#writing and its all natsuki san this natsuki san that. laughing

[suffarustuffaru]

more of otto being Astronomically down bad for subaru for the entirety of rezero breaktime s2 except i cant put the entirety of rezero breaktime s2 so im just gonna put the Highlights: a compilation (part 1)

[x0401x]

Music Natalie Interview with Akane Kazuki

Interview and cast comment featuring director Akane Kazuki, who aims for a contemporary Japan version of “Stand by Me”.

The original TV anime “Hoshiai no Sora” started airing on TBS and other channels as of October 10th, 2019. Akane Kazuki, who is in charge of this work’s script and direction, is a veteran director with a history of over 30 years in the business, who has been making series such as “Tenkuu no Escaflowne”, “Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e”, “Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito” and others. With a boys’ soft tennis club on the verge of disbanding as its stage, “Hoshiai no Sora”, which he is delivering as his “new challenge”, is a multi-protagonist narrative that portrays the problems shouldered by second-year middle school boys. There were probably many spectators who were surprised by the last scene of the first episode.

Why did director Akane, who produced several sci-fi and robot series, challenge himself with this theme now? In this special feature, we had director Akane discuss in detail about the process until “Hoshiai no Sora” was created, and of course, about the sense of crisis that he feels from the anime industry. In addition, we are including and delivering a Q&A with cast members Hanae Natsuki, Hatanaka Tasuku, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, Satou Keisuke, Amasaki Kouhei and Yamaya Yoshitaka, revealing memories of their middle school days and things to pay attention to in the series.

Raw || Index

Director Akane’s Interview

“I want to write a proper human drama with brilliant animators.”

——Director Akane, in a pamphlet interview from the TBS Anime Festa 2018 (see: Pamphlet Interview with Director Akane Kazuki), where the title “Hoshiai no Sora” premiered, you talked about your belief that “animation had to move forward onto its new weapons and possibilities”, right? First of all, could you tell us the process until the point where you bound this feeling to the series named “Hoshiai no Sora”?

Blunty put, anime nowadays has fallen down to a “in what way can we make money with this” kind of thinking. Of course, it is commercial anime, thus it cannot be done if it does not give returns correspondent to the costs, but the time I entered the anime business was the period when Miyazaki Hayao-san and Tomino Yoshiyuki-san’s works were starting to be released, so I looked up to the innovation of their animations as video media. Like, “So there’s a part of this industry that can make proper dramas like these and manage to do new things animation-wise”. Yet, looking at the past ten years, there has been nothing but repeated copies of things that sold well, with a “that work was accepted, so let’s get on the bandwagon and make something” kind of feeling to them. I think that a feeling such as, “The animes made by Miyazaki-san and the like are different, so isn’t it okay if we keep doing our thing on this side?” has been going on all along.

——This side of it might have come to light precisely because the number of late-night anime fans increased and the market for them established itself to some extent.

A few years ago, when the so-called “moé anime” was trending, I was told, “Once you start doing it, there’s no helping if it doesn’t sell. It’ll be more accepted if you use cute girls and include erotic scenes”, but I thought, “That’s not true”, because I believe that we are becoming unable to sell anime Blu-rays and DVDs as a result of making a fool out of our spectators like this. When we do that, the younger directors cannot challenge themselves at all, even if they have the sense to. Therefore, it has been over 30 years since I have entered this business, so I wondered if I couldn’t create some sort of new path once again, even if it were an animal trail.

——You were aware of a sense of crisis regarding the industry and of nurturing the next generation.

Companies must equip themselves with new technology just for making new things, so at first, I talked to the CEO of Eight Bit, Kasai Tsutomu-san, about firstly levelling our footing with a hop-step-jump feeling and then gradually accelerating it in “Hoshiai no Sora”. But out of a bad habit of mine, I end up suddenly stepping onto the pedal with all my strength when I start doing something (laughs). It is modern, so I believe it is still easier for the staff to make it than near-future sci-fi.

——I also want to ask about that point, director Akane, but when the topic is you, we do get the image of sci-fi and robots after all, and from the words “new possibilities of animation”, I reminisced to sci-fi with flashy footage, action and things in that direction. But “Hoshiai no Sora” is the complete opposite of that, and in a way, while having a puny soft tennis club from a present-time middle school as its stage, it is the story of a very small world.

About that, to tell the truth, the first animation work I looked up to was Takahata Isao-san’s “Sekai Meisaku Gekijou” series. I adore “Anne of Green Gables” and such, like, “You can stage human mentality so sensibly with animation, as if you’re approaching the viewer”, and I always thought that I wanted to try doing it. In the beginning, when I entered Sunrise, it went to a point where I asked in an interview, “Isn’t it fine to also aim for something masterpiece-like, an animation that only compels human drama?”. The sci-fi personnel kept telling me to “do what would be accepted”, so I included that because I had no choice.

——Eh, was that so (laughs)?

But now sci-fi has grown obsolete, so I thought that, this time, I would be able to make something pieced together from nothing but human drama; something that could project a sense of the current times with this, which is what I had always wanted to do ever since I entered this business. After all, far more than our generation did, children nowadays carry with themselves several kinds of issues. Besides, a number of old animes were less skillful in comparison to now when it comes to depiction methods. The power of animation and portrayal of “Sekai Meisaku Gekijou” series is absurdly high, so it managed to portray extremely sensible changes of heart in people with art, but it is a work that could be made because genius animators like Miyazaki-san, Kotabe Youichi-san and Kondou Yoshifumi-san were gathered for it. But in the past few decades, the number of brilliant animators increased a lot, and compared to when I entered the industry, where the quantity of series became so big that we cannot deal with them all, the quality of the animators has grown far better. Wouldn’t I be able to direct the depiction of a proper human drama if I were with children like them? If so, I thought, I wanted to try creating a scenario that would be in accordance to this.

“I wanted to make a contemporary Japan version of ‘Stand By Me’.”

——By the way, other than “Anne of  Green Gables”, was there any other work that you had as an image of something along the lines of “I want to make a series like this” during the conception stage of this one?

Something I thought of wanting to do was the movie “Stand By Me”. It makes you reflect upon the mood in America during the period when the Vietnam War had just ended, and the suffering of children who cannot let go of their parents is properly written in it, so the question “Then how about making a ‘Stand By Me’ with present-time Japan as the setting?” was always within me.

——So the idea of making a multi-protagonist story about boys comes from there. It sure makes sense.

There is the fact that animation is a media essentially watched by young people, so even as I said that I was going to make a human drama, I did not want an old man as protagonist (laughs). When I remember about myself, I think that the time around the second year or so of middle school is a period where the entrance to adulthood starts becoming visible, but no matter what, you cannot escape from the restraints of your parents, so it becomes a turning point in the formation of people’s growth. Moreover, I decided to add sports to it, in which you can easily insert a balance for entertainment, but I have a twisted personality (laughs), so I thought just normal sports would not be fun, thus I tried choosing a somewhat minor sport such as soft tennis.

——When you went on-stage during the TBS Anime Festa, you said, “The number of competitors in soft tennis is really huge in middle school, but it becomes smaller as people grow up, and they end up forgetting what they felt during those times. This overlapped with my image of the so-called ‘adolescence’”, and it left a big impression.

There is also the fact that I used to play it, but I believed that, if it were soft tennis, the wordly thoughts of adults would not barge into it. Whenever parents have their children do something, no matter what, the greed of grown-ups is often involved. I despise things such as doing something while aiming for victory and throwing everything away (laughs). I thought it would be better to write about a more innocent kind of sport where one would say, “I do it because I like it”.

——Director Akane, looking at your previous works and interviews, I feel like you always have your eyes on the children, so to say, and that you want to make animes that remain in children’s hearts, but are you conscious of this?

No, just because the protagonists are children does not mean that I am making animes aimed at children. I believe I cannot make a kids’ anime (laughs). Isn’t the “children gaze” something that everyone is supposed to have experienced before? That’s why, when I make the protagonist a child, I am aiming it at “general audiences”.

——I see.

It would be great if I cause adults to remember their childhoods and think things such as, “I used to be more serious, huh?” or, “Aren’t I hurting my child?” with “Hoshiai no Sora”. Even though they were supposedly hurt by adults in their own childhoods, when people become adults, they pretend that they forgot about it for some reason. Of course, I would also be happy if middle school kids watched it, and I want to tell them, “You’re not at fault for anything; you don’t have to blame yourselves”. Adults are human beings too, so they are not right about everything, and it might not be your fault that they are scolding you. This has both a “it’s okay to be aware of that” and a “it might be okay to make others understand that” side to it.

“The last scene of episode one was an unexpected finale.”

——From here on, I am thinking of asking questions also related to the contents of the first episode, but the background music by Jizue bears a sense of presence. I had a very “present-like” impression of it, and having that post-rock-style instrumental as anime soundtrack felt fresh.

When I told our music producer, “I don’t want an OST and theme songs that are wholly anime-like”, he made arrangements with Jizue-san. Jizue-san’s compositions are unique and interesting and gave us good influence even during the staging. I decide everything by myself as far as music pieces for the middle of the story are concerned, so I believe the music and the drama are in sync.

——One more thing I felt to be fresh was the character design. Itsuka-san, who made the concept drafts, is an illustrator that has over a hundred thousand followers on Twitter, draws covers for several novels aimed at teenagers and is extremely popular amongst young people, right? You told us that you were introduced to her by someone from your staff.

Yes. I believed that, story-wise, more realistic character designs would be better at first, but on the other hand, I thought that, in the end, unless you also have people at around their late teens watch an anime, its life force as an animation drains out, so I concluded I had to make the art into something that children at this age would want to see. And then the one who Producer Kasai from Eight Bit introduced to me was Itsuka-san. Her drawings are soft, so I had wondered if they would be able to handle the hard parts of the story, but when it was animated by the photography director, Takahashi (Yuuichi)-kun, and the characters started moving, it was praised with a, “If it’s this, it can work”.

——Just as you say, even though the characters are deformed, I thought this was an unexpected finishing touch that allows their facial expressions and the scenarios to feel realistic.

When it was selected to be animated, I repeated countless manuscripts. In the beginning, I tried making it more real, a bit removed from Itsuka-san’s art, but when I did that, it somehow ended up looking like an “average anime” to me. Itsuka-san had gone through the trouble of drawing it, so I went over trial and error in order to have it leave its mark. When we actually finished the first episode, I thought it synchronized quite well with the story.

——And when people watched episode one, what really left an impression was the last scene, which reveals that Maki is abused by his father. I had somewhat heard about the contents of it, but when I actually watched it, the shock was bigger than I thought it would be. The mood felt unpleasant from the moment that his father came, so to speak, and at Maki’s aspect as he was hit after rebelling once, then crouched down and became unable to move, I was at a loss for words, like, “Uwah…”.

That scene was entirely written by Takahashi-kun, but it was a finale that made me think, “My, that’s terrible…” more than I had imagined, so I was also surprised. In our own childhood, there was a fair number of parents who hit their children, and I believe it is not rare at all for children to have this sort of home circumstance, but if we had portrayed it objectively, people would go, “Something so cruel doesn’t exist”. I think that it went well performance-wise because it came in the form of facial expressions and that it would be great if people felt lots of things watching that scene.

“That means you watch too much anime.”

——Speaking of which, there are already several club members just in the soft tennis one, so how did you create the image of each?

They partly hint novels that I have read up to this point and movies I like, and I also insert all sorts of elements from people I have met until now. Such as, “They had this kind of reaction back then, didn’t they?” or, “That kind of guy was there”. There are also episodes that include real stories. This is why I think that it would be good if the viewers do things such as having the person next to them in mind or imagining the person they are with in the character’s shoes as they watch the series.

——I was thinking that Touma was going to be the so-called protagonist-like story teller, but his lines are much fewer than I had expected. Maki is also flighty, and the tennis club members around them are careless too… The fact that you cannot see the true thoughts of anyone and that there is no storyteller was also fresh.

If you feel that to be fresh, it certainly means you watch too much anime.

——Ahaha, I cannot deny it (laughs).

If it is in movies, isn’t that completely normal? Explaining too much through lines and monologues is a bad habit of anime. I think people come to like characters even more when they ask themselves, “What’s this guy thinking?” and then figure it out. This is a particularly strong trait of original animes, so I hope people ask themselves about what kind of characters they are. All the hints are supposedly depicted there.

——As you say, I think the first one was exactly the type of episode that draws out a “What kind of people are these kids?”.

“The sort of performance that real actors do can also be portrayed through animation.”

——Regarding the animation, it is mostly hand-drawn and it seems even the 3D is devised to look hand-drawn. Director Akane, I wonder if this is not because you are against CG, but was the obsession with hand-drawing meant to match with the story in this case?

In a previous work, I tried seeing what would happen if we used CG to the utmost limit. The operator was also an awfully brilliant person, so I believe he did all he could, but in the end, I thought that it could not win against action hand-drawn by human beings. The more we maximized with CG, the more I perceived once again the greatness of action drawn with human hands all too well, so this time, I believe I want to depict these boys with the sensibility and flexibility of hand drawings. It is not that I am against CG, but in the end, there is something wonderful in the art drawn by actual animators. Of course, there is the pre-determined condition that they have to be skilled (laughs).

——So animators who can make this possible are gathered in “Hoshiai no Sora”.

Right. This applies to Takahashi-kun’s art in particular, for he makes drawings so delicate that the faces can change just by moving one line. For example, he portrays very deftly those facial expressions of Maki’s where you cannot tell what he is thinking for a moment, as well as Touma’s air of inflexibility, or the fact that he sometimes suddenly has on an anxious-looking gaze. I want to leave behind this kind of fineness by hand-drawn animation. I want young animators to realize that the detailed performances that actors do can also be portrayed with animation and it would be great if the viewers could understand this too. You said earlier that Maki’s suffering was conveyed very well in the last scene of episode one, and I think this is exactly because it is not live action but animation.

——This is part of the power of art, and there is also the facet that one can relate emotionally to it precisely because it is entirely fiction. After all, we sometimes end up feeling that it is “just acting” in live action, but the anime characters are not putting up an act.

Aah, that is right. There is also the fact that I made the protagonists be children, and in Japan, gathering just seven to eight good child actors for making a live action series with lots of children is really difficult. That’s why it would be fake no matter what, but it looks true in animation. I believe this is something that cannot be done with live action, and that we can achieve because it is an anime. The voice actors, too, can play the boys regardless of being already past their twenties.

——Now that you mentioned it, this time, it seems the casting was decided only through the tapes, without anyone looking at their names or profiles at all.

Yes. In the tape audition, we picked just by their numbers without looking at the names. Except, even if we select them without look at their names, we ultimately choose the good ones, and all the popular ones are good. I only asked for Itsuki’s actor, Matsuoka (Yoshitsugu)-kun, to be selected before-hand this time, because when we were together in my previous work, I thought that “he’s so good”.

——There are many young actors, but do you feel any difference between the voice actors of before and now?

No, nothing of the sort. Whenever I was the director, since long ago, I would often favor the rookies. From the very start, I was fond of voice actors who performed in a natural way, so I believe that we have chosen mostly people like that this time as well.

——During the advanced screening, too, everyone in the cast was hinting at each of the worries that the characters bear, so as to call the attention not only to Touma and Maki, of course, but also to the other club members.

This is a series that started out from all sorts of challenges, so I believe the story will not progress the way people may picture it, and the story might not come down as imagined from the title “Hoshiai no Sora”. Developments that you cannot expect may be something unpleasant to see at times, but I think this will turn into pleasure if people bear with it and that there will be no disappointment from watching it. I also look forward to them coming up every time. The staff is doing their best, so I hope people will enjoy how the story will advance.

“Hoshiai no Sora” Cast Comment

Hanae Natsuki (voice of Katsuragi Maki) / Hatanaka Tasuku (voice of Shinjou Touma) / Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (voice of Ameno Itsuki) / Satou Keisuke (voice of Takenouchi Shingo) / Amasaki Kouhei (voice of Ishigami Taiyou) / Yamaya Yoshitaka (voice of Asuka Yuuta)

Q. How is director Akane Kazuki during the recording?

Hanae: The director talks to us quite a lot even during breaks and whatnot. Maybe he is quite the worrywart, since he asks things such as, “Was it fun?” and, “You guys okay?”. The fact that he is very hyped towards “Hoshiai no Sora” really conveys, so we also feel like we should do our best.

