Chapter 51 is the 51st and final chapter of Kodocha, the fifth chapter of the tenth book in the Tankōbon Release, and the eigth chapter of the seventh book in the Kanzenban and Bunkoban releases.
Summary[]
Two years pass, and Sana runs a successful advice radio show with Fuka, in addition to a crisis hotline. Akito wins a junior karate championship, and his hand continues to improve. He visits Tokyo for the first time, and tells everyone he'll be moving back to attend high school with them.
Plot[]
Misako narrates how after Akito's move, Sana has her friends (Tsuyoshi, Aya, and Fuka) over almost every day to study, and she feels back to herself enough that she's no longer going to therapy. Akito's surgery in Los Angeles was a complete success, and he's doing well with physical therapy, learning English, and gets along with Dr. Barns. He and Sana talk at least once a week, and Fuka shares to Sana that she's been in contact with Takaishi (albeit he always calls her, as opposed to the other way around).
Rei narrates how because of her bout of doll syndrome, Sana missed a lot of work and got a lot of bad press. Thanks to this, her one and only gig at the moment is a advice radio show that Rei assumed would be low profile - but ends up being a huge hit thanks to Sana's over the top reactions . Sana finds that she enjoys helping people out so much that she starts a hotline for people who send in specifically concerning problems to call. The radio show's success grows so much that Sana finds she needs help, which leads her to recruit Fuka - who also is a hit thanks to her bluntness contrasting Sana's empathy. Rei is happy to see their bond grow stronger thanks to working on the show together.
Naozumi visits to give Sana a souvenir from his trip to Egypt, where he's happy to see her well - and she apologizes to Naozumi for what happened while she was sick. Naozumi feigns not remembering what she's talking about, and says that his dreams came true already because he got to work with Sana, so he's happy. But even still, he has even more dreams to fulfill and that keeps him busy, and happy - and Sana being happy makes him happy too.
Sana tells her mom about the mass of letters she's received for her radio show, lamenting how many people don't have a support system. She reads a specifically concerning letter (from a listener signing as "T"), and immediately calls her on her hotline phone (to reassuring response).
Sana has tea with her mom, where she tells her she's worried she sometimes takes all the good things in her life for granted - but in the current moment feels so thankful for everything. Misako speaks to her belief in that good people are drawn to other good people, and how Sana has helped all her friends just as much as they've helped her, so she should have more trust in herself and her friendships. This touches Sana, who tells Rei she wants to get back to acting work after finals - and asks if she can use Rei's fax machine.
She uses Rei's fax machine, to send Akito a note that just reads "I am HAPPY!", and Sana thinks about how she wishes everyone could feel as happy as she does. She gets a call from Akito (who just woke up given the time zone difference), inquiring about her fax, and the two talk.
In a skip forward, Sana narrates how she passed her finals, started working again, and Akito's right hand moved for the first time again that next spring. The two are busy with their own things, and are unable to talk as often, but whenever she doubts herself - she reassures herself that Akito is trying hard - so should she.
Akito is now 15, still living in Los Angeles. He wish a junior championship karate cup, and onlookers are surprised to learn he has a disability. He gets interviewed and photographed for a local magazine, and Dr. Barn's other patients congratulate him. Akito puts the trophy he won next to the dinosaur statue Sana gave him.
For Sana, it's November of her third year of junior high. Misako asks Rei how things are between Sana and Akito, and Rei says they haven't talked in awhile. Misako muses how a relationship can be so meaningful in the moment, but then circumstances can change that make it unable to work - she wonders if that's what's happened to Akito and Sana... just then Akito calls, and Sana is delighted to hear from him. Misako overhears Sana learn how he's visiting the very next day, and how he'll be moving back to Japan to attend highschool - and realizes her theory on the two of them drifting apart is false.
