Rainy Blue
Part 3

How much did I *not* want to read this part of the novel….

The bulk of the novel is internal monologue and thoughts, so the anime really just couldn’t manage to convey what was going on, I think. The animators sucked. In fact, they managed to totally misconvey everyone’s emotions in this episode, so Touko seemed evil, Sachiko seemed heartless and Yumi seemed like a happy bunny run suddenly over with a steamroller. In fact, Touko is smart but just doesn’t like Yumi, Sachiko is distracted and troubled, and Yumi…well, Yumi is engaging in a bout of well-deserved overwrought angst brought on by a lack of ability to communicate. She’s 17. Just remind yourself of that from time to time. If you’re over 25, it’ll help. ^_^

***

It was losing the umbrella that did it. If she hadn’t lost the umbrella, she would have been okay.

***

The umbrella had a hydrangea pattern on it, hence the hydrangea imagery in the anime with which we are beaten.

***

Yoshino and Yumi are talking when Tsutako comes up and asks if she can take a picture of them for the weekly. Jokingly, Yumi lifts her bag to hide her face and refuses.

***

Yumi walks to Sachiko’s classroom, and comes across the scene of Touko begging Sachiko to go with her on a drive. Yumi is so offended by Touko’s impudence that she turns around and leaves.

In the anime, Sachiko is smiling in this scene. In the novel, she’s quite serious.

***

During the scene when Yumi asks after Sachiko’s family, Sachiko really *could* have told her. So the problem does begin with Sachiko, right here.

***

Yumi has, in fact, noticed that Sachiko touches her all the time. And she *likes* it.

***

When Minako shows Yumi that Sachiko and Touko are talking in the hall, she mentions that that has occured every day, recently. Yumi’s surprised, but acts like she’s not. This scene was pretty well done in the anime, but it did leave out Minako’s description of her friend acting like a wife whose husband is cheating on her. The onee-sama was going out with another girl, giving her presents all secretly. The friend knew it, but pretended she didn’t. The friend cut her club activities in half, saying that it was too much for her.

Minako also says that none of this has anything to do with the newspaper, and in fact, she’s thinking of retiring.

***

When Sachiko calls the next time to cancel, Yumi has many questions but doesn’t ask any of them. Up to this point, Sachiko has to shoulder the blame, but at this point, Yumi is as culpable.

***

The next day, Yumi is depressed, so of course she runs into Touko. She really doesn’t like Touko and feels jealous of her.

***

The next day, in the Rose Mansion, Sachiko’s kind words only hurt Yumi. She’s begun resenting Sachiko, and feels that onee-sama’s words are sugar-coated, but empty. That day the teacher discusses the hydrangea and how it, because it changes color, it is also known as “capriciousness”. She thinks, but the color is so lovely, why would anyone want to change it? – thinking of the hydrangeas on her umbrella. Then she thinks that Sachiko’s feelings have changed.

***

The scene in the Rose Mansion where Yumi asks for a new promise was done straight in the anime, but afterwards this was cut:

Yumi goes out the back entrance to be able to see the hydrangeas – she notices that their color is already slightly different than they were in the morning. The rain is pounding down and she comes across Sei, huddling under a overhang. Sei asks Yumi to let her under her umbrella. Sei was standing in a place that is popular for sheltering from the rain.

Sei asks Yumi if Shimako has changed. Sei had cut class the day before, but some classmates said that they saw someone who looked like Shimako near the college. Yumi realizes that Sei doesn’t know about Noriko and then realizes that Sei had been hanging about waiting to ambush Shimako. ^_^

Yumi thinks about how Sei has always been there to save her, every time she was depressed or upset.

Sei asks if the cause of Yumi’s depression is “tate roll” (the narrator’s description of Touko’s hair) and Yumi is surprised that Sei knows. Sei confesses that she had just seen Sachiko walk by with her a little while ago.

While waiting for the bus, Sei asks Yumi to not abandon Sachiko.

***

Saturday – Sachiko isn’t at school. After the way they parted, Yumi doesn’t want to see Sachiko, but the thought of her not being there at school makes Yumi a little lonely.

Rei and Yoshino have reconciled. Shimako and Noriko are also happy. “Yellow and White, how nice for them.”

Touko *is* at school, which relieves Yumi a little, but she still feels bitter and suspicious.

On the way home she stops at a convenience store to get butter (unsalted) for her mother. That’s when her umbrella is taken. Done heartbreakingly well in the anime.

