Wave, Listen to Me! is a series published in Monthly Afternoon, and follows the sharp-tongued protagonist, Tsumura Minare, who is tricked out of 500,000 yen by her ex-boyfriend and becomes involved in a radio show after a certain incident. While it is a completely different genre to the blood-splattering style of the author's signature work, Blade of the Immortal, there are some similarities in the sense of dialogue and the crisp, quick-witted plot developments. So, this time I would like to announce my own arbitrary and biased ranking of the sharpest quotes from Wave, Listen to Me!.
Wave, Listen to Me! Famous Quotes Ranking: 1st Place: "Mitsuo! I'll hunt you down and kill you to the ends of the earth!!"
Minare Tsumura, a straightforward but somewhat troublesome woman who works at the curry shop VOYAGER, gets drunk and complains endlessly to a stranger about how a man tricked her and stole 500,000 yen from her. She then returns home with no memory of what happened after that. The next day, she notices that her exact voice is being broadcast on the radio from the curry shop where she works, so she interrupts her duties and goes to the radio station to attack.
Welcome to the World of Radio
Waiting for her at the radio station is Kenji Asato, the old man who listened to Minare's complaints yesterday. Minare joins the live radio broadcast, but Asato bluffs her into talking on the radio, saying, "There's a three-second rule in radio. Three seconds of silence is a broadcast accident, and eight seconds is a broadcast disaster." Minare, desperate to say something, mixes in the terminology of her own speech with self-deprecating remarks and concludes with, "Mitsuo! I'll hunt you down and kill you to the ends of the earth!!" This seemingly accidental broadcast marks Minare's radio debut.
Wave, Listen to Me! Quotes Ranking #2: "When I'm truly exhausted, I'll appear before you again. Until then, goodbye!"
After being handed a cruel ultimatum by her manager at a curry shop, Minare was on the verge of becoming penniless, with no savings or work, and was fired after the summer festival. After drinking, she started complaining to her coworker Nakahara about all the things she wanted to say. Nakahara, a very nice guy, had somehow fallen for Minare.
Uncool parting shot
Nakahara suggests coming over to her house, but Minare rambles on about wanting to keep their relationship casual, whether it's because she's had bad experiences with men in the past or because she can't see Nakahara as more than a coworker. She then tells Nakahara, "When I'm truly exhausted, I'll come back to you. Until then, goodbye!" " He utters a parting shot that sounds cool but isn't cool at all, and then leaves the room. Minare is pretty much a terrible person, too.
Wave, Listen to Me! Famous Quotes #3: "Don't take what trash says seriously. Live a life that earns people's respect."
Minare was talking to her mother on the phone. By chance, Minare told her father about her current radio appearance, and he gave her some kind of encouraging advice: "No matter what job you do, become someone who people around you laugh at. That's the most important thing." He then tells his mother about it over the phone.
Don't listen to the words of trash
However, upon hearing his words, her mother says with great passion: "Don't take trash's words seriously. Live a life that earns people's respect." Her father may sound like he's a noble man, but Minare actually sees him as a carefree person. Later, Minare encounters an incident that brings her mother's words to life.
Wave, Listen to Me! Quotes Ranked #4: "Read Kotooshū's Blog and Be Healed"
As the Nami yo Kiite Kure broadcast progresses, Minare, as always, ends up broadcasting a free-spirited radio show in which she answers love questions in a situation where she finds herself in a "15-meter-distance brown bear, five seconds away from being attacked." However, despite being told to do so in a situation where there's a brown bear right in front of her, that she confessed her feelings to a coworker and got rejected, and that she's so awkward and on the verge of death that she pays a lot of taxes to the country and yet still gets treated like this, life is a shitty game after all, Minare, who is on the verge of death, replies: "Please read Kotooshū's blog and find healing."
What is Kotooshū's blog?
The blog of former Bulgarian-born sumo wrestler, Kotoshogi Katsunori, uses a mix of kanji and hiragana, and the content may appear a little clumsy. However, Kotoshogi's blog, which is completely free of the harsh elements of modern society and somehow conveys a kind personality, is very soothing for those who are worn down by the harshness of modern society. It seems that Kotoshogi's blog also received a lot of attention after being featured in this work.
Wave, Listen to Me! Famous Quotes Ranked #5: "Water bubbles, there's no justice left on our side..."
Minare Tsumura's radio show, Wave, Listen to Me!, takes the stance of broadcasting on a completely free theme each time. However, since Minare decides the content herself, she's having trouble finding the right material. So, she turns to her curry shop colleague, Nakahara-kun, and Jouka Makie, the lookalike of the show's strongest swordsman, for advice.
Justice is on My Side
Makie suggested opening up the job to the general public, which led to a suggestion to try recruiting through the curry shop's social media. However, for Minare, working at the curry shop was like insurance in case the radio show didn't work out. She planned to avoid being fired by exploiting the manager's weakness, the shop being closed due to a traffic accident. However, if it was discovered that she had used the shop's social media for her own personal purposes for the radio show, the manager would surely fire her. She really wanted to do it, but she couldn't do it because she wanted to exploit the manager's weakness. At that moment, Minare uttered a single word. Justice never begins.
[Listen to the Waves, Please!] Ranking of Famous Quotes
Listen to the Waves, Please! is a show with a brilliant sense of language, but every time, the characters get caught up in absurd situations and create an incredible radio show. However, along the way, there are many sharp and memorable quotes. I think that sense is what makes this show so appealing. After the anime, maybe a live-action adaptation will follow? I feel like this would be a success, too! The anime will begin airing in April 2020!