Q. This is a work that depicts the troubles of middle school boys, thus I believe it made you all remember how you felt during that period of your lives, so if there is any episode that stayed in your memory, please do tell.

Hanae: When it comes to the episodes that we can talk about, I remembered a time when I had a class where we had to go out in groups, and I had brought gum with me and my teacher found out when I was eating it, so they gave me a battered earful.

Hatanaka: I wanted to be popular… I wanted that, so I played basket. But I did not become popular at all. It was truly hard, so I would like people not to laugh at me.

Matsuoka: There was once an extracurricular lesson at school where we had to pick grapes and turn them into wine. But the field was super large, so no matter how much we picked and picked, and we had to repeatedly put the grapes in a big container in the middle of it when our buckets were filled up, and I got sick and tired of it, so I kicked my bucket flying and the health teacher saw it and it was a shock to me when they said, “Matsuoka-kun, I didn’t think you were the kind of child who did things like this”.

Satou: I rode to school by bicycle when I was in junior high, so I had to wear a helmet, but I hated it. A student who had the status of school leader did not wear it and he told me something like, “You take it off too!”. But I was conflicted… because the teachers would get mad at me if I did so (laughs).

Amasaki: I remember one time when swimming class had ended and the girl I liked whispered in my ear, “Amasaki-kun, you had belly rolls, huh?”, and I was extremely hurt (laughs).

Yamaya: There was a girl I used to like in my class, and she liked anime, so I started watching anime in order to have common topics with her. It is thanks to this girl that I am now a voice actor.

Q. Please leave messages for the people who have watched the first episode and who will watch it from this point on.

Yamaya: From the impression that the art gives off, I believe many people will watch it thinking that it has warm and cozy world-building, or that it is a multi-protagonist drama about refreshing youth where schools and club activities appear. I think they will be dealt a shock, but please do look forward to the developments ahead.

Amasaki: I think that, surely, anime is something that you watch with all sorts of feelings. There are people who watch with lighthearted feelings while eating snacks, and people who watch levelheadedly with fixed sitting postures. The people who want to eat snacks should finish eating fast! Please watch the latter half of it steadily. There are many scenes that are a waste to miss out on, so I hope people will watch with all their mights from the first episode onward.

Satou: The director and everyone from the staff made this while obsessing a lot with minute details, so I hope people will see even these delicate parts of it.

Matsuoka: Please watch it with your family while having dinner. I believe this series is related to everyone’s futures.

Hatanaka: The way each character is written is extremely sensible and the things they bear are heavy, so I think there will definitely be people who will be pained to watch it, but I would be happy if they could watch, with these feelings also included, how these children will face it and move on. I believe there is always something to be found in the aftermath of a painful feeling.

Hanae: I think it is an anime in which the way you feel towards it changes from person to person, and there are also lots of characters, so I think that how people will relate their emotions with a given character also changes depending on each person, so I want all sorts of people to watch it. How the club members will unite through soft tennis is also depicted there, so please do pay attention to it.

[filliteapot]

so, what shoujo manga are your cup of tea? can you mention what you wanted to say about dessert margaret, you got me interested

First of all: I do love shoujo manga. I enjoy romance stories and see no shame in this. Also I hate when people trash on shoujo only bc it’s shojo and go with that ‘omgnoanotherstupidromanceforteengirls’ as these people won’t ever admit that such a story may show something from a different perspective and is no worse than any generic shounen they praise. But at the same time I kinda get where they are coming from - as I also appreciate when the romance isn’t an end in itself, and characters aren’t walking tropes and I can feel like they have other problems than that. Joseis are more satisfying in this regard, so now I kinda switched to them (though sometimes the diffrence is thin). Soo— when I hear ‘Margaret’ I immediately think ‘oh and now we gotta talk about ROMANCE and NOTHING ELSE’ and in my current state of mind it’s kinda too little to get me interested. I love when you can see characters grow, change their vision of the world, solving problems with friends, parents, lovers, choose their own way to live and be themselves. I love when love interests are also important friends and people who support them. I love stories that make me feel like this world is a better place than we may think when we have hard times (even if these stories have some psychologically heavy stuff - but have some hope within).

So, choosing from shoujo, I guess I’m leaning towards older stuff from Hana to yume or Lala which may be named shoujo but is mature and serious (while having flowers and romance but let’s be honest there are flowers and romance in the real world too and no one calls it unnatural). So, I’m sharing my recs or things that caught my attention but I had no time or mood to get into them yet.

(It got longer in process than I expected, even if I included only things that came into my mind right away, so I put it under the cut.)

I started wriring this post thinking about nowadays series and in process learned about oldschool series that were serialized in these magazines and wrote a bit about them too.

Hana to yume

everything by Takaya Natsuki

Please save my earth by Hiwatari Saki

Tokyo crazy Paradise (need to finish) and Skip beat (need to READ) by Nakamura Yoshiki

NG life by Kusanagi Mizuho 

LaLa:

everything by Midorikawa Yuki

Mekakushi no kuni by Tsukuba Sakura (fffave)

Ouran High School Host Club by Hatori Bisco 

Kare Kano by Masumi Tsuda (need to read it, as i liked the beginning but put it on hold)

Betsuma (Bessatsu Margaret):

Ando Yuki’s works

Kimi ni Todoke by Shiina Karuho (i got an ask about this one recently, you may check it in my knt tag)

Cat Street by Kamio Yoko (it’s been years since I read this but I remember that characters growth and dealing with traumas were major themes and the story was quite hopeful)

Mashikaku Rock and other things  by Watanabe Kana (this author mostly writes short series or oneshotes but I adore her style and… idk, how real and kind they feel)

Margaret:

Sugars by Yamamori Mika

Futsuu no Koiko-san by Nagamu Nanaji

Short Cake Cake by Morishita Suu

Some works by oldschool authors like Ikeda Ryoko (Versailles no bara) and Honda Keiko were there too. Wow.

Dessert:

Ohayou Ibarahime by Morino Megumi (i still need to finish it but it surely is not a superficial story)

Koi Wazurai no Ellie by (idk it makes me laugh)

Mairimashita Senpai by Mase Azusa (not sure where its going but enjoyable so far)

Betsucomi - I seriously had no idea Basara and Kaze Hikaru were serialized here but they were. In short, some stuff from this magazine which isnt oldschool still seem more like josei to me.

Kirakira to Yoru ni Furu by Fujio Nami (my underrated and probably not scanlated all time fave)

Joou no Hana by Kaneyoshi Izumi (still need to contnue this one and also her new series as I liked the beginning)

stories by Motomi Kyosuke (i appreciate her humour and am kinda meh about her ‘serious and heavy’ parts of the plot but i couldn’t wrtite this post and ignore her)

Haruyuki Bus by Usami Maki (oneshotes collection, has average stories as well as good ones, I enjoyedit overall)

Tsuki to Mizuumi by Ashihara Hinako (i also tried her Piece but liked this oneshot collection better, esp the first story)

Gosh betsucomi even has stuff by Hagio Moto, an oldschool author I want to check

[zukalations]

Star Troupe Troupe Report - December 2017

Troupe Report is a Kageki feature where an appointed reporter will write about current events in the troupe or ask troupe members for questions to answers sent in by readers. Reporters are generally only replaced on retirement, unlike other backstage features that rotate monthly or quarterly.

Star Troupe’s Troupe Report has been written by Kisaragi Ren since 2015. The December 2017 edition focuses on Ichijo Azusa, who retired from Star Troupe with the show closing that month.

Troupe Report: Star Troupe

This month, it’s a special feature about the most passionate otokoyaku of all of us, ‘Guts’ - Ichijo Azusa!

Q: What is Ichijo-san like in the Leadership Room*?

“Although she is so sharp onstage, she’s actually really cute 💖” - Miki Chigusa “Usually she’s so cool, but every once in a while she’ll be like ‘Kai-chan, Kai-cha~n’ and try to get me to spoil her; it’s so adorable!” - Nanami Hiroki So as you can see, she has some unexpected aspects 💖

“When Sayumi-san (Kurenai) is changing her makeup she’ll make sure it gets done perfectly. Shiiran (Ichijo) knows where everything is so if Sayumi-san says ‘I don’t have OOO!’ she’ll tell her where to find it. It’s really amazing!!” - Mari Yuzumi Sayumi-san also says “I’ll die without he~r 😭 Ichijo-chan is irreplaceable~! She understands everything about me. Please keep acting as my little brother~!!” Sayumi-san and Ichijo-san’s bond is really special ✨

Ichijo-san said “I’ll have to make a Sayumi-chan User’s Manual!”: her smile as she laughed was really dazzling.

Q: Do you have any funny stories about her time as a yokasei?

“Shiiran loved Coca-Cola, but all of us would end up stealing drinks of it, so it would always go flat. Her response to that was… ‘it’s fine if you drink my cola but AT LEAST CLOSE THE LID!!’” - Nagina Ruumi The 89th class members get along so well 💖

Q: What is something Ichijo-san said that has stuck with you?

“No matter what kind of role you get, make sure you do it beautifully. There’s sure to be someone who will look at you. Don’t be withdrawn, put yourself out there!” - Amaki Homare “You’ll end up tired no matter what you do so go into it as if you’ll die!” - Haruto Yuuho “I wonder if I can make my eyes even sparklier…?” - Rei Makoto “Otokoyaku are only able to look their best because the musumeyaku is beautiful. I want you to be that kind of musumeyaku.” - Kozakura Honoka “Star Troupe is its own spirit! I want you to carry on my determination!” - Amaji Sora “I’ll protect you!!” - Shirotae Natsu “How big the role is doesn’t matter. It’s how much you put into that role that’s the important thing!!” - Hiroka Yuu (Yumeki) “You look cool today, too!” (Ichijo) “I know that myself!! Of course I do!!” - Yumeki Anru

As for Kisaragi...when I’m stressed or nervous, I hear Ichijo-san saying ‘There’s nothing left but to just do it!’. I think Ichijo-san’s spirited words, feelings, and determination will keep shoving us forward long into the future.

Also, Airi (Aimizu Serena) and Chii-chan (Natsuki Rei) are such precious friends to all of us. Thank you so much for everything!!!

🌟 Aa-chan’s birthday! 💖

Sayumi-san gave Aa-chan a present of a wall clock inspired by her ✨

* the Leadership Room is the separate dressing room shared by the most senior members of the troupe, regardless of other standing such as Top Star, etc. It seems to be the 4 most senior members but that doesn’t really fit with the content of this feature, so I’m not certain there.

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Dec 31)

I haven’t done one of these in over a month, and I wanted to try to get this out before the year ends! It’s still 2019 here. Here are some anime I’ve been watching recently and what I thought of them.

Recently Completed

Dr Stone

This anime turned out so well!

I was hesitant at first. The character cast lacked a bit of diversity. I thought they were relying on the main character too much, but then I realized that that wasn’t necessarily a problem. Nobody will ever be as smart as this main character, and that’s okay. Everyone in this anime still plays a purpose, and even though that really showed more in the last episodes of the show, I think we’re in for a treat next season (that and I keep hearing that from my brother, thanks Kuya). The OPs and EDs were a lot of fun to listen to, the art was really good, the OST wasn’t the most memorable but I appreciated its service, and the casting was great! I don’t think I would stand for anyone else playing Senkuu at this point. Yuusuke Kobayashi has really proven how good of a seiyuu he is in recent years. He joined a little later in life and was more apparent in other types of work. Dr. Stone was a great anime, and even though it’s not even my favourite Shonen Jump series of this year (*cough* Kimetsu no Yaiba had a way stronger impact) it’s still worth the watch.

I rated this a 9/10 on MAL

Gamers!

You know how practically every romance anime has miscommunications which “add” to the plot? Now imagine that was an anime and that’s the only thing going on. That’s what “Gamers!” is, and it’s hilarious. I think I saw a YouTube comment that perfectly summed this up.

“This anime is great but it makes me want to bang my head against a wall”

It’s pretty much that! It’s hilarious in its writing, and even though it isn’t really about gaming, it showcases different types of gamers. We have a former gamer, a guy who’s terrible but plays to have fun, a hardcore gamer, an indie developer, and one person who doesn’t even like games! They make the cast really funny and inconvenient, and the seiyuu performances add to the hilarity. Seriously, this quickly became one of my favourite Toshiyuki Toyonaga roles. I think his best works come in the form of romances? Yuri on Ice, Zetsuen on Tempest, to a lesser extent Durarara, Gamers? It’s like he has experience with romance (he has a daughter and is married). Seriously, I almost want to make a post just dedicated to this anime. It has such a low rating on MAL because it is so cheesy, cliche, and it does sometimes drive you up the wall, but isn’t that all romance anime? I was okay watching socially inept people because I am socially inept.

Episode 2 came out of nowhere with it’s cliche yet fitting dialogue.

I rated this a 9/10 because I enjoyed it so much and it was the anime I needed at the time. I can definitely see why people wouldn’t watch it though.

Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara

I went to the other side of the romance spectrum and went with a rom-drama instead of a rom-com like Gamers! And... I feel like I enjoyed Gamers! far more. Irozuku was a bit mean to colour-blind people if I’m completely honest. The characters were flat and uninteresting, but they began to get personality in... episode 8 or something? Also, being colour-blind isn’t as big of a deal as this anime makes it seem. They were so fast to say a girl was from the future but wanted to keep it a secret that she’s colour-blind? She also has no personality because she’s colour-blind? In fact, her personality is that she’s colour-blind? Did I mention she’s colour-blind? Anyway, the ending was conclusive but still left some unfinished ends. P.A. Works made this anime beautiful, I really like the OP and ED, but I ironically didn’t like the casting for this. I give praise to almost every anime for casting, but this anime couldn’t sell me on Kaori Ishihara (who is actually part of Magi which I keep commending for having one of my favourite casts) and Shoya Chiba (who was good in Dororo). The chemistry between the characters and cast didn’t work for me on this one which was sad because the ending would’ve made more of an impact if they’d gotten me more attached. The OST was also amazing so I thought I would add that. Besides that, it was a good premise (with pretty good execution), great art, an amazing OST, beautiful OPs and EDs, but subpar characters.

Asobi Asobase

At the time, Konomi Kohara, Hina Kino, and Rika Nagae didn’t really have that many roles outside of a few (well, Kohara had Tsuki ga Kirei but this really cemented her talent). This anime’s art style threw me in for a loop, and even though the humour didn’t always hit, this anime made me laugh at some points. It was vulgar, full of humour, and I’m really surprised Kino is still alive after screeching a lot. Seriously, that’s a lot. The ED is just them screeching too! Random appearances from big seiyuu are also present, and the animation by Lerche is all over the place. It sheds every essence of the innocence you thought it was going to have in ep 1 and keeps the pace going throughout.

I rated this anime a 7/10 because when humour doesn’t hit for me, it bores me.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

I actually didn’t enjoy Dragon Maid as much as I thought I would. That’s partially because of Quetzalcoatl. I’m sorry, but everything else besides her and a few questionable things (especially the OVA) was alright. The animation was beautiful (KyoAni is soooo good, please do the second season!!!)

The OP and ED were really catchy. I don’t think those songs will be leaving my head anytime soon. At its core, this anime was still heartwarming. The romance between the main two is one-sided but sweet. Kanna is such a cute kid, and Fafnir and Takiya are also funny. I gave this anime a 7/10 because it was still solid, just overhyped. 

Africa no Salaryman

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed Salaryman so if you read my past one, just skip this.

