Alternative Character Interpretation: As mentioned in The Film of the Song on the main page, the Jack of Hearts can be read as the estranged son of Rosemary, who she perhaps gave up for adoption. A couple hints in this direction is the vague description of Rosemary having "done a lot of bad things" and looking to redeem herself, and Big Jim recognizing the face of the Jack of Hearts from "maybe down in Mexico or a picture upon somebody's shelf" (maybe Rosemary kept a picture of Jack, or Jim recognized the facial similarity to his wife Rosemary but was unaware that she had a son).
Broken Base: A perennial debate among fans and critics—which version of the album was better? Many people think the released version is flawless. Others prefer the Three Chords and the Truth feel of the New York version. And it extends to the individual songs as well. Most everyone agrees that re-recording "Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts" was a good call (the New York take is kind of tedious), but there's plenty of discussion about the other remakes.
Signature Song: "Tangled Up in Blue" and lately also "Shelter From the Storm". Also popular is "Simple Twist of Fate".
Many readers were very satisfied to see Seichi's uncle hit Seiko after many chapters of abuse. This was further compounded by Seiko finally being taken to court and being made to answer for her crimes.
Likewise, several readers were cheering when Seichi manages to finally stand up to his mother for her abuse of him in the later chapters, rejecting her and realizing her manipulations. For several chapters, he comes to understand that he is an individual with his own right to live, not her toy, and his previous embrace of her incestuous doting are quickly replaced with his vitriolic hate for her.
Fanon Discontinuity: Many fans preferred the story to end when Seiichi is still in the process of recovery after his mother gets arrested, and he finds some peace with his crush. It's not without reason, since what comes afterwards for the poor boy only drives him further into self-loathing and insanity.
Everything about Seiko. She loves her son less like a child and more like a lover. The rest of the family is constantly distanced from her, to the point where she does not partake in the tradition of placing a burning candle as tribute, and the only person she's ever really seen being close to is her son. She even has Yandere tendencies that you would normally find in jealous girlfriends in this genre, like pushing her nephew off a cliff, making sure her son doesn't hang out with any girls, including the one he's already friends with, and later kisses him passionately on the lipsafter she's done strangling him!!
Seichi starts to imagine the bullies, his aunt, his cousin and even his crush as dead cats with bullet holes in their heads. Dead cats with human heads bleeding from bullet holes in their foreheads.
In one of the most chilling Wham Shots in the series, Chapter 78 ends with The Reveal that Seiko tossed Seichi off a cliff when he was a toddler during a psychotic episode. The rest of the chapter has a bloody and bruised toddler Seichi walking around, which is absolute parental worries personified.
Even after she's been arrested, Seiko's influence on Seichi has not abated and he ends up doing the exact same thing she did to Shigeru, only this time Shigeru does not survive being pushed off the cliff.
