Maybe I'll try again, too. 'Slump' / F-Characters also have bad days (4)

"F-Characters also have bad days" series, part four. This time, I will take up the work "Esper Mami"'s very own "Slump".

"Esper Mami" - "Slump"
"Manga-kun" 1977, Issue 19 / Complete Works Vol. 2

This is the 19th episode of "Esper Mami." Mami, who had been steadily increasing her repertoire of psychic powers, finds that for the first time, her psychic powers start to go haywire. She can no longer teleport or use telekinesis as she intends.

To the troubled Mami, her Esper advisor, Takahata-kun, offers some excellent advice in the story.

"It's just a slump. Temporarily feeling out of sorts... hitting a wall... that's something that happens to everyone. To athletes, to entertainers, to writers, and even to Espers."

He advises her not to take it so seriously, as slumps happen to everyone.

Worries are something we inevitably internalize, but by making her realize that everyone else goes through it too, the intention is to lighten her burden, if only a little, by putting things into perspective.

Furthermore, as a way to escape a slump, he says,

"But you know, just because you're feeling out of sorts, you shouldn't give up. It's by breaking through that you can become the real deal."

He says this to encourage Mami. (And Konpoko is also happy for her.)

He says it quite casually, but it is a very heavy statement that implies that whether or not you can persevere after viewing a slump as temporary will change the course of your life.

This is, of course, a message from Fujiko F. Fujio-sensei to the readers, borrowed through Takahata's mouth. Or perhaps it also has the nuance of him telling it to himself.

Whether it's work, creative activities, or sports, things you loved, were good at, or had confidence in suddenly stop going well. Especially for people like Fujiko-sensei, who turn their talent directly into their work, a prolonged slump is a matter of life and death.

If a slump is long and deep, one might have to give up on their activities. But, can you grit your teeth and hold on? Perhaps there were people close to Fujiko-sensei who couldn't hold on and ended up leaving.

This theme is also depicted in Hayao Miyazaki's film "Kiki's Delivery Service". Kiki the witch suddenly loses the only magic she has mastered: the ability to fly on a broomstick. To the depressed Kiki, the painter Ursula cheers her on by saying, "You just have to struggle through it.". I feel a very similar sentiment.

In this work, in addition to Mami and Takahata, two guest characters appear: Takashi Niniki, a star singer who once took the world by storm, and a man who steals a pistol from a police box and goes on the run.

To put it bluntly, this Takashi Niniki is a man who fell into a slump and faded away without ever recovering. For some reason, he became unable to make a comeback.

A young man who has also suffered some kind of setback and committed a serious crime gets involved with this Takashi Niniki. Mami is in a slump, unable to use her psychic powers as she wishes, and ends up being captured by this young man. She then has a miraculous encounter with Takashi Niniki, who is holding his final feast alone, intending to die.

The three people who have fallen into a slump—Mami, Takashi Niniki, and the young man—gather, and their respective dramas begin to unfold. It is a simple yet brilliant structure.

Since I've already covered the main points, let's take a quick look at the story from here on.

The opening scene depicts Takashi Niniki being invited to make a comeback, only to refuse, saying, "My era is already over."

What we learn here is that Takashi Niniki hit rock bottom in popularity ten years ago, and that he is a truly talented singer capable of singing real songs.

Next, as a symbol of Mami's slump, she is shown teleporting into the pond of her neighbor, Mrs. Inoki. At this time, Mrs. Inoki is still in conflict with the Sakura family, so naturally, she is not pleased.

Mami tells Takahata that her psychic powers are not working well, which leads to the topic of the slump mentioned earlier.

In the next scene, Takashi Niniki does something unusual: he pawns his own song. He sings his greatest hit, "Memory Clouds", and borrows 10,000 yen.

This song is such a masterpiece that it won a Record Award, so pawning it for only 10,000 yen is far too cheap.

As we learn later, it is assumed that this 10,000 yen was the cost for Takashi Niniki to buy the alcohol and snacks for his final feast. Since it was just a bottle of whiskey, some canned goods, and a few dry snacks, 10,000 yen was plenty.

The scene shifts to Mami's house. Her dad sings Takashi Niniki's "Memory Clouds," and Mami sarcastically remarks, "Even Dad's singing sounds wonderful, so the original must have been truly magnificent."

Then, thanks to information from her mom, who works at a newspaper company, Takashi Niniki's past and present are revealed. After his success, he tried to start a business, got swindled, and ended up with hundreds of millions of yen in debt. It is said that he became completely misanthropic.

If he wanted to, he could sing at cabarets and the like and have no trouble making a living, but he insists,My singing is not entertainmentand acts arrogant, which is why he has been driven into a pretty miserable life now.

In this introduction, it seems as if the prideful Takashi Ninki fell into decline as if it were his own fault, but in reality, it is not that simple. This will also become clear later.

Mami accepts Takashi Ninki as a person who could not escape his slump. Although it is not depicted clearly, Mami's heart, which is in the midst of her own slump, must have been restless.

Takashi Ninki again. He sneaks into his former mansion. It is aluxurious vacant house worth over 1 billion yenthat Ninki built during his prime. Ninki enters the hall and sits down.

