K so I had a little time off work and I decided to revisit Kodama Yuki’s; Kids On The Slope or “Sakamichi no Apollon”.
I re read the manga and sat down to FINALLY watch the anime. This one was a series I had avoided watching forever; due to a lot of descriptions of homoerotic tones, in reviews (which would be queerbating for this manga) and the emotional academic experience I have with the subcontext of the story’s subject matter.
Still, I’d always wanted to watch it. Not only because this Era captivates me, but my college studies surrounded it for a long while, and IT’S ABOUT MUSIC! It was directed by Watanabe Shinichiro of Cowboy Bebop fame, the music performed and composed for screen by the incredible Yoko Kanno, and all these years later; it’s still considered a masterpiece and a very very unique anime.
With the anime being condensed into just 12 episodes, from a 50 something chapter long manga; it truly did hold up to the story of youth, uncertainty, and unfair life lessons so well captured in Kodama’s original story.
It’s one that anyone can enjoy, esspecially if you have music fortifying your bones; but know that it does reference quite a lot of societal context, that may be under appreciated in its importance to the characters’ experiences, if you lack at least a basic knowledge of post WWII Japan, and the US occupation.
BUT it’s not a wartime or occupation centric story.
AND it’s not a BL.
It’s a story about that anxious awareness you have in your coming of age; knowing that you are both of the world and circumstances surrounding you, but are not actually in it yet. That time at the end of youth, when you don’t know how one switches from child to adult, but that it will happen, and…it just did. You could’ve blinked and missed it. Yet you can’t say for certain when or how exactly it occurred. You wish for the innocence and idleness of childhood, which at the time, you despised so much. If you’re lucky; you realize the things and people that shaped you, when that elusive moment innocence flew away, happened.
It’s also about the love found in only friendship. The kind of love found nowhere else, in life. A deeper understanding for another person, that cannot be compared to the love of family, or romance; it’s just more than that.
This is why I say; making reference to underlying homoerotic tones, in regards to this story, would be queerbating. There’s nothing queer about it. The two main characters love eachother, intrinsically. They are both male, and they share deeply intimate moments. Yet they’re the kind of moments that can’t be experienced really, in the same way one would expect them to be understood, if they were shared between lovers or even family.
They are simply, eachother’s person.
They also made a live rendition The story is told in a different way, from both the manga and the anime, but it is soooo good. The order of events, and some of the details of circumstances, are changed around (a lot of the darker elements are completely omitted) but it’s done so in a way that allows the main characters’ friendship, to shine a little more pure.
Komatsu Nana (Ritsuko)
Chinen Yuri (Kaoru)
Nakagawa Taishi (Sentaro)
I’ve never seen Komatsu play such a sweet character, and she was very good at showing those subtle reveals of deep emotions, churning inside.
I also thought it was genius to cast Chinen, a JPop idol as Kaoru; since he’s much moodier and insensitive in the manga. Part of his growth is in consideration of others feelings, and that little touch of diva, did the trick while keeping him more approachable for the more upbeat tone of the film version.
Nakagawa is known for rom coms and comedy variety skits, aswell as popular dramas. And he’s the live action Ryota from Your Lie In April! And the live action Arata in ReLife! IRL he’s a big goofball who does a lot of children’s events. That somehow lent a strong vulnerability to even his most violent scenes.
K so I had a little time off work and I decided to revisit Kodama Yuki’s; Kids On The Slope or “Sakamichi no Apollon”.
I re read the manga and sat down to FINALLY watch the anime. This one was a series I had avoided watching forever; due to a lot of descriptions of homoerotic tones, in reviews (which would be queerbating for this manga) and the emotional academic experience I have with the subcontext of the story’s subject matter.
Still, I’d always wanted to watch it. Not only because this Era captivates me, but my college studies surrounded it for a long while, and IT’S ABOUT MUSIC! It was directed by Watanabe Shinichiro of Cowboy Bebop fame, the music performed and composed for screen by the incredible Yoko Kanno, and all these years later; it’s still considered a masterpiece and a very very unique anime.
With the anime being condensed into just 12 episodes, from a 50 something chapter long manga; it truly did hold up to the story of youth, uncertainty, and unfair life lessons so well captured in Kodama’s original story.
It’s one that anyone can enjoy, esspecially if you have music fortifying your bones; but know that it does reference quite a lot of societal context, that may be under appreciated in its importance to the characters’ experiences, if you lack at least a basic knowledge of post WWII Japan, and the US occupation.