***

Sunday when she calls Sachiko’s house, her alibi is to apologize – NOT because she did anything wrong, but because she said too much.

***

When Yumi meets Sachiko outside the shoe locker room, Yumi is ready to give the rosary back, but her hands are full and she can’t reach it in her pocket. Sachiko tells Yumi that they have a lot to talk about, and takes a step forward towards her. Yumi panics for no discernible reason, and steps backwards. She has mixed feelings – she’s glad Sachiko waited to speak with her, but she’s afraid that Sachiko wants to ask for the rosary back.

As Yumi runs off, leaving Sachiko and Touko behind, she knows that she looks the picture of a emotionally wounded heroine from a drama, but she doesn’t stop running. She runs past the statue of Mary to the front gate where a group of college students are gathered. Among them, she sees someone she knows. In the middle of all the gaudy colored umbrellas, one black men’s umbrella stands out.

When Sei turns around to see Yumi running at her, so does a pink umbrella, a yellow one with blue dots and a checked pattern. Their owners all stop to watch the scene.

Sei is considerably shaken by Yumi throwing herself at her. Yumi is too upset to explain coherently, so she just cries into Sei’s chest.

In the end, it was the fault of the rain that Sachiko drove off without a word – she couldn’t see Yumi in the gloom and the haze of rain.

Not the end. Thank god.

Ratings:
Story – 6-8, depending on the section
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Obsessive Fan – 10
Pathos – 10

Rainy Blue
Part 2

Yellow Rose Storm Warning

(I believe that the title of this particular anime episode was mistranslated. All of the three sections refer to the rainy weather, which is so indicative throughout.)

It wasn’t a big deal, until she made it into one. It was more light than heat, until Rei hotted it up. It wasn’t a problem until she said “no.” Really, she’s a baka.

Yoshino’s comment about wanting to join kendo club makes Rei suspend eating a piece of cheesecake mid-motion. As they argue, the cheesecake slides from the fork onto her plate, where it splatters, getting a piece of cake in Yoshino’s water glass (thus the odd call for water in the anime) and a piece of cake in Rei’s hair. As the argument heats up, Rei runs her hands through her hair, smearing the cake, so when the waitress comes up, she eyes Rei strangely and bails as fast as possible, because Rei looks quite gross. Yoshino watches all this (without telling Rei about the cake in her hair) and thinks that Rei’s fans’ illusions would be completely shattered at this moment if they could see her.

As Rei starts going over the difficulties of kendo, Yoshino starts to be convinced, because she hadn’t really considered the issues of working out in a unheated dojo in the winter, etc, but when Rei gets cocky, Yoshino gets mad. She says that 2nd dan (second degree black belt) Rei-sama need not concern herself about a lowly beginner, but then immediately hates herself for saying it.

Throughout this chapter, Yoshino is berating herself for saying things in anger.

Yoshino realizes she doesn’t have the rosary on, and believes that this is Maria-sama’s way of saving her from herself. She thinks that throwing the coral necklace (which was from her parent’s honeymoon) at Rei wouldn’t hurt her emotionally, so she leaves. But she does regret not finishing her dessert, and leaving the chestnuts behind.

***

Rei and Yoshino live an 8-minute walk from school.

***

Yoshino is kicking the shoe boxes, as she puts her school shoes on. She kicks a shoe off in anger, and the pair of legs next to her says, “What are you doing?” Yoshino reprimands herself – obviously, the legs are not speaking, so she lifts her eyes to see Yumi attached to those legs. ^_^

***

In class, Yoshino turns to Yumi and says, “About the conversation this morning…”

Yumi has absolutely no idea what Yoshino is referring to. Yoshino thinks she’s faking, gets annoyed, then realizes that Yumi really has no clue, although she was present at the Rose Mansion when it occurred. She reminds Yumi that Noriko will be joining them today. Yumi is amazed – she has no memory of the conversation at all.

Yoshino gets a bad feeling when Yumi mentions that she hasn’t seen Sachiko, then her face stiffens, and droops. Yumi says that Sachiko cancelled their date. Yoshino is appalled this is the second or third time she’s done that. Sachiko is a princess, Yoshino thinks, but she ought to know better and treat the commoners more fairly.

***

Yoshino is running around getting permission and clearance to join the kendo club. She is being old over and over that with Rei’s permission, it would be easier. The school doctor, Hoshino Eiko (semi long wavy hair, very lovely, lots of students admire her, doesn’t look the thirty years older than Yoshino that she is) has to check with her attending physician.

