Chapter 18 is the 18th chapter of Kodocha, the third chapter of the fourth book in the Tankōbon Release, and the seventh chapter of the second book in the Kanzenban and Bunkoban releases.
Summary[]
Sana visits the Kamura academy with Naozumi, and plans a middle birthday party with Akito.
Plot[]
Akito gets to 6th degree (green belt) in a karate exam, and is congratulated by Sana, Tsuyoshi, and Aya. Sana thinks about how things were settled with her mom, and how before she knew it the seasons changed to autumn.
Naozumi and she make plans to visit the Kamura Academy together, and on the car ride there discuss Sana meeting her birth mother. Naozumi states he doesn't want to find his biological family, because he considers everyone at the Kamura academy to be his real family already.
At the Kamura Academy, Sana feels familiar with the place in spite of not remembering it. The Principal thanks Sana for unknowing helped Naozumi when he was younger, and tells her a story of how as a kid Naozumi cried often and didn't like living there, but after learning that Sana had lived in the academy with him for a time, and watching her act on television, he felt encouraged to pursue acting and be more cheerful. Sana goes to tease Naozumi about this, and compares the two of them to siblings, which Naozumi disagrees with. The other kids interrupt, asking Naozumi to play trumpet, and Sana leaves thinking of how nice a person Naozumi is.
Back at school, Sana asks when Akito's birthday is (wanting to host a party) but Akito says he only wants to visit his mother's grave (as he has every other year). As a compromise, Sana decides they'll celebrate his birthday on a "middle birthday" (the date in between Sana and Akito's birthday) which they learn happens to land on Christmas Eve. At home, Sana declines an acting job pitched by Rei, and let's him know she's considering quitting acting.
It's now December, and Akito is worried about what to gift get Sana for their middle birthday party. He and Tsuyoshi try multiple places, but he leaves empty handed. Now at the middle birthday party, Sana gives Akito her gift, which is a small dinosaur (she assumed he liked them given he has some in his room). Tsuyoshi approves, and Sana lets Akito know she's not offended by his lack of a gift since Tsuyoshi told her how hard he tried. Outside, a stray dog wanders towards the group, and Sana feeds him. Akito watches on, telling Tsuyoshi that he thinks Sana thinks of him like a stray dog. Tsuyoshi meanwhile, warns Akito that Sana won't catch onto Akito's feelings unless he directly tells her.
The party ends, and everyone but Akito leaves. Sana goes outside to see what he's doing, and sees he's building a snowman. He says it's his present to her, and she loves it. She goes on about how they should do the same thing next year, meanwhile Akito is too preoccupied thinking of Tsuyoshi's warning to pay attention. He stands up to look at her, and she patiently awaits what he has to say.
Characters[]
Author's Notes[]
Part II: "It's fun to work most of the time! I love drawing my 30 pages a month of comics, because I get to express ideas with both words and pictures. I think I love coming up with new names the best. I wish I could get a job just doing that! And I can come up with tons of stories, too. I think. What I don't like is doing simple illustrations with no words. I'm not any good at it. But I have to do a lot of those for Ribon Magazine. I know there's a lot of artists to work harder than me, but I'm so selfish, I don't think that knowing about them is going to make my job any easier! Hmph! That's right... I'm the one who created Akito's character. And I'm twisted somehow, too. (bitter smile) Sometimes, it's just hard to stay positive... (To be continued.)"
Part III: "It's hard to stay, positive, but I really love the characters I created in Kodocha, especially Sana and Akito. When I'm all finished, I want to be glad that I made them. I don't want to feel like they made my job hard and then be angry with them for it! So I'm gonna fight my stress and keep going."
Trivia[]
- This chapter was adapted into many episodes.
- Look Out! It's a Pint-Sized Akito! has the Kamura Academy visiting plot line, (albeit with many anime original additions).
- Karate Heart, Quitting Blues riffs on Sana pondering if she should quit acting.
- The Romantic Love Song of Mr. Hayama adapts the scene of Sana asking Akito about his birthday, and sees an anime original plotline where Sana and Tsuyoshi tag along to visit Mrs. Hayama's grave (and adds antics following it).
- Karate and Trumpet Compete for a Kiss is a wholly anime original episode, but it expands on scenes in this chapter. Meanwhile The Special Christmas Kiss faithfully adapts much of the middle birthday portion of this chapter.