Boy's Abyss - Vol. 18 Ch. 183 - They Were the Boys and Girls of That Town

[Beatrice]

This is not an open-ending. It tells us exactly what happened to the characters. The only one even remotely kept ambiguous is Mao, but it's clear by Yuri's words that she intends on holding him captive.

• Reiji and Nagi lived and are working for Shinooka
• Gen is released and living with Chako. Chako wants to be a novelist
• Esemori died
• Yuko was arrested after confirming her connection with Esemori.
• Reiji and Yuko finally spat out their real feelings at each other (doesn't sound like Yuko meant all of it though)

In a vacuum, this was a fine ending, and even made the whole Shinooka chapters feel like not a complete waste. The issue for me is why the hell the last third of this manga wasn't paced like this or close to this. 60 chapters of meandering when Ryo just decides to blitz the finish line. This manga should've ended a year ago, but it was dragged on just to end abruptly.

Still most of this manga was very enjoyable, and it had a solid conclusion. 6-7/10 seems fair.

 

[Bel-Shug]

Is this the ending?

 

[dejw]

https://imgur.com/C5kxhLL

 

[Bainhardt]

Well, uh, I'll just say the usual thanks to everyone on the scan team(s?). This was a huge project.
This manga somehow feels like it ended up less than the sum of its parts.

 

[Kushikime]

Thanks for the chapter and work on the series. I think it dragged a bit in a few various places but I still enjoyed the story and what it meant.

 

[MLS7F001]

Yuuko was word vomiting about having wanted a girl.

She wanted to prepetuatue the chain of misery by prostituting the next generation, but having a boy instead was a major setback for her plans. She hated men as a whole for all the things they made to her. Not only Esemori, but also Uryuu, that yakuza ojisan, her dad, her older bro.

You can say she had a huge woman moment.

So, I might be in the minority here, but I thought his mom's outburst was her "one good deed" moment. It was specifically tailored to make him walk away from it all. And I think that is made clear by her reaction afterwards. He smiles and turns his back to leave. Which then leads her to wipe away, what I would assume to be, tears, and then being totally calm about reading Esemori's book. I think she was finally done perpetuating the horrid nature of the town and accepted her lot to wait for death. That's why she didn't leave town and just went to prison, to get the time to read the book and finally pass on. It was her choice this time, and not the town's.

 

[Beatrice]

So, I might be in the minority here, but I thought his mom's outburst was her "one good deed" moment. It was specifically tailored to make him walk away from it all. And I think that is made clear by her reaction afterwards. He smiles and turns his back to leave. Which then leads her to wipe away, what I would assume to be, tears, and then being totally calm about reading Esemori's book. I think she was finally done perpetuating the horrid nature of the town and accepted her lot to wait for death. That's why she didn't leave town and just went to prison, to get the time to read the book and finally pass on. It was her choice this time, and not the town's.

I agree. Seems clear that they were saying their goodbyes properly underneath the shitflinging. But this is a moment that needed more than 3 pages. Damn, Reiji's life built up to that conversation. Definitely rushed.

 

[semon_demon]

what a waste of time

 

[SpunkyDragon]

QUÉ

 

[nxneil13]

what did the mom go to prision for? i honestly forget with how much of a roller coaster this manga is

 

[FSLGS]

I agree. Seems clear that they were saying their goodbyes properly underneath the shitflinging. But this is a moment that needed more than 3 pages. Damn, Reiji's life built up to that conversation. Definitely rushed.

And his mother let him down to the bitter end.

 

[Madbunny]

This translation made everyone confused about if Reiji and Nagi lived or not, so I will post the translation from TL anon from 4chan that is better:

C: Hey, you sure it's alright?
Only having me come to meet you.

G: My old man's bedridden...
But he's having his wife look after him.

C: ...That's not what I mean...

G: ...I said he didn't need to wait.
I don't want to see him.

.....Isn't he living with that woman anyway?

C: Yep. At that mountain where Shinooka-san lives, they're working together.

C: ...Since Rei-kun's mom got arrested too.

G: ......It's dumb.
Why not just leave and go wherever you want...

...Chako, did your mom really agree to me living with you?

C: Yeah. Both me and her are doing as we like.
So first, you try living how you like as well.
Plus, there's nobody from that town in Tokyo.
That's its one good point.

G: ......yeah.

They are alive and well.

 

[mangaislifeschool]

shitty ass ending, I wasted 4 years reading this

 

[The_Wolf_At_Your_Door]

Wow, this ending completely ruined the manga for me. No confirmation on what happened to Reiji at the end or his mother. It feel like the author just quit at the very end.

 

[Absent666]

No confirmation on what happened to Reiji at the end or his mother.

The translation fucked up some lines, but in tl;dr:

-Reiji and Nagi are living together at the mountains and working together with Shino'oka.
-Yuuko was arrested.

Hope BasedRetard (TL-anon) uploads his version.

 

[fritzcis]

i knew reiji would never end up with shibasawa (mangas never let those relationships happen lol), but did those pages imply she ended up with mao? i'd hope not honestly. i think the last thing she needs is to be with someone if it isnt reiji.
sad to see gen and chako's characters ending like that too. gen isn't true to himself and chako seems to still be in love with esemori. yuko was terrible though, thank god she got arrested. i really would've prefered though that she died in that hospital next to esemori. it would've been somewhat fitting.
oh, and esemori was wonderful too. he was hateable, but he did what had to be done to save reiji. RIP.
goodbye to a wonderful manga

 

[The_Wolf_At_Your_Door]

This translation made everyone confused about if Reiji and Nagi lived or not, so I will post the translation from TL anon from 4chan that is better:













They are alive and well.

Ok that makes the ending someone more bearable. I would have hope that the final moment between Reiji and his parents would be more emotional and impactful.

 

[danbellucci]

My favourite part was the scene when he said
"All my life has been a Boy's Abyss"

 

[danbellucci]

i knew reiji would never end up with shibasawa (mangas never let those relationships happen lol), but did those pages imply she ended up with mao? i'd hope not honestly. i think the last thing she needs is to be with someone if it isnt reiji.
sad to see gen and chako's characters ending like that too. gen isn't true to himself and chako seems to still be in love with esemori. yuko was terrible though, thank god she got arrested. i really would've prefered though that she died in that hospital next to esemori. it would've been somewhat fitting.
oh, and esemori was wonderful too. he was hateable, but he did what had to be done to save reiji. RIP.
goodbye to a wonderful manga

it seemed like just some semi-joking fanservice scene because the author knew that the audience would want to see her one more time but couldn't think of anything sensible and serious that worked well.

 

[fritzcis]

it seemed like just some semi-joking fanservice scene because the author knew that the audience would want to see her one more time but couldn't think of anything sensible and serious that worked well.

yeah, honestly, the more i re-read it the more i think that's what it was. kinda just a joke towards the end for the fans because of how popular shibasawa was.

unrelated note but i forgot to include this in my original reply: my favorite part here was probably yuko and esemori's relationship and how it finally came to a close. honestly, that's kinda what kept me pushing when i realized nagi was going to end up with reiji instead of shibasawa. i just think its so interesting how both of them are so scummy, and yet despite hating them i root for them. its like they're made for eachother. it was so satisfying to know that in his final moments he got to be close to her, and she got clarity on everything. still hate yuko and kinda hate esemori, but together i cant help but love them.