Editing Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro:Translator's Afterword (section)

====Volume 7 – Utsusemi====

When I first read through this volume, I realized that I would be dealing with the most contentious volume of this series, given what it was dealing with. Looking at the reader comments, I guess it cannot be overly stated how accurate my predictions were.

We start off with the where Asa-chan started talking about Hikaru’s biggest secret. If you have done any basic research into Genji Monogatari, you would have known Hikaru has an Oedipus complex and ended up falling for his stepmother. Of course, piecing these large pieces together, you’ll clearly understand that Hikaru fell for his stepmother. This is the part that really put the nail in the coffin, completely shattering the image of Hikaru as a pure, angelic figure that is kind to girls. (then again, given that the story is based on Genji Monogatari, this is as close as the author can get without breaking the censors completely.) I suppose most readers would have sided with Koremitsu on the issue, that Hikaru gave in to the temptation way too easily, and this really is the best retort I have seen of Koremitsu in this story.

...And just when they were about to get down to the root of the problem.

......Another issue caused by Hikaru came back to haunt Koremitsu (as if he wasn’t haunted enough)

We know it isn’t Koremitsu fault, but I suspect that if any pregnant lady is to go to him for help, the immediate response is “I’ll take responsibility.” Unfortunately, that is not what anyone should be saying in such a situation, and another ‘crime’ is added to Koremitsu’s list. What was supposed to be another woman ended up being Asa-chan, and honestly, I do like the idea of pairing Koremitsu with Asa-chan (for sadism and bemusement). One could just sense the amazement Hikaru has of Koremitsu surpassing him when Asa-chan actually said the words, “It is fine for you...to call me Asa.”

On a side note, I get the idea that Hiina is more suited to be part of the paparazzi rather than a news reporter (the British tabloids might suit her). I really wish the illustrator included a picture of Asa-chan doing that Funabori face, but not even Koremitsu’s harem can save him if Hiina chooses to go full Ranko Hata. What makes the Koremitsu X Asa-chan ship all the more alluring is that nobody actually stopped to think, ‘wait, something’s not right’. They just accepted it as it is, as if saying ‘okay, you two scary ones can duke it out on the bed, kthxbye’.

The idea of false pregnancy never did occur to me when I first read this volume. To be honest, I really hoped that there would be an actual baby involved in the story, but I do understand that as much as it feels like a cop out, involving the baby would be a distraction from the story of Koremitsu moonlighting in his escapades of hunting his harem down.

Sora is another one of those girls with low self-esteem, with the added caveat of not hoping for anything because she’s scared of her hopes being dashed. It’s a lie she believed in, but let’s face it, the only girl to actually be completely immune to Hikaru’s charms so far in the story is Honoka, and that’s only because the latter never did interact much with Hikaru himself. Any of the other typical girls would be hoping that Hikaru ends up with them, ala a standard harem story nowadays. To be blunt, I don’t like this part of the story as much as the other part, but given that the concept of ‘Utsusemi’ is that of the only woman to actually manage to successfully escape from Genji in the original, I would have been fine with the little sister not being involved in this one.

This, I feel, is the author’s interpretation of Utsusemi’s thoughts after having escaped Genji’s advances, but given that Sora has shades of Akashi in her character, I suppose the covert romantic thoughts remained in her.

Looking at how the plot went, I suppose Sora was just the setup for the mother to appear in the story (aside from being obviously the setup man...err, lady for Fujitsubo aka Fujino). This would be the most poignant part of the story, and most definitely would have struck too close to home for anyone else who was abandoned by their parents.

On a side note, in the original, Genji, frustrated that Utsusemi escaped, raped the little brother, but this is just a little trivia. If this were included, the story would have been released under a BL publisher...

And now, here’s the extremely controversial part.

The part involving the mother.

I suppose every reader really hated the mother. What kind of a mother would dump her own flesh and blood just because ‘I can’t see him as cute in any way’. Honestly, nobody knows her motivation. Maybe she had some marriage issues that was affecting her (something I actually suspect since she and Koharu were still on very good terms. Probably Masakaze’s fault), maybe she was too immature to be married, I don’t know. However, no matter the result,

I suppose every single reader was outraged when Koremitsu’s mother. Many were calling for her head, and honestly, that might be the most common reaction I would have thought of. The one scene I immediately compared this part to was that scene in ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ where Will’s dad left, and Will was all “How come he don’t want me, man!” Very poignant scene, I must say. Nobody knows the reasons why Koremitsu’s mother left him behind, saying that he wasn’t cute or anything (which, to be fair, she had the courtesy not to mention that to young Koremitsu). One can only speculate why; perhaps it was due to an unhappy marriage that left her unable to love Koremitsu as he was (given how much disdain Masakaze had for women, except Shioriko, for which I’m going to call him a lolicon), or perhaps she realized that she was too immature as a mother back then (given that she remained on good terms with Koharu even after she left, I guess it’s not really that personal of a matter). The one possibility I’ll definitely pass on is that Koremitsu was born out of rape or wedlock given the above evidence. (Masakaze would probably kill Koremitsu’s dad if it was rape, not like dad lived that much longer either).

