01x01 - The Dark Age

[bunniefuu]

No one was interested in me.

Like I wasn't needed.

I can only get connected
with society through manzai.

It's like I got no choice but to die.

WHAT HAPPENS IF TWO TOP CREATORS
CONTINUE TO TALK FOR A YEAR?

I straddled on them like this
and told them...

ANGER

"Are you prepared to spend
the same twenties with me?!"

That might be the time for me to quit.

You think so?

Do a little spin,

and then I strum and strum like this.

I guess I can say I am happy.

But my life is so boring.

You're making me want to cry.

AUGUST, 2023

OCTOBER 17, 2022

ASAGAYA, SUGINAMI WARD

It's been ages since
the last time I came here.

-Really?
-Yes.

I must have walked this path
to the train station

like 200 million times.

I was walking with my head down like this,

so that feeling...

I still remember it.

I haven't seen Wakabayashi in a while.
Not for several months.

I have no idea how this will turn out.

But I'm super stoked about it.

All I was told was that I get to have
a conversation with Hoshino.

So I have no idea what this show is about.

I believe this is my first Netflix show.

So I don't trust anything or anyone here.

You're not lying to me, are you?

Hoshino is really coming?

My partner in manzai
used to live in Asagaya,

So we'd go over our jokes
under this girder bridge.

I remember we'd have our joke notebook
set against that fence there as we worked.

It's making me feel unpleasant.

MEETING UP

Wow...

You know what this feels like?

Feeling this nervous
to see someone is almost like

committing adultery.

That's what this nervousness feels like.

He's sitting all alone. Good morning.

Oh, good morning.

-It's been a while.
-Good to see you again.

-Thank you for coming.
-Thank you for having me.

Being back in Koenji...

I haven't been back forever.

What is this show about?

In any Netflix show,

I don't think there's a talk show
between two people.

Right, nothing like Gout Temps Nouveau.

You're right.

-Allow me to explain the gist of the show.
-Okay.

Producer Sakuma suddenly shows up here at
Yonchome Cafe.

This is a new show starting on Netflix.

It's a two-people talk show,
having a conversation about struggles.

You'll meet once a month
and have a conversation.

And we'll sh**t that for six months.

It's October 2022 right now.

We'll sh**t this until the spring of 2023,
and at the end,

the viewers can binge watch
the conversations.

We came up with a unit name for you two.

Without your permission.

You'll be called LIGHTHOUSE.

Okay.

You know, a tower with a beacon.

So you'll be the beacon of light
for those who are struggling.

But ironically,

"It's darkest under the lighthouse,"
as you seem to be in the dark.

In the dark...

So rude!

You're not totally wrong, though.

Hopes

Left brain

The child of meaning

Mobility

The three poisons

A moonless night

Come over here

Aspirations

Possibilities

God works in mysterious ways

A guiding light

Striking a pose

I celebrate

Love

A Window

THE DARK AGE

TOP CREATORS WHO REPRESENT JAPAN

THEY MET IN 2011 AT OGIRI LIVE
WITH WAKABAYASHI AS THE MC

GEN HOSHINO, 29
MASAYASU WAKABAYASHI, 32

YOUNGER DAYS OF RAGE AND SUFFERING

-You lived in Asagaya, didn't you?
-Yes, I did.

From when I was 20 to 23 years old.

I have a lot of painful memories.

-From back then.
-I still remember.

I was always looking down.

Oh, I know.

It's the memory of the ground, right?

The ground, plus these indescribable...

grudges, you know?

I remembered something
when I came here today.

There was a comedian named Ken Maeda,
who was my senior.

He used to run a bar in Koenji
in that direction.

He would lecture me all night
at the table over there.

-In this very cafe.
-Really?

And before I started to appear
on major TV shows,

I was in a lot of re-enactment scenes
on a show called Kotaetecho-dai.

The girl I met there never got back to me,

but the moment I was on major TV shows,
she contacted me.

I met up with her over there.

That's when I learned that
girls would see you if you were on TV.

So this cafe is just filled with

-good and bad memories.
-You're reminded of them.

I know something's going to happen,

when we're filming like this.

Something will happen?

Yes, like a new beginning.

I just get a sense that something is
going to happen in a situation like this.

