Summary: Arakure (Wild Ones), Vol 5, Chp 23

This chapter starts with Igarashi having a dream about his childhood. He is a very cute little boy with a lonely but bright smile. He is assuring himself repeatedly that he is okay and that the situation is okay. As Igarashi awakens, Sachie narrates, "There is something I don't know about Igarashi-san." Igarashi thinks, "What is it I wished for?" It's New Years and everyone is going to Hatsumode. Igarashi and Azuma are at temple together. Azuma wishes that Sachie will acknowledge him in the coming year and then asks Igarashi what he wishes for. Igarashi, ever the smart-ass, says he wishes for Azuma's happiness because he (Igarashi) can't be happy without that happening. Azuma is touched until Igarashi actually says his prayer, "I wish for Azuma to be happy alone." This illicits shouts of "Bastard" and such from Azuma. Azuma then tells Igarashi that his first dream of the year was about Sachie and that he believes this is a good omen for "love-love" between him and Sachie. Igarashi is dilligently praying and doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to Azuma's babbling. Finally Igarashi finishes and says, "Whatever ..." to Azuma. "The only first dream of the year I care about is hers," Igarashi continues, referring to Sachie, who has just joined them. Azuma and Sachie are shocked. "So what nice dream did you have?" he sweetly asks Sachie who is trying to dodge the question by looking like she's busy praying. "Uh, well ..." she begins. "I dreamt of the boy who was my first love." "First love?" asks Azuma, who knows nothing of the story. The yakuza fill him in that Sachie's first love is a boy she met at a World Exposition 10-years ago. She and this boy promised to send each other New Years cards (so they all know, which must be entertaining to them all to watch Sachie twist in the breeze). Igarashi, clearly pleased, inches in closer to Sachie and asks what happened in the dream. Sachie is quite nervous and embarassed about the dream, so she says that she doesn't remember and then takes off running. She can't tell Igarashi that in the dream the little boy said, "since then I've always liked you," and then turned into Igarashi as he is now. Shocked at recalling the dream, she wonders why Igarashi was in it. She relieves her anxiety by blaming the dream on the necklace Igarashi gave her. She pauses on the note left with the necklace -- "Here is the necklace you wished for." But she didn't wish for anything.

It's getting cold and Igarashi comes to get Sachie to take her to an area where there's a fire so they can keep warm. Sachie is still lost in the thought about the necklace, and then decides that she'll just accept it because the more she thinks about it, the more confused she gets. So off she storms to get Igarashi some sweet sake, which causes her for feel greatly embarrassed. Next they are writing wishes for the New Year and Sachie asks Igarashi what he wrote. "Me? If I? ..." says Igarashi as he passes out in Sachie's arms. He's got a very high fever and apparently, he shouldn't have had any sake. Igarashi is feels really bad and in his mind calls out for help and then he sees Sachie's worried face. It's been a while since he had a cold. Igarashi thinks, "Don't worry, I'll be okay. I'll get well soon, so don't make that face. Smile."

Back to dreams of Igarashi's childhood. His eyes are blank even though he's smiling. He tells his mother that he will be okay alone and his mother praises him for being a good boy. "I'm okay," he says in his sleep. Sachie is by his side as he sleeps. She feels bad because she didn't realize should not have given Igarashi sake. She wonders why Igarashi is saying that he's okay in his sleep . She gets up and decides to got fix him some traditional sick-person dishes. Then Igarashi starts coughing and Sachie quickly returns to his side and holds his hand. Igarashi awakens briefly. He's in a daze and says, "Thank goodness, Mom." "Did he dream of his mother?" Sachie wonders. "Was the dream painful?" Then she thinks about an earlier conversation they had on the porch and wonders what he was deprived of as a child. "What happened? It must have been tough leaving home at 5-years old," she thinks. Then she looks at the necklace and wonders what she could do to bring Igarashi some comfort. Holding the necklace, she folds her hands and prays for power.