The story for this anime is mediocre, the animation is really bad, the music is poor, and it was still a fun anime. It’s one of those terrible anime that you end up kind of liking. Have you ever wanted to see a mix of bad CG and limited 2D animation by a studio that has no other notable anime (besides a flop from 2018)? Have you ever wanted to hear the villains of BNHA (All For One, Overhaul, and Dabi) voicing weird safari animals with quirky side characters? Seriously, they took the money that they should’ve put into animation and hired a bunch of famous seiyuu who seem to be having fun. We have Eri Kitamura, Yui Ogura, Akio Otsuka, Kenjiro Tsuda, Hiro Shimono, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kengo Kawanishi, Akira Ishida, Hiroshi Kamiya, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, etc. It’s a lot of fun guessing them. Overall, this anime was pretty average. I wouldn’t recommend it unless they intended to watch the seiyuu (which is the only thing really going here)

And the ending itself wasn’t eventful either so I gave this anime a 5/10.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 3

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

Another (slightly better animated) bad anime. It’s a collab between Japanese and Chinese studios (but is originally Chinese), but since Japanese dubbing is far more accessible, I went with that dub. Sora Amamiya, Yuuichi Nakamura, Kensho Ono, and Natsuki Hanae are part of the main cast here. Nothing is really notable besides the story. The sibling thing is kind of relatable. This anime ended recently, and it ended on a good note. The quality didn’t go down, and it kept more of the sibling and stupid antics from the first season. I liked that. I rated this a 7/10 because the art isn’t as clean as most anime, and some of the humour missed.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai!

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

However, I added some stuff regarding the ending of this season.

I will eventually stop wasting my time with these bad romance series, but *cough* I need to fill my depressive void with something, and somehow other’s awkward situations distract me from my own. I mean, this feels like an anime that was supposed to fill the void that Nisekoi left after finishing in Shonen Jump. Hopefully, this time he’ll end up with the right girl. As usual in a lot of harems, the main character has several bad choices. But the overall message and whatever’s left of the plot is really nice and entertaining. The characters are actually intriguing when the fanservice isn’t glaring in your face. I hated how they ended this season. I get they didn’t want to make another season, but stretching an anime-only ending? That just sucks. They were going so well until the last few minutes too. The school festival arc was really nice and sweet. Overall, I still liked the second season. Minus the ending, it was just as strong, if not stronger, than the first. Together with the school festival and Furuhashi’s development, I really enjoyed this. I rated this an 8/10 (but it’s a higher 8 and was only hurt by the ending)

Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

However, I added some stuff regarding the ending of this season.

Everyone in this anime is a scumbag in one way or another. Everyone has their bad sides, and unlike a lot of series, this anime isn’t afraid to put them front in centre. This contrasts nicely with Bokuben which is mentioned above. Both are centred around harems, but this one is everything turned on its head with vengeance. Protag? May have a Deku voice, but he’s a pervert that’s described for being “Jekyll and Mr Hyde” which I find interesting because he’s truly nice to his best friend and doesn’t want to betray him, but he also really, really, really likes girls and would want nothing more than to have several of them all to himself. Best friend? Jealous as heck and would probably stab him if things truly went south, but he’s also his wingman. Class president? Talks like a samurai sometimes when nervous and uses MC. Childhood best friend? Terrible liar and uses MC. Then there’s a whole bunch of other people who use everyone. The score is not that great. It’s better than silence, but it hasn’t really been anything above that. The OP is catchy, but I’m not sure if I like it? The ED is nice. The voice acting for this anime is PERFECT for the MC anyway. Daiki Yamashita is really good at acting like this animal of an MC. 

I didn’t really feel satisfied with the ending of this season. It wasn’t as funny, and they relied too much on the 4th wall to make the last episode funny. It lacked the hijinks and chaos of the first episodes, and even though it kept character development and stuff throughout, this is the one time I wanted them to end on a less obvious note. I rated it an 8/10

Enen no Shouboutai

Okay, so they began picking up their act within the last few episodes and it shows, but that doesn’t mean everything in-between was saved because it wasn’t. After episode 2, this show plummets and doesn’t pick up in quality until episode 19 or something. To me, that makes this show not worth it. I almost want to make a post about the rise, fall, and slight rise of this anime.

The animation production is amazing, the first OP and the EDs are awesome (couldn’t say that the second OP lived up but it wasn’t bad), the voice acting was alright at most points (can’t say I’m a fan of hearing Asta), but the story went off the rails and was executed poorly during the majority of the series.

I gave this a 6/10. Maaya Sakamoto’s character tried to save the day, but Maki also saved it the best she could.

Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season

This went so slow and the manga’s art is so beautiful that the anime looks like a sad outline, but I really liked this overall. Just for hearing their performance, it was all worth it. Trust me, the sound makes it worth it, but if you like visuals, read the manga. The voice acting is good for establishing what you can imagine the character voices add, but the art in the manga is too pretty to pass up.

Sankarea

I just finished this today! I originally dropped it because of its uncomfortable content but picked it back up because Maaya Uchida’s birthday just passed and I wanted a bit more horror before we roll on into 2020. Was this the way to do it? I mean, the horror is very light so that’s good. I can sleep at night. Quality-wise? Hmm... Along with the special episodes 13, 14, and 0! Honestly, these last two anime are ecchi. I don’t know how I got here.

The story is a pretty cool concept. Imagine the idea of a story surrounding a guy (zombie-obsessed or not) helping this girl fulfill her lifelong dreams of being normal even though she’s an undead zombie. Slowly as time passes, her flesh begins to rot so he realizes he has to work faster to complete her wishes to make her life seem “normal”. Taking her to the park, shopping, walking her to school, this seems like a good set-up! If only it went that way.

The story was okay, but I found this anime was going a bit on the ridiculous side. It got cartoony at times, and the characters were a bit cringy at times. Characters in this series ship this character with the MC who certainly isn’t keeping a zombie girl around for no reason. Well, anyway, this girl that the characters keep shipping him with... is his cousin. And Sanka Rea’s dad... is a very uncomfortable character as well. Overall, these two elements are actually what made this anime extremely uncomfortable at times.

I liked the art for this despite all the ecchi. I liked the quirky character designs of our main two characters. Some of the head tilts from Studio Deen almost felt Shaft-esque. It was not that bad!

Umm... I never actually paid attention to the OP, ED, or OST because I was too busy skipping the ecchi. Maaya Uchida was a really cute zombie that made me really like Rea more than I would towards regular zombies (except for maybe the ones from Zombieland Saga). Ryohei Kimura was a pretty good zombie otaku. That’s about it for this one. I gave it a 5/10.

Junketsu no Maria

Another ecchi anime! They didn’t even categorize it as such, but the site I watched it on did. Seriously, I don’t know how MAL didn’t process this as one. Anime that criticize wars and the Catholic church (even fictionally) make me feel a little uncomfortable, but I pushed through this one because... actually, I have no idea why. I was depressed that day and needed some picking up through cheesy predictable anime.

Umm... the art was alright, the music was alright, the story was a little cringy at times, and the characters were pretty flat. They gave too much time explaining how some of these characters were virgins to the point where it just got annoying. Kensho Ono and Hisako Kanemoto were good in this anime (despite playing flat characters), Sakurai plays another insane villain, Yoko Hikasa plays another seductive character, and Mikako Komatsu plays another “male” character. I gave this anime a 5/10. 

Dropped/On-Hold

Aku no Hana

WHERE DO I START WITH THIS ONE?! THIS ANIME WAS SCARY. THERE WERE NO DEMONS, NO SUPERNATURAL, ONLY HUMAN BEINGS. 

Fun fact: I did not read the synopsis before heading in. I saw the poster and thought, “wow cool! let’s try this! middle-schoolers! what’s the worst that can happen?”

Okay, so I had to remind myself every two minutes that these kids are MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS?! Middle-schoolers? Ugh, I don’t know why?! What’s going on here? I know this is supposed to be a psychological anime, and it does its job seriously well. I was scared. I was genuinely scared. Everything in this anime added to the scariness. Read the synopsis, come back, and realize that I’ve made a mistake. I watched 3 episodes. As a person on the asexual spectrum, I don’t know what this anime is trying to get at. The art adds to the psychological effect. The characters are really messed up. The OP and ED add to this insanity. Aku no Hana lives up to the name (Flowers of Evil). I felt so disgusted. This anime showed an ugly part of humanity that made me want to take a shower, and that’s very out of character. 

Just watch a trailer, the OP, and the ED. It gives me the creeps. 

Senjou no Valkyria

I didn’t find this interesting. Maybe I’ll pick it back up. The art seems pale and soulless. The voice acting wasn’t enough to draw me in, and the characters weren’t that great. Honestly, this is probably going to be better than Junketsu no Maria, but timing is important.

Seikai no Monshou

1999 art probably hurts this too, but the same reasoning as above. This anime seems genuinely interesting, but I think I started it at the wrong time. 

Watching

Hanasaku Iroha

Hmm... this anime annoys me, but I really want to finish it!!!

This anime is about a girl who learned that she can rely on no one from a young age. She starts doing household chores and cooking at age 4. At her last year of middle school, her mom runs with her fiance and leaves her behind to go live with her grandma, and her grandma doesn’t like her. Keep in mind, this grandma is her maternal one. That woman who just dropped her daughter to run away... is her daughter. Ms. Grandma believes her daughter is a failure and projects these views on her daughter because “she raised you”. She forces her own granddaughter to work for her inn with no special treatment. At every single turn, you get introduced to characters you’d rather not. Every character is an absolute ass to the main character, and she keeps chasing, but I would rather see her refuse? Characters are straight-up telling her to die, telling her that she’s not doing everything she can, and kidnapping her. Seriously, someone in this series kidnaps her, ties her up, and sexualizes her and her coworkers. How does the grandma react? She says that they must respect the customer’s orders. ARE YOU F-- this anime has a really high review on MAL so I want to believe there’s good coming but it’s really rough so far. 

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

This anime is looking up! It has an interesting concept, and the execution has been mediocre so far! The OST is cool, and the characters have interesting designs and powers. I don’t want to say too much on this because I want to wait till the end!

Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season

No words for this one. I’m just going to wait until the season is over. It’s been slow so far, but I have hope. 

[imsvg]

Finding You Chapter 2: building

Fandom: Hibike! Euphonium/Sound! Euphonium Pairings:  Kumiko/Reina; Natsuki/Yuuko; implied Asuka/Kaori/Haruka; Nozomi/Mizore; Hazuki/Shuuichi Summary:  Two years have passed since Reina left after their second-year. Two years have passed and Kumiko is now a freshman in college. Two years have passed and she receives a letter from Reina. Two years have passed but something Kumiko thought she lost is making its way to her. Words: 4,760 Previous Chapters: 1 | Links: FF is here! AO3 is here!

i rec reading on AO3 b/c it’s much easier to read it on there. oh, and see if you can spot the two references i made in this chapter

The next letter from Reina came a week after Kumiko delivered hers.

Kumiko,

  You wrote a lot more than I expected. I’m quite glad you did, honestly; it reminds me of the times you would run off on tangents on our monthly hikes. I’m pleased to hear that everyone we know from band are doing well.

  That, obviously, includes you too.

  What degree are you working towards? I initially planned on majoring in instrumental performance and making a living off of that, but I heard that Taki-sensei received an offer to play in a prestigious orchestra that’s based in Tokyo. Although he won’t be leaving until a few more years, I’ve decided to become the next band director for Kitauji. It’s one of the reasons I’m back in Uji.

  Speaking of Kitauji, I dropped by the other day. It looks just as I remembered it, but something is inherently different about it. I honestly can’t describe it, but when I walked around, it felt so surreal. It didn't feel real. I thought that if I looked away, if I even blinked, it would have faded like a mirage.

  Maybe it’s the homesickness talking, but I really missed Kitauji. Sometimes I wonder what my senior year might have been if I didn't leave.

  Maybe if I stayed, I wouldn't feel this way towards it.

  On a much lighter note, it seems that the company that creates those strange instrument creatures (you know, the ones that Kawashima-san loved—or is it loves? I would think that she would have grown out it, but she never fails to surprise me, if I’m being honest) sponsors the band, now. I think Taki-sensei has mixed feelings about it.

  Write soon,

  Reina

  Kumiko reread the letter, taking in every syllable.

  Reina’s words were so raw, so honest, it took Kumiko aback. She thought she would have needed to peel back layers of protection covering Reina’s feelings again, the same way she did during their first two years of high school.

  It seems that wasn’t the case. Or, at least, to Reina it wasn’t.

  Well, of course Reina would have it easy, Logic began as Kumiko reached out for her lukewarm mug of coffee. She was the one who left, after all.

  Kumiko had a hard time forcing the coffee down her throat.

  She downed the rest of her drink, and rose from her seat, leaving the letter on the table. After a quick shower, she decided, she would begin working on her reply.

  Hopefully.

  -X-

  Call Transcript

  Hazuki Katou → Kumiko Oumae

  1:35 PM

  HK: Ku—mi—ko—chan!

  KO: Hazuki-chan! It’s been a while.

  HK: [laughs] Right? It’s hard to believe that summer’s already here! Next thing you know, it’s going to be the holidays, then spring comes, and it’s a whole new school year! Then we’re going to be second-years in college? Funny how time flies, you know?

  KO: [chuckles] Yeah, yeah, I get it. What’s new with you?

  HK: Nothin’ much, really. Just tryna get through school. [laughs] Sometimes, it feels like I never graduated from high school. I’m still in the same place, still seeing some of the same faces, still hating studying. It’s hard to believe that’s been already a year since we left from Kitauji.

  KO: [chuckles] Some things never change.

  HK: I guess. [chuckles] What’s new with you? I haven’t seen you in ages.

  KO: Nothing really. I mean, school ended for me too. Now I’m just…whittling the hours away by myself.

  HK: Eeeeh? Really? By yourself?

  KO: Well, yeah, by myself.

  HK: Thought you would have gotten another girlfriend or somethin’ by now.

  KO: [laughs nervously] No, no, not…yet.

  HK: That's a shame. You’re real pretty, Kumiko-chan. Bet you could get any gal you set your mind to.

  KO: A-ah, I guess. [nervous laughter] Thanks?

  HK: You can probably find someone at the Agata Festival!

  KO: It’s already that time of year?

  HK: Mhm! I think it’s…in several weeks, or something. But the town’s already making preparations for it. I think they’re really upping their game this year.

  KO: I don’t see why. [chuckles] The Festival’s the same every year.

  HK: How would you know? You haven’t been home in ages! [laughs] Say, you should come over! Stay over at your folks’ house, reconnect with people. You know, so that you’re not a hermit for the rest of vacation.

  KO: Maybe I will.

  HK: You should! Midori-chan’s coming over, too!

  KO: No way, is she really?

  HK: Yeah!

  KO: All the way from London? Damn.

  HK: Oh, oh! And guess who I saw recently!

  KO: Uh…Shuuichi?

  HK: [incomprehensible stuttering]

  KO: I’m…I’m sorry, what?

  HK: K-Kumiko-chan! Ho-how’d you find out?

  KO: …Find out what?

  HK: Oh. O-oh….

  KO: Is there…something I’m not getting here?

  HK: Oh…I—[laughs nervously]—I thought you knew.

  KO: Knew what?

  HK: Well…er…Tsukamoto-kun and I are together.

  KO: [sputters and coughs] I-I’m s-sorry—[coughing fit]

  HK: [worried] A-are you okay, Kumiko-chan…?

  KO: Y-yeah, I’m just—[clears throat] taken aback, is all. How long have you guys been…together?

  HK: Not long. I think this is our…fourth month?

  KO: [hums] You never stopped likin’ him, huh?

  HK: [titters] Y-yeah, guess not. You—er—don’t mind, do you?

  KO: O’course not. Why would I?

  HK: A-ah—mm—no reason….

  KO: [sighs] Hazuki-chan, you know I never liked him that way. You don’t have to worry about me being upset. Just ‘cause he’s my childhood friend doesn’t mean we were anything more than that. Don’t worry, okay? ‘Sides, you two make a good couple. I’m happy for the both of you. [laughs] Although, I am surprised that he managed to get someone as pretty as you.

  HK: Thanks, Kumiko-chan. [laughs quietly] But that wasn’t what I was going to tell you.

  KO: What is it, then?

  HK: I saw Reina-chan!

  KO: O-oh?

  HK: Mhm! It seems she’s back from studying abroad. She was taking a walk around the river. I wanted to go up to her and say hi, but Tsukamoto-kun and I were on a date. She looks…the same, but different at the same time. I mean, yeah, she cut her hair, but there’s something more to it that I can’t really describe it. If you saw her I think you would understand what I mean.

  KO: That so?

  HK: Mhm. Mm…Kumiko-chan?

  KO: Yeah?

  HK: Mind if I ask you a question?

  KO: What is it?

  HK: Do you two…still talk? Like, I know the both of you had a falling out back in high school when she left, but I was wondering if…you know—a-ah, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to! I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t, you know, opening up old wounds.

