Characters
Hiroto Ikuta is an aloof 29 year old part-time worker who works at the Kanematsu fishing pond after moving out to Tokyo to become an actor, before eventually retiring.
In his time in Tokyo, Hiroto develops an unlikely friendship with an old woman who lives alone and brings her comfort and companionshp until her last days which lead to Hiroto inheriting her house.
Natsumi Kobayashi is an 18 year old freshman student who just got into an art school in Tokyo and moves in with her cousin while she studies there.
Young, and desperate to reinvent herself and make new friends in the big city, Natsumi finds herself stuggling to adjust to the new environment, doubled with her own growing pains, and dreams of being a manga artist.
My Thoughts
Hirayasumi is a book that speaks to me in so many ways that it feels creepy just how much it was meant for me.
I connect a lot with Natsumi while I aspire to be like Hiroto, Natsumi's struggles with people and university and trying to reinvent herself feel like they mirror my own, whereas Hiroto's fairweather attitude and nonchalance about both how he's percieved and life in general are both traits that I desperately wish I had.
And yet, they both in myriad ways are trying to find their ways in life as we meet an ensemble cast with their own unique and interesting personalities. This is a great book, and if you, like me, don't know what you're doing in life, then this book won't get you any further, but it will make you feel a lot better.