Back to Igarashi dream ... "What is it I wished for?" Igarashi's Mom is packing up to leave for the day. Igarashi cheerfully asks when she will be back, to which she replies that she doesn't know and that he should go to sleep instead of waiting for her. Igarashi's eyes go blank. Another day, little Igarashi is excited again because it will be parent's day at his daycare soon. His Mom says that she can't go and Igarashi replies that he will okay alone. Even though he is smiling, he looks likes he could be crying at the same time (T_T). Another day, little Igarashi is running home with a bag full of groceries in his arms. He's excited because it's his Mom's birthday and they are going make dinner and have cake. When he gets home, though, nobody is there (it looks like she gave him money for food and then disappeared while he was shopping. T_T). Then we move forward a little to Igarashi's awful relatives who don't want to take him in. "I promised ..." Moving forward a little, ... "Soon I we have say goodbye" ... a little girl is waving back at him. "C'ya" she says. "Don't forget our promise. From now on everyone will be together always" Igarashi recalls, "The promise was for me to be in that person's future. Through this I forgive my existence." Igarashi then awakens to find Sachie asleep as his bedside. She is holding the necklace he gave her.

Soon Sachie awakens and excitedly asks Igarashi if he okay and begins to feed him some of the sick-people's food that Azuma brought earlier. She is very happy that Igarashi is okay. After feeding him, she remarks that the necklace is wonderful and it's just what she wanted. She continues by saying that she's also happy that Igarashi got well quickly just as she wished for. They do some back and forth about what her wish really is and it ends with her declaring that her wish was fullfilled by her own power because year after year everyone will be together for days like Christmas and New Years. Meanwhile, Azuma is putting away laundry. He puts some clothes in Igarashi's clothes and finds an old New Years card that Sachie sent to Igarashi (yes, Azuma, Igarashi is Sachie first love and she doesn't know it). Back to Igarashi and Sachie. "So, the the effects of this necklace can't be avoid, let me put it on you," Igarashi says as puts the necklace on Sachie. Sachie looks a little surprised. The narration closes, "Together with you in the future"

Summary: Arakure (Wild Ones), Vol 3, Chp 14

The chapter starts with Sachie recalling a dream . She says, "I dreamed of a boy who smiled with sorrowful eyes. My first love (hatsukoi). In this opening there is a picture of Igarashi as a little boy only Sachie still hasn't put together that this boy and Igarashi are the same.

The usual introduction is given with Sachie explaining her living situation and the oddness of Igarashi who is smiling like a prince while offering his hand. Sachie is in a lovely-dovey mood brought on my the dream of her first love love she had that morning. Her classmates are annoyed by her happiness and ask if she's in love. Sachie explains about her first love and how they went out once when she was 5-years old. Her friends are unimpressed and ask her about her current love life since she seems so close to Igarashi. Sachie, still lost in her dream comes to with Igarashi standing there very close to her. She is startled and Igarashi, not understanding her reaction, asks if she has changed yet. She thinks that Igarashi is not a bad person and then makes some excuse to leave (she just received a text message on her cell phone) because she has suddenly become very aware of Igarashi. Her heart is pounding and her face is red, but she's thinking to herself that her friend Kayo-chan doesn't have to worry because she's not in love with Igarashi.

Igarashi follows Sachie as she looks at her message. Sachie explains that she is going with her friends to the kendo tournament. Igarashi is happily wide-eyed and surprised and asks if she is really going. This time Sachie is surprised by Igarashi's reaction. She doesn't have the heart to tell him that she's going because her friends pressured her into going. Rather she tells Igarashi that she going to cheer the school on so he should do his best. Igarashi then asks for Sachie to do him the favor of making him a lunch. He's leaning in face-to-face with her as he asks and smiling sweetly. "A lunch?" Sachie thinks ... she is a little surprised but doesn't seem that enthusiastic about the request, nor does she seem to consciously comprehend the meaning behind that request.