***

Thoughts that were not audible in the anime, but are damn fun:

When Sachiko welcomes Noriko to the Rose Mansion, her smile, Yoshino thinks, would make her fans positively dizzy. :-)

Yoshino thinks of the whole meeting with Noriko as an “omiai,” a marriage meeting, with Red and Yellow Roses acting as attendants and go-betweens. She thinks the engagement is a given – everyone seems positive and interested in the pairing.

She’s a little jealous of Shimako and Noriko – their relationship is new, the future unclear. She thinks that she and Rei have hit “the stage of fatigue” of married couples – there’s no doki-doki left. . By seeking stimulus in the form of joining the kendo club, Yoshino feels that she may have pushed too hard and precipitated a divorce.

***

When the Kendo club president says that it’s her fault that Rei’s out of school, because last night she told Rei about Yoshino’s petition to join the club, Yoshino becomes furious at Rei. She thinks it’s deplorable that she’d stay home from school because of such a thing. (She’s not. Rei has a cold, but Yoshino doesn’t know that yet.)

***

In order to be able to join the club, Yoshino has had to get permission from the club president, the club faculty advisor, the head teacher, the school doctor and her attending physician. They held a special staff meeting about it, and approved her conditionally. In general, Yoshino feels that they handled it all with fair speed.

***

Having gotten a chance to join kendo club, Yoshino is determined to play by the rules. No slacking because she’s tired, or using her health as an excuse. She also doesn’t want to involve or invoke Rei at all.

She’s assigned to Tanuma Chisato (the girl who won the half day date with Rei back on Valnetine’s Day) because Chisato is the last person to join. Yoshino understands this, but is annoyed as hell. She also hates Chisato’s way of speaking. The girl never says anything wrong, per se, but is always slightly snarky. Yoshino thinks the short haircut looks crappy on Chisato. :-)

***

More Yoshino wonderfulness that had to be cut as it was internal monologue:

Thursday noon as they walk down the hall, Yumi asks Yoshino how kendo is going. She answers that it’s fine, but to herself calls it “The stretching marathon and muscle conditioning association.” And her legs hurt.

Yoshino sees Shimako standing in the window, looking like she bears some secret pain. It makes her look her impossibly sexy.

The three of them walk to the Rose Mansion together and we get a replay of the triple sigh scene, from Yoshino’s point of view. For the life of her, Yoshino can’t figure out why Shimako is hesitating about Noriko. They clearly want to be together. She knows it was the same with Sei and Shimako, but couldn’t comprehend that, either.

When Shimako runs off so suddenly, Yoshino wonders out loud if she’s hurt her feelings.

***

This scene was done in the anime just fine, but as Konno Oyuki is so particular about language and I am so fascinated by her use of words, I want to address a few things:

Rei says to Yoshino, that “Yoshino’s life is Yoshino’s. I have no right to stop you.” Rei goes on to say that she was thinking about kendo club and soeur “stuff”. Yoshino thinks, “In other words, you were thinking about me, but you can’t say that straight.” As we learn later, Yoshino is actually wrong…. Rei says that Yoshino “abuses” her. The verb was translated in the anime by the fansubbers as “blow off” which isn’t the same thing and I think they lost something crucial here. Remember this, it comes back later…

That day Rei takes over the training of the underclassmen. Yoshino is feeling particularly crappy, but she doesn’t want to take the day off so she seems like she’s lost to Rei.

We see half of this scene in the anime. The half cut out is infinitely more interesting. Yoshino is doing a practice exercise she finds particularly difficult. She has trouble with it (they morph this in the anime to her falling while doing a simple deep knee bend, something I found extra irritating…). When she falters, she sees Rei looking at her and shoots her a peace sign. Rei turns away. Here’s the bit that was cut: Yoshino watches Rei turn away and becomes so incensed that she has to fight the urge to drop her index finger so that only the middle finger remains extended. LOL She immediately quashes the thought because, of course, Lillian students do *not* behave that way.

(Yoshino has always been one of my favorite characters, but I simply adored her for this. I wanted to take her home and hug her after this display of bad temper. ^_^)

***

It becomes apparent to Yoshino that Chisato is the only one who speaks to her honestly and normally. The first-years think she’s a bit odd for entering the club late, with the high-and-mighty title of “Rosa Foetida en bouton”. The second-years mostly joined to be with Rei, so see her as encroaching on their territory, and the third-years are in and out like ghosts. So as much as it galls her to do so, Yoshino relies on Tanuma Chisato, her erstwhile rival.

