| Day 11: Goodbye, Midori (Part 1) | |
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Manga Volume |
Volume 2 |
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Characters introduced |
The Lakota Shaman |
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Returning Characters |
Midori Kasugano, Seiji Sawamura, Mrs. Kasugano |
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Previous Day: |
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Next Day |
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Day 11: Goodbye, Midori is a two-part chapter that is followed up by the following chapter: Day 12: Goodbye, Midori (Part 2), and is the first chapter in the second volume of the Midori Days manga.
Plot[]
The chapter begins with Midori and Seiji both doing their own respective tasks, Seiji is doing schoolwork, and Midori is knitting. Seiji throws his book in frustration, noting he'll flunk the class for sure. Midori tells Seiji he can do it. Seiji then blames his inability to study on the loud 'click-clack' of Midori's knitting needles. Midori counters it by saying a cold front is coming, and she decided to knit him a scarf to keep him warm. Midori specifically points out the word "LOVE" written in big, bold letters. Seiji tells her to stop putting that on everything. Seiji is suddenly caught off-guard as Midori becomes Translucent. Midori asks him if he's okay and apparently did not notice. Seiji rubs his eyes and is confused as she is no longer transparent. He tells her it was nothing
The next page is a splash page showing a happy Midori smiling.
In the next page, an angry monk screams loudly, thrusting a pair of Prayer Beads and loudly shouting. As it turns out, he's standing next to Midori's bedside. He notes the spirit seems to be very 'firm, and' that it is holding Midori in such a deep slumber, and a butler of the house notes that it has been 1 hour with no change, and the next in line is up. The next man, a Chinese individual, insults the ability of the Japanese monk who responds with an angry face and a demand to know if that was an insult. As it turns out, Mrs. Kasugano has hired a series of various 'healers' apparently spanning a large variety of abilities, in the hopes that at least one will fix what modern medicine has failed to do for the sleeping Midori. She mentally notes to her poor daughter that she will do whatever she has to.
Back at home, Seiji is still struggling with his schoolwork. He suddenly remembers an important detail: Midori goes to Ogura Bashi Highschool, and likely knows all of this schoolwork like the back of her hand so to speak. Seiji concocts his plan: Play a game with Midori and bet that the loser must do whatever the winner asks. He asks Midori to play, and she agrees. After Seiji reveals the rule that the loser must do whatever the winner wants, Midori becomes red in the face and agrees to the bet, confusing Seiji slightly. Seiji decides to challenge her to Othello, and, within a short bit, Midori somehow manages to get the entire board to be white. Seiji realizes he's beaten, but figured he'd have her for sure on this since she knows nothing about Othello. He offers to buy her a new dress or anything that she wants, but Midori requests something from Seiji he didn't expect: She asks Seiji to admit his love for her. Seiji is absolutely flustered by the proposal, and refuses. Midori grabs Seiji's shirt and says he doesn't even have to mean it, she just wants to hear it. Seiji decides he can do that, and gets ready. He preps himself to say it, but chokes, and then goes back to his schoolwork. Midori begs him, but Seiji states he has schoolwork. As he sits there, he finds himself frustrated, as he's never had a problem saying that to random girls he's wanted to ask out. Midori decides to say it instead. Seiji tells her that it doesn't matter and she can say it all she wants. He tells her he plans to do an all-night study session and that she should get to sleep. He looks at her one last time, and goes to back his work.
Back at Midori's home, Midori has been brought under the starlight outside, and laid in a bed with facepaint adorned on her in a tribal style. A Lakota Shaman asks of the spirits of the Earth and that of Wakan Tanka to assist the young girl and expel evil spirits from her body. Mrs. Kasugano asks if it will work, but the shaman reveals it is not evil spirits, but rather that Midori's spirit itself is not in her body and seems to not want to return. He asks them to have faith in Wakan Tanka and perhaps Midori will return to her consciousness one day, and that right now they will reach out to the spirits and try to get her to come back as best they can.
The following day, as the sun beats into Seiji's room, Seiji hits his alarm clock and sadly notes he didn't study well. He then candidly asks Midori, who is still sleeping under the scarf she made, if she would do him a favor and take the test for him. Midori doesn't respond, and Seiji lifts his hand. He begins sweating in panic as he realizes his hand has gone back to being a normal hand. Midori is gone.
Notes[]
- The first monk at the beginning of the chapter appears to be a monk chanting "On, Kiri-kiri, Basara, Ung Hatta! KATSU!" It's never made clear if he is a Buddhist monk, Shinto priest or another branch of religion in Japan, but his chant bears similarity to a Tantric Buddhist chant, "Om kiri kiri basara urn hatta" and his clothing resembles a black monk garb with the brighter piece on the front of the outfit that is put on over the top. Similar photo.
- The man who insults the Buddhist monk appears to be a Chinese man who never actually announces what "Chinese medicine" he practices, and insults the Japanese monks in general for being inferior.
- One of the men bears a striking resemblance to a Shinto priest.
- Othello is also known, historically, as "Reversi".
- Despite the absurdity of Midori managing to get the entire board, it is apparently possible to get all 64 pieces on a Reversi board to be one color.
- The Native American shaman never specifically reveals himself to be from the Lakota people, but does reveal it indirectly by mentioning Wakan Tanka, a concept of the Lakota people.
- Given Mrs Kasugano's surprise when the Lakotan shaman informs that Midori's spirit refuses to return to her own body, all the previous faith healers believe that Midori is afflicted by a curse or being hold by evil spirits, given the remark given by the Chinese medium and the Japanese monk, respectively.
- Midori didn't actually finish the scarf, she only embroidered "OVE" on it.
- This is the first two-parter in the series.