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This is the "Diary of Mone's Return, Who I'm Too Excited About" updated every Friday. This week I have to face the "things about Shinji-san and Ryochin" that have been bothering me for a long time. It wasn't easy. I really realized how difficult it is to face something.
Let's take a look back at the week's broadcasts. Illustrations and text by Sayumi.
*From here on, spoilers from the 23th week broadcast will be included. If you haven't watched it yet, please return now.
Monday, October 10th: Father and Son
"Isn't it enough to just want to be together?" "Is it okay for me to be happy...?" That's the sort of exchange that Mii-chan and Ryo-chin have, so what will happen this week?
Ryochin continued, "I'm sorry, it's no good, I haven't settled it yet." The thing that's still unsettled is with Shinji. "Shinji, I wish you'd board the boat with Ryo-kun," said Mi-chan. Mi-chan certainly thinks so. Because that's what Ryochin wants most. I think the reason Monet had a complicated expression on her face is because she realizes that it's not Shinji's greatest wish. Today, the main story will be the conversation between Monet and Shinji.
Meanwhile, in the Nagaura household, the father tells his family that he is going to quit the bank and take over Nagaura Fisheries. When he tells his grandfather about it, he is told, "You're not taking the ocean for granted!" This defiant grandfather is so cool! He looks good in sunglasses too, and it's obvious that the grandfather is no ordinary man.
Whether to take over the family business, whether to end it in your generation... I think this is a matter of completely different values for each family. There are probably some families that don't need to take over the family business, and there are probably some families that can't end it in their generation. I don't think that's something that other people can understand.
Even in the Reiwa era, values such as inheriting the family business or house, getting married, or finding a husband still seem to exist. Regardless of whether that's good or bad, I strongly hope that the generation below me will "do what they like without being tied down by anything."
I think that living life driven by a sense of mission can be praised. I remember Ryochin saying, "It's surprisingly easy to live up to the expectations of others, at first." when he talked to Monet about his job as a fisherman in Tokyo. It would be good if it was something you chose for yourself, but when things don't go well, it can be painful to feel self-sacrificing. I want young people to choose a future that they are satisfied with.
At the end, there is a conversation with Shinji, who happens to come to Monet's workplace. When Shinji hears Ryochin say, "Is it okay to be happy?", it seems he feels the need to do something too.
This is just my personal opinion, but I think Ryochin wants to get back at least a little bit of his past, and Shinji wants to start a new life. You could say that Ryochin is in favor of "overwriting the past," and Shinji is in favor of "preserving the past under a different name." Their ways of dealing with the past seem to be different.
I don't know what will happen to them, but I want to approach the next episode with the feeling that any life and any choice is all right! I thought today that such a relaxed perspective might ease the mind of someone who is feeling tied down.
Tuesday, October 10th I'm over there
Ryo-chin and Shinji suddenly decided to have a discussion at the Nagaura household. Before that, Ayako's mother and Ryuuki's grandfather were talking about whether Koji would take over the family business. Ayako seems to want to support Koji's feelings, while Ryuuki seems to think that her son has done what he wanted to do, so what's the point of "quitting for the family business?" In this case, it's hard to know which is better. It's the family that has to decide...
Monet then takes Shinji back home. Shinji came to Kouji to ask for his help in filing Minami's death certificate and whether the associated condolence money and insurance money could be used to fund Ryo's boat. Kouji asks, "How are you (Shinji) feeling?", concerned about whether Shinji has come to terms with what happened.
Shinji says that when Ryochin's ship was caught in a storm, "I realized a lot of things." "I was praying to Minami, asking her not to take Ryo away." "Then, I realized that Minami was 'over there.'"
Previously, when Ryo-chin's grandmother, Minami's mother, said she wanted to file a death certificate because "I'm going over there now. I want to see Minami there," Shinji could not accept it, saying, "What do you mean, over there? Where is over there?" After nine years have passed, he may have realized that while Minami is "over there," he and Ryo are "alive."
