Episode title

Haru kaze tokkyuu

[a special express spring wind]

Air date

1993.04.23

Guest Voice Actors

Remi (Mizutani Yuko)

• Summary by Pascal Janin, 1993.10.21
• Editing by Hitoshi Doi, 1993.11.05
• The character design has hopefully changed back from the ugly one of episode 15 to the 'good old one'. - P-chan

As everybody comes to congratulate Tomomi, a girl is also looking at her from the school building afar. She is holding a shoe box. With a smile, she then looks at a picture on the wall, probably taken 1 year ago [there is the date "H 4 5 15" written below] on which she and Kurashige congratulate another girl who had won the race that year, and says to the girl on the picture: "It's ok, Remi?".

[It sounds strange to me because such a first name "Remi", in French, is for boys only :) ]

Then she remembers the spurt of that race, the national race. The girl on the picture had the number 7 and was the only one to wear red shoes. Even though her friends [ie the girl who is looking at Tomomi and Kurashige, both on the picture] and all her classmates were cheering her on, she wanted to concentrate on the race and even closed her eyes not to miss the starting shot. Then the race began.

Back to the present time. Tomomi is refreshing herself, splashing cold water on her face, with Noda and Yamagishi nearby. Noda gives her a towel to wipe her face, and Yamagishi offers his services for a massage on Tomomi's legs, which makes Noda upset. Then the girl (who was looking at Tomomi earlier), Sarashina-senpai, comes by, carrying the same shoe box that she gives to Tomomi as a present. Inside, Tomomi recognizes Remi-senpai's red shoes.

Remi had given her shoes to Sarashina when she moved to another school. Remi was holding the record of the race, and since Tomomi was today's winner, Sarashina thinks it would be nice to give Remi's shoes to Tomomi in turn now, even if a new record hasn't been broken today.

Tomomi looks very proud and delighted to have received Remi's shoes, but when she touches them, everything around her becomes blue and she starts to hear strange sounds and see strange images in her head: the roar of the spectators, and a girl with the number 7 [we don't see her face] running and breathing hard. It becomes so painful that she takes her head in her hands, letting the shoe box drop, and starts crying in pain. Mikage hears her cry telepathically too (from the chemistry club where she is practicing) while her flower shines briefly.

Noda, Yamagishi and Sarashina gather closer around Tomomi and ask her what's wrong; Mikage, using telepathy, asks her what that cry was about too, but Tomomi says it was nothing, and she has just felt a bit dizzy. She picks up the shoes, and looks at them strangely.

Another place, on the beach. Remi is resting on her scooter, looking at the sea. She remembers an arm-wrestling match against Kageura-sensei at school, that she won (Kageura was wearing a silly "power snake" outfit). She even smashed his hand so hard against the wooden desk that she punched a large hole in it.

That's the desk that Tomomi, Sarashina, Noda and Yamagishi are looking at right now. Sarashina says that she got no news from Remi since she moved, and wonders how she is doing now.

Then Tomomi tries to put Remi's shoes on. Sarashina is worried about the size of the shoes, but Tomomi says they are almost fine. As she finishes lacing them, the strange sounds and pictures are back in her head. She hears now a girl (whose voice she doesn't recognize) crying. So does Mikage, telepathically, startling her.

Then Tomomi's legs seems to move on their own, out of control. She gets up against her will and starts running around frantically. She yells and asks Noda to help and stop her, but he is kicked away by Tomomi's legs when he tries to grab and hold her. Sarashina and Yamagishi really wonder what's happening, but Noda feels like that's a serious matter, and asks Yamagishi for help.

Tomomi is 'taken' outside by her legs. There, Mikage, visibly upset, has come to see (and scold) Tomomi, but just sees her passing in front of her, running, unable to stop, followed by Noda and Yamagishi. Sarashina is now really worried about Tomomi.

In the school yard, Tomomi is still running faster and faster against her will, when she hears the mysterious voice in her head again. That girl's voice says, "I have to run.. but the goal seems too far away.."

On the beach, Remi, with a vague look, complains to herself that she has nothing to do.

In the school yard, Tomomi is still running, unable to stop, crying for help.

