he probably felt somewhat guilty of ‘abandoning’ her in London, so he wavered for about half a year. In other words, the six month period doesn’t necessarily begin in May… If you read his words carefully, he could mean that half a year had elapsed since he had that idea in mind… I hope you understand what I’m trying to say here. 😀 😌
Anyway, I have a hunch that Terry sent his letter to St Paul’s Academy. By signing his letter as T.G., people wouldn’t figure out who he was (so as not to get Candy into trouble again). Yet, at the same time he wasn’t sure if she was still studying in that boarding school. She might have been punished by her adoptive father (as Archie and Stear had worried), or she might have moved to another school or even returned to America already.
Not to mention Terry had no clue what Candy was up to… perhaps she was already going steady with another guy? After all, neither of them had pledged their love for each other before Terry’s abrupt departure.
What do you think? I know this might sound crazy… but I’d like to hear your thoughts. 💗