BUT it’s not a wartime or occupation centric story.
AND it’s not a BL.
It’s a story about that anxious awareness you have in your coming of age; knowing that you are both of the world and circumstances surrounding you, but are not actually in it yet. That time at the end of youth, when you don’t know how one switches from child to adult, but that it will happen, and…it just did. You could’ve blinked and missed it. Yet you can’t say for certain when or how exactly it occurred. You wish for the innocence and idleness of childhood, which at the time, you despised so much. If you’re lucky; you realize the things and people that shaped you, when that elusive moment innocence flew away, happened.
It’s also about the love found in only friendship. The kind of love found nowhere else, in life. A deeper understanding for another person, that cannot be compared to the love of family, or romance; it’s just more than that.
This is why I say; making reference to underlying homoerotic tones, in regards to this story, would be queerbating. There’s nothing queer about it. The two main characters love eachother, intrinsically. They are both male, and they share deeply intimate moments. Yet they’re the kind of moments that can’t be experienced really, in the same way one would expect them to be understood, if they were shared between lovers or even family.
They are simply, eachother’s person.
They also made a live rendition The story is told in a different way, from both the manga and the anime, but it is soooo good. The order of events, and some of the details of circumstances, are changed around (a lot of the darker elements are completely omitted) but it’s done so in a way that allows the main characters’ friendship, to shine a little more pure.
Komatsu Nana (Ritsuko)
Chinen Yuri (Kaoru)
Nakagawa Taishi (Sentaro)
I’ve never seen Komatsu play such a sweet character, and she was very good at showing those subtle reveals of deep emotions, churning inside.
I also thought it was genius to cast Chinen, a JPop idol as Kaoru; since he’s much moodier and insensitive in the manga. Part of his growth is in consideration of others feelings, and that little touch of diva, did the trick while keeping him more approachable for the more upbeat tone of the film version.
Nakagawa is known for rom coms and comedy variety skits, aswell as popular dramas. And he’s the live action Ryota from Your Lie In April! And the live action Arata in ReLife! IRL he’s a big goofball who does a lot of children’s events. That somehow lent a strong vulnerability to even his most violent scenes.
The story takes place in late Showa Era; mid 1960s to mid 1970s, during a significant period of courtship (if you wanna call it that) between Japan and the US. This is the generation after approximately 230 THOUSAND Japanese civilians were massacred by the US Airforce. The story also takes place in the southern Kyushu prefecture of Nagasaki; one of the two cities annihilated by the American nuclear attacks. During this period; you see a country emerging from military occupation, radically changing in its internal view of itself, and becoming the 2nd strongest world economic power.
Yet for this generation itself; young adults were torn between a nationality steeped in exclusive tradition, and recognizing their identities in the world outside of their nationality. The story can be somewhat viewed as an allegory between not only the “youth” lost of Japanese identity, but also the marriage of modern Japanese and American cultures. There’s a whole history there, that I won’t go into in this post, but some notable points are as follows:
Japanese and American cultures are innately almost the exact opposite, in every way, yet there has been a long standing fascination with each other. There’s just some sort of symbiotic relationship in the two countries’ pop culture.
The US occupation of Japan (1945-1952) changed Japan inside and out, and while the country of Japan is roughly only the size of California; there are close to 100 US military bases throughout the islands and mainland. The US is the only country to have ever invaded Japan.
The phenomenon of what is some times refered to as “children of ash” were the children of US soldiers by Japanese civilian mothers. In most cases; abandoned by their own families, they were outcasts in their own communities. The majority were illegitimate, and often the result of rape.
Debated cival unrest on local levels, due to student protests by the Communist Youth Party, The pro Russian Socialists, and those who fought to rid the American presence from Japan.
Catholicism set up shop and began to convert the locals to Christianity; who had suddenly found themselves poverty stricken, traumatized, and quickly losing their identity as a people.
Jazz; a uniquely American music, was embraced and made even better, by Japanese musicians of the Showa Era. Yet it went hand in hand with American soldiers and businessmen, as they were often the audience. Young Japanese men played to groups of blatantly racist foreigners and occupying personnel, amid the introduction of hard drugs, openly sexual promiscuity, and arrogance that they brought with them. All of which, was also uniquely Western, to them.
