Water Moon

Hana and Keishin’s adventures through Hana’s magical world launch their intersecting pursuit of happiness. Before Hana meets Keishin, she’s convinced that “[l]iving without a dream [makes] things simpler” (19). Her regimented routine doesn’t “leave[e] any room for daydreams” (19), and she therefore doesn’t allow herself to imagine what her life could be if she weren’t fated to run her family’s pawnshop. Happiness is a figment of the imagination that Hana has learned not to seek. Before Keishin meets Hana, happiness also feels illusive to him. He marries himself to the world of science because this field of study grants him a sense of order and logic—neither of which applies to human contentment. Because “[s]cience isn’t about finding happiness” (247), Keishin learns to deny himself pleasure so that he can apply himself to his work. The characters’ meeting disrupts these notions. Over time, they challenge each other to redefine what happiness could mean. Once they start asking questions about how the world really works and what they really want for themselves, they discover that happiness might be in reach. The novel thus suggests that life’s unexpected happenings and surprising experiences might in fact offer joy and contentment.

Hana and Keishin discover that loving each other gives them happiness and fulfillment. Their complex love affair throughout the novel opens both characters to new experiences and emotions. Once they allow themselves to engage in life in new ways, they feel more alive. Being together suddenly makes “happiness [feel] simple to obtain” (247). Their life-giving romantic connection proves the novel’s central notion that “[h]appiness does not exist in a place” but rather “lives in every breath we take” (288). The only way for Hana and Keishin to find and experience this contentment is “to choose to take it in, over and over again” (288).

Throughout their lives, both Hana and Keishin have convinced themselves that they don’t have the luxury of being happy. Hana feels trapped by her responsibilities to her family, and Keishin feels trapped by his childhood trauma. Their perceived futures and weighty pasts thus compromise their ability to engage with life in the present. Together, however, they learn to embrace life and experience each moment as a new and exciting adventure. Once they open themselves to life, they open themselves to love. In turn, they find lasting happiness. Their reunion at the novel’s end completes their respective quests for contentment and offers them a hopeful future.