  KO: No, it’s fine. [chuckles] We’re talking to each other. Kind of.

  HK: Really? No way!

  KO: Kind of is the key phrase here. She sent a letter a week ago, and we have this correspondence going on between us. Sort of.

  HK: Ooh, letters! How romantic!

  KO: [stammering] I-I g-guess? [chuckles nervously]

  HK: Never thought Reina-chan would be that kind of person. You know, because it’s so convenient to just call or send a text.

  KO: Yeah, I get it. But, then again, she was always one for the unconventional.

  HK: [laughs] Sounds just like her.

  [The sound of a door opening is heard, followed by muffled speech is heard in the background]

  HK: Ah? Already? Okay. [whispers] Talk to you later, Kumiko-chan. I better see you at the Festival!

  KO: [laughs] Sure, sure. See you, then.

  Call End

  2:03 PM

  Kumiko locked her phone and set it aside.

  Seems like everyone’s finding love, hm? a part of her pointed out as she reached for a pen. Maybe she found someone new, too.

  Kumiko’s hand froze in mid-air.

  Slowly, she set her hand down and stared at the blank stationary in front of her. Kumiko would be lying if she said that the thought of Reina having another person in her life didn’t bother her.

  Wait, Logic chimed in, if, hypothetically, Reina did—and I’m not saying she does—but if she did, wouldn't have she mentioned it by now? She was never one to beat around the bush.

  She didn’t mention the day she was leaving.

  But look! Optimism added her voice as Kumiko took a quick glance at Reina’s recent letter. Look how she wrote those words. Look at that tone. You took Literature, didn’t you? How in the hell could she have someone when she wrote like tha—

 “Ah, shut up!” Kumiko cried out, silencing her thoughts. She slumped in her seat, her forehead hitting the desk with a faint thunk.

 “Why is it so hard to write?” She sighed and turned her head, her cheek resting on the cool parchment.

  The sight of a familiar potted cactus greeted her.

  Kumiko felt a small smile curl her lips. “At least you never left my side,” she muttered.

  The cactus said nothing.

 “It’s dumb,” Kumiko continued, “that I can’t be honest with Reina anymore. I mean it’s not dumb—it’s understandable, isn’t it, since she left and all?—but I hate how I can’t just go back to what we had. I mean, look”—she sat up and gestured to Reina’s letter—”at how she can just open up like nothing happened between us. Why can’t I do that? Why am I so s-scared?”

  Kumiko hated hearing her voice crack.

  Maybe you should talk to someone, Something suggested.

  The thought was sudden, but Kumiko didn’t dare argue, not when the familiar sting of tears was prickling the back of her eyes. She cleared her throat, and reached out for her phone. She ignored how her heart was pushing against its stitches, threatening to break them.

  With a quick input of her password, Kumiko sent out a text.

  2:09 PM

  kumiko: natsuki-senpai?

  natsuki: Whats up kid

  kumiko: i

uh

can i

talk to u about smth?

  natsuki: Sure

But i think i remembered telling u to call me

Not txt

  kumiko: you dont mind, do you?

  natsuki: Ofc not

I was just playin w/ u lol

  kumiko: oh okay

  natsuki: So what do u need

  kumiko: ah well

it’s just

uh

tbh idk how to start lol

  natsuki: Just start w/ the problem

  kumiko: well reina’s been sending me letters

okay it’s only been two but still

it’s been really hard to reply to her

  natsuki: Y

  kumiko: honestly it’s b/c im scared

  natsuki: Of what

  kumiko: opening up to her again

she’s talking to me like nothing’s happened

like she didn't leave

and i cant bring myself to do the same thing

  natsuki: So ur scared of talking to her

Is what ur tellin me

  kumiko: basically yeah

  natsuki: U no

If ur not comfortable w/ talking to her the same way u used 2

U dont have to force urself

Forcing urself to be comfortable will make u uncomfortable

But it seems u already no that lol

Take things slow and soon ull be talking to her like u used too

I no itll b hard

But being able 2 be at ease w/ the other person is important in any relationship

And thatll come eventually if u let it

  kumiko: it looks like you’ve had a lot of experience w/  this lol

  natsuki: Dont tell yuuko but

One of the reasons i acted like an asshole 2 her back in the day was b/c i didnt no how to talk to her

And b/c i thought she was annoying as shit

I always thought she was cute but

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  kumiko: those are very natsuki-like reasons lol

  natsuki: U cant deny that yuuko is an acquired taste

  kumiko: okay i guess you're right lol

  natsuki: Can i ask u smth now

  kumiko: yeah what is it?

  natsuki: U said u were gay rite

  kumiko: yeah

  natsuki: Were u and reina an item or smth

  kumiko: yeah

we kept it under the covers-ish

only a handful of people knew, like asuka-senpai and midori-chan and hazuki-chan

i dont think any of her family knew

but we were somewhat open w/ affection like holding hands and stuff

you know?

  natsuki: Yeah i no lol

I kinda called it tbh

But it wasnt my business and idc who ppl date anyways

As long as ure happy and safe

  kumiko: mhm

  natsuki: She must have meant a lot to u huh

  kumiko: …

yeah..

it sucks that things went the way they did…

  natsuki: Yeah

It rly hurt u a lot huh

When she left

  kumiko: was it noticeable?

  natsuki: Kinda

U always had this zoned look on ur face when no1 was talkin to u

And u were quieter

  kumiko: you're surprisingly observant

is it your vice-president intuition kicking in lol

  natsuki: Lmao i guess

U pick up things after a while

  kumiko: yeah i get it

  natsuki: Plus i think i got it from u lol

  kumiko: yeah?

  natsuki: Yeah

U have this weird ability to read ppl sometimes

  kumiko: wish i could read what reina was thinking back then

or when she writes to me now

so that i know why she left in the first place

  natsuki: Ull figure it out

Maybe itll be clear sooner or l8r

Ask when ure ready

  kumiko: yeah maybe

thanks natsuki-senpai

for letting me talk to you

i would have gone to asuka-senpai but she gets a little too blunt sometimes lol

and as much as i love her she’s useless when it comes to these kinds of things

  natsuki: Anytime kid

Oh btw this is offtopic but

R u going to the Agata Festival

  kumiko: i was thinking about it

are you?

  natsuki: Yeah

Yuuko’s been begging me to take her

I think its so that she can see kaori again lol

  kumiko: or maybe she just wants to spend time w/ you

you know

since you’re her girlfriend

 natsuki: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Who knows

Anyways were planning on leaving in two weeks

So we could have a week to chill before the actual festival

U wanna come

  kumiko: sure

  natsuki: Cool

Ill txt u more deets l8r

  kumiko: sounds good to me

i’ll ttyl then

better start on this letter lol

  natsuki: Got u

Ttyl

  Kumiko locked her phone, and reclined in her seat. She stared at the ceiling, noticing how, despite the summer heat around her, her chest felt considerably lighter. Like someone came and took a weight she never knew she was carrying.

  Just build up to her, Something whispered. You can do that, right?

  Kumiko sat up and reached for her pen again. Once the tip touched the paper, words began to form on the page. Words turned into sentences, which took shape into paragraphs, and before Kumiko knew it, she had to reach for another piece of stationary.

  Reina,

  I went into college undecided. Right now, I’m getting all the general classes out of the way, but I took a music composition class as an elective. It was an interesting experience; it made me remember why I loved music and euphonium so much in the first place. I might take extra classes on it.

  If I’m being honest, I’m surprised that you decided to become a teacher. I never would have expected that from you, considering how well you received the underclassmen when they came in. You would always rant on and on about that whenever we went on our hikes, too. Especially when you got frustrated at the “lack of commitment” from the underclassmen during our second-year. But, you know, we pulled through in the end. We managed to get a gold at Nationals that year (but then you complained on how it was a dud gold and not real gold, and that reminded me of a particular scene back in the middle-school).

  It’s hard to believe, yet at the same time, I can picture Band Director Reina perfectly. You would be similar to Taki-sensei, I think. Overly-serious, with a stoic face and straight voice. You would give tons of tough love to the slackers and the ones who weren’t improving as quickly as you would like, but your harsh words would carry good intentions.

  Writing that made me realize how much I missed Taki-sensei and Kitauji. Maybe I’ll drop by when I come by in a few weeks, around the Agata Festival.

  Speaking of the Festival, are you planning on attending with anyone? Me, I don’t really have plans to attend, honestly. Midori-chan is coming back from England, so I might be with her—maybe. I heard from Hazuki-chan that the Festival is going to be more lively this year. How much more lively, I wouldn’t know—I haven’t gone the last couple of years.

  Maybe if you go, we can run into each other again.

  Kumiko

  Finishing her signature with a flourish, Kumiko glanced over her letter with a touch of pride and lots of satisfaction.

  She certainly wrote much more than she had expected.

  But, underneath her contentedness, there was a nagging question in the back of her mind, prodding around for answers.

  Why did Reina leave in the first place?

  You can ask her once you’re ready—just build up to it. Like Natsuki-senpai said, Something assured. And then you’ll be able to find the answer.

  Kumiko pulled out an envelope from her desk drawer, folded the letter into thirds, then tucked it into the envelope. As she wrote down Reina’s address followed by her own, Kumiko noticed a budding feeling in her chest. It made her feel jittery at the thought of sending this letter to Reina, while at the same time, an unbridled sense of anticipation filled her when she thought about the possible replies Reina’s letter might hold.

  -X-

  Reina’s reply came a mere two days after Kumiko delivered hers.

  Oh, Kumiko,

  If that was your way of trying to find out whether or not I have someone else in my life, the answer is no, I don’t have anyone to go to the Festival with. But, if you’re in Uji for the Festival, then perhaps we can go together—that is, if you’re not busy with your plans with Kawashima-san.

  (At this, Kumiko pictured Reina curling her lips into the subtlest of smirks, and she had to pause reading to gather her flustered self)

  But, you know, attending the Agata Festival wouldn’t be so bad. It’s been two years since I’ve attended it, after all. I doubt that there will be any groundbreaking changes, but I think I’ll still go. For nostalgia’s sake, you know? Coming back to Japan made me realize how much I’ve missed everything. I suppose you can say that the Agata Festival is one of them. I’m not one to linger on these types of things, but when you leave the place you once knew for a whole new world, you’ll start to miss the flavor of familiarity. Sure, there’s the thrill of trying new things, but that can only last so long.

  You know how they say you can never truly appreciate something until it’s gone? I think I understand what they mean now.

  Anyways, it’s a pleasant surprise to hear that you’re still involved with music. Music composition is a very interesting choice of study. I remember I took a class on it in my time abroad. I didn’t find it quite as enjoyable as actually performing, but I’m still going with it. Maybe somewhere along the line I’ll actually like it.

  Speaking of music, have you watched Kitauji’s performance in this year’s Sunrise Festival? I’m surprised at the rapid growth of the group, if I’m being honest. They’ve improved a lot since our second-year performance with them. They nearly doubled in size—instead of 40 people in the band and only a handful of color guard, it’s almost an 80-piece band. I didn't get a proper count of the color guard, but there was a considerable amount. Their diagonals were a bit off, but their steps were together, and all of them were on beat. The sound was amazing as well—loud, bold, yet majestic. If you ever decide to drop by Kitauji when you’re in Uji, I’m sure Taki-sensei will show you the tape. I feel a sort of quiet pride exuding from him every time I mention it. You’ll understand what I mean if you do.

  Awaiting your reply,

  Reina

  It’s almost comical how our letters to one another are getting longer and longer. Kumiko chuckled, taking out a sheet of stationary.

  Maybe it’s all part of building up to each other, Something mused. Kumiko silently agreed as she reached for a pen.

  Unlike her last two replies, Kumiko didn't hesitate to work, her words filling up page after page.

  -X-

  Before Kumiko knew it, she established a comfortable correspondence with Reina. She received Reina’s letters at unpredictable times, sometimes two days after she sent her own reply, other times a whole week. Nevertheless, Kumiko found herself stopping by her PO box with anticipation every morning. If she was especially restless, she would even check her mailbox multiple times a day. Once that letter arrived, however, Kumiko made sure to reply and deliver right away.

  Even if it meant going down to the lobby near the dead of night.

  “Going to deliver something so late, Kumiko-chan?”

  “Guah!” Kumiko nearly jumped out of her own skin. Whipping her head around, she saw Gram staring at her behind the counter with a smile, brown eyes twinkling in the bright light of the lobby. “G-Gram! I—uh—didn’t see you there.”

  Gram chuckled. “I can tell.” Her gaze drifted to the lone envelope that Kumiko held in her hands. “Bills?”

  “A-ah, no.” Kumiko scratched the back of her neck. “It’s, uh, a letter.”

  “A letter?”

  “Yeah. For someone.”

  Gram looked back at Kumiko, her smile never wavering. “It looks like your generation knows how to write letters after all.” There was an amused lilt in her voice, and hearing it made Kumiko smile crookedly.

  “Admittedly, it wasn’t easy.” She chuckled. “The first couple of times took me much longer than it should have to write.”

  “That’s how it is with a lot of things,” Gram said with a knowing nod. “I was the same, you know.”

  “Really?”

  Gram nodded and turned to the small picture frame that sat on her desk. Kumiko followed her gaze, craning her neck to get a better look, and saw the faded black-and-white picture of a young couple., The man was meticulously dressed in a suit, hair slicked back. His arm was around the waist of a young woman dressed in a flowing kimono, her black hair tied back into an elaborate bun. While at first glance their expressions seemed stoic, Kumiko noticed that both their lips were curled into the subtlest of smiles.

  “Hideo-san had to find work, oftentimes abroad, especially in the beginning of our marriage,” Gram began. “We would write letters to one another, but in the first few years, I struggled to figure out on what to write. What do I say to someone that I barely knew, yet at the same time, someone I was supposed to share my everything with? We were an arranged marriage, and we didn't get to meet face-to-face until our wedding day.”

  “Sounds…tough.”

  Gram laughed, her voice rich with nostalgia. “It was. Our letters to one another at first were sparse, both in quantity and quality. But over time, we—how do I say this? We—”

  “Built up to one another?”

  “Yes,” Gram said with a nod. “Something like that. Our responses to one another grew and grew, and so did our love.” Gram looked at Kumiko, and Kumiko noticed how her brown eyes shimmered in the light. “Love finds its way, Kumiko-chan. It always does.”

  Kumiko’s stomach churned, as if it had a hard time digesting the sudden sweetness in Gram’s voice. “That so?”

  Gram let out a breath of amusement. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  “Wha—I never said tha—why would you assume—”

  “It’s fine, Kumiko-chan,” Gram said with a laugh. “It’s hard to believe it when love hurts, like so many things in life.”

  Kumiko’s words died on her tongue.

  “Love is never easy. I’ve learned that the hard way. But”—Gram reached over to cup Kumiko’s face; she melted into the calloused, yet gentle touch—”it’ll always find you. Whether it’s through a passion or a person, developed or spontaneous, love will find you. And when it does, it will stay. Do you…understand?”

  Kumiko pursed her lips to keep them from quivering as she gave a faint nod. “Yeah, I—I think I get it.”

  “Good.” Gram lightly pinched Kumiko’s cheek before pulling her hand away. “You’ve been hurt by this person, haven’t you?” Her eyes drifted to Kumiko’s letter.

  “Yeah. She, uh, left. To study abroad. Didn’t really say anything about it, though.”

  Gram hummed and gave a knowing nod.

  “But she sent me a letter a couple of weeks ago saying she’s back in Japan, so���.” Kumiko shrugged and looked down at the letter in her hands. “My friend told me to slowly build up what I used to have with her. I found it a little hard at first, but I’m getting used to it now. I even look forward to getting letters. But, it’s just that—I don’t know—I just I think she’ll leave again, and this time, she’ll never return.”

  “Well,” Gram began, “if she came back in the first place, it must mean something, hm?” She raised her eyebrows and a playful smile tugged her lips.

  Kumiko chuckled. “Yeah, I guess….”

  “Is this person someone important to you?”

 “Yeah,” Kumiko said, “she’s an important…friend.” Kumiko forced the word out, and ignored the way her heart winced in her chest.

  “Your eyes say otherwise.”