So now that you’re up to speed on a lot of the underlying dark tones of the story; know that these themes are mostly brushed over in the manga and anime, and are almost completely left out of the live action film. The story wasn’t really written for an audience outside of Japan, so these points are just known to Japan’s audience. Also, the majority of the dialogue is in a Kansai type dialect, so you definitely want to watch with subtitles.
Kaoru (a pianist) is a moody, introverted young man from the city. His father is a sailor of some sort (not military but probably a merchant) and though they have a loving relationship; due to his business, Kaoru is moved around to different relatives. He’s wealthy, intelligent, speaks and reads English, and his family is very Westernized. He’s moved into his Aunt and Uncle’s mansion in Sasebo Nagasaki, where he’s expected to follow in his Uncle’s footsteps, and become a doctor.
Sentaro (a drummer) is the child of a local girl and an American soldier. We know from a glimpse of a photo; his parents were involved for at least a brief time. Shortly after his birth though; he’s abandoned to the village priest, and later raised by his mother’s family. Though he calls his Aunt and Uncle, Mom and Dad; no one in the family or the village accepts him, save for his Aunt. He’s massive in size, has reddish brown hair and light eyes, and inherented an almost entierly American, boorishness demeanor.
Side note for my Given readers; there’s a lot of Sentaro reminiscent aspects to Akihiko. Besides being a half white drummer; I honestly wonder if the character inspired Kizu.
Both boys were abandoned by their mothers as infants, and while Kaoru’s father is just always away; Sentaro never even knew his. In the manga and the anime; there is a deep theme that women are so easily overlooked and yet so incredibly vital, in the raising of kind young men. The film leaves this out, but it’s not to disregard its importance in life or the story; it’s that they left out all of the instances of lack of consent, which indirectly leads the boys to understanding the traumas and strengths, of their own mothers. So if you watch the film first; you may have some unexpected and unsettling moments, watching the anime. They also leave the topic of political activism and drug use out of the film. Those topics served the context of the society the boys live in, and isn’t as relevant in the film.
Everyone in town is terrified of Sentaro; his laugh is too loud, his stride is too outspoken, he comes and goes as he pleases; getting into fights as if it’s funsies and smiling while doing so. One nuance to the character; is that he smiles big, just showing all those teeth, and talks while he’s eating (not just with his mouth full) which at this time would have still been extremely rude for even a male. The whole town treats him as if he’s an outsider, like he didn’t grow up with them. As a small child; the other children beat him and called him “America” as if he represents the very people invading their world, all by himself.
But inside this man sized 15 year old, beats the heart of a joyous and unconditionally loving child. He’s adored by his Aunt’s tribe of young biological children, and cares deeply for his community, including the Catholic church which he adamantly attends. So much so; Kaoru exclaims at one point; he’ll surely be a natural father, surrounded by happy children, as an adult. Sentaro describes Kaoru as his angel.
When Kaoru arrives in town; he’s singled out immediately by classmates, due to his intellectual way of speaking, his girlish face, and small stature. Yet being a bit of a standoffish dick; he’s the only one of them to “stand up to” the seemingly dangerous Sentaro. Interstingly, he also represents American influence; in that he comes from a family that has completely assimilated. Eventhough he’s more traditional in his mannerisms, and even his physical appearance; he’s all business and reformed etiquette. The two together, mirror two very different Americanized people. A big part of this is subtlety shown in the different ways they go about trying to flirt with girls. He has also lost touch with language, as he speaks English better than local dialects. Eventhough, there are dozens of ways to speak Japanese; it’s a serious problem for him, as he moves around. He can’t understand what his own people are saying.
With the encouragement of Ristuko, who’s father runs the local record store; the two bond over jazz, in a secret practice room, in the basement of the shop. She acts as a sort of guardian over both of them, and she and her father seem to be the only people in town, that know Sentaro is an actual ray of sunshine.
There’s a lot of crushing going on with the boys, as a sort of love triangle forms in Ristuko’s heart, throughout their three years of highschool. And another with Yurika, between Sentaro and Jun; an older musician whom Sentaro idolizes. Yet the main “love story” is between Sentaro and Kaoru.
In their case, the akai ito red string of fate; is represented as Ristuko’s blue yarn. Blue meaning something pure and stable. Both boys suffer extreme attachment trauma, and while Kaoru expresses his as admittedly, not being able to get along with or let other people in; Sentaro expresses his as never letting himself grieve for his excruciatingly unfair circumstances. One of the most heartwrenching scenes in every adaptation, is when he finally let’s himself cry, and sobs uncontrollably into Kaoru’s arms.
