02x05 - The Curtain Rises

[bunniefuu]

It's delicious!

You seemed like you're used to it.

Do you cook often?

I've been taking cooking classes

with my mom.

Aqua, she's a keeper!

Delicious food makes people happy.

Don't take that for granted.

You're not eating?

I don't have the appetite

Here. Open up.

Don't treat me like a kid.

I'm going to help him.

Just like you saved me,

I want to be there for you too.

So, you're Mr. Gotanda's apprentice.

Well, if he was gonna

work as an actor after all,

he should've

focused on acting from the beginning.

I want to see it.

Can I watch the shows he's been in?

I don't mind, but

It's fine.

-Yay!

-Just watch it without me.

I don't want to die!

Let's get out of here!

So cute!

He was in grade school then.

I thought he didn't want people to see it.

Don't you have any videos of Aqua acting?

Umm, I do, but

Don't show it.

I was just delusional

and it's an embarrassing past.

I mistook myself for having talent

and made a fool of myself.

I wonder what changed his mind.

I see. I think I can understand a little.

In what way?

This performance was prepared, yes?

He didn't put his feelings in it,

so his reactions are slow.

He's prepared his act beforehand.

To tell you the truth, when we shot this,

he collapsed like he did today.

It seems he's not good at

expressing his emotions.

This sometimes happens when he tries to

remember his past experiences.

But he's a skillful kid.

So he's able to act by connecting the

performances he's seen somewhere before.

I think that's a great talent,

but he doesn't seem to like it.

He's always complaining

that he has no talent.

Aqua, why are you doing theater?

It doesn't matter, does it?

It does. It's important.

Do you want to be famous? Is it for money?

Or do you want to be someone special?

What about you?

I do it because it's fun.

I can see that.

You wouldn't understand my reason

even if I told you about it.

Not that I'm gonna tell you.

There you go again.

You always say

it's important to communicate with others

but you're a closed book yourself.

Maybe that's part of the problem.

Then,

what would you do

if my motive was to k*ll someone?

There's someone high-up

in the entertainment industry

and I want to get there

in order to k*ll them.

What would you do if I said that?

I'll k*ll them with you.

Don't say that so casually.

I mean, it's someone

you're determined to k*ll, right?

You probably have a good reason for it.

It's not about right or wrong.

Even if you're a really bad person,

I at least should accept you

for who you really are.

I want to carry your sins with you.

That's how much I'm willing to do

as your girlfriend.

Even if we're going out

only for business purposes.

You're crazy.

You thought I was a normal person?

But, I expect you to do your part

as a boyfriend too.

My part?

I want to beat Kana Arima.

Mr. Himekawa, too.

I don't want to lose to those two,

no matter what.

But that pair is just too strong.

I can't win on my own.

If I lose,

I'd be so frustrated that I might die.

Are you just going to let me die,

my dear boyfriend?

You're right.

Not letting your girlfriend die

is a boyfriend's job.

A way to beat Himekawa and Arima, huh?

If possible,

without using emotional acting.

I've read the script. And it's pretty edgy

considering the scale.

It's quite a challenging structure.

The playwright's intentions

are very clear.

I told you to

become an actor with perfect acting

rather than great acting, didn't I?

With that in mind, what's your take on

the director's requests

and the playwright's intentions?

What kind of acting fits perfectly here?

Intense emotional acting.

Then, I guess you gotta suck it up

and do emotional acting.

Starting tomorrow,

come here after rehearsals.

I'll whip you into shape from scratch.

I'm not leaving you alone!

What terrible acting.

It'll be fine!

We shouldn't.

As his sister,

I'm worried if he's doing okay.

I can imagine him being alone again.

Think of it as Open Class Day.

I think it's my duty as his family

to watch over him.

My agency is very strict.

If they find out,

my manager will yell at me.

Oh, you're the guy from Sweet Today.

The cheesy actor.

You know me?

Yes, I'm Ruby Hoshino.

Thank you for taking care of my brother.

Oh, you're Aqua's sister?

That's right.

-He's left already.

-What?

Today's rehearsal is over too.

I'm just staying

to practice a little more.

I see.

He's been coming home around midnight,

so I thought

Then what's he doing every day

until so late?

Come to think of it, he's been

going home with Kurokawa every day.

Ms. Kurokawa

I'll call and ask him about it.

Ruby, don't be a wet blanket.

Leave them alone.

What do you mean?

He goes home with his pretty girlfriend

and doesn't come home 'til late.

It's obvious, right?

I don't get it. What's he doing?

Well, you know

-Something dirty.

-Something dirty?!

No way.

So, let them be.

But it's every night

for the past few days!

I guess he's vigorous, despite his looks.

No high schooler can control himself

with a beautiful girlfriend like that.