  Kumiko’s ears were suddenly ablaze, the shame of lying to Gram consuming Kumiko’s face in a red blush. “U-uh—w-well—”

  “You’re still the same to me, Kumiko-chan.” Gram said with a growing smile. “Love has no boundaries. Never be ashamed of loving another person, regardless of who they are.”

  Kumiko’s lips pulled into a crooked smile. “Thanks, Gram.”

  Gram’s smile turned into a grin as she chuckled. “Anytime. Ah, before you go, I have something for you.” Kumiko watched as Gram shuffled off into the back of her office, rustling about, until she returned with a Tupperware container full of food.

  Kumiko’s stomach growled when she saw the chicken katsu and rice inside.

  “Thanks,” Kumiko said as she reached out for the food. She could feel the slight warmth of the rice tickling her fingertips as she held it. “You know, you don’t have to do this, though.”

  Gram shook her head. “It’s fine. I want to do this. I love cooking because it reminds me of Hideo-san. I would always cook for him whenever I had the chance.”

  Kumiko’s heart ached when she saw Gram’s shining eyes drift towards Hideo-san’s picture, a nostalgic smile on her face.

  Her love never ends for him, Something whispered. Maybe she’s right. Maybe love does stay.

  The thought left warm feeling in her chest.

  “Thanks, Gram,” Kumiko said quietly.

  Gram looked up at Kumiko. The beads of tears that were collecting in her eyes sparkled in the light, and in that moment, Kumiko thought that Gram looked like the beautiful young woman in the picture.

  “Enjoy the food,” Gram said, the smallest of smiles tugging on her lips.

  -X-

  you remember

the first meal you cooked

together

  she was home

  alone

  “no one’s here?” you asked

“yeah, but it’s okay,” she said

as if it was normal for her to be

  alone

  you tried not to let that bother you

as the both of you prepared dinner

together

  the drone of the tv playing,

the clatter of cutlery,

the ruckus of pots and pans,

the sizzle of the meat,

all of that was just background noise to you because you focused on

  how she looked

how she laughed

how she spoke

because it was moments like these, you realized

that she looked genuinely happy,

and sparkled in the moonlight

like an angel

flung out of space

  you prepared the food

together

you set the table

together

you ate

together

laughed

together

you spoke

together

you were happy

together

  “the food tastes amazing,” she said

  “yeah,” you said, “it does.”

  but in the back of your mind

you wondered

how often she ate her meals

  alone

  and how bland they tasted

whenever she ate

  alone

  because people always say

meals taste better when eaten

together

[networkingdefinition]

Noodles Quotes

Official Website: Noodles Quotes

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

• 3 years ago I was stocking shelves at Target, living on Ramen noodles, and crashing at Billy’s house. Now I’m on tour – Benji Madden • A lot of people in this country are obese because of a form of malnutrition. One thing I’d like to do is to help people understand the correlation between a steady diet of empty calories – though you may not experience hunger pangs, you can’t really function well if all you’re eating are things like ramen noodles, or chips, cookies, and sodas, things that are quite typically inexpensive and affordable because of the way we subsidize the ingredients that go into them. – Lori Silverbush • A professional player is smarter than a college man. He uses his noodle. He knows what to do and when to do it. He rarely goes up in the air as is the case with most of our college players when they get in a tight place. – Red Grange • All the dreamers in all the world are dizzy in the noodle! – Edie Adams • Almost anything can be stretched to serve more people by being added to a white sauce or canned gravy or undiluted or very slightly diluted canned soup and served over noodles or rice. With chops or chocolate eclairs, however, the only solution is to claim you don’t like them. – Jo Coudert • And what have I done?” What? WHAT?…You’ve stolen them.” With that, Cornelia fled, but Buttercup understood; she knew who “them” was. The boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattledskulled clodpated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed BOYS. – William Goldman • As a musician and a guitar player, I can noodle as well as anybody. But from my background as a session musician, I always try to play what is called for by the lyric and listening to the song. As a writer, that’s what I do, too. – Richie Sambora

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Noodle', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_noodle').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_noodle img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Because real thoughts come from outside and travel with us like the noodle soup we take to work; in other words, inquisitors burn books in vain. If a book has anything to say, it burns with a quiet laugh, because any book worth its salt points up and out of itself. – Bohumil Hrabal

• But I couldn’t draw as fast as she requested. Thus, I tried to create the worst abomination of a comic that I could, so as to make her not want comics anymore. That abomination, my friends, was Happy Noodle Boy. – Jhonen Vasquez

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

• Can’t make chicken salad out of chicken noodle – Mike Ditka • Carbohydrates, and especially refined ones like sugar, make you produce lots of extra insulin. I’ve been keeping my intake really low ever since I discovered this. I’ve cut out all starch such as potatoes, noodles, rice, bread and pasta. – Cynthia Kenyon • Censure is a limp noodle across the wrist of the president. I think the way we vote on the articles will express the way we feel stronger than any censure vote. – Larry Craig • Even now, when I do a slide show of the Geek Squad story, the first slide is a photo of ramen noodles. Because for me, ramen noodles are the international symbol for struggle. – Robert Stephens • He’s smaller than me, did you see him? He looked like a noodle next to me. – Adrien Broner • I can make things, but I don’t cook them, exactly. Like salmon, I can stick that in a pan. Or the other day I made noodles, but they were hard. It never occurred to me to check them; I just stopped cooking them when I felt they were ready. Really, I’m too absentminded. – Paula Poundstone • I cook everything. I love Mediterranean cooking, I love Asian cooking. I do lots of Japanese noodles. – Ted Allen • I don’t put cream in any pasta noodles ever. I would use a little butter, but I don’t ever use cream. – Mario Batali • I hate to admit this but I don’t even know how to make a cup of tea or coffee. I can boil a kettle for a pot noodle and I’ve been known to warm up some food in the microwave. – Michael Owen • I have a rescue dog named Fideo, which means ‘noodle’ in Spanish, and a cat named Hutch. – Ana Ortiz • I love Chinese food, like steamed dim sum, and I can have noodles morning, noon and night, hot or cold. I like food that’s very simple on the digestive system – I tend to keep it light. I love Japanese food too – sushi, sashimi and miso soup. – Shilpa Shetty • I remember when I couldn’t afford to eat like this. It was ramen noodles and the San Francisco Treat [Rice-A-Roni]. Dessert? Get you a honey bun and put a slice of cheese on it. Put it in the microwave for 45 seconds and you had the gift of a lifetime. – Rick Ross • I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘cooking’ but I can make noodles. That means I can boil water, put the pasta in and wait until it’s done. – Devon Werkheiser • I’m not as good as a man as you are, Sundown. I find it hard to give an enemy my back under any circumstance.” – Ren “Oh, I didn’t say I was giving her my back. I’m not lacking all my noodle sense. But I’m not holding a grudge neither. Sometimes you just got to let the rattlesnake lay in the sun.” – Sundown “Men? You do know I’m standing in this little box with you and can hear every word?” – Abigail “We know. I merely don’t care.” – Ren – Sherrilyn Kenyon • If it’s possible, I will have some noodles in the morning and start talking to people, start to think about a few things in my head – the project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It’s always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play. – Ai Weiwei • If you think you can lead your flock of sheeple and peeps to some glorified noodle fest on the mall, you got another thing coming, mister. – Stephen Colbert • I’m Italian. I love to cook Italian food, so I learned from my dad how to make sauce and meatballs and all that stuff. With my wife and kids, I started making homemade pasta. The very first time, I didn’t have a pasta maker, so I had to cut it with a knife, the old-school way! The noodles were all jacked up, but it was fun. – Joey Fatone • I’m layering away: sauce, noodles, I belong to you, cheese, sauce, my heart is yours, noodles, cheese, I hear your soul in your music, cheese, cheese, CHEESE. – Jandy Nelson • I’m not the kind of guy who sits around at home and writes songs. Once in a while I’ll pick up a guitar and noodle around, but it’s rare. – Scott Ian • Instructions for Adam Look after no one except yourself. Go to university and make lots of friends and get drunk. Forget your door keyes. Laugh. Eat pot-noodles for breakfast. Miss lectures. Be irresponsible. – Jenny Downham • It turns out that Molly wasn’t her mother’s daughter in that respect. Charity was like the MacGuyver of the kitchen. She could whip up a five-course meal for twelve from an egg, two spaghetti noodles, some household chemicals, and a stick of chewing gum. Molly … Molly once burned my egg. My boiled egg. I don’t know how. – Jim Butcher • Life was so much simpler in pre-video days when everyone refused invitations because the ‘Forsyte Saga’ was on. Now we all just have a long list of unwatched shows, all of which, it seems, our friends are raving about. I feel as outdated as if I wore a Fair Isle sweater, ate Pot Noodle and had a two-bar electric fire in the sitting room. – Simon Hoggart • Memory, in my opinion, is a complete noodle. It hangs on the silliest things but forgets the stuff that really matters. – Ellen Potter • My grandmother was a kind of Scarsdale, New York, society woman, best known in her day as the author of the 1959 book ‘Growing Your Own Way: An Informal Guide for Teen-Agers’ – this despite being a person whose parenting style made Joan Crawford’s wire hangers look like pool noodles. – Sloane Crosley • My mom cooked pot roast with noodles and frozen vegetables. Or she’d make spaghetti or hot dogs, or heat up TV dinners. Before I started modeling at age 19, I was 5’8″ and weighed 165 pounds. – Carol Alt • Noodles are not only amusing but delicious. – Julia Child • OH KYO KUN! Isn’t it said that eating pink noodles turns you into a horny pervert?! – Natsuki Takaya • Once you’ve started a film you don’t become a wet noodle. You must have that conflictual interface because you don’t know, and they don’t know. It’s through conflict that you come out with something that might be different, better than either of you thought to begin with. – Jack Nicholson • Peace will come to the world when the people have enough noodles to eat. – Momofuku Ando • Ramen is a dish that’s very high in calories and sodium. One way to make it slightly healthier is to leave the soup and just eat the noodles. – Masaharu Morimoto • Sam was starting to feel anxious. Nutella and noodles were fine. Great in fact. Miraculous. But he’d been hoping for more food more water more medicine something. It was absurdly like Christmas morning when he was little: hoping for something he couldn’t even put a name to. A game changer. Something…amazing. – Michael Grant

• She led him past the engine room, which looked like a very dangerous, mechanized jungle gym, with pipes and pistons and tubes jutting from a central bronze sphere. Cables resembling giant metal noodles snaked across the floor and ran up the walls. “How does that thing even work?” Percy asked. “No idea,” Annabeth said. “And I’m the only one besides Leo who can operate it.” “That’s reassuring.” “It should be fine. It’s only threatened to blow up once.” “You’re kidding, I hope.” She smiled. “Come on. – Rick Riordan • Since I’ve been on my own, I’ve been eating a lot of popcorn, cereal, instant noodles, and snack bars. I have a hot plate in my bedroom, a microwave, and a small fridge. That’s the kind of kitchen I know how to get around in. – Karen Marie Moning • Spaghetti… I can’t eat spaghetti, there’s too many of them. No matter how hungry I am, 1,000 of something is too many. I’ll have 1,000 pieces of noodles. – Mitch Hedberg • ‘Tampopo’ is a deeply odd film about Japan, ramen noodles, love and sex. It made me very hungry and desperate to travel to Japan. It started my love affair with this amazing country, its culture, its food, its cinema and made me buy my first ticket to the land of the rising sun. – Jamie Cullum • The boys. The village boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattleskulled clodpated dimdomed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed boys. How could anybody accuse her of stealing them? Why would anybody want them anyway? – William Goldman • There’s a Polar Bear In our Frigidaire– He likes it ’cause it’s cold in there. With his seat in the meat And his face in the fish And his big hairy paws In the buttery dish, He’s nibbling the noodles, And munching the rice, He’s slurping the soda, He’s licking the ice. And he lets out a roar If you open the door. And it gives me a scare To know he’s in there– That Polary Bear In our Fridgitydaire. – Shel Silverstein • There’s only one rule in photography – never develop colour film in chicken noodle soup. – Freeman Patterson • We can do anything. It’s not because our hearts are large, they’re not, it’s what we struggle with. The attempt to say Come over. Bring your friends. It’s a potluck, I’m making pork chops, I’m making those long noodles you love so much. – Richard Siken • When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle’s on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles… …they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle. – Dr. Seuss • When I would feel down…I’d have some noodles father prepared, and all the worries I had that day…Poof! They would all disappear. – Kim Young-kwang • Yes, but I’ve already made my fortune in other things. (Solin) Such as? (Geary) Viagra. My brother learned to take a personal problem and profit by it. (Arik) It’s true. It pained me to see a man as young as Arik stricken with impotency. Therefore I had to do something to help the poor soul. But alas, there’s nothing to be done for it. He’s as flaccid as a wet noodle. (Solin) How creative of you to project your problem onto me. But then, they say celibacy is enough to make a man lose all reason. Guess you’re living proof, huh? (Arik) – Sherrilyn Kenyon • You can’t be wishy-washy. That’s the most boring thing in the world, to be a middle-of-the-road wet noodle. That’s my greatest fear, to be like, “Oh, whatever.” That’s just not who I am. – Chris Black • You have to find a group that really desperately cares about what it is you have to say. Talk to them. They have something I call otaku. It’s a great Japanese word. It describes the desire of someone who’s obsessed to, say, drive across Tokyo to try a new Ramen noodle place ’cause that’s what they do, they get obsessed with it. – Seth Godin • You noodle around with tempo and sound until you get the perfect fit for that particular song, and then, so long as you can sustain it, God is on your side and everything comes easily and even the waiters smile. – Wilfrid Sheed • Zen is to religion what a Japanese “rock garden” is to a garden. Zen knows no god, no afterlife, no good and no evil, as the rock-garden knows no flowers, herbs or shrubs. It has no doctrine or holy writ: its teaching is transmitted mainly in the form of parables as ambiguous as the pebbles in the rock-garden which symbolise now a mountain, now a fleeting tiger. When a disciple asks “What is Zen?”, the master’s traditional answer is “Three pounds of flax” or “A decaying noodle” or “A toilet stick” or a whack on the pupil’s head. – Arthur Koestler • Zerts’ are what I call desserts. ‘Trée-trées’ are entrées. I call sandwiches ‘sammies,’ ‘sandoozles,’ or ‘Adam Sandlers.’ Air conditioners are ‘cool blasterz’ with a ‘z’ – I don’t know where that came from. I call cakes ‘big ol’ cookies.’ I call noodles ‘long-ass rice.’ Fried chicken is ‘fry-fry chicky-chick.’ Chicken parm is ‘chicky-chicky-parm-parm.’ Chicken cacciatore? ‘Chicky-cacc.’ I call eggs ‘pre-birds,’ or ‘future birds.’ Root beer is ‘super water.’ Tortillas are ‘bean blankets.’ And I call forks ‘food rakes.’ – Aziz Ansari

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[equitiesstocks]

Noodles Quotes

Official Website: Noodles Quotes

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

• 3 years ago I was stocking shelves at Target, living on Ramen noodles, and crashing at Billy’s house. Now I’m on tour – Benji Madden • A lot of people in this country are obese because of a form of malnutrition. One thing I’d like to do is to help people understand the correlation between a steady diet of empty calories – though you may not experience hunger pangs, you can’t really function well if all you’re eating are things like ramen noodles, or chips, cookies, and sodas, things that are quite typically inexpensive and affordable because of the way we subsidize the ingredients that go into them. – Lori Silverbush • A professional player is smarter than a college man. He uses his noodle. He knows what to do and when to do it. He rarely goes up in the air as is the case with most of our college players when they get in a tight place. – Red Grange • All the dreamers in all the world are dizzy in the noodle! – Edie Adams • Almost anything can be stretched to serve more people by being added to a white sauce or canned gravy or undiluted or very slightly diluted canned soup and served over noodles or rice. With chops or chocolate eclairs, however, the only solution is to claim you don’t like them. – Jo Coudert • And what have I done?” What? WHAT?…You’ve stolen them.” With that, Cornelia fled, but Buttercup understood; she knew who “them” was. The boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattledskulled clodpated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed BOYS. – William Goldman • As a musician and a guitar player, I can noodle as well as anybody. But from my background as a session musician, I always try to play what is called for by the lyric and listening to the song. As a writer, that’s what I do, too. – Richie Sambora