Since this is a location
with personal history.

I used to live around here.

But you didn't live here, did you?

I lived in Eifukucho.

And my partner lived in Asagaya.

Walking under the girder bridge earlier,

I felt mad exactly the same way
I did back then.

I came up with the jokes,
so why should I go visit my partner,

riding on my Honda Cub to go over
my jokes under the girder bridge,

and come back,
but not the other way around?

We could have at least
met up in the middle.

Yes.

He could have come to me.

What was he thinking, you know?

Remembering it filled me with rage today.

But you're right.

When you composed music back then,

did you do it at home,
or maybe around here?

It costs money
to work in a recording studio.

So I worked in my wooden studio apartment,
which was smaller than 10 square meters.

The rent was 38,000 yen.

You could hear everything
through the walls.

So I would play really softly.

I would play an acoustic guitar.

-But I put a towel in between here.
-Right.

So that it wouldn't be too loud.

And the song I composed
with the tiniest sounds

was "Barabara."

-Really?
-Yes.

Wow. So you made it with small sounds?

Yes.

Oh, man. Your history is
embedded in this location.

"BARABARA" BY GEN HOSHINO

The world isn't one

Oh, as is, we're all so different

I sang, "The world isn't one."

That's the song I made.

Man, that speaks to my heart.

Titan Talent Agency
with Bakusho Mondai is in Asagaya.

When I was in high school,

my friend worked at
a Japanese BBQ restaurant.

He once told me, "Bakusho Mondai
is at my restaurant right now."

I wanted their autograph,
so I hurried there on my bike.

I bought a shikishi board
at a store on the way.

I used a PHS phone back then,
and my friend called me.

He told me,
"Ota left, so it's only Tanaka."

-So I went home.
-That's mean!

So rude!

-What a nice story.
-I told this to Bakusho Mondai.

Tanaka didn't laugh at all.

I'm glad I chose this location.

Your faces are starting
to look like they did back then.

Here, you were surrounded
by music, theater,

comedy, and you're a writer too.

Did you have a hard time
deciding which route to take?

I did.

Right? I sure would have, if I were you.

THE REASON WHY YOU CHOSE
YOUR CURRENT CAREER PATH

What everyone told me was

that I needed to choose one thing.

I see.

I was in theater, but I did music too.

While I was in school, that was fine.

But if I wanted to go pro,
people told me I had to choose one.

But I had worked hard
on both up to that point.

But more importantly,

I just couldn't imagine myself
working a desk job at a normal company.

I couldn't see that future.

I didn't think I could do it.

I totally understand.

I had to continue doing what I was doing.

-I didn't have any other choice.
-Yes.

So I just needed to work hard,

since I had two things under my belt.

I did both for six years,
in middle and high school.

My case is similar as well.

I had a hard time
sitting in the classroom.

So I'd often come to arcades around here.

But there were businessmen in their suits,

playing Street Fighter II
at 10:30 or so.

-You mean morning, right?
-That's right.

I saw businessmen playing
Street Fighter II at 10:30 a.m.

And I thought,
"I know I'm going to end up like that."

For six years, I saw that.

So it made me feel that
I needed to find a different path.

It was like working backwards in a way.

I couldn't imagine doing a desk job.

Exactly. It's like,

I strongly felt that I wasn't fit to go
where everyone else went.

You know,

LIGHTHOUSE was spot on for us.

We can't see where we stand
since it's so dark.

Exactly!

-We requested something from you.
-Ah, yes.

We've asked you to create
a one-sentence journal

of what you've thought for the past month.

Can you share it
with each other and discuss it?

Hoshino, what is yours like?

Let me see...

"Even though I'm an adult now,

I'm still full of stress."

You didn't hold back, right off the bat.

Why would you throw a punch like that?

I mean, this was the first thing
that came to mind.

You're starting off with a dropkick.

That wasn't my intention.

So getting older and
changing environments...

Yes, I thought that
I'd get more cheerful as I aged.

But now that I'm in the position I am now,

there are so many things
I'm not allowed to say.

Not that I want to say them,

but not being able to say them
makes me conscious of them.

That makes me feel like
I have to hold myself in.

