River's End summary

[wednesday_10_00]

Notes: This novel is two parts, so I have likewise separated the summary. The title story takes place during Togame's high school years, and was meant to be read before Castle Mango, so it can be read regardless of where you might be in that story. The second story, "god bless you," takes place after the manga series, though it doesn't spoil anything for the second volume of the manga other than that Togame and Yorozu get together (which I hope is not a spoiler at all), so it can be read on its own if you are so inclined. After the summary itself, I posted my thoughts on the story, which most definitely do contain spoilers for all of Castle Mango (and I imagine the comments will as well), so tread carefully there.

River's End
We begin the story meeting Togame Shunji, a first year high school student. He's not a particularly good student; he either skips or sleeps through most of his classes. He also doesn't have any friends and doesn't really get along with any of his classmates. After school, he works at a gas station until 11:00, then heads home. He currently lives with his older sister (Koharu) and younger brother (Shunsuke) in a run-down old house that his sister rents practically for free from the construction company where she works. The hot water heater broke recently, and they don't have money to fix it, so they have to heat water on the stove for cleaning and bathing, but Togame doesn't really mind, because it's better than being homeless (which they were for some years). Their father is an alcoholic, and has a huge pile of gambling debts that Koharu (and Togame, through his part-time jobs) is trying to pay back, on top of hospital fees when their father is in the hospital. (At least when he's in the hospital, he's not piling on more debt.) On this particular day, he comes home to find Koharu is mad at him for some unknown reason and hasn't left him dinner.

One day, Togame is sleeping in the park near the school (since he can't afford lunch, he tries to avoid being around people who are eating) and thinks he's lucky to see a woman throw half of her lunch into the trash (to the point that he wonders if it's a sign today will be a good day), so he can fish it out and eat it. After work that evening, Koharu comes to meet Togame and tells him that their father has inoperable cancer, and probably only has six months to live. When the subject of their debt comes up, Togame offers (again, it seems) to quit school and work more to help repay it, but Koharu refuses, telling him he'll be able to get a better job with a high school education. She then asks why he stole 30,000 yen out of her wallet, and says that she had a hard time making a payment this month. Togame insists he doesn't know what she's talking about, but doesn't believe him; she slaps his face and tells him that thieves aren't allowed in their house.

With nowhere else to go, Togame gets a bunch of cardboard boxes from a convenience store and fixes a little cardboard house in the park near his school. It's snowing, but inside the cardboard, it's warm enough that he thinks he'll survive the night. But he's woken up when his classmate, Ninomiya, shakes the cardboard and asks him what he's doing there. Since Ninomiya has already seen Togame eat food out of the garbage, Togame figures it'll be all over the school the next day, but instead Ninomiya suggests Togame sleep at his house. Togame doesn't particularly like the super-talkative Ninomiya, but he doesn't want to sleep outside, either, so he accepts. Ninomiya is an only child whose parents both work, so he seems happy to have the company.

In the morning, Ninomiya gives Togame a slice of bread, and then tells him to have as much as he wants from the rest of the loaf. He's surprised when Togame eats the whole thing, but Togame explains he didn't have any dinner the night before. Ninomiya wonders if he's run out of allowance, or if he left his wallet at home. Togame laughs, because he's never had an allowance, and doesn't even own a wallet, but doesn't explain this.



[BTW, I'm sorry that some of the screen tones look a little strange in these scans. I think I had my scanner set on black & white instead of grayscale or something.]

That night Koharu calls his work with the message "I'm sorry, come home." When Togame gets home, Koharu takes him outside (so Shunsuke can't hear) and explains that it was Shunsuke who took the money; he did it to buy a handheld game system, because he said he couldn't keep up with his friends' conversations without one. Talk turns to their father; they wonder about cremation costs, and talk about how, when their mother died, their father scattered her ashes in the ocean, saying she would have liked that, since she had seen it in a movie once. Togame scoffs at this, saying it was just that he couldn't afford a grave, but Koharu tells him there really was such a movie, called "River's End." At home, Togame scolds Shunsuke and he promises never to steal again.

[I had just assumed this was a made-up movie, but I figured I would check IMDB just in case, and came up with this. I don't think they're related, but I dunno, has anyone seen it? Is it somehow a love story?]

The next day, Togame finds bread in his desk. It turns out Ninomiya brought it, and continues to do so every day. After three weeks of this, Togame asks him to stop. Ninomiya insists that it's no problem, it's just his breakfast leftovers, but Togame says that if he gets used to having lunch every day, it'll be worse when Ninomiya stops bringing it. But Ninomiya says he's fine with doing it for the rest of high school, and he's very consistent with this sort of thing--in elementary school he was in charge of feeding the class goldfish and he did it for a whole year.