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Noodle', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_noodle').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_noodle img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Because real thoughts come from outside and travel with us like the noodle soup we take to work; in other words, inquisitors burn books in vain. If a book has anything to say, it burns with a quiet laugh, because any book worth its salt points up and out of itself. – Bohumil Hrabal

• But I couldn’t draw as fast as she requested. Thus, I tried to create the worst abomination of a comic that I could, so as to make her not want comics anymore. That abomination, my friends, was Happy Noodle Boy. – Jhonen Vasquez

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

• Can’t make chicken salad out of chicken noodle – Mike Ditka • Carbohydrates, and especially refined ones like sugar, make you produce lots of extra insulin. I’ve been keeping my intake really low ever since I discovered this. I’ve cut out all starch such as potatoes, noodles, rice, bread and pasta. – Cynthia Kenyon • Censure is a limp noodle across the wrist of the president. I think the way we vote on the articles will express the way we feel stronger than any censure vote. – Larry Craig • Even now, when I do a slide show of the Geek Squad story, the first slide is a photo of ramen noodles. Because for me, ramen noodles are the international symbol for struggle. – Robert Stephens • He’s smaller than me, did you see him? He looked like a noodle next to me. – Adrien Broner • I can make things, but I don’t cook them, exactly. Like salmon, I can stick that in a pan. Or the other day I made noodles, but they were hard. It never occurred to me to check them; I just stopped cooking them when I felt they were ready. Really, I’m too absentminded. – Paula Poundstone • I cook everything. I love Mediterranean cooking, I love Asian cooking. I do lots of Japanese noodles. – Ted Allen • I don’t put cream in any pasta noodles ever. I would use a little butter, but I don’t ever use cream. – Mario Batali • I hate to admit this but I don’t even know how to make a cup of tea or coffee. I can boil a kettle for a pot noodle and I’ve been known to warm up some food in the microwave. – Michael Owen • I have a rescue dog named Fideo, which means ‘noodle’ in Spanish, and a cat named Hutch. – Ana Ortiz • I love Chinese food, like steamed dim sum, and I can have noodles morning, noon and night, hot or cold. I like food that’s very simple on the digestive system – I tend to keep it light. I love Japanese food too – sushi, sashimi and miso soup. – Shilpa Shetty • I remember when I couldn’t afford to eat like this. It was ramen noodles and the San Francisco Treat [Rice-A-Roni]. Dessert? Get you a honey bun and put a slice of cheese on it. Put it in the microwave for 45 seconds and you had the gift of a lifetime. – Rick Ross • I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘cooking’ but I can make noodles. That means I can boil water, put the pasta in and wait until it’s done. – Devon Werkheiser • I’m not as good as a man as you are, Sundown. I find it hard to give an enemy my back under any circumstance.” – Ren “Oh, I didn’t say I was giving her my back. I’m not lacking all my noodle sense. But I’m not holding a grudge neither. Sometimes you just got to let the rattlesnake lay in the sun.” – Sundown “Men? You do know I’m standing in this little box with you and can hear every word?” – Abigail “We know. I merely don’t care.” – Ren – Sherrilyn Kenyon • If it’s possible, I will have some noodles in the morning and start talking to people, start to think about a few things in my head – the project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It’s always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play. – Ai Weiwei • If you think you can lead your flock of sheeple and peeps to some glorified noodle fest on the mall, you got another thing coming, mister. – Stephen Colbert • I’m Italian. I love to cook Italian food, so I learned from my dad how to make sauce and meatballs and all that stuff. With my wife and kids, I started making homemade pasta. The very first time, I didn’t have a pasta maker, so I had to cut it with a knife, the old-school way! The noodles were all jacked up, but it was fun. – Joey Fatone • I’m layering away: sauce, noodles, I belong to you, cheese, sauce, my heart is yours, noodles, cheese, I hear your soul in your music, cheese, cheese, CHEESE. – Jandy Nelson • I’m not the kind of guy who sits around at home and writes songs. Once in a while I’ll pick up a guitar and noodle around, but it’s rare. – Scott Ian • Instructions for Adam Look after no one except yourself. Go to university and make lots of friends and get drunk. Forget your door keyes. Laugh. Eat pot-noodles for breakfast. Miss lectures. Be irresponsible. – Jenny Downham • It turns out that Molly wasn’t her mother’s daughter in that respect. Charity was like the MacGuyver of the kitchen. She could whip up a five-course meal for twelve from an egg, two spaghetti noodles, some household chemicals, and a stick of chewing gum. Molly … Molly once burned my egg. My boiled egg. I don’t know how. – Jim Butcher • Life was so much simpler in pre-video days when everyone refused invitations because the ‘Forsyte Saga’ was on. Now we all just have a long list of unwatched shows, all of which, it seems, our friends are raving about. I feel as outdated as if I wore a Fair Isle sweater, ate Pot Noodle and had a two-bar electric fire in the sitting room. – Simon Hoggart • Memory, in my opinion, is a complete noodle. It hangs on the silliest things but forgets the stuff that really matters. – Ellen Potter • My grandmother was a kind of Scarsdale, New York, society woman, best known in her day as the author of the 1959 book ‘Growing Your Own Way: An Informal Guide for Teen-Agers’ – this despite being a person whose parenting style made Joan Crawford’s wire hangers look like pool noodles. – Sloane Crosley • My mom cooked pot roast with noodles and frozen vegetables. Or she’d make spaghetti or hot dogs, or heat up TV dinners. Before I started modeling at age 19, I was 5’8″ and weighed 165 pounds. – Carol Alt • Noodles are not only amusing but delicious. – Julia Child • OH KYO KUN! Isn’t it said that eating pink noodles turns you into a horny pervert?! – Natsuki Takaya • Once you’ve started a film you don’t become a wet noodle. You must have that conflictual interface because you don’t know, and they don’t know. It’s through conflict that you come out with something that might be different, better than either of you thought to begin with. – Jack Nicholson • Peace will come to the world when the people have enough noodles to eat. – Momofuku Ando • Ramen is a dish that’s very high in calories and sodium. One way to make it slightly healthier is to leave the soup and just eat the noodles. – Masaharu Morimoto • Sam was starting to feel anxious. Nutella and noodles were fine. Great in fact. Miraculous. But he’d been hoping for more food more water more medicine something. It was absurdly like Christmas morning when he was little: hoping for something he couldn’t even put a name to. A game changer. Something…amazing. – Michael Grant

• She led him past the engine room, which looked like a very dangerous, mechanized jungle gym, with pipes and pistons and tubes jutting from a central bronze sphere. Cables resembling giant metal noodles snaked across the floor and ran up the walls. “How does that thing even work?” Percy asked. “No idea,” Annabeth said. “And I’m the only one besides Leo who can operate it.” “That’s reassuring.” “It should be fine. It’s only threatened to blow up once.” “You’re kidding, I hope.” She smiled. “Come on. – Rick Riordan • Since I’ve been on my own, I’ve been eating a lot of popcorn, cereal, instant noodles, and snack bars. I have a hot plate in my bedroom, a microwave, and a small fridge. That’s the kind of kitchen I know how to get around in. – Karen Marie Moning • Spaghetti… I can’t eat spaghetti, there’s too many of them. No matter how hungry I am, 1,000 of something is too many. I’ll have 1,000 pieces of noodles. – Mitch Hedberg • ‘Tampopo’ is a deeply odd film about Japan, ramen noodles, love and sex. It made me very hungry and desperate to travel to Japan. It started my love affair with this amazing country, its culture, its food, its cinema and made me buy my first ticket to the land of the rising sun. – Jamie Cullum • The boys. The village boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattleskulled clodpated dimdomed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed boys. How could anybody accuse her of stealing them? Why would anybody want them anyway? – William Goldman • There’s a Polar Bear In our Frigidaire– He likes it ’cause it’s cold in there. With his seat in the meat And his face in the fish And his big hairy paws In the buttery dish, He’s nibbling the noodles, And munching the rice, He’s slurping the soda, He’s licking the ice. And he lets out a roar If you open the door. And it gives me a scare To know he’s in there– That Polary Bear In our Fridgitydaire. – Shel Silverstein • There’s only one rule in photography – never develop colour film in chicken noodle soup. – Freeman Patterson • We can do anything. It’s not because our hearts are large, they’re not, it’s what we struggle with. The attempt to say Come over. Bring your friends. It’s a potluck, I’m making pork chops, I’m making those long noodles you love so much. – Richard Siken • When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle’s on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles… …they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle. – Dr. Seuss • When I would feel down…I’d have some noodles father prepared, and all the worries I had that day…Poof! They would all disappear. – Kim Young-kwang • Yes, but I’ve already made my fortune in other things. (Solin) Such as? (Geary) Viagra. My brother learned to take a personal problem and profit by it. (Arik) It’s true. It pained me to see a man as young as Arik stricken with impotency. Therefore I had to do something to help the poor soul. But alas, there’s nothing to be done for it. He’s as flaccid as a wet noodle. (Solin) How creative of you to project your problem onto me. But then, they say celibacy is enough to make a man lose all reason. Guess you’re living proof, huh? (Arik) – Sherrilyn Kenyon • You can’t be wishy-washy. That’s the most boring thing in the world, to be a middle-of-the-road wet noodle. That’s my greatest fear, to be like, “Oh, whatever.” That’s just not who I am. – Chris Black • You have to find a group that really desperately cares about what it is you have to say. Talk to them. They have something I call otaku. It’s a great Japanese word. It describes the desire of someone who’s obsessed to, say, drive across Tokyo to try a new Ramen noodle place ’cause that’s what they do, they get obsessed with it. – Seth Godin • You noodle around with tempo and sound until you get the perfect fit for that particular song, and then, so long as you can sustain it, God is on your side and everything comes easily and even the waiters smile. – Wilfrid Sheed • Zen is to religion what a Japanese “rock garden” is to a garden. Zen knows no god, no afterlife, no good and no evil, as the rock-garden knows no flowers, herbs or shrubs. It has no doctrine or holy writ: its teaching is transmitted mainly in the form of parables as ambiguous as the pebbles in the rock-garden which symbolise now a mountain, now a fleeting tiger. When a disciple asks “What is Zen?”, the master’s traditional answer is “Three pounds of flax” or “A decaying noodle” or “A toilet stick” or a whack on the pupil’s head. – Arthur Koestler • Zerts’ are what I call desserts. ‘Trée-trées’ are entrées. I call sandwiches ‘sammies,’ ‘sandoozles,’ or ‘Adam Sandlers.’ Air conditioners are ‘cool blasterz’ with a ‘z’ – I don’t know where that came from. I call cakes ‘big ol’ cookies.’ I call noodles ‘long-ass rice.’ Fried chicken is ‘fry-fry chicky-chick.’ Chicken parm is ‘chicky-chicky-parm-parm.’ Chicken cacciatore? ‘Chicky-cacc.’ I call eggs ‘pre-birds,’ or ‘future birds.’ Root beer is ‘super water.’ Tortillas are ‘bean blankets.’ And I call forks ‘food rakes.’ – Aziz Ansari

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[dictionaryrainbowarchive]

Sakamoto Realties: Part One, Natsuki

Natsuki double-checked the address on the ad in the free real estate magazine, 3 Bancho Nakano Building.

This was it. Unlike most other real estate agencies in Japan, there were no brightly colored flags outside advertising its location and there were no new listings posted outside for the casual passerby to look at. The only indication that it was there was the small little name plate bearing the name ‘Sakamoto Real Estate—Third Floor’.

It wasn’t that flashy stuff that had drawn Natsuki to this agent (aside from not actually having any, the building was appallingly dingy). It wasn’t the listings in the free magazine (in fact, she wasn’t even able to find a single listing by this place). It was the ad that had attracted her: “If the first place we show you isn’t perfect, we’ll pay the deposit no matter where you rent from.”

Natsuki closed the magazine and put it in her non-designer purse, took out a tissue, and pushed the grimy up button. While she waited for the elevator to crawl its way down to her, she once again cursed her misfortune at being transferred. She begged and pleaded with her boss, but it had come down from the home office and was out of his control. What was done was done and she was going to have to do this sooner or later.

The elevator arrived and Natsuki slunk in. The doors rattled shut and the miserable girl felt like it was a sign of her fate being sealed. She wasn’t the only person being transferred out of her office, but that didn’t stop her from feeling singled out.

She regretted not going to a single office party, but it just wasn’t in her. There was always someone who was a little too drunk, someone who was a little too forward, or someone who was too insistent on everyone going to karaoke. Or, the whole thing was just a bit too loud and Natsuki would wind up having a panic attack.

On top of that, there’d just always been so many. There was the annual end of year party, followed by the annual beginning of the year party. There was the Ohanami party, a picnic beneath the cherry blossoms. After that there was all sorts of celebratory parties for completing contracts or signing new ones or just the random team builder.

The ones that Natsuki dreaded turning down the most were the beer garden parties. All you the food can eat and all the beer and wine coolers you can drink sounded like fun, and Natsuki wished she was the type of person who could enjoy such things, but just the idea of sitting on top of a tall building surrounded by a hundred drunk people in a place called a beer garden was enough to cause her to hyperventilate.

With so many parties, Natsuki felt that at some point she’d come out of her shell and join in, but she hadn’t even shown up to the farewell party cast in her honor.

Natsuki’s heart leapt as the elevator jerked when it started its slow ascent. Even though she rode the shaky elevator up by herself, Natsuki felt crammed in; she noticed the capacity was six persons. She was barely able to make that out through all the stains that covered the walls. To make things worse, it reeked of cigarette smoke. Were people that inconsiderate that they’d smoke in such a tiny elevator Natsuki wondered?

The two signifying the second floor flickered on and the one finally faded out. Natsuki’s leg started shaking in anticipation of getting out of the small death trap. Her movements sent vibrations through the elevator and made it shake even more. Forcing her leg still, Natsuki chewed on her lower lip. Her adrenaline-fueled heart worked overtime, and she could feel the blood gushing through it.

At last the floor bell chimed, and Natsuki jumped out as soon as the doors were open wide enough for her to get out with out making actual contact. The elevator deposited her directly into the real estate office.

In stark contrast to the rest of the building, the office was pristine. Freshly painted white walls seemed to glow in the fluorescent light shining down from the fixtures. Plants thrived in front of immaculately clean windows. There wasn’t even a speck of dust on the floor.

A busty young woman smiled at Natsuki as she walked in. “Welcome!” she beamed.

Natsuki weakly smiled back. “Hi. I’m being transferred here in April and...”

“Oh, Goodie!” the girl cut her off. “How smart of you to come early! February and March are our busiest months with all the transfers in April. You know how companies all over Japan just send their employees everywhere. I’m so glad I work at this small place with Sakamoto-san. He’s so nice. I don’t know what I would do if I got transferred. This time of year it’s like a war over the better apartments. Not that I would get transferred since this is our only office. I think it’s a nice office. The outside is kind of icky and the elevator... Anyway I work really hard to keep it nice and clean in here. That’s what I do. I love to clean, but not as much as I love to file, if you know what I mean.”

Natsuki just nodded in response. She reached into her bag and pulled out the listings magazine. “I saw your ad in this and it intrigued me,” Natsuki said.

“Silly me! Here I am prattling away at you when you’re here on business. Let me call my boss. He’s so good at finding people the perfect place. He even found me mine. Sakamoto-san!”

A balding man came out from the partition behind the bubbly girl. His beer-belly rested on top of his belt and his stained tie followed the gentle swell. He gave Natsuki a big smile. Even at a distance, she could see the yellowing effect that countless cigarettes had had on his teeth.

He gestured for Natsuki to sit down at the counter and then sat down across from her. The once-bright room seemed to dim and become a spotlight illuminating her for the man’s roaming eyes. She clutched her cheap purse to her chest and stared at the counter top. The polished surface twisted its clean appearance into an unwanted mirror. No matter where she looked, Natsuki couldn’t avoid seeing his gaze.

“I’m Kenji Sakamoto,” the man said and held out a business card for her.

Without looking up at him, Natsuki reached out two tentative hands and gingerly took the card between her thumbs and index fingers; the slightest of breeze would have knocked it out of her fingers. She wanted to just drop it on the counter, but not wanting to be rude, set it down on the counter in front of her and looked at it. She used it to break the reflective property of the counter.

