#akizuki clan

[david-talks-sw]

"the Warrior, the Princess & the Peasants"

Hidden Fortress (1958)

The Akira Kurosawa movie that inspired the structure and some of the character dynamics in the first Star Wars film. The main characters are:

Matashichi and Tohei, the two serfs whose eyes most of the picture is viewed through, Princess Yuki, an uppity young aristocrat on the run from the authorities, who constantly bickers with Toshiro Mifune's battle-hardened general Rokurota.

Star Wars (1973)

In the original concept of Star Wars, the dynamic stayed similar, although more characters were added to the mix.

But you still have the two droids, C-3PO and R2D2 (deriving from the peasants in Hidden Fortress), Princess Leia (loudmouth aristocrat on the run from the authorities), and Luke Skywalker (a battle-hardened general).

As drafts changed and plot details shifted, Luke Skywalker became the young protagonist, the general character became Obi-Wan Kenobi (whom Toshiro Mifune was originally considered for).

It's not a one-to-one copy, but there is clearly an inspiration. And when you look at the posters at the time?

Still Luke, Leia, 3PO and R2.

The Phantom Menace (1999)

As already discussed here, in one of the early drafts of The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan is the one who rescues the Queen from Naboo and finds Anakin on Tatooine. Qui-Gon only comes into the script once the gang gets to Coruscant.

But in this early draft, Obi-Wan is an experienced warrior, who pushes the envelope, eliciting the complaints of princess Queen Amidala (the aristocrat on the run). When on Tatooine, the two "low-ranking" characters are still R2, this time with Jar Jar Binks.

Eventually, for multiple reasons, Obi-Wan was made the Padawan and Qui-Gon was put in early in the script.

(Fun Fact: before this change was made, there was a draft where Obi-Wan stayed the elder, Qui-Gon was made the Padawan, and then Obi-Wan gets killed by Maul and young Qui-Gon takes on his name, going on to become Alec Guinness' Ben!)

But be it Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, the warrior in The Phantom Menace is no longer a general with rank authority, he's just a diplomat.

The only reason he's able to do things "his way or the highway" is because 1) he is headstrong and 2) Padmé is undercover and doesn't wanna give it away (as if Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan hadn't already noticed...!)

So here we have an interesting reversal of roles: in Hidden Fortress (and kinda in the first Star Wars film), the Princess is the chaotic hellion who must be reined in by the warrior, who's always screaming:

"Princess, ffs! Stop wandering off, they're actively looking for you!"

Here, the warrior is the one going off-book and the Queen is like:

"Stop this at once, you cheeky fellow! We're on the run!"

Finally, as covered in this lengthy post about how The Hidden Fortress informs us of the Jedi's standing within the Republic, Lucas makes it clear that he alternates between projecting the "peasant POV" archetype on the Jedi duo and Jar Jar & R2/Anakin.

There is no clear protagonist in The Phantom Menace, you just have four main characters: the Jedi (who are two separate characters, but functionally are basically one single character), Padmé and Anakin.

All of this to say that just like the themes, these archetypes also echo each other in more ways than one, and it's intentional. As Lucas puts it, it's like a symphony:

"I’m also doing very stylistic ideas, things that are very musical in terms of how I develop themes, and repeat themes. I go do the same thing over and over in certain areas to echo what I have done before. It’s like a symphony more than a movie." - Star Wars Insider #35, 1997

"I'm approaching these films, for better or worse, like a symphony. I have a lot of themes that I keep repeating over and over again through the whole thing. Different notes and different instrumentation, but when you see all six movies together you'll see that there's a lot of recurring notes being played. [...] And it’s done on purpose. And it’s also done in different facets." - Star Wars Insider #52, 2000

So yeah.

Just some fun similarities and tidbits I noticed, figured I'd share.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group B Round 3: #B3 vs #B1

#B3: Samurai on motorcycles!

#B1: Coming-of-age story set in a “utopia”

Details and poll under the cut!

*Text in green indicates that something has been changed.

#B3: Orient

Summary:

Freed from the rule of samurai 150 years ago, the people of Hinomoto live peaceful lives and revere their liberators—demons whose true forms remain elusive—as gods. Fated to mine rocks for the demons to feast on, Musashi knows the grim truth: humanity is enslaved by these otherworldly beings and the samurai are the last bastion fighting for freedom. Hiding his true opinion from his peers and growing distant from his childhood friend Kojirou Kanemaki, Musashi lives in angst until the day of his graduation.

When the fresh graduates arrive at the mine, they are horrified to see the inhumane treatment of miners and the uncanny physical appearance of their overseers. However, Musashi manages to endure thanks to Kojirou's help. As the demon leader wreaks havoc on the quarry, Musashi is saved once more from certain death by the Takeda samurai clan. Recovering from humiliation and yearning for adventure, Musashi embarks on a journey to become a samurai and form his own clan!

Propaganda:

Ohtaka has done it again in creating a world full of characters with more depth than can be portrayed limited amount of screen time that each of them get. This leaves the viewer with a whole lot of potential to imagine on their own, even after watching. It’s kind of unique that it is set in the samurai era of Japan, but thanks to crystals left by the demons, motorcycles and flying castles are a thing outside the main characters’ mining village. There are plenty of gags throughout and dynamics between characters. Personally, I loved the second half a lot more than the first because of the cast introduced then. For example, the detail given to Kuroku with the lace she wears–it’s so intricately beautiful! Plus, most of the mechanics of how the world works is covered by then, so we can get into the action.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse

The third main character comes from a mentally abusive family situation, but the other two help her leave that situation. Main character’s child abuse is in flashbacks for character development to rise above that and break the cycle. Don’t know if gore or fan service need a trigger warning, typical shonen stuff.

#B1: From the New World (Shinsekai Yori)

Summary:

In the town of Kamisu 66, 12-year-old Saki Watanabe has just awakened to her psychic powers and is relieved to rejoin her friends—the mischievous Satoru Asahina, the shy Mamoru Itou, the cheerful Maria Akizuki, and Shun Aonuma, a mysterious boy whom Saki admires—at Sage Academy, a special school for psychics. However, unease looms as Saki begins to question the fate of those unable to awaken to their powers, and the children begin to get involved with secretive matters such as the rumored Tainted Cats said to abduct children. Shinsekai yori tells the unique coming-of-age story of Saki and her friends as they journey to grow into their roles in the supposed utopia. Accepting these roles, however, might not come easy when faced with the dark and shocking truths of society, and the impending havoc born from the new world.

Propaganda:

Shin Sekai Yori is a show about everything. While I cannot fully explain all the themes without spoilers, I will do my best to avoid them. This is difficult because the main twist of the show (which comes in the last episode) recontextualizes the entirety of the show and pulls together the rest of the themes so neatly that, to be frank, it eclipses any other writing decision made within the 21st century.

Shin Sekai Yori is an anime adopted from a novel which ran for 1,000 pages in its original Japanese. Shin Sekai Yori is about the following: gender, sexuality, coming-of-age, children’s rights, eugenics, the corruption and necessity of authority, parenthood, the loss of a child, the cycle of violence, Christianity, Shintoism, humanism and transhumanism, pacifism and at what point the measures taken to uphold it become violence, the dissolving bonds of childhood which come about due to both personal growth and change and outside pressures, nuclear fallout, environmentalism, and whether or not the assumed human authority in the world also covers human authority over other humans.

Principally, Shin Sekai Yori is about a war which doesn’t start until the end. It’s about the benefactors of colonialism and racism being forced to confront the things they have done to people that they never considered to be people. It is about seeing what the previous generation did wrong and wanting to do better, but not knowing how because you were never taught. It is about making that choice anyway. It is about seeing a dead child not as an “other,” but as a part of your community, even if that child did betray your community. While Shin Sekai Yori does conform to the “Fantastic Racism” trope to a degree, it is one of few shows which effectively subverts and inverts it. I will not go into further details on that due to spoilers.

Shin Sekai Yori is also occasionally advertised as “LGBT-Friendly” due to the rules of the society in which our protagonists live. However, this is merely another facet by which Yusuke Kishi examines the control exercised on the lives of children: both in a way of showing the “opposite” of the expected puberty (with opposite-sex couples being banned in sci-fi-hi-school), and in the way that these relationships are seen as mandatory, just as they are in our world. It is impossible to tell if there is real love in any of these relationships, but the ending of two of them results in some of the most miserable M/F sex put to page, so there was at least passion. I could speak further, but I received a warning about the length of my submission in what was once this paragraph. Thank you kindly for your time. [bows]

Trigger Warnings:

Warnings that involve the main characters:

Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse

Animal Cruelty or Death (two dogs die, one by exploding, and the main characters abuse a lot of naked mole rats)

Nudity/Pedophilia (the society in which the children live encourages prepubescent sexual contact and it is shown onscreen)

Kidnapping (of a protagonist’s child)

Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore (there is a great deal of blood)

Then there’s genocide that happens partially in the background.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[ffxivaltstars]

FFXIVWrite2023 - Prompt 03 - Answers (Extra Credit)

There were a number of reasons why Daisuke had waited until the middle of the night to leave the safety of the Yamagarasu house and travel halfway across the city. Even with the debts seemingly settled with the Akizuki clan, they weren't the only ones who would be delighted to take a piece out of Tachibana's former lapdog. Daisuke grimaced and rubbed his palm over the still pink and angry scar on his chest; they literally had taken a piece out of him. He didn't miss it, but the aftereffects still hurt.

The same could be said for the life he'd left behind. He didn't miss that old life - not in the slightest, nor would he ever return to it - but it still impacted everything he did.

The lax patrols of the Sekiseigumi allowed Daisuke to easily scale the outer wall and drop noiselessly into the overgrown courtyard of the old manor house. He had never seen the place so wild and unkempt. The surreality continued past the picked lock of the front door, through corridors of wooden floors coated in a furry film of dust that muted the faint rustle of his footsteps.

