A Sunflower and a Girl

Yuriko in the frontispiece, with a different design than in the interior artwork.

### Original Run

August 1958

**A Sunflower and a Girl** (ひまわりと少女) is a 1958 one-shot by Fujio Akatsuka, published in Shueisha's *Ribon* magazine.

## Overview

Yuriko and her mother have moved from Tokyo out to the Tohoku region, but she soon experiences hardships in living out in an unfamiliar place. Even with the bright spots in her life, bad luck seems to pile up on her to when the ultimate tragedy occurs, she finds herself suddenly meeting a "Sunflower Fairy" one day and becoming convinced that she must protect the sunflower that the woman appeared around.

However, the nature of the Fairy may be something more meaningful to Yuriko than she realizes in her grief, as the story unfolds further.

Although the appearance of Yuriko in the frontispiece gives her a large hair ribbon and an outfit identical to that of Sacchan (of the Shojo Book one-shot *Sacchan*) and later that of Misuzu in Mother's Song, she looks somewhat different and younger within the actual story.

## Characters

### Yuriko

A nice but vulnerable and timid little girl who's come to live in the Tohoku countryside with her mom. Her weakness makes her a target for bullying by Shouta, but she is grateful to have a friend like Yoshino and enjoys spending time with her in the flower fields.

After Yoshino's death, she winds up distraught and calling out for her, and believing she hears the other girl's spirit speaking to her in turn during the outdoor funeral procession. Upon returning to the field where she and Yoshino would hang out, she discovers a giant sunflower along with a young woman who comforts her over her friend's untimely passing.

The "Sunflower Fairy" instills a new confidence in her and gives her a new goal, but she ultimately becomes ill while trying to stay out with the sunflower in the rain to protect it from Shouta. She later senses its death when Shouta cuts it and is horrified to see its fate, crying out for the fairy and for Yoshino.

Yet in the end, when Yuriko arrives home, she is greated with a surprise when she sees the "Fairy" waiting for her with good news.

### Yuriko's Mother

A simple, gentle woman living with her daughter in the country. She is the one to inform Yuriko of Yoshino's untimely death, shortly after the incident in the rain.

### Shouta-kun

A squat, shaved-head bully who beats up and torments Yuriko at school, and is assisted by a taller, skinnier henchman. He hates how Yoshino interferes with his ideas to bully Yuriko, and takes out his anger on her in turn. This comes to a head when he violently beats up Yoshino in the rain for attempting to defend Yuriko yet again, resulting in Yoshino's sickness and death.

He does even further grief to Yuriko by using her illness to take advantage of going out to cut the beloved sunflower that she set out to protect. The final panel of the story, however, has him and his lackey silently and miserably watching the train carrying Yuriko departing from the countryside, taking her off to a better future.

### Yoshino

A young girl in Yuriko's class who scolds Shouta for his ways and shows kindness to her. She tries to instill confidence in Yuriko, but is also beaten up and bullied by the very kids she tries to defend Yuriko from. When Yuriko undergoes another brutal beating by Shouta amidst a storm, Yoshino intervenes at the cost of being hurt even more and dying shortly after.

Her name last comes up in the story when Yuriko calls out a final farewell on the train back to Tokyo.

### "The Sunflower Fairy"

A woman that resembles an older Yuriko, who laughs a "Hohoho" in her speech. She wears a long dress and a straw hat, and gives Yuriko inspiring words about the sunflower and reminding her to protect it.

Yuriko hallucinates the Fairy calling out to her in her sleep later on, and senses the flower is in danger. Upon seeing it cut, she despairs of its death, but finds the Fairy at her home when she returns. It turns out that the Fairy is in fact Yuriko's older sister, who had come to the countryside and decided to cheer Yuriko up in her grief, with the young girl believing her to be some supernatural figure due to her sadness and misunderstanding. This older sister informs her that she came from Tokyo, and that their father is waiting for them all back there.

Ultimately, Yuriko, her mother, and older sister all depart on a train headed to Tokyo.

## Reprints

* Shogakukan: Reprinted as part of the "1950s" book in the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set
* eBookJapan: Reprinted in the "1950s" eBook