Natsuki wasn’t repulsed by how he looked; she was repulsed because he was a man. She didn’t trust men. She didn’t entirely trust women, either. She just tolerated them more.

She was used to the people she worked with and could speak to people over the phone, but if she was around any man she didn’t know, all she could think of was running away. Sakamoto’s slovenly appearance didn’t help.

“So, looking for a new place to live?” He asked. His breath smelled of smoke and whatever garlicky substance he had been eating for lunch.

Natsuki nodded. He waited for her to say something. When she didn’t, he said, “Okay,” and handed her a piece of paper. “Please fill this out and we can get started.”

He offered her a pen, but she took one out of her purse instead and started writing. It asked for her name and birth date, current address, contact information and current employer. There was also a short survey as to how she’d found the agency. After filling it out, she turned the paper towards Sakamoto, put her pen back in her purse, and clutched it to her chest.

The bubbly girl who had greeted Natsuki came over with a fresh cup of coffee and set it in front of her. Natsuki nodded her appreciation and the girl stepped back, hugging the service tray to her ample bosom.

Sakamoto had finished reading the paper and looked up at Natsuki. “So, you’re an omizu, huh?”

Natsuki flared with anger, but before she could say anything, Sakamoto’s assistant slapped him on the back, “No, silly! She’s not a hostess. She’d a nice office lady who’s being transferred!”

“Clearly, Akiko. I can tell by looking she’s an OL,” Sakamoto said, referring to Natsuki by the Japanese colloquialism. “It was just a joke.” Sakamoto’s red checks gave away the anger his tone hid. “I was just trying to lighten the mood here.”

Akiko laughed. “I get it!”

Sakamoto rolled his eyes. “There’s some filing I’d like you to do. Go to it.”

Akiko’s bright and smiley face lit up even more. “Really?! You mean it?” Natsuki did everything possible to repress her amazement that this bubbly girl somehow became even perkier...

“Yes! Go file!”

“Oh my god! I love filing!” Akiko turned and dashed around the partition.

“I’m sorry about my assistant, she’s a little spacey sometimes, but she sure keeps this place clean.”

Natsuki didn’t respond. She wished she’d never come to this realty. Not only was he a man, he was repugnant and rude. She couldn’t wait to reject whatever dive he showed her and get the deposit money the ad promised.

“I’d also like to apologize for my crass humor. I’m afraid I spent too much time in America and their sense of humor has rubbed off on me.” His apology made Natsuki feel slightly better, but she still couldn’t wait to be done with him.

“So, I see you found us through our ad. I can promise you, I’m as good as it says. I’ve never once had to pay out a deposit.” Natsuki doubted it. It either meant he’d just started in this business or that he hadn’t been offering it long.

“I’ve been in this business since I got back from America about 10 years ago, so I’m pretty good at knowing what people want. About three years in, a buddy of mine got tired of hearing me boast about how good I was and told me to put my money where my mouth was. Here I am, seven years later and still not a dime given.”

Natsuki’s gaze never left his card. Well, someone’s got to be the first.

“And don’t you go thinking you’re going to be the first. I’ve got you pegged,” he told her. “Let’s see,Oh! I know where your company is and I’ve got a 1LDK pretty much on top of where you’ll work.”

1LDK? Natsuki wondered to herself.

“Oh, sorry. You’re definitely not the moving type. I shouldn’t just throw out all this real estate lingo. A 1LDK is a place where the living room, dining room, and kitchen are all one big room and then you’ve got another separate room for the bedroom. They’re the best for single people. They’re cheap and usually have air conditioning units pre-installed. 2DKs and up, most of them don’t even have overhead light fixtures!”

A 1LDK sounded good to Natsuki.

“So, we’re set on a 1LDK,” Sakamoto said. Natsuki furrowed her brow. Sakamoto laughed, Natsuki winced as his foul breath washed over her. “Sorry if it seems like I’m reading your thoughts. I really am just that good. Anyway, like I was saying, it’s really close to where you’ll be working.”

Maybe he was that good Natsuki thought. It sounded perfect. Stress she wasn’t even aware of lifted off her shoulders. If it was that close to where I would work it means that I won’t have to spend as much time outside around people.

“Shall we go see it?” Sakamoto asked. Natsuki nodded once in response.

“Okay then. Let me go get the keys.” The real estate agent got up and headed to the other side of the partition. Natsuki sat by herself and sipped the coffee she’d been given. Now that Sakamoto wasn’t there talking, Natsuki thought she could hear a vibrating sound and an occasional slight moan.

“Akiko,” Sakamoto’s voice came drifting in from the other side.

“Yesssss!” Akiko said.

“Akiko, I’m taking the client to see a place.”

“Uhhh...”

“Akiko. Akiko! Okay, you can keep filing. I’ll turn the elevator off, but answer the phone if someone calls. Okay? Akiko? What are you going to do?”

“File...”

“And?”

“Answer the PHONE!” Akiko screamed.

Sakamoto reappeared around the corner with a smirk on his face. “Sorry, she just really does love filing. She says she just loves putting stuff where it belongs.”

He walked over and pushed the button for the elevator. Natsuki waited behind him. The doors clattered open and Sakamoto reached behind her and put his hand on her arm too guide her forward. Natsuki instinctively jumped away from him. If Sakamoto noticed, he didn’t show it.

The two got on the elevator and Natsuki tried her best to avoid touching Sakamoto or the walls, but the elevator was too small and she couldn’t avoid brushing up against him. She felt like filth was infiltrating into her body, not only where their arms made contact, but also where he had touched her earlier.

Natsuki squeezed through the still-opening doors into the cool crisp air. Her arms pulsed where they’d been touched. Sakamoto strolled out of the elevator and had a cigarette lit before he was all the way out.

“My car’s just over here,” he said and gestured her to follow him. Sakamoto hit the unlock bottom on the remote entry key and opened the passenger side door for Natsuki. “Hop on in.”

Sakamoto closed the door behind her. He took one last drag on his cigarette before stomping it out and walking around to the driver’s side. “It shouldn’t take too long to get there,” he said. “Maybe 20 minutes or so. Let’s put your purse in the back though.”

Sakamoto reached over and took the bag out of her hands. Natsuki let go of it the instant his hands made contact with hers. Natsuki’s hands joined her arms in the feeling of uncleanliness. She resolved to throw the purse away when she got home.

“Isn’t that better?” Sakamoto asked, completely ignoring his passenger’s discomfort. He started the car and reached over to put his hand behind the passenger seat so he could turn around and back out of the parking space. Natsuki leaned forward to avoid his hand but was too late; a large clump of hair got tangled up in his hand.

“Oops, sorry about that,” he apologized. “I really should back into my parking space like most Japanese do, but most Americans pull in head first and I guess that’s just another thing that rubbed off on me.”

Natsuki didn’t care what had rubbed off on him in America. She just wished he’d stop rubbing on her. Could she wash that dirty feeling out of her hair or would she have to get it cut off?

Sakamoto backed out on to the road, put the car in first, and took them on their way. They rode in silence while Sakamoto navigated the narrow back streets. When he finally pulled on to a main road, he glanced over at Natsuki and asked, “Been to many other places yet?”

Natsuki shook her head no.

“So I’m the first, huh?”

She nodded.

“Well, you saved yourself a lot of time. When you see this place I’m taking you to, you’ll wish you could already move in.”

Natsuki doubted it. “Hey, you’ve got something here,” he said. Faster than Natsuki thought possible, his hand reached over and brushed her cheek and up against her lips as she jerked away.

The dirty tingling sensation buzzed in her cheek and lips. “Don’t you dare touch me!” she screamed.

“Sorry! I’m sorry. Please calm down. You had some cream or something from the coffee on your cheek...”

“Don’t. Don’t touch me.”

“Here,” he said and offered her his handkerchief. Natsuki sneered at it. She reached into the back seat and pulled one out of her purse. She wiped her face with it and then threw it on the floor. The feeling of being contaminated didn’t go away.

“Even if you are yelling at me, it’s nice to finally hear you talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said.

“You’re talking now,” he joked. “And you’ve got a lovely voice.”

“Thank you,” Natsuki said and then clamped her mouth shut. Why was she thanking him? She didn’t care what he thought of her voice. She should have demanded that he let her out, the free deposit be damned.

“So, will this be your first time living on your own?”

Don’t answer him. “Yes, I even lived with my parents while I was going to community college. And like most unmarried girls, I’m still at home with them even though I’m 25.” No! Why was she talking to him? She didn’t like talking to people and she didn’t like him. All she wanted to do was ride in silence and get away from him as soon as she could. “How long were you in America?” she asked, then clamped her mouth shut.

“I was there for about 15 years,” he answered.

Natsuki didn’t hear what he said. She was trying to figure out why she had asked him in the first place. “Oh? What took you over there?”

“I went over to study at UCLA at first, but transferred to this little school in Chrystal Heights, Florida called MCU.”

Natsuki’s mouth had developed a mind of its own. She had no interest in continuing the conversation, but her mouth did. “You must be pretty smart and speak good English then, huh?”

“I sure am and I sure do.”

Sure is humble, Natsuki thought. “What’d you study over there?” Natsuki gave up trying to stop herself. She just sat there and listened to the conversation her mouth was having with Sakamoto.

“Pretty much everything,” he laughed. “I’m not really sure if I graduated or if they got tired of me being there and kicked me out.”

Natsuki laughed, too.

“I think I wound up with a double major in Psychology and Business with a Marketing minor.”

“Do you ever miss it?”

“Yes and no. I had a lot of fun over there, but it’s always nice to be back home, you know?”

“Since I’ve never left, yeah!” Sakamoto laughed at Natsuki’s joke. “To be honest, I’m really nervous about it,” she said.

“To be honest, you’re doing a terrible job of hiding it!”

Natsuki couldn’t help but laugh with Sakamoto he was laughing so hard.

“Well, we’re here,” Sakamoto said and pulled up to a building.

Natsuki hadn’t ever enjoyed talking to someone she didn’t know like that . She was actually sad that they had arrived.

“It’s this building to our left. If you want to get out here and wait, it’s a bit of a ways to the closest parking spot,” Sakamoto told Natsuki.

“Okay,” she said and smiled. She grabbed her purse out of the back,

“Let me get that tissue,” Sakamoto said, referring to the tissue she’d wiped off her cheek with and thrown on the floor. He reached over and picked it up, and wiped Natsuki’s shoes off with it. “You had a little bit of mud on there.”

Natsuki thanked him, got out of the car, and watched it pull away. Natsuki took in the surroundings and the smile fell off of her face.

All of the buildings around her had neon sign stacked upon neon sign, announcing the name of a different caba-club on each floor. Mixed in every now and then was the name of a Japanese-style bar or restaurant, but , they were almost universally hostess bars.

Natsuki folded her arms across her chest. Very few people walked the streets around her. The few that she could see were mainly bar keeps dumping garbage or setting out crates of empty beer bottles. Natsuki avoided eye contact with all of them. She wanted to get out of there immediately. Sakamoto had to be mistaken. There was no way her company had an office in this area.

Several minutes later, Sakamoto came half running, half waddling up the street, while puffing on a cigarette. Despite the crisp February air, beads of perspiration dotted his balding forehead. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said. Natsuki didn’t respond. “Hey, You okay?” he asked and put a hand on her back.

Natsuki twisted away from him. The feelings of uncleanliness on her body came throbbing back, her arms, her cheek, her rear, and now her back, too. “I want to get out of here,” she muttered.

“But you haven’t even seen the place yet,” Sakamoto replied.

She didn’t need to see it. She couldn’t live in a place like this; at night it would be crawling with drunks and perverts. Natsuki just looked at the ground.

“You know, if you don’t actually look at it, it doesn’t count as the first place and I can’t give you any deposit money.”

Natsuki stared at the ground. Was it worth it? All she had to do was go up, walk in, and say no. It wouldn’t take longer than five minutes. Even though she’d heard the average deposit for a place could cost well over three months rent, she was still tempted to leave on the spot. “Fine, take me up,” she said.

Sakamoto led her down a small hallway in the building in front of her. They got into the elevator at the end of it. Next to the button of each floor was the name of the joint that was on that floor. Sakamoto took out his keys and inserted one next to the button for the tenth floor. It was the only one that didn’t have the name of a bar next to it.

“Just like the penthouse of a hotel,” he laughed, turned his key, and the elevator smoothly started its ascent.

Like the elevator at the real estate office, this one was small enough that she couldn’t help but bump into Sakamoto as they rode. Unlike the elevator at the real estate office, this one was clean; the walls were a faux wood surface that shined with a freshly polished look and the floor looked like it had been buffed that morning.

Natsuki read the names of all the places in her building. Not her building! She would never live here. Only the place on the third floor seemed like a legitimate restaurant. Natsuki didn’t even want to see the type of girls that worked at Fluffy Bounce, the place on the fifth floor.

“Fluffy Bounce in a great caba-club, by the way,” Sakamoto said. “It’s well regarded as the number one club in this area of Japan. I don’t think there’s a girl there who makes less than 30,000 yen an hour. That’s the club that makes sure this building is spotless. I sure wish I could go there more often, but once a month is usually about all I can afford. Amazing girls.”

Natsuki didn’t feel sorry for him. If he wanted to waste his money on bimbos and booze, that was his prerogative, just as long as his company had enough to pay her deposit like he promised.

“I could put a word in with them if you ever wanted a job there.”

Her cheeks flushed red with anger. All over soon. All over soon.

Sakamoto shifted his body weight behind Natsuki and used it as an excuse to touch her ass. Natsuki clenched her fists, but didn’t say anything. She felt dirty all over her body, but ignored it, after all she’d be done with him soon.

The elevator chimed and its doors opened. The pair got out into a small hallway. Directly across from the elevator was a door to the emergency exit stairwell. “It locks from the outside,” Sakamoto said pointing at the door. “You can get out through it without a key, but to get in, you have to have this key,” he dangled the key he used to start the elevator, “or you have to be an emergency worker and get the lock overridden from downtown. This place is safety first.”

That made Natsuki feel safe and relieved. Only she could get in and out of here with ease. If any of her customers turned stalker like the last place she lived... Customers? Stalkers? She didn’t have any of those. She was an office lady who had no direct contact with anyone, not some whore that worked at a caba-club.

This place was messing with her head. “I want to leave,” she said.

“But you haven’t even seen the room yet.”

“I want to leave.”

“Okay, but you’ll lose the deposit.”

“I don’t care. I want to leave.”

“Your loss,” Sakamoto said and turned back to the elevator.

“Does... does that include the reikin and introduction fees?”

“Of course.”

At most places, not only did the deposit usually run three months rent, there was an additional reikin, a non-refundable “thank you” to the landlord for allowing you to rent the place, and an introduction fee paid to the real estate agent. That could be well over 500,000 yen in a large city all added together. “Fine,” she gave in. “Show me the place and then I want to leave immediately.”

Sakamoto had a big grin on his face when he turned back around, “That a girl!” he said. He walked over to the door, unlocked it and opened it for Natsuki. She walked over, peered inside and then looked back at Sakamoto as if to say let’s go.

“You do actually have to go in and look at everything,” he said.

Natsuki sighed and stepped inside. The entrance was like a little separate room. Straight ahead was a closed door that lead into the main part of the place. To her right was a large shoe cabinet and a small counter for her purse.

She tossed her Luis Vuitton purse on the counter and did a double take. Had there been two bags in Sakamoto’s car and she’d taken the wrong one? She opened it up, pulled out the Chanel wallet and looked at the driver’s license; it was hers.

The trip to France with one of her favorite customers came flashing back to her. She remembered drinking Champagne in the store while they waited for the clerks to package all the things he’d bought her. Then that night at the hotel she remembered passionately... No! She was an OL! There was no way she could have afforded these things on her salary. She was not a hostess.

Forgetting about her purse, she slipped out of her black and white striped Charlotte Olympia heels. Wait, they were loafers, weren’t they? No, loafers don’t have 6 inch heels. Stepping up onto the hardwood floor, she opened the door to the main room. She wanted to flee, but forced herself through for the money. Natsuki was not prepared for the grandeur that waited her on the other side of the door.

Sakamoto followed her through and noted her speechlessness. “Sorry, I forgot to mentioned that it’s fully furnished.” He set down a pair of slippers for Natsuki. She slid her into them without a thought.