When I find myself not liking something,

or when I feel,
"I don't like this person's attitude,"

that creates huge stress for me.

I get that.

I cannot take it every day.

That badly?

There are too many.

But I totally hear you.

Even if I feel,
"This person is accepted by society,

but I don't like how they do things."

There's usually no one around me
who'd agree with me.

There isn't, right?

Many people trick and cheat, though.

They strategically fool people.

These types of people are...

What shall I say...

If I can paraphrase,

we have the same amount of stress,
but pretend we don't.

Oh yes, I agree.

You need to pretend that way,
or you don't get accepted by society.

You have to pretend that way,
or you'll be seen as strange.

Exactly!

For example, suppose that someone
of your age, or even younger,

says something extremely rude to you.

An older person reprimanding or scolding

someone younger than them
is frowned upon in this society right now.

-That's the time we live in.
-It's considered immature.

In that sense, as a performer,

I'm of the age of middle management.

THE STRUGGLE OF BEING IN
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT

Snapping at someone older than you...

That's a fight worth watching,
on a wrestling ring.

But objectively speaking,
I'm older and have a longer career.

So it's easy for young ones to snap at me.

But I tell them,
"That's something you can only do...

because of how young you are."

"Once you're older,"

"you're gonna pay for it."

Today, they can do that,
and I'd react, "Ouch!"

"But eventually, you'll be my age."

"And that's when you're gonna pay for it."

But saying stuff like that,
I know I look weird.

I know people will say
I should just give up, so I hold it in.

-So you won't say it.
-No.

You're still on the first journal entry...

This is a Netflix original show, right?

Can you share
your one-sentence journal, Wakabayashi?

"Those who call themselves humble
tend to be arrogant,

and vice versa...

similarly,

those who say
they respect diversity do not,

and those who say diversity can be
difficult actually respect it."

That was a long sentence.

But I couldn't agree more.

And you have to spell it out
to communicate it.

Exactly.

The term "diversity" has been used
for many years now.

When I see Ayabe
at an NFL game TV show once a year,

he often uses the phrase, "I get you."

And Ayabe, he likes...

He likes a shiny place like
when you're on a TV set.

So he's drawn to a shinier,
brighter place.

Like he's an insect.

New York is brighter than a TV set,
so he went to New York.

He knows he's like that.

But he acknowledges that I prefer
the atmosphere of the radio,

which makes me feel at ease.

His phrase, "I get you,"

feels like the ultimate acceptance
of diversity.

What I'm concerned about recently is,

say you're in the corner of a classroom.

If you say, "This is the counterattack
by those forced into a corner,"

and that allows you to attack
the popular ones in the classroom.

We now have
such a system or a "genre," if you will.

But if you think about it,
all it did was to switch

the hierarchy of who gets to attack who.

The structure of one attacking the other
remains the same.

And I don't like that.

So when I'm the host of a show,

I try to notice who's struggling
to step forward.

And when someone higher in the hierarchy
is over-attacking someone lower,

-I want to be able to intervene.
-I see.

And I'm realizing
that I have to have that power.

And that I have to believe in something.

That's what I've been thinking recently.

Can we look at your second entry?

Man, this conversation will never end.

WE'RE ONLY ON THE SECOND ENTRY...

-Do you have a lot?
-I got tons.

FILLED WITH ENTRIES

-That's impressive.
-I know, right?

You can make
a page-a-day calendar with it.

Shall we make a LIGHTHOUSE calendar?

-Let's make our merch.
-I want to do that!

All entries are depressing and gloomy.

-Here I go.
-After the stress...

"When I get stuck in one task,
it feels like my future has disappeared."

What are you trying to do with this show?

No, it's because Producer Sakuma asked me

to discuss my struggles
in one-sentence journals.

You'd never talk about
something like this elsewhere.

Right, because it's more entertaining
to have less gloomy stories.

Also, isn't it even harder to talk about
this stuff alone on the radio?

There's no one to give you a retort.

-No one to tell you, "You're too gloomy!"
-Exactly.

-My writer, Terasaka, won't say anything.
-Of course not!

He's a radio show writer.

But speaking as someone
who sees you from the outside,

I see you create so many works.

-I have so much respect for that.
-Is that so?

