Night is Short, Walk on Girl

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (夜は短し歩けよ乙女) is a surreal slice of life romance film directed by Massaki Yuasa.  The film was based on the novel of the same name by Torihiko Morimi and premiered in 2017.

    An upper clansman has his eyes set on a junior in his club at college.  He takes every opportunity to run into her randomly through out the city.  His plan is that eventually, through repeatedly crossing paths, an arrow will pierce her heart, making her fall madly in love with him.  Conversely the Raven Haired Beauty is only interest in one thing, enjoying alcohol.  What starts out as a wedding reception that both are attending separately turns into a mad dash across Kyoto looking for the best drink at the next watering hole.  Early in the night the Raven Haired Girl is told about a legendary drink called Fake Denki Bran and is fascinated by its existence. The search is on!!  She joins up with two strange people who invite her to join them for drinks after punching out the old man who enlightened her about the mystery drink.  The spin a tale of an eccentric debt collector who steals young mans underwear and has a large stash of the legendary counterfeit drink she seeks.

    Her senpai in the club has the unfortunate chance to fall prey to said debt collector and is taken under the old mans wing as he nurses the punch he received.  The Raven Haired Beauty learns valuable tips from the two strangers on how to drink all night without spending any money, as they crash one event after another, schmoozing easy targets to their hearts content, never sticking to one place too long.  The old man is waiting for Rihaku the debt collector to pay him a visit in order to settle a debt.  His payment is his collection of classic erotic art.  Unfortunately the revelry the Raven Haired Beauty stirs brings disaster as a man vomits all over the collection, ruining his chances to repay his debt.  As if on command, Rihaku arrives to complete the deal.  In the face of despair and desolation, the Raven Haired Beauty challenges Rihaku to a drinking contest in lieu of the mans debt payment.  This gives her the opportunity to savor the legendary drink she seeks.  Through her youth and optimism she is victorious, defeating the decrepit old man, weighed down by the speed of which his life clock ticks towards the end.

 

    As they bask in the evening and wonder where to go next the Raven Haired Beauty is enticed by that evenings book market and the sudden desire to require her favorite book from childhood.  The trio strikes off, leaving the crowd of revelers they had gathered behind, for the next adventure.  After receiving a 'friendship' punch from the Beauty, the senpai finds him self in the headquarters of a student association tasked with surveilling all of the colleges students, working to ensure they live to their potential and remain obedient members of society.  The senpai is enticed to help them with some enforcement actions in exchange for information that may help him curry the Raven Haired Beauties favor.  The exact copy she owned of her favorite book is being sold at the market..  The Raven Haired Beauty searches high and low but is unable to find a copy of that book.  Instead she retires to a bit of relaxation with her two drinking companies where she meets one of the senpai's friends, an upper classman known as Don Underwear.  The Don has been driven mad from a chance encounter with a mysterious beauty the prior year and has vowed that he will not take off his underwear until he crosses her paths again.  The Raven Haired Beauty is moved by his declaration of love, rather than at disgust by the underwear thing. 

    The erotic art collector is in a better mood after his debt was wiped away and asks the senpai to help him procure some new pieces of art from a shadow auction being held that night.  He is reluctant to help the man, but he has saved him twice now in situations he became free of pants.  the auction is less a sale and more a test of endurance held by non other than the restore Rihaku.  He challenges the few brave souls to survive his demonic hot pot for the chance to pick a book from his secret collection for free.  He eagerly joins in the contest once he learns the exact copy of the book she owned as a child is one of the treasures up for grabs. Before he can savor his victory all of the secret collection is released back into the Used Book Market by the God of the Used Book Market, to be enjoyed by all instead of hoarded by few.

    Before they can determine their next journey the book fair is quickly overtaken by an hastily assembled production by a guerilla performance troupe...the school festival is taking shape as they watching.  The spontaneous performance is a story of the sordid lives of the head of the film club (please see Tatami Galaxy for more details on this) and his partner in debauchery, the executive director of the school festival.  The main character is searching for person called the Eccentric King and the executive director may know their identity.  The performance is unofficial and continues to move through out the area, ahead of the festival committee who are trying to shut it down permanently.  .One of her companions has fallen into stupor from either too much drink or illness and the other sends the Raven Haired Beauty on ahead while he watches over her.  Something about the presence of the Beauty has made the night stretch on and she heads off to the school festival for the next adventure.

    The senpai has set up a stall displaying the copy of the Beauties childhood book in the hopes it will attract her attention, so he can continue his goal of spending the rest of his life with her.  Before that can happen his make shift display is ransacked by the Guerilla performance troupe, with the festival committee hot on his heels.  They have been cannibalizing unpopular attractions to build their ad-hoc performance spaces.  In addition, the committee is tracking a roving kotatsu, offering hot pot as another danger to be stopped.  The Raven Haired Beauty finds one of her drinking companions and Don Underwear as the proprietors of said kotatsu.   The kotatsu, chased by committee members, is immediately replaced by another Guerilla performance.  The Raven Haired Beauty is scouted to fulfill the heroines role on short notice until this performance is also forced to shut down and relocate.

    The realize the kotatsu and the performances are related, determining that Don Underwear is the mysterious playwright.  They chase him down as the final act draws near, the love scene.  The senpai refuses to let Don kiss the Raven Haired Beauty, barging in on the performance.  Unfortunately for him the Don retaliates and declares that the entire performance has been to search for the girl he found at the prior years festival.  But fate will have something a bit different in store for him and everyone else involved.  As the curtains come to a close a cold win sets in and the sickness seems to be spreading rapidly among the crowd.  As the Raven Haired Girl helps nurse her sick drinking companion back to health, with the sudden wide spread illness, the other companion suggests she go in search of a mysterious wonder drug as a possible cure for this sudden epidemic.

    The Raven Haired Beauty journeys through the desolate streets of Kyoto in search of the medicine, visiting everyone she had encountered through out the night, working to nurse them back to health.  Pushing forward, she battles through wiping winds and deep cold, searching for Rihaku, the source of the contagion.  She helps beat back his affliction but he tells her there is one that needs her help more than anyone else.  He gives her the legendary medicine and urges her to seek out her senpai who is suffering in isolation under the weight of his sickness.

    Normally I don't lay out an entire movies plot like this, but the movie is so incredibly disjointed and bizarre that it's really hard to convey whats going on with a shorter synopsis.  It wouldn't do it any service.  This story, based on a novel, is brilliant and absolutely one of a kind.  It is easy to see the production of this film being a pet project for Masaaki Yuasa, given the love he put into adapting Tatami Galaxy, another novel by the same author, into a brilliant TV anime before Science Saru existed.  Tatami Galaxy and this film exist within the same universe and there are a few Easter eggs sprinkled through out that connect the two stories.  The story follows a cohesive narrative, connecting disparate parts into a larger whole as it progresses.  The wonder and magic of the ever changing landscape and the outlandish characters is what drives the story to its unique heights.

    The artwork may put some viewers off though as it is without a lot of detail or color variation.  The characters are bold and plain with a lot of attention given to their fluid movements and stark design.  The artwork is also in line with the esthetic of Tatami Galaxy, further helping to immerse the viewer with in the shared world.  As with a lot of things on Masaaki's filmography there is a stylistic choice that eschews the standard of anime, instead reflecting styles more akin to mid 20th century French or Japanese art-house films and animation. with each of his pieces I see, the closer he moves to being my favorite director, striving hard to push aside the amazing modern sensibility of Shinkai or Hosoda.

The film is currently available on disc format and even saw a limited theatrical run in North America a few years ago.

Kare Kano vol 21

 In volume 20 Soichiro's issues around his birth parents comes to a resolution that leaves him optimistic about his future.  We get to see intoabout  his adopted mothers history and devotion to her son.  Yukino, who is outed by her own mother, finally reveals her pregnancy to Soichiro.  They see a bright path ahead of themselves and with their families blessings and support they forge a new path together as a family.

    After the whirlwind of emotions that was their final winter break, Yukino and Soichiro return to school with a defined path in front of them.  It may not be the one they initially chose, but it is one they are going to put their best effort into to make work.  Now it is just a matter of informing those close to them about their plans.  The first person outside of their family to learn of the pregnancy and pending wedding is Asaba.  Yukino wants to let him know first due to how close and similar he and Soichiro are.  She understands that this will be the final wedge that separates them in a profound way.

    After telling their teacher the news, which came as an incredible shock to lose the prestige of their top students, they tell their larger friend group.  The reception was quite happy and supportive.  As they return to Soichiro's house after school they encounter another challenge ahead of them.  the unexpected visit of his aunt, the architect of not only his but his fathers misery within the family.  She delights in Soichiro no longer following the path of a physician, ensuring he won't have a stake in the Arima business.  Soichiro fights back, telling her he doesn't care about her concerns and ambitions.  But when Yukino interjects that she will become a doctor at some point in the future, deftly countering his aunts attacks, the older bitter woman seems to relax a little.  Afterward Soichiro's father explains that his aunt may actually be fond of her soon to be niece-in-law as she plans to follow the path she was not strong enough to travel herself.

    As their senior year comes to a close, the friends see the pathway to adulthood open up before them.  Those that worked to pursue their desired high educational pathways succeeded.  Their hard work and dedication paying off, nwo it is a matter of completing that next hurdle before entering the workforce.  Other have immediate plans for adulthood and rush off directly after the graduation ceremony, leaving only Yukino and Soichiro to remember the three years which changed all of their lives, hopefully for the better,

    The tale ends with a look at the friends, sixteen years later.  It wouldn't be any fun to ruin everything about this amazing story, so I will leave it to you to enjoy that last part on your own.  This series of overviews has gone over the general plot points of the story but leaves much for anyone who has not yet read this manga to experience for themselves.  This story has always had a profound affect on me and for many years I have gotten into the habit of watching the anime adaptation every summer.  Yet I have only read through the manga three complete times up to this point, something I need to rectify.  The rest of the story, that is left out of the anime, is incredibly powerful and moving.  These are all characters that you grow to love and wish you could spend even more time with, but unfortunately we only have this 21 volume time bubble to live with them again and again.

Kare Kano vol 20

 In volume 19 the climax of Reiji's troubled upbringing is unveiled as he rejects the only person in the Arima family who showed him kindness and spirals into delinquency.  It is then when he catches the attention of the woman who would give birth to Soichiro.  But what amounted to a one night stand in desperation grew into a rift that would drive him away from his home once and for all, leaving the neglected little boy in the care of his older brother, to raise right, in hopes of lifting a generational plague of abuse in their family.

    Reiji is determined to kill Soichiro's birth mother with a real hand gun.  Desperate to not lose him again, Soichiro convinces his father to let her live, even if it means he will have to deal with her trying to destroy him in the future.  He relents and lets her leave, hoping to never see her again.  Father and son develop an understanding and Soichiro encourages his adopted father to reconnect with him as well.  As a parting gift for his mistake and regret, Reiji tells Soichiro that he is proud of him and what he will accomplish in his life.  He says they will see each other again in the future, releasing all of the tension built up.  Soichiro for once feels at peace and is determined to live the best life he can.

    The story takes a bit of a breather and dives into the past of a character we have spent little time with, Soichiro's adopted mother, Shizune.  She grew up a sickly child, surrounded by a loving family,  Her father, an artist by trade, was the closest person to being a friend with the elder Arima, Reiichiro.  Reiichiro was Shizune's personal physician in some ways, but she always felt a coldness from him.  At a young age she met his oldest son, Soji, and quickly fell in love.  As she spent more time with him, she began to understand the difficulty he had in his family life.  He was under constant pressure and scrutiny to exceed his fathers ambitions and expectations.  He lived in a house without love or kindness and all she wanted to do was to provide that love and warmth for him.

    When she had to have a hysterectomy to save her own life, she was devastated that she would not be able to provide Soji with the family she felt he deserved.  Instead, after a few years, his younger brother arrived and she hoped that they could pretend he was their child, particularly given the age difference, but Reiji didn't like her very much and that dream was crushed.  After a rift developed between the brothers, Reiji parted with a real gift of love for Shizune, a gift she didn't understand she truly needed, the chance to be a mother to his abandoned child Soichiro.