In the anime; without knowing subcontext; some of the racial discrimination is easily missed. In the film; they really draw on it, most prominently by adding to a scene where American soldiers are talking shit about the boys while they’re trying to play a set. Throwing slurs at Kaoru and Jun, who is their vocalist and trumpet player, and picking up on the fact that Sentaro is probably one of their “responsibilities”, to put it “nicely”. The scene is even more difficult to watch, knowing both Kaoru and Jun speak English, but Setaro doesn’t understand a word they’re saying.
There is never a moment of sexual or even romantic tension between the two, boys. They experience friendship in its deepest form. Yes they squabble like they’re dating, and no one else knows what’s good for the other. Have throw down fights, followed by silent treatments and angry faced acts of service love language; like an old married couple. Piss eachother off, and know exactly how to soothe one another, like only close partners do. But not a single moment of it is homoerotic. It’s the pure love and joy, only found in those rarest of friendships, where you just know one another, even if you don’t yet know a lot ABOUT the other. Where you heal wounds, without trying to fix the other person, because you’re not looking at them like a mate whom you want to meet your expectations or needs. Instead it’s companionship where you speak eachother’s truths, and cannot be apart without experiencing painful sorrow. Even feeling jealousy at them being with someone else. Where you see the other’s beauty, as well as the faults, and love them all, because that is your person.
At one point; they meet some older men, who while watching them get drunk together; insist that they must treasure eachother, no matter what, because true friendship like theirs’ is forever. For life; through the good and the bad. Their relationship captures the newness of growing from a sweaty, awkward boy; into first loves, and fist fights, and broken hearts. All while being told you’re becoming a man, and there are expectations in that; because men are unfairly expected to make marks on the world. Being told this by adults, who seem to irronically always forget that you are the litteral future expectation, and you’re learning from their all too often, poor examples. Those tedious moments of discovering your ability to be made into a mumbling idiot; by first feels and falling out over your own idiocy. Trying to understand tenderness, and your own terrible ability to be insensitively aggressive. As well as learning that it’s ok, rewarding, human, and HEALTHY to show affection and share intimacy with one another, as two young men. Eventhough half the time; Kaoru interjects that Sentaro isn’t his friend, they just play music together.
Viewing the two as a potentially queer interpretation of that love, only takes away from its profound wonder. Being a gay guy myself; obviously I don’t mean that because it’s QUEER, but because it would make it sexually romantic, which is not this story. They have moments of aversion to eachothers’ affections, that are part of being told men can’t be close, but it’s in childish humor. Sentaro tells Kaoru he’s only truly happiest, when they play music together. Kaoru says that he can’t be separated from him, and that their times together are his “favorite things”.
And they check eachother out, in platonic affection; the same way Sentaro teases Ritsuko, in the film, that she better tell him he looks good. Sentaro comments that Kaoru is pretty and sensitive, and Kaoru exclaims in jealousy, that Sentaro is so handsome; sometimes he takes even his breath away. He acknowledges his impressive, natural masculinity, while Sentaro acknowledges Kaoru’s gentility …but it’s all in admiration and innocent honesty. This too can be seen as that mirror, of two very differently Americanized Japanese men. The two are physically very different, and if you look back at this time in history (not the understanding of toxic male perception, now) Americans were admired as being effortlessly “masculine”.
There’s a whole sort of set of rules for what constitutes being “masculine”, between the two cultures. I’ve written on it before, but for a moment; for the sake of this story’s setting, unlearn what we now understand about the former misconceptions of what it means to be a male. In that time and place; the American men young Japanese boys were exposed to, were big US soldiers. Their average height, was 5'9" to 6 foot. They were muscular, broad shouldered, loud, and assertive, with strong faces and big eyes. Eventhough Sentaro is despised for physically being all of these things; that’s still where young Japanese men at the time, were trying to get to. The average height and weight of a Japanese man at the time, as just over 5 foot, and Americans had them out weighed by a good 20-40 pounds.
Both boys represent to one another, what the other will never be; as perceived by other people. Kaoru who is small and reserved; finds that being courageous and taking the lead in his own life, doesn’t mean he has to be outlandish. By the end, he’s grown his hair and walks with a beautiful air of quiet masculinity and grace. There’s a whole thing with the song “One Day My Prince Will Come” and he does infact grown into one version of a modern prince. Sentaro on the other hand, will never not look white, and his bold presence can be one that instills inspiration and joy, rather than fear or disdain. As a child; he wacks off all of his beautiful, wavey auburn hair; in an attempt to have some kind of control over the way he looks, and declares he’ll use his size and strength, to protect himself.