It was dark, empty, and silent as the grave. Daisuke navigated half by memory and half by his gloved fingertips tracing the walls. The first place where he found light was in Tachibana's office. It wasn't from the skylights that had offered illumination previous times he'd been there. No, in fact, the skylights were gone. The whole ceiling was gone. Scorched, paperless screens raised skeletal fingers toward the sky's remaining moon and ash and debris were thick on what remained of the tatami. Anything of value was long since gone, either destroyed or taken. But valuables and trinkets were not why Daisuke had come.

Daisuke bowed his head, allowing all the thoughts and memories, the pain and confusion and misery from those years that constantly nibbled at the edges of his mind, to swirl through him. There was catharsis in allowing it to overtake him in that place, bells ticking by unnoticed until he finally raised his head to see the hints of first light through the ruined roof.

[unolvrs]

piece of media that made you cry/affected you the most ?

the first things that keep popping in my head are anime movies / series, so that's what i'm going with. but to be fair, i cry over everything. so there's that...

sayonara no asa ni yakusoku no hana o kazarô (2018) ━━ drama, fantasy

Maquia is a member of a special race called the Iorph—mystical beings who can live for hundreds of years and remain separate from the lives and daily troubles of mankind. However, Maquia has always felt lonely despite being surrounded by her people, as she was orphaned from a young age. She daydreams about the outside world, but dares not travel from her home due to the warnings of the clan's chief. One day however, the outside world finds her, as the power-hungry kingdom of Mezarte invades her homeland. They already have what is left of the giant dragons, the Renato, under their control, and now their king wishes to add the immortality of the Iorph to his bloodline. The humans and their Renato ravage the Iorph homeland and kill most of its inhabitants. Caught in the midst of the attack, Maquia is carried off by one of the Renato that has gone berserk. It soon dies, and she is left deserted in a forest far from home, now truly alone save for the cries of a single baby off in the distance. Maquia finds the baby in a destroyed village and decides to raise him as her own, naming him Ariel. Although she knows nothing of the human world, how to raise a child that ages much faster than her, or how to live with the smoldering loneliness inside, she is determined to make it all work somehow.

as someone with severe mommy issues and as someone obsessed with writing about mothers, this ruined me. i literally recommend this to every person i have ever met. i'm pretty sure i watched this, like, 1231081291 times already and every single time i watch it, i end up bawling my eyes out. my favorite character is leilia. you'll know why when you watch it. the complexity of leilia just made me wow, holy shit.

there was this one time i watched this with a friend. it was my second time watching it but it was my friend's first... and we ended up crying halfway into the movie.

colorful (2010) ━━ drama, slice of life, supernatural

Upon arriving at the train station of death, an impure soul is granted a second chance at life against his will. Reincarnating into the body of Makoto Kobayashi, a 14-year-old boy who recently committed suicide, the soul is tasked to identify the boy's greatest sin in life within a time limit of six months. Although it remains reluctant toward continuing life as Makoto, the soul soon begins to notice the complexities of people's emotions and actions.

when i watched this when i was a pre-teen, this destroyed me. istg who told me this was a good movie to watch bc i was a child. there are actually a fair share of criticisms this anime had because it 'didn't delve into the characters deeper' but imo, that's the point of the story because at the end of the day, the main character is just a fourteen-year-old, and they're looking at the world in a way a child does. anyway, this made me cry a lot.

shinsekai yori (2012) ━━ drama, horror, mystery, sci-fi, supernatural

In the town of Kamisu 66, 12-year-old Saki Watanabe has just awakened to her psychic powers and is relieved to rejoin her friends—the mischievous Satoru Asahina, the shy Mamoru Itou, the cheerful Maria Akizuki, and Shun Aonuma, a mysterious boy whom Saki admires—at Sage Academy, a special school for psychics. However, unease looms as Saki begins to question the fate of those unable to awaken to their powers, and the children begin to get involved with secretive matters such as the rumored Tainted Cats said to abduct children.

before you ask, no. this didn't make me cry. this just fucked me over and affected me so deeply i didn't know what to do after i watched it. another anime i watched when i was wayyy too young because i googled 'underrated animes'. i was, once again, a pre-teen. this messed me up a lot. i had no idea what was going on most of the time and one moment, nice things are happening, and the next, everything's messed up. still part of my top ten animes though. to say this is unique is an understatement. peak japanese anime.

little busters (2012) & little busters: refrain (2013) ━━ comedy, drama, romance, slice of life, supernatural

As a child, Riki Naoe shut himself from the world, thanks to a diagnosis of narcolepsy following the tragic deaths of his parents. However, Riki is saved when, one fateful day, a boy named Kyousuke recruits him into a team who call themselves the Little Busters. Accompanied by Masato, Kengo, and Rin, these misfits spend their childhood fighting evil and enjoying their youth. Years pass, and even in high school, the well-knit teammates remain together. Kyousuke decides to re-ignite the Little Busters by forming a baseball team as it will be his last school year with them. They have a problem though: there aren't enough members! The tables have turned, for it is now Riki's turn to reach out and recruit new friends into the Little Busters, just like Kyousuke had once done for him. Then, an omen surfaces—Rin finds a strange letter attached to her cat, assigning them the duty of uncovering the "secret of this world" by completing specific tasks. Just what is this secret, and why is it being hidden? It's up to the Little Busters to find out!

this is one of the few animes that i can proudly say: the second season was better than the first. of course, that doesn't mean the first season was bad. in fact, it was good, but nowhere near as great as whatever the hell the second season was. until now, i still think about the ending and how much it made me cry, and the foreboding presence of "the secret" that was everywhere but nowhere at the same time.

adaptations back then hit different, man.

doraemon: stand by me 1 & 2 (2014 & 2022) ━━ comedy, sci-fi

Nobita Nobi is an elementary student who hates studying, is bad at sports, and does everything half-heartedly. He is a pushover, unlucky, and fearful of many things. His personality makes him a failure in life, even affecting his progeny. This causes his great-great-grandchild, Sewashi, to take control of the situation. Sewashi travels back in time from the 22nd century to the 20th century to meet Nobita, who is shocked to see him appear out of his drawer alongside a blue robotic cat. The robotic cat calls himself Doraemon, who claims to have been pressured by Sewashi to assist Nobita, with their ultimate goal being to provide Nobita happiness. Frustrated after seeing Nobita's hopeless state, Doraemon decides to go back to the future. However, Sewashi activates a program within Doraemon that prevents him from doing so. Forced to stay, Doraemon helps Nobita using futuristic gadgets through his four-dimensional pocket—a bag containing anything inside it. Can Doraemon bring Nobita happiness and return to the future?

STOP. I LOVE DORAEMON OKAY. THIS MADE ME CRY SO MUCH. anyone who disses doraemon will be blocked.

sajkdajdah idk what else to put... i'm probably gonna wake up tomorrow thinking i should have put other movies but for now, this is all i have. i cry over everything okay

[onedivinemisfit]

Obiyuki RPG AU doodles~

Some notes on obi and shirayuki’s classes and stuff, magic doodles, and cute pixie doing cute pixie things 🥺 what I’m really looking forward to in this AU is this like, less scarred Obi (who grew up safer this time, in a clan who loved him, even if they are persecuted lol) and a more dependent Shirayuki (who at the beginning IS FORCED to depend on Obi for almost anything) like, gotta turn some things on its head for every AU, just to see what happens~

Pixieyuki is very good with fire. VERY GOOD. Obi’s mostly melee, what magic he does use are buffs and stealth-based - whereas his shapeshift skill is innate. Everything magic is innate to Pixieyuki. Holding back and controlling her magic, not so much 😂

Also she has a bumblebee frand~

AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata

Art: Me

[golden-mediocrity]

Ashes

*warning ritual suicide*

The dull cold of the snow was causing the feeling in his shins to go numb as Haiiro sat at the top of the mountain above the small town that bore his family name, clad in snow white and nearly blending in with his surroundings.  He was dazed and had difficulty with focusing his vision on the scene below.  An entire life built over forty years, stacked on that of the four-hundred that preceded it, destroyed in the matter of four hours. The men and women of the small castle town fought bravely, gave up everything they could, everything they were, their futures, their presents, their pasts... All for their lord, all for the honor of Akizuki. They had stood for hundreds of years, yet in recent times, they were experiencing a flourishing renaissance, complete with artistry, industry, and agriculture.  They had made peace with the spirit that inhabited the land, a deal had been forged between the Akizuki and Hajiro, the falcon kami, the first born son would be separated from the clan, live life as a hermit, and be the sworn protector of the land. In return, would be at the beckon call of the Kami and follow their orders when given.

Hearing the screams of the people below, Haiiro wept, salty tears streamed down his grim, stone-colored face.  He had everything set out before him, his ritual tanto, the empty cup of sake which was drained before he even sat down, and tossed to the side. He had failed, but it was not a failure of his own making. Haiiro was made to observe all of it, the senseless brutality, maiming, hearing the cries for help and the pleas for mercy.  Hajiro had forced him to stand at the top of the mountain, on the steps of the small shrine where they resided. The deal made with the trickster kami had been nothing but entertainment for Haijiro, to see people flourish, to see them build and thrive, then to watch them all fall down in complete decimation. Haiiro was not allowed to move a muscle, not like he would have done much difference anyway, even with the powers bestowed upon him. He was ordered to refrain from action, and merely become a bystander to watch the four hundred years of progress be toppled like a sandcastle under the boots of the Shogunate.

The soft sensation kissed the calloused flesh of his hand as he gripped the silken wrapped tsuka and he spun it in his grasp, the way he moved it was as if he had done it a thousand times before, lived in this moment for an eternity, not something to be feared, but a duty to be performed, to pay the ultimate price for cowardice and failure. He could have broken the compulsion, he could have tried, but he stood there, painfully still and unable to move, but did he strive hard enough? That moment had passed and he was now in this one, the final moments of his existence, that which would take him to the sweet embrace of oblivion and remove him from this cursed place.  His motion was slow as the polished, shining blade first cut through pure white cotton fabric, finding purchase now in his abdomen.  Pushed further still he could feel the dual sensation of the cold steel and hot blood meeting like the high tide waves pounding into the earth, his life crashing against that which would bring him death. The long eternal moment dragged on as he had finished his cut, the protracted line across the entirety of his lower torso, his body relaxed and he could feel the tension release, all the weight he had carried these forty years, all the trials he had been put through, up until these last few moments. He lost consciousness as he continued to sit there on his knees, the steam from his blood wafting up from the dyed and melting snow.  He heard the slowing beat of his heart, the rest of the cacophony drowned out by his barely lingering moments, the rhythm of his life drawing to a close....