    As things settle down for the Arima family, Yukino and her mother take a rare opportunity for some mother/daughter time.  At this point Yukino's sly mother confronts her about being pregnant.  Realizing she can't hide anything from her she admits to it, bringing her mother joy instead of concern.  Now to tell her father and more importantly Soichiro.  She decides she has been putting it off too long and breaks the news to him, unsure what his reaction will be.  She sees sudden and violent shock pass over him but he smiles and resolves to be the best father and husband he can be.  Yukino is putting a pause on going to college so she can focus on raising their child as a young wife.  Soichiro feels he will skip out on college as well, seeing as he doesn't think the career he wants to pursue will need it.  Before Yukino can pry his plans out of him they head off to seek both families permission to wed.

    The Miyazawa clan is a little spooked by the announcement, Yukino's father the most shocked...particularly given his reluctance to see his daughters as anything other than little girls.  The Arima's are instantly elated at the news of their first grandchild and fully support the decision.  At this point Soichiro reveals his plans for a career.  He wants to become a police officer.  Caught up in the confessions Yukino says that her real ambition was to be a doctor.  She always pushed it aside given how poor her family is and that her younger sisters need to be able to go to college as well.  Soichiro's parents agree to let Yukino use the money they had saved for him to go to college instead while also helping to support them in the early stages of raising their child.  The future is beginning to take an unexpected turn for the loving couple but it looks bright and promising.

Kare Kano vol 19

 In volume 18 Soichiro's father begins to tell him about his families history and the troubling upbringing his real father, Reiji, had to endure.  An upbringing where even the only person who protected him ended up rejecting him in the end, pushing him away from everything that was going to be his legacy.

    Reiji started to get into fights and skip school, eventually spending time with a biker gang,  Through the gang is how he met Ryoko, the woman that would give birth to Soichiro.  Ryoko's eye had caught the handsome young man and the potential to get her hands on his rich families wealth motivated her to make him hers.  People had tried to warn Reiji about her, telling him stories about how dangerous she was.  At that point she was dating a gang leader who she had beaten into submission.  She was beautiful but could be uncontrollable when angry, due to a terrible early life of repeated rapes.

    Ryoko toyed with Reiji and made it look like they were sleeping together.  This enraged her boyfriend who tried to kill Reiji multiple times.  The bikers he thought were his friends turned their back on him, not willing to risk their lives for someone they onl wanted around for his money.  In a moment of desperation Reiji slept with Ryoko, an event that would haunt him.  Soon after recovering from a particularly savage beating he learned that Soji was fighting through a stomach ulcer.  Reiji felt the strain on his older brother was his doing and decided he needed to be a better person for his brother sake.  He returned to his home and schooling, looking to make a better person of himself.  

   Just as Reiji see's progress in restoring his relationship with Soji he receives a letter and a phone call from Ryoko.  She gave birth to a boy who looks like him.  She isn't looking to marry him, just money from hi family so that she can raise his son.  She didn't get an abortion in the chance she could make money from the baby due to who its fathers family is.  Reiji hid the existence of the baby from his brother, sending Ryoko money in secret.  But she was never satisfied with what he sent her, continuing to demand more and more.  Eventually he broke the news to Ryoko that he couldn't keep supporting her and there wasn't going to be any payday due to his status as an illegitimate child.  She refused to let him see his son and soon he hired a private detective to search for her.  It was fate that led him to his son the night he almost died.  At that moment he left Soichiro's life in his brothers hands.

       When Soji decided to raise Soichiro as his own child he rejected Reiji as his brother.  Reiji understood but was devastated by that rejection all the same.  Soon he moved away, to live in New York, to chaise after a dream of being a musician and to be as far a way as he could from everything that brought him pain.  Since that day Reiji had never contacted Soji or Soichiro, but his return makes Soji uneasy. Soichiro relays his families past to  Yukino.  A pas of generational neglect and abuse that seems to haunt the Arima family.  Given his own unexpected and unwanted birth Yukino struggles with how to tell him that she thinks she is pregnant herself.  she remains silent on this life altering decision, hoping that everything will work out well in the end, regardless of the Arima families terrible patterns.

    The reality behind Reiji returning to Japan after so long becomes apparent when Soichiro's mother tracks him down, demanding he tell her were Reiji is.  Before he and Yukino can shake the woman off Reiji arrives, suspecting she would approach their son out of desperation again.  His true intention for all of the attention and hype was to draw her out, to test how desperate she was to leach anything out of him.  He was using this as a last chance for her to show her real nature.

Kare Kano vol 18

 In volume 17 Soichiro's birth father, Reiji, returns to Japan after many years living in America working as a jazz pianist.  After Soichiro's adoptive father tells Reiji to stay away from the son he abandoned so long ago, Reiji turns around and kidnaps him.  Soichiro agrees to spend some time with his real father while he can, to try and understand the man that he could become through experiencing the life his father lives.

    The few days Soichiro has spent with his dad has made him admire and idolize him.  He is mostly being used as an assistant as Reiji play his concerts and meets with members of the press, but Soichiro understands a connection with him.  When he asks him if there is a half sibling in America, his father laughs and tells him that he isn't anyone who could be married or tied down.  He tells about an experience in his childhood that shape his future, the time his mother tried to make him commit suicide with her.  A moment in his life that broke his heart and mind from that point forward.

    After six days Reiji decides his time with Soichiro has come to an end.  He invites Yukino to join them for dinner and his concert that night, but after its concluded and they retire to his hotel room he tells his son that their time together is over with.  Soichiro struggles with the sudden dismissal and apparent misdirection at the hands of his father.  Reiji tells him that he just isn't the type of person who can be a parent and Soichiro was better off with the man who raised him.  Broken, he returns to his real home and his father sits him down to tell him the long and painful tale of Reiji's childhood.  Unfortunately, Soichiro's healing may have to be delayed as his birth mother learns that Reiji is in the country and has been with their son.