[CM break]

Tomomi, still running, now very tired and almost out of breath, crosses a street at a pedestrian crossing at full speed, followed a few seconds later by Noda and Yamagishi. Yamagishi asks Noda if Tomomi isn't making fun of them, but Noda retorts that Tomomi can't make such a fuss, so it must be serious.

A moment later, Mikage, running after them all, manages to cross the street too but the pedestrians light is red now and she almost gets run over by cars. Resting a bit to get her breath back, she asks again Tomomi, telepathically, what the hell it is about, but Tomomi replies she doesn't even know herself.

Tomomi now arrives, out of breath, at a railroad crossing, whose gate is closed as a train is coming. Mikage asks Tomomi where she is now, she says she is in the 3rd district, just before the train station. Then Tomomi's flower starts to shine again, and her legs start to shake as if they wanted to run again. At the same time, Tomomi sees a red light in her head and feels a sharp pain in her chest, and the same voice from that mysterious girl, saying, "I can't move my legs any more.." Then Tomomi, and at the same time the girl, think to themselves, "What can I do ?.."

Then the 'camera' moves up and we see that the girl, running with the number 7, is Remi. She seems to be in a very bad shape, very tired and out of breath, just like Tomomi now. Tomomi hears Kurashige's voice:

Kurashige: Go! It's going to be a new record, Remi!
Remi: No.. I can't run any more..

Then the trains passes by, waking up Tomomi, 'turning off' her flower. Tomomi's legs have eventually stopped moving by themselves, so she decides, with a determined look, to try to run by her own will now.

Mikage is still running after her twin sister but she is not very good at sports and has to stop to get her breath back. Then Sarashina comes by, riding her own scooter, and offers Mikage a ride on the back seat. Mikage tells Sarashina that there's something they didn't tell her, but Sarashina says that's ok, having some secrets. She also tells Mikage, with a smile, how much she envies her for having a twin sister.

Noda and Yamagishi are taking a ride on the back of a truck, but both complain that they don't know where the truck will take them.

Tomomi, now running on her own, hears again in her head Remi's voice, saying, "I can't run any more.. my chest hurts so much.." At the same time the shadow of Remi mixes with Tomomi's body, as if the two girls were running and experiencing the same feelings at the same time. Then Tomomi sees the shadow of Remi, running a bit farther in front of her, while she hears Remi's friends' voices (Sarashina and Kurashige), supporting her. Then "Remi" vanishes.

A moment later, Sarashina and Mikage eventually spot Tomomi, still running. Mikage scolds her and asks her to stop, but she says she can't. Then Sarashina and Mikage see the shadow of Remi mixing with Tomomi, and at the same time Remi's voice saying, "I can't run any more.. my chest hurts so much.. I'm so sorry everyone." Sarashina is startled to see Remi in Tomomi.

In the present time, Remi has left the beach and is now resting against a guard rail along the street, still looking at the sea. She then hears somebody coming, turns her head, and sees, much to her surprise, herself, coming, running the race that day, with her number 7, almost out of breath. "Remi", whose shadow is now transforming back into Tomomi, collapses in front of Remi, followed by Sarashina and Mikage on the scooter. They rush to see if Tomomi is all right, and Sarashina realizes that Remi is standing in front of them. They are very happy to meet each other again.

Remi says that when she was wearing these red shoes for that race, that day, at the same spot, she was in the same really really bad shape. Then Tomomi gets up, gives the shoes back to Remi, and starts running again [with no shoes]. Remi takes the shoes and starts running after Tomomi, yelling at her that if Tomomi likes running so much, she should keep these shoes. Mikage and Sarashina follow them with the scooter.

[At this time in the anime, the track 5 of the BGM CD is being played.]

At first, Remi becomes quickly out of breath, but soon recovers the proper breathing rhythm, and she and Tomomi now run side by side, smiling.

A bit farther, Sarashina and Mikage are waiting for them to come. Sarashina tells Mikage that this place was where the goal of the national race was. She remembers when Remi crossed the goal line, winning the race.

Now Remi and Tomomi have stopped and are taking a rest, on all fours in the sea. Remi says it's been one year and a half since she won the race with these red shoes.

Noda and Yamagishi, very tried, eventually meet them on the beach. Mikage wants to help them but they start to tease her instead, so she chases them, angrily.

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