Ninomiya changes the subject, asking Togame where he gets his hair cut. Koharu does it--she has a dream of going to beauty school and becoming a hair dresser. Anyway, Togame tells Koharu this (she's thrilled), and ends up bringing Ninomiya to his house for a haircut.



Time passes; Togame and Ninomiya safely make it into their second year of high school. Ninomiya's old friends aren't in their new class, so he spends more time with Togame. One day, Ninomiya invites Togame to his house after school, but Togame declines. Later at work, though, one of Ninomiya's old friends stops by to fill up his bike and mentions that today is Ninomiya's birthday, so Togame goes to his house after all. They buy snacks and beer (Togame passes for a college student) at a convenience store and rent a movie--River's End, at Togame's request.

Ninomiya gets bored and falls asleep during the movie, but Togame enjoys it, wondering how they shot certain things. [And thus, we presume, his interest in a film career is born.] At the end, though, he's surprised to see that it's not ashes the main character scatters in the ocean, it's just sand from the beach.

After the movie is over, Togame tries to wake Ninomiya, but he's too drunk to come around, so Togame tucks him into bed and then gets in with him. (Apparently Ninomiya is too drunk to notice Togame kissing him?) Togame knew he was attracted to Ninomiya--that was why he'd been avoiding being alone with him.



[Oh my god, Togame in the present does nothing for me, but he was totally hot in high school. Or maybe just in this picture. Either way: hot.]

The next day, there's some sort of trouble at the cleaning company where Togame works on the weekend, so without anything to do, he visits his father in the hospital. He's asleep, though--sedated because he was throwing a fit because he wanted alcohol. At home, Koharu suggests they have their father home for a night, for one last celebration with the four of them. They can buy a cake, and she suggests inviting Ninomiya, too. Togame agrees--thinking that their father might be less likely to make a fuss about wanting a drink.

One day, Ninomiya is late coming to school. When he comes in at the last minute, he's obviously been beat up, though he insists that he fell down the stairs. At lunch, Togame tells him he should have stayed home. Ninomiya jokes that he couldn't because he had goldfish feeding duty--but really he knew that putting it off would just make it worse. At lunch, some upperclassmen drag Ninomiya off to see their ringleader. Togame follows and ends up beating them all up.

That Saturday is the day their father is going to come home. Koharu and Shunsuke walk to the hospital, though they plan to come home in a taxi. Togame is taking a nap at home when Ninomiya shows up. Togame is surprised that his family hasn't come home yet, and then there's a knock on the door--it's the police. They ask for an adult relative of Togame, but when he insists he doesn't have any, they take him alone. They won't tell him any details until he gets there, only that they were in an accident with a truck when the truck driver fell asleep. The taxi was crunched between the truck and another car, and it turns out everyone inside was killed.

Later, Togame calls his homeroom teacher (actually his homeroom teacher from his first year, since he doesn't really know his new homeroom teacher yet), nicknamed Hagetora, to the hospital. When Hagetora gets there, Togame asks how much it costs to cremate someone. He's been told he can take them home, but doesn't really know what to do--he's not having a funeral, so is it best to take his family directly to be cremated? He's looked at home for some any sort or records or addresses of family members, but hasn't been able to find anything. He asks Hagetora to lend him money for the cremation--he asked at his work and they won't lend him the money, but he wants to be able to cremate his family before they rot. Hagetora stops Togame in the middle of this, asking him, "aren't you sad?" Togame is surprised, and says of course he's sad, but sitting there and crying won't bring them back, and being the only member of his family left, he has to decide what to do with them, or nothing will be done and they'll just rot. He apologizes for bringing Hagetora into this, but didn't know any other adults he could ask for help. But Hagetora says he's glad Togame called him, and ends up paying for Togame's family to be cremated.

Back at home, Togame sits at the living room table with the three urns (also paid for by Hagetora). In the fridge, he finds the cake Koharu bought for their celebration. He cuts it into four pieces, and puts it on plates: one for himself, and one in front of each of the urns. As he sits down to eat the cake, though, there's a knock on the door; it's a guy from the construction company where Koharu worked. He didn't know of her death, but had come to discuss the Togame family leaving their house. It turns out that Koharu had been stealing money from the company and lost her job a month ago when she was found out. Since the house belongs to the construction company, they had been trying to contact her about leaving the house, but Koharu was avoiding them. The guy says considering the circumstances, he'll have to talk to his boss, but he's sure they won't kick Togame out right away.