    Soichiro's adopted farther, Soji, tells him the story of what it was like to be an Arima growing up under the critical eye of his grandfather.  Soji was very close to his sister, Eiko, the same person behind all of the familial abuse and hatred thrust on Soichiro.  Eiko struggled to win her father approval.  he rejected the notion that she enter into medical school, in hopes of working for him at their family hospital.  That is when he spirit broke and she turned into the bitter woman that has been the bane of Soichiro's existence,  Soji didn't care for his fathers approval and ignored the rest of the family, choosing to live a life for himself.  After he met his wife and started a new family they learned she would be unable to bare children.  At this point Eiko confronted Soji about the choices he has been making and that the son of one of their fathers mistresses was being adopted into the family.  The boys name was Reiji and the name its self was given as a sign that he would be the heir to the family business, an honor Soji rejected earlier.  Eiko had plans for her own children to be the ones to carry on the family legacy and the apparent choice of a bastard son usurping them drove her to great anger and frustration.

    Soon after that their father fell ill and Soji became the head of the hospital, this lead him to return again to the family estate.  There he met the young Reiji and understood that he was being torment under his sister.  He confronted Eiko about the way she treated their half brother and told her that she needed to stop.  He took the young, damaged boy under his wing and did what he could to father him.  Soji couldn't be with Reiji all of the time, to protect him.  instead the boy, who resembled their father and had incredible intellect created his own way of protecting himself.  He grew devious and crafty, always having to outsmart his hate filled relatives.  The boy grew into a young man who's sole defensive mechanism was to be unpredictable and devious.  His life was a hard one, going from a mother who almost killed him into a different home filled with more hate than love.  There was much that Soichiro and his father had in common, but luckily for the later, he wound up in a home that was loving and considerate.

    Reiji began playing piano naturally, a trait he blamed on his dead mother.  As more time passed the more Reiji reflected his father, brilliant, handsome, desired and above others.  Reiji was alone in the large family house with his sickly father, a man who doted on his youngest son more than his other children, a man that Reiji hated with all of his heart.  The comparisons and praise aimed at Reiji had their toll on Soji as well.  He couldn't escape the reality that a child much younger then he was going to be blessed with everything he was not allowed to have.  Even though he had long put familial ambition behind him, something about Reiji's position began to eat away at Soji.  Soji began to reject Reiji, something he would regret and something that would change their relationship and Reiji's life.

   

Kare Kano vol 17

   In volume 16 Soichiro, with the help of his friends and loved ones, has been able to overcome the mental breakdown instigated by his birth mother.  Through conniving plots by his friends and direct confrontation by his adopted mother, the woman he wants to forget may finally give up trying to control him after all of these years of abandonment.  While he walks in a world of light for the first time, more open with those close to him than ever, Asaba feels his isolation and loneliness close in around him.

    Soichiro and Yukino are enjoying winter break with his parents at their cabin, enjoying all the winter wonderland has to offer. While exploring the attic of the main house they find a suitcase filled with old jazz albums.  When he asks his father about them he suspects they mayhave belonged to his birth father.  Later they explore outside of the house and come across a quest house that Soichiro remembers from his childhood, within it is a lone grand piano.  A distant memory returns to him of his real father playing the piano when he was little, the only time Soichiro can think of that he ever saw him.  At roughly the same time Maho is in New York, spending time with her dentist fiance.  He is able to get high sought after tickets to see a jazz pianist, Arima Reiji.

     In the evening, back at the Arima vacation home, they are watching TV when a special about a Japanese pianist making waves in America airs, the subject is none other than Reiji.   The special mentions that he will be returning to Japan for the first time in 13 years for some special performances.  The idea that his birth father is returning concerns Yukino, but Soichiro feels it would be a different situation than with his birth mother.  Concern lingers in her about his emotional well being, given how traumatic dealing with his mother was.  She is afraid to talk with him about the possibility of her being pregnant.

    Yin and Yang have been touring in America, on the success of their album.  Maho runs into the entire group, learning that they are also going to be attending the Arima Reiji performance.  At the show one particular piece causes Kazuma to begin singing along, not realizing how well his voice was carrying, Reiji picks up on the impromptu sing along and begins to play along to it.  After the performance Kazuma and the others are brought back stage to talk with Reiji..  They ask him if he might be related to their friend, Soichiro, showing him a photo.  To their surprise he tells them about being his birth father.

 Kazuma calls Soichiro to let him know they encountered his birth father and to warn him of his arrival in Japan. Soichiro doesn't seem concerned about it, not anticipating any hidden trauma like he experienced with his birth mother.  His adopted parents however are not happy with the sudden appearance of Reiji, particularly when the wounds left from his mother are still healing.  Yukino is the first to see Reiji when he arrives, running into him outside the gate to Soichiro's house.  She mistakes him for her boyfriend and gets more friendly than she should.  As soon as she realizes the mistake, Soichiro comes out to greet her, immediately concerned about her hanging off of his father.  Before that can be resolved his adoptive father steps out and punches his younger brother.  Telling him, in no uncertain terms, that he is not welcomed and should stay away from the son he abandoned long ago.  Reiji isn't going to be dissuaded so easily and approaches the young couple later on the street, presenting his son with a strange form of fatherly love...treating him with a hand gun.

    Reiji essentially kidnaps his one son with a fake gun and a motorcycle.  After giving the police a slip, he gives Soichiro an ultimatum, he knows he isn't capable of being a father to him and isn't interested in that.  He just wants to spend time with the young man for a few days while hes still in Japan.  Soichiro agrees and spends the next few days with the man he has no real memories off.  Yukino reports the bizarre incident back to his adoptive parents.  They are glad to know what happened but aren't entirely concerned for their sons safety, instead they are concerned about what type of influential effect Reiji may have on Soichiro, as Reiji is unpredictable and as intelligent as his son.

   

Kare Kano vol 16

   In volume 15 Soichiro is inundated by the memories flooding back to his early childhood.  A time of severe neglect and abuse at the hands of his biological mother.  He refuses to let anyone into his heart and tries to push his adopted parents, Asaba and even Yukino away from him.  He has succumbed to the darkness locked away in his heart, a heart he closed off at a young age to protect him.  But Yukino refuses to let the time they had together be for nothing and forces him to understand the love that surrounds him, hoping he will finally open himself up to the love for real.