The morning of the competition, Sachie wakes up early to make the lunch (my guess is subconsciously she understands the lunch request). She is very unhappy with her lunch making skills (although the lunch looks fine to me). Her grandfather comes down and sees her making the lunch. He says he's up early to go meet an important customer/associate and that instead of them staying in a hotel, he has invited them to stay at the house for a few days. He will be returning home with the guests in the late afternoon. Sachie has written "Do your Best" on the rice in the lunch with seaweed flakes. Her grandfather notices and then asks whether this is the weekend of Igarashi's kendo tournament. He then remarks how Igarashi never tells anybody about things like this. Sachie, then realizes that he hadn't told her either. She wonders whether he wanted it that way. Then she remembers his enthusiastic face when she said he was coming and realizes that he was just too humble to invite anybody to see him. Her grandfather then asks Sachi to help prepare for the visitors.

Off to the tournament Igarashi and Sachie go. Their journey is delayed a few times as Igarashi stops to help an old lady, a lost child, and a man who has lots his contact. Next they spot what looks like a pack of thugs trying to shake down a kid for money. Self righteous Sachie jumps into the middle of the situation and tells the punks to get a job. Igarashi with a menacing grin completes the punk vanquishing. The kid is surprised and when the punks are gone, Sachie hugs the little boy like a mother, calming him saying that it must have been scary for a little boy all alone. The boy, deadpan, says that he could have handled punks like that himself and that Sachie had gone overboard. Sachie questions whether she is hearing things (she can't believe the boy is not thanking her), and then counters the boy saying it was a one time rescue so there was no need for him to thank her. Then they do some weird pose thing (a photo perhaps???). While Sachie is bent down posing the little boy flips the back for her skirt up which pisses off both Sachie and Igarashi (he's livid) who now are smiling with pissed off squinty eyes. And then it's back off to the kendo tournament.

They arrive a the tournament a little bit late. Sachie is tired from all the action that happened just getting to the tournament. On the other hand, Igarashi doesn't seem tired at all and is kicking some ass in the tournament. Sachie is a amazed and Igarashi looks like a glowing prince as he takes off his head gear. She then notices that there are a bunch of girls cheering for Igarashi. It is now lunch time and Sachie goes to get the lunch she's prepared for Igarashi only find that it's been messed up because it was jostled in her bag. Still tries to give the lunch to Igarashi and in the process, is trampled by a mob of enthusiastic girls who are all trying to give lunches to Igarashi too. One girl goes so far as to insult Sachie, which doesn't go over well. Igarashi instead stops Sachie from leaving the scene. He comes from up behind her, places on hand on her should and with the other wraps around and takes the lunch from her lunch saying, "excuse me, but this lunch is for me." Sachie blushes and Igarashi smiles very warmly.

They sit to eat and Sachie is worried about the taste of the food even though she tried hard to prepare it. She tells Igarashi that everyone else's lunch may taste better. Igarashi tells her that it would be bad for him not to eat before the continuation of tournament in the afternoon. Sachie, then hands over the lunch with much enthusiasm. Igarashi asks if what she's cooked came from watching TV to which Sachie explains that it's her homestyle of cooking. Igarashi then explains that he has been in the care of the house since he was 5, and, in all that time no one has ever prepared a lunch for him, making this his first. Sachie counters that girls offered him lunches just now. Igarashi says that to accept them would have been troublesome. He tells Sachie not to worry because her worry because the first lunch that was made for him will taste good. Igarashi then eats while Sachie nervous sits beside him. They are outside on the lawn under a tree. She thinks back to what her grandfather said about Igarashi not telling people about things like the tournament and then thinks about all the things that Igarashi has suffered through in his childhood. Sachie notices that it's late and tells Igarashi to hurry back to the tournament. As she goes into motion, Igarashi grabs her hand and asks if she will go with him to see the upcoming fireworks presentation because he wants to thank her for the lunch. Sachie says there's no need to thank her, but Igarashi points out that she went through the trouble of waking up early to prepare the lunch. Sachie says that she will let him thank her if he wins the tournament to which Igarashi tells her to watch him. Igarashi fights well and Sachie admires his fighting form while still trying to convince herself that she's not in love.

