Waking up from another dream, I open my wet eyelids
I curse my helplessness from those far days which dreadfully remain
Will this despair that burns my body feed me someday?
I keep burning myself from it as I crave adoration
Your eyes with glittering stars in them
All dried up, poor thing, a lack of love?
A dazzling light that saves all from loneliness
Is this shadow that falls only on me because of you?
You have given me a fatal flaw
Selfish giant star, ruined lives
Please, let me hear your voice
Even these tangled and twisted wounds
You're the only one who gave them to me
Please, keep your eyes on me
I'll weaponize even the pain carved by fate
So that it can light the regrets from sometime
Without you, I cannot live anymore
I would sacrifice anything for you
I can't get enough of your love
What should I use to fill in what's missing?
Fatal, fatal, fatal love
Fatal, fatal, fatal I
Fatal, fatal, fatal sorrow
Keep your eyes on me, my dearest fatale!
My dearest fatale
Sensei... please, just hear me out...
Raida-san!
What?! What is it?!
Among the departing crowd...
was Tokyo Blade author Abiko-sensei!
Bring her here!
Y-yes, sir!
Hospitality... I need to show hospitality!
Green
Tea
Umameshiya
bento
Gee, I never imagined
you'd come see the show, Sensei...
I would've gotten you a ticket had you reached out.
Well, what did you think of our play?
So that's what plays are like nowadays, huh?
It was nothing like I thought it'd be.
It will be a great reference when I write the script.
O-oh, I'm delighted to hear that.
quiver
Why, to think you're personally writing the script...
I can't wait to read it!
quiver
The cast and crew will also be pleased
to have it crafted by the manga author herself.
Still, you are the only one who
can do something, Raida-san.
Sensei.
Let's have a heart-to-heart.
Right now, I'm in a very weak position.
If I don't maintain good relations with the publisher,
I won't be able to secure future jobs.
Among the author's personal rights that
a writer holds is the right of integrity,
Author's Personal Rights:
Rights that protect the author
from being hurt emotionally.
Right of Integrity:
(The right to prohibit alterations without permission.)
The right to not have the content or title of your
work altered (changed, omitted, etc.) against
your will and without your permission.
so without your permission, Sensei,
we absolutely can't stage a Tokyo Blade play.
Exercising the right of integrity is,
of course, something you are entitled to.
But, I ask you please bear this in mind.
It is completely and utterly possible that
the script you write will be used exactly as is.
Well... that doesn't bother me at all.
No, please think it over carefully.
Even if the script you write is awful, there's a chance
it'll go ahead as is to give the actors time to rehearse.
Say there was a gifted novelist...
If they were to draw manga storyboards for
the very first time, would they score a perfect 100?
Of course not.
It's the same with stage-play scripts!
However much of a genius manga artist you may be, you
won't be able to write an exceptional one right off the bat!
I'll say it one more time.
If you wield your personal rights as an author,
it's possible we'll use your script just as you turn it in.
It'll likely end up as a sluggish, middling play.
Are you threatening me?
That goes both ways, doesn't it?
Bargaining of this sort is nothing new for me!
I've got to protect the jobs of more
than 100 people involved with the play!
I approach my job ready to **** the **** of
a geezer or two if that's what it takes!
How filthy... What the heck is that about?
You saw the show just now, right?
The script for it was written by GOA-kun.
Will you please trust in the work he does?
Meet them halfway.
Media franchises are collaborative works.
They're a collection of tasks that
you can't accomplish alone.
I'll Go With Sweet Today
Episode 6: "The Stalker Finally Bears His Fangs! The One Who Saves the Solitary Girl Is..."
Alright. I'll trust in the work of a professional.
However, I do have one condition.
I see...
So that's how things stand.
We'll share the text on the cloud in real-time.
Abiko-sensei and GOA-kun will talk
here as they go about revising it.
As the producer, this is
the best setup I'm able to sign off on.
Well, let's jump right into it.
Alright. Please go ahead.
Okay then, take it from page 1.
Abiko-sensei, to start, you don't like how
Princess Saya has ended up belligerent, right?
By doing this, the original creator and scriptwriter
will either become friendly or sour on each other.
Well, I think other characters besides Princess Saya are off in spots.
Many such sessions have led to disputes that wrecked
projects, so as a mediator, this is a totally ill-advised plan.
Got it. Then, let's knock that into shape as we proceed.
But, well, I doubt things can get any worse!
There's nothing to lose, so ahead and fight it out!
About the part with Blade and the villagers,
I want to revert their exchange back to how it is in the manga.
You mean including the lines that come
after "If you get involved with me..."?
That said, I do have one major point of concern...
If we do that, we'll have to restore Ido's passage as well.