Aqua would never do that.

He won't take the risk of getting

a high school girl pregnant so casually.

If he did, I'd despise him

from the bottom of my heart.

Ruby?

Don't worry. I trust him.

He's always been secretive anyway.

Excuse me, may I use the restroom?

Oh, sure. It's this way.

Well, I guess it's awkward

to talk about your brother's love life.

Are you waiting for someone?

Uh, no. I'm not a fan or anything.

So, you're an actor?

You sure are cute.

Oh, you're flattering me.

Your agency?

I'm with Cannon Fire.

What? Are you serious?

I've got quite a few friends there.

Like Nonon and Kureha Ueno.

Oh, they're my seniors.

Then let's all hang out sometime.

This is my LINE ID.

Oh, um

Well

Mr. Kamoshida!

Mr. Kindaichi is calling us

for an urgent meeting.

Seriously?

He's scary when he gets pissed, so hurry!

Next time, okay?

Huh? No one's here.

-Well, I did lie.

-What?

She's a friend of Aqua's sister.

You shouldn't mess with her.

What? You got in my way

for such a stupid reason?

It's important.

I'm a player too,

so I don't mind you chasing girls.

But those who might affect our jobs

could be a problem.

What a wuss. It won't affect us.

You never know. We're professionals, so

Professionals? A guy who can't act

is lecturing me about being professional?

That's hilarious.

You're a half-assed model

who acted in TV drama on the side.

Now you got this job

through your connections.

Hey, do you even know that

you're the worst actor here?

You're ruining the quality of this play.

At least I'm here

because of my achievements.

And, what can you do?

It's so lame when someone with no talent

tries to act cool and lecture others.

If it were Mr. Himekawa,

I'd at least hear him out.

But should you be acting

all high and mighty?

Man, she had big boobs, too.

What a waste.

I know that already.

Ever since the day I acted with him.

Ta-da!

He said he's Aqua's friend,

so we exchanged LINE IDs

and he wants to go for a meal with us.

Ugh.

Huh? Is there a problem?

Of course, there are many actors

with great personalities

whom I can respect as people

and as actors.

With that said,

2.5D actors who are hungry

for a girl's number are usually bad news!

-What?

-He's most likely a man-wh*re!

-Really?

-Give me your phone.

-I'll block him for you!

-What?!

Kana, you want a cookie? It was a gift.

Thanks.

What are you glaring at?

I'm not glaring.

Don't lie.

Your half-asleep eyes are giving off

a piercing stare when you look at me.

I look at everyone the same way.

Maybe you feel that way because you're

arrogantly thinking you're so special.

Like, "Who do you think I am?

I'm a genius child actor."

You're shamefully

clinging on to your past glory.

Are you even trying to

improve your current self?

Oh, dear. My, my.

Aren't you snappy?

You must really hate me.

So much so that you end up

saying things like that.

Am I right, little Akane Kurokawa?

That's

What's that?

You see, a little birdie told me

that there's an actor who inspired

Akane Kurokawa, the famous genius actor.

Stop it! Why do you even have that?

Well, I got curious about

who such a great actor looks up to.

I heard there's an interview you did

when you first performed on stage.

So I ordered

the back issue of the magazine

and guess what?

What? Really?

The one you looked up to was me?!

Akane, did you start acting

because you wanted to be like me?

Oh, come on! If you love me so much,

you should've just told me so.

I'm sorry, I don't like you at all.

And I'm sorry

your love is totally one-sided!

You're ruthless.

Who? Who told her?

It must be someone from Lalalai!

Sorry.

Mr. Himekawa

I knew she was your rival,

but I didn't know it was so complicated.

It's not like that!

I did feel that way before.

A girl my age was on TV

and she was very popular.

So I joined children's theater

hoping to be like her.

But this is what she's like in real life!

She's arrogant, rude,

and always making fun of people!

She's in an idol group

pretending like she's multi-talented

and making money on YouTube

like she's all that.

Excuse me, staff?

A fan snuck in and she's freaking me out!

-A fan? I'm an actor!

-Staff!

-Don't try to compete with her.

-Staff?

You're honest at heart, so you can't win.

Your best work is "Green Pepper Exercise"!

Oh, that's quite the damage.

She got carried away.

Says someone

whose best work is a reality dating show!

Multi-talented, aren't you?

A harsh counter-attack.

Arima has a sharp comeback after all.

Sorry, I'll take care of this one.

I'll keep this one here.

Ugh, this is so annoying!

What's her problem?

Well, she does have a sharp tongue.

Not only that,

she has a horrible personality!

She was worse when she was younger.

I have worked with her when we were kids

Then, take my side!

She was the worst, right?

She wasn't that

Actually, yeah. I did want to k*ll her.

