Shigofumi - 10: It’s a Wonderful Life.

Loli’ Fumika is so adorable.

Human has a field of view of about 46°. That’s just a little more than 1/8 of the entire field. Of course, if we would just turn our head, we would gain the other 7/8. However, us human are often so occupied with the 1/8, that we’ve become stiff-necked.

Seeing only so little, that is when we start to miss the meaning of our lives.

The message of Shigofumi 10 is essentially the message of the movie It’s a wonderful life.
Both Takehiko and George Bailey live what seemed like a life in failure until they slowly discover the true impact of their lives in the lives of others.

I’m sorry Mr. Hansen. This is my first time. Honest!

Takehiko was over 30 years old with no family of his own and worked in a job that had lost meaning to him, which he quickly quit. He felt inferior to his peers, and his dream and passion had been mocked by his parents. To top it all, he found out he had cancer. With no future, no self-confidence, no family support, he had given up on life.

Ninja theme restaurant — where can I find one?

In his low point in life, he met Fumika. Not the Shigofumi mail-woman Fumika but another kid with the same name. Quickly, spending time with her had helped him to rediscover his passion in video games and why he became a game designer. It made him felt young again. He even tried to take on two teenagers on a parking lot.

However, life continued to take a downturn for him. He got beaten up by those teenagers. Then he got arrested under the suspicion of approaching an underaged Fumika.

Animal Crossing?

Fortunately, his ex-coworkers verified his story with the police, and he was released. Later on that night, as he drove Fumika home, the car broke down on the highway. They both got out of the car to look for help. On their way, Fumika showed him a game she was playing — a game which he had gone through many hardships and trials to finish. He then realized what the reward of his works was: To see people being happy from his works.

He had finally found his purpose.

It’s not about what you draw but whom you draw for.

This is particularly touching to me. Let’s face it. This world has all kinds of sufferings, many of which are often senseless and completely random. For the sufferers, what purpose is there for their sufferings at all? But my friend, I like to remind you as this episode has to me: Often the meanings of our lives lie in places we might not have not seen yet.

But surely they are there.

Takehiko was fortunate that he saw the fruit of his works before he died. But many of us are not so fortunate. We may not see it in our lifetime, but surely the happiness of someone after us is the result of it. In this sense, we leave our legacy and find our purpose.

Arigatou