I feel like it'll be rather long...
Well then...
What's going to happen? God only knows...
You can cut the scene where Blade defeats the ruffians.
Instead, during the subsequent battle with Tsurugi,
we'll add some lines that make it so Tsurugi
is able to grasp Blade's personality.
Wouldn't doing so deviate from how things
unfold in the manga quite a bit?
That's fine. The core of the characters is what's important.
So long as those don't change, it's okay to do whatever.
I see...
I'm starting to get a better idea
of the extent of what you'll allow.
In that case, how about after the battle, Blade
rests his sword on this shoulder and speaks?
Oh, that totally works. You're getting it now.
Then, we'll go with this here...
Huh? Why?
It might be hard to picture if
you don't know how the stage works,
but moving in front of the screens as they converse
should bring out a sense of traveling.
Makes sense...
That would work.
I lack that kind of knowledge and experience.
Well, this's how I make my living.
Whether or not I look it, I'm in high demand.
That reminds me, I saw a play you wrote the script for.
Oh... What did you think?
Well, I...
really quite liked it.
That's the kind of stuff I usually write!
Please bring out that feeling in the Tokyo Blade play, too!
Are you sure? That will alter the vibe quite a bit.
That's fine - just fine. Let's keep on
playing up your strengths.
Well then, let's get through this part using stage effects.
Cut this part, too.
We can also cut this line, right?
The acting alone should be able to cover this part, too!
You're really getting after it now!
Let's cut this, too!
Cut, cut!
Thanks to GOA-san, we have a really good script now!
I can picture the cast acting out the scenes!
Yeah, truly... Sensei, all present,
thank you for working through the night.
Well, I'll be going now!
Please excuse me.
GOA-kun...?
Gee...
We started having fun and before I knew it...
It's just as I feared!
Sure enough, when creators team up,
they tend to produce something quite striking!
But, we're low on time, so we'll have to go with it.
If it comes together well, I can tell it'll be amazing.
Dammit... I've got a whole new headache on my hands.
Studio B
Revised Script
Sheesh... What an outrageous script
they've come up with.
The expository lines have been
aggressively cut down on,
and there're lots of scenes we need
to carry through our movements alone.
Everything rides on the cast's acting-
it's a killer pass of a script.
So, if it's a failure, all of the blame will rest on us.
It's a pretty darn tough ask.
Yeah, and now the script's interpretation
of Princess Saya fits with mine!
In fact, I think it'll allow me to uncover a new side of her!
It sure looks like it's worth studying closely.
But, it's gonna be hard to pull off.
It won't be a problem for me.
I mean, I thought the previous
one was somewhat lacking.
This one suits my skills better.
After all, acting's all of matter of speaking with your body!
This has the markings of a GOA-san script all over it.
Well, we've acted in several of that guy's plays
and can grasp the key points, so it'll be fine.
Now's our chance to show who the
true top star of Theater Company Lala Lai is.
All the Lala Lai members are
excited about the new script.
But...
Seriously?
I don't think I can hack it...
We've only got two weeks till the show.
Am I gonna be ready in time?
I bet this kinda thing's easy as pie for you, Aqua.
No, I'm not so sure...
Alright, let's get started.
So you're the new leader of Shinjuku?!
It's time to find out what you've got!
What's wrong with despising those Shibuya thugs?!
Those low lives killed my parents and siblings!
In the end, that lot is just a rabble.
Us being defeated is one in a million,
nay, one in a billion.
Hyakume, you can be more dramatic there.
Yes, sir!
Touki...
Princess Saya...
Stop!
Touki, this is your biggest scene.
Put more heart into it.
My apologies.
It's the climax of the play... Amid the battle, Princess
Saya has suffered a severe injury and collapsed.
Touki despairs...
But, Princess Saya miraculously comes to.
What emotions would wash
over him when he lays eyes on her?
Release from his anxiety.
A strong sense of joy and hope, I suppose.
That's right.
Your acting is indeed in line with the source manga.
But, onstage, you won't reach the audience unless
you project emotions with greater intensity.
Draw out more emotion.
This scene calls for emotional acting.
Mortal enemy of my family!
Where's the proof?
Alright, let's go with that.
I've slain so many I can hardly remember them all!
Hup!
There, there. This is your first play, so it's
no surprise you can't strike the right balance.
Gradually bring your acting in line
with mine, and it'll be fin-
Don't baby him.
Aqua, you've never done any
emotional acting, have you?
Ultimately, one's personality is visible in their acting.
And you never wear your emotions.
Which is why they don't come out in your acting.
Up to this point, you've always just reproduced
some performance that you saw somewhere.
It comes down to your very nature.
You talk like you know him inside and out.