One part that is always declared to be queer coded (and trust me, I get why) is when the two first see eachother. It’s not supposed to be romantic sexually; it’s romantic interpersonally. Sentaro is in high sunlight, and revealing his face, he’s almost angelic, in an iconic western kind of way. Yet he looks up into Kaoru’s face and thinks HE’S dreaming of an actual angel, because he’s so lovely looking down at him in the light. They are what eachother is told, they should be more like. Really it’s just the sun in their eyes, which I always felt was the mangaka referencing to [the sun rises in the East/sets in the West] but that is their first impression of the other. Sentaro is this impossible vision of unobtainable Westerner presence and command (which we all know is absurd) in the moment Kaoru first realizes he’s another boy. Irronically (absolutely NOT Western) when the Japanese express that even people can be kami; Sentaro is an example of that. Someone who’s presence you can’t disregard, but is unexplainable in their sort of unknown power over the people around them. In another allusion to their sense of self worth; Karou apparently looks like what Sentaro would imagine angels look like. Which to him, is not at all Western; Karou’s delicate, and small, and unmistakably East Asian. This says a lot about Sentaro’s internalized subconscious self; considering he’s a devout catholic, which is the branding iron of western control. Ironic; a Christian diety would look like a Japanese person, to him and Karou himself, even being very Americanized, thinks Christians are odd. This fascination they instinctively feel, is absolutely a form of being in love, but takes on a vicarious, platonic version of it.
The story ends in a twist, and it’s one of those stories that you wonder; how could this possibly end in a satisfactory way for the audience. Yet it’s entirely satisfying and poignant. Without it being sappy or just fanservice. Completely unexpected; the film changes the ending up a little, and it’s even BETTER!
The film is such a beautifully sweet tear jerker, compared to the original’s darker angst, but I absolutely loved every minute of it, and felt the changes were done respectfully to the original. It’s easier to follow, without knowing the subcontexts, but difficult to find, to watch. If you intend to watch the anime or read the manga; I would recommend doing so before watching the film. If you want to watch the film only, it’s a really wonderful stand alone story, and the actors did exceptionally well !!
Anime only:
Side note worth mentioning: During this time; the Beatles had just started taking over rock and roll. Rock was still viewed as a sort of cheap, and dirty music, mostly because of the use of expensive electric guitars, and blatant marketing to underage girls. Simping had been discovered, as a means to sell music; which left a bad taste in the mouths of other musicians. Before music acts on that scale; making music wasn’t about making money or even really fame; it was about being appreciated and respected for your talent.
Okamoto Nobuhiko; My Hero Academia’s Bakugo, voices a boy named Seiji, who heads up a Beatles-esque boy band! He does an INCREDIBLE job in the anime, of being both adorable, and cringey! I really love Okamoto’s cutesy characters
☆Sentaro is voiced by Hosoya Yoshimasa:
My Hero Academia; Tokoyami
Katsuya Honda (Tohru’s dad) in the upcoming Fruits Basket; Prelude
It’s incredible to see the WRITER’S process in visual form, because through Gurasi aka Sashikizu aka Sashikiz aka Kizu Natsuki doujins; you can see where they split characters into more characters. I agree, based on the Haikyu doujins; Iwaizumi and Oikawa, became Ritsuka and Mufuyu, although Iwaizumi began to look much more like Kageyama. (Or Kagami from Kuroko no Baskuke) But I’m gonna point something out; they were actually the characters that became Shizusumi and Hiiragi.
I think this is KiseIdk looks like Haruki to me
Story time: Just before traveling restrictions; my bf at the time, flies from his home in Osaka, to see me in the states for a week. Lil Sasaki to Miyano irl; we first bonded over BL. I hated it, he loved it, and was convinced he could find something I’d latch on to. So two grown men hole up in a hotel, order room service, and veg out on BL of all things. He and I didn’t officially last (thanks Covid you dick) I really liked him a lot, but the best part of our short relationship was that he introduced me to Natsuki Kizu. Because of him, I now have this blog and a whole Given fn shrine in my house. (I hate you Covid, Im supposed to be looking at houses in Hokkaido, right now, with a handsome art director.)
