When I watched it for the first time before, I didn't have a deep feeling about the problems and characters faced by the hero and heroine. Now I read it again, and I think I can better understand what kind of story it is. The 15-year-old's dream, persistence, longing for recognition, and the attitude of being trapped and fighting; and the 27-year-old's fatigue, fear, and cowardice, the road is right in front of him and he can't move forward.
In my opinion now, the selling point of this story is not a teacher-student relationship with an age difference of twelve years, and I don't even think this is a qualified love story. In my opinion, the relationship between the male and female protagonists is not so much a relationship of lovers who admire each other, it is better to say that they are two traveling companions who have been submerged in the ocean of life and happened to meet each other. They treat each other as driftwood and support each other. It was the most difficult and lonely period for both parties.
At the beginning of the story, the male protagonist loses interest in the school's curriculum, and at the same time some changes have taken place in the family: his brother is going out to live with his girlfriend. He ran away to spend time with his boyfriend, so he was the only one left. He lacked interest in his coursework, was approached by teachers to talk to him, and at the same time had to face the pressure of tuition fees, and most importantly, he had to spare time and money to work towards his dream amid all these worries.
He can find time - although he still has to take care of his studies, he allows himself to come to the pavilion in the park every rainy morning, shrink in his own world, think about nothing, and focus on drawing various Various shoes.
He was a little overwhelmed by the pressure of life, and at the same time, he didn't have much confidence in himself, and he didn't know whether his persistence was correct. When he told the hostess that his dream was to be a shoemaker, and the hostess expressed her surprise, his reaction was a little shy and a little inferior: "I know it's a bit unrealistic, but it's true I really like designing shoes. Of course, the level is still far from being able to do it right now.”
Shoemaker is a relatively rare profession. It may not be regarded as the "most successful" and "promising" profession in the current general values, but I like it very much. This kind of unease of the male protagonist is actually the confusion that many of his peers will feel - what he wants to do is a little far from the universal values, should he stick to it? The male protagonist has always felt to me as a very assertive person, but when he first met the female protagonist, I believe that he was indeed in a state of hesitation - not to mention that this dream will not get most people (Dignity is a big thing at his age), and at the same time, he can't get any support from his family: his brother is still working hard, his mother is unreliable, and he needs all kinds of leather to make shoes. He also needs systematic study. He can't afford the materials, and he can't find a way to study for the time being.
Will it be forced to give up in the end? Will those various shoes end up just becoming interesting patterns on his book?
At this time, the heroine he met heard his dream. Although he was surprised at first, he did not have any prejudice against him, nor did he show any contempt. Instead, he expressed respect and even support for his dream. ——She can say "it's amazing" to the design drawings drawn by the male protagonist, she can remember what he said in her heart, and she specially bought a shoe-making tutorial for him. Being encouraged like this at such a stage of life will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the male protagonist. He was at a crossroads, being pushed in the direction he aspired to, so he started to work harder. He started designing and making women's shoes, and worked part-time jobs all summer to make money. Such assistance gave the male protagonist the determination to bravely pursue his dreams while coping with his current life.
And what about the heroine? She encountered unfair treatment at work, which cast a shadow on her work-she had been walking smoothly before and suddenly encountered a setback, she suddenly stopped, overwhelmed, and was always tortured by fear I evade subconsciously, I am ready to face all this every day, but every time I want to retreat when I need to step forward when the subway arrives at the station, I finally shrink in the pavilion in the garden, drinking beer and eating chocolate , constantly numbing himself with the only two things he could taste.
The heroine is facing her inner demon. The road was right in front of her: she could either make up her mind to stay in school, or she could still quit her job and move on to another place with help. But she was afraid. She may have just wanted to continue her original life and continue to go to school, but she will inevitably endure gossip and pressure from parents and school authorities. When she thinks of such pressure, she feels unable to face it, so she runs away again and again. But the reality is not the only way. She was probably blindfolded by fear and lost the strength to continue walking, so she let herself pass by and indulge.
She herself said, "There is no difference between the fifteen-year-old me and the twenty-seven-year-old me."
At this time, the male protagonist she met was still fifteen years old and had a very brave dream. To face adversity, he put on an attitude of being trapped and fighting - his whole body exuded a vigor and vitality that she did not have at the age of twenty-seven. Although the reality did not follow people's wishes, even though everything did not support him, he still Want to give it a try. Although he was also hesitant, for him, or compared with the heroine, fear was not a terrible demon that he needed to face with all his heart-he was not too troubled by fear, but It is natural to want to persevere. The reality is full of difficulties, but there are not too many clouds in his heart. Such a male protagonist, in the process of getting along, healed the female protagonist little by little. His natural attitude of chasing his dreams is contagious, and he can gradually make the heroine feel that as long as he is not afraid in his heart, those so-called resistances are far less terrifying than imagined. This made the heroine firm, so after the summer vacation, she finally plucked up the courage to face everything and went to school to resign.
In short, in such a process, they took each other's hands in a somewhat magical way, and when both sides stopped a little, they hugged and jumped over the hurdle.
I looked for an interview with Makoto Shinkai, and he said it was a story that he wanted to encourage young people in their twenties. I think that's what he meant. The problem we often encounter is that we are either confused about the future, or we are frustrated and let ourselves indulge. That is, probably no one will fish for us, we have to fish for ourselves.
For me, it was probably when I was tormented by fear, I thought about my 15-year-old's fearless attitude, the inexplicable confidence that "I will get along well".
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