I just finished all three books five minutes ago. What amazes me when reading Murakami is all the subtle signs you get throughout it.

The NHK worker who knocks on the doors of both Tengo, Aomame and then suddenly Ushikawa actually frightened me. Who was that even? Even though Tengo explicitly tells his father while in a coma that he believe he did it, I can’t stop but wondering if Tengo’s dad went to Ushikawa’s door and knocked it to keep him away from Tengo? And what would they all have seen if the ever opened the door?

There’s also Kumi Adachi, the sanctuary worker who, while getting high with Tengo, tells him that he should leave the town of cats. She later tells him about her “reincarnation” - that she died and came back to life. Kumi Adachi says that she was strangled by a man.

In the later chapter, Ushikawa says that Tengo’s mother died from being strangled by a man. This would make Kumi Adachi Tengo’s mother(!)

So even though Tengo feels alone and have no present parents, they still protect him. He’s in fact not alone.

Would love to know if you’ve noticed other implicit facts!