After he leaves, another visitor shows up: Kawase, the yakuza who's been collecting debt money from Koharu. Kawase tells Togame the debt is his problem now, and offers him a place in their syndicate. He'll make better money and they won't charge interest, so he'll be able to pay them back faster. When Kawase asks Togame whether he'll join, Togame says "probably," which makes Kawase laugh. He leaves, and Togame ponders the idea of his new fake "family" (joining the yakuza syndicate would also mean joining their family registry). Then he notices Kawase left his cigarettes behind and goes after him. He happens to overhear Kawase talking to another yakuza, and hears the truth: because Koharu lost her job and couldn't make her debt payments, she was ready to sign over a life insurance policy to the yakuza (they threatened the life of her brothers) but hadn't completed the paperwork yet. Kawase figures he'll get Togame to work for them for about a year before doing the same and killing him for insurance money. Shocked, Togame goes back inside, realizing inviting their father home wasn't for him at all, it was because Koharu wanted a last family celebration before she died. He puts the ashes of his family members in a duffel bag (he has to dump them all in together, because the urns won't fit) and leaves the house with nothing else. He stops on a bridge (the same bridge where he and Koharu had talked about their mother's ashes) and scatters the ashes in the bag over the side.



He goes to Ninomiya's house and they walk to the park near their school. Ninomiya saw the news about Togame's family on TV and goes on about how horrible it is, and how he can't believe it, but Togame just says that everyone dies and he's used to death. He then asks if Ninomiya wants to go with him. Ninomiya asks where and Togame realizes that Ninomiya hasn't just lost everything, that he can't run off because he still has a family, a reason to stay. He kisses Ninomiya, then pushes him down and pulls his pants off. He wants to have sex with Ninomiya, but he doesn't really know what he's doing, so he just sort of fumbles around until he comes. Only then does he realize that Ninomiya is upset and crying, so he leaves without saying anything else. Hagetora had given him money for food; it's just enough for him to buy a bus ticket to Tokyo. The bus goes over the bridge where he scattered his family's ashes, and the thinks about how he's lost everything, physical and not, and he wrecked the last thing he had himself. He cries without understanding why or what he's feeling.

Some years later (in the "present"), Togame is leaving a wrap-up party when he runs into Ninomiya, in Tokyo for business. They have coffee and talk for a while, until finally Togame asks if Ninomiya isn't mad about the whole "I almost raped you" thing. Ninomiya says that Togame was going through so much at the time, and Ninomiya felt there was nothing he could do for his friend, and then Togame disappeared and Ninomiya didn't know where he was, or even if he was alive, to the point that he actually regretted not just letting Togame have sex with him, so, no, he wasn't mad. He was more relieved that Togame was doing all right now. (He had heard at a reunion two years ago that Togame paid back Hagetora, so he knew he was alive, at least.) They exchange contact information (Ninomiya insists) and as they part, Togame says he wishes Ninomiya will be happy. Ninomiya says that he is (he's married), and says he hopes Togame will be happy. [Foreshadowing! Togame's going to be happy!]



(We then get a brief "prologue" comic for Castle Mango: some guy stops Yoruzu--he's in his school uniform--to ask what he's doing in the red light district, and Yorouzu points to Castle Mango and says, "That's my house." Togame sees the hotel and calls his boss to say he's found a location for their new shoot.)

***
god bless you

Cast of characters cheat sheet:

Satou Kon - "Sakiya" (male lead); jerk
Kannagi Yuuko - "Hisae" (female lead); former Miss Japan who all the older guys think is hot
Ishikawa Yuusaku - director
Habu - first AD; really good friends with Satou; jerk
Shimabara - third AD; son of famous director; jerk
[there is a second AD, but he's only a minor character]
Wanibuchi - camera operator [cinematographer? Wikipedia's just confusing me now]
Isono - works in prop department; Ichinose's boyfriend
Ichinose - script supervisor; Isono's girlfriend

*

We pick up on the last pages of Castle Mango: Togame comes home to find Yorozu has made dinner and then fallen asleep waiting for him. They make out and the narration fades to black. Togame has a disturbing dream about his family leaving him, but Yorozu is there when he wakes up. He takes comfort in the warmth of the living as they make love and snuggle afterword. Yorozu asks what his bad dream was about, but he lies and says he forgot.

[As a side note: the scene in Castle Mango seems to take place directly after the events of the rest of the manga (since Togame is coming home from a wrap-up party for the shoot in Kenya), but the novel takes place about a year later. Does it just seem like the same scene but is the same events happening later? Or does this scene take place a year before the rest of the novel? I'm not really sure. Except it's clearly the same scene. Or is it? ARGH.]

