Boku no Giovanni - Vol. 4 Ch. 24 - Distant Sky

[MangaDex]

 

[NyanNyan]

Tezuka said Ikumi is his friend 😭

 

[Mewth]

Friend.... Say that to ikumi, Tetsuo. He may crack a good cry.

 

[Headphones13]

The moment I read "The Milky Way Railroad", I had to stop, think and then pray it wasn't what I thought it was. After reading further, it is indeed the novel "Night on The Galactic Railroad", one of the most depressing stories I have come across. I have only watched the animated film when I was younger, but I don't think I'll be able to read the original novel, considering how sad it made me feel. Look it up at your own risk. Considering its contents and the fact that the main character in the novel is named Giovanni, it gives the entire chapter another layer of depth.
Thank you once again for the translation and congratulations on another complete volume! Hopefully we will have more news from the author by the time you are done with volume 5!

 

[Wheatshizle]

He still thinks of him as his friend...

Don't look I'm wiping away my tears.

 

[Violistofhameln]

It's so rough because Tetsuo seems to have processed his emotions from that time and moved on, which is why he can say that he's his friend, but obviously Ikumi hasn't... and doesn't know how to T_T. After all,

Spoiler

Tetsuo tried to be chatty a few chapters back and Ikumi basically rejected him

. So maybe Tetsuro can figure out how to repair the situation... he had looked into PTSD regarding Ikumi back when they were kids, so he might be able to help him work through it now that it's his job. It also helps that Yuriko forced Tetsuo to form friendships with other kids in Italy, which made him grow as a person and learn how to relate to others. But Ikumi only further isolated himself since then, in addition to being signed on as a child star (essentially) with the agency, which would deprive him more of having a normal childhood.

@Headphones13 I wasn't familiar with the story prior to translating this chapter, but I read it to help understand the reference. It definitely adds some element of possible foreshadowing... I don't know if the animated movie ends this way, but

Spoiler

the thing that worries me the most is how at the end of the story, Campanella vanishes to join his dead mother in the sky. With the two characters in the story, it seems like Tetsuo would be Giovanni and Campanella would be Ikumi

Regardless, it is a well done reference, but really sad.

 

[pinkeree]

Ahh tetsuo’s face when he called Ikumi a friend makes me feel melancholy, I really hope for the day when both of them can call each other friends again and just chill together can come the fact that Ikumi still vividly remembers the past is just such a sad indicator of how much he misses those days and was probably deeply hurt from that moment.

@Violistofhameln the way I interpretted it, and it might just be my wishful thinking

Spoiler

was for Tetsuo to be Campanella and Ikumi to be Giovanni. As Campanella dies, Giovanni desperately clings onto the idea of him being alive and them being together, and Campanella helps Giovanni learn to accept his death and move on. So, Tetsuo who has already moved on would help Ikumi accept the past and move on as well, so that his life would proceed as normal. The only thing I’m worried about is how the two are inevitably separated at the end. I really hope that doesn’t happen to Tetsuo and Ikumi. I might be off though because I havent read the actual novel before

 

[Violistofhameln]

@pinkeree I could see that way working out as well, though either way it’s sad . From the beginning of the series,

Spoiler

I’ve seen Tetsuo as the “Giovanni” in the title because he’s Ikumi’s Giovanni — just as Tetsuo was inspired and driven by Giovanni Bazzoni, so Ikumi was inspired and driven by Tetsuo. Which is why I then linked him to Giovanni in the Galactic Railroad. But I could see Hozumi reversing it as well.

I just like... don’t want anybody to die T_____T.