But if you get stuck with one thing,

do you think your future becomes bleak?

It feels like a shutter is
completely closed.

-And I feel my blood drain.
-Really?

In every creative process, I get stuck.
It's just how it goes.

I've been blessed to do so much work.

And I do handle so many things.

So I wondered why I'd always feel
my future to be so bleak

when I got stuck with one single thing.

Then I realized that
since I was in school,

I've been using my creative expression
as a method of communicating with others.

That's how I made friends.

For example, I copied someone's
guitar solo and wanted them to listen.

They loved it, and it made me happy.

Communicating through language...

Communicating with friends
was really hard for me.

I couldn't connect with others
unless it was through creative expression.

I still feel that way.

So when I'm stuck with
the piece I'm working on,

I feel I'm all alone.

Like no one is interested in me.

Like I'm not needed.

-That's where I get pulled back to.
-I see.

For you, your work is what connects you
and the rest of the world,

and that connection feels severed.

Mine also actually relates to that.

Here's my second entry.

"I can't come up with jokes.
I've been doing this for 22 years."

Same. Like me.

What you said resonated with me so much.

Feeling connected with the world
through your work,

-I feel that way.
-Oh yeah?

I can only get connected with society
through manzai.

If my manzai sucks, I have no way
of connecting with the world.

It's like I got no choice but to die.

I am not being stoic,
I simply got no way to survive.

I totally get it.

Looking back, I know that it wasn't true.

But that's how I felt back then.

I've been a comedian for 22 years.

Yet I've been coming to Tully's
for six days straight and I got zilch.

Bakarhythm would have
come up with something.

I'm sure Iizuka of Tokyo 03 would too.

And so would Shitara.

I've also been thinking
about that for 22 years.

So I know that this is happening.

But that's the only way
to connect with the world.

And I got all these gigs...

So I want to learn how to control
that mental state already.

Does it come to you?
The way to control your mental state?

This leads us to my next entry...

Man, it does?!

This is what I truly want
to accomplish right now.

"Even if I feel I am not needed,

I wish to be someone
who can live happily."

This sync is a little too perfect.

Wouldn't it be great
if you can live happily

even if you're not needed by anyone?

Yes, it would be great. You're right,

but don't say something like that.

Look at George Tokoro.

He creates something on his own.

Then he enjoys it himself.

Not to mention, he immediately
gives it away to someone else.

Then he comes up with
the next thing that interests him.

-He knows how to entertain himself.
-Right.

I find that really cool.

But he doesn't force it on other people.

No, he doesn't.

And then he says the most precious time,
what he looks forward to every day,

is the dinnertime he spends
with his family at night.

So he's not cooped up
in his own world or anything.

Others are free to come into his world.

But they're also free to leave.

I admire people like that.

But in this crazy, chaotic world,

it's hard to live cheerfully,
feeling hope.

It's true.

In actuality,
nothing in this world matters.

And we should be free to live happily,
however we want.

But something is stopping us
from doing that.

So I want to make something so that
when someone experiences it,

they can just let go and not care,
in a good way.

That's what I hope to do.

This is going to sound a bit serious,

but say there is an audience member
who can't find their hopes and dreams.

My job isn't to give them answers
or to motivate them.

I want to nullify the problem for them.

Like turning it into an amoeba.

Through sheer and utter silliness
of my manzai.

Not to transmute it,

but to nullify the problem.

-That's the kind of joke I strive for.
-I hear you.

I wish I could give that message to myself
when I was hanging around here.

I'm not trying to sound cool,
but that might be my biggest motivation.

Today, you and I are both thinking back
on our times at Asagaya and Koenji.

When I speak with younger comedians
on ACHIKOCHI AUDREY,

-I don't get that from them.
-I see.

They lived in a shared house and such.

What I get from them is
they really enjoyed their time.

All I remember is
the resentment toward society.

So I feel...

the difference in the times
we've lived in.

Neither is right nor wrong.

What about the young musicians today?
Do they have the same thirst that we had?

-I don't know.
-Like you're a stain clinging to the town.

THE THIRST TO CONNECT WITH THE WORLD

They're probably doing that
on the Internet.

-I see.
-Having social media since adolescence.

I see...

