Thanks for an interesting review - I pretty much agree in all ways! I'd love to read more of Hagio's later works too, because I hope she's matured as a writer. And, perhaps, that she can see better ends for her noncomformist characters too?

It's also important to remember that the bleakness of 70-ies shojo is pretty much all over the place. Stuff like Lady!!, Candy Candy and boy's manga like Galaxy Express 999 were all for young children, yet get _very_ dark in some places... And of course, the generation of happy, rather depthless (from what I've been told, never read them) girl's manga from the decade before - those were all drawn by men, btw.