It was silent after a few hours, no more clanging and clashing of metal, no more calls out for help, screams of mercy, even the crackling of the fires had died down.  Haiiro slowly opened his eyes, and felt an instant sensation of disgust and despair.  Had he failed even in this? Had he brought further dishonor to his family and his clan? He looked down, body and clothes still stained with blood, the wound miraculously healed, he could feel that beat of his heart hammering in his ears again, but with each pounding of his quickening pulse, memories faded from his mind. Who he was, where he had come from, who he loved, who he had lost, all of it left him, bleeding from his mind as his life had bled from the slash on his stomach.  Haiiro sobbed and screamed out as he could feel every single thing being torn from him, his entire life and all of his experiences, until all that remained was a man, with no memory, pitched over and sobbing over a ruined village he knew nothing about, being covered in a powder of snow and ashes.

[symphonicscans]

Fujimi Orchestra - King of Frogs (Book 7, Part 3)

Author: Akizuki Koh Illustrator: Keiko Nishi Content Warning: mild racist language (the series itself is 18+) In this gaiden chapter we get a flashback to when Kei met Takane Ikushima in New York when they were teenagers. Just a heads up, Akizuki is trying to be 'authentic' here with racist American attitudes towards immigrants, so she uses some derogatory language (but mostly for Asian people for obvious reasons). This is the last chapter in book 7, so as usual there will be a full book posted later and the masterpost updated. You can read this chapter below or here on Google.

Fujimi Orchestra Book 7: Chapter 3

King of Frogs

It’s ten o’clock in downtown New York… still a bit early for the nocturnal crowd. The city, famous for its garish neon signs, graffiti, trash, and immorality, was bustling tonight with men and women who were out indulging in its repulsive squalor.

A young prostitute spotted a gullible passerby, and twisted her red lips into a smile. Smacking gum apathetically, she approached him with a Marilyn Monroe swagger, the tool of her trade. She knows her sex appeal won’t bring her happiness, but it can pay for her apartment. But then a red-headed woman — who’d been in this business for ten years — swooped right in front of her and snatched the customer by quickly whispering the price in his ear without any pretense. The younger prostitute’s protests were met with a verbal backlash from the redhead’s friends in the back alley, since she hadn’t had a customer in two days.

Across the street, a man watched the scene with a bored look on his face; he’s a drug dealer who spends his days cultivating new junkies while keeping an eye out for undercover cops and rivals, so he doesn’t miss an opportunity to make some cash. He was born and raised in New York, but the brown skin that betrayed his Puerto Rican immigrant heritage was what kept him here in the slums.

“Yo, JB! How ya doin’?”

JB looked the person who approached him up and down, who he had been expecting. “I was having better luck before I saw you.”

The blue-uniformed cop’s bribe-fat belly shook as he huffed, “Chino told me he’s seen another guy around here, that’s probably who’s taking your luck.”

“I’ll have the money for you next week. If you want something now, it’ll have to be in product.”

“Give me three.” JB shrugged internally as he pulled out three small baggies from his left pocket and handed them over. “You’ll have to pay me in cash next week.” The police officer said with a stern look on his face, then wandered off to continue his patrol.

“Go to hell…” JB muttered. He took some satisfaction in having given him some cut-rate, low-purity stuff.

He turned around at the sound of an empty can being knocked over, and his face twisted into a grin. It was a group of three young guys — large, medium, and small — and in three different skin colors. He recognized them: they were a jazz band that had been making a big splash around downtown lately. “Yo, Takane. Where you going tonight?” He called out to the oriental guy, who was the biggest of the three.

The little black guy responded with a friendly wave, “ We’re playing at Crime Clan tonight.”

“Are ya gonna play Georgia on my Mind?”

As they walked past JB, the black guy looked up at the oriental guy to pass the question to him.

Takane Ikushima… born in Harlem to Japanese parents, but raised by a black foster mother. By the time he was out of middle school he was the boss of every kid in the neighborhood. He was like an oriental gorilla, having surpassed the average size of most orientals, speaking with a Harlem accent and overcoming minor racial differences to associate with mostly black people. He was even accepted by jazz-loving white people — as long as he was playing piano. This young jazz pianist was on his way to living some version of the ‘American Dream…’ but right now he wouldn’t even spare a glance for JB, with a pompous look on his face that matched his size, even if it didn’t look like it belonged to a sixteen-year-old.

“I ain’t doing it,” he said. “I don’t play fucking requests for pushers.”

“W-wait, hold on!” JB plastered a fake smile on his face as he rushed to catch up to them. “You’ve got it all wrong, I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

“You sold shit to Joshua last week.”

“Oh…that. Yeah, but he’s nobody!”

“Then Joshua used it with Jill, and her six months of detox went down the drain.”

“O-oh really, I—”

“You know that Joshua’s a lousy fucking pimp, and Jill just got out of rehab.”

“Y-yeah, but I—”

“You’re the dealer, it’s up to you whether you want to sell or not… just like I’m the player, so it’s up to me whether I want to play or not.”

“Takane…”

“That’s Mr. Ikushima to you.” The three men disappeared around the corner, and the dealer’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“You’re never gonna hear Takane play piano again,” One of the prostitutes called to him nastily.

“Hmph!” JB spat and walked back over to the street corner. It’s only jazz, it’s not like it’ll put food in your stomach, it’s just entertainment. But deep down he knew that it was food for the soul, a bright spot in his otherwise dreary life. The combination of Takane’s big gorilla paws and the keys of a cheap piano could produce anything from blues and gospel to vibrant dance music… the human tendency to want something you can’t have made JB want to hear Takane’s piano playing even more.

(I wonder if it would put him in a better mood if I got Joshua’s ass busted by the police?) the charm and charisma of Takane Ikushima’s piano playing made JB start thinking about how he could make up with him.

He turned his head when he heard somebody say, “Excuse me.” A pair of long, black eyes were staring at him, level with his own. The owner of the eyes, however…

(Is he Chinese?) he thought. “Hey there, kid.” It’s usually hard to tell the age of oriental people, but the person in front of JB now was particularly hard. From his face he didn’t look old enough to grow a beard… but then he was almost as tall as JB at five-foot-seven, and he had a cool, stately appearance — but that was probably because of the nice coat he was wearing. He called him a ‘kid’ for now, but to be honest he wasn’t sure if the person in front of him was a man or a child. “What do you want?” The young oriental was still staring at JB intently.

“I have a question for you,” he said in strange, stilted English.

“I don’t know much about nothing, and what I do know ain’t cheap.”

He seemed to accept JB’s reply with a faint frown, his eyebrows drawing tighter on his porcelain-mask face,“I want to listen to some music. Where should I go around here to find the best players?”

JB frowned when he heard the question and mumbled, “Music…?” Of course all JB could think about was Takane Ikushima’s hot and heavy piano, and he suddenly had the idea that he could use this guy as an excuse to go hear him without getting kicked out. “Where are you from?” He asked, hoping at least to have the excuse of showing a tourist around.

“Japan,” he replied.

“Japan? Like, Honda-Sony-sukiyaki Japan?”

“Yes.”

JB clapped his hands… luck was on his side after all! A Japanese tourist, of all things. He bet Takane would like that! “C’mon.” JB gestured the way forward with a jerk of his head.

“Thank you,” the kid said with a hint of pride in his voice.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Tounoin.”

“Tooween?”

“Toh-noin.”

“Tow-now-in?”

“TO-U-NOI-N.” JB scratched his head when he said it again, and the tone and attitude with which he said it told him that this time he should listen carefully and remember; he felt somewhat intimidated.

“Uh… ‘Toh-noh-win.’ OK?” JB did his best to mimic his pronunciation as closely as he could, and ‘Tonowin’ gave a nod of approval.

“And you?”

“I’m JB.”

“Jay-bee?”

“Yeahhh. Nice to meet ya.”

As they started walking, Tounoin grasped the hand that was held out to him, giving it a hard squeeze while maintaining an impassive expression, “Nice to meet you.”

His fingers were long and cold, soft as kidskin gloves — a high-society hand, JB thought. He had already figured as much, and he looked around to see if there was any bodyguard with him, but didn’t see anybody that looked like the type. He asked cautiously, “Did you come here by yourself?”

Tounoin nodded, “I’m the only one here, every time.”

JB’s quick eyes did not miss the fleeting movement of a shadow behind him; so he had an unexpectedly effective guard after all. Even though the lonely way Tounoin said it made him seem reluctant about having protection, JB understood it as a warning that he couldn’t cross this guy. When he said ‘I’m the only one’ he was lying…‘every time’ meant that he had a guard. Having grown up on the streets, JB knew he should give up thinking about extorting him by kidnapping or trying to sell him drugs — a fortunate misunderstanding for the Tounoin kid.

As they approached the door of Crime Clan, it occurred to JB that he needed to make it obvious that he was acting as a guide; the inside of the club was Takane’s ‘domain’ tonight, which would make JB a trespasser. He might need to use his guest as a passport.

“You’re lucky, man,” he began. “Yesterday we’d have had to go all the way to 28th to hear Takane.”

“Takane?” Tounoin raised an eyebrow.

JB said enthusiastically, “Takane Ikushima’s an amazing piano player.”

Tounoin’s brows furrowed, “I didn’t mean to say that I wanted to hear a Japanese player. What I want is to listen to music from here, music that can only be heard here.”

JB was a little confused, but even though Tounoin’s Japanese-English was kind of hard to understand, he got the idea that he didn’t want to hear a Japanese musician. He shrugged and said, “Takane Ikushima is American, and so is his piano playing. Anyway, just give him a listen first.” He opened the door and pushed Tounoin inside, his tall body slimmer than it looked in the coat.

Fortunately for JB, Takane and his band were already in the middle of playing, so he was able to listen to two blues numbers without worrying about getting kicked out the moment he stepped in. Against the backdrop of clapping and whistling, he turned to Tounoin and said proudly, “So what do ya think?”

