Everyone has scars. But they don't speak of them because they know for a fact that it will hurt them once again. That's why it's never easy to talk about one's scars, and it gets even more difficult when it's your own, or your close family's story. But there is a writer who tells such narrative honestly and calmly. That artist is indeed HP56.

 

Kids Are All Right / LINE

 

   Dai's life is never comfortable. His mother is sick and staying at the hospital. His father is, of course, busy working and cannot meet him often. Plus, unfortunate financial situations also contribute. But the eight-year-old boy, Dai, never considers himself unhappy. Actually, he is quite happy to accept such circumstances.  

 

The artist HP56's drawing style is not colorful. The illustrations with only a few colors that do not depict an accurate proportion of a person may seem insincere at first glance. However, the drawing style rather gives power to the story. Perhaps such detachment indeed represents the overall aspect of the story. On the one hand, it reveals all the features of the character and emphasizes the characters themselves.

 

  The story is very plain. The narrative is as still as the scenery of settled water. Such scenery of water may not be so splendid but it shines on it's own as the sunlight hits the surface. That scenery is rather subdued and yet, the water definitely keeps flowing to somewhere. The same is true for the eight-year-old boy, Dai's life. What kind of adult would he become? No, before that, in which way will he grow into? Nobody clearly knows. 

 

   But <Dai> in the story is not unhappy at least. Like the title Kids Are All Right suggests, Dai in all of the episodes is certainly happy. Even if the society makes the boy unfortunate, Dai's world will be pure as long as he has an honest and innocent heart that believes in himself.