And then, he can't help but complain.

There were times when this hall was overflowing with guests. They would praise my singing one after another, competing to curry favor with me... But look at what happens once I fall from grace!

This is a story often heard in the actual entertainment world as well. Perhaps it is not limited to the entertainment world. People flock to those with power all at once, and leave the moment they lose that power. And then they cozy up to the new popular person or person in power.

With this, it is easy to understand why he stopped trusting people and drove everyone away. Ninki says, "It's a farewell party for one," and takes out alcohol and snacks from his bag.It smells of death.

Mami wakes up after feeling the thought waves of an incident as usual. She lacks confidence due to her slump, but she has become a body that cannot ignore these telepathic waves.

The place she teleported to is right in front of a utility pole. When she bumps into it and falls to the ground, agunfightis taking place in the middle of town.

When she instinctively hides at the gate of a house, a police officer chasing the culprit rushes in. When she asks what happened, he saysa gun was stolen from the police box by a man.

Mami heads toward where the bullets are flying using telekinesis, but she gets her skirt caught on a tree branch.

The police squad completes the blockade of the road. The young culprit, realizing he is surrounded, appears. Cornered, the young man says,I'll take as many people with me as I can and die in styleand points his gun at a police officer.

Then Mami falls down on top of the young man! She had gotten caught on the tree branch and fallen just like that. Mami is caught by the enraged young man, and since she teleports right then, she unintentionally ends up helping him break through the police cordon.

The place where Mami and the young man teleported to was Takashi Ninki's mansion. Thinking there might be money and food there, the young man enters the house while threatening Mami.

Then, they emerge into the hall where Ninki is drinking alone, and the three of them meet there. Ninki, completely drunk and in high spirits, offers the young man and Mami a drink, but the wary young man threatens him, saying, "I'll shoot you if you try anything funny."

At that, Ninki stands up, saying he is grateful for that.

"I was just thinking it was about time to die. But when it comes down to it, I can't bring myself to do it. Come on, shoot me!!"

What Ninki called a farewell party was indeed because he was thinking of committing suicide. Provoked by Ninki, the young man pulls the trigger without thinking. Ninki is sent flying with a bang, but it only grazed his arm.

Ninki clutches his chest and presses the young man, saying, "You're in trouble if you don't hit me right here," but Mami stops him, decides on her own that "It's fine. Autumn nights are long," and sits down. For some reason, a small banquet for the three of them begins.

Without knowing it is Ninki, Mami asks why he is committing suicide. Ninki says, "Because I have nothing left to do." He continues, "My role is over.".

Mami persists, saying, "If you're prepared to die, you should be able to do anything," but Ninki rejects this with his unique phrasing.

"You see, I am a lead actor. A lead actor must remain a lead actor until the very end. To tell me to live on as a supporting character... that's cruel, you know."

These are words that can only be uttered by someone who has reached the pinnacle of glory, and the cruelty of living as a supporting character can only be understood by someone who has played the lead.

As Mami's mom and dad said, it's not simply that he is proud or arrogant.

Ninki says, "Shall we have a glamorous finale?" and stands up alone, opening the curtains to bathe in the moonlight. The final spotlight shines on Ninki.

Then, he loudly begins to sing his signature songs. It is a medley of about 20 songs from his debut.

Listening to the song, the young man, who had been silent for a while, realizes the man's identity, saying, "Wait, isn't that Takashi Ninki?". Mami and the young man are overwhelmed by his powerful singing. According to the young man, these were songs that were popular when he was a kid.

As "Memory Cloud" is sung, he says,"That was my mother's favorite song." and sheds tears.

"Back then... I was..."

Finally, he bursts into loud sobs as if a dam had broken. Nin-ki and Mami watch in astonishment. Then, the young man says,

"I, I'll start over! I'll turn over a new leaf. I'll turn myself in right away."

He stands up and runs off somewhere. Triggered by Nin-ki's song, he remembered himself as a child and his mother, and took action.

And there is a man whose heart is stirred by him.

"Surprising... That my song still had the power to move people's hearts... Starting life over, huh..."

Witnessing the moment someone's heart was moved by his own singing voice, he realizes his power still remains. It is the moment a man who had fallen into a "slump" is reborn.

"Maybe I'll try starting over, too."

Before he knew it, the morning sun was streaming in through the large window.

Now, the only one left in a slump/off-day is Mami. The next day, Mami explains the previous night's events to Takahata. Mami feels down, thinking she didn't have any good moments as an esper. To her, Takahata, the esper counselor, says something good once again.

That the police officer wasn't shot, the culprit decided to turn himself in, and Nin-ki stopped the suicide—it was all thanks to Mami's repeated blunders. That blunder might be the greatest superpower of all, he says.

It's unclear if she's being praised or what, but Mami feels her mood lighten instantly.

"This must be your superpower, Takahata-san."

Yes, teleportation and telekinesis are not the only superpowers.

Rehabilitating people through the power of song, regaining the will to live by seeing others moved, and guiding those in a slump toward a bright and positive outlook—these are all "superpowers" that humans possess."Superpowers".

Conclusion: Espers can save people even without using psychic powers!

Explaining every episode of "Esper Mami"!