| Through the Tears, Spring Comes | |
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| Season 1, Episode 50 | |
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| Air date | March 21, 1997 |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous The Final Scene |
Next Goodbye Yesterday, Hello Tomorrow |
After a full week, Sana has not appeared at school, and her friends begin to worry about her. At home, she hasn't gotten over the death of Takeshi, and Misako and Rei fear she hasn't accepted his death. She experiences vivid hallucinations of them still being together, but in reality keeps to her room and re-watches the tapes they did together. She wanders outside one day as Akito is passing by, and turns just in time to push her out of the way of an oncoming semi-truck. She says that she will be happier when she's dead, and she walks home.
The next day, Rei says she must come to work, but she has no enthusiasm to do her job. While he's talking to the producer, Sana overhears two producers laughing about an actor dying, and she learns it is of Takeshi they are speaking. Sana stands up and slaps the largest one to the ground, causing Rei to jump in and pull her back. She breaks from his grip and runs off, and Rei heads off to look for her. Akito and Tsuyoshi agree to help, and in turn, Tsuyoshi gets Aya, Hisae, and Mami to join as well. Sana has gone on the train to the mountains that she and Takeshi had gone to, Eighth Yu Mount, and hides in the cabin, believing Takeshi is still alive and with her, but actually alone and cold.
Rei is aware that she may have headed in that direction, and gets all of them over there. However, the walk to the mountain is long, and it has begun to snow. They meet a driver in the town who says he took a girl up there earlier, but says it's impossible to go up now due to the weather. The group manages to convince him otherwise, but now they hear of danger of avalanche.
Sana believes everything is okay, but all fires she has started have gone out, and she is now in the dark in the blizzard outside. The others manage to get close, but the avalanche suddenly comes down, forcing the driver to speed back down the mountain. Akito falls out in the process, which they do not notice until they are all the way back in town. He finds the cabin Sana is in, and sees it is now on its side, spilling over a ledge. He punches the side of the wall repeatedly until it breaks, and sees her inside. She refuses to leave, saying she wants to be with Wootio forever. Akito refuses to leave until she comes out, saying that no one has treated him as she has done. She finally comes to terms with the fact that Takeshi is dead, but that Hayama is still alive, and risking his life to try to save her. She tries to get out, but suddenly the whole cabin falls. As it happens, it was just above the place where the rest of the group was resting, and they see each other as they fall out. The next day, Sana apologizes to the town, but cries for the first time since Takeshi's death over how many of the people here knew and enjoyed his films. She goes home, and the next day, officially graduates elementary school with her classmates.
Appearances[]
- Sana Kurata
- Misako Kurata
- Rei Sagami
- Akito Hayama
- Tsuyoshi Ohki
- Aya Sugita
- Hisae Kamayai
- Mami Suzuki
- Mitsuya
- Zenjiro
- Shimura
- Takezo Onda
- Babbit
Trivia[]
- This is the second episode to have a unique title card, after The Final Scene.