***

By herself, with no one to watch and correct, Yoshino knows that exercise tends to slack off, but she keeps focused so she doesn’t “lose.” Then she wonders to whom? Herself, or Rei? After a moment, she admits…both.

She hears footsteps and knows instantly that it’s Rei.

Earlier when Rei said that they had been thinking about kendo and their soeur relationship, Yoshino assumed she meant that she was thinking about Yoshino (as we were meant to, assumably.) However, she was really thinking about her *own* roles. The problem, Rei goes on, is that Yoshino doesn’t listen to her and she honestly thought it would be a problem in kendo, since Rei, as a senior member *must* be listened to. The anime does a nice version of their reconciliation, so I’ll leave you to (re)watch that.

Yoshino offers Rei the chance to take the rosary back, but Rei says she doesn’t want it. Rei says that she doesn’t want Yoshino to lessen by even one milligram. Yoshino asks what Rei wants her to do – what can she do to make it right between them. She offers to quit kendo for Rei. Rei of course, tells her its okay she can continue to “abuse” her, and they embrace.

The keystone of the story, IMHO, is the verb Oyuki-sensei has Rei use. In the anime the translators translate it as “You blow me off.” The actual verb, which can mean to “abuse” is also used to say “wield” as in a weapon. It’s much more active than just ignoring Rei. In a sense, Rei says, “you wield yourself as a weapon against me” which of course, Yoshino does, frequently. So I kind of feel that the subbers lost the point there.

The anime made Yoshino seem much more of a jerk than the novel does, and bizarrely added a lot of extraneous dialogue.

One last muy importante note. The animators were clearly suffering from a paucity of experience with exercise (well, duh) because they made Yoshino seem positively moronic in the simplest exercise, instead of what she is in the novel – an extremely out of shape girl. She did *not* scream and cramp when she stretched, nor did she fall over doing a knee bend, which was just stupid. She was just stiff and uncoordinated, in a perfectly normal way considering that she’d had a freakin’ heart condition her entire life.

End Part 2

Rainy Blue
Part 1

This novel is split into three sections, each following one of the three second-years of the Yamayurikai. All three stories happen simultaneously, something that was not, I think, communicated well in the anime. The weather is not only symbolic, it’s how you know *when* you are in the stories. Several of the scenes are seen through various eyes: the scene where the 2nd-years are all walking to the Rose Mansion and sigh, we see from Shimako’s and Yoshino’s viewpoint; the scene where Yumi and Yoshino share a moment at the shoe lockers are also in each of their sections. These are also indications that the stories are happening simultaneously and give you a frame of reference for “when” we are in any given story.

The anime did a fair job of each of the stories; the best of the three was Shimako’s. None of the key scenes were cut, but you did lose all of the characters’ thought processes, which make everyone – especially Yoshino and Sachiko – seem more heartless and/or capricious than they do in the novel. I also have to fault the animators for this – they did an abysmal job on the facial expressions. In one case in the novel, Sachiko is quite serious when talking to Touko and in the anime they have her smiling. It makes the essential meaning of the scene change completely. And puts more of the blame for the whole blowup on Sachiko, when it’s at least 40% Yumi’s fault. (45% Sachiko, %5 Touko.)

Touko isn’t evil.

She *is* a brat, but again, the animators made her seem more like she was an active participant in Yumi’s misery – and they gave her evil eyebrows, which make her seem suspicious. In fact, she’s quite boring, and utterly oblivious of any damage she causes, like most drama queens. She does have one very awkward habit of not being audible when she walks, so she suddenly *appears* on the scene with no warning, usually when someone has mentioned her, which also makes her seem scheming when she really isn’t.

These three stories can be summarized thusly: Shimako feels too much; Yoshino talks too much; Yumi doesn’t *do* enough.

11 pages of notes, but I have a new notebook, so whether that would have been more or less in the old system, I don’t know. And by the way…I didn’t mention this, but I posted 203 times in 2005, for an average of just about 17 times a month. Worrisome, if you think about it…. ;-)

Part 1 – Drops of the Rosary

The season is early summer. Shimako wonders why, during the season in which they change winter for summer uniforms doesn’t she feel lighter? We get an internal discussion of the fact that the winter and summer uniforms are functionally the same – not heavier/lighter material, just shorter sleeves.

Even though it’s not raining, Shimako feels in her heart as if it will never be clear again.