Later, Togame is on a bus on his way to a shoot in Onomichi (in Hiroshima prefecture). He's going to be on location for a month, which put him in an awkward situation with Yorozu. They had made plans to go to Hokkaido and see marimo for a summer vacation, but the opportunity to fill in for someone else--filming a "making of" documentary for a popular director's film--came up suddenly, and Togame took the job, thinking they could go on vacation later in the summer. But it turns out Yorozu was going to work then, so he's kind of upset about missing their vacation. Since Togame is now working a lot of part-time and odd jobs, he's become pretty much the bottom of the totem pole, which means he works awful hours and has to do pretty much whatever he's told, so he feels bad about constantly standing up Yorozu or being late for their dates. He feels awful about letting Yorozu down, but he already took the job, so there's not much he can do.



Togame doesn't like either of Yorozu's suggestions (that Yorozu sightsee in Onomichi while Togame's working, or that Yorozu get a part-time job on the set), so Yorozu gets mad, hits Togame with a pillow, yells, "You don't care about me!" and runs out the door. Togame has been texting and calling Yorozu since, but Yorozu hasn't responded to either. So now Togame's on the bus, regretting not having put more effort into making up with Yorozu before he left, because he doesn't want to break up, but he doesn't know how they can make up when Yorozu won't answer his calls or texts.

Since Togame is a last-minute replacement, he hasn't met anyone else in the crew. The first person we meet is Isono, who asks Togame for a cigarette (but Togame quit, so he doesn't have any). Isono works for the prop department (his specialty is historical props, but he does modern movies too, for money) and he and Togame hit it off right away. When they arrive in Onomichi, Togame is trying to stay out of the way of the crew setting things up when he finds Ishikawa, the director, outside having a smoke. Togame introduces himself, and the director (of course) knows Togame from his porn days. [I'm sure people pay lots of attention to who directs the porn they like! And recognize them from making of docu--MAKING OF DOCUMENTARY? FOR PORN? SERIOUSLY?]

That night a bunch of the crew goes out drinking--a lot of them are worried about the outcome of the film. They all respect the director, but they're not so sure about the first and third ADs, Habu and Shimabara. We also meet Wanibuchi, the cinematographer, who seems like a good guy.

(Accommodations for most of the crew are communal rooms in a minshuku. But the higher-ups (director, ADs, lead actor) and the women have rooms at a hotel a little ways away.)

The next morning, Togame tries to film some setting up activity, but it's so crowded he can't get a good shot, so he leaves. Instead he's filming Isono setting up props for filming in the kitchen, and so is there when Shimabara comes in to say that they need a plastic tray (not the wooden one the prop department has prepared) for the main character ("Hisae") to eat off of. Isono is furious because it's Shimabara's fault for not checking with the director and he doesn't have time to find a new tray, but Togame offers to go into town (they're filming in an abandoned house at the top of a hill) to find one. He's heading to the supermarket when he's attracted to a shaved ice stand (it's August and super hot), and notices that they serve it on a super old plastic tray, so he talks the shop owner into letting him borrow it.

[Why are we spending so much time on plastic trays and stuff? I'm sorry guys, that's what this book is like. Konohara Narise makes it interesting, but I can't promise I can do the same.]

Back at Hisae's house, Isono is really pleased with the plastic tray. Togame goes around and introduces himself to a bunch of people, but the first AD, Habu, seems busy, so he skips him. This comes back to bite Togame in the butt when filming starts; he's filming the action and as soon as the director calls cut, Habu grabs Togame and demands to know who he is and if he has permission to film the movie set. Togame explains his situation and Habu scolds him for not introducing himself to the AD.

Isono tells Togame that Habu actually asked someone else who Togame was, so the public scene was just to humiliate Togame (who doesn't care, but scoffs that Habu is pretty childish). They overhear the director say the tray was just what he'd been imagining [of course it is], but then Habu's reply makes it obvious that Shimabara (Isono has nicknamed him "Shimainu") covered up for his own mistake by blaming it on the prop department, which makes Isono furuious. Togame thinks that both ADs are doing a terrible job at getting the rest of the crew to trust and like them.

Satou Kon, and up-and-coming actor who's playing the male lead, is late due to a schedule conflict, so everyone takes a break until he gets there. Meanwhile, Togame introduces himself to Ichinose, the script supervisor, who used to be an actress until she realized she had no talent.

Togame is asked to sit on the set so the lighting crew can get the lights set up right, and Kannagi Yuuko (who plays Hisae) sits down in her spot, saying she has nothing better to do at the moment. They chat, and it turns out Kannagi is an indie film buff, and happened to be at a festival where they showed one of Togame's films (a not-porn one), which she says she really liked.

Satou finally shows up and they start the scene. Unlike Kannagi, who's a pro and really good actress, Satou kind of sucks. After 58 takes, they take a break. Outside, Togame happens to overhear a conversation between Satou and Habu, who are apparently good friends. Satou is pissed at the director, and Habu encourages Satou by telling him his reading of the script is fine. Togame thinks this is a disaster--even if Satou's reading of the script is legitimate, the director has the final say, so Satou needs to follow his reading. Back inside, Togame and Ichinose discuss Satou's performance. It's not uncomfortable enough (the story is a romance between a younger man and older woman which apparently is supposed to be awkward and strange), so Ichinose jokingly suggests telling Satou that Kannagi doesn't bathe every day. Togame says it's worth a try, so Ichinose actually does so, and the next take goes smoothly.