Tounoin shrugged, and with a simple “Thank you,” he started to head for the door.

(He’s not impressed!) JB was offended; he ran after him and grabbed his arm. Tounoin turned around, and JB stared at him intently, “He’s the best player you’re gonna find around here!”

Tounoin’s reply was a chilly, “Excuse me.” He shook JB’s hand off, “I can see what kind of music he plays, so I don’t need to hear any more.”

“You think you got it? You think you know Takane’s piano playing after only two blues songs, so there’s nothing more to hear?!” Suddenly JB’s face was grabbed from behind by a big hand and pulled back.

“What’s this!?” A grizzly voice that could only come from Takane Ikushima’s throat said behind his ear. “I told you that you weren’t allowed here, but not only did you come, you even brought trouble? Huh?!”

JB sputtered and tried to make an excuse, but his mouth and face were still being gripped by the hand like a baseball glove. “Fugub…” was all he could get to come out. Then the hand that was holding his face shoved him so hard he flipped over and took out the tables and chairs along with him. Immediately he responded with an automatic, “T-Takane, I’m sorry!” He scrambled to stand up and defend himself, but Takane was already taking on Tounoin.

“So you don’t need to listen to my piano anymore, eh?”

JB could tell from Takane’s voice that his temper was about to explode, so he shut his mouth with a sly smile. There’s not a person in this city stupid enough to voluntarily pick a fight with Takane.

“I heard two songs, so I just said that I don’t need to hear any more than that.” Tounoin boldly replied; apparently he didn’t sense how dangerous the person in front of him was.

JB muttered a prayer with an (Amen) for him under his breath. (This is your own fault, boy. Don’t blame me for what happens next!)

Sure enough, Takane’s expression changed to an evil grin— which meant he was getting angrier, “You’re really starting to piss me off… so that’s it, two songs is enough for you to understand how I play?”

Despite the obvious danger in Takane’s voice, Tounoin replied very calmly, “Yes.”

“Well…” Takane smiled, “Then get the hell out!” Of course this was accompanied by a heavyweight punch; everyone watching thought the oriental would be slammed out the door, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

“Why are you trying to hit me?” Tounoin was still standing there, face intact. On the contrary, it was Takane who was groaning in pain; Tounoin’s foot was wedged squarely in Takane’s stomach, creating an ‘H’ shape with their bodies. A moment later he broke away from him, lowering his leather-shoed foot.“I’m sorry, but I can’t tolerate being attacked without knowing the reason.”

His face was expressionless, and his tone quiet and even. But JB was experienced at reading people, and he could tell that the look in his eye carried the same meaning as Takane’s sinister grin. (Don’t let your guard down!) JB said internally, (Don’t be fooled by his appearance, Takane).

However, Takane didn’t seem to be too concerned, considering he was a brat born and raised on the streets of Harlem, “Who the hell are you?!” He didn’t try to hide his bloodlust, his eyes blazing.

“Kei Tounoin,” he replied arrogantly.

Takane laughed and said through bared teeth, “That’s enough for a tombstone. I’m gonna murder you!”

“If you still won’t clearly explain why you’re attacking me, then I’ll focus on defending myself.” Tounoin slipped off his coat and put his hands in his pockets.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing…?!” The beast asked angrily.

“My exclusive future pursuit is to be a musician.” So that meant he wasn’t going to use his hands.

“Hahah…!” Takane laughed wildly and lunged forward, throwing a sideways punch that whistled through the air… but it was a feint! He swept Tounoin’s leg with his foot after he dodged Takane’s fist without blinking! But the moment he was off balance— since he was only using his feet to defend — Takane immediately slammed a fist into Tounoin’s chin… The sound of the fist contacting bone and the thud of his head hitting the floor happened almost simultaneously. He didn’t move… Tounoin had had been knocked down onto the floor… JB looked at the bulges in his pockets. If only he’d been willing to use his hands, he’d have been able to fight back…

“Fucking idiot.” Takane muttered what JB had been thinking. He watched with admiration as the heavy sixteen-year-old — who probably would have become the head of a gang around here if he weren’t a piano player — bent down to check the breath of his opponent, then hefted him over his shoulder with a scowl on his face.

(Ah…you’re taking responsibility. I’m sure you‘re gonna be fast friends, so take care of him! He seems like… a good guy.)

“Alright, I’ll do this…” The short drummer said as he rummaged through Tounoin’s coat pockets. “Heh, he’s Japanese…” he cheerfully rattled off the information from his passport. He burst out laughing, “This guy’s only fourteen!”

(No way!) JB looked at the drummer.

“He can’t be that young, right?”

“But it says so right here.”

JB felt a chill… Takane was only sixteen, but the guy who had faced off against him with a handicap was even younger.

“What is it with these Japanese people…” JB mumbled to himself.

Suddenly he heard the drummer yell, “Takane, where are you going!? We still have one more set!”

“I’ll be right back.” Takane replied as he walked out the door, carrying Tounoin.

“Oh, does he mean Momma’s?”

The drummer nodded. “Hey, JB. Clean this shit up!”

With his head down, the dealer hurried to get his ass up off the floor and quickly reset the tables and chairs that had been knocked over.

---

Someone was singing. The voice was warm and soft, but not like velvet or silk… or fur… as Kei listened and analyzed the voice, he realized he had been asleep. The style sounded like gospel, the voice thick and gentle, and appeared to be right next to him. She was singing the refrain of the famous gospel song Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen, her breaths deep and even like the movement of a large bellows.

“A-men.” She said when she finished.

Kei opened his eyes; instead of what might have been a morning prayer, it was a black woman with an imposing physique who had been singing the gospel song, and now had switched to a cheerful love ballad. He could only see her big back as she sang towards the window, so he couldn’t tell how old she was, but he figured she was middle aged... At any rate, she didn’t seem young. While singing, she was taking the laundry out from a large basket she held against her ample waist, unfolding it and hanging it on the rope to dry outside the window. She carefully smoothed out the wrinkles from each piece with her thick fingers before taking out the next one.

When she finished hanging the last of the laundry, she turned around with a stretch and met Kei’s eyes. She was the kind of motherly woman you’d expect to find in Harlem, and gave him a bright smile tinged with a nostalgic feeling, “Good mornin’ my boy.” Her dark eyes stared at Kei for a second or two before she smiled again, “Get up an’ go wash your face. Breakfast is ready.”

That was his first encounter with Momma Maria.

—-—

In the mirror of the old — but sparkling clean — bathroom of the small apartment, Kei was able to look at his face for the first time since the day before. The left side of his cheek was hot to the touch, and as expected, the area down to his chin was perfectly swollen.

(Hmm…) After observing himself for a while, he tested his jaw and lips to make sure they worked and washed his face with water. He didn’t have any way to brush his teeth, so he rinsed his mouth out with water as well and looked for a towel; remembering this wasn’t a hotel, he made do with the hem of his shirt. He used his hands to comb his disheveled hair back and left the bathroom.

“My boy? Come’ere.” She showed him where the dining room was in a sing-song voice. There were eight backless chairs around a table that occupied half of the dining room and kitchen, which was about the size of a six-mat Japanese style room. “Sit wherever you like.” She told him, so he took the nearest seat.

In front of Kei was a bowl of soup, which he noticed had a delicious smell rising from it with the steam. He said in awkward English, “Where is here, Lady?”

“I’m Maria. Ma-ree-ah.”

“Maria…”

“Yes. And ‘here’ is my home.”

“I see. So why am I in your house?”

Maria answered him with a flurry of words, and all he managed to catch was ‘Takane.’ She must have seen the confusion on his face, because she repeated herself at a slower tempo, “Takane brought you here and put you in the bed. He’s gone off to stay somewhere else, but I think it’s ‘bout time for him to come back.” Then she looked at the bowl, “Your soup’s gettin’ cold.”

He realized he hadn’t told her his name. He bowed his head and said, “I’m Kei Tounoin. Thank you very much.” He picked up the spoon and said, “Itadakimasu.” The soup was thick and rich, with such strong spices that the broth stung the inside of his mouth. But Kei ate it silently along with the hard, unbuttered bread and cold fried eggs that accompanied it. When he finished eating he bowed his head and said, “Gochisousama deshita.”

“Sorry for the bad food.”

(Huh?) Kei looked up at her, “No, it was good. Ah…if it looked like I didn’t like it, it’s because I have a cut in my mouth and it hurt.”

“You shoulda said so!” Maria sighed heavily. “We don’t have much, but we have milk at least.”

“Yes. Sorry.”

“I’m gonna need you to clean up your dishes and make up the bed you slept in.”

“Yes.”

Maria watched Kei as he began awkwardly cleaning up with clumsy hands, and realized he probably had grown up with servants to do this kind of stuff for him. She turned her attention back to the mending she had started, until she heard a crunching sound.

“O-oh, I’m sorry…” Kei was trying to pick up the pieces of a broken plate, and she noticed his eyes were edged with redness.

“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Maria came over and put her hand on Kei’s forehead. “You shoulda said something. You have a fever, don’t you?”

The look Kei gave was nonchalant. He said, “I’m fine,” and gave her the barest hint of a smile. “I broke your plate. I can pay for it, but… where’s my coat? My passport and wallet are in—“ He started to walk and staggered, falling flat on the floor.

Maria stooped to take Kei’s arm, wrapping it around her shoulders. Kei tried to refuse her support as she lifted him to his feet. “Maybe you don’t like being touched by a black person, but you’ll have to bear with it, just to be safe.”

Kei seemed deeply surprised by her words, “No it’s not that, I’m just…”

“No need to be polite, I don’t mind. I’ve raised thirteen difficult kids, a fourteenth is nothin’.”

In a small voice he whispered, “Thank you…” then shyly added, “…Mrs. Maria.”

“Everybody calls me ‘Momma Maria.’”

“Momma…Maria…” She caught the faint smile on Kei’s face as he repeated the words, testing the pronunciation.

