Manga is often an entertaining escape, and it can even be an art form; but I never expected it to move me to tears this much. Not because of a particular anime mind you, but because of a mother’s heartwarming tribute to her Manga-loving son who tragically passed away during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan.
Yūko Tanno is a 49-year old woman who collects Weekly Shonen Jump volumes, even though she isn’t a manga fan herself. She still buys them every week though, in tribute to her late 13-year-old son Kōta, was a big fan of Shonen manga.
Kōta died away during the 2011 Japan Earthquake disaster, his body was found in March of that year. Before he passed away, Kōta bought the weekly volumes of Shonen Jump with his pocket money, and often read them with his friends.
After the disaster, Yūko continued her son’s tradition, instead of throwing away the Shonen Jump volumes. Yūko bought Shonen Jump volumes weekly for more than seven years already. Her house now contains a room dedicated to her son, complete with all the Weekly Shonen Jump volumes that they’ve collected.
Source: The Asahi Shimbun via the Anime News Network.