Right?

Back then, when I

Rehearsal's starting soon. Let's go.

This is for my family!

My, that felt good! Did you see her face?

She looked so frustrated.

She really is evil.

If I knew you were going to do that,

I wouldn't have told you.

Why do you always pick a fight with her?

She is dating Aqua from your agency.

Maybe you should

For business purposes.

try to get along

Well, I have many reasons. But mostly

because we're from the same generation.

This is not the first time

we've worked together.

But we've always fought for some reason.

Akane and I have

different views on acting.

The way we approach our roles and

our idea of good acting is different too.

From her performance,

I can feel her pressuring me saying,

"I'm right and you're wrong."

It's so annoying.

They say a genius child actor will be

nothing but ordinary after puberty.

And in fact, no one offered me any jobs.

Akane Kurokawa is called a genius and

she's currently highly recognized.

At this rate, it'll seem like she's right.

So, she's your destined rival?

That's a cheesy way to put it. But, yeah.

Don't worry though.

I've never once thought

that my acting is inferior to hers.

In your opinion, who do you think

is better? Arima or Kurokawa?

They're both experienced actors

who've been acting since they were kids.

I don't see the point of judging

who's better.

But if you had to choose?

Kurokawa has a different acting method

and I can see why she's called a genius.

But, Arima has

a stronger attachment to acting itself.

Anyway, either one could be the winner.

It probably depends on

how the show turns out.

But Arima will win this one.

Because she's got me.

Mr. Himekawa really is

on a different level.

The casting is wrong.

Standing on the same stage as him

will really show how bad your acting is.

Arima,

will you practice with me after this?

Of course.

I was about to ask you the same thing.

Aqua, we're running out of time.

Let's hurry over to the director's place.

Yeah.

I'm not going to lose.

What's wrong, Ms. Abiko?

Are you nervous?

How can I not be?

I've meddled so much.

If it fails, it'll all be my fault.

Of course I'd be nervous.

This is something we never get used to.

But you're happy with the script, right?

Yes, but

You've had your work rejected

even when you're confident, right?

I sure have.

What if I'm the only one in the world

who finds the story I wrote interesting?

-When I think that

-It'll be fine.

I'm satisfied with that script too.

That means there are at least two people

who find the story interesting. Right?

Oh? I thought we had become

pretty good friends.

Don't worry about it.

She's dedicated her youth to manga,

so she's not immune to guys.

Please just keep on talking to her.

She actually likes it.

Well, in the end, the success of this play

depends on the actors.

But they're all very talented

so I believe it'll turn out great.

Talented, huh?

Mem-cho, long time no see!

Yuki!

And the g*ng!

What g*ng?

And? Is everything going well for you?

-I guess so.

-Hm?

Are you guys wearing matching bracelets?

What are you hinting at?

-Not so subtle, are you?

-No, this is

I wonder why girls who date celebrities

like making risky moves.

Even a celebrity becomes a dumb girl

when they fall in love.

It's a coincidence!

Don't post it on social media, okay?

I won't. I'm able to hold back for now.

Wow, there's a really cute girl.

-She's Aqua's little sister.

-For real?

Talk about great genes.

I want to see their parents.

I bet they're good-looking.

There are a lot of people with

a special vibe around us.

The seats at the back are

mostly for people in this industry.

It's easier to see

the audience's reaction from back here.

I feel like a big shot. This is so cool.

Don't look so smug.

Oh, it's the director.

He looks scary as usual.

Did Aqua invite him?

He wants the director to take a look at

his performance? That's so unlike him.

I wonder if that means

he's giving his all into this play.

Mature Baby and Akane.

I think I've taught them

everything I could.

But we haven't figured out a way to

deal with his psychological trauma yet.

If he loses it during the play,

it's all over.

The more he tries to do emotional acting,

the riskier it gets.

But,

I wonder how long it's been

to see him so focused on acting.

Well, you'll figure out a way. Right?

You are a full-fledged actor after all.

I was once praised as a genius.

And now, you're the one

who's called a genius.

I hate to admit it, but I am aware of it.

It annoys me to say this,

but I was looking forward to

working with you again.

I'll defeat you here

and I won't let anyone call me

a "former genius child actor" anymore.

I've been looking forward to

working with you too.

For a very, very long time.

Ai.

Ai.

Ai

I tried a lot of things

at the director's place,

but I can't suppress his rage at all.

Boiling with anger and regret.

Freezing with sorrow and vengeance.

I'm on the verge of getting a panic attack

just by looking at Ai's face.

It instantly puts me back in that moment.

But that's fine.

This is fine.

I'll use whatever I can

in order to make up for my lack of talent.

That's how I do things.

It's showtime.

Show them what you've got.