Double Planet Episode 4

Double Planet
Episode 4: "The animal I raised thinking it was a dog turned out to be a cat."
Ruka Tamaru (Furuta Jun & Kanda Yota / Radio Shonan personalities)

Who could have predicted that the new school year would start like this? I'm not even sure if my second year of high school has officially begun, and we've gone straight from spring break to a temporary closure until May 6th. My feelings are all in limbo, and time is just moving on. I was so excited about summer vacation, but I'm not happy about this temporary closure at all. Corona has stolen a part of my youth from me. I haven't even really enjoyed my youth that much, yet I'm being plagued by this kind of paranoia. Ugh, it's just so annoying.

Of course, there are no club activities, so only the drama club's group chat is lively. Everyone's got nothing better to do. They're doing stupid things with each other. I'm just watching their conversations from afar.

"Hey, I'm bored, want to do an online practice session?"

The person who made that statement was Natsuki, a classmate.
Apparently, there's been some recent trend of using Zoom to stage online theatrical performances.
If face-to-face meetings become impossible, then we'll have to think carefully about it.
Even so, Natsuki's intuition is amazing once she gets into acting.
He's now more knowledgeable about the current state of theater than anyone else in the club. He knows who won which award from which theater company, and which high school's drama club alumni have produced famous actors. He's become so knowledgeable that his seniors tease him, saying, "Are you a theater writer?!"

These were the two online training methods that Natsuki advocated.

How about we all do vocal exercises simultaneously while watching the camera?
How about we choose a theme and do some improvisational acting online?

I remained silent and watched, but the new third-year students, who weren't entirely convinced by Natsuki's proposal, quickly calmed the situation down.
Natsuki must have been frustrated. As a friend, perhaps I should have supported her by saying, even if it was a lie, "I want to try it!"

Actually, I've also experienced a small change.
It's not just that it's stinky.
I'm alive too, you know.
Since then, I've started listening to the radio program "Love & Music" every week, and these feelings have been welling up inside me.

"Maybe I should try writing a story too..."

That's what I thought of.
I decided on this idea on a whim, without declaring it to anyone, just to myself.
I tried downloading a memo app on my smartphone and typing in some story ideas.

I have an enormous amount of free time, so this is the perfect way to kill time.

I would get so engrossed in it that I'd sometimes realize it was 2 AM.
I'm not focusing on one thing in depth; right now I'm just writing down whatever comes to mind.
It felt like I was throwing the ball aimlessly at no target, but it was fun.

What is this feeling of enjoyment?
It's unlike anything I've ever tasted before.

Of the several stories I came up with, my favorite is,
A comedy about a family who raises an animal they believe to be a dog, only to discover it's actually a cat.

I laughed when I came up with the idea.

"What's that?!"

I felt like I had to scold myself for that.
The story is set in a family that has never seen a cat and has lived their lives believing that all animals of that size are dogs.

I wanted to share this idea with someone.

It's only Natsuki.

First, I send Natsuki a casual LINE message, making sure she doesn't suspect anything.

"I'm sleepy."

To be honest, I'm not sleepy at all. In fact, my eyes are wide awake. I brought it up jokingly during a lighthearted exchange.

"I was so bored I came up with this story (lol)."

I sent a message saying something like, "The dog turned out to be a cat."
The message has been marked as read, but no matter how long I wait, there's no reply.
I wonder what happened... Natsuki is known for her instant replies.
I decided to take a bath, and when I came back feeling refreshed,
I received an unusually long message, unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

Natsuki went on and on about how she felt, in her own roundabout way, that "it's totally no good." I got tired of reading it halfway through, but I read it to the end anyway.
I felt exhausted and depressed.

I fully expected Natsuki to say something like, "That's hilarious!" in her usual style.
I was expecting to be praised for my creativity.

"It just doesn't feel real."

It even came with such plausible-sounding words.
Reality, huh? Do we even need reality?
Because, you know, aren't impossible stories more interesting? That's what I think.
I tried to mutter my counterarguments to myself in the empty room.

After all that criticism, I was completely discouraged.
I've been spending more and more time without even touching my note-taking app, and I'm once again experiencing this gaping hole in my life. Watching anime on Netflix or TV dramas on television doesn't satisfy me somehow. Time just doesn't seem to accumulate within me.
I don't know if they're alive or dead.

Still feeling gloomy and restless, I looked at the date. It was Saturday.

I turned on the radio.

A regular listener's email is being featured.
That sounds great! I'd like to participate too.
Um, who was that again... Oh yeah, Satoru Blue.
Like Satoru Blue, a high school student listener.

I decided to send my feelings to the radio.

Kanda: "Here's the email. It's from listener 'Lucas'."
"Nice to meet you. I'm a girl, probably a second-year student, attending a high school in this prefecture."
School is closed right now, and I'm incredibly bored.
Whether I'm playing games, watching anime, or doing anything else, I just feel bored.
Damn you, Corona.
The other day, I came up with some story ideas on my own.
It was so much fun, and I came up with so many ideas.
When I showed my friends the one I was most confident in, they completely rejected it.
That was my current situation report.

Furuta: "Oh."

Kanda: "Speaking of stories, it has to be Furuta-kun, right?"

Furuta: "When you're young, don't you have an unfounded confidence in the things you create?"

Kanda: "I've had that happen to me too."

Furuta : "But when someone with a fair amount of experience shows up and dismisses it with plausible words, it's disheartening."

Kanda: "Furuta, are you feeling down?"

Furuta : "I did get discouraged at times, but then I'd quickly get this unfounded confidence that it was the guy who rejected me who was wrong! I was right! I kept trying to convince myself of that (laughs)."

Kanda: "I kind of understand that (laughs)."

Furuta : "I don't think there's a right answer when it comes to making things. I believe that anything where the creator finds joy in the process of making it is genuine. As you continue to make things and grow up, there will be many moments when that's not the case. Right now, if you're simply enjoying making things, and you think, 'This is what I think!', then that's precious. If you have the desire to express that, then I want to say, don't be afraid!"

"to be continued"

*You can view back issues here .