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あめの帰るところ
「離れたくないって想ったら、寂しくなったよ」そう告げたのは、飄々として不躾で、どこか寂しげな予備校講師の能登先生だった。高校生の千歳は、優しすぎる彼の恋心に翻弄されながらも、幸福な時間を積み重ねた。ふたりきりの教室、一緒に見た花火、朝焼け…。けれど、それは一瞬にして千歳の中から消失した―…。恋を初めて知った能登と、恋を忘れた千歳の抗えない想いは…。
- GenresJapanese Literature
291 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 16, 2017
the main story is divided into 3 parts, though i guess if you want to include the 1 pg "to sensei" part in which chitose leaves a voice message to sensei, and the 6 pg part in the very end called "to ame-chan", where sensei reflects back to their first christmas together as a couple, it'll be 5 parts.... but anyways, let's begin.
the beginning had a slow place even though the weeks and months flew by in the story's timeline. the first part is written in 1st person, in chitose's pov. basically part 1 is like this: shiimoto chitose, a 3rd year 17 year old HS student enrolled in cram school in order to help him pass his top choice college's entrance exam. he's your typical HS student, and he reminds me of myself when i was a senior in HS. strict mom, wanting to do well in school and in exams, wanting to get into a good college, feeling jealous of those that did better, unsure of the future, have friends but don't particularly feel close enough to them to tell them everything about one's life, just going with the flow, etc.
he meets his 30 yr old tutor in the cram school named noto tadashi, who doesn't take life seriously and from an outsider, looks like he's on that struggle bus. he doesn't give a shit about anything, but he isn't rude or particularly tries to be (unless he's turning down a girl and/or has his eyes on a certain love interest and people are getting in his way...). he's clumsy, childish, and kind of immature. chitose nags him constantly to shape up his act and start behaving as a teacher. sensei isn't used to someone paying attention and correcting to him like this, and he starts to fall in love (and fast) with the young boy. eventually he confesses and chitose struggles internally to either follow his true feelings or follow what's "correct" by societal's standards, like go out with a girl, get married, have kids, etc.... he separates himself from sensei in his mind, fearing he'll deviate to the "wrong path".
so the first part is all about sensei's desire and stubbornness to convince chitose to go out with him, and chitose struggle to make a decision that will lead to an unknown future. "ame-chan" is the nickname given to chitose by sensei, and ame = candy because chitose (千歳飴) is a type of candy given to children on a certain holiday.
2nd part is written in sensei's pov. time-skip to about 2 years after they started going out, and chitose (a 2nd yr college student) is currently studying abroad in england. he gets himself into an accident by saving a little boy from getting hit by a car, but ends up losing him memory in return. sensei doesn't hear from chitose for 3 months, and was surprised that chitose had already returned home months earlier than planned, and in fact, has a girlfriend. chitose completely forgot everything - even his own name. shocked and hurt by this, sensei doesn't try to force chitose to remember their relationship, and in fact, tries his best to separate himself from the young boy -
a) because he sees this person being different from the one he loved and b) wanting chitose to get a 2nd chance of living a "normal" life. chitose however feels an unexplainable huge attraction to sensei and, despite sensei obviously pushing him away, does what he can to get closer to sensei. this time, because chitose has almost like... a different personality than his previous self (he's more honest, proactive, clingy, etc), sensei gives him the nickname, "chii-san".
3rd part is almost like an epilogue, or an aftermath, of part 2.
overall, i enjoyed this. sensei is 30 yrs old but has the heart of a child. and he admits it too. he's a kid in an adult's body. however, i didn't like how i wasn't able to connect with chitose emotionally in the 1st part even though it was written in his POV. he doesn't really talk much about his feelings or interaction with other people, but instead, explains snippets and moments with sensei. when he does have his internal monologue, it almost always involves sensei. sure, there are moments he'll talk about his interactions with his strict mother, his friends, his anxiety when it comes to his future, but... it was incredibly brief and i would have liked to get some more monologue from him. i didn't get a sense of who chitose REALLY was until towards the end of part 1. and he's almost like a tsundere character, not being honest with his feelings. that kind of annoyed me. i reeeeally enjoyed chitose in the 2nd part because he was more honest and was willing to go above and beyond for sensei to accept him. sensei in the 2nd part played more of an adult role, and he had to. chitose and sensei's roles (the one who lectures the other, the one who gets the lecture for being childish and impulsive) was reversed here compared to the 1st part.