As she walked him to the bed and tucked his tall but still childlike body in a blanket, she thought (Look here, my children. Rich kids ain’t always happy… we’re poor, but we didn’t let you grow up like this boy, holding in all your pain and suffering, only letting yourself cry and laugh in your heart. Kei, you’re a good boy… but I feel sorry for you.)

“Momma Maria?” She smiled at how timidly he called to her. “My coat, is—“

“I think Takane brought it with you. Wait a bit, I’ll go get it.”

“No, it’s okay as long as it’s here. I’d… like to make a phone call.”

“We don’t have a phone, though.”

“Yeah…” he had already noticed that.

“There’s a drugstore on the corner, I could make a call for you there.”

“Thank you… if you could, call Mr. Bandou in room 602 at the Sunrise Hotel, and give him this address. Um… he’s my tutor. The hotel’s number is in my passport.”

“Alright, I’ll call Bandou. Can I ask him if I can keep you here for a couple more days?”

He looked up at her and hesitated, then nodded, “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you, Momma Maria.”

“It’s a mother’s job to take care of sick children, right?” When she said that, a strange look flickered across Kei’s face; it seemed like the word ‘mother’ had a different meaning for him. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Please, use my money...”

Maria pinched Kei’s nose and gently wiggled it. “Kids don’t need to worry about stuff like that. Just lie down and go to sleep.” She kissed him on the forehead.

“Okay.” He replied and closed his eyes.

As she was leaving the apartment, she saw Takane coming back from wherever he had spent his morning. “Soup’s gone cold,” Maria told him. She twisted her big son’s lion-like nose.

“Where is he?”

“I gave him food. He’s been in bed all day… when are you gonna learn to go easier on people?”

“I only hit him once, though? Besides, he’s the one who picked a fight with me.”

“He doesn’t look like that kinda boy, I’m sure you’re the one who got your fists out first. Look,” She patted his tall shoulder with motherly care, “I’ll take care of him for a few days to make it up. I’m goin’ to Jake’s, so go ahead and cook your own eggs.”

Takane watched Maria’s stout body trundle down the stairs, then turned towards the door with a sullen look on his face. “A couple of days, huh? Heh…” After all, that was the same way he’d been welcomed into this house, and then ended up being raised by her. He said to himself, “That’s just what Momma likes to do,” and opened the door.

---

Takane watched the somewhat stilted discussion between Mr. Bandou and Kei with an irritated look on his face, his natural reaction to high-class society people. Kei, with his swollen cheek and puffy eye, was sitting on the bed. Bandou looked like he was in his late twenties, and was dressed in a suit, standing in front of Kei like a Kanbei soldier. It seemed like the relationship between the caretaker and his young master was strained.

“There’s no need to report this matter,” Kei said coldly.

“That’s an impossible request,” Bandou replied, with the same cold tone. Both of them spoke in Japanese, which was Takane’s second language, as his parents were Japanese and had only spoken that in the home. However, he made sure not to let on that he could understand them, so he could hear more of their interesting conversation.

Takane was a very curious person, and there was something about Kei Tounoin that piqued his interest. The way he had declared he would become a musician even though he was just a middle schooler, and that business of keeping his hands in his pockets, even though he was so bad at fighting that he could be taken out with a single blow… it was all very interesting to Takane. And how he had declared that he ‘didn’t need to hear more than two songs…’ he really wanted to find out why. For Takane, the piano wasn’t just his tool to achieve the American dream, it was his entire reason for existing.

“In any case, let’s go back to the hotel. Your injuries don’t look bad, but I still would like you to see a doctor.”

“There’s no need. I’ll go back to the hotel the day after tomorrow. If somebody calls from Japan, just tell them I was invited to stay at a friend’s house.”

“I don’t think you understand, we’re in Harlem, remember? One of the most dangerous parts of New York City, and you were involved in a violent incident!” Bandou glanced at Takane, seemed to confirm for himself that he didn’t understand Japanese, and continued, “Just because he’s not black is not reassuring. You don’t have any idea why he brought you here. You see, to these people, Japanese are irritating because we’re colored but have money. And it’s not just white people that think that, other colored people do too. They’re jealous. So—”

“Is that something you know from legitimate research? Or is it just your opinion?”

“…what?”

“The basis for what you just said. Doesn’t that sound a bit racist to you?” Then Kei turned to Takane and said in Japanese, “I apologize. He still doesn’t quite understand the sincere kindness I received from you and Momma Maria.”

Bandou blinked and his jaw dropped when Takane replied in Japanese, “Don’t worry, I’m used to it.” Then he sniffed at Bandou, whose pale skin had started to flush, “I’m not trying to take advantage of him, but I’m also not obligated to give him free room and board. He can stay for fifty bucks a night, paid in advance, take it or leave it. So that would be $150 for three nights.”

“Please pay him,” Kei ordered. Bandou reluctantly pulled out his wallet and took out a hundred and a fifty.

Takane accepted the crisp, new bills, “Wow, I’m gonna cut my hand they’re so fresh…” as he took the money, a black hand suddenly slapped him on the head from behind.

“What are you doin’?!”

(When did she come back?)

With a heavy shopping basket in one hand and the other ready to deliver a second blow at any moment, Momma Maria shouted furiously at Takane, “Oh, I don’t remember raisin’ a child so shameless he’d charge his friends for using a bed!” Then she turned to Kei, “And you too! If you can’t sleep on a pillow you didn’t pay for, then get the hell out! My house ain’t a hotel!” She scolded him the same way she had Takane. Then she said to Bandou, “So that’s that. Take back your money.” She snatched the bills from Takane’s hand and thrust them back to Bandou. In a calmer voice she continued, “Kei can be my fourteenth kid for a few days. I know that this is a dangerous part of town, but there’s nobody bad enough that they’d touch one of Momma Maria’s boys. So will you trust me?” Then she added after a touch of hesitation, “He needs to experience a little bit of real life, don’t you think?”

Bandou seemed a bit shocked. He stared into Momma’s dark eyes and bowed his head, “Thank you for taking care of him.” He said to her, then turned to Kei, “I’ll pick you up the evening after tomorrow.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Kei said and bowed his head.

Takane bopped him on the head, “It’s your fault, you know. Well, not entirely.”

Then Bandou bowed to no one in particular and left. Takane watched him leave and said with a smile, “Well he caved pretty quick.”

“He has a responsibility to his employer, that’s all.”

Maria looked at her two wards, “Don’t talk like y’all know everything. It takes a certain amount of courage to trust somebody, and Mr. Bandou has that courage.” She watched with a sigh as Kei and Takane looked at each other; both Takane and this boy were used to seeing the worst in people, and tried to see behind their masks. That might be useful to keep from being betrayed, but it’s more important to learn how to trust others. “If all you see is the bad side of people, your mind’ll become bad too. That’s the way people are.” She thought of a metaphor her grandma had used, “‘Flowers grow in mud, but they bloom so beautiful ‘cause they’re always lookin’ at the sun,’ is what my grandmama used to say. Now, let’s start preparing lunch. Takane, help me peel the potatoes. I’ll mash’ em so Kei can eat without pain.”

Takane glared at Kei; of course he always helped Momma, but why did he have to peel potatoes for him?

She could tell what he was thinking, “If you was the one that got knocked out and was stuck in bed, I’d have asked Kei to help.” Then Momma grabbed Takane by the ear and dragged his big body into the kitchen while he yelled in protest.

As he got to work, Takane looked at Kei out of the corner of his eye. He was sitting on the bed with a blank look on his face. If that guy dared laugh at him for getting treated like a child… he’d pick up where he left off last night with him, even if it was in front of Momma. Kei was looking at him, but when he noticed Takane’s gaze he turned away. His face was expressionless, but faces aren’t the only thing that can reveal what a person is thinking. (That bastard…) he thought as he picked up another potato, (What, don’t you have a mommy?)

In reality, Kei envied Takane for Momma treating him like a child. But he didn’t want Takane to notice, so he turned over so his back was to them.

“He said he’s fourteen,” Takane said quietly, so his voice wouldn’t reach the bed.

“He’s probably ‘round that.” Momma nodded.

“A brat like that criticized my piano playing.” He said as he tossed the finished potato in a pot and reached for a new one.

Momma laughed, “Is that what started it?” She shrugged, then remembered something, “But, isn’t he a musician too? His palms are soft, but his fingertips are calloused.”

“Oh…” Takane looked at the bed; he had turned his back to them and seemed to be asleep.

“If he uses music to fill the void in his heart, then you’re one and the same,” Momma said quietly.

“I dunno…” he replied, but Takane knew that a fight wouldn’t cloud Momma’s judgement. And out of all the fights he’d been in, he’d never fought someone dumb enough to take on someone bigger than them with their hands in their pockets. But if he didn’t know anything about fighting, he wouldn’t have been able to keep from using them. Only a true idiot would do that — or somebody who had such conviction they were willing to sacrifice themselves for it. This Kei Tounoin… he stuck to his guns and caught him off guard with that kick out of nowhere. Then he asked him who he was, and all he did was say his name… (I’ll ask him more when he wakes up) Takane thought to himself, nodding (Ahh…) Why did he say he didn’t need to listen to more of his piano? He’d get it out of him even if he had to wring his neck.

“Uhnnn…”

When she heard Kei’s pained groan, Momma got up quickly and went over to the bed and patted his shoulder. “Momma’s here, momma’s here. Don’t you mind, my boy. I love you,” She said softly as she tucked him in to sleep, then went back into the kitchen. She took a peeled potato from Takane and asked, “What does ‘arigato’ mean?”

“It means ‘thank you’…”

Momma let out a sigh, “Maybe I shouldn’t have said three days... I shoulda said he could stay as long as he wants.”

Takane silently threw the peeled potatoes into the pot.

---

“Explain it,” he said. “It’s not like you had to listen.” Takane said bluntly.

Kei gave a small shrug in response to Takane’s eager question, “I simply didn’t think it was necessary, that’s all.”

“But why? Why the hell not?!”

“Well…” Kei said, looking up at the ceiling then dropping his gaze to his hands, which were folded on the table. “In short, jazz and blues were not the kind of music I wanted. That’s what it is.”

“Okay—“ Takane started to speak when Kei raised his eyes to meet his.