However, speculating aside, that is not the main point of the story.

What Koremitsu did, to forgive and let go of his mother, is never going to placate any of the readers hoping for justice. Some will call for blood, some will choose to move on and ignore her to hide the pain within them.

However, the key theme, as Hiina said, “If there is a choice to be loved by others or to love others, I’ll definitely choose the latter, because I’ll be happier this way”. As Acts 20:35 says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” and this works because one, it means that one has enough (and the heart) to give others, and two, it means that one recognizes another as someone in need, thus the concern. While psychological research typically support this argument, let us bring this to the emotional aspect.

In this highly pragmatic society, the common consensus is that emotions should be cast aside. In the context of a story driven by characters however, eliminating emotions altogether would just make a dull story. To me, the opposite of love is not hatred, it’s apathy, because love is the ultimate extension of emotions, the leading man. Whether it is tainted black to became hatred, blue to become worry, or red for fiery love and passion, there is no doubt that love is the embodiment of emotions.

In my opinion, if Koremitsu were to completely ignore everything about the mother (which he couldn’t, since it’s such a severe trauma), that will be a travesty because he won’t be able to love others as well as he could have. Holding in his anger at her for all this while would not be much better because that anger is not being directed for a positive cause. Yeah sure, he can continue to live on without her, but he won’t be able to love others as much as he would like to because there will always be the worry of being twice shy, even if the readers don’t want to admit it (let’s face it, we’re all just a bunch of wannabes behind the screen, hiding our pains within). It takes two to tango, but one to reach out. This is the perfect chance for Koremitsu to learn how to let go of those that has left his life, and at the same time, reconcile with the fact that his mother’s happy, he’s happy, and they’re willing to move on. A lot of divorces end up messy because they’re unable to accept their differences and move on, but perhaps if we do take a step back and reflect, maybe there are other ways to go about this (I’m really starting to sound like Honoka here...)

On a side note, there is actually a light novel that looks into reasons why people break up. It’s called Heartbreak Detective Momose.

You will have noticed that I chose not to talk about Koremitsu’s mother with regards to resolving the issue, and that is because the main issue is not about the mother, it is about Koremitsu’s putting his past demons behind him. Many of us think that yeah, we should love those who love us, and hate those who hate us, but ultimately, who start off with all those emotions, and were those emotions interpreted correctly in the first place? As we saw in the previous volume, tough love can be erred as utter contempt. That’s why Koremitsu’s action to forgive and smile at his mother is the ‘right’ choice in this story, for if the hatred and apathy lingered on, there isn’t a proper resolution to this story that will fit in well with the theme of the story, which is to learn how to let go, but this is really exemplified in this volume. Another main theme of this volume is that no matter how isolated you may feel, you have to keep reaching out, because nothing can be settled if there is no contact.

Of course, the mother definitely felt guilty about it (what’s with repeating sorry over and over again), and looking at the kid she had with the next husband, I guess she won’t dare to do such a thing again. The issue however was that Koremitsu was to finally learn how to let go, and though it pained him, he finally learned the taste of unrequited love, though bittersweet, was still sweet in some way. While the mother’s attempts to love Koremitsu may not feel as fulfilled, Koremitsu’s successful attempt to smile at his mother will probably give her some solace that yes, her love was felt. In a sense, the mother’s demon was also exorcised.

To summarize, I don’t expect a definite feeling, because the most human thing I will expect is conflicted emotions. To let go, but can’t do so. To hate, but can’t fully hate.

Of course, what I just typed out will lead to me regretting it in Volume 9, Rokujo, but I’ll live with that.

The two Utsusemis I mentioned so far show us both perspective of the coin, Sora being the one who escaped, and Koremitsu as the one who was left behind (of course the mother is the second Utsusemi...). How they dealt with their issues was seen in this volume, but there’s still one more Utsusemi whose issues were yet to be resolved...that Utsusemi is Koharu, to her own kid.

I suppose both Koharu and the mother had the same issues bothering them. In volume 3, it was clearly stated that if Koharu really wanted her child, she would not have gone down without a fight. One has to wonder why she remained widowed, and why she chose to remain with Masakaze, of all people, when she has her own social circle to begin with. Again, the motivations remains unknown, but what matters in the end is that the boy (obviously Koharu’s son) will end up reunited with his mother, just whether the ending will be a happy one. Now all we need is for Shioriko to end up paired with the kid.

There are many things people don’t understand why they work, but ultimately, the aim is not to understand why, but how to resolve it. Stop the bleeding, and then understand why the bleeding occurred.

Speaking of which, one thing Koremitsu will learn to understand is: