We’re starting in the future in the rain, with a tall guy, Kouhei, and a shorter guy, Taichi. Kouhei seems upset, afraid of not being able to hear Taichi. Then he clutches his ears, and Taichi grabs for them and calls his name.
That day, Taichi VOs while Kouhei cries, Kouhei looked into his eyes and said something that could not be heard.
Lost? Don’t worry! Because we’re jumping back in time
Taichi, who only wears shirts representing cities in the USA, accidentally elbows his manager in the face. He’s jobless, broke, and hungry. Then he flings his soda down a hill and follows after it.
When he comes to a stop, he finds Kouhei, eating lunch alone on a classroom roof. Taichi shamelessly admires Kouhei’s bento, so Kouhei hands over his chopsticks. While Taichi digs in, Kouhei leaves. Taichi doesn’t know who he is or what he’ll eat instead.
Taichi’s friends helpfully explain he’s a popular classmate with a hearing impairment, who is looking for a note-taker. We see class from Kouhei’s point of view, trying to hear the muffled speech of the teacher while everyone around him takes notes.
Kouhei needs a note taker you say?
Taichi hurts himself coming down the hill to find Kouhei again. He returns the empty bento boxes and offers to be a note-taker. He thinks Kouhei can’t hear him, but if he talks slowly Kouhei can hear him. After introductions, Taichi admires his way into more of Kouhei’s lunch.
Note-takers need to be trained, but Kouhei asks Taichi to be his unofficial helper in trade for lunch. Taichi is excited and helps himself to more of Kouhei’s lunch. Kouhei looks overwhelmed. But he goes home and asks his mom to make two bentos for lunch.
We also see Taichi, at home with his grandfather. They have similar loud and rude attitudes but seem close.
Now Kouhei has a … supporter?
The person in student services or whatever seems confused by Kouhei and Taichi’s arrangement, but Taichi talks up how supportive he’ll be. He diligently writes and explains a joke to Kouhei during class. But the notes he hands to Kyouhei are incomplete. Taichi isn’t worried, Kouhei looks like he’s still getting used to him.
Some classmates come up and start signing to Kouhei but he walks away. They’re from the sign language club, but Kouhei doesn’t know sign and prefers to lip read. Taichi is so loud that he doesn’t even need to lip-read with him.
Taichi knows that he’s loud, and Kouhei says it’s good. He’s easy to talk to. Taichi feels the same way about Kouhei, but he’s always alone. Kouhei says he doesn’t want to be alone.
Taichi urges him to call him by his first name, which isn’t skinship but nearly. After that, they relax and enjoy the quiet together.
Taichi isn’t the best untrained note-taker, but he has other good qualities
He’s up late doing meal delivery and falls asleep in class. Kouhei forgot the bento anyway, so maybe they deserve each other.
Taichi takes Kouhei to the cafeteria. Kouhei doesn’t go there much and we see that he finds the people and noise overwhelming. He’s also got this issue where people either like him because of his looks or are jealous of him because of his looks. Neither is great. Because of this, a bully grabs Kouhei. He’s upset that Kouhei seems to ignore him and doesn’t care that he can’t hear.
Taichi charges to the rescue and punches the guy. After, Kouhei takes care of Taichi’s wound from the fight. Tiachi asks if Kouhei eats alone to avoid getting picked on that way. Kouhei doesn’t answer but asks why Taichi hit the guy. It wasn’t his problem and Kouhei couldn’t hear what they said anyway.
Taichi says they can’t say whatever they want because he can’t hear. It’s not Kouhei’s fault he can’t hear. Kouhei looks teary, and we get Taichi’s VO that at that time he didn’t understand why he cried.
Time for another flashback
To learn how Kouhei lost his hearing. He’d just graduated middle school when he got a high fever. His mom applied a netsu-sheet but he lost a lot of his hearing.
In high school, the teacher announces to the class about Kouhei’s hearing. This singles him out, and he becomes more isolated when he can’t join his classmates’ conversations. Other people are overly helpful, treating him like needs help with things unrelated to his hearing. At one point he sees a JSL class, and wonders if this is the group he belongs in. He doesn’t feel comfortable wherever he is.
We move forward in time but Kouhei is still stuck
Taichi startles Kouhei by coming up behind him but promises not to do that again. In class, Taichi yells at the teacher to slow down, embarrassing Kouhei. The guy is talking about Plato, you can skip it, Taichi.
And despite this effort, Kouhei can’t read Taichi’s notes. Taichi doesn’t understand them either. But he loves the food so much that he wonders if he deserves it. Kouhei starts laughing at him, and it’s the first time Taichi, or we, have seen him really smile.
The smile doesn’t last. When Kohei’s hearing aid gets knocked out during basketball, the other players stop defending against him. They talk about him in front of him. He watches Taichi play and feels that Taichi is part of a world he can no longer touch. So he starts ignoring him.
But Taichi isn’t going to be ignored, Kouhei
The next day Kouhei’s mom is too hungover to make lunch. Kouhei ignores Taichi’s greeting at school. Taichi confronts him and Kouhei says he didn’t bring lunch. Taichi says it’s not just about food. Then his stomach growls so loud Kouhei hears it and his reaction makes Kouhei smile. He invites him out to lunch.
Later they play basketball and Taichi doesn’t hold back. Cleaning up after, in the ritual required of Japanese BL characters, they spray each other with water. I worry about the expensive electronics in Kouhei’s ears. Waterproof hearing aids are not a thing. But really, it’s good to see him happy.
Kouhei feels like maybe there is a place for him in the world.
Stories about people
I love the diversity of characters with hearing impairments we’re getting lately. From isolated introverts like Kouhei to extroverts with huge social circles like Issei.
Hearing loss didn’t turn Kouhei into an introvert. From what we see of his middle school days, he was always a quiet guy. But it did make him isolated. Even with my moderate, from-birth hearing impairment, I occasionally feel like I was born into a world that I can’t easily communicate with.
People with clear, cutting voices are the best if you have trouble hearing. Ask me how I know. Struggling to hear people is exhausting. For Kouhei, being around Taichi is less work so he can relax. Taichi is great to be around anyway because he’s friendly, forthright, and kind.
These two episodes are only the beginning of the friendship. I’m looking forward to seeing this extrovert/introvert pair get to know each other better.