They return home to find the lower yakuza scrambling to get ready for the guest. The guest arrives and it's the little boy Igarashi and Sachie saved from the thugs earlier in the day.

End of Chapter

Sneaking a peek ahead, it looks like it's Igarashi vs. the kid, with Igarashi getting extremely jealous. His jealousy causes him to have a couple of melt downs resulting in some behavior that is "lost in translation" -- as in it seems that over possessiveness is meant to be romantic in the manga, but in the US, Igarashi's behavior would be considered physically abusive. For us his behavior and level of jealousy is indicative of a guy who should be avoided because he will become more abusive as time goes on. I wonder how Viz will handle this. The easiest thing would be to PS the sign of abuse or to simply remove the offending image and fill in the blank space with something else. Hmmm ...

Summary: Arakure (Wild Ones), Vol 2, Chp 7

This chapter begins with Sachie in bed. She is having a dream of her mother. Her mother tells Sachie that she has to go. Sachie begs her not to go. "Don't go, don't go, mother ..." Sachie pleads and then wakes up in the middle of her dream, obviously talking in her sleep. She gets out of bed and heads to the kitchen, thinking about how she hasn't dreamt of her mother in a while. On her way to the kitchen, she sees blood drops splattered on the floor and upon entering the kitchen a huge bald maniacal looking yakuza turns his head and grins while holding a bloody knife in his hand. "You saw," he says and Sachie freaks outs. He continues, "When I came into possession of this fine tuna, I thought I would surprise you because we usually have mackerel." Sachie is in too much shock ... "tuna, tuna," she repeats to herself. The other yakuza wonder what has happened. Shortly after, Sachie regains her composure and thanks the bald yakuza, saying that she looks forward to eating the tuna the next day. She reflects on how she still isn't used to living in a yakuza household.

Out of nowhere, Igarashi scoops Sachie into his arms, telling her that if she sits there she will cat cha cold. He's smiling at her sweetly, and Sachie feels belittled and defends herself by explaining that she's okay because unlike normal people she's not that weak. In fact she's forged like steel. Igarashi agrees that her head is indeed forged of steel (in other words, she's hard-headed). Sachie narrates about how her caretaker, Igarashi, is sweet, but peculiar. She wonders why he's up this late and asks him. Igarashi explains that Azuma's loud snoring woke him up. Azuma joins in to defend himself because he fears Sachie will get strange notions about him. Finally, Sachie's grandfather comes to see what the noise is all about and gives Sachie some warm milk to settle her so she can go back to sleep. Sachie reflects on how different her life is now and that she is happy to be surrounded by lots of people. She says, "Mother in heaven, I'm not alone."

Later in the morning at school ... Sachie's class is having a meeting to decide what they will do for the cultural festival. Sachie gets excited and tells everyone her mikoshi fantasy. She is very much into this, talking about how the heat of souls come together, sweaty, and become one. Her classmates are appalled. Then there's a flashback to Sachie's childhood (hard to translate because there's too much slang and dialect involved) in which she asks an elder to be carried in the mikoshi once around the block. The elder explains that only males can be carried in the mikoshi and that she would be crying behind a curtain because she would only be dressed in her underwear (apparently from the picture, the guy in the mikoshi goes shirtless). The class rep. seems to be going along with the idea and says that if there are no other ideas ... and then is bombarded by requests to do a haunted house or a maid cafe. Sachie is bummed, but the class rep reassures her that she helped make the meeting lively. (It seems that maybe he's little sweet on Sachie ??? perhaps).

Moving on, Sachie and her friend see Igarashi outside as they are passing through the hall. Igarashi is surrounded by girls. The film studies club president is talking to him. Sachie's friend think she's inviting him somewhere, but Igarashi seems to be refusing her. He sees Sachie in the hall and leaps onto the window sill and asks if she wants to go do something later. He's trying to get away from the film studies club president. The film studies club president comes running after Igarashi asking if he would talk to her and Igarashi is being an ass. Finally he asks what she wants. Does she want to see him in glasses or wet in the rain -- something like a shower scene. The film studies club president is very excited and animated and says the film Studies club exists for it's customers -- "Viva megane moe and viva wet moe!" On she prattles about how sibling romantic forbidden love is hot this year, or perhaps Korean flavored platonic love. Igarashi continues to be an ass, asking Sachie whether she knew and Sachie is passed caring. Finally, Igarashi explains that he can't help out the film studies club this year because he is the class president, is active in a club (kendo), and helps out in class.