[Are you following so far? On the first day, Togame has saved the movie twice. Also, the people who can do their jobs all like and respect Togame; the jerks who suck at their jobs either don't like Togame or don't know who he is. This book is SUBTLE .]

The next day is more of the same. When they film Kannagi by herself, all is well, but when they start filming a love scene with Satou, his performance is a mess. After 23 takes, Ishikawa starts asking some of the other crew members (Wanibuchi, Habu) what they think of the scene, and when he gets to Togame, Togame suggests changing the actions of the actors. Nobody quite gets what he means, so he stands in for Sakiya (with, remember, the actress who totally has the hots for him), and then the film with Satou and everything is perfect: the new actions Togame suggested cover up Satou's sub-par performance. (And, later, some people say Kannagi's performance was better with Togame, because she looked more turned on, haha. But Togame keeps quiet about being gay, because he thinks some of the crew might be uncomfortable, since they're sleeping in the same room.)

The next day, Togame overhears Satou talking with Ichinose. Satou is discussing his schedule and then starts trying to invite Ichinose out to dinner. She's obviously trying to turn him down gently and not too directly ("yes, we can go with a big group, it'll be fun!"), but he doesn't seem to be taking the hint, so Togame interrupts them by telling Ichinose that Isono is looking for her. Satou's not pleased, and Togame considers telling him Ichinose and Isono are dating, but thinks that might make things worse.



Later in the day, Habu gets sick (food poisoning, made worse by heat stroke--because neither one is serious enough by itself?) and has to go to the hospital. Ichinose ends up taking over for him, but says she needs someone else to help her, and after a lot of discussion, they settle on--who else?--Togame.

The next few days are very busy, but Togame is a hard-worker and problem-solver, and pretty much everyone on the crew seems to like working with him better than Habu. It's raining one day, so Togame and Ichinose are in a coffee shop discussing the schedule. Her phone rings, but she ignores it--it's from Satou ("the Retake King"), who apparently has been texting her frequently. She even asked the second AD to mention, conversationally!, that she was dating someone, but no effect. When they leave, Togame pays her bill, and she warns him not to be too nice, or she might fall for him. (Even Isono, who seems unconcerned about Satou, apparently things Togame is amazing enough that he warned Ichinose not to fall for him.) Togame says that Isono doesn't have anything to worry about, since he's gay, but asks Ichinose not to spread it around. Knowing that Togame is dating someone (Togame had told her he quit smoking because of the person he's dating), she says, "So, the person you're dating is a man?" [Ichinose is quick!] and asks to see a picture of him. Togame of course has a picture of Yorozu on his phone and shows it to her; Ichinose is super impressed by how good-looking Yorozu is.

Back at the minshuku, the rest of the crew has transformed their room into Party Central and has been drinking and eating for a while. Things are fun for at first; Togame gets to impress all the guys with his inside knowledge of the porn industry, but then somebody brings up that Shimabara looks like some porn star who was in some S&M series, and gets really insulted when everyone starts calling him "M Man." He was already in a bad mood because people were bad-mouthing Habu, so now he's really ticked off when he stumbles on Togame's beat up old duffle bag. He's making fun of how gross it is ("even a homeless person wouldn't have something this ugly!") and I guess swinging it around or something, because it totally rips into pieces.



This only makes Shimabara laugh harder. Togame tells him to give the bag back, and Shimabara makes fun of Togame for having such a crappy old bag. Togame's telling himself to just ignore Shimabara because he's obviously drunk and doesn't know what he's doing, when Shimabara finds a small, round, white thing. Togame realizes right away that it must be a piece of bone from one of his family members that came loose when the bag got ripped. Shimabara says it's garbage and tries to throw it in the trash (though he misses). Togame flips out, punches Shimabara in the face, kicks him, and then picks him up by the collar just to toss him aside so he can pick up the piece of bone. He goes out in the rain, heading for the ocean, but when he gets there, he realizes that what he's holding is just a piece of plastic. (A remnant from a brush he used to use in some part-time job.) He doesn't want to go back to Party Central, so he sits outside a closed shop for a while and falls asleep. He dreams about his family living in Hisae's house, but then sees Yorozu outside and runs after him, apologizing. He wakes up and goes back to his room to sleep.