From the Rose Mansion they can hear the folk song club singing. (One day, I’m going to list all the clubs we’ve heard about…)

Sachiko, trying to convince Shimako to take Noriko as a soeur already, says “please take your time choosing a soeur, but do it before summer vacation.” (Shimako thinks that Sachiko is becoming more Youko-like, which isn’t surprising as she admired her onee-sama so much.)

Rei comments, but you didn’t choose until the school festival (She’s *nothing* like her predecessor…) Rei uses “nobinobi” – rattling around unattached, to which Sachiko takes issue.

Sachiko insists that she didn’t know of Yumi’s existence until the second term, and since *someone* had just rejected her offer, it was a bitter experience. At this point in the novel, Sachiko points at her cup, which is empty and Shimako (obviously the “someone” in question) fills it without comment.

Rei then calmly points out that it took Sei a long time to decide, so maybe it’s a White Rose tradition.

***

This scene was truncated slightly in the anime which lost several things – most notably Shimako’s feelings and Touko’s creepy ability to appear suddenly:

Noriko is described in the novels as looking like an Ichimatsu doll. You’ve seen them. They have dark hair medium length cut bluntly across the bangs and back…look it up on Google image search.

Shimako asks Noriko to go home with her and Noriko gets all happy (So cute!) She says she has nothing to do other than running around avoiding Touko. Shimako envies Noriko’s spontaneity – she was a little worried about Noriko adapting to Lillian student life, but she seems to be doing fine. Shimako feels thankful that Noriko is so capable of relating to everyone normally – but in a corner of her own heart, she still feels lonely.

As she’s standing there thinking about Noriko (waiting for Noriko to get her bag from the classroom) Shimako says out loud “Touko, she said” and Touko is suddenly *there* with no noise or warning. Shimako thinks that she doesn’t dislike Touko – which even she finds strange. ^_^

Touko complains that Noriko won’t join a club (if you remember, we learned that in middle school, joining a club is mandatory. It stands to reason that some girls would internalize that through high school, as well. I imagine that that’s why the administration make it mandatory. Touko says that it’s horrid that Noriko won’t, if not join theater club, then at least *some* club! Noriko whirls on her and says “which one of us is being horrid? Don’t involve Rosa Gigantea in this.” And she calls Touko – “Touko”, which is obviously against the rules. Noriko follows this up with a poke to Touko’s forehead. Watching Noriko throughout this, Shimako feels her chest tighten a little, in a good way. (Mine too – I am now officially a Noriko fan. ^_^)

Noriko tells Shimako that’s she’s just not interested in a club – she tells Shimako about being recruited by the bible club and Shimako has to smile at the idea.

Shimako thinks how similar they are, like polar opposites. She says, quoting her own onee-sama, that Noriko should consider a club, because high school life is so short and should be more than just studying.

Touko insists that Noriko should join anything: koto, tennis, ping-pong, handicrafts,. She becomes very impassioned, raising her fist in the air.

Shimako tells Noriko that she can wait and see. She and Noriko start to walk off. They walk in silence for a while. Noriko jokes that she was considering starting a club for Buddha statue viewing, but then says that she doesn’t want to join any clubs, in case she ends up assisting the Yamayurikai.

***

Three days after this conversation, Noriko visits the Rose Mansion for the first time. For Noriko’s benefit, Rei takes off the day from kendo club and during the lunch break Yumi and Yoshino drop by the Rose Mansion and clean really well.

When Noriko arrives, Sachiko has her smile on the highest setting, inviting Noriko to sit for tea. When Noriko refuses Sachiko’s offer, Shimako is dizzied by her bluntness.

Rei takes control of the conversation by insisting that Noriko be a guest for the day, thus avoiding Sachiko having a fit. Rei seats herself between Noriko and Sachiko. Shimako notes how skillful she is in handling the situation.

Noriko drinks her tea black, Yumi w/ cream and sugar, Yoshino with 2 dollops of cream until its beige. lol

Shimako sits there, her mouth totally dry, but drinking tea doesn’t help, she’s so nervous.

When Noriko is asked about her family, (Noriko has a little sister, btw) Shimako thinks she looks a little dubious (like, “why are they asking that?” when it’s kind of normal at Lillian to ask such things) so she answers for Noriko. Shimako is completely overwrought by now, worrying that “the Inquisition” will upset Noriko, but when Noriko seems at ease when she answers, she relaxes a little. Shimako catches herself thinking, “this is part of the process” then wonders “the process” of what?

Shimako thinks of her smile like papier mache – it never moves, and is very fragile.

