zenny

SPOILER WARNING, as I find it rather difficult to perform a literary analysis while attempting to remain spoiler free.

To celebrate the release of the official translation, I have decided to write a review on one of my most favorite BL short stories of all time. When the official translation for Ghost of Paradise had released, I thought that it wouldn't hurt if I were to read it again. Even before I reread it, I recalled just how intricate and haunting the storytelling was and how uncanny the characters were. After rereading it, I can now confidently say that Ghost of Paradise was all that I remembered it being and more. It's a story that touches on guilt, feigning ignorance, and a horrid, ethically wrong desire masked behind "paradise."

First, let's address the elephant in the room: What exactly is "Paradise?"

I believe that "paradise" is a metaphor for sin. In the case of the Jerome family, their sin is (very obviously) incest, so therefore, their "paradise" would be incest. Every time that Theo's father hosts the "Night in Paradise," he is really indulging in his deranged (later turned incestual) fantasies.

Next, analyzing the Jerome brothers(?)

Theodore and Cedric are literal opposites in everything they are. Physically, their physical features are strikingly different and contrast nicely. Their physical appearances also help define them as characters.

Much like how Theo looks, (dark, lifeless eyes, exhausted-looking), he is a man drowning in terrifying, unforgettable past memories. He feels the guilt of being his father's accomplice during paradise, and he lets that guilt and regret eat him whole, even as he runs away. You cannot settle your guilt if you run from it. To forget that anything ever happened in this way is not healthy. Cedric is the literal opposite. Unlike Theo, he is able to accept "paradise," but morphs it into his own preferences. Since he doesn't let the sin of "paradise" eat away at him, he still maintains a pure, innocent appearance. He acts as if nothing happened, not because he's running away from it like Theo, but because he is continuing on with the sin—he embraces the sin of "paradise," and he felt this sin the moment the two of them met.

Though the story doesn't really confirm whether or not Theo and Cedric really ARE or are NOT half brothers, I don't think it really matters in the long run. Incest isn't always about the biological aspect, it's about the mental aspect, too. Even if they really didn't share any blood, the fact that Theo thinks of Cedric as his brother would still make their twisted relationship "incestual" (at least to Theo). I don't believe that Cedric, for a second of his life, thought of Theo as his brother. The moment they met, he fell in love with him, and not in the way of how a brother would love a brother. On the other hand, Theo most certainly did see Cedric as his brother, hence why he called their relationship the "sin of paradise" and compared Cedric to his father.

What role does Theo's mother play in this story?

Theo's mother is the ghost of "paradise." She is also his voice of reason, as well as a manifestation of the traumas he has faced in his past. At first, he was very much like his mother. His mother, unable to handle the guilt of knowing about "paradise," killed herself so she could finally be "freed" of knowing this sin. Theo escaped from his home to be "freed" as well, an action similar—though not as drastic—as what his mother had done. However, I believe that Theo was going to attempt to commit suicide like his mother. The letter he writes to an unknown "Gabriel" is likely his suicide note. Since there are a lot of biblical undertones in the story, "Gabriel" could actually be referring to the angel of heaven here.

Her ghost told him to run from home, and so he did, but once his past returned to him, he started seeing her ghost again; a reminder that he cannot run from "paradise" any longer. At the very end of the story, when Theo succumbed to the sin of "paradise," his mother embraced him, and told him that "paradise" is true freedom. I believe this scene shows that Theo no longer has a sense of reason. He has become like his brother(?), and by proxy, like his father, for embracing and coming to terms with "paradise." But he is hearing his mother's ghost say these words to him as a way to justify his sudden change in thinking.

Is eternal damnation a true "paradise"?

Absolutely not! But heaven and hell feel very similar. Theo believed he would go to hell for living with the guilt of knowing about his father's "Nights of Paradise," abandoning his innocent brother(?) to bear the weight and the guilt instead of him, and therefore, it shows that he still had some kind of morals and ethics when it came to murder and incest. Yet despite it all, he felt euphoric when murder and incest were approached from a different angle: murder referring to his father's death, and incest when engaging with Cedric. Theo is damned to hell, but he calls it "paradise," because to him, the two feel very similar.

Sins can be deceiving. To know which is which is up to you to interpret, and sometimes you are wrong. Ghost of Paradise is a wonderfully written, hauntingly beautiful story that depicts how hell can easily be masked behind heaven, and how accepting the sin of "paradise" can bring not just you, but those around you into ruin.

My final rating for Ghost of Paradise is a 9/10.

Thank you for reading my review! Zenny out! ლ(´ڡ`ლ)

I don't think I've found an author capable of capturing a character learning to move on from his guilt in just a single chapter. It's quite a feat, I must say. But that's not the only incredible thing to this story—the visuals are spectacular, the pacing of the storytelling couldn't be any better, and of course, the entire atmosphere of it all is just heartcrushing yet so, undeniably poetic and beautiful.

Guilt. It's something we all feel from time to time. Whether it be you feel bad for putting the blame on your sister when it was really you who made the mess, or whether it be you feel you could have prevented certain past events from happening, it's a feeling we as humans all universally share. Guilt is a strange emotion because we all feel it differently. Much like grief, we all cope with the feeling of guilt depending on how "bad" it is, and we all cope with it in different ways. For some, we can learn to push it aside and move on with our lives, and for others, we let it fester and eat us alive until we can't take it anymore.

Not only does the author capture such a complex emotion so well with just a single chapter, their artwork is immaculate. It's beautiful—very fitting for the theme of this story. Their style gives the panels an almost air-light, whimsy feel. The panelling is done wonderfully, the dialogue carries the story and is coherent enough for the reader to understand what happened in the past to cause what was currently happening in the present.

Because these themes are so deep, it makes the characters feel so human. We know next to nothing about them besides what's shown in the oneshot, and yet it feels like we know the ins-and-outs of their entire being. We see them at their happiest, we see them at their lowest. Joy, sadness, grief, they're all mortal things we all share, but these two gentlemen in this story share it with us. They're fleshed out wonderfully so in this way.

Of course, it's hard to learn to move on on your own. Sometimes, you'll need someone to help you. With the help of his partner, the main character learns to overcome his grief and guilt. He comes to terms with the fact that it's not his fault. He's given another chance to live the life his partner dreamed for him to have. He knows it's all in the past now, but he decides to stay strong and overcome his sorrow because that's what his lover would have wanted for him.

Don't let the feeling of guilt eat you alive. Sometimes, you might just need a little outside help to ensure you overcome your hardship. When you worry, you don't have time to remain your happiest version of yourself—the version people wish for you to have. When that guilt is gone, you'll be at peace; you can finally smell the scent of life.

My final rating for this oneshot is a 9/10.

Thank you for reading my review! Zenny out! ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~