“Can I speak in Japanese?” He asked. “I’m not confident I can explain well in English.”

“Sure.” He replied.

“Thank you,” he bowed his head. “I want to become a musician,” he began. “Don’t ask me why, but I feel that it is my destiny to become a musician.”

(I know what you mean) Takane thought, and nodded. He understood the feeling well. “Performing music is my life.”

“However, thus far I’ve only been exposed to classical music. I was never allowed to listen to anything else; both my mother and father consider jazz, rock, and anything outside of classical to be vulgar.”

“Vulgar?”

“Ah… low-class.”

“I see.”

“I like classical music, of course. But I had some doubts about choosing it as my lifelong path since it’s the only thing I’ve known, so I thought I’d take the opportunity on this trip to see if there’s something else… I ah… wish to know if classical is ‘my’ music or not.”

“I see.” Takane nodded, though he only somewhat understood.

“So, I decided to listen to something different and went to that club. I could tell that your blues was good, but it didn’t strike a chord with me.” Seeing Takane’s frustrated expression, Kei politely added, “It’s just not my thing. It didn’t move me.” Ah… he looked up at the ceiling again. “Maybe it’s because of the lyrics.” Then… he brought his eyes down. “It’s like…the music of a frog in a small pond. But the classical music I’d have as my lifelong goal is as deep as the sea. That’s the reason.”

“What does that mean?”

Kei reiterated it in English, “Frog in a pond. As good as you play, I think that you could be the king of them…ahh… the King of the Frogs—”

Takane’s hand shot out and grabbed Kei by the chest before he could continue, “You think I’m the ‘King of Frogs?’ Me?”

Kei flinched momentarily at Takane’s reaction before quickly hiding it behind a blank expression. “That’s what it is, if you ask me. You’re a frog living in the shallow pool of jazz.”

“You sonnuva..!” Before he could think, his fist came down — but Kei didn’t dodge. The impact of the punch square to his temple sent him flying from the chair, but he got back up and sat down again to continue.

“I had always hoped to find the sound I wanted in a world outside of classical music. But there is no other music anywhere that has appealed to me more than that huge, profound ocean of emotion. I… hate to admit it, but… my parents were right! It truly is my music…” He looked at Takane with strangely determined eyes, his lips slightly turned up at the corners. A bitter smile… “I will be the fish that conquers the sea of classical music.” Then he laughed, the look in his eye disappearing in a flash, “I didn’t mean anything by it… calling you the King of Frogs.”

Then his head abruptly dropped and he slumped forward in a heap.

“Hey?” Takane peered at him.

Kei opened his eyes and mumbled, “I don’t feel good...” Takane looked at his fist… Momma was gonna be mad at him again…

---

He had lost count of how many times he had ‘tsked.’ Takane stuck the tip of his pinky into his ear and tried to scrape out the sound of Kei’s piano that had gotten in. But before long the finger stopped fiddling around, and he allowed himself to listen to the melody that Kei was playing, still trying to keep his composure. But he gave up with another ‘tsk…’ (Ah, well, yeah good playing is good playing. I can’t help but listen, right?)

Kei was playing the piano at one of Takane’s old haunts, where he had never played anything but jazz. But the piano seemed to have no trouble handling Kei’s fingers as they played intricate, gorgeous, delicate, and sweet music on the keys. The names of the songs however… he had no idea. He had never heard the one he played first, nor the one after that or the one after that. But that had nothing to do with understanding the music, and for Takane’s curious, flexible sensibility it wasn’t difficult to be moved by these masterpieces once the earplugs of obstinacy were removed.

“So is this the ‘ocean music’ you were talking about?” He asked when Kei had finished playing another song.

“Yes… a part of the ocean. That one was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.”

“Moonlight… so it’s like…the moon on the sea? So that part that goes ‘da-rara-da-rara’ is like waves, right?”

“Well… I’ve never heard that particular interpretation before, but if that’s what it felt like to you, then that’s what it is.”

“I guess. It’s definitely not like jazz or blues, though… it’s more like… ahh, what the hell… like looking at a painting in a museum.”

“Yes, well… Jazz and Blues are more humanistic, more raw human emotion. Classical music purifies that raw humanity… it’s ah... More abstract?”

“It’s so-called ‘art.’”

“I think it’s true that it’s attained a certain point of perfection.”

“Huh? Whatever you’re saying is too complicated for me.”

“Excuse me. Ahh… I think it’s—“

“It’s even harder to understand if you try to say it in English.”

“Then, how can I explain it to you?”

Seeing that Kei was upset, Takane waved his hand at him and said, “You don’t need to explain music to me, I understood it well enough when you called it an ‘ocean of emotion.’ That’s different from jazz.” He stood up and shoved Kei by the shoulder onto a barstool he had pulled over. “I think… it went something like this…”

He sat down and started to play the opening phrase of Moonlight Sonata, continuing until he said, “Hm? What’s the next part?”

“You can play something you’ve only heard once?” Kei said, shocked.

“Yeah, what about it?” He turned around. “That’s all I know how to do.”

“You don’t learn by reading sheet music?”

“Sheet music? What’s that? I just listen to music, then remember it and play it.”

“So… you’re a King after all.”

Takane gave a frustrated laugh, “Look…” he shook his head at Kei, “Just go on and tell me the rest. I like your ocean music, I’d like to add it to my rep.”

“But aren’t you a jazz pianist?”

“I’m just a pianist. I don’t care if it’s a frog song or a fish song, if I like it, it’s mine.”

Two years later, the Japanese-American pianist from Harlem, Takane Ikushima, would make the classical music world sit up and take notice as a super-unconventional piano genius. And it all started with the Moonlight Sonata he had learned from Kei Tounoin, who would later go on to become a world-famous conducting genius. However, while the piece played by Kei that night was about the tranquil moonlight falling down, Takane’s version was about the moonlit sea — the same piece by two very different players. But the enormous depth of the sea that is classical music accepted both of these young musicians, who were as similar as fire and water.

Incidentally, in later years Kei Tounoin would be admired for his formidable memory, which enabled him to memorize even the massive scores of Mahler’s symphonies. But not many people know that behind his ability was the somewhat childish rivalry he had with this downtown jazz pianist, Takane Ikushima, who had a repertoire of hundreds of pieces all by ear.

[unkiindness]

Miyuki - Banana Fish au

Real Name Mochizuki Miyu

Name Miyuki Kurenai

Nickname ‘Yuki

Street Name Rusalka

Age 19

Date of Birth May 4 (Taurus) (1999-Banana Fish (2018)) (1966-Banana Fish (1985))

Occupation Gang member

Assassin (previous)

Mercenary (previous)

Hair Color Brown (dyed Light Blue)

Eye Color Hazel

Blood Type B

Height 5’4”/164.6 cm

Weight 123 lbs./55.79 kg

Preference Bisexual, Panromantic (2018), Bisexual (1985)

Biography Miyuki was born to Akizuki and Takeko of the Mochizuki family, one of the many yakuza clans in Japan.  She was in fact the first born, and slated to become the family’s heiress due to the couple’s inability to sire sons.  When Miyuki was young, she was sold to a group of mercenaries sponsoring the clan.  Since then, she has been forcibly trained in terrible conditions.  She fought in many battles throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  As a result, she was able to pick up many languages to help with negotiations, weapons dealing, and espionage.

Miyuki eventually ran away from the group with her sister Crimson, taking quite a portion of her subordinates with her to America.  In order to fend for themselves, Crimson joined a gang and Miyuki offered services as a hitwoman.  Miyuki would eventually meet Ash Lynx and join his gang and later his cause to help take down Fox and stop further distribution and experimentation with Banana Fish.

Miyuki is often tasked by Ash and Alex to help Bones and Kong protect Eiji when needed.  She helps with Ash’s rent in exchange to protect her cats, and frequents Changdai.  She enjoys food, annoying her boss, swimming, training, and admiring cute people.

[mifunebooty]

Princess Yuki of the Akizuki Clan, played by Misa Uehara in The Hidden Fortress (1958) directed by Akira Kurosawa

Her leading role as a great leader, a strong complex young woman and a fierce spirit would later influence the creation into the roles of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977-1983). She would also influence many more women and men created into the prequels and even Rey in the current Star Wars trilogy (2015-2019). Despite her massive influence on such a big franchise, all of her influenced characters would never do her quite the same justice as she does in this film. This would be Misa Uehara's film debut and she would retire 2 years after this movie at the age of 23.

[luziiannne]

Ｊａｎｕａｒｙ Ｈａｕｌ

Wow! January flew by so fast. Where did it go? I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year. There are a lot of manga that I’m looking forward to reading this year & some of them are out now, but for now here’s everything I got last month.

@kodanshacomics​​ is known for releasing a lot of digital manga. Last year they started to print some of their series & I couldn’t be happier. Drifting Dragons by: Taku Kuwabara, I had a big smile on my face from start to finish. I’m so excited for the anime adaption of this series coming out this April. Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight by: Rin Mikimoto, this is a lovey shōjo manga that sadly ends at 12 vols. I was hoping for more adventures with our main characters Hinana & Ayase, but here we are **sniffs** the end.

The Poe Clan by: Moto Hagio, this hardcover edition is a masterpiece. I’m in love with it, the art style is breathtaking. I’m currently still reading it & I hope we get a vol.2 release date soon. Deep Scar by: Rossella Sergi, written by an upcoming Italian artist Sergi captures the essence of shōjo manga. I love how the art is simple & clean with no distractions in the background. Super excited for vol.2 & can I just say that I’m overjoyed that @tokyopop​ has been releasing more titles & I’m here for it!

Snow White with the Red Hair vol.5 by: Sorata Akizuki

Requiem of the Rose King vols.7~9 by: Aya Kanno

Takane & Hana vols.2~3 by:Yuki Shiwasu

Seraoh of the End vol.2 by: Takaya Kagami

Deep Scar vol.1 by: Rossella Sergi

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight vols.9~10 by: Rin Mikimoto

Daytime Shooting Star vols.3~4 by: Mika Yamamori

Yona of the Dawn vol.22 by: Mizuho Kusanagi

Emanon vol.3 by: Shinji Kaijo

Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest vol.3 by: Aki Irie

Drifting Dragons vols.1~2 by: Taku Kuwabara

The Poe Clan vol.1 by: Moto Hagio

Find Me: Insta @luziiannne

[shinsengumi-archives]

About the sword "Yamato no Kami Hidekuni"

(1) What is the Aizu clan swordsmith "Hidekukuni" after "Kanesada"?