The flashback scenes in this episode were painful and really sad. What we have lost will not come back no matter how much we wish for it. Instead, the sadness of loss will remain in our hearts forever. However, it is also something that was left in place of Minami. I think Shinji has finally come to the realization that he wants to live with those feelings forever.
No one can avoid loss in life. I realized that living with the sadness that lingers somewhere in your heart is not "sad."
Wednesday, October 10th: Alone at the beach.
Ryochin and Shinji's discussion begins. Ayako-san tries to leave the room. However, Ryochin says, "Please stay. I want you to listen." To which Mi-chan replies, "Okay, I'm here." They decide to watch the discussion from nearby. Ryochin is going to settle things with Shinji-san from now on.
What Ryochin wanted to say most was, "Would you like to board the boat with us?" However, Shinji refused. "I don't think that going back to the way things were is the only good thing," Shinji said, which was the opposite of what Ryochin expected. And it was a surprising statement for us, who had expected that "One day the Oikawas will board the boat with smiles on their faces."
To put it very irresponsibly, if Shinji-san could just get on the boat, Ryo-chin would be happy, and I could see a future where things would go well with Mi-chan. He had filed Minami-san's death certificate and supported us in buying the boat... so I had some hope that Shinji-san would get on the boat too.
For Shinji, his job as a fisherman was only possible because of Minami. After losing Minami and no longer being a fisherman, the desire to go to Minami "over there" must have crossed his mind many times. But he lives with Ryo. When he said, "I wanted my life on the sea to end that day," I felt like he was saying, "I left my life as a fisherman behind on that day. I left it beside Minami."
Ryochin has worked hard up to this point, wishing only to "bring his father back to normal." I think he was trying to recover from the past by overwriting it with a new future. The ways Ryochin and Shinji tried to "settle things right" were completely opposite. But they are both alive, and they are trying to move forward toward the same future.
When Ryochin took Shinji's cell phone, which he was about to throw away, and said, "Dad, keep this," and put it back in his hand, I think Ryochin was able to accept that Shinji has his own way of dealing with his past.
As I wrote before, somewhere inside I find myself longing for a strong heroic figure who can erase the painful past. It's painful to see someone sad and in pain forever. But maybe that's not for the sake of those involved, but for my own emotional protection. It's not easy to know and accept the pain of someone other than yourself. But I think the message of this drama is that "if we wish to understand, we should be able to live together."
Thursday, October 10st: When everything is in order, it starts to rain.
Shinji has finished writing Minami's death certificate. With a break, everyone's faces seem calm and collected. It's raining outside the window. Monet's line, "When everything is ready, it will rain," is what Sayaka told her before. It feels like I can finally feel at ease for the first time in a long time.
Also, there was the scene where Ryo-chin and Mii-chan said, "Well, let's go," and left the house in the rain. This is a really minor detail, but in Kesennuma, people often travel by car, so if it's just a little rain, they'll run to their car. I feel like there are quite a lot of people who don't carry umbrellas. It might just be my imagination, but I've never seen anyone carrying a folding umbrella in Kesennuma. Today, I have time to comment on this little aside!
Then, it's time for a discussion between his father and grandfather. Koji starts by saying, "I want to try our business (oyster farming)." However, Ryuuki doesn't agree, saying, "It's tough to be told to bounce back over and over again." Koji bows his head, refusing to give up, saying, "When I saw Ryuuki, who fixed the oyster racks without giving up during the earthquake, people around me said to me, "I thought I'd give it a try because I saw someone like that in front of me," and that this town needs people like that, which is why he wants to try it. Seeing Koji's serious attitude, Ryuuki finally gives in, saying, "Okay, if you're going to do it, go ahead and do it! You can't do it!"
I thought Koji was a symbol of "a person who chose to live by doing what he loved", so I expected that he would work hard by moving to Sendai alone, but Koji was also "a person who can choose to do what he loved no matter how old he is". As his mother said, "Well, maybe that's not possible," and even if it doesn't work out, that's fine too!