The next day, Sana and their friends pick Akito up from the airport, and Sana is relieved at how in spite of it being two years - it feels like nothings changed. He shows the group the feature on him in a local magazine, while concurrently Kazuyuki recieves a copy in the mail - who is happy to see that Akito's hand is coming along. Akito continues telling the group how his hand isn't perfect still, but he can do karate, and it can continue to get better.
Alone, Sana and Akito have a tender moment where they admit how much they've missed each other. The moment is interrupted by Sana getting a call on her hotline phone, which ends up being T - who is in a worrying enough spot that Sana wants to meet up with her. She apologizes to Akito for interrupting their time together, but he says he's happy to see her like this. Sana thinks about how she feels strong given how many people she has who support her, and how if she helps even one person be happy - then she's satisfied.
She meets up with Tsuyoshi, Aya, and Fuka who have come in support of T also. They spot her sitting alone, Sana tells her how they're going to try and get her to feel better - and T smiles softly.
Characters[]
- Sana Kurata
- Akito Hayama
- Fuka Matsui
- Tsuyoshi Sasaki
- Aya Sugita
- Misako Kurata
- Maro
- Shimura
- Rei Sagami
- Naozumi Kamura
- Kazuyuki Komori
- Dr. Barns
- Maeda (mentioned)
- Fuyuki Hayama (mentioned)
- Rina (mentioned)
Author's Notes[]
SPECIAL THANKS CORNER 6! - Ryo Azuki (manga artist).: "Another one who came to my rescue! On the last three chapters, I had too many pages and no time to finish them. He came to help me out, even though he had his own series he was supposed to be working on for Ribon! That was awesome! He's an amazing guy -- he works hard, plays hard, and is always active. I wish I could be like that. You're my hero, Ryo! Thank you so much!"
"I wanted to know more about this character! (heh heh) I'm looking forward to your next manga after Kodocha, so good luck! But you need to take some time off now and then so you can go out with me sometime!" - Ryo Azuki
"So again, thanks to everyone who helped - it's because of all of you that I was able to finish Kodocha! None of this would have been possible on my own. Thank you to everyone who fought the battle with me! Even so, there's a lot of loose ends I wasn't able to really resolve to satisfaction. There my just wasn't enough space left for everything I wanted to do! But I'm happy with what I did with Sana and Akito, and I think I did the very best that I could. So I feel pretty good about how everything turned out. I learned a lot from working on Kodocha - I hope that I can take all the momentum and energy I've gotten from this experience and apply it to my future projects. I think Sana is out there working hard to do her best, too. (And actually, I think she's much more mature than I am, so I'm not too worried about her!) I hope that if you ever get a chance to read another one of my comics, that you'll give it a try, I may not always be perfect, but I'll do my best! My next project is a long one-volume story called "Mansion of Water." It's my version of the movie that Sana and Naozumi appeared in! But remember, although the characters are played by Sana and Naozumi, it's not them! It's Hiroto and Mako, so don't get confused!"
"This is it, everyone. Thank you again for sticking with me all the way until the end! I hope you think about Sana and her friends every once in a while. Oops! I forgot to do my quiz! Back in book one, I promised you a quiz... but I never did it! I promised in book 1 to do it by the last book, but maybe nobody remembers anymore... Maybe 2 or 3 of you...? Well, I completely forgot... heh heh... Come to think of it, I did a little contest you know the front cover of this book, with all of the characters on it? None of my assistants could name all of the characters! Oh well, I can't blame them. I couldn't do it either. I really had trouble with the animals. I know, this will be the question for our quiz show! So, I'd like all you readers to try to name all of the characters on the front cover. (Not all of them have full first and last names, so don't worry. And the principal doesn't have a name. Try to guess which one is the older brother? Heh heh.) So, on the off chance that one of you can name them all, please pat yourself on the back... Hey c'mon... Sorry, no prizes... And feel free to yell out, "I did it, Miss Obana!" I'm sure I'll hear it in my heart. Sorry for being an idiot to the very end. (heh heh) So anyway...GOOD LUCK!"
Trivia[]
- This chapter was never adapted in the anime.