Scans: 堂本剛 - ぼくの靴音

Boku no Kutsu Oto was a column of Domoto Tsuyoshi's that ran in Myojo from 1999-2005. After it ended, all the essays were collected into a book and released. I wish I could offer up the original articles, actually, because they had a much prettier format, but this will have to do. Also, I FAIL AT SCANNING THINGS, so I apologize for the sketchy quality. It's plenty readable, I promise. :)


Contents:



Download: MU / MF: Part 1 Part 2
(357 MB, ~300 pages)
If anyone prefers a different hosting site, let me know which one and I'll upload there too.
I am not fussy about credit, so feel free to do what you like with these.


Personal Notes: I'm still about 100 pages from finishing this book - I'm a slow reader :( - but from what I've seen so far it's surprisingly uplifting. Much like Tsuyoshi's song lyrics, these pieces tend to be very bittersweet. His ability to mix sadness and hope together is pretty impressive. In a way it's like a rollercoaster - he throws you into depression and then picks you up again in the last few lines.

Naturally, he talks about the people around him quite a lot. So far I've run into guest appearances from: Domoto Koichi, Yoshida Takuro, Yoshida Ken, Shinohara Tomoe, Tsuchiya Kohei, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Tanaka Naoki, Mori Kazuya, Akiyama Jun, Matsumoto Jun, Ninomiya Kazunari, Imai Tsubasa, Okada Junichi, Inohara Yoshihiko, Joushima Shigeru, Kokubun Taichi, Tsuyoshi's mother, several unnamed friends, and quite a few random acquaintances. I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting. Oh, and of course, Kenshirou. ♥

Some of these essays are silly. Some of them are painful. But they are all a beautiful display of personality, and they allow you to follow Tsuyoshi's search for self-identity over the years, to feel his overwhelming love for music, and to witness his sometimes wavering but always present strength. It's easy to lose sight of amidst all his phobias and sentimentality and quirkiness, but he truly seems to be a strong person. Not in the traditional sense of the word, perhaps, but in the mere fact that he accepts his weaknesses and fights through them. Ummmmm, anyway, Tsuyoshi turns me into a gigantic sap, so I'm going to stop now. I hope he's having a lovely 31st birthday. :)