TAKEHIKO INOUE YOU MADE ME CRY AGAIN. Keep up the good work.
When I started reading Real, I had some reservations. The main character, Kiyoharu Togawa, reminded me of Slam Dunk’s Rukawa – the cool-as-ice basketball ace—more than he did that book’s main character, the off-the-rails Hanamichi. I wasn’t sure how a book based around someone so detached could work.
That concern has waned with each volume. The shot at the end of volume 3—Kiyoharu the track star, under the blue sky—was a strikingly saddening image. Volume 4 continues to focus on his history, but now we’re seeing the boy grow up as he deals with the pain of his new condition.
Kiyoharu—seen here in his younger years—meets two people that change his life: Tora Yatsuta and Hitoshi Yamauchi. Hitoshi we’d already met; he’s the bedridden friend Kiyoharu visted in the last volume, and he bonds with the still shell-shocked teen over a plate of okonomiyaki. Learning about Hitoshi’s condition gives Kiyoharu a bit of perspective. Hitoshi’s condition isn’t curable with a simple amputation. As healthy as he may look now, he’s not likely to make it to 25 years old. Instead of staying miserable in bed, however, Hitoshi’s decided to live as fully as he can.
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