It was almost preordained that Mr. and Mrs. Kizuna
(not their real names) would meet and become a couple. Both hailed from a long
pedigree of entertainers, including The Omoiyaris, jugglers extraordinary; The
Mame Twins, with their troupe of ball-balancing otters; as well as the
illustrious careers of The Kikubari Family, singers and reciters of ancient
poetry who, it is said, performed regularly at the royal court for more than a
decade. They formed their double act, The
Kizunas, after their marriage; their repertoire consisted of smooth
romantic ballads, both traditional and recently penned, adapted to be sung in
harmony, which often reached sublime heights. They were not like the brash,
irreverent entertainers of their day, but could be described as being
traditional, some would even say old-fashioned. They were more likely to induce
feelings of warm emotion, of nostalgic togetherness, of neighbourly love,
rather than screams of excitement or dancing in the aisles. The Kizunas almost
always started off their performances with We’re
Together, with its catchy chorus:
You’re my darling, yes you are,
my cute little angel, prettier
than sakura
You’re my beau, yes you are,
my shining warrior, my movie star
But then, as if ushering in a new turn in their
career, they changed their opening number to Kinship, which contained the emotional chorus that was to define
their appeal form now on:
We are all together near and far
We will comfort you wherever you
are
No matter what, no matter where
We will be with you, we will be
there
It was fertile time for The Kizunas to shed their
journeyman-act label and become the duo that everyone loves: the citizens
needed something to comfort them in those times of suffering, discontent, and
poverty. Things began to change little by little for The Kizunas; they were
about to become household names, at least for a time.