The next day, they're shooting at a ramen shop. Togame apologizes to Shimabara as soon as he sees him (his explanation being that the bag belonged to his dead parents), and Shimabara apologizes for wrecking his bag and promises to get him a new one. Habu has come back to work (though he still looks pretty pale), and Togame has to keep reminding everyone to talk to Habu about their problems, not him. (Also, remember how pissy Habu got about Togame not greeting him? He doesn't even thank Togame for filling in while he was sick.)

There are a few extras in today's shoot, and when Togame sees one of them from behind, he thinks he looks like Yorozu. It's been about three weeks since he's heard from Yorozu at all, and the last couple days Togame has been so busy he hasn't had a chance to text, either. (He was before that, though--apparently some old boyfriend told Togame that he should at least text every day when he's busy, so now he makes it a point to do that.) But then he hears the guy speak, and of course it is Yorozu. The extras are sitting on folding chairs in a tent, and Togame can see Yorozu there, reading a book. He thinks that Yorozu must have come to see him, but he's not confident, and doesn't know what to say. He considers pretending he didn't notice, but since they'll definitely see each other on the set, he goes up to Yorozu and asks him what he's doing there. Things quickly get snippy, but even so, Togame is thinking that even with things being awkward between them, he just wants to hug Yorozu, but then he's called away for work. (Ichinose snags Togame and is all, "OMG, that extra is your boyfriend, right?" and assures Togame (who had confessed to her earlier that he was worried things might be over between them) that they're going to be all right.)

There's some more awkwardness with the shooting, Togame saves the day again, Habu is still sick, blah, blah, blah OH MY GOD YOROZU IS FINALLY HERE ENOUGH WITH THE FREAKING MOVIE ALREADY. When the day is (finally) over, Togame finds Yorozu and tries to talk to him, but Yorozu is still being kind of sulky. Togame keeps wanting to just out and say, "So you DO still love me, right? Let's forget this stupid fight," but then he's not sure, so he's waiting for Yorozu to make the first move, only then he touches Yorozu's face...but Yorozu slaps Togame's hand away. Togame is understandably hurt and angry, but then he realizes Yorozu is looking at someone behind Togame--it's Kannagi. [GO AWAYYYYYYYY] It's late, so Togame walks Kannagi back to her hotel, asking Yorozu to wait where he is. When he gets back, though, Yorozu is gone. But then he hears voices, so he follows them until he finds Satou yelling at Yorozu for hitting him.



As it turns out, Satou was accosting Ichinose and Yorozu rescued her. But even though Satou is in the wrong (not to mention being in bad position, having assaulted a woman and there being a witness) he acts all high and mighty and, when he realizes Togame and Yorozu know each other, demands that Togame quit the film. Ichinose doesn't want to press charges (knowing it would be bad for the movie), so Togame agrees that if Satou agrees to not make a fuss about Yorozu hitting him, Togame will quit. Satou seems to accept this and leaves them, at which point Ichinose tells Togame that he should NOT quit, and also leaves.

Yorozu, clearly upset, offers again to go the police and turn himself in for hitting Satou, but Togame tells him not to. When Yorozu asks him why he should have to quit, he says it "can't be helped." Yorozu is quiet for a while, then says, "Togame-san, I want to break up." Togame, of course, doesn't want to break up, and feels positively sick about it, but he know what Yorozu's reasons would be, and thinks that if Yorozu doesn't want to continue the relationship, there's no point in dragging things out. Togame starts to say "it can't be helped" again, but before he even finishes his sentence, Yorozu is yelling at him for saying the same thing again and letting things end so easily. Yorozu saw Togame working that day, and though Togame was really busy, Yorozu could tell he was really enjoying himself, and Yoshida had said that doing a making of documentary was a really good opportunity for Togame to get some name recognition, so Togame shouldn't be so fast to let it go. Yorozu grabs Togame, kisses him, then shoves him away and runs off before Togame has a chance to react.

[Ahahaha, Yorozu's Kiss and Run Attack. It's almost as good as "I wish you'd been eaten by a lion in the savannah!" (I'm pretty sure that's what made Togame change his mind about dating Yorozu.) Yorozu is hilarious when he's angry.]

The next morning, Togame goes straight to Ishikawa's hotel room to quit, but Ishikawa has already talked to Ichinose and won't let him. Apparently Satou has run off to Tokyo in a snit, which means they won't be shooting today, so Ishikawa tells Togame to just relax. When he gets back to the minshuku, though, he finds everyone glued to the TV screen--it turns out that last year Satou hit a person with his car, and forced his manager to take the blame. Now that the truth is coming out, the scandal means the movie will be scrapped--hopefully Ishikawa will be able to convince the backers to fund it again someday, but nobody can count on that. That night, Togame, Isono, and Wanibuchi go out drinking and talk about their disappointment (or lack thereof, in the case of Mr. "Que Sera Sera" Togame) at the movie ending. After they get back to the minshuku, Togame realizes that Yorozu called him earlier in the evening. Togame texts him, and they end up meeting in front of the ramen shop that was yesterday's location.

