[Episode 22754] [Episode 22754]Imagine a simple, middle-class family. Father, mother, one son. The father is a salesman who, as a way to advance through the ranks of his business, had to frequently move from town to town, taking on jobs whenever he could. The mother is a housewife who supported her husband as best she could despite the frequent disruptions moving from town to town invoked on them. The son is actually quite a bright boy who, despite the love he felt for his parents, rather came to resent being shifted from place to place all over the Japanese home islands, forced to loose friends every time he moved.
This is the Shigoozei family. Ryuuji, Mariko and their son Gioo.
But Gioo's story also involves twelve others.
Twelve very SPECIAL others...
It all begins in the northern city of Aomori, back when Gioo was in the first grade of elementary school. There, he made the acquaintance of Taeko Adachi, the daughter of a couple who owned a liquor store. The Shigoozeis rented rooms over the Adachis' establishment, thus guaranteeing that Gioo and Taeko would become close. And they did. In fact, they became so close that a common joke among their classmates was to refer to Gioo and Taeko as "the Adachis" or "the Shigoozeis," treating them as if they were a married couple.
Of course, for young kids, that was rather hard to take at times.
Gioo's and Taeko's idylic existence came to an end in the summer of their fourth year of elementary school, when his father was forced to move south to Sendai in hopes of getting a better job. The move was so sudden that Taeko never go the chance to say goodbye to her beloved friend; by the time the poor girl had got to the train station, the train carrying the Shigoozeis south to the capital of Miyagi prefecture had just left.
But Taeko never forgot him...
Settling into Sendai, Gioo was, as young children are wont to be in situations like this, devastated over noting being able to play with Taeko anymore. Fortunately, a new friend lurked over the horizon, one he got to know the first day he started classes in his new school.
Well, at first, he TRIED to get to know her. But Emiru Nagakura was, even at that age, a hard person to relate to. Whenever the mood struck her, her mind would drift off on some lark. Mostly, she would imagine -- or did she really imagine it? -- that a UFO was floating over the school, bearing with it strange lifeforms from another world wanting to visit Earth. The other kids, even the teachers, pretty much had gotten used to Emiru's ways.
In Gioo's mind, however, he had encountered a kindered spirit.
Before long, Emiru began to warm up to the new kid in the class. She introduced him to her other big passion: the occult, specifically the study of the Tarot. They also began to explore abandoned and condemned buildings. And, as a symbol of their growing friendship, they took a bottle of lamune (a type of lemonade) and buried it with a secret note to serve as a time capsule.
Sadly, Ryuuji was transferred north to Sapporo by the time Gioo was about to start his fifth year. Like he was when he was forced to leave Aomori, Gioo was badly hurt when he was taken away from Emiru.
But Emiru never forgot her "darling"...
Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido. Home to the legendary Winter Ice Festival, several prized horse breeding ranches and Honoka Sawatari.
Gioo met Honoka the day he started classes for the fifth year, though, at first, they never spent much time with each other. Honoka was of the type who, as most girls do at that age, though of boys as "icky." That changed the day she learned that Gioo himself was interested in horses -- and it REALLY changed the day Honoka nearly broke her neck while taking her riding lessons.
Gioo saved her from the nasty fall, but wound up in the hospital. Feeling guilty over the new boy suffering on her behalf, Honoka visited him one day, then arranged to exchange personal journals with him (where one person writes something in a journal, then allows her friend to read it and write something back and vice-versa). This practice, atop giving Honoka a brief introduction to Gioo's times in Sendai and Aomori, soon allowed the young horse-lover to see that not all boys are "icky."
However, as fall descended on Japan that year, work beckoned Ryuuji southward. Honoka learned of the impending move almost the day it happened, which prevented her from revealling her last journay entry to Gioo.
The entry that would have told him how much she loved him.
But even as the Shigoozeis headed south into Honshu, Honoka vowed that somehow, someway, her beloved Gioo would finally see that message...
The November of Gioo's fifth year found him in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city. And found him classmates with a girl named Kaho Morii.
Kaho was an orphan, forced to live with her paternal grandmother Toshie, the proud owner of Okonomiyaki Mori-ya, one of Osaka's most popular family-owned eateries. Kaho herself was pretty good at the grill, begin able to whip up one of the shop's famed Tsuukenkaku Special okonomiyakis with elan.
But even if she was a very good cook, Kaho was a lot better on the track and field circuit. Already a rising star when it came to sprints and relays, Kaho was determined to win the school's two-man relay title before she advanced into her final year of elementary school. Seeing that there were few if any people willing to help her do it, Gioo volunteered to be her partner.