Swordsman Hidekuni, like the 11th generation Kanesada, was famous as a Aizu swordsmith. The sword used by Toshizo was made by Hidekuni, who was pursuing Shohei according to Matsudaira, himself. Kondo also sent three swords of the same name at the same time, giving one of them to Hikogoro and another to Gensaburo Inoue (collected by the Gensaburo Inoue Museum).

(2) "Yamato Morigen Gen Hidekuni" used in the Boshin War

Tonosuke Akizuki is an Aizu feudal lord who joined a training squad led by Keisuke Otori during the Boshin War. When marching into Utsunomiya, he set Hijikata as a staffer and became a commander himself, leading the spearhead. It is said that Toshizo respected him for his high hopes. The inscription shows that Toshizo gave a sword to Akizuki.

(3) Display the actual thing at the Reiyama Museum

Another beloved sword of Toshizo Hijikata, which will be open to the public at the Reizan Historical Museum in Kyoto from April 2016, is "Yamato Morigen Hidekuni". It is thought to have been used during the Boshin War, such as the battle of Toba / Fushimi and the battle of Koshu Katsunuma. The blade length is 2 shaku, 2 inch, 8 minutes, a straight blade practical sword, the signature is `` Yamato Mamoru Gen Hidekuni Akizuki Taneaki Shoubo Obiyuki '', the back name is `` Bakufu Samurai Hijikata Yoshitoyo Sento Kei Keiji It is engraved with "Akizuki-kun, Takahashi Tadashimori Obiyuki, on August August." "Yoshitoyo" is an Iina attached after the death of Toshizo.

Tokuzo owned the "Hidekoku Yamato", which has a plum design that he liked Hijikata for the framing. There are traces of pearls peeled off on some of the sheaths, and some parts of Koiguchi have become worn and light in color.

[ffxivaltstars]

The inn was cheap and that was what mattered. Daisuke didn't intend to spend much time in his inn room, anyway. There was information to be gathered and people to track. It wouldn't be that hard to find the Yamagarasu offices, of course, but he also wasn't about to go walking straight into them. He needed to be ready. He needed to know what he was going to say. It would take lots of time spent out and about the city. Weeks, at least, if not more.

Surveillance began immediately. All it took was a little patience and a handful of luck for Daisuke to overhear the right conversation. The two young men were Yamagarasu, all right, and unknowingly led their tail directly back to the head office. If Daisuke hadn't been quick on his feet, their Boss would have caught him prowling on the roof opposite the building. But it gave him a place to go every day. He found new routes and hiding places and kept a watchful eye on the yakuza boss every day for the rest of that sennight and into the next.

Becoming the prey himself was a fear that constantly gnawed at the back of Daisuke's mind. If he thought he heard the scuff of a boot, or saw a shadow out of place, or smelled the wrong cologne on the wind, he fled. Each time he sought a new place to hide and waited, barely breathing and with daggers drawn, for an eternity while nothing happened. It was beginning to fray his nerves.

The first time one of those uncertain, heart-stuttering encounters became a confrontation was almost a relief. Daisuke was at a disadvantage - he attacked only in defense, and without deadly force. The flats of his blades, the pommels, even punches and kicks and a well-placed tackle were his arsenal. He left his assailant bleeding but only unconscious, and did the same thing each successive time another darkened figure detached from the shadows to come for him again.

Some were the Yamagarasu themselves. Trust Oka to not miss that someone was staking out his family's turf. So far Daisuke was reasonably sure his identity hadn't been found out and he had every intention of keeping it that way. Some, however, were decidedly not Oka's little birds. Daisuke recognized the mark of the Akizuki clan embroidered into the clothes of several men he fought and left alive but unconscious and with bruised egos. If he was going to do what he came to Kugane for, Daisuke was going to need to pluck himself up and do it.

Perhaps it was that knowledge that influenced his bad decisions when he found himself face to face with the Raen's own second in command. Rei caught him fair and square, both if them drawing blood in the ensuing scuffle. But the fact that she saw his face was Daisuke's biggest mistake. She saw him and she recognized him. And when he could have broken and run, instead he let her talk him into staying.

He should have run, he thought distantly. Hindsight was always clear in such a regard. Had he not stayed, had he not made the mistake of trusting her, he wouldn't have had to confront the man he wasn't truly ready to encounter. All thoughts of what he'd wanted to say, the close-held and awkward feelings that formed a confusing tangle in his chest that he wasn't sure how to explain but wanted to try, were quickly condensed into a hardened knot and buried deep under layers of numb distance.

Despite Daisuke's attempt to ensure that his only reason for being there was to return the gift he'd received and the pearl Oka refused to answer, he doubted he'd been believed. And the words that repeatedly echoed through his mind now cut as deeply and sharply as steel. "It would've been awkward if a fling would've decided to pursue something more than that."

That was all it had been. Logically, Daisuke knew that. But he had wanted so badly for it to be something else that he'd convinced himself otherwise. He had twisted himself up in the memories of their short time together and made a muddle of all of it. A single date that shouldn't have meant anything, a silly nickname, even the unadorned use of his own given name - there was nothing between them that should have driven Daisuke to follow the Raen across the ocean like some sort of besotted youth.

But he had. And the absolute denial that he should have seen coming had sent him reeling.

Rather than his usual roundabout, carefully unique pathing to get back to his temporary quarters, Daisuke walked straight back. He looked straight ahead of him, his gaze never straying to the side or above to check the shadows of nearby streets or rooftops. Such things simply ceased to matter. Why should he care if someone was after him, when there was nothing left of the moorings that had kept him tethered in the first place?

He had left Lydia. His friends from his life before were either dead or otherwise gone. And the very reason for his return to his home city had been spelled out as nothing but a misunderstanding. A mistake. Daisuke had already cut all of his other ties. The Yamagarasu had held the final cord.

At first, nothing within Daisuke's rented room seemed out of place. The bed was unmussed and his spare clothing untouched. But as his uncaring eyes skimmed over the surfaces they finally recognized the thing that shouldn't have been there.

A single, ornate dagger lay innocently atop the bedside table. Its blade gleamed with care and hinted to a razor's edge, and its golden hilt glittered in the low light with rows of intricate filigree and tiny studded gems. It was expensive to the point of gaudy. It had also been Daisuke's own weapon, years before. A gift from Tachibana to his dear, beloved monster.

As if there could be any doubt of the dagger's origin, as if Daisuke didn't recognize every swirl and ridge of the fine decoration, the tiny etching of the Tachibana crest in the base of the blade was impossible to deny. Daisuke walked to it as if in a trance, gloved hand reaching for the hilt and lifting the exquisitely balanced weapon with ease.

It fit as perfectly into his grip as it had before. He would know this blade anywhere. But the last time he had held it was when he had driven it deep into his victim's body. This weapon, its twin, and the man he had killed with them had all fallen off a Kugane pier and into the ocean that fateful night. There was absolutely no explanation for how it could have found its way here now.

"Ah." Daisuke's sudden small noise of understanding was loud in the cramped space. He turned as the door opened behind him and nodded to the man who stood in its frame. It was with an overwhelming apathy that Daisuke allowed himself to be grabbed and disarmed and hauled unceremoniously from the premises. Perhaps he should have fought back. Only bells before he would have fought like a dervish to keep himself free. But such passion was just a memory he could no longer comprehend. His last thought while they threw a bag over his head, before the fist that smacked against his skull was able to find his temple and send him reeling into blackness, was that at least he would keep one promise he'd made: he really was going to disappear. Rei would never have to bother dealing with him again. ((Oka and Rei are @grumpy-limsan-customs-cat​ ‘s ♥))

[recentanimenews]

BLACKFOX - Crunchyroll Fall 2019 Spotlight

  Crunchyroll's Fall 2019 Simulcast Lineup is upon us, so it's time to get hyped for BLACKFOX! The original science fiction / action anime kicks off its futuristic ninja theme in October, so read on for more about the Studio 3Hz production.

    Navigation

Launch Info

Official Trailers

Synopsis

Characters and Cast

Staff

Additional Info

    Launch Info

Launch Time: TBA

Territories: Worldwide excluding Asia, France, Germany, Italy and Russia

Show Page (coming soon!)

  Official Trailers

      Synopsis

Living in a ninja residence tucked away in a corner of a futuristic city is Rikka, the eldest daughter of a Ninja clan, who looks up to her father --a researcher--very much. Carrying on with her life normally, Rikka's home came suddenly under attack one day. Driven into a corner, what would she do to overcome this crisis?

Rip darkness to pieces and become "BLACK"!

Characters and Cast

  Rikka Isurugi / Lily

VA: Ayaka Nanase (Yoshino in Sakura Quest)

Born into the Isurugi ninja clan. Though she is expected to succeed her grandfather as the head of the clan, she looks up to her father very much and wishes to follow in his footsteps to become a researcher.

  Mia

VA: Haruka Tomatsu (Naruko in anohana)

A powerful psychic with a sharp mind. Also skillful in chess.

Melissa

VA: You Taichi (Kenya in ERASED)

Rikka’s roommate. She takes care of all the chores while Rikka makes a living to support both of them.

        The girl in the fox mask

VA: ???

A mysterious figure who wears a fox mask. She appears in the streets in the dead of night dressed in all black and is often the talk of the town.

Allen 

VA: Hiroshi Tsuchida (Nakarunado in Log Horizon)

Rikka's father. A researcher who builds animal droids. He is peace-loving, kind and laid-back.

Hyoe 

VA: Eizou Tsuda (Lay Dawn in fairy gone)

Rikka's grandfather and 17th head of the Isurugi Family. A stern man who values ​​tradition.