So there I was, reading Haikyu doujins about two characters called Iwaizumi and Oikawa. I was never into Haikyu (or Kuroko no Basuke) so I had no idea who these guys were, but the way Kizu depicted them had me INVESTED! Like I love them, so fn much, and continued to follow them even now, through Kizu’s original works. I found Given and realized it was the same mangaka. And there were my guys, but renamed and reworked. I had, in-between; started reading a little Haikyu to see where they came from, and discovered Hinata, Kageyama, and Kenma aswell. (Then the guys from Kuroko no Basuke) I do not see Hinata as Mafuyu, although a good chunk of Given fans swear he’s based off of him; eventhough their Haikyu doujins ship Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Reading Kizu’s doujins (everything I could get my hands on because they are such a damn good mangaka) I could see the developing oc characters that became Given, almost in real time.
Kuroko no Basuke’s Hayama X Miyaji/Kise became Akihiko and Haruki ->
Kagami X Kuroko became Ritsuka and Mafuyu ->
And somewhere in between writing the Kuroko no Baskuke and Haikyu doujins; Iwaizumi and Oikawa became Shizusumi and Hiiragi, not Mafuyu and Ritsuka. Interstingly; none of their fanart characters REALLY look like the characters they were based on. With Ritsuka and Mafuyu, and even Akihiko; you can further see where they were developed from all of them, between the different ships.
I’m sticking to Haikyu characters, in this article; but you can see a whole hell of a lot of Given’s characters in Kizu’s Kuroko no Baskuke doujins, aswell. Esspescially Kagami. Just refer back to the above panels.
You see, I read Given last. It seems they’ve been drawing Iwaizumi as an ORIGINAL character the longest, and as their WRITING developed, and Given began to form; their version of Iwaizumi began to split. From Shizu, to Akihiko, and even Ritsuka. You also see Akihiko in their version of Hanamaki, from Haikyu.
When their Iwaizumi character, that looks exactly like Shizu, branched off in their fan works; aspects of them first became Akihiko, then even Ritsuka later, with the introduction of Kageyama aspects, into their oc. It wasn’t until the visual introduction of some of Kageyama traits, snd essentially Kagami from Kuroko no Baskuke, that Ritsuka was really seen. Yet despite the clear inspiration from Kuroko no Baskuke; the relationship of Ritsuka and Mafuyu; started as what became and really looks like always was; drawing Shizu and writinga sweeter relationship between he and Hiiragi. Iwaizumi doesnt even look like Haikyu’s Iwaizumi, in Kizu’s works; it’s hands down Shizu, with Ritsuka’s angry panic faces and Akihiko’s manner of movements. And Kizu’s Oikawa fluctuates between what became Mafuyu yes, but also Hiiragi. I’ll give you all ones to reference. AGAIN I know there’s a lot of Kagami X Kuroko in Ritsuka and Mafuyu, but I’m sticking to the Haikyu doujins only. There are many elements of Given characters in Kizu’s other works.
“Hikari no Ko” and that whole kinda series of omegaverse looks and feels like Shizusumi and Hiiragi raising a child Mafuyu. But in this story “Oikawa” is more Hiiragi, less Mafuyu. Don’t see it? The last page of this story is exactly the same panel they JUST drew, of Hiiragi’s little heart attack in ch45, when Ritsuka says he agrees the set list is done, if Hiiragi’s okay with it.. but the original panel was Oikawa, in this doujin. Which is fn brilliant, because it’s the same sort of moment in Hikari no Ko, when Oikawa has a little heart attack, and realizes everything will be OK, with THAT story’s “Mafuyu”.
That story was very personal to them, as they felt the need to indepth explain in a letter to the readers; that they really felt they needed to write it, even if it wasn’t received well, because of the genderbending, in it. They went on about how these were their versions of characters, so in a way they WERE their characters, and they felt they had the authority to take artistic license and make it so that gender “rules” for roles, did not apply. I fn love Kizu so damn much! There are similarities in their early works, where Mafuyu-esque and Hiiragi-esque characters are drawn so similar, it’s like Hiiragi wearing a Mafuyu wig, or Mafuyu making Hiiragi’s exaggerated faces. This is where the split happened and Hiiragi was being fleshed out; making him look much more like Kenma than Oikawa.
