Hi there, I want to ask you if Yoshida ever said that Eiji married and had kids later on post-GoL. Source is this link
https://www.reddit.com/r/BananaFish/comments/jbru8q/beyond_garden_of_light/
Hii! I’m sorry for not answering right away, but I went looking for the interview in her book, which I recalled very vaguely. I also translated some of it, not the whole thing since it’s pretty long XD I also apologize for not getting the REBIRTH Guidebook interview, but I think this one was the most relevant, so here it is:
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Majima: Does Blanca know about Ash’s death?
Yoshida: He’ll find out sooner or later. I mean, he knows he’s gonna die someday. Since he chose to live that sort of life, it would certainly lead to this outcome, eventually. He might not know when, but it’d be sort of like, oh, so that’s how it is.
Majima: What places would Ash and Eiji visit, had they actually come to Japan?
Yoshida: There were many questions like this. Why do you want them to come to Japan this much? (laughs) Please delude your own selves.
Majima: Can he even enter Japan in the first place? (laughs)
Yoshida: He’s on the international wanted list. He’s a murderer.
Majima: He can’t leave the country, either, huh?
Yoshida: He’ll get caught by the Interpol.
Majima: Is Eiji good at cooking?
Yoshida: How should I know? (laughs)
Majima: At first, Ash ate it with a face that said it was unappetising, was it simply that Japanese food didn’t suit Ash’s taste? Or was Eiji bad at cooking?
Yoshida: Isn’t it both? Have I drawn such a scene to begin with? (laughs)
Majima: He might have gone to Shorter’s place to eat Chinese food. Maybe there wasn’t a lot of Japanese food? Well, is it okay to just answer with “how should I know” ?
Yoshida: That, how should I know?
(Everyone laughs)
Majima: So, I’ll move on to the next question. Hadn’t Ash died, what sort of job would he have?
Yoshida: Hadn’t Ash died…?
Majima: There are many hypotheses huh (laughs) also, what kind of life has Eiji been living since “The Garden of Light”? Has he become a permanent resident in the US? Does he have a partner?
Yoshida: Wouldn’t he have a normal life? Something like properly getting married, having children, and continuing to live as a photographer.
Majima: He was shown as a successful photographer in the extra story “The Garden of Light”, too.
Yoshida: He wouldn’t be able to leave New York.
Majima: What sort of pictures does he take?
Yoshida: People, I guess? Not natural landscapes, but people and the city. Going around taking pictures of men and women in New York, this kind of thing.
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Yeah. It might not be too different from what that Reddit post had, but I felt more like she simply expects him to move on from that grieving stage. It’s not definite that he got married or had kids, but it’s how things would normally go. Yoshida does generally mention they weren’t a romantic pair after all, so even if Ash hadn’t died (and I’m sorry, I’m sure she’s just done with people saying this) would she even make them a couple? Seems unlikely. So considering that Ash wasn’t exactly supposed to live much anyway, their relationship went as far as it was supposed to go, according to Yoshida’s expectations.
I suppose Eiji does give off the vibe of a person who would eventually settle down with someone. Which would be lovely, hopefully he would be able to find someone he loves. But does one necessarily need a lover in order to find happiness? Is marriage and kids the only answer? Eiji helping out those in need suits him, and I could picture him finding happiness through that. So just as vague as Yoshida’s answers were for quite a few other questions, this one also came across as a supposition at best. I’m not at all opposed to Eiji getting married, it’s just that I don’t personally believe this should be taken as an absolute truth. Maybe it’s likely that he did but, you know? Who knows? As long as Yoshida doesn’t release a new work depicting Eiji’s married life after GoL (also unlikely), it’s up to you to imagine how he’s been living. (Aren’t there many people who unyieldingly believe that Ash is alive? Isn’t it fine?)
I’m sorry for always concluding my posts basically saying “you do you”, that’s just how I feel about most things XD if I were to give a straight forward answer to your question, I guess it’s “yeah Yoshida kinda said that, but then again, hasn’t Yoshida said all sort of contradicting things?” She might change her mind, she might have said it on a whim, she might just not care — didn’t she say “how should I know”? But this one answer regarding Eiji’s marriage and kids just feels hazy to me. The only thing that seemed pretty concrete is that Eiji is very strong, he’s always been. He was pure in a way that made him the strongest in the end, and that’s something Yoshida’s mentioned a few times (I’m not sure where, as I’ve read way too many interviews at this point…) Eiji also has a US permanent visa by the time he’s holding his exhibition, it’s written in “New York Sense”. And, finally, thank you so much for asking! I’m afraid I couldn’t give a proper answer, but I’d be happy if this helps even just a little…
