- #42
Claes's last line holds buckets full of meaning. She states that she can see the back of a man walking towards the sun, which isn't just a final pretty sounding line to end the manga on, it means her memories are returning. This last line is simply the reminder that, just like the other cyborgs, Cleas is gonna die soon. It's bittersweet though. She says the line fondly, as if she would be happy to be able to meet the man once more, but it also means that Claes is gonna die soon.
The manga uses the metaphor of "Fantasma" and "Ghost" a lot. I think the ending was a reflection on the concept of fantasma. Throughout the manga, we see most of the characters have lost loved ones who still influence what they do in present day. It seems that whenever a person dies, everyone still has their unfinished buisness with them, and things are left unresolved because of their death. When Enrica died, he idea and memory haunted Jean and Jose for the rest of their lives. The doctor's memory haunted Hilshire for the rest of his, and infuenced how he acted in his present day, and to Triella. But in the end, when we see everybody die, it gives a more grim look at this metaphor. The agency is but a fantasma now, and all the cyborgs who died are as well. In the epilogue, I get an overwhelming feeling, reminding me that Hanrietta, Triella, Jose, Hilshire, are not here any more. That may sound obvious, but the epilogue really makes me feel the weight of that. All the remaining members of the agency wandering around the boat, a fair amount of them just waiting for death, it feels like all the previous chapters never happened. Like all they were was a distant memory for all the characters, or a fairytale, or a fantasma. Usually I don't like it when a story wraps up with a summary of what happens to everyone in a monologue, but I think it really worked in this. In the mono, Claes just says what happened to them, and you just feel like, "They died, they just died, that's all". We just see everyone fades into a fantasma for all who still remain alive, but we know that in not long all of those people will be fantasma as well, and before you know it, there will be no one around to remember any of them, because that is how death works.
But in the end, it's more bittersweet that overwhelmingly sad alone. Cleas's last line, we see her say it fondly, almost as if she is happy about the memories returning. I think both Rico and Petra were happy in the end. Even though death was coming, they just peacefully lived out their final days with their handlers. Almost how you might see an elderly couple that has done everything they want to, and all the excitement in their life is over, and they just bitter sweetly spend their days together until they die.
I have a feeling that the last year with Rico was a very impactful one for Jean. With nothing more to do, and no more jobs for Rico, his "Tool", to fix, he has to start treating her as a normal girl. I feel that in this final year, Jean finally got to learn who Rico was as a person, and learned to see her as such, rather than as a tool. And after throwing her into the line of fire over and over again for years, I imagine that he is called to reevaluate the price of his revenge. Cause in the end he got it, but he lost his brother, and so many other lives. Now, seeing Rico as a person, and possibly enjoying the time he spends with her, he thinks about what it would be like if Rico had died in the fight, and he realizes he doesn't want to be without her.
I think he truly learned the value of a life in this final year. This is of course my speculation, but it's a feeling that the manga gave me. I could keep talking about Gunslinger Girl for hours, so I'm gonna leave it off here. If anyone wants t discuss though, please reply. I'd love to get into a discussion about the manga with another fan who loves the series as much as I do.