once you hit the 2nd part, it was feels nation through and through. especially towards the end. even though the beginning wasn't particularly memorable, the 2nd half made an impact. which is why i rated this a 4/5.
the beginning had a slow place even though the weeks and months flew by in the story's timeline. the first part is written in 1st person, in chitose's pov. basically part 1 is like this: shiimoto chitose, a 3rd year 17 year old HS student enrolled in cram school in order to help him pass his top choice college's entrance exam. he's your typical HS student, and he reminds me of myself when i was a senior in HS. strict mom, wanting to do well in school and in exams, wanting to get into a good college, feeling jealous of those that did better, unsure of the future, have friends but don't particularly feel close enough to them to tell them everything about one's life, just going with the flow, etc.
he meets his 30 yr old tutor in the cram school named noto tadashi, who doesn't take life seriously and from an outsider, looks like he's on that struggle bus. he doesn't give a shit about anything, but he isn't rude or particularly tries to be (unless he's turning down a girl and/or has his eyes on a certain love interest and people are getting in his way...). he's clumsy, childish, and kind of immature. chitose nags him constantly to shape up his act and start behaving as a teacher. sensei isn't used to someone paying attention and correcting to him like this, and he starts to fall in love (and fast) with the young boy. eventually he confesses and chitose struggles internally to either follow his true feelings or follow what's "correct" by societal's standards, like go out with a girl, get married, have kids, etc.... he separates himself from sensei in his mind, fearing he'll deviate to the "wrong path".
so the first part is all about sensei's desire and stubbornness to convince chitose to go out with him, and chitose struggle to make a decision that will lead to an unknown future. "ame-chan" is the nickname given to chitose by sensei, and ame = candy because chitose (千歳飴) is a type of candy given to children on a certain holiday.
2nd part is written in sensei's pov. time-skip to about 2 years after they started going out, and chitose (a 2nd yr college student) is currently studying abroad in england. he gets himself into an accident by saving a little boy from getting hit by a car, but ends up losing him memory in return. sensei doesn't hear from chitose for 3 months, and was surprised that chitose had already returned home months earlier than planned, and in fact, has a girlfriend. chitose completely forgot everything - even his own name. shocked and hurt by this, sensei doesn't try to force chitose to remember their relationship, and in fact, tries his best to separate himself from the young boy -
a) because he sees this person being different from the one he loved and b) wanting chitose to get a 2nd chance of living a "normal" life. chitose however feels an unexplainable huge attraction to sensei and, despite sensei obviously pushing him away, does what he can to get closer to sensei. this time, because chitose has almost like... a different personality than his previous self (he's more honest, proactive, clingy, etc), sensei gives him the nickname, "chii-san".
3rd part is almost like an epilogue, or an aftermath, of part 2.
overall, i enjoyed this. sensei is 30 yrs old but has the heart of a child. and he admits it too. he's a kid in an adult's body. however, i didn't like how i wasn't able to connect with chitose emotionally in the 1st part even though it was written in his POV. he doesn't really talk much about his feelings or interaction with other people, but instead, explains snippets and moments with sensei. when he does have his internal monologue, it almost always involves sensei. sure, there are moments he'll talk about his interactions with his strict mother, his friends, his anxiety when it comes to his future, but... it was incredibly brief and i would have liked to get some more monologue from him. i didn't get a sense of who chitose REALLY was until towards the end of part 1. and he's almost like a tsundere character, not being honest with his feelings. that kind of annoyed me. i reeeeally enjoyed chitose in the 2nd part because he was more honest and was willing to go above and beyond for sensei to accept him. sensei in the 2nd part played more of an adult role, and he had to. chitose and sensei's roles (the one who lectures the other, the one who gets the lecture for being childish and impulsive) was reversed here compared to the 1st part.
once you hit the 2nd part, it was feels nation through and through. especially towards the end. even though the beginning wasn't particularly memorable, the 2nd half made an impact. which is why i rated this a 4/5.
November 10, 2016
You may or may not have noticed it took me a while to read this. For the life of me I couldn't get into this, and I was convinced this just wasn't for me even as I kept on reading today. Until I reached the second part, that is, which was heartbreakingly beautiful and made the first part, which felt too easy and almost boring, shine all the more. This is definitely a book that will be better the second time around, because you can appreciate it more knowing what's to come. I get why it's so popular now, and I'm glad ended up loving it as well because I really like Asaoka Modoru's writing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews