Final Story: A reflection

I have been fond of Chopin’s Nocturne lately, particularly the Op 9 No 2. As I was listening to it the other day, I realised that Op 9 No 2 was a suitable background music to read Josephine Hymes’ “Seasons of Daffodils”. Thus I re-read it again… and it reignited my love to Candy and Terry. It then of course gave way to me thinking the famous Anohito identity, and how it has split the Candyland in two. This is my reflection of those issues, more than 1.5 years after my last post.

Since my last post, I have improved my Japanese quite a bit. I still struggle with Kanji, but I am more fluent with hiragana and katakana. I am more adept as well in understanding nuances in Japanese language; a very very nuanced language I should say. With these new understandings, I can see CCFS in a new light. Paired with my old analyses about Anohito, to keep it short, I can safely say that I still believe Terry to be Anohito.

The French translation of CCFS

The covers for Vol 1 and Vol 2 CCFS French version

A reader has contacted me a few days ago about the French translation of CCFS which can be quite disturbing to CT fans. The reason is because the French translation has two subtitles: Vol 1 is subtitled “Candice White l’orpheline” (Candice White the orphan) and Vol 2 is titled “Le prince sur la colline” (the Prince of the Hill). Naturally, Vol 2 automatically refers to Albert.

Another reader certainly thinks that Anohito is Albert, because she sent me a comment today (which I have posted). Therefore, please consider this a longer reply to this reader and other potential readers.

Avon River and the Great Depression

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2010, viewed from the Avon River side
(photo by Peter Scott, courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company) 

In this post, I’m examining an aspect of the Anohito clues that I have not delved in details so far because to me it’s very obvious that it is linked to Terry. This aspect is the Avon River. However, it occurred to me that a new reader might be confused as to why Avon River is immediately linked to Terry, for there are 19 (yes, nineteen) Avon Rivers in Wikipedia. Those 19 rivers are spread across four countries: the United Kingdom (5 in England, 3 in Scotland, 2 in Wales), Australia (5), New Zealand (2), and Canada (2). Here I will examine why I think the River Avon in England (the one flowing through Warwickshire, to be exact) is the river Nagita Keiko meant in CCFS.

I will start my explanation by briefly examining the 1930s Great Depression in the USA and in the UK, because that event IMO is strongly linked to Anohito bringing Candy to live by the bank of River Avon. Many experts linked the start of the Great Depression in the USA with the collapse of Wall Street in New York on a “Black Thursday” on 24 October 1929. Around the same time (give and take a month’s time), the London Stock Exchange collapsed. Ever since, the US economy spiraled down, dragging down other stock markets in Europe. It took about a decade for the USA to recover its economy, just in time to be ready for World War II. Interestingly, the United Kingdom recovered approximately three years after the Black Thursday (1929-1932), a good 6-7 years before the US recovered. This article is quite good to understand why the UK economy recovered relatively quickly from the 1929 Great Slump. I’m not an economist, so I will not summarise the causes for the slower recovery of the US nor the faster recovery of the UK. Suffice to say, when the US was still struggling to come back on its feet, the UK was already healthier economically.

Where is Terry? The missing person in the Epilogue

Source

I talked about this post with Nila a while back after I posted my article about Anohito’s voice, smile and open arms in the CCFS Epilogue, however, I didn’t remember to post it until now. It’s a short post, but I might post another (longer) article tomorrow or on Sunday if time permits.

It started with me receiving the Italian version of the CCFS. I flipped through the books and realised again something odd with the Epilogue.

Before I resume with my explanation, let me quote what an Epilogue means. The Cambridge Dictionary states that an Epilogue is “a speech or piece of text that is added to the end of a play or book, often giving a short statement about what happens to the characters after the play or book finishes”. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives three main meanings of an Epilogue. One of them is related to a book, thus an Epilogue is “a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work”. In contrast, a Prologue is “a part that comes at the beginning of a play, story, or long poem, often giving information about events that happened before the time when the play, story, or poem begins” (The Cambridge Dictionary). Although the Merriam-Webster version is very straightforward, I like using the Cambridge Dictionary’s version more because it stipulates that an Epilogue usually discloses what happens to the characters after the last chapter (pre-Epilogue) of the book.

Anohito statistical tests

The hunt for Anohito (left: Chapter 4; right: Chapter 9)

If you have read through my posts, you will notice that I have collected and reviewed up to 14 Anohito aspects in Candy’s “present day” monologue. In my latest post, I said that out of the 14 aspects, 11 of them are only attributable to Terry, 3 of them are attributable to both Terry and Albert, and none is attributable to Albert only. Thus… what does it look like if I plug those numbers into a statistical program? Does the proportion of Terry-related aspects (11 out of 14) significantly overwhelm both-Terry-Albert aspects (3 out of 14)?

The fact that there is no Anohito aspect that refers only to Albert in Candy’s monologue already established that Terry is Anohito. However, just to satisfy some statistical curiosity, let me plug those numbers.

Two more clues for Terry as Anohito

This painful scene has now lit a new understanding in me
(Chapter 7, art by Igarashi Yumiko, story by Mizuki Kyoko)

Recently, a combined effort between me and Nila has led us to find two more clues for Terry as Anohito. They are from Vol 2 pp 196 and 237. I think the clue at p 237 is more glaring and impactful, but nonetheless, the clue at p 196 is also interesting. The justifications are as follows, thanks to Nila for the original scripts and Kanji assistance. Tanoshikatta ne!

Anohito laughing at Candy’s mistake

Nila asked me to check the translation Candy's retrospection in Vol 2, p. 196. This is when Candy was thinking about Dr. Leonard (at the St Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago). Candy thought Dr. Leonard as a ruthless person, but later she realised that he was just being a professional doctor, thus he reprimanded Candy for treating Albert without an authorization. Later, when he became the director, Dr. Leonard abolished Room #0 in the hospital, effectively stating that all patients must be treated equally. In this monologue, Candy was saying this (last line of p. 196):

Epilogue (Anohito’s voice, smile and his open arms)

Update 25 Jan 2025

Five of my blog posts in this blog have been moved to "draft" because I used unlicensed manga images with English translations. Well, to make these posts appear again, I have to delete those manga images. Sorry guys, I don't have time to look for images right now, so I have five pages with no manga images... but at leat you can still read the post again now.

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In this post, we will look at the three aspects on that passage: Anohito’s voice, his smile, and his open arms to which Candy run into. I have explained them sporadically in the summary of Nee-chan’s blog, but I think a more dedicated post on this passage is needed.

After a laborious day (I kid you not), using Jisho, Romajidesu, and Nihongo-pro, I finally deciphered the whole Epilogue in Japanese script. Before I resume, though, I’d like to reiterate the importance of Candy’s monologues (including Prologue and Epilogue). These monologues show what happened in Candy’s current life with Anohito. We can decipher Anohito’s identity from the hints in Candy Candy Final Story flashbacks and manga. I agree with Scottie that the anime isn’t as faithful as manga, so I don’t use the anime as a source. 

It has to be said: even though Candy still had emotions to Terry by the time she wrote her unsent letter, she could have changed by the time Terry sent her his letter post-Susanna’s death. Also, although I couldn’t detect any romance between Candy and Albert in her last letter to Albert, her feelings to him could also have changed by the time Terry sent her his letter post-Susanna’s death. I have to take those possibilities into account. Having said that, Albert’s habits and Terry’s habits found in the manga and CCFS flashbacks are still very useful when analyzing Candy’s monologues. Those are historical records of Terry’s and Albert’s personalities, and we should not discount them in analyzing Candy’s monologues.

Candy Candy Final Story Proposed Chronology and Timeline

Update 25 Jan 2025

Five of my blog posts in this blog have been moved to "draft" because I used unlicensed manga images with English translations. Well, to make these posts appear again, I have to delete those manga images. Sorry guys, I don't have time to look for images right now, so I have five pages with no manga images... but at leat you can still read the post again now.

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In which the blog authoress postulates her theory about the chronology and timeline of Candy Candy the Final Story. Scroll down to the end of the letter – I mean, post – to read the proposed timeline.

Thanks to Nila from the CandyTerry.com, I’ve gained access to the precious unofficial English translations of the Candy Candy the Final Story. The translations were done by many fans, and because I do not have their permissions to disclose their screen names, I will not attribute the translators one by one. Suffice to say I’m forever grateful for their service. If you’d like to read those translations, contact Nila at the CT Forum for access.

I was rather worried before reading the novel, worried that it would be too difficult to understand. However, the novel turns out to be not so difficult to follow. Nagita Keiko wrote CCFS in flashback styles, here represented by a third person reminiscence of the events in Candy’s life from her childhood at Pony’s Home until she left St. Paul’s. Those events are divided into two volumes, Volume 1 (up to Candy knowing Terry’s lineage secret at St. Paul’s) and Volume 2 (until Candy left St. Paul’s to pursue Terry in America). Volume 1 contains Chapter 1 (Anthony’s story) and Chapter 2 (Terry’s story), while the first part of Volume 2 contains Candy’s life with Terry in St. Paul’s London.  Candy only returned to her present time twice until this moment: the first one was after reminiscing on Anthony’s death and the second one was when she started to reminisce on her journey to and in the UK.  I think these recollections or monologues serve the novel well, for it bridges us back to the “present moment” where Candy was at her new home by the Avon River.

Anohito analyses recap and Candy Candy end theme

Update 25 Jan 2025

Five of my blog posts in this blog have been moved to "draft" because I used unlicensed manga images with English translations. Well, to make these posts appear again, I have to delete those manga images. Sorry guys, I don't have time to look for images right now, so I have five pages with no manga images... but at leat you can still read the post again now.

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I’ve recapped the summary of a Japanese blog about Anohito last weekend (I nicknamed the author as "Nee-chan"). It’s a rather long post, so I better make a more simplified recap of Anohito facts and analyses. I will also present an interesting epiphany I obtained from listening to Candy Candy end theme (“Ashita ga suki”), the lyrics of which were written by Mizuki Kyoko (a.k.a Nagita Keiko) herself.