It was rough at first; Kaho was, even at that age, in fantastic shape. People were already hinting of her going to the Olympics when she became old enough to compete professionally. And Gioo was, despite being pretty much in shape, nowhere in Kaho's league. But they tried and tried and tried.
And by the time the meet came up, they were ready.
If only Ryuuji hadn't been forced to move to Kyoto the day of the meet.
Kyoto wasn't too far away from Osaka, but to Gioo, now entering his final year of elementary school, it might have well been the other side of the planet. But all was not lost for the wandering salesman's son, for as soon as he settled into his new school, he met a quiet girl named Wakana Ayasaki.
Wakana was the only child of one of the older samurai clans native to Kyoto, once home of the Imperial family. Raised by her grandfather Genjurou when her mother deserted her father (thus killing him from heartbreak), Wakana was being slowly moulded into the classic icon of a proper Japanese lady. Though she loved and respected her elders as Confucian tradition demanded, the discipline she was subjected to by Genjurou was strict in the extreme.
Which is why it was of no surprise to many, even Wakana's grandmother Sayoko, that she started to gravitate to the Shigoozei boy after their first meeting in the school library. Though Genjurou and his servants tried to keep it under control, love started to form between them, a love solidified by times when Gioo would actually visit Wakana in a storage room (the usual place where she was sent to when she was being punished). The gift of a music box from the former to the latter simply sealed the deal for Wakana.
Thus, when he moved away at the end of September, Wakana vowed that she would one day possess more of Gioo Shigoozei than just a music box.
On to Nagoya, halfway between Kyoto and Tokyo, for the Shigoozeis. And for Gioo, a new friendship was born with a girl named Rurika Yamamoto.
Rurika, younger child of a salaryman and his wife, was a popular girl in her elementary school class. Whatever Rurika liked, most of her classmates came to like. If you were on her good side, you were lucky. If you weren't, however...! Well, you can guess the answer to that. Fortunately for Gioo, Rurika was quick to take a liking to the salesman's son, which made his fitting into her homeroom class all the more easier.
Life was pretty simple for Gioo until the last month. Carrying some science supplies from the classroom into the storage room with Rurika one day, Gioo turned a corner, then heard a loud crash! Spinning around, he saw Rurika flat on her face, a precious anmonite fossil shattered on the floor.
Rurika said nothing about the broken fossil for the next couple of days, hoping it wouldn't be discovered. Wishful thinking. By the time news of the broken fossil got out to the others in the class, Rurika learned that Gioo had taken the blame. Now feeling really guilty, she vowed to own up to her mistake and spare Gioo whatever punishment the school would force on him.
He had moved out of town the day she owned up to the truth.
And from that day on, Rurika had vowed never to lie again.
Down to Hiroshima for the Shigoozeis as junior high or "middle" school beckoned for Gioo. Unlike the other times he had moved into a new town, he didn't shift into a new school on the first day of the new school year. Getting caught up on his studying required him to spend a lot of time in cram schools at at home, Mariko helping him as much as she could. It wasn't until the start of July when Gioo was ready to resume regular schooling.
And there, he met Yuu Nanase.
Pretty much self-raised thanks to both her parents working abroad for many months of the year, Yuu had a wanderer's soul. She also loved watching the stars, awed by the majestic beauty of the Universe she was but one small part of. One night, she took Gioo to her favourite star-watching place. And, as if the stars themselves had come to bless their new friendship, a meteor shower rained over the skies of southern Honshu that evening.
Yuu took it as a sign that she and Gioo were meant to be.
Ryuuji's work demands got in the way a month later.
Onward to Nagasaki for the Shigoozeis. By this point in his life, Gioo was starting to think that making friends of any sort when he was forced to move from town to town every six months or so, plainly, sucked.
So he decided, as people would be want to after the type of experiences Gioo had, to keep to himself. Akira Endou ended that soon enough.
Gioo met the would-be violinist when she was practicing one day in the school's music hall. However, Akira wasn't actually practicing. She was throwing a temper tantrum, moving to wreck her violin when Gioo stumbled into her. It was a good thing he did; if she had broke her instrument, it would've set her family back quite a bit since it was a valuable replica of an Italian orginal donated to the school by a rich patron, then given to Akira by her music teacher when she sensed the girl's real potential.
Gioo's prodding (prompted in secret by Akira's teacher and Mariko) forced Akira to practice more and more until the day she was to give a special recital in celebration of the end of the school year. She looked forward to performing since Gioo had promised he'd be there to listen to her.
Guess what happened?
