“Fortune and misfortune are intertwined”
Bullet Train“Fortune and misfortune are intertwined” is an old saying that Nanao recalls as the train moves through tunnels. The phrase gives shape to a brief alternation of darkness and light, but Nanao immediately sets that balance against his own sense that misfortune has predominated.
The Saying in the Tunnel
After explaining the situation to Tangerine, Nanao leans against the window, gripping his phone as though waiting for a call from a lover. The train plunges into a tunnel; when the scenery returns, he feels the air rush back. Another tunnel follows almost at once. He experiences the repeated dives and returns as a sequence of opposites: dark and light, bad luck and good luck. It is in this interval, between his call and Tangerine’s return call, that the old saying comes to mind.
Nanao’s Qualification
The saying proposes an interweaving of fortune and misfortune, but Nanao does not take the alternation as proof that his own fortunes are balanced. He adds that, in his case, there has mostly been misfortune. The scene therefore holds the proverb and his personal assessment together without resolving the tension: the train repeatedly surfaces from darkness, while Nanao remains unconvinced that good luck has meaningfully offset his bad luck. As Tangerine calls back, Nanao is buying tea from the refreshments trolley, and the conversation resumes amid this ordinary interruption.