    Soichiro settles into a new normal in which his parents of girlfriend see his opened heart for the first time.  He is ready to love and be loved after the catharsis of he returned childhood trauma and the renewed devotion from Yukino.  For once he feels like he can truly be himself, without worrying about debilitating hurt or disappointing those he cares for.  When he mom tries to invade his life again he decides to rely on help from his friends.  In an act of healing he tells them the outline of whats been going on, revealing he was adopted and that his mother brings him nothing but pain and misery.  He asks them for help in dealing with her.  As the true friends they have become they welcome his confidence in them openly and without judgement.  He is surprised to learn they all sensed something was wrong.  For better of worse, they decided to not push the issue and let him come to terms with it, willing to help when they were asked.

   His friends are more than eager to help him avoid his mother, who has started to wait for him at school again.  They each take turns concocting hair brained schemes to prevent her from confronting Soichiro.  After a number of failed attempts she appears to have given up this strategy and is no longer laying in ambush at his school.  Instead she ambushes him as he leaves cram school one evening.  He boldly tells her that she no longer has any power over him, that he has resolved the memories he has been suppressing and has no feelings either way about her as a person let alone as his mother.  She takes a swing at him with her bejeweled purse only to have it hit his adopted mother in the head.  Immediately Soichiro's loving mother strikes back at the hate filled one.  With a final defiant word the broken women slinks away to nurse her ego.  Soichiro may finally be done with his awful past and his adopted mother was able to enact a long held desire in physical retribution to the woman that tried to hard to destroy him.

    Yukino is relieved that the love of her life was able to come back from the precipice and become a better person for it.  He is more open with her and she begins to understand that this is the real Arima, someone she had not been able to know before.  She loves this new experience but is bothered by the pain that he went through.  She understands she will never be able to understand the trauma because she has not experienced anything similar to it.  it bothers her that, even with all of this growth, she will never understand him completely.  At the same time Asaba realizes that Soichiro has grown to the point where he no longer needs to rely on him as much as he has in the past.  Asaba still resides in a world where he has closed himself off from pain and betrayal.  Yukino confronts Asaba about hr concerns and to confirm her suspicions on why they are such close friends.  But Asaba knows that he won't be able to easily walk in the world of light like Soichiro is doing now.

Rascal Does Not Dream Of His Student - light novel

    Rascal Does Not Dream Of His Student  (青春ブタ野郎はマイスチューデントの夢を見ない) is the twelfth volume of the Rascal Does Not Dream light novels written by Kamoshida Hajime featuring artwork by Mizogushi Keeji.  The twelfth volume was originally release in 2022 and in English in 2023. 

     The following synopsis may spoil some aspects of the first eleven novels in the Rascal Does Not Dream series, if you do not want to ruin those stories stop reading until you have.  

Book Eleven: Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Nightingale review here!

      The strange warning Sakuta received from the alternate world he had been lost in around the time Mai graduated from high school bothered him.  His middle school classmate, Akagi, had delivered a warning from the other world that Mai's life was in danger and that he needed to find the singer Kirishima Touka.  He had already found her though, dressed as a mini-skirt clad Santa.  The problem may be that only he can truly see her, not unlike Mai's adolescent syndrome.  Kirishima had told him before that she was able to impart 'adolescent syndrome' on others and had done so countless times already.  Somehow her ability was connected to a strange urban myth related to hashtags on internet posts and prescient dreams.  Sakuta experienced that himself in the form of the day he gained a new student at his tutoring job.  The events of the tutoring session played out as they had in his dream.  He needed to talk with Kirishima more to understand what was going on and how much of a treat she was to Mai.

    After calling her number for days on end, she finally responded to his messages.  She offered to meet with him on December 2nd, when he was done with his classes, and they would meet and talk.  he hesitated to agree, preferring to do it another day.  When he tried to get out of it, explaining that was Mai's birthday and they had plans, the other woman insisted that this would be his only chance to talk with her.  reluctantly he told Mai that they would have to change their plans.  Much to his surprise she doesn't put up much of a fuss, understanding the complexity of the problem he is trying to solve and that its about her safety first and foremost.  Instead, she adjusts their day a bit and forces him to buy her some jewelry for her birthday, exposing him to a world that celebrities deal with while in public.

   With Mai partially satisfied, Sakuta finishs off his day at school and calls the enigmatic Kirishima to finalize their meeting.  She meets him at the entrance to his college and leads him into a quiet neighborhood where she forces him to buy her tea and cake.  He obliges, understanding he needs to grease the wheel a bit if he intends to get anything out of her...and that no one else really see's her.  During their confirmation he suspects the way she may be imparting 'adolescent syndrome' on others is through the music she uploads to YouTube.  He tests her out to see how much a threat she poses on Mai, but feels the warning is not directed related to actions she may take.  Instead he is concerned with her planning to release a new song on Christmas Eve and what it may trigger if his suspicions are correct.  He rushed home to spend as much time with Mai for hr birthday as possible, only to find four girls singing to a new Kirishima Touka song, dread filled him at the prospect of what this new song meant and its lonely lyrics. When everyone else left he updated Mai on the events earlier.  Mai made him promise to be free to spend time with her on Christmas eve and day, how could he refuse?

     That night he had a vivid and concerning dream about spending Christmas Eve with his new cram school student, Himeji Sara.  His fears of the dream being related to the hashtag are all but confirmed when he encounters Sara and she tells him about having the same exact dream.  In the dream she asks him to promise not to cure her 'adolescent syndrome' which leads to him prying from her that she does in deed suffer from it.  As in the dream, she thinks her syndrome is favorable to her and does not wish to be rid of it.  He isn't so sure and concerned it may be linked to the unknown threat to Mai, he presses her to understand what is going on.  Her condition appears to be stemming from the realization that the boy she grew up with and thought she would spend her life with does not feel for her that way, instead is focused currently on Futaba, who is instructing him at the cram school.  The further he digs the less likely it appears he will be able to keep his promise to spend Christmas with Mai, but he is more concerned with understanding why she is in danger and what, if anything, this growing hashtag tread has to do with it.

    Returning to the Rascal Does Not Dream series after many months and reading all of the Suzumiya Haruhi novels really underlined how good the Rascal books and story over all is.  I have been a long time fan of Haruhi but Rascal is really a superior product.  This may be the best book in the college arc so far and makes me with the release schedule for the next volume would speed up.  The plot was consistent, well paced and gave a new version of 'adolescent syndrome' to experience and work through.  Everything since the resolution of Shouko's 'adolescent syndrome' has been building to what will be unveiled in the thirteenth and more than likely fourteenth and final volume in the series.  While awaiting the English version of the next volume to publish we can twitch over getting English versions of the second and third movies...until then...it's just a waiting game.  Maybe I need to reread this great series even though its not completed.

