Get your own Free Home PageIn a field full of flowers, Akari, a young girl, is crying. Her mother tells her to stop crying without success. She wants her to become stronger but the girl cannot see how she can. "You can get stronger a little by little. If you go to University Satellite..." "Can *I* go there?" "Walk ahead on your own. Don't be afraid of your first step. There is no road to the future. Where you run will become a road. Run, Akari, and look ahead." The words were just part of a dream of Akari's. She had fallen asleep by her mother's grave. A lone seagull flies over her in the dark sky.
Ichino is in the middle of nowhere. Even her map is no use when it comes to guiding the city-grown girl through wild Hokkaidou. Besides Akari's house is in a remote area and Ichino has to endure all sorts of problems before she can reach it ^_^;;
Ichino wakes up to a familiar phrase, "On your mark." She falls from the top of a pickup where she has been sleeping. Ignoring the surprised driver, she dashes towards the voice. There she sees something unexpected, Akari is running at an amazing speed. But recollection of Jessie's reproach stops her in the middle. Ichino cannot stand it, "Why did you stop? Why did you stop running? Once you have started, run to the goal!" Akari, bewildered by seeing Ichino, runs away with a portable Akari House (^o^) over her. Ichino is just as amazed to see how fast she can run with a box over her. Yet, she is confident that the running form(?) has a fatal flaw. As she expected, Akari trips over the root of a tree and gets caught by Ichino. To her surprise, Akari bursts into tears and hugs her passionately "I've been so lonely!"
Akari cheerfully washes clothes while Ichino helps the van driver to unload the goods he came to deliver. He has been delivering goods to the house ever since the girl and her mother moved into the house. After a moment's hesitation, Ichino asks him what the life of the two was like. While Akari is making a mess of her chores, he tells Ichino about the mother and daughter, who lived happily in this remote area. Tomoe loved Akari very much... perhaps too much as Akari grew up to be a little spoiled and meek. She couldn't make any friends, either. But he is pleased to see a new Akari back from Antarctica. She is more active and cheerful. He is sure that she made a lot of friends there (to which Ichino can only awkwardly smile back) and asks her to be Akari's friend forever "You are the first friends Akari-chan ever made."
Ichino sees off the pickup when Akari comes to tell her the bath is ready. [Her bathing scene is ruthlessly snipped ^o^;;] After the bath, Ichino is taken to her room and suggests that they can "Dodge-pillow" later as they used to do. Akari turns it down, saying she will sleep in her mother's room. Instead she asks Ichino how long she can stay. Ichino's expression becomes hard and she tells her "For as long as it takes." She is determined not to leave there without Akari. But to her surprise, Akari is really excited to hear her words, "So you can stay here forever!? I'll cook you a wonderful dinner tonight!"
The two girls are cooking the dinner in the kitchen. Ichino makes another attempt to "persuade" Akari by reminding her of their school life; they used to cook like this in the dorm. But every time she tries to get to the point, Akari changes the subject; "Oh, the pan is boiling over" "Oh, a potato is on the floor" "Oh, I must cook rice now" "Oh, the fish is flying!" [Ichino's reaction to the last one is a joke. Osaka people are supposed to be respond ANY joke made at them ^_^;;]
At the dinner table, the girls show a good appetite. Ichino teases Akari that eating too much would affect her time badly. Akari casually replies, "I guess so." Ichino is quick to seize this opportunity. "You were running, weren't you?" Ichino tries to persuade a defiant Akari to go back to the School with her. Her indifference snaps something in Ichino; "Why did you go to the School? Wasn't it to go to University Satellite!?" This phrase reminds Akari of her mother's last words, "Go to University Satellite, Akari" and brings tears to her eyes. Ichino, hesitating slightly after seeing her tears, still insists that she come back with her but Akari, unusually for her, makes her position clear, "No, never!"
That night, Ichino cannot sleep and finds a photo of Akari and Tomoe when she hears Akari crying. Akari has been out of her bed and is crying in the garden, "Mum... how can I..." Ichino rushes to her and brings her back to reality. "Icchan... where's Mum?" She has been walking in her dream and returning to reality, she cannot hold her tears back.
Akari tells Ichino that Tomoe died in this room and repeats her last words. "From now on, you must live on your own. Run, Akari. Don't be afraid of your first step. Go to University Satellite." "Ok! I will! I'll go anywhere so don't leave me alone, Mom!" "Akari, I wanted to run with you just for once...."
But to Akari, University Satellite seems an unrealistic target. How can she, who cannot keep up even in the School, reach it? She also blames the others in the School who unfairly expected a lot from her and then became disappointed, simply because Akari is Tomoe's daughter. Ichino does not give her any gentle words, though. She tells her, "Bullied? Made fun of? So what? All you have to do is made a good record and shut them up." "Oh, I couldn't. I did my best." This brings a defiant and scornful smile on Ichino's lips. "You haven't done anything. All you did was taste a bit of hardship and cry. You made no effort to win. You decided your record and result beforehand and never tried to look at the goal. Such a coward can't be even the worst loser." Akari's defiant reply "You won't understand how I feel" is met by even more defiant one from Ichino "Who cares!?"
Emotionally cornered, Akari slaps Ichino in the cheek, who, not surprisingly, does the same to her in return. After a few exchanges of slapping, Ichino hits Akari with her knuckles. Akari continues to pity herself, "I haven't done anything wrong... Mum... help me!" This triggers Ichino's anger again, which has been toned down a bit. She throws the photo of Akari and Tomoe at her and shouts "If you are feeling so hard, go to your Mum for sympathy. As soon as you hit something you don't want to deal with, you run away and hide behind your Mum!" Now she regains her calm and continues in far less harsh tone, "But she's gone now. You don't understand how I feel, either. Why do you think I've come here? Why do you think I'm doing things like this? I want to go to the University Satellite with you! I want to be with you all the time..."
But even her encouragement with a tearful smile is not enough to soften Akari's heart. She walks by her to go back to her mother's room, "I'm sorry." Ichino manages to save herself from bursting into tears and picks up the photo from the shattered frame. She sets it straight and apologises to Tomoe, "I did an awful thing to you. Please accept my humble apology." [This scene made Ichino my really favourite character]
Next morning, the two girls are at Tomoe's grave. Akari reports to Tomoe what she has been doing. "I've been to The Training School, Mum. But it was no good. I couldn't hang in to the last but ran away from it. But, this time I'll hang in there. This time I'll follow Icchan!" Akari thanks her surprised friend for her support but Ichino cheerfully replies, "If I'd been bothered with such a small trouble, I wouldn't be your friend!" The girls dash to the house and Tomoe's last words cheer them. [Note the frame of the photo is hastily repaired (probably by Ichino) with tapes]
Akari is back in the School and all her friends/rivals pay attention to her return. Jessie is not welcoming. "Have you come back?" "Yeah" "For what?" "To start again" "Do you still intend to carry on?" "Sure! I won't be beaten this time!"
"Kanzaki Akari is now back!"
Title
[They brought the title to the very last. To me, it had a wonderful effect. Also note the preview of Eps.6 (at the end of Eps.5) contains no words except the title, which was also very effective.]
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