「だっちいこで / みんなで行こう」 (Dacchi Ikode / Minna de Ikou)
“Let’s All Go Together”

If this week’s episode is any indication of what’s to come, I think I’m going to die from loss of electrolytes next week.

The Times Are A Changing

This episode left me completely speechless to the point where I’m having trouble figuring out what to write — but let’s try anyways! It’s been quite some time since we first saw Handa deck the Art Director square in the jaw after criticizing his first-place submission and in that time we’ve watched this city boy grow both himself and his calligraphy. Watching him discover all the little things that we all tend to forget about as we get caught up in “living” out our lives and using those lessons to culture his calligraphy into something unique to himself made every single episode so awesome. Among the highs and the lows, there’s already been a valuable lesson by the end of things and my favorite by far has to be the moment he realized that life is all about finding the strength to keep going.

So yeah, you can bet I was a bit lost for words when Handa decided to suddenly leave without saying anything. Sure he might have justified it by thinking it’s easier to leave without proper goodbyes to soften the emotional blows but I just can’t forgive him for not even mentioning something to Naru. Because as his official partner in crime / village customs consultant, it drives me crazy thinking about just how sad and then extra sad Naru will be after she realizes Handa is gone and didn’t even tell her beforehand.

Living the Village Life

I couldn’t really think about what to say about this episode that I didn’t already say in the previous paragraph but as I calmed down a bit, reality smacked me straight in the face. If you really think about what it’s like to live in a rural village, do you think you could actually survive without the basic essentials we all take for granted? I sure as hell probably would have some serious complaints if I had to go without the “basics” like a car and the internet. So seeing how Handa is a professional prize winning calligraphist from Tokyo whose life was completely revolved around his work, maybe it’s been a little unrealistic of us to believe he’d actually want to stay in a rural village for an extended period of time.

Picture a Sad Naru as you look Toward the Future

I love this show. It has its highs and its lows but next week’s episode might be one of the highest or lowest. With Handa technically out of the picture and Naru on the verge of discovering his disappearance, my heart starts to ache as I picture her reaction. At this point, I’m clinging onto the hope that maybe all of this is just a ploy and Handa will come running back down that dirt road after realizing that leaving is a mistake. One can hope, right? RIGHT!?

Until then, see you next week!

23 Comments

  1. At first, I was furious that Handa would leave without telling anybody– Naru especially. Then, reflecting on it, I think Handa’s return to Tokyo is only temporary. I mean, we never did get to hear the details why he needs to go back. For all we know, it’s just an awarding where the Art Director wants to do it personally…

    …otherwise, that’s just cruel, Handa 🙁 Imagine Sad Naru!

    Beedle
      1. Again, a quick and dirty translation:

        As always Naru goes to the house but this time there is no trace of Handa. He returns to Tokyo without telling anyone. Wearing a suit he is unaccustomed to Handa takes a packed train to the skyscraper where Kawafuji runs his gallery. The curator also drops by to appraise Handa’s new piece and they meet for the first time since the “incident”. Handa can’t bear the curator’s close inspection of his work and does something unexpected. Meanwhile, on the island Naru believes Handa will come back.

        celebrinen
  2. Guys please…

    Tomorrow Football: Japan vs Germany

    Japan will lose 1:0

    This is a Spoiler, and not different what you saying in the Next Episode what is happening

    I know this Show is a bit different then the others, but Spoilers are spoilers

    Germanguy
  3. I think (and I hope for the series’ sake) that he’ll realize that his work isn’t his own
    creation, but the focus of the people around and who have cared about him (in their own way)
    and have influenced / inspired him. So, his work is a product / reflection of his environment.
    Back home he stagnated because the environment he was in stifled his creativity, and took
    that frustration out on the curator.

    It’s his self esteem that he lacks. That’s why he left the way he did because he doesn’t
    understand / believe that he’ll be missed or that he mattered to anyone while he was there.

    So I think he’ll be back.

    Don’t know episode count (http://en.wikipedia.org has slots for 12), maybe two more (although
    none of the episodes have actually done a conventional preview), but I suspect the next episode
    will be split between his home in Tokyo and Naro & company on Kyushu missing him.

    Kudos to Germanguy for calling out the spoilers. A spoiler isn’t an accident or careless mistake :).

    mac65
    1. The preview that I translated was from the anime homepage. It served the same function as a movie trailer and can be viewed by anyone. Do you think a trailer spoils a movie? I don’t read the manga, I don’t know what happens and no one complained last week. I apologize for hurting your delicate sensibilities.

      celebrinen
      1. I actually thought the response from Ponyo above was the spoiler being called out rather than your translation, since you maintain the somewhat vague language often found in previews. The details in the preview includes things we should be able to guess based on this episode, like he’s going back to Tokyo and meeting the director. (what a shocking development!)

        Just as an aside, trailers can spoil a movie, depending on which scenes it shows.

        SK
  4. I expected the ticket to be reserved until maybe the final episode to have an emotional impact on the story as a whole. Kinda sad that they downplayed the ticket and blew it off so easily in this episode.

    gawrshness
    1. Or, maybe Naru will remake the ticket, ask Handa to never leave her again, then Handa spouts “you don’t need a ticket for that”…and then proceeds to blush in embarrassment.

      Hrmm o.o just realized that Handa has that in common with Mami…koshiba!

      Beedle
  5. I just find it adorable to see all pics of Handa sensei, Naru and Hina filled with a good amount of happiness and life. Hopefully, Handa sensei’s leave is temporary as he realizes the life he had on the island brought him a lot more than inspiration.
    Sad this wonderful ray of sunshine is for 12 episodes (and maybe 2 more?). I’d wish it goes on for much longer.

    Shinji

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