Inside the screen is where...

they're compared against the others.

Our feeling of resentment can
get triggered all over the place.

-The whole world is the trigger.
-Exactly.

But that thirst is the motivation for us
to connect with the world.

We fear it, but we're empowered by it.

Have you ever imagined your work
without that thirst?

What it might be like?

-Yeah, I wonder...
-Yeah.

That might be the time for me to quit.

You think so?

Do you think you'll feel
you've created everything you can?

I believe that I will not.

-Like, never?
-Right.

No matter how much I create,
I'll probably never be satisfied.

I'll probably feel that way
until the end of my life,

feeling that I can do better next time.

But if I ever lose that thirst
and am satisfied,

I'll probably stop creating.

So, there is...

something I wanted to make sure
to bring up today.

I did a live gig called
"Ashitano Tarinai Futari" with Yamasato.

It was the name of our unit,
and that live gig was our final one.

And after the show was over...

Until then, I was creating off
of all the pain since childhood.

Pains and scars from when I was three,
since when I was old enough to remember.

I have created based on them.

But for the first time in my life,
I felt I finished creating

everything I could after the gig.

So I had nothing to talk about
on the radio.

I couldn't write essays.

I totally lost the urge to compete
with someone else.

And I thought to myself, "What do I do?!"

For half a year, it was tough
because I felt I didn't have anything.

I had my radio show,

and I don't think many people noticed it,

but my radio show wasn't very good
for those six months.

-Really?
-The six months after that live gig.

So now, I'm even more...

I'm able to do more humorous
and outlandish stories than before.

I don't know if anyone has transmuted
pain into comedy like that.

And I'm proud that I've done that
with Yamasato.

But that is now over...

Actually, he's different.

He wasn't done creating off of his pain.

YOUTH SPENT AS NOBODIES
IN ASAGAYA AND KOENJI

OCTOBER 2022
TROUBLES OF YOUTHS IN ASAGAYA AND KOENJI

I have no dreams for my future.

I haven't decided what I want to be.

That's what I'm worried about.

I do want to find dreams.

But I have no motivation to do so.

Dreams and troubles...

I don't even know what I'm worried about.

I don't know what I want to be.

I'm just living day by day.

A YOUTH REACHING FOR HER DREAMS

I'm an idol by profession.

I think I'm feeling anxiety and pressure

that can drive me over the edge.

But being an idol,
I have a certain image, a character.

There are many things I can't say
because I need to protect that image.

My popularity, or the lack of it,
is so visible.

That's how it is.

So the mental damage is severe.

I started suffering from
panic disorder this year.

Although I'm not sure what about,
I feel anxiety.

Then I hyperventilate.

Right now, I can't take any time off
even if I wanted to.

That's what I'm worried about.

She feels anxiety from the pressure about
her image and expectation from others.

She's an idol. Right.

You must feel pressure and expectations
from others every time, don't you?

-With my line of work, yes.
-Right?

But maybe it's the same
in any type of work.

I've been doing manzai since I was 22.

I've never gone on stage
thinking that I'm perfectly ready.

I go on stage feeling that I'm imperfect.

That's the only experience I have.

I'm guessing that she has
a vision of herself

going on stage without feeling
pressure or anxiety

from the expectations of other people.

But I think going on stage feeling
the pressure and anxiety

is the most sincere way to be a performer.

When you try to express
yourself out there,

it will come with criticism
because it's a package deal.

So when I create something...

I keep in mind whose criticism
I want to get.

-You focus there instead.
-Yes.

In manzai,

sometimes you can tell the comedians
wrote a solid script and practiced a lot.

And some people value
such diligence highly.

People prefer different types of manzai,
and I don't deny diligent manzai.

But if I try to create manzai that would
piss off those who like diligent manzai,

-the materials come to me smoothly.
-I see.

-Not that your manzai is off the cuff.
-Correct.

If there are 100 people, you don't need
to meet all of their expectations.

What she can do is to imagine
the type of people she wants to encourage.

Panic disorder is really tough.

So what I really want to tell her
is to take a break.

Just stop everything and take a break.
That's the best thing she can do.

Even before I started doing this job,

people would pin me with a certain image.

Ah, okay.

I kept peeling them off
because that's bullshit.