Fully furnished was an understatement. The brand new Sharp flat screen TV that sat against the far wall to the right had to be at least 50 inches. In front of it was a large white Ikea sofa and a very nice kotatsu (a large coffee table with a heater built in underneath it). The sofa and kotatsu sat on an ordinate Persian rug.

“The LDK is about 26 jou, roughly 43 square meters,” Sakamoto explained. Natsuki turned her view from the TV area and looked at the cute table in front of her. It had two chairs tucked under it and on top of it, a flower vase with a single red rose in it. The table matched the living room furniture perfectly.

To the left was a fully stocked counter kitchen. Two bar stools sat under the counter and on the other side was the sink and generous space to cook. Behind the counter was an IH electric stove and more cooking space. Natsuki walked around to the other side of the counter.

“If you open the large drawer next to the sink, you’ll see it’s got a built in dishwasher.” Natsuki followed his instructions and pulled out the large drawer and looked with joy. She couldn’t believe this place was hers. As she opened the refrigerator that was built into the wall in between the counter and stove, part of her demanded that she forget the money and just run now; it was drowned out by the other part of her that wondered what the bedroom would be like.

“Are you sure I can afford this place?” she asked.

“You? Oh yeah. Wait till you see the bedroom, though,” he smiled.

Natsuki’s long, tight dress forced her to shuffle-walk out of the kitchen to stand next to Sakamoto. She smoothed it out with her hands, even off the clock she had to be presentable. No, she was an OL. She came here wearing a black skirt and green sweater jacket, not this white designer dress.

No, she was and OL before she became an omizu. Dresses don’t just magically appear, and an OL definitely wouldn’t be able to type with the extravagant manicured nails she had. Yet, something still didn’t feel right. She wasn’t supposed to be a hostess.

“The bedroom’s just through there,” Sakamoto said and pointed at the double sliding doors on the same wall as the stove. Sakamoto blatantly rubbed his hand across her flat chest as he pointed. That broke Natsuki out of her reverie.

Part of her felt the anger and the dirtiness of being so vulgarly touched, but all she said was, “Oh, thank you.” She slid one of the doors open and blinked at the queen sized canopy bed on the other side. In spite of the tightness of her dress, Natsuki glided into the room and marveled at the giant bookshelf against the wall with the door. It was filled with books from classic literature to Pop fiction and Samurai period pieces.

As Natsuki ran her hand across the collection, she could vividly remember reading every one, even ones she knew she was seeing for the first time. If one of her customers mentioned a book or author she didn’t know, she’d rush out and buy it as soon as she got off work and plow through it before work the next day.

There was another fluttering in her heart telling her to run, instead, she went and rifled through the stack of newspapers on the bedside table. All of the major papers were there; the Daily Yomiuri, Asahi Daily and Financial Times. There were even several local papers from various parts of the country, places where some of her more regular customers were from.

She wanted to be the top hostess in Japan. One day she would move to Tokyo and fight for that title in the Ginza bars. That meant being well read and knowing intimate details about everywhere in Japan. After all, she never knew who would be sitting at her table next. Her rule was that they came for the looks and stayed for the conversation.

Natsuki opened the large walk-in closet and looked at the rows of designer dresses. They were all various colors and designs, but all had two things in common: they fit her tightly and were cut low to show off her ample cleavage.

A year after starting work as a hostess, Natsuki had taken all the money she had saved and had implants put in by one of the top surgeons in Japan. They were nearly perfect. They looked and felt natural, even the porn star Aoi Sora, whose implants were almost as undetectable, would have been jealous. The only thing that cast doubt on their realness was their size; there’s no way such large breasts could form on a girl of her small stature.

Natsuki headed into the spacious bathroom. There was no washing machine; it was on the roof that Natsuki could access through the stairwell. She liked doing all of her laundry up there just in case a very good paying customer wanted to come upstairs to her place and take a bath with her in her jacuzzi sized bath tub. She’d press her large breasts into his back as she would scrub him down in the shower, before getting in the tub together for the real fun.

Her apartment was the one thing keeping her here. Oh, how she loved it. Mr Sakamoto, no, Ken-chan, really did find her the perfect place. Who would have imagined this place? If only he could find her something like it in Ginza.

Natsuki checked her appearance in the mirror. Ken-chan was coming over with some paperwork that she had to sign, something about misplacing the original contract she’d signed for this place.

She wanted to make sure her makeup was still perfect and that her hair still had it perfect curls flowing down to her luscious chest. The reflection in the mirror wasn’t the sex goddess, conversation queen she expected. Looking back at her was a frumpy OL. Not only was she not wearing makeup and her hair poorly kept, but she was wearing the ugliest green sweater jacket that had no traces of breasts beneath it.

Natsuki screamed. What had happened to her? How had she... No, her reflection was true, her memories were the lies. She was the frumpy OL, not the whore of her imagination. Sakamoto! He was doing this to her. She could feel his filth where he’d touched her still; her hair, her hands, her arms, her ass, her cheek, her back, and her breasts. He had violated her.

“Sakamoto!” she cried and stormed out into the large combination room. He stood at the counter holding a pen and her personal seal. There was a contract laid out on the counter. Rage coursed through Natsuki’s veins, but Sakamoto’s look stopped her in her tracks.

“Sign the contract and you can have your dreams. You saw how this was your perfect place. Now sign the contract and make it real,” he told her.

“But that wasn’t me,” she heaved.

“Yes, it is.”

“That wasn’t me.”

“No, not yet. It was how you’ve always wished you could be. Now you can. Just sign it and stamp your name.”

Natsuki looked at the door. “You can go,” he said. “And in ten days, 500,000 yen will appear in your bank account, like promised. Or you can sign and have everything.”

Natsuki wanted to leave. She wanted her stumpy legs to carry her out the door and to never look back. But, she wanted her legs to be the long, slender pillars of her imagination. In her mind, she was rich, attractive, and could converse. She was desirable. The her in reality was none of those things.

She remembered both lives. She remembered the misery and depression of her current life; she remembered the fun and excitement of her dream life. She worked a lot harder in her “bimbo” life, but got everything she desired and more. Could she do it? Could she turn herself into the slut by her own hand?

She couldn’t go back to her real life knowing what joys she could have; her depressing existence would become suicidal. She took the pen from Sakamoto’s hand and set it to the paper. Sakamoto placed his free hand on her crotch and rubbed her while she signed.

When he’d touched her before, she’d only felt dirty. This time, the dirty feeling gave way to excitement and heat; he was making her horny. She took her seal and stamped it in all the appropriate places; the part of her that had been screaming for her to run cried out as if she’d just finished signing a deal with the devil. The part of her that wanted to sign it screamed out in orgasm.

All of her fears, all of her worries and insecurities, disappeared as if she screamed them out with her climax. She was ready to start her new life. No, she’d always been on this path, the OL was just a nightmare.

Natsuki wasn’t sure if she shuddered because of Sakamoto’s manipulations of her clit, or if she shuddered out of excitement. Tomorrow, she would call her old job and quit. After that, all she needed would be a job at a hostess bar and those tits. She pulled Sakamoto’s hand deeper into her crotch.

“Oh, Ken-chan, that feels so good,” she said. “I was feeling so bad. I had the worst dream. I dreamed I was this nasty OL and I was so mean to you.”

“Honey, I wish you’d be a nasty OL for me,” Sakamoto smiled and winked.

“Not this kind of nasty, perv,” Natsuki giggled. She took her hands off of his and put them on his cock. “But I can be her now if you’d like.”

Sakamoto could still hear the fear in her voice. “It’s okay, that bad dream is over,” he comforted her.

Natsuki smiled at him. “Do you think you’d mind calling Fluffy Bounce and seeing if you couldn’t get me an interview?” she asked.

“Babe, consider yourself hired.”

“You’re just too good to me.” Natsuki said. She squatted down and undid his pants. She knew she’d love this part of her job. She smiled and put Sakamoto in her mouth. She was on her way to becoming her dream girl.

[x0401x]

Hoshiai no Sora: Cast Comments

Q & A with the voice actors of the main cast. Translated from the official Twitter. Feel free to point out any corrections, and please check out some of the creators’ accounts:

Akane Kazuki (director)

Itsuka (character designer)

Takeshi (animator)

Kyuujou Kiyo (illustrator)

Takahashi Yuuichi (animator)

MLANG (animator)

Hanae Natsuki-san (voice of Katsuragi Maki)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

At first, I guessed he was a cool and behaved kid, but this changed into the impression that he was a child with no two-facedness to him and a feel-good personality, who firmly conveys his own opinions without being swayed by the people around him. Also, he laughs and makes merry in accordance to his age too, so it is fun to play him.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was part of the soft tennis club, so I am extremely happy to get to perform in this production. Through this series, many things had me thinking, “This happens, this happens” and it makes me reminisce to my school days. I was the vice-president, but our tennis club was not that earnest about competing, so we did not go as far as Shijou Minami Junior High, but I believe the club activities had a similar air to them.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

This is a work that touches the rare subject of soft tennis, while the number of schools that only have regular tennis gradually increases as one goes from middle to high school. It is a given for people who take part in soft tennis, but the delicate feelings of middle schoolers are also being depicted here through getting quite deep into their core, so I believe this is a series that makes the ones watching feel and think all sorts of things. Please watch over it until the very end.

Hatanaka Tasuku-san (voice of Shinjou Touma)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

Shinjou Touma is a child with an extremely strong sense of responsibility. The environment he grew up in has an influence on this, but he ends up exploding due to shouldering too many things and not knowing how to let it out when it became hard for him... The more I get to know him, the more I feel like giving him a hug. That’s the kind of person he is.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was part of the basket club during my six years from middle to high school and on the bench. That’s why I would let my voice out higher than anyone, and since I could not manage to do anything whenever I entered the court, I would just run, anyhow. The nickname I earned from this was “Runner”. I was neither “center” nor “forward”, just “Runner”.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

Honestly, I have absolutely no idea of how this work will be receptioned. But I thought, “I want to respond to the things that the director wants to write about and to his passion, from the bottom of my heart”. That’s why I had strong thoughts about getting close to the individuals that appear in this story, being hurt and moving forward together with them, and taking part in this series. I am truly glad to have become involved with it. Please do have expectations for it.

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu-san (voice of Ameno Itsuki)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

He is a boy with a deep darkness to him, except this darkness has a proper reason to be, so I look forward to when people get shocked upon finding that out. He is also a cute boy, so I hope people will enjoy the many emotions, expressions and lines from him.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was in the wind instruments club, but I was always thinking about skipping. There were few guys in it, so whenever classes ended, a senior would often come to pick me up! Like, “Matsuoka! I’ll go with you!!” I really gave him a lot of trouble.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

It is turning into a story that will not go through conventional methods. Many individuals of all kinds appear in it, but this is a series that depicts each human being very rawly, so I hope people will enjoy this rich story until the end. We also want to perform “Hoshiai no Sora” to our utmost, so we will be in your care from now on too!

Satou Gen-san (voice of Futsu Rintarou)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

Rintarou is a very serious and kindhearted person who can observe his surroundings better than anyone. On one side, he is extremely sensible, overthinks, does not manage to give his opinions and ends up hiding his true thoughts, so when I perform him, I make sure to do it while deciding in my mind, “Don’t leave Rintarou on his own no matter what” and, “Stay close to him until the end”.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I used to belong to the kendou club, but the club activities were aimed to win the nationals, so practice was extremely severe. During practice match expeditions, we would ride in the late-night bus and keep practicing from morning to evening non-stop just like that, and to make our bodies grow bigger, we would eat a mountain of curry, fist-sized minced meat fried cakes and gigantic hot dogs in one go until we got upset stomatches, so I have the strong impression that it was strict and terrible if nothing else.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

I think its contents resonate with the hearts of both people who are currently students and people who are working as members of society. If they could love the characters of Hoshiai no Sora, who are somewhat heartrending but try to live day by day with utmost effort, I would be really happy.

Toyonaga Toshiyuki-san (voice of Soga Tsubasa)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

I have the impression that he is a child right in the middle of puberty, who ends up saying what he thinks aloud. It feels like he takes a while to find the will to do things, so I think he is simply carefree.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was a ghost member of the basket club. I joined because a girl I liked back then was a member of the female basket club. My motive was impure, huh (laughs).

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

I think it will be pretty impactful for those who watch it thinking that it is an uplifting youth-and-sports thing. It depicts all sorts of problems that actually happen in reality. Please do watch these strong messages with your families; I would be happy if they become a trigger for people to reflect on things.

Satou Keisuke-san (voice of Takenouchi Shingo)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

I thought Shingo was an upfront kid in a very good sense. Also, I felt that, in contrast with his strong-look appearance, he is very considerate of his friends, has a side to him that’s got guts, and is adorable too. I am really looking forward to how he will progress from now on.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was in the basket club, but all I did was slack off. There were only four members and the club activities only included running, and after that, we would do nothing but chat. Then we would run off so that the teacher of that period would not find us out (laughs). I would think, “One way or another, these are also memories of my youth”.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

Developments that people cannot predict at all are waiting, and they make you extremely anxious. It is fully loaded with obsession for even minute details, so you will be unable to take your eyes off it from the beginning to the end! I hope to enjoy these moments together with everyone. “Hoshiai no Sora” is in your care!

Koyabashi Yuusuke-san (voice of Tsukinose Nao)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

Nao is a child whose appearance and mind are flighty, and also a mysterious kid who speaks of dellusions as if they were actually reality. But during club activities, he makes efforts in his own way so that he will not drag everyone down, so the gap between this and his fickle personality left an impression on me.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was in the wind instruments club. I wanted to play the trumpet, but the pretty senior who was teaching us during the trial enrollment played the horn, so I was swayed by her sweet talk, and before I realized it, I was playing the horn myself (laughs). I should beware of sweet temptations, is what I thought during my middle school years.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

People might get tripped up if they are watching it thinking that it is an anime where children are enjoyably playing soft tennis to their utmost. It is precisely because those kids are at that age that I would like people to observe thoroughly the depiction of the mindsets they embrace.

Amasaki Kouhei-san (voice of Ishigami Taiyou)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

I think Taiyou-kun is a gentle child. He cannot decide things on his own, always taking action by matching up with other’s opinions. I felt that the way his Kansai dialect sometimes has a common language ring to it was realistic.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was in the swim club. During summer, we would swim over 10km from morning to evening. We would run the competitive club relays in the PE festival wearing one layer of swimsuit. I think it was an experience I can no longer manage.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

“Hoshiai no Sora” is a work made extremely carefully, and even during the post-recording, the love I can feel from the creators is huge, so I think it is a very good series. There is not much I can say, so I hope you all can see for your own eyes when you watch it on-air! We will be in your care!

Mineda Mayu-san (voice of Mitsue Kanako)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

When I first saw her, I thought, “I guess she’s a shy and quiet girl?”, but that was splendidly betrayed. Kanako is the type to straightforwardly say what she thinks to the other party, and I think this aspect of hers, in a good sense, reeks of humanity quite a bit.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was the president of the art club, but I would walk around campus after school and observe the activities of other clubs. That includes the soft tennis club and the like. To all the art club members of back then, I’m sorry for being such an undisciplined club president...

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

This story intersects with the many emotions of middle schoolers living in the current era, who might actually exist somewhere within Japan. Also, the sounds of batted balls and squealing of sneakers are very real and have intensity, so I would like people to pay attention to them as well.

Yamaya Yoshitaka-san (voice of Asuka Yuuta)

Q1. Please tells us your impression about the character you play.

He is androgynous and has a soft demeanor, and I think he is truly a boy of kindhearted disposition. He somewhat lacks confidence, so he steps back and has a bird’s-eye view of things, but there is a reason for it. I would like people to pay attention to him along with the other characters’ worries.

Q2. Please tell us a memory of club activities from your middle school days.

I was in the soccer club. I had many experiences, like how plain fun it was kicking the ball, having awkward relationships, and learning the joy of getting sweaty doing practice and winning.

Q3. Leave a message for the people watching the series.

This is not just a multi-protagonist story about the youth of bright and uplifting boys. Troubles and issues that surely exist somewhere out there, though people usually do not try to look at them, are depicted realistically in it, and there were times it made my chest hurt. I want everyone to watch how each of them will face the things they are shouldering until the very end.