In recapping the analyses of Anohito, I use Nee-chan’s blog posts and also Scottie’s post. To be fair(er) to pro-Albert fans, I’ll refrain from talking about two main events in the Candy Candy the Final Story, i.e. Susanna Marlowe’s death and Terry’s letter to Candy afterwards. I will not analyse Candy’s unsent email to Terry, because, assuming that Candy later fell in love with Albert, that letter, and Terry’s letter to Candy post-Susanna’s death, became a moot point. However, if Candy later fell in love with Albert, I don’t think that Candy would not reply to Terry’s letter, as Bequi claimed. I think Candy would still write to Terry, but she would inform the poor man that her heart now belonged to someone else…

I will also exclude the last few letters between Albert and Candy in the Epilogue of CCFS, because as I said in my previous post, the nature of those letters is such that those letters had to be exchanged immediately after Candy learned that Albert also the Prince of the Hill. Thus, those letters cannot be the chronological epilogue, as Scottie rightly argued. Those letters should be placed way earlier in the chronology. Regarding a letter from Candy to Albert where she was thinking of returning her own diary back to Albert for safe keep, I still think that the letter is also not part of the chronological epilogue. The tone of her letter (p. 322 Japanese ver.) makes me think that her heartbreak (because of the separation with Terry) wasn't truly healed yet, hence she wanted Albert to keep her diary once more. She did say that she was happy, but the tone denies that ("At this time, the diary that you have returned to me is with me. But I have not opened it."). You can read the translation at CT Forum, but you need to register first (contact Nila for registration).

Candy Candy the Final Story: summary of a Japanese blog on Anohito

Update 25 Jan 2025

Five of my blog posts in this blog have been moved to "draft" because I used unlicensed manga images with English translations. Well, to make these posts appear again, I have to delete those manga images. Sorry guys, I don't have time to look for images right now, so I have five pages with no manga images... but at leat you can still read the post again now.

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This post contains my summary of some blog posts of a Japanese Candy-Terry fan. Notable findings (to me) are the original Japanese scripts for the complete collections of Shakespeare leather-bound books, the two references to daffodils, the "Uncle William" reference in Candy's very important monologue, and my realising that the letters between Candy and Albert should indeed be placed way earlier in the chronology, instead of placed in the Epilogue.

I've finished re-reading the Candy Candy manga. I’m glad to report that I still think Candy should end up with Terry, although Albert is truly a magnificent person. Truly, Albert was indeed an admirable person, and had CCFS not been published, I’d still consider him as Candy’s eventual husband, although not by choice (because Candy would still be with Terry had the New York incident not happened).

During my re-reading, I also cried several times, particularly when Anthony, Archie and Mr McGregor died. Unexpectedly, I didn't cry when Terry and Candy broke up, but it's mostly I think because I know Nagita Keiko has mercifully killed Susannah Marlowe hence freeing Terry to pursue Candy again. I was still gutted, though, seeing Terry chasing Candy down the stairs and hugging her, sobbing helplessly, didn’t want to let her go. Then, arriving at Chapter 9, I burst into tears as I read the Rockstown section, where Candy saw the despair Terry had post break up... and I cried again when he rose from his drunken stupor and embraced his true acting talent once more. I was once again sad when Candy, sitting by the fire with William Albert Ardlay next to her, reminiscing of another hearth in Scotland, in front of which she sat with Terry. 

Candy Candy the Final Story: the Real Happy Ending

Terence G. Granchester and Candy White Ardlay (art by Yumiko Igarashi)

Created by Kyoko Mizuki and drawn by Yumiko Igarashi, Candy Candy was my first anime, if not the second, after Lulu the Flower Princess. That was way back in the mid 1980s when I was about 9-10 years old, when all mangas and animes were innocent and non-exploitative…

I love Candy for her exuberant character, despite all the hardship she had to endure as an orphan in Indiana USA. I thought that Candy would be forever with Anthony Brown, the sweetheart she met during her trying days at the Lagan House. Yet, I never finished her story, for somehow my VHS/Beta rental store stopped supplying her stories. Then when I was already in college, this was already 1992 onwards, I started reading Candy Candy manga from cover-to-cover, all the nine volumes. I remember the days when I went to Gramedia just to buy the next CC instalment. I returned to her early days in Pony Home, her beautiful days with Anthony Brown, Alistair Cornwell and Archibald Cornwell, her broken heart when [SPOILERS] Anthony died… and then my heart beat when she met Terence Granchester. Terry, the naughty yet broken boy who made her laugh again (but not before forcing her to face her nightmares about Anthony).

Then, as I reached for Volume 7, I cried my heart out when she and Terry broke up. Not because they grew out of love… but because Candy chose to leave Terry to Susanna Marlowe, a girl who rescued Terry during an accident. My heart broke when Candy left Susanna’s hospital in a snow blizzard, as Terry tried to stop her from leaving…