Yorozu says that he saw the news about Satou, and Togame tells him that the movie shoot will be canceled, and asks if Yorozu will come back with him on the bus. After a long pause, rather than answering, Yorozu asks Togame "what do you think of me?"

Togame: You're a pretty serious guy.
Yorozu: Don't joke around! What am I to you?
(Togame wants to say "my boyfriend," but he's afraid Yorozu will deny it.)
Togame: You're important to me.
Yorozu: Well then, of the things you think are "important," what number am I?
Togame: Number 1.
(Yorozu's mouth drops open in shock.)
Yorozu: ...Number 1 isn't your work?
Tomagme: You can't compare people and work.

Yorozu thinks for a while, and then moves closer to Togame, and takes a hold of his shirt. Togame hugs Yorozu, tight enough that he won't be able to pull away, but he's happy to find that Yorozu is hugging him back. They make out for a while, and Togame asks Yorozu where he's staying. But it seems Yorozu is staying in a cheap hotel with thin walls, so that's out, and obviously the communal sleeping room at the minshuku is out, so Togame takes Yorozu to Hisae's house. ("Is it OK to come in here witout permission?" "It'll be fine as long as you don't tell.")

They have sex (...a lot: "after three weeks of nothing, he wouldn't be satisfied with just two or three times"), and then Yorozu asks if it's after midnight. When Togame says that it is, Yorozu wishes him a happy birthday. Togame is surprised, because he'd completely forgotten about his birthday. [...no comment.] Yorozu had been planning on surprising Togame with a birthday celebration on their trip to Hokkaido, which is why he got so upset about the cancelation.

Yorozu: After I get the hotel's business going better, can I be your sponser?
Togame: Sounds like you want to provide for me.
Yorozu: Do you not like that?
Togame: It's not an issue of liking or not liking...I'm all right by myself, you know? There's no need for you to go to so much trouble for me.
Yorozu: It's not like that. I think it's only natural for a man to want to keep the person he l...loves in his fold.*
(The word "fold" seems so silly that Togame laughs)
Togame: What would you want with an old man like me in your fold?
Yorozu: I'm serious!
(Togame thanks Yorozu and ruffles his hair [because that's totally what you do when you're taking somebody seriously].)

Yorozu goes on to ask Togame how he feels, and gets Togame (who'd been scolded by Yoshida that sometimes these things need to be said) to admit that he loves Yorozu.

Yorozu: If you love me, then why did you agree so easily when I said I wanted to break up?/
Togame: Because you said you wanted to break up.
Yorozu: So you didn't want to break up?
Togame: Even if I didn't want to break up, it's pointless if you don't want to continue.
Yorozu: So you don't love me.
Togame: I DO love you.
Yorozu: Then you should ask why, or say "I don't want to break up." If you say "it can't be helped" and give up so easily, I feel like you couldn't care less about me. If you love me...
(Yorozu pauses, trying to find the right words)
Yorozu: You love me more than anyone in the world, and I'm more important to you than your work, right?
(Togame thinks this is way more dramatic than anything he ever said, but it's not untrue, so...)
Togame: Well, yes.
Yorozu: If you say "it can't be helped" and give up on even the things that are important to you, you won't have anything left.
Togame: That's not true.
Yorozu: You should hang on tight to the things you love.
Togame: You say that, but someday you might go after some other man.
Yorozu: I'm only interested in you.
Togame: But if I take you seriously when you say that, when you dump me I'd be the picture of misery.

Togame mostly means this as a joke, but as he says it he realizes that he's been afraid because he knows better than most that no matter how much you love someone, it's easy for them to disappear one day. Yorozu seems to realize how upset Togame is, but doesn't press for details, he just holds him because he says Togame looked lonely.



They doze for a while, but leave the house before dawn, knowing that the crew will be there early to clean up. They walk back to the hotel where Yorozu is staying, and Yorozu tells Togame that his father died when he was in elementary school. He says he knows that humans can die at any time, from sickness or an accident. "But even if that happens, I'll be glad I was with you, and won't regret it. Just like my memories of my father are irreplaceable, my memories with you are important to me." Togame thinks that he was unlucky, but not unhappy, because his family loved him. And now, he has someone he loves--someone who's passionate enough to want to keep him in his fold. Looking at Yorozu, Togame thinks he's probably happy. No, he's sure he's happy.