That's been my life.

Maybe it's something you were told
when you were small.

But it shapes our mindsets to be like
"Oh, this is how others see me."

Or, "I need to fill this role."

Maybe it's something
that started out in your family,

or something that started at school.

It is something you were told by others.

And you feel you have to be that way.

Or sometimes you make up
your own rules within yourself.

I think humans don't handle
changes very well.

Okay.

When someone's vibe changes,

not many people can give them
positive reactions right away.

I think it's okay to break away
from your image.

Society and people in it
are changing all the time.

So working as an idol in that environment,

I understand that she's expected
to maintain the image of an idol.

But...

she can choose to powerfully
transform that image.

Yes, I agree.

I'm not even joking, but when I started
separating my bangs in the center,

out of every citizen in this country,

you're the only one who complimented me.

-You talked about that on the radio too.
-Yes.

That actually made me very angry.

They shouldn't have a say
in your hairstyle.

-That's how I felt.
-Same here.

I experienced the same thing.

-My bangs were also down.
-I remember.

It was because I had a craniotomy,

and I had a scar here,
so I had my bangs down to hide it.

But I guess it had become
a part of my image, my character.

So when I separated my bangs,

there were negative reactions.

But I was like, who cares?

I'm doing this because I want to.

Wakabayashi, there's something
I wanted to do on this show.

Oh, on this show?

You know, talking about where we stand,

or listening to other people's struggles.

-But it's a conversation with no answer.
-That's right.

And it's very similar to
when I compose songs.

When I'm trying to figure out...

the problem I can't find the answer for,

-I make songs.
-I see.

I turn it into a song with a melody.

And into its lyrics,

like a zip file,

I compress my thoughts and my visions.

When the song reaches someone,

it may not solve their problems, but...

something can be...

transmuted through it.

So I want to make a song every episode.

Huh?!

Oh. That's where this leads?

-Not one song in six months?
-Isn't it?

One song every month.

We'll be different every month.

You are insane!

HOSHINO WILL COMPOSE A SONG
BASED ON THEIR TALK

So the show ends with a new song
by Hoshino every episode?

Are you aware that you just volunteered
to make six songs?

For example, we saw each other
for the first time in a while and talked.

Do you think you can
make a song out of that?

I'm raring to go.

Who said,
"I'm scared when I'm stuck making a song"?

In this short period of time,
you're so ready to compose!

SONG, LYRICS AND ARRANGEMENT
BY GEN HOSHINO

A faint beacon

Shining in the darkness

A flicker that never fades

It beams out

But it's dark below

I can't see, I can't go

Unable to breathe, I leaped out

Ran down a back alley

Filled with the smell of rats

I've got nothing, nothing at all

"I hope you all die," I thought

As I swayed back and forth on the swing

Looking up in the spring,

There's a star shining behind the clouds

A distinct beacon

Shining in the darkness

A flicker that never fades

It beams out

But it's dark below

I can't see, I can't go

I was forced to hold

A box to put my dreams in

Gotta hurry, gotta fill it up

I've got nothing, nothing at all

"It must be nice to be young"

I don't care, you as*h*le

If I die tomorrow,

That's it as far as my life goes

A lone beacon

Burning in the darkness

Even if I wave my hand and chase after it

It beams with light

But it's dark below

I can't see, I can't go

Lighthouse

Don't think about saving people

Just keep shining

How do you want to proceed with this show
for the next six months?

What comes to my mind...

-A live performance.
-A live performance?

-With an audience.
-Okay.

I do want to create something.

I don't know what form it would take.

You said it, and we have a recording.

You said you wanted to create.

But we're free, right?

Also free to retract statements?

Why are you speaking like a prosecutor?

I want us to travel.

If I could make a request,

not along the Chuo line area...

-A new location may change our talk.
-Perhaps.

Today's talk is heavily influenced
by Koenji.

Such a strong sense of
"it's dark under the lighthouse."

I thought,
"You have no idea what diversity is."

I hate it.

In Koenji, the resentment
of your youth spewed out.

Now you resent party people
at a place completely opposite of Koenji.

The poor choice of location
is what made Hoshino say such a thing!

TOKYO -LIGHT AND DARKNESS-