Double Planet
Episode 1: "The day will come when you realize that that step was a big one"
Satoru Aono (Furuta Jun & Kanda Yota / Radio Shonan Personality)
A life spent passionately in club activities and a life spent choosing to go home after school.
About the pros and cons that choice brings.
In this age of diversity, there's no way your life will be determined by club activities.
That's what I (Aono Satoru), a 16-year-old philosopher, thought.
After classes are over for the day, I wander around the area around Fujisawa Station before heading home.
Night comes while I'm fiddling with my smartphone, so I do my homework roughly and lie down in bed.
I feel like I had a dream while I was sleeping, but I can't remember what it was.
Every day, my vague, contourless days are increasingly archived.
"I can't take it anymore."
I said this out loud in December.
Someone once said that high school life goes by in the blink of an eye.
The new year has arrived and it's 2020. My first year will end in three months.
That was true. In fact, I barely remember anything up until now.
It's time for me to retire as a silent philosopher. This is no time to waste on pretending to be enlightened and senile.
I was finally ready to accept a certain truth.
"I wanted to be in a band."
When I entered junior high school, the internet ban was lifted and I gained freedom on the internet.
I spent my time listening to all kinds of music. I started with J-POP. Then I moved on to anime songs and game songs, then to rock, EDM, and Western music. I listened to all kinds of music. I devoured music like a hungry monster. As I listened to more and more, I gradually came to understand my preferences. It seems that I like the arrangements and sounds that are played by rock bands, known as "band sound." To put it bluntly, it's cool stuff.
But even if I wanted to be in a band, I'd never played in front of anyone.
To begin with, he is not an expert on musical instruments other than the castanets and recorder, which he was taught during compulsory education.
But I am still interested. This feeling is genuine, as it won't go away anytime soon.
"I want to start a band."
What would have happened to me if I had chosen to join the light music club that April?
I didn't think I could get along with my classmates, whose tastes in music were completely different from mine (or so I thought). Even if I had joined, I'm sure there would have been no place for me in the light music club (I wanted to affirm the life I can't redo by thinking that). I think too much. It's annoying.
Can you start a band by yourself?
Well, that's not a band anymore.
So what? What will become of me?
If I continue like this and do nothing, I will enter second year, then third year will come and my high school life will be over.
No. If things continue like this, we won't cross the finish line. That much I know.
But I didn't really know what to do or where to start.
A Saturday evening without school.
On an impulse, I decided to go to a music store.
When I searched online I found it near Fujisawa Station.
Yugyoji Street leads to Yugyoji Temple, towards the north exit, which is usually off-limits.
There were a row of unreliable, out-of-season illuminations.
Is this a proactive move in anticipation of the upcoming Valentine's Day, or is it just laziness?
I don't really understand what the aim is.
As I walked further, I came across Wakaizumi Musical Instrument Store.
Although I did arrive there, a strange feeling of tension suddenly came over me.
Pretending to be a passerby, I peer into the store through the glass.
He repeatedly walked back and forth in front of the store, glancing at us. He was clearly a suspicious person.
Should I open this door or not?
Just that one thing worries me to death.
Today, I didn't bring any money so I'm just a casual visitor.
Is it okay for such customers to come in? Shouldn't they leave after all?
Let's think about it again.
See you next time. Until next time. Bye...
"Plonk, plonk."
The sound of a guitar could be heard from inside the store.
A customer happily tries out a guitar while a store clerk looks on.
Will I miss another chance to change myself?
I feel like if I run away now, I'll never come back here again. It's been the same until now.
There's no "next time."
It's here. My first step is now on the other side of this door.
"now"
As if drawn in, I put my hand on the door, spun around, and suddenly I was inside the store.
I look at the acoustic guitar hanging on the wall and am mesmerized by the beauty of its body.
The texture is completely different from what I've seen online so far.
It's so bright that you can see your reflection in the body as you look into it.
When I turned around, I saw a row of electric guitars.
The pop and vivid colors reminded me of the 24-color crayons I had as a child.
Even though I can't play it, I wanted to pick it up right away to look cool.
For the first time, I wanted to own an instrument.
Or maybe you want a guitar, not a musical instrument? I don't think that's right either.
"I hope that one day I'll be playing this in front of people."
I left the store in a daze.
In "Alice in Wonderland," what happens to Alice after she comes out of the hole?
Even though I'm not Alice, this thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I decided to walk back along Yugyo-dori Street to the station.
Will the first one be an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar?
Or maybe both? No, I'm getting too carried away. Just one of them.
"Which one is better?"
First of all, how should I get the money to buy a guitar?
That's when I started thinking about it.
I heard the phrase "Double Planet" coming from the radio station right in front of me.
"to be continued"
