TALES|Novel Introduction|Twin Novel|Ipponmatsu High School Kendo Club

Hello, this is Ukono Takenoko. Please call me Ugo.
This time, I would like to introduce the twin novels by Kokoro-Hashiru and usagi, which are published on TALES.
I read them a little while ago, but I was slow to get started on this article.
Please note that this article contains spoilers, so if you would like to read their works without spoilers, please proceed to the main story via the links below.

1. Work Introduction: "Ipponmatsu High School Kendo Club: The Sword of Truth"

This is a youth kendo novel depicted from the perspective of Makoto Moriyama, a second-year high school student who transferred to Ipponmatsu High School in Kagawa Prefecture from Osaka. He came to this town as if running away, carrying regrets and lingering attachments to his past, such as his failure in soccer, which he had played since junior high, and his breakup with his girlfriend, Akane, whom he left behind in Osaka. However, after being forcibly invited to join the kendo club by his classmate, Izuki Yamaguchi, he resumes the kendo he had dedicated himself to in elementary school.

The charm of this work lies in Makoto's clumsy yet straightforward personality and his gritty, intense passion for kendo. The agony of being pushed to his limits during hellish practice sessions, the physical sensation of the moment he strikes a men, and the frustration of defeat when he was "10 centimeters short" at a tournament are depicted with a direct, masculine strength unique to a male author. Also, the episode where his father casually hands him a 10,000 yen bill is an impressive display of the clumsy way men express affection. The story unfolds as a tale of Makoto's rebirth and growth as he cuts ties with his past, resolves to "live here doing kendo," and becomes aware of his special feelings for Izuki.

2. Work Introduction: "Ipponmatsu High School Kendo Club: The Sword of Izuki"

On the other hand, "The Sword of Izuki" is a work that depicts events on the same timeline from the perspective of Izuki Yamaguchi, a high school girl who belongs to the Ipponmatsu High School Kendo Club. This work is drawn with a delicate, feminine touch, portraying the rich scenery of the seaside town and the fluctuations of Izuki's heart with great softness and warmth. The scene of the Yamaguchi family's dinner table with octopus tempura and the casual daily life of watching her younger brother do his homework realistically bring to life the life of a true-to-life high school girl.

The story begins when she invites the transfer student, Makoto, to the kendo club. Hearing the spirited voice of Makoto as he puts on his armor and throws himself into practice, Izuki herself reignites her passion for kendo, wanting to "become stronger." At the same time, the nuances of love are carefully captured, such as the heart-pounding feeling on the way home after buying bamboo swords together, her blushing at the memory of being carried princess-style by him after getting injured, and her confusion over whether her feelings are "love." Through Izuki's perspective, it is a fresh youth ensemble drama where you can taste the sparkle of daily life and the growth of a girl who is straightforward and a little bit tough.

3. Twin Novel Structure

This twin novel has a brilliant structure where the two works overlap, featuring a "person who brings change (Makoto)" and a "person who receives it (Izuki)." The starting point of the story is the arrival of an action (a new breeze) in the form of Makoto, a transfer student from Osaka, into the peaceful environment of Ipponmatsu High School. His appearance triggers a reaction from Izuki, who invites him to the kendo club, and thus their relationship begins.

Even after joining the club, Makoto's loud voice and spirited practice echoing in the dojo stimulate Izuki's desire to "become stronger," changing her consciousness toward kendo. Also, in the event where Izuki gets injured during practice, it is caused by Makoto's action of falling onto her leg, and in response, we see a composition where Izuki entrusts her feelings to him, saying, "Win a point for me." In this way, Makoto's straightforward actions and his very existence spread ripples like a stone thrown into water, and the relationship where Izuki receives them with delicate emotional fluctuations and responds to them becomes the driving force of the entire story.

