I've completed the latest addition to Kawaguchi's heartwarming series set in the time-traveling Café Funiculi Funicula. Like its predecessors, this volume presents four interconnected stories of visitors seeking to travel through time within the café's strict limitations—most importantly, returning before their coffee goes cold.
Themes I Noticed
Emotional Honesty vs. Brave Faces
- The burden of pretending to be strong when vulnerable
- How acknowledging pain can lead to genuine healing
- The courage found in showing true emotions rather than hiding them
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
- Healing fractured relationships before and after death
- The complex interplay between pride, misunderstanding, and love
- Finding closure when direct communication is no longer possible
Trust and Agency in Relationships
- Learning to let loved ones make their own choices
- The damage caused by jealousy and comparison
- How controlling behaviors stem from insecurity rather than care
Memorable Quotes
"It's brave to smile when you're sad, but sometimes it's braver still to let yourself cry."
"Doubt doesn't have to stop you from moving forward—sometimes you must run alongside it."
"The kindest thing we can do for those we love is to trust them to know their own hearts."
What makes this installment particularly powerful is how it explores the theme of kindness in its many dimensions—kindness to others, kindness to oneself, and the painful consequences when kindness is forgotten or withheld. Each story addresses a different aspect of this theme: Yuki's story examines the false kindness of hiding pain to protect others; Megumi's narrative explores the kindness of creating memories even when outcomes can't be changed; Fumio's tale reveals how controlling behavior masked as protection can be the opposite of kindness; and Tsumugi's story shows how jealousy can blind us to the kindness others offer.