I thought that this episode was going to be about Tonegawa just attending a high school reunion, getting some insights from his encounter with his former class mates, and rushing back home to implement the ideas that he concocted in his head after being inspired by the event. Well, it's not. This episode delves into Tonegawa's past, where he used to be mildly tormented by a couple of silly kids out to have fun. Turns out that they haven't changed much, which causes Tonegawa to become frustrated. He honestly expected grown-up people to behave quietly and demure. Instead, the same boisterous bunch prove themselves to still have it in them to be loud and playful. Tonegawa chalks it up to successful people being usually quiet while people who didn't make it big tend to still be immature, as if they still have something to prove. In a way, this has kind of been my observation as well. When you're in your late thirties and with a family, you don't feel the need to be overly extroverted and expansive as when you were twenty five. Our hero suddenly has a realisation, taking time off to reminisce about a girl making advances towards him and how he just jilted her in a way that most people wouldn't like to disclose. In the end, all is well though. The school reunion ends with the students taking part in a choir, with Tonegawa deftly tickling the ivories as his contribution to the nostalgic evening.
Now we are into the Otsuki part. He's again on another 1-day furlough with his trusted companion -Numakawa. It seems like that they will just go about their carefully planned day without anything in the way. But then it happens. Our foreman came down with a cold, advising Numakawa to go on without him and he needs to take care of his status ailment. He puts into action a curious plan: first he gathers a bunch of ingredients at a nearby food mart, rents a furnished flat and gets down to prepare a meal specifically deisgned to help him get over. The repast is enough to send him into mirthful fits, and he proceeds to eat more than originally planned. To wrap up such a successful meal, he goes to bed with some sort of comfort blanket, employing his own special technique to make the most of it and send the agents of his illness packing: The Otsuki Roll. This consists of him grabbing both edges of the blanket and slowly rolling from side to side to wrap himself in. Thus suitably rolled up, he finally allows himself to drift into sleep, the comfort and preparations for his night's rest taking care of the rest. Nobody, not even a petty strain of virus, is going to stop Otsuki from enjoying his 1-day excursions, which means that he still manages to catch up with Numakawa and spend time with him as promised.
Otsuki may be a bit too concerned about his health, but it's understandable once you understand the nature of his 1-day furloughs: to enjoy to the max the brief reprieve from work that he obtained from all his hard work (and profits from his side business and underground chinchirorin). Being ill at a time like this is akin to coming down with a serious illness on your holidays. Otsuki manages to successfully handle this mishap while simulataneously have a ball of a time thanks to his culinary skills and homemaking skills. Now i have to try the Otsuki roll technique to get more cosy and warm on cold nights.
No comments:
Post a Comment