4. Effects Brought by the Structure

This structure of "action and reaction" and the twin novel format that allows you to go back and forth between the two perspectives bring a very significant effect to the reading experience. At the time of serialization, a schedule was set where episodes of "The Sword of Makoto" were published a few days earlier than "The Sword of Izuki." Therefore, readers can naturally experience events straight from Makoto's perspective first, and then read the same events from Izuki's perspective, allowing for a three-dimensional reading where they learn about her delicate emotions and the circumstances behind the scenes.

This allows for the supplementation of emotions that would not be noticed from just one perspective.
For example, when Izuki was injured, Makoto felt deeply responsible and depressed, thinking it was "his fault," but Izuki felt a faint joy at being helped by him and a sincere wish for his return to kendo.
Also, when Makoto lost in a match, he was tormented by his own incompetence, but Izuki sincerely praised him for participating in the match in such a short period of time. In this way, even if the people involved are missing each other, the reader can understand each other's deep consideration and true feelings from a "God's eye view," and the depth of the story and emotional empathy are significantly amplified.

5. Reversal of Structure

Also, in terms of the story's structure, it unfolds in the flow of time from "The Sword of Makoto" (action) to "The Sword of Izuki" (reaction), but only in the last scene is this timeline reversed. Readers first witness Izuki's determination and her figure walking toward the future while keeping her feelings secret in "The Sword of Izuki." In this scene, Izuki is taking an "action."

And in "The Sword of Makoto," it is revealed that while Makoto was saying words to push Izuki forward, such as "If it's an answer you decided on yourself, that's fine" and "It wouldn't be right for me to stop you," he was harboring such intense conflict and regret that he wanted to scream, "I love you. So, don't go to Kagoshima!"

Because we already know Izuki's determination for the future and her secret love, the weight and poignancy of Makoto's "unspoken feelings" revealed later are amplified, creating an effect that turns the twin novel's chronology to its advantage.

Also, while "The Sword of Izuki" proceeds on time from "retirement" to "graduation," "The Sword of Makoto" jumps in time all at once, unfolding in the form of flashbacks from "during the graduation ceremony."

Contrast between "Izuki heading toward the future" and "Makoto cherishing the past"
Izuki's perspective is always looking forward (to the future), and the reader moves straight along the timeline with her. On the other hand, Makoto's perspective is structured to look back on "those irreplaceable days" from the graduation ceremony, a scene of parting, starting from the most enjoyable time for the two of them the day after the rookie tournament.

Emphasis on the lingering effect
By going back and forth through the past timeline from Makoto's perspective, the reader experiences a strong nostalgia with Makoto, feeling that "such a dazzling high school life will never come again." The contrast between Izuki, who is heading straight for her dream, and Makoto, who graduates while holding "the days at Ipponmatsu" and "the words he couldn't say" like treasures while watching her back, brings a deep lingering effect and catharsis to the end of the story, along with the song "Aogeba Toutoshi."

6. The Sense of Liberation from Reading Both Novels in Parallel

The greatest catharsis of reading both novels in parallel is that only the reader knows the frustration of not being able to put into words the fact that they both deeply care for each other.

From one perspective, it leaves behind "frustration" or "fuzziness," and as a method to supplement that, one might use an "epilogue" or "afterstory," or in the case of my novels, a "side story," but because the reader is always following the two's story from a "God's eye view," it is filled with a refreshing and overwhelming sense of liberation.

The last scene, where they step into their respective futures with the brilliance of the irreplaceable youth they spent together at "Ipponmatsu" in their hearts, is filled with a refreshing and overwhelming sense of liberation that can only be tasted because it is a twin novel.

What is most wonderful is that these two novels were written by two different authors. I tend to think that each author has scenes they want to emphasize, and in some cases, the timelines might drift, but the works of these two remain highly synchronized until they reach the ending.

For a moment, you might want to suspect, 'Could they be the same person with multiple personalities?', but they are likely different people. (I have never met them, so I cannot be sure.)

This is a NOTE article.

Both of them are participants in U's 'Bocchi the Review'.