Grandma Masayo once said, "Grandpa was proud of Koji for becoming a bank clerk in Sendai." Koji was raised with the belief that "it's okay if you don't take over as a fisherman." But the reason Koji wanted to take over the family business was because he really wanted to try it. Ayako once again told her daughters, "Do what you love." Everyone can do what they want to do. They can live as they please. Even now, they can become anything they want! With that final message, it felt like the end of this week. (It will air again tomorrow!)
October 10 (Friday) Today's Promise
The day after the discussion (probably) about her father taking over Nagaura Fisheries, Monet shows Ryuuki a potted beech tree (Grandma) that has grown from a bud early in the morning.
When Monet asked, "Do you think Dad can do the aquaculture work?" Ryuuki replied, "It's impossible if you do it exactly the way I do." "But you don't have to do it exactly the way you do." "Continuing to do something doesn't mean continuing to do the same thing." I think this "continuing while changing" is very important!
Nintendo used to be a Hanafuda company, Hermes used to make horse tack, and who knows what Nagaura Fisheries will be like in 100 years. Monet said, "I want fishermen like my grandfather to be around in 100 years," and even if the industry changes, I think the Nagaura family's "tenacious" spirit will be passed down in the hearts of many people, so that wish will come true!
Rain falling on the trees flows into rivers and becomes the sea, and the grandmother is reincarnated and changes form - change and circulation. This "connection through transformation" may be a major theme towards the end of the film.
The day changed again and it was the morning of Coming of Age Day. It seems that Mi-chan is talking to Ryo-chin again. When I thought about how she always chooses clothes like this on the bed before meeting Ryo-chin, my heart started to ache because it was so cute... After that, Mi-chan and Mone were on the phone and Mone said, "Have you both decided on your answers yet?" Eh? Really? Have Ryo-chin and Mi-chan decided on their answers? I had no idea what to expect at all! Then she said, "You're also having your answer today, right?" What is today? Is it a day when a grain of rice is a gift?
Ryochin comes to Monet to review the weather from the recent low pressure system. After the report is finished, the two of them laugh and say, "How big a wall did I make?" There is no wall between them anymore! Good, good.
And once again, Suganami-sensei arrives at the perfect time! No, he's early. Usually, someone who arrives a few hours before an appointment is a bit of a nuisance. But! How on earth does he manage to convert all that into "cuteness"? Then, out of the blue, he says "19 to 5." Normally, someone who suddenly mutters a mysterious phrase would be put off. And yet! Even that is considered "good and teacher-like", what kind of Suganami magic is that?! Well, it's fine, anyway.
I was able to solve "19 vs 5" pretty quickly. Maybe it's because I play escape games every day and I have a gaming brain. Did you get it?
Yes, and then Suganami-sensei and Ryo-chin's hand gestures. What is this? It's a fan service to say thank you to everyone who has been watching until now. Is it fan service? Ryo-chin's hand gesture is totally idol-like.
After this, Ryo-chin and Suganami-sensei talk, then I talk with Mi-chan about the future, and then Suganami-sensei comes to say hello to the Nagaura family...! It's busy. I thought the final battle would be on Friday, but the rest will be next week. It's finally the final week!
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Of course, this is a drama, but the earthquake really happened. When I think about Kesennuma as a town of people who have been moving forward ever since the earthquake, I feel like I have to do my best too.
Next week is the last one!
And an announcement!
Welcome Back Monet ExhibitionIt has been powered up! Small items from Shiomiyu and Weather Experts are also on display.
The event will run until the end of October 2022. Please come along!For more information, click here.
#I'm so excited for Welcome Back Mone
#WelcomeBackMone
#The final week is so lonely
#If there is an encounter, there is also a separation
#Let's all watch it together
#Monet painting
(Text and illustrations by Sayumi)
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