The “father” in that story looks like Shizu, but his stance and facial expressions, are reminiscent of Akihiko. The two characters have continually paralleled in Given, and as a writer, going through these same processes in developing original characters; I can see where one was culled into two. Its also in the VISUAL development, so keenly; one is dark and plain and reserved, the other is fair and showy and boisterous. Both still have moodiness from Kizu’s version of Iwaizumi. But in this doujin; they are combined because they hadn’t been separated in to two different characters yet.
Iwaizumi is absolutely early “Shizusumi”. One can’t look at that art work and NOT see Shizu. And what’s more interesting, is if you didn’t know the cover art was from an oc doujin story; you would think it’s art of Mafuyu and Shizu, dressed to a T and posed exactly how she poses Mafuyu and Ritsuka, so iconically, now. Still this is also a good example of where we see Akihiko being developed
“Higan no Kagee” is like a fanart photo album of Haikyu’s Iwaizumi and Oikawa, showing Kizu developing oc characters, beginning to break away from those they were based on, and becoming Given characters. Images to note: “New flat New family” doesn’t even try to be anything but Shizu, while “volley ball player stretching” really shows Mafuyu forming from Oikawa. The memories of the beach and the car accident, are very telling of Yuki and Mafuyu, but it’s Iwaizumi and Oikawa, yet Iwaizumi looks identical to Shizu while Oikawa fluctuates evenly between being reminiscent of both Mafuyu and Hiiragi. I remember when I first started reading these, I had a moment where I remarked; this mangaka can’t decide how they want to draw this Oikawa character, they keep going back and forth. Infact the cover art of them standing on the beach, is often mistaken by Given fans, as Shizu and Hiiragi, especially the way Oikawa’s smile is drawn; it’s that signature Hiiragi sort of coyote yawn look, with a deep separation of bottom and top jaw. Think the pink SYH cover from ch39; 2021 Cheri+ vol3. The “holiday sandlot base ball” and “first kiss drunk not dating” images are again without a doubt Hiiragi and Shizu, but before Hiiragi was fully developed away from the introspective Kenma-esque feel. This is also where you start to see a change in “Oikawa’s” hair; like Kizu knew they needed to change it, to better fit the oc they were developing. It’s easy to spot, because it seems like short hair is the one thing they struggle with drawing.
“Gunjo no Shashin” and “Ano Machi” is where you start to really see Akihiko developing and “Iwaizumi” splits into both Shizu and Akihiko. You begin to see Iwaizumi drawn with Akihiko’s signature stance, hand movements, and mannerisms; but it LOOKS like Shizusumi. You even see Akihiko’s hair, where they’re developing the differences between Akihiko’s and Shizusumi’s which is the same damn hair, but Akihiko’s is shorter. They even write it as a part of the story, where Iwaizumi cuts his hair too short in the front, and voila; it’s Akihiko’s iconic hair, but black. It’s like you get to see Kizu actually asking the reader; what if I drew Iwaizumi like this, instead. I think Kizu has a thing about hair anyways; as the panels of Iwaizumi remembering the wind blowing through Oikawa’s hair, are almost identical to Shizu reaching out to Hiiragi walking on the railing. Its Shizu and Hiiragi, before the panels in Given.
Between the last two, you begin to see Oikawa separating into Mafuyu AND Hiiragi. Then, the memories and proposal in “Gunjo no Shashin” feel almost like Akihiko and Hiiragi, but Kizu’s depictions of “Oikawa” become softer and more Mafuyu like, once again, which is where as a writer; I imagine they realized they needed to pair up their already established Shizu character, with someone else and for whatever reason, picked a Kenma-esque presentation for what became Hiiragi. It worked once they flipped that character and made them loud and obnoxious; the opposite of Kenma. Yet like Kenma; Hiiragi has moments of naive fantasy and ridiculous emotional reactions. I also think it’s cute they stuck with the gamer kid, from Kenma, for Hiiragi. At this point, they must have realized they wanted to stick with a Shizu-sequence character, and a Mafuyu-esque character; but put them in different relationships, as they were starting to develope Akihiko, through writing, not just visual art. To do this; “Mafuyu” who was Oikawa, and they’d always shipped with Iwaizumi; would need an additional character to be THEIR partner.
