- "In the way of tea, we say "one encounter, one chance"! It means I mustn't let this moment pass because it will never come again."
- —Sojiro Nishikado
"Story of an Encounter" (
Set during his first year of high school, Sojiro is shown to be close to his childhood friend, Sara Hinata, whom is there to support him as he tries to cope with his dysfunctional family. Sojiro, however, ends up hurting her and misses his potential "one encounter, one chance" with her.
Plot[]
In elementary school, a young Sojiro easily answers "Ichi-go ichi-e" when his teacher asks the reading of the kanji characters on the board. Teenage Sojiro reveals how the question was "natural" for him since he is the next headmaster of the "Nishikado style of tea ceremony." He uses the same saying, which means "one encounter, one chance" as a pick-up line on a girl who agrees to go to his house. As they are kissing, they are interrupted by an oblivious Sara Hinata and the girl promptly leaves.
Sojiro quickly gets over his annoyance at Sara. She becomes excited about a new snack she found. He is reminded of how the met as children when he was crying and she offered him some chocolate. After he makes tea, Sara reminisces about another incident from their childhood, when they both hid in the storeroom and Sojiro's parents called the police because they could not find him. Sojiro leaves after receiving a call from a girl. After saying goodbye to Sara, she stares after him with a sad expression.
On another day, Sojiro sleeps with a different girl at a hotel. She really likes him, but he has no interest in a relationship. Back home, Sojiro's mother asks him to stand in for his father, who is with his mistress. Sojiro then mentions his older brother whom left the family a year prior. Sara later comes to his room to cheer him up. Sojiro flicks her forehead and then catches her before she falls. However, when their faces get close, Sara closes her eyes which startles Sojiro. He quickly laughs it off.
Sojiro later recalls that day in the storeroom, when he stared at Sara's face while she was sleeping. Akira Mimasaka interrupts his thoughts. He reluctantly joins Akira in picking up some girls. Sojiro knows that his behavior is "stupid," but feels "That's all there was for me to do." Meanwhile, Sara goes out with friends. They go up to the rooftop of a building while waiting for the train. In the morning, Sara leaves a voicemail for Sojiro to meet her at the same building at five in the morning, which he deletes.
After staring at the clock all night, Sojiro goes home where he finds Sara waiting outside. He tries acting casually. Sara smiles at first, but then starts crying. She softly says "Goodbye" before walking away. Sojiro stares after her, thinking that "Sara will come again." She later sends him a letter saying "My 'one chance, one encounter' was waiting for you that morning on that rooftop." Sojiro sees Sara a year later with a boy. He cannot help but wonder what would have happened if he had gone to her that morning.
Character appearances[]
- Akira Mimasaka
- Mina (First mentioned)
- Ozawa (First mentioned)
- Rie (Only appearance)
- Rui Hanazawa
- Sara Hinata (Debut)
- Shoichiro Nishikado (Mentioned)
- Sojiro Nishikado
- Sojiro Nishikado's father (Mentioned)
- Sojiro Nishikado's mother (Debut)
- Tsukasa Domyoji
Notes[]
Story[]
- The chapter most likely takes place during Sojiro's first year of high school, which would be about two years before the manga started.
- A brief scene at the beginning depicts the F4 in primary school. Two other scenes depicts Sojiro and Sara at the same age.
- Sara is the only one to call Sojiro by the nickname, Jiro (ジロ).
- Sara's school is briefly mentioned, though it is not revealed to be the same school as Yuki's until chapter two hundred and twenty-two.
- Sojiro's mother appears for the first time. His father and older brother are also mentioned. It is revealed that his parents have a strained relationship and his brother left home a year prior.
- This is the only chapter in which Tsukushi Makino does not appear.
Production[]
Margaret No.19 - 2000
Original Margaret release
- The chapter was originally accompanied with a two page color spread of Sojiro in Margaret No.19 of 2000.[2] The image was also used for the cover of volume twenty-eight.
- "Story of an Encounter" was the first one-shot Yoko Kamio had written in ten years at the time. As she was still working on Boys Over Flowers, she had it "woven into the series."[1] Kamio was particularly glad to create a story about Sojiro's past, explaining that she had "had no time to do it" before since the main story took up so much of her time.[3]
- The story is titled "Un momento irripetibile" (lit. "An unrepeatable moment") in the Italian edition.[4]
- On November 12, 2017, the story was published on Shonen Jump+ in place of a new chapter of Boys Over Flowers Season 2.[5]
References[]
- The idiom, "Ichi-go ichi-e" is referenced several times throughout the story. It later becomes somewhat of a catchphrase for Sojiro in Hana Yori Dango (2005).
- Sojiro takes a girl through the tea house's nijiriguchi (躙口, lit. "crawl-in entrance"), which is a small door, leading directly to the tea room.[6]
- A young Sara is depicted destroying the karesansui patterns in the Nishikados yard. In English, karesansui are known as a Japanese dry garden or a Zen garden.
- Akira is wearing a shirt with the silhouette of British punk artist, Sid Vicious.
Adaptations[]
- Episode 2 of Meteor Rain
- Episode 7 of Hana Yori Dango Returns
- Episode 37 of Meteor Garden (2018)
- Episode 13 of F4 Thailand
Sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Boys Over Flowers: Jewelry Box
- ↑ Boys Over Flowers complete volume 16
- ↑ Boys Over Flowers volume 28, side-columns
- ↑ http://www.nekobonbon.com/Hanayori/Testi/hanayori28.htm (Italian)
- ↑ https://twitter.com/yokokamioo/status/929419144780492802 (Japanese)
- ↑ https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/n/nijiriguchi.htm
See also[]
External links[]
- Read on Shonen Jump+ (Japanese)
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