North and east the Shigoozeis went, this time to the East Sea (Writer's Note: Sea of Japan to non-Koreans, BTW) coastal city of Kanagawa for the start of Gioo's second year of middle school. And sure enough, he made the acquaintance of yet another special friend, this one a girl named Miyuki Hosaka.
At first glance, Miyuki seemed your typical nerd in the making: hair pulled back by a hairband, glasses, loads of books in a bookbag, spending way too much time in cram schools and the library. But as Gioo got to know her more, he sensed Miyuki wanted desperately to break from that stereotypical lifestyle. Sensing her desperate need for help, her desire to have fun, Gioo -- inwardly wondering how long this would last -- jumped in with both feet.
His effect on Miyuki didn't become apparent at first, but the signs were there. A rebellious spark began to billow deep inside her as she strove to shove off the influence of her grandfather (the owner of a kimono shop) and parents (who helped her grandfather run the shop) as much as she could. By the time Gioo had been forced to move away, the signs with Miyuki looked good.
In August of Gioo's second year of middle school, the Shigoozeis moved south and east, this time to Yokohama, Tokyo's southern neighbour. And soon enough, Gioo met a girl who reminded him a lot of Rurika Yamamoto: Asuka Hoshino.
Asuka and Rurika had much in common. Both were very friendly girls who were quite popular with their classmates. There, the similarities stopped. Asuka was the stereotypical "me-her" chuu-gal. If someone had something -- clothing, jewellry or what have you -- new or trendy, Asuka wanted it. If Asuka learned of some new hip rock band or idol star, she would learn all she could of them, then impress all her friends with what information she had.
Asuka and Gioo got off very well, they visiting the arcades and bowling alleys, playing the crane games and anything else that caught their fancy. It came to the point where all she had to do was suggest something to him and off they'd go. One day in March, Asuka obtained two tickets for a new romantic film, then asked Gioo if he could come with her. She hoped to take the chance to admit her growing feelings for him when they were watching the film.
Guess what happened?
West, west, then south into Shikoku for the Shigoozeis. Specifically Takamatsu, located across the Inner Sea from Osaka. There, starting his last year of middle school, Gioo met Manami Sugihara.
Manami wasn't the healthiest of people even at that age, which made most of her classmates stay away from her. That isolation had hardened her heart to an extent, forcing her to resort to poetry and prose writing to vent out her feelings. One day, Gioo discovered her writing book and took a glance through her writing. Feeling embarrassed that her secret passion had been exposed by the new boy, Manami prepared for the worst. Thus, you can probably understand her shock when Gioo told her how good her writing was!
The two spent time together after that incident. Manami would often use Gioo as a pre-reader and general sounding board for her poetry. It was during this time that Manami discovered her second love: birds. A young lark had accidentally flown into a window, nearly killing itself on the glass. Gioo and Manami elected to take care of it until it was strong enough again to go back into the wild. Gioo never learned what happened to the bird in the end; he had to move away before it was well enough to fly again.
West again, across the Inner Sea to Kyushu and the city of Fukuoka. This time, the move occured under a much brighter cloud for Gioo; thanks to his hard, long work, Ryuuji could expect to be permanently assigned to Tokyo after his time in Fukuoka was done, just in time for Gioo to enter high school -- or "examination hell" as some people term the last three scholastic years of public education in Japan -- and a potential shot at a prime university.
Gioo wasn't too worried about that at that time, though he was happy that the shifting around from one end of Japan to another was finally going to come to a stop. What intrigued him the first day of classes that October was the black-haired girl listening to some music on her walkman instead of listening to the teacher's monotone lecture. Gioo managed to persuade her to let him have a listen -- and to his surprise, it was Baroque music! The teacher caught them both, then sent them into the hall...
...and thus, Gioo met Chie Matsuoka.
Chie was trying to organize a school band for graduation. Very good with a guitar, not to mention her own voice, she could possibly pull it off on her own, but she needed a drummer. Gioo was quick to volunteer his services and they were off. Seeing his enthusiasm sparked something in Chie. The two became close as the school year wound to an end, so close that Chie decided to write a love song for her bandmate. She would play it at graduation.
He never got the chance to hear her.
From Fukuoka, Gioo moved back to Tokyo as his father settled down in a junior executive position with his company. At first choosing to live in rented quarters in the capital city's inner core, the Shigoozeis decided to acquire a house to give their travel-weary son a chance to set up his own roots. However, given the pricey land in Tokyo itself, they elected to move to one of the sattelite towns. And thus, they came to Tomobiki...
Now that we've met Gioo and the girls, we...
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(Posted Tue, 14 Jan 2003 05:16)
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