Lauren

VA: Nobuo Tobita (Adelheid von Schugel in ISEKAI QUARTET)

A researcher who once worked for Gradaheim Tech Corp., engrossed in research involving potential abilities.

  Brad

VA: Hiroki Touchi (Pantherlily in Fairy Tail)

CEO / President of Gradsheim Tech Corp., a major corporation in Brad City.

Harold

VA: Rikiya Koyama (Yukichi in Bungo Stray Dogs)

Owner of the detective agency Rikka is working at.

Oboro

Madara

Kasumi

  Staff

  General Director

Kazuya Nomura (Run With the Wind, Robotics;Notes)

  Director

Keisuke Shinohara (A3!)

  Character Design

Atsushi Saito

  Script

Naoki Hayashi

  Mechanical Design

Fumihilo Katagai

  Animaidrawn Design

Kenji Ando

  Prop Design

Ryo Akizuki

  BackGround Design

Yuho Taniuchi

Moriyoshi Ohara

Atushi Morikawa

Ju Ishiguchi

Kou Kawamura

  Art Director

Yuji Kaneko

  Background Art

AOSHASHIN

  Colorist

Yukie Noguchi

  3DCG Director

(Flying Ship Studio）

Shunsaku Usui

  3DCG Production

Flying Ship Studio

  Director of Photography

Yu Wakabayashi

  Compositor

T2 studio

  Graphic Art

Hirofumi Araki

  Editor

Go Sadamatsu

  Sound Director

Jin Aketagawa

  Music

Masaru Yokoyama

Kana Hashiguchi

  Theme Song

fripSide

  Sound Producer

Good Smile Film

  Producer

infinite

  Production Studio

Studio 3Hz

  Additional Info

   Official website

Twitter

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[onedivinemisfit]

AnS Witcher!AU - the main trio (yes it took a while ahaha, the sketches were so randomly decided)

Shirayuki - young bruxa, technically clan Gharasham but coven-less, pretends to be a human herbalist, v sus of humans

Obi Forenzo - Witcher of the School of the Cat (back alley mutations notwithstanding) the ‘management’ to Shirayuki’s ‘anger’

Ryuu - hereditary werewolf child, adopted by Shirayuki after his leshen guardian died, consider him semi-civilized

AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata

Art: Me

[sohyuki]

miss mai my beloved @keokomi asked for a sneak peek to the character cast of absolution so i’m here to deliver the deets. edit: this got WAY longer than i anticipated because i kinda,,,,rambled. a lot. so everything is under the cut!

absolution

based on kazuha’s character story, we know that he’s the last son of one of the most notable clan’s in inazuma history  — the kaedehara clan. the clan no longer exists. by the time kazuha was born, the clan was on the verge of collapse, having almost no fortunes to inherit when the time came. eventually, their house was repossessed by the authorities and the last attendant was dismissed. [excerpt from the wiki page of the kaedehara clan] mihoyo never explains why the clan fell into decline though.

therefore, i’ll be tweaking the timeline a little so that the kaedehara clan still exists until kazuha is in his early teens (subject to change). but we’ll be seeing the decline of the clan throughtout the initial few chapters of the series.

that being said, we have two important characters from the kaedehara clan: kaedehara kazuto and lady botan — kazuha’s parents. i found it weird that there was no mention of any family so i made my own! as for their personalities at the moment, i’m still debating the nature of kazuha’s upbringing. was he raised with love? or was he the wayward son they could never pin down? side note:  kazuha gets all his looks from lady botan.

now to our mc! kazuha’s fiancee and best friend hails from the akizuki (秋月; autumn moon) clan  — a clan of my own creation for absolution. they’re a vassal clan to the kaedehara clan and our mc is the second child/daughter named akizuki tsurumi (i’m still trying to plan this out with a gender neutral reader so this is subject to change) while this is a reader insert, i personally don’t use y/n in any of my writing which is why mc will have a name but it’ll still be written in 2nd person.

tsurumi has three other siblings: sayuri, hiroyuki and fuyuko. sayuri is the eldest daughter while hiroyuki and fuyuko are her younger twin siblings. hiroyuki is the only son of her parents  — akizuki hiromasa and sanjou miku.

their mother, sanjou miku, hails from yet another one of my created clans  — the sanjou clan. they’re a relatively noble clan (lesser than the akizuki clan though) and other than miku, there is only one other character from that clan —  tsurumi’s older cousin, sanjou norimichi. let’s just say he’s kinda like the ayato of this family.

finally we have the advisor of the akizuki clan, kikuchi tadayasu (i think?????) think about any smart anime guy with glasses and one of them is probably like tadayasu (though he might be more like a vyn now that i think about it)

there is one other character in this cast (*cough* second male lead *cough*) but i want that to be a surprise hehe

i don’t have the notebook with me rn so i’m actually forgetting some of the minor character names shdjsfjksh help

i think that’s about all the confirmed original characters for absolution. we’ll be meeting many, many familiar faces throughtout mc and kazuha’s journey as well as some new ones. to whoever read until this point, thank you!!! it really warms my heart that you took the time to make it to the end of this rambling session and i hope you enjoyed it <3

[kpwx]

«Por qué rechinó la polea del pozo», de Seishi Yokomizo

A pesar de que forma parte de los ‘otros’ que se incluyen en Asesinato en el honjin y otros relatos, el cuento (aunque más bien diría que es una novela corta) que cierra el volumen ha sido para mí el mejor del libro. Incluso podría ir un poco más allá y decir que ha sido uno de mis favoritos del año. Me estoy refiriendo a Por qué rechinó la polea del pozo de Seishi Yokomizo, un escritor japonés cuya literatura se mueve entre el misterio y lo policíaco.

Tener fundadas sospechas sobre alguien que dice ser una persona que en realidad no es y estar obligado a convivir con él debe ser una situación incómoda o incluso angustiante. Ahora, ¿cuánto más lo sería si aquella persona de cuya identidad dudas es tu propio hermano? Hermano que, además, ha perdido la que quizá sea la característica física más propia que cada uno tiene; aquello que suele decirse, con razón, que es el reflejo del alma.

Este es el fondo principal de la novela, que aunque podría considerarse como policíaca, a ratos parece más un relato de Tanizaki.

Deshonor, envidia y venganza

En los hombros de Daisuke y Goichi recayó el peso de la tradición de dos importantes clanes, pero estas poderosas familias que otrora disputaban el gobierno de su localidad corrieron con diferente suerte a través del tiempo. Mientras que los Honiden prosperaron y lograron permitirle una buena situación a Daisuke, la pobreza en la que cayó la familia Akizuki obligó a Goichi a irse a trabajar al campo. El resentimiento que tenía el decadente clan por su rival era tanto más cuanto que el patriarca de los Honiden había sido el culpable del derrumbe final de los Akizuki. Después de todo, ¿qué hay más deshonroso para una familia de poder que tener como heredero a un hijo ilegitimo? Hijo, para más inri, del patriarca del clan rival.

La sangre de Daizaburo Honiden corría por ambos hijos, y eso se notaba. El parecido físico de Daisuke y Goichi era notable salvo en un detalle: el hijo ilegítimo había heredado la policoria (anomalía consistente en la existencia de dos o más pupilas en cada ojo) de su padre; característica física única que antes había sido la prueba del adulterio y que ahora los diferenciaba.

El prestigio del clan Honiden no evitó que en el momento de la guerra Daisuke fuese obligado a luchar al igual que Goichi; ambos fueron reclutados al mismo tiempo y enviados al mismo batallón. Con la guerra los rasgos individuales de cada uno se fueron diluyendo hasta terminar pareciendo, salvo por sus ojos, idénticos. Pero la cruenta guerra trajo sus consecuencias y otra vez la suerte de las familias fue dispar: Goichi murió y Daisuke pudo volver a casa. Este regreso, sin embargo, no fue idílico para los Honiden, pues, aunque regresó con vida, lo hizo a un gran costo: Daisuke había perdido ambos ojos.

La única característica que los diferenciaba ya no existía: ahora los ojos que lo distinguían de su medio hermano habían sido reemplazados por unos inquietantes e inexpresivos ojos de vidrio. Y es aquí cuando comienzan los problemas, pues el alegre joven que tanto extrañaban en casa (habitada esta por su hermana, su esposa, su abuela y dos sirvientes) al regresar demostró ser totalmente distinto: la guerra, la perdida de la vista o alguna razón oculta había hecho cambiar drásticamente al heredero, al punto de no querer dirigirle la palabra a su familia. La sospecha nació pronto entre ellos: ¿es realmente Deisuke?, ¿es Goichi y en realidad ha sido un plan de los Akizuki para vengarse? Una maldición parece caer en los Honiden y confirmar lo segundo, pues rápidamente comienzan a ocurrir desastres que terminarán por hundir a la familia.

Solo imaginar a alguien con ojos de vidrio comportarse extraño me provoca una sensación placenteramente inquietante. A veces un relato necesita algún detalle perturbador para dar una atmósfera de terror, y en este caso creo que funciona perfectamente.

«Me pareció extraño que Daisuke no saliera, a pesar del escándalo que hubo, pero no estaba durmiendo. Me asomé al dormitorio y lo vi sentado en la cama, prestando atención a lo que hablábamos. Aunque estaba dentro de la mosquitera, conseguí ver sus ojos de cristal concentrados en nosotras»…

La historia se cuenta principalmente con las cartas que Tsuruyo —la hermana pequeña de Daisuke— le envía a Shinkichi —su otro hermano, que tras sufrir tuberculosis se encuentra internado en una clínica cercana— y se complementa con las noticias que informaron los diarios sobre los acontecimientos siniestros que luego ocurrieron. Situaciones extrañas, asesinatos y coartadas típicas (aunque no tiene que envidiar en nada a John Dickson Carr) de una novela policiaca clásica, pero cargado todo de una atmosfera triste y opresiva que una angustiada adolescente narra.

No lo entiendo; no sé qué está pasando en esta casa. Estoy confusa y lo único que sé con seguridad es que va a ocurrir algo malo, algo terrible… Shinkichi, ¿qué va a suceder?.

Ahora seguiré con otros títulos del creador del desaliñado pero perspicaz Kindaichi.