Enter Kageyama. Ritsuka does visually resemble Kageyama, just as the Hiiragi we have now, more resembles Kenma; dying his hair yellow and giving him gold cat eyes. Who knows why they chose those two Haikyu characters’ looks, when their oc began to branch off from Iwaizumi and Oikawa, to Shizu and Mafuyu, Shizu and Hiiragi, or Ritsuka and Mafuyu, with the addition of Akihiko. Yet even the playground scenes of Iwaizumi and Oikawa are revised with Shizu and Hiiragi, and Yuki and Mafuyu.
“Kono Machi ni Sunderu Karera no Koto” cover is current Hiiragi and Shizusumi, but Oikawa has Mafuyu’s eyes instead of Kenma’s. The sleeping naked Oikawa feels more and more like what becomes Mafuyu, yet the reuniting of Iwaizumi and Oikawa in the hospital, feels like Akihiko and Haruki. But if you go back to where they began; Iwaizumi was initially Shizusumi and continued to be drawn the same. He’s the only character that didn’t have a drastic change, visually or the way theyve always written him. Kizu even gave Shizusumi, Iwaizumi’s name. They even make reference to their own headcanon as a fanfic mangaka; to Iwaizumi meaning something like a well, and Oikawa meaning spear, but the character that is used is more like “source”. Little fact: the shrine for the okami Kaishima (ie Hiiragi) is famous for its holly, which is where the character’s name comes from….but also…a well.
So my experience of Kizu’s works began with Iwaizumi and Oikawa, and their head canons of Haikyu. Since I knew them from before I knew Given; reading Given was like oh, ok so Shizu is Iwaizumi, Mafuyu is Oikawa, and this Ritsuka character is an oc combo of Kizu’s Iwaizumi and Haikyu’s Kageyama. (Also Kagami from Kuroko no Baskuke) Akihiko is a different version of Kizu’s Iwaizumi (and Hanamaki) (and Kuroko no Baskuke’s Hayama) Hiiragi is an oc combo of Kizu’s Oikawa and Haikyu’s Kenma. But Iwaizumi and Kenma’s personalities are kinda switched? Interesting fact; before I realized Given was a Kizu work, I saw clips on YouTube of Akihiko and Haruki from the anime. My first reaction and what made me hunt it down, was that Akihiko was that same version of Iwaizumi, I’d seen in Kizu’s doujins, but fair complected.
You don’t have to read this next part, but because I study Japanese literature; it’s worth exploring if you care to.
Every single one of Kizu’s characters’ names in Given is a play one words. Not just the seasons. It’s light and sound, and kami, aswell.
Aki is sunlight, and fall, and references Amaterasu and Genji.
Uestsu is moonlight, and rain, and references ghosts or the sound of sadness.
Haruki is light itself, and spring, and Amaterasu, and references spiritual energy.
Mafuyu is winter, and the cycles of the moon.
Ritsuka is summer, and fire, referencing spiritual energy.
Kashima Hiiragi when read together is literally the kami of thunder, and their associated holly that flowers in winter, and references Amaterasu AND Ka the same kami/spiritual energy reference with Ritsuka.
Hiiragi makes Tsukuyomi references to Shizu, which ties them all to the seasons, light, sound, and the moon. In Japanese creation stories; Tsukuyomi is Amaterasu’s twin and moonlight, as Amaterasu is sunlight, and “Akihiko” is the son of sunlight. But “Shizusumi” is a made up name. Aside from the headcanon they wrote of Iwaizumi’s and Oikawa’s names being a play on source and well, Hiiragi referencing the source of a well that would be Shizu…Shizusumi is literally “quiet” with zumi on the end. Which is just another way of saying “complete” or “whole”. I always took this as a cute ref to Iwaizumi, and Kizu’s original shipping, as Iwai and Zumi both are indicative of celebrating in happiness or satisfaction. But neither characters exactly, exude happiness; so Kizu put the cherry on it; combining their names to create “quiet” “satisfaction” or “celebration” or “happiness”. When they call Shizusumi’s name it’s more like a directive; “be quiet and content”. Or just Shizu -> “Quiet”.
So yeah, Ritsuka and Mafuyu are Iwaizumi and Oikawa, but Kizu’s Iwaizumi started out as what became Shizusumi and pretty much still is. They are actually Shizu and Hiiragi. Which is why I think the scene in ch41felt so abruptly different from the rest of Given, outside of the context of it, alone. Kizu went back for a moment and revisited their original versions of those characters. I read those panels and saw Iwaizumi coming home from his mountain exhibition and pouncing on Oikawa.
I can only add 10 pics; so I’ll do a separate post of just that, to show you some of these images ❤