Kare Kano vol 15

    In volume 14 Soichiro fell into the trap laid by his birth mother, a trap to force him into her life, after she nearly killed him 10 years earlier.  She manipulates him into being her obedient child, even when he struggles against her influence.  His adoptive parents fear for what this may lead to.  meanwhile Yukino recognizes that drastic change that has taken place with the man she loves but she it lost to understand what is going on.  She struggles with the reality of their relationship, from the very beginning and if she really knows who her boyfriend is.

    The memories begin to return to the defeated Soichiro.  Memories of oppressively hot summer days, locked in a dingy one room apartment, being beaten mercilessly by the person who is supposed to be his protector.  The desperation to be held and loved by her, even though she does nothing but hurt him.  The small child does not understand that his life is not how it is supposed to be yet he realizes that there is a connection he is desperate for, even if it is from the person who's hands show no mercy.  Soichiro, on the cusp of adulthood, realizes the world of deceit and punishment he was trapped in before his adoptive parents rescued him.  He realizes that he has worked hard to attain the level of happiness that was given to him without condition.  he has come to realize that he does not deserve to suffer any longer at the hands of the woman who tried to destroy him long ago.

    He can't bring himself to admit to what has been happening though, unwilling to face the disappointment in his parents, in Yukino.  He arrives home early in the morning, his parents are happy he has returned.  But when they broach the subject of he seeing his birth mother he looses his control and yells at them, fleeing their house once again.  He wanders dazed until returning to his senses, the only place left to go it Asaba's.  his best friend gladly takes him in but tells him that Yukino knows shes being lied to.  Soichiro punches him but this seems to relieve some of the tension.  After apologizing to his parents he settles in to stay the night, so he can unwind more before facing them to talk about his past.  Yukino arrives and forces her way in, knowing that he is there.  he confronts her, telling her she needs to leave.  An attack like nothing she ever expected from him.  Who is this man that she thought she knew?

    She confronts him at school but he tries to avoid the subject.  She is no longer beguiled by the fake him, she demands to know whats going on, what is truly in his heart.  He falls into his terrible memories, almost to the point of madness.  Asaba steps in to calm him down and they see him off to his house.  Alone, he begins to tell Yukino the outline of whats been going on with him, in the hopes that she can save him now that the cracks have opened up and the horror that was his early childhood have taken hold of the promising young man.  She is resolved to do what she can to rescue the person she loves.

    Yukino continues to confront Soichiro, as he continues to build a wall around his heart.  Asaba has told her a few details about his birth mother.  The thing that really concerns her is the truth behind her boyfriends feelings and motivations.  She corners him and demands answers to the questions that are burning into her soul.  She realizes that he has shut himself off from everyone and that he may never have really loved her like she thought.  He refuses to open up to her, to let her heal him.  He has become consumed by the memories of the abuse at his mothers hands.  He can not deal with a world that loves him.  He refuses to accept it into himself, believing he lacks the worth of that kind of love.  He realized that the moment he understood his mother had returned to check if her only child was dead or not was the moment he knew he could never truly love anyone again.  He sealed his heart to protect him from that level of pain ever again.  the day he almost died by his moms hands....the day his new parents brought him into their home and love.  A love he refuses to accept of give.  Yukino realizes that he may never truly have loved her like she thought he did and it begins to break her only resolve.  He was afraid of the world she opened up for her self, leaving him alone to his misery, shut off from anyone feelings.

  Even though he tries to push her away, Yukino continues to push him.  When she see's a severe, self inflicted wound to his hand, she immediately confronts him.   She fights against all of his excuses, forcing him to come to terms with the truth of the situation, the truth he refuses to see.  He wants to be done with everything, abandoned by everyone around him, so he can wallow in his misery and be fed upon by his inner demons.  He doesn't want to accept that people will let problems work themselves out.  Yukino continues to force him to realize that it will take much more than they have gone through to stop her from loving him and wanting to help him.  She begins to force open the dark shell he has tried to make his home.

Kare Kano vol 14

  In volume 13 the story turns to the inner demons facing Soichiro as he attains status and recognition.  He is haunted by the abuse of his extended family and the contempt they have for him.  He is driven to knock them down to earth as he attains success they continue to deny from him.  But as he works towards that goal he hides this vindictive darkness from everyone around him, fearing it will destroy the relationships with those he loves, especially Yukino

    As the end of their senior year nears, Yukino frets over what to do to celebrate.  She wanted to go on a trip with all of her friends, but everyone else is jumping so far ahead of her in life that no one will be around.  Instead Soichiro suggest they take a trip together, just the two of them.  Before Yukino can give him an answer an unexpected visitor makes an appearance in Soichiro's life.

    He returns home one afternoon to find a guest at their house but the guest brings painful memories bubbling to the surface.  Following his appearance on a daytime television show, Soichiro's mother decides, after all of these years, to reconnect with her abandoned child.  He rejects her immediately, not wanting to have any contact with the woman who abused him at such a young age and then left him in limbo until his aunt and uncle adopted him and raised him as their own.  She leaves the house but is not dissuaded, instead ambushing him at his school the following day.  He sends Yukino and their friends on ahead, without any explanation.  He hopes that he can settle this once and for all, expressing his great distaste with her.  She convinces him to take a ride with her, so that she can have a chance to explain things to him.  He relents, interested to understand more about the fate of his biological parents what could have lead to them abandoning him.  His adopted parents have tried to shield him from much of that so he has only been ale to guess from the insidious rumors of his extended family.  He was not even sure if either of them were alive any longer.

    His mother tells him that his father, Reiji, was illegitimate, a product of an affair between his grandfather and a much younger woman.  This marked him as an outcast, and much like Soichiro afterwards Reiji was tormented endlessly by the family.  Soichiro posits that his adopted father may have been the only protector that Reiji had.  He senses a sadness in him sometimes as if her is seeing the lost brother in the young man he calls son.  his mother shows him a picture of his birth dad and he sees the resemblance immediately  This truth only helps to compound the problems plaguing Soichiro, recognizing some of the hatred directed at him is stemming from his fathers existence in more ways than he originally recognized.  How much like his parents is he really?  He can't tell if his mother is being honest or manipulative.  Due to his distrust of her he suspects that he does not differ much from her in the way he has lied to people and manipulated them subtly his entire life.  he has perfected the lie of the upright and obedient son for his adopted parents, never revealing the true nature of his parentage as much as possible.  But it may all have been for nothing as his darkness has started to leak out.

    His mother convinces him to meet again, so that they may talk more about his origins.  He is drawn into learning more about the things that he believes made him who he is and agrees, but worries that he is only being manipulated by her.  He hopes that the truth will release him and he can be the person that Yukino deserves and that he wants to be.  She confronts him the next day, wanting to understand who the beautiful woman was that he was talking to.  He lies, saying it was a woman from the neighborhood and he decided to visit her house afterwards.  Yukino lets the question drop but realizes quickly that he was lying to her.  It changes her perspective of him and she worries what it really means.

    As he agreed to, Soichiro meets up with his birth mother after school, he tries to tell her that he has changed his mind and doesn't want anything to do with her after all.  He suspects she may not be forthcoming with the accurate details of his father and his birth.  She convinces him to at least give her a parting memory, dinner with her at a restaurant she already booked a table for.  He relents, willing to do whatever it will take to be done with her once and for all.  The dinner starts with a tailored outfit and ends with his mother, quite drunk, forcing him to accompany her to a club.  As midnight approaches he gives her an ultimatum and tries to leave her.  She traps him at this point, threatening to continue to show up at school, striking his fear of exposing any dark secrets to his friends.  She wants him back in her life and will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

    He struggles to hide that he is spending every moment outside of school with his mother, lying to his adopted parents and avoiding Yukino.  It doesn't take long before his aunt realizes what is going on.  She confronts Soichiro's birth mother and tries to break off their interactions.  He is lost though and continues to obey her demands, afraid of what ever it is that may be revealed if she were to be unleashed.  Yukino realizes right away that something is wrong but finds it difficult to confront him about it, instead she confronts the only other person who knows the 'real' Soichiro, Asaba.

    Asaba deflects her questions, teasing her a little bit, but also sparking a doubt with in her.  She is desperate to understand why he is lying and how long it has been going on.  She searches through their time together, more than two years as a couple.  In the beginning she was sheltered, with nothing outside of studying and her love for Soichiro.  She was afraid that she would lose to his deeper world and decided to become more worldly too.  She opened her self up to more people and more things, growing a group of friends that could be trusted and relied on.  But somewhere along the way her relationship with Soichiro got lost  She struggles to understand if it is something she did wrong or if there was a part of him that was a problem before she became a part of his life.  She wants nothing more than to understand why he is being the way he is and what it will take for him to truly be honest with her.

    As Souchiro tries again to break off contact with his birth mother emotions rage between them.  he realizes she is only after money, wanting to manipulate him to continue her lavish lifestyle.  She turns it around on him, bent on making sure that he cant he happy if she isn't.  In the midst of the altercation long repressed memories flood back...the boy Soichiro is lost again and the only thing he wants to reach out for is the only thing he loves...Yukino.

Kare Kano vol 13

In volume 12 Kazuma was finally able to confront Shibahime about his feelings, but only after he runs away from home and quits school to focus all of his attention on the band.  We also got a peek into the life of the friend groups background member, Rika and the complicated relationship between her and Aya's older brother.

    Youngest Miyazawa sister Kano struggles with being familiar with every popular senior in school due to their friendship with Yukino.  Everyone finds it both dazzling and obnoxious the casual access she has to those in the school that are deemed untouchable by mere mortals.  Her peers suspect she may be using their familiarity to her advantage when in reality she wants nothing more than to downplay their connections.  She prefers to sit in the background, unnoticed, able to go about her life the way they pleases her.  Yet it proves hard to remain anonymous when walking the halls and your older sisters friends continue to call out to you.  The real reason she chose to go to the same school is to be closer to her literary idol and another member of the Yukino friend group, Aya.

     As they move into the studious exam phase of their final year of childhood, Soichiro struggles with his relationship with Yukino.  His accumulating accolades build to a stark contrast of the darkness hes buried deep within himself.  The darkness caused by the abuse from his extended family purely on his natural parentage.  Due to his troubled childhood, at the hands of his cousins primarily, he has worked so hard to defy the stigma placed on his shoulders from his fathers downfall.  As he gains more and more attention from his accomplishments he is keenly aware of the spotlight that is being placed on him.  First his accomplishments in kendo, leading him to be one of the top ranked high school players in the nation.  Then his placing first in the national college mock exam, bringing media attention to him.  Surely his cousins and other relatives who have wished him nothing but ill will have noticed.

    He is able to learn what that attention has wrought as he and his parents attend a family wedding.  Now that there is an amount of praise being shown to him from outsiders he is sure the jealousy and venom from his relatives will surface.  The three cousins who terrorized and abused him as a small child approach him in private to unleash their attacks.  The jealousy of his achievements is twisted and spat on as they tell him he will never truly be a part of their world, given his lowly birth, regardless of his accomplishments and praise from the common folk.  He prepared for something like this and had been planning to show his hand to them once and for all.  One of them moves to punch him but he easily outmaneuvers the attack, surprising them.  He reminds them he is a well trained martial artist and they can't pull stuff like that on him any long.  At this point the careful facade he has crafted for most of his life is let go and he expresses his true feelings in regard to their relationship and the hardships thrust upon him by the family at large.  In stunned silence he dismisses their pettiness and false assumptions.  He warns them that he will do what ever it takes to assume the role in society he wants to, against their belittlement and terror.  He knows that their protector will not be able to save them forever and some day he will destroy them if he needs to.

    Soichiro struggles with the version of him that everyone expects or that he wants everyone to expect.  He wears a face of obedience and stoicism.  Doing everything he can to make his adoptive parents proud, never to disappoint or burden them.  he never wanted to come across as conceited or spoiled, never taking his situation for granted.  It is the version of him that caught Yukino's attention, lead her to at first see him as a rival and then as an equal, sensing the hidden persona with in him.  After they agreed to be their real selves and to not hide things from each other, he continued to hide the deeper darker part of himself from him.  He fears it would cause her to push him away.  That dark side is one filled with thoughts of revenge.  He deeply desires to pay back those who have hated him and shunned him all of his life.  He wishes to attain a position in society and his family where he will be able to unleash all of the terror and hatred that has been bound up within him.  He does not want this part of him to surface before the woman he loves.  So he continues to hide himself away, remain distant, almost unloving and aloof.  He struggles with this.  he sees his obsession with his family as a disease that will keep him from achieving the same level of greatness that Yukino will achieve.  He sees her and believes that she will continue to shine brighter and brighter, while he will dwell in the shadows, irrespective of any outward accomplishments he attains.

    Sensing something in his adopted son, Soichiro's father has a private conversation with him.  He wants to reinforce the pride that his parents have in him and how well he has done for himself and the love they receive from him.  Medicine is the family business and Soichiro has been prepared to take over his fathers hospital eventually, it is almost expected of him to do so.  Aware of the hatred much of the family has towards him, his father tells him that he should choose the path in life he wants to take, instead of being bound to any family expectations.  He understands that continuing on his course will not help him to escape the pain and suffering he has dealt with all of his life.  He has more than proven he cn do anything he wants to with his life and his father is releasing any shackles that may exist on him, telling him he should life for himself and no one else.  But could this change in direction be too little too late in the young mans life?  At this rate he is the top senior in the entire nation, with Toyko U as his college of choice.  He wants to continue going to college with Yukino, even if she against going to the same university as he.  What will he do now and how much longer will he be able to be close to the only person that matters to him?  How much longer can he keep up his false face under her persistent scrutiny and brilliant future?

The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya - light novel

   The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの直観) is the twelfth volume in the Haruhi light novel series.  It was written by Tanigawa Nagaru with illustrations by Ito Noizi.  This twelfth volume was originally released in Japan and in English in 2020.

Click here to read the synopsis of the eleventh volume, The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 2. This series is 20 years old at this point, but spoilers follow. 

    After a break of nine years between this and the last volume of the series to come out we return to the world of the SOS Brigade with a series of stories.  The first one takes place just after the return from the ill fated winter mountain mystery retreat.  On the way back home from the retreat Haruhi decided that all five members of the Brigade would hit as many shrines as they could to ring in the New Year.  The first shrine they stop at to pray leads to a minor inconvenience as the strap on one of Haruhi's shows breaks, causing her to rely solely on Kyon to get out of the shrines grounds and meet up with the rest of the Brigade, nothing more than a bit of personal time between the two main figures.

     Next the story jumps to late May of the second year of high school.  A messenger from the schools mystery research club arrives with a stack of research material for Haruhi based on a passing glib remark earlier in the day.  Haruhi had asked the girl, also a recent transfer and classmate of she and Kyon, if there were any legends or mysteries related to North High.  Kyon and Koizumi count the timing of the delivery as in their favor given that Haruhi is not yet in the club room.  Instead of hiding the mountain of material freshly delivered from the overly perceptive leader, they decide to head off her ambition and come up with seven mysteries for her.  The four of them debate and conspire about different strange occurrences that could take place in the school, be explainable by skeptical means and be interesting enough to entertain Haruhi.  All in the name of preventing her imagination wrecking havoc across the campus out of her sudden urges to be mystified with localized legends.

    The third, final and by far longest story in this volume involves the members of the SOS Brigade and a guest, the aforementioned member of the mystery research club with the bizarre nickname 'T', partaking in an investigation instigated by Tsuruya.  Prior to Haruhi arriving to the literature club room, T and Koizumi are having a spirited discussion about mystery novels and the various methodologies of deconstructing their narratives.  Surprisingly, Nagato is also offering limited interactions in the conversation while Kyon sits by, bewildered by the level of nerdom the two transfer students are engaged in.  Their conversation comes to a natural conclusion with the arrival of the Brigade chief who immediately receives an email to the SOS Brigade website...something that has never really happened before.  The email is a request from Tsuruya to help her solve a mystery.  In a series of emails she provides anecdotes around her life as trophy daughter of a powerful business family, being dragged around to important social events for meet and great duties.  In each of the examples the Brigade begins to deconstruct any obvious clues to determine what the mystery may be, digging closer into the same principles of methodology that T and Koizumi had previously debated while getting an insight into the real life of their weirdly optimistic upperclassman.

    I wasn't sure what to expect with this volume for a few things.  The biggest was it being released nine years after the prior novel.  The other concern was how solidly the last novel wrapped up a really nice ending point for the franchise as a whole.  Sure, there are a few things that have been mentioned in passing that would elicit stories of their own, particularly around the pending cherry blossom viewing party at the Tsuruya residence and the mystery of the object unearth on her family mountain.  Yet neither of these things were expanded upon much in this volume.  Instead something I feared would happen, a series of potentially unrelated stories, a format I have come to dislike in Tanigawa's writing.  But my fears were unfounded.  This was a really enjoyable volume and the Tsuruya mystery portion was well done.  As it started to unfold I was concerned that some aspects of the mystery were going to be unfathomable by non-Japanese readers given a particular reliance on kanji readings that would not be apparent in another language.  As that part unfolded those fears were eliminated and the manner it was handled was quite enjoyable.

    The future of further stories in the franchise isn't entirely certain.  A thirteenth light novel volume is planned to come out in the near future, with two previously published stories and two new ones.  Beyond that though it's hard to tell.  I am not sure what resource there is to see what other stories have been published in magazines that could be compiled into future volumes beyond these next two.  Either way, this volume did not disappoint, especially given the almost complete lack of super natural elements to it.  I will wait to see what else may transpire, forever hoping for a return of an animated adaptation.

    Speaking of the anime, there is a final afterward in the twelfth volume in which Tanigawa reflects on the tragic and horrific loss of so many lives in the terrorist attack on the Kyoto Animation Studio 1 in 2019.  He speaks about brief memories of some of those staff members he spent time with during the course of the TV and movie adaptation process, unable to really express his grief for the senseless loss of life.    His words are worth reading and reflecting on.