Of course I do! After all, I have the longest
relationship with Aqua of anyone here!
I mean, we've known each other since we were little kids.
We're basically childhood friends.
It's nothing like the relationship with his
purely-business girlfriend who he just met.
So you say, but we only reconnected recently.
Revised Script
Still, I get it.
Arima is completely right.
I can't do emotional acting.
Me doing acting where I get all
worked up and cry? Forget it.
Maybe I was too hard on him.
But if not me, no one else would tell him.
How do you cry when you act, Arima?
Hmm...
There are various methods, emotional crying
and physical crying among them...
but in the world of child actors, the most used is...
Aqua-kun...
if your mom were to die, what would you do?
That one!
You cry by convincing yourself you hold dear
whatever's in front of you.
In this case, Touki's overcome with joy
when he sees that Princess Saya is alive.
So, basically, you should remember stuff
that made you happy as you act.
Even you must have a thing or two
that made you happy, right?
Out of my way, Tsurugi!
Trying to march into Shibuya empty-handed?
You're even more of a foolhardy samurai than Blade!
For this part, play it like you're always
gonna outsmart your opponent.
Got it!
Memories of when I was happy...
Don't you dare enjoy yourself.
Never forget...
that you couldn't save her.
You have no right to-
Aqua?!
Aqua-kun?
Hey, what is it?
What's wrong?
I'm alright.
I got dizzy is all.
I'm going to rest until I regain my composure.
Anemia?
Probably just a hangover.
This isn't Kindaichi-san we're talking about.
He's still in high school.
Akane.
You're his girlfriend, right? Go and be with him.
Okay.
Well, that's sure convenient for her...
Here, have some water.
Thanks.
Sweating, unsteady on his feet...
It could be a panic attack.
You look really pale. Maybe you should lie down...
Should we call your family and have someone pick-
Don't.
I don't want my sister to find out.
She's looking toward the future now. I don't want
to remind her of things she needn't remember.
Huh?
Even so, it'd be best for someone to come get you.
In that case...
Gotanda Studio
Gotanda
You know, it's not like I'm this guy's dad.
Sheesh.
Let's see, are you...
Aqua's girlfriend or something?
For real? I'd thought for sure that...
Hmm...
Seems he's been getting up to stuff
I had no idea about.
Sorry for barging in on you like this.
Nah, it's alright. I'm about the
only one who knows his situation.
Besides, it's not like this's a first either.
Something like this happened to him before?
Well, seeing as you're his girlfriend,
I guess I can tell you.
Long ago, he got caught up
in an extremely terrible incident.
And when he recalls it, he sometimes ends up like this.
PTSD...
You mean he gets psychologically traumatic flashbacks?
Yep.
He received counseling for quite a while,
but he probably didn't want to worry his family too much.
He pretended he made a full recovery.
Well, I suppose there's no forgetting it.
I mean, it haunts even me to some extent.
I'm gonna do some work-
keep an eye on how he's doing.
Okay.
The nose-piercing, rusted-metal smell of blood
is something I simply can't forget.
The feeling of her hand gradually growing
cold never leaves my mind.
Had you been more careful...
Had you protected her with your life...
Ai...
"Ai."
The idol that Aqua-kun's a devotee
of who died 14 years ago.
[B Komachi] Close-up look at Ruby-chan's dance practice!
Ai was with the same agency as he is...
And his sister, who's also working
as an idol, revived B Komachi.
Both of them have a strong attachment to Ai.
Psychological trauma.
The incident Aqua Hoshino was involved in as a child.
Counseling.
Ai's murder.
The darkness
of the man who
killed Ai of
B Komachi
The possibility of multiple culprits.
The Strawberry Productions representative
they live with is named Miyako Saitou.
Adopted children and a foster parent.
Their biological father.
The reason they use the family name Hoshino.
Ai's family name was never made public.
For example, that Ai actually had a child in secret.
Ai...
Akane...
why are you crying?
I just... imagined something scary.
And when I thought, "what if it's true?", I felt sad...
thinking how lonely it must've
been not being able to tell anyone.
No matter what happens, I'm on your side, Aqua-kun.
I'll bear the painful things together with you.
What are you talking about?
Oh, nothing. It's just some scenario I thought up.
Episode 15
Emotional Acting
Always been trapped into my life
No matter how I try, I cannot get it right
Back in my mind again and now it feels like
Nobody sees me like I do
Trying to find a way to get a hold on
To everything that's dear to me but then I don't know
Why I leave every time
But I'm crying
In the light of the stage I see, I realize
Whatever comes my way
Be it pain, be it rain, let me be
Lying
In the moment behind a veil I hide away
All of my words unsaid
They are scars in their own way
(And all this time
It never leaves my mind)