i believe the old man in the beginning may likely be Shinpei because of the fireflies surrounding him and the letter as he reads it. I think Satoko did end up living a long life with him, but she died before he did. That's just how i'm seeing it tho...so they still had their happy ending even tho it's bittersweet..
I don't think so why would she write a letter to inform someone she already state she won't abandon and who knows she loves him...it more like she did send it to her father to explain that she did fell in love with someone she didn't have but was happy" the last sentence means she did stay with shinpei...like she chooses her happiness over family duties...and her father was probably sad but happy knowing was did find happiness after all even with that little time she had...my theory
I feel like Carcel's infidelity at the beginning doesn't matter to me so much because Ines had no feelings for him in the first place. He did exactly what she expected him to do. I know a lot of people still hate him for that, but he's definitely making up for it imo.
It would be different if Ines desired his affection from the start, but she felt indifferent to him and we see now that her indifference made Carcel feel like like whatever he did didn't matter to her. Was it a childish/stupid way to get her attention? ofc, but Carcel's feelings towards Ines have always been childish and immature...but he only ever feels/acts this way around Ines (▰˘◡˘▰)







BRUHHHHH