The girls of Sachie's class explain that they are doinga haunted house maid cafe for the cultural festival. Igarashi is intriqued (I imagine he's thinking about Sachie dressed in a maid's costume) and asks if he can join in. The girls go nutz and surround him. They decide they want to go to a haunted house to get ideas and to find excuses to get close to him. At the haunted house entrance, the Film Studies Club President is waiting for Igarashi along with the crazy girls. Igarashi tries to get away to be with Sachie, but is carried off by the sea of girls. Sachie gives up. Cut away to a couple of wimpy guys who can't handle the haunted house. They meet up with Sachie, who seems to be fine walking through the haunted house. They finally get too scared and run out of the haunted house but Sachie decides to continue through, collecting ideas. She then starts thinking about her dead mother and whether she is in a world like this alone. As she sinks further into sadness, she falls to her knees and then Igarashi shows up. He's close up to her and asks if she's okay. Sachie tentatively reaches out and then pulls back. Igarashi grabs her hand and then hugs her tightly. He apologizes and says he should have stayed with her and not left her on her own. Sachie remembers back to the wee hours of the morning when she couldn't sleep and Igarashi was awakened too. She asks him whether he was awakened by her crying out in her sleep. He covers her mouth and says that it has been a year and she still hasn't cried for her mother. He says that she doesn't have bear it and that when in need, call him and he will come to her side. They stand up and Sachie asks if he thinks her mother is in a world like this. Igarashi says he doesn't know, but he thinks probably is not. He says it would be nice if heaven is a warm world with blooming flowers and then he reaches out for Sachie's hand and asks if they should leave now.

The next page ... Igarshi is looking at some drawings of monsters for the haunted house. He complements Sachie on her drawings even though they are not good -- Sachie knows this. Sachie's classmates are impressed by the number of drawings they have now to use as reference for the haunted house maid cafe. Cut to later (oh, here comes the fan service), Sachie is walking to the bathroom to take a bath. She's very happy thinking about the upcoming cultural festival. She opens the bathroom door and there Igarashi is in the bathroom, wet from his shower and towel drying his hair. Sachie thinks "I did it" -- again, apparently. She excuses herself and runs off. Igarashi, for the most part now dressed, finds her waiting near the bathroom. He leans in close to her, his arm coralling her against the wall. He's now very close and then asks, "Did you see it? The shower scene." Sachie is very embarrassed and hits him on the head and then runs away. Now we see Sachie in the bathtub. She is thinking about what happened in the haunted house. Meanwhile, Igarashi encounters Sachie's grandfather. The old man asks Igarashi how it's going being Sachie's caretaker and says he bets her tomboyish ways are causing him lots of trouble. Igarashi agrees that's she quite a handful. The old man blanches -- I imagine he was fishing for a complement. Igarashi continues though, saying that Sachie is straightforward and truthful and so he will be the person that shares her pain. "Your precious granddaughter is my very special person, so no matter what happens, going forward I will protect Sachie-sama," he explains to her grandfather. (This sounds a lot to me like Igarashi is asking for Sachie's hand.) We aren't shown Sachie's grandfather's face, so we can't know his reaction. (I suspect, though, that he has raised the boy intentionally to be Sachie's husband). Back to Sachie who is almost submerged in the tub and blowing bubbles. She is still thinking about the haunted house, lamenting how she couldn't get any words out.

On the last page, we are back to the Film Studies Club president. She is vowing to stick to Igarashi 24/7. The ending narration reads "It seems like the quiet before the storm" (Not exactly this, but I think this is the closest English idiom.)