They spend the day cleaning up the set (in different places, I guess?), and meet in the parking lot where the bus is parked. Yorozu notices that Togame has a new bag (Shimabara gave him a really nice expensive one) and asks if it's from the blond guy Togame was talking to a lot. Togame says it's not from Isono, and anyway, Isono has a girlfriend. When Yorozu seems relieved, Togame is like, "Oh, so you thought I might be cheating on you?" Yorozu says no, he just saw that they got along well, and Togame is good-looking, so he wouldn't like it if the other guy liked him...

Togame: Don't worry. You're the only one who likes me well enough to want to keep me in his fold.

Yorozu blushes and runs off, but comes back in time to get on the bus. They sit next to each other, and Togame falls asleep on the ride home with his head on Yorozu's shoulder.

*My "keep in his fold" translation is maybe a little awkward and doesn't really convey the possessive nuances in the original, but it was the best I could come up with for 囲い込みたい. I'm sorry this awkward translation had to be a running gag.


***
(I have, like, a gajillion things to say about this series. I apologize in advance for this word vomit.)

General thoughts:

I have no idea what the title of the second story refers to. (Oh well.) But though it was written in all small letters in the table of contents and on the title page, it was written "god bless You" on every page of the story itself, which I found extremely distracting. re: "River's End" -- I get that the "river's end" is the ocean (which is why Togame considers the ocean the grave for his family, even though he scattered their ashes into a river), but I can't help but wonder what the significance was in the original movie. (Assuming that I'm right and it's made-up, I mean.) Seems to me like the movie should have had a different title. Oh well, whatever.

I'm not sure I found this book enjoyable, per se. The first part is just plain depressing, and I found Yorozu's weeks of silence in the second story rather annoying. (Though maaaaaaybe it was worth it for the make-up sex.) But I'm glad I read it, because I love these characters (especially Yorozu--I may have become irrational about my love for Yorozu), and feel like I can't get enough of them. I would love Konohara Narise forever if she would write another book about them, or even a doujinshi or something. I want to see Yorozu as a college student, or after he graduates, and I want to see him introduce Togame to his family as his boyfriend (and they will accept him, and Togame will have a family again), and just...more. More, more, more!

I read a review the other day, that said it was nice to see Togame spending so much time thinking about Yorozu, and texting him every day and whatnot, because Castle Mango 2 was pretty much Yorozu --> Togame, so it's good to now see Togame --> Yorozu. This makes sense to me, and maybe that's what Konohara was going for, but I sort of found the Castle Mango extra more satisfying in that regard, because it was, you know, less not speaking to each other and more smooching. (Well, maybe not more, since it was so short. Proportionally more?

Specific things:

After reading the first story, I went back and looked at Castle Mango 1 again, and it's surprising how much more significant a lot of things are. The white flowers thrown into the ocean [this is kinda sorta explained in the second volume of the manga, but still], the ramen stand guy's comments about Togame running away from home (and Togame's reaction when Yorozu doesn't press for details about this)...but my favorite is when Yoshida asks if Yorozu is Togame's type, and he says キャンキャンうるさいのは趣味じゃない ("guys who are so noisy aren't my taste"), which is HILARIOUS to me since he complained all the time about Ninomiya being annoyingly talkative but was totally in love with him. Another hilarious thing: Koharu is supposedly unattractive (to the point that she laments that she couldn't earn more money being a prostitute, which...yeah, right), and at one point Togame thinks she looks a little like a fish. (Hee!)

(This is not related to the novel at all, but my other favorite part of Castle Mango continuity is the kiss in the rain at the end. Because when Yorozu sees a couple kissing at the end of volume one, he thinks he could never be so open in public.)

I knew Togame's backstory was going to be depressing, but dang if I didn't cry anyway when Togame's teacher comes to the hospital and Togame asks how much it would cost to cremate three people. Talk about things a high school kid should never have to worry about. :(

I kind of thought the second story would make up for Castle Mango ending so abruptly, and in some ways it did, but in other ways it didn't, because I don't think "god bless you" was so much about Togame and Yorozu's relationship as much as it was about how the relationship has helped (is helping?) Togame get past the loss of his family. Which sort of makes sense, as a companion to River's End, but is less satisfying to a reader who's looking for more relationship stuff. Oh well, see my first paragraph re: just wanting to read more about these characters. Sure, I'll read 150 pages about Togame saving the day over and over on a movie set, whatever. (PS - lol that he saved the movie so often. Even if the book wasn't really about the relationship, Togame is still a BL hero. This sort of reminds me of the book I read about a window cleaner--you know, since he was a BL hero, he was a CHAMPION window cleaner, who'd won national window cleaning competitions. Never change, BL, never change.) I'll survive on the few romantic scenes you throw my way like peanuts, and little details like Togame having pictures of Yorozu on his cell phone. (I can't even with that. Why is this so adorable to me?)

Next on my project list: the extra shorts that came with Castle Mango 2 and River's End.