Ikebukuro West Gate Park, which became famous as a TV drama series, is based on a short story written by Ishida Ira, which won the 36th All Yomimono Mystery Novel Newcomer Award. This work, which has been developed in many ways including novels, TV dramas, comics, and stage plays, deals with various social issues and is characterized by many stories that refer to real events. The screenplay for the TV drama version was written by Kudo Kankuro, and the chief director was Tsutsumi Yukihiko. It has also been decided that it will be made into an anime in July 2020, and IWGP will once again attract attention. This time, we would like to introduce the heroine, Shibusawa Hikariko.
Character Profile of Shibusawa Hikariko
Her real name is Shibusawa Hikariko, and she calls herself Hikaru. She is a student at a girls' school, and her father is a symphony orchestra conductor and her mother works at a university, so she is the daughter of a wealthy family. Her parents are away from home, and she lives alone in a mansion.
She is cheerful, jealous, and cries easily when something happens. She has a trauma from the past, and sometimes shows a dark side.
She becomes Makoto's girlfriend, but that happens in the middle of the story, and at first it was unrequited love.
She is played by Kato Ai, who is still beautiful, but was very cute when she was young.
Meeting Makoto
In "Strawberry Chapter" (Episode 1), Hikaru, who was hanging out with Rika, meets Makoto, Masa, and Shun, who are hanging out at Ikebukuro West Exit Park. The two are interested in Shun's paintings, but are angered by Makoto and the others' cold attitude.
However, when Shun draws a portrait of her, the drawing is so good that the five of them decide to go out together, and after that the five of them start hanging out together.
Hikaru shows her ladylike side by giving presents to Makoto, Masa, and Shun, but Makoto tells her to stop.
"If you like me, you don't have to do that, I'll play with you," Makoto tells Hikaru, and she falls completely in love with him.
Nickname is Shiitake
In "Shiitake no kai" (episode 4), Makoto and his friends decide to investigate the drug dealer Hebii. They use Hikaru as a decoy to contact Hebii. When Hikaru calls Hebii, he is asked his name and immediately replies "Shiitake."
When he was in middle school, a bad friend tricked him into eating shiitake mushrooms, which he thought were magic mushrooms, and he got high. He tells everyone that since then, he has been nicknamed "Shiitake."
Also, maybe Hebii isn't alone? He is suspected of being a stalker and asked to say something embarrassing, and he does something embarrassing, even making the face to say "Dafunda," which makes Makoto and the others burst out laughing.
Making a cute girl do something embarrassing... I can understand Mr. Hebi's feelings (lol)
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Hikaru with a secret side
Hikaru is constantly being chased by a stalker, and his house is ransacked and he is victimized many times throughout the story, but the culprit is never identified.
There are many aspects of Hikaru that are shrouded in mystery, such as the occasional interactions he has with Yamai.
There are two portraits of Hikaru that Shun drew just before he was killed. One shows Hikaru with a gentle expression. The other shows Hikaru with a frightening expression, his feelings of hatred clearly visible.
What does this mean? What did Shun see? What was he trying to communicate?
Makoto, who was curious about this portrait, met Hikaru's mother and was shown the portrait, which explained to him that Hikaru has multiple personalities... but Makoto interprets "trauma" as "tiger" and "horse" and thinks they are twins (lol)
The painful past that gave birth to another
Hikaru hates the song "String Serenade". In fact, it was his favorite song when he was a child. His father, who was a conductor of a symphony orchestra, sexually abused Hikaru. Hikaru was interested in music, so he would buy her records and sexually tease her. Hikaru's mother, who found out about this, blamed her husband, but he left the house while eating crab, and his father has not been seen since.
This childhood trauma caused him to hate "string serenades" and he developed multiple personalities. The scene where his father was eating crab was quite impactful and showed a lot of perversion.
Hikaru Learns the Truth
Hikaru gets Makoto to film another version of himself, and when he is shown the video, he learns that he is a multiple personality and the mastermind behind the murders of Rika and Shun.
It was a shock when we found out that Hikaru was the cause of the many incidents that had rocked Ikebukuro.
Hikaru was so shocked that he was speechless. Makoto tried to encourage him, but he couldn't bear it and he jumped off a building to commit suicide.
Hikaru met a sad end, but...
Hikaru somehow managed to survive, but he received counseling at a sanatorium and began to aim for reintegration into society.
The conflict between the G Boys and the Black Angels ended, peace came to Ikebukuro, and everyone was living happily, but Hikaru was nowhere to be seen, which was a bit sad.
There is a cardboard box full of fruit next to Hikaru in the sanatorium, and we can see that Makoto regularly sends her fruit.
Makoto feels responsible for declaring that she is his girlfriend, and has resolved to walk this path together with Hikaru. Makoto's feelings are likely what motivates Hikaru.
Hikaru was also encouraged to write as part of her counseling, and in the "Soup Chapter" (special), she becomes a popular author, writing a novel about her past and Makoto and the others.
We get closer to Shibusawa Mitsuko (Hikaru), the heroine and key figure in the story! Summary
What did you think?
Kato Ai's acting is excellent, as she fits both the cute, crybaby Hikaru and the cold, scary Hikaru.
In the beginning, she was seen as something like Makoto's girlfriend, but I never expected her to be the most important character...
With this in mind, if you rewatch from the beginning, you might find it interesting in a different way.
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