***

Our Tsutako scene was truncated in the anime:

Tsutako calls Noriko Shimako’s “reflecting board” – she makes Shimako glitter. Tsu says that today Shimako doesn’t shine and says that she (Shimako) can confide in her (Tsutako).

Shimako tells Tsu that she really can’t explain why she’s down – she doesn’t have words for it. She doesn’t feel that she can ask Yumi or Yoshino about it. She notes that Noriko was in the council room with her, but that she, Shimako, didn’t glitter.

Shimako confides that she feels clumsy. Tsutako tells Shimako that the others don’t quite understand her, so they seem like they are trying too hard with Noriko. Tsutako goes on to say that as a cameraman, she sees into people’s hearts – then she admits that she doesn’t like having pictures taken of herself. She wants to take pictures of Yoshino, Yumi and Shimako, not to be in them.

Shimako asks Tsutako why she told her that, and Tsutako admits that it just slipped out – and asks her not to tell Yumi or Yoshino. As Tsutako turns away, Shimako, in her mind, snaps a picture of her and thinks that she makes a great photographic subject.

***

Cut scene:

Shimako is walking with Yoshino and Yumi to the Rose Mansion. The first-years are greeting them as they walk – it’s a pleasant scene, Shimako thinks. But she’s not satisfied, because Noriko is not with her. But, then, she also doesn’t want Noriko to have to be part of this.

The first-years surround them, because they are popular, of course. Shimako finds a little pleasure in the whole situation, especially watching Yumi and Yoshino greet the younger students. Even though none of them has the poise Rei and Sachiko have, they all handle it well. As they part from the first-years, Shimako can hear them mention that all three of them look upset.

Shimako asks Yumi and Yoshino what the matter is – they seem extra quiet today. Yumi turns to Yoshino and agrees, saying that Yoshino has hardly said a word. Yoshino shoots back that the same applies to Yumi, and her face is gloomy. They all deny being unhappy and fall quiet again.

As they get outside into the school grounds, they simultaneously heave a sigh. Yumi asks, “What?”

Yoshino replies, “What what? You did it too.”

Shimako asks what’s worrying them and Yoshino responds that it’s not worth consulting a person who was just sighing themselves. To which Shimako replies that there are different kinds of heavy sighs.

Everyone falls silent, no one budges.

Shimako thinks, Yoshino’s sigh was about Rei, Yumi’s was about Sachiko. One can’t help but think about those who are important to one.

They get the Rose Mansion and stand in a line, looking up the stairs.

“Guess we ought to go up.”

“Yup.”

Nothing.

Yumi and Yoshino do start up, but Shimako sees Goronta run by and breaks. She feels as if her feet are moving by their own will as she runs off.

***

In the scene where Shimako sees the university, she doesn’t cry, but she does desperately wish to see Sei. She sums up her problem thusly: Sei graduated, Noriko arrived. Noriko can fill the emptiness in her heart, but she hasn’t really discussed it with Noriko – or the others in the Yamayurikai.

(It’s fairly obvious to anyone that the Yamayurikai members would love to have Noriko join them, but we have to allow Shimako her moment of irrational angst.)

Classes have started already, but she stays there, in the far corner of the school property, wishing she could be with someone. Not be called “Rosa Gigantea”, but just stay by someone’s side. She starts walking and comes to a cross-road. Go back to the Rose Mansion or to Noriko’s classroom? Wishing she had a more relaxed personality, but noting that it’s not easy to change, Shimako chooses to head back to her own classroom.

***

When Sachiko scolds Noriko about calling Shimako “Shimako-san” Shimako immediately feels guilty because she knows Sachiko’s right – she was totally laissez-faire about the issue.

Noriko completely realizes that Sachiko is scolding her because she cares. She instantly realizes that Sachiko is the kind of person to ignore everyone unless she actually gives a damn about them. When she catches up to Shimako she says this, and Shimako confirms it. She’s surprised that Noriko noticed so quickly that it’s just Sachiko’s way.

I absolutely *loved* the bit where Noriko offers to “borrow” the rosary, to take the burden from Shimako, because it weighs heavily on her but to Noriko, it means nothing and will be light to carry.

Shimako thinks of Noriko as a guide with a candelabrum leading her through the maze of her feelings.

When she holds out the rosary, Shimako can see the water dripping off the beads – they look like drops of water themselves, hence the title of the section, “Drops of the Rosary”. The sun breaks through the clouds, even as it rains, shining light on them in a particularly cheesy s/fx. ^_^

“Although the rain fell, inside Shimako’s heart was clear weather.”

Awwww…