01x06 - Episode 6

[bunniefuu]

It started with the social media account

of a man who claimed

to have returned from the orifices.

The orifices lead

to 200 years in the future.

And it's not on Earth.

The orifices led to a planet

overflowing with brightness.

I don't think the brightness was

perceived through my eyes,

but rather through my five senses,

since I could even see it

with my eyes closed.

The brightness had a natural effect

of making people happy.

The place where people gather is

different from a town but is beautiful.

By the way,

many people are already

in this light-filled place.

And there is no cell service

that connects to Earth.

The word "return" gave rise

to a lot of unfounded speculation.

Many other accounts appeared,

which tried to enhance credibility

by posting descriptions of photos claimed

to have been taken in the orifices.

However, it took less than a month

for this man's lie to be exposed.

Not a single person has yet

returned from the orifices.

After having recorded

the stories of five people,

Okamoto remembered something.

His relationship with his grandmother.

He was wondering which part of his life

would be appropriate to record

for a life leading to the orifices.

Through the personal histories

of the first five people,

Okamoto's deeply rooted worry

had grown large enough

for him to clearly recognize it.

This worry would eventually

influence his final decision

but that comes later in the story.

At this time, Sugaya was pondering on

the option of not entering the orifices.

Upon thinking about the order of entry,

he had realized something.

If they followed their set schedules,

Kawabata would go in first.

Sugaya would be second.

He was afraid of being the only one

in this group not to enter the orifices.

In the absolute freedom where they could

decide if they wanted to enter or not,

Sugaya was binding himself

with his own self-consciousness.

Who's next?

Oh, me.

Actually, when I was in

my fifth year of elementary school,

I was being ignored by my classmates

for a short period of time.

It all started with a classmate of mine

who played soccer.

His name was Takayuki.

I joined the same

soccer club as him later on

and apparently, he didn't like that.

Kawabata saw a certain similarity

between himself and Shingo.

It was their positions in sports.

Like Shingo, Kawabata had also

struggled with jealousy.

He had to deal with

a good amount of unfairness,

yet he had never gotten angry.

However, he would later come to realize

that he was the exact opposite of Shingo.

Before I started playing soccer,

I was a quiet kid at school.

But after I began playing soccer,

I gradually started joining

in conversations in class.

Takayuki often said,

"You used to be the quiet kid."

Let's go to the schoolyard.

Okay. Dodgeball?

Let's play against Class 2.

With the soft ball?

The hard ball isn't good for curveballs,

so I'll go inflate the soft ball.

-Let's go!

-Yay!

Shingo. Soccer quiz time.

Uh, okay.

What's an early cross?

You don't know?

No way! Have you been pretending

to know soccer?

Hey guys, he's a pretender! Unbelievable!

You're a pretender who's playing soccer.

Gross.

By the way, I was better

at soccer than he was.

You're so gross.

Don't act so c*ck, you pretender!

Since then, Takayuki kept telling

the other classmates

to ignore Shingo because

he was pretending to know things.

At first, none of the classmates

listened to Takayuki.

But due to his persistent

ignoring of Shingo,

the classmates gradually

started to follow suit.

At first, they weren't

completely ignoring me.

Morning.

Oh, uh-huh.

I started realizing that

they were avoiding me

but I kept talking to them as usual.

Let's go to the traffic park.

-Yes!

-Yay!

Hey, Akira.

You're friends with Mocchi, right?

One day, Shingo decided to talk to Akira,

a quiet student

who was good at basketball.

Until then, he hadn't

talked much with Akira.

We play cards together.

What game do you play?

A card game I came up with.

Wow, I'd like to try that too.

You have to start

by making your own cards.

But because you could

make cards that are too strong,

you can't make them alone.

You have to make them with me and Mocchi.

What kind of game is it?

I have a rulebook.

Ghost Bug Bird. Radiance of the Phoenix.

-Attack point 1,000!

-Hit 3,000 to all!

Guard with Shadow.

Megalo Monster. Illusion. 900.

Electric Attack with Electric Current.

Three thousand!

Cursed Mask. Guard again.

Here I go.

Devil's Hand. Attack 2,200!

Ugh.

Why don't you get along with Takayuki?

I didn't have a problem with him.

But in our soccer club,

he gets scolded and I don't.

Actually, he's the quiet one on our team.

In my opinion, he's a pretender too.

I'm not pretending to know stuff.

Rock Arm. Attack

-Whoa!

-Twelve hundred!

About four months after Shingo

and Akira started hanging out together,

the other classmates who had been ignoring

Shingo started talking to him again.

We want to play cards with you two too.

Shingo accepted this.

As for Takayuki,

he had stopped coming to school.

I heard this from my parents,

so I don't know the whole story,

but apparently Takayuki and his parents

had to run from debt collectors.

That's why he transferred schools

without goodbyes.

To be honest,

when I found out about this, I felt

Happy's not the right word

Well, I guess I was kind of happy.

But I thought I shouldn't say it out loud.

After graduating from university, Shingo

traveled around Japan and other countries,

searching for ways

to make money on his own.

Actually, I got a job

after graduating from university

but it got boring after three years.

I probably didn't have to travel

around the world

but everyone on social media

seemed to be traveling.

Shingo had started to think

working with others at a company

and living amid others' jealousy wasn't

suitable for him.

I tried my hand at various things.

Like programming and things

I could start my own business with.

I did come up with new services

and created apps

but none of them caught on.

Seeing other entrepreneurs I knew

appear in the media,

I felt the urge to start

something new too.

Yet, everything new

I tried to create failed.

And this was what worked out for me.

-Here you go.

-Thanks.

You'll handle it?

Yes. I will pay you once it's sold.

Great.

Okay

-What account will you be using?

-Oh

This one.

Let me take this.

Okay.

My proxy online sales business

went fairly well,

and I started earning

a small profit from it.

An ad campaign I did on social media

worked out well too,

and after six months,

I managed to save up a bit of money.

My follower count skyrocketed too.

Excuse me.

I have an appointment. I'm SHINGO.

Using social media to attract customers is

incredibly effective.

Yet, it won't work if

the actual charm of an inn isn't there.

It's not enough if the place

only looks appealing on the internet.

On the other hand,

it's a shame if an inn has charm

but isn't effectively promoted

on social media.

Well

We have young staff who are managing

a few accounts on social media.

Don't worry. I'm good at what I do.

It hasn't made much of a difference.

The question is, is that person

a professional social media marketer.

On page 12, I have listed the performance

of the accounts I previously managed.

Shingo started a new business

as a social media management consultant.

Let me introduce a Japanese inn

that is perfect for

a summer getaway for couples.

It's surrounded by stylish spots

that are totally photogenic,

and it's also a foodie heaven.

The seafood at the inn is

top-notch as well.

And the ocean view from the window is

seriously stunningly blue.

On top of that

If you mention you've seen

this review on SHINGO's account,

you'll get a free one-hour pass

for the private hot spring.

A Japanese inn that is perfect

for a summer getaway.

A Japanese inn that is perfect

for a summer getaway!

Shingo's consulting services

were successful once again.

The inn's clientele shifted

to younger people,

attracting a large number of visitors.

It quickly became a popular destination.

I successfully promoted

several hotels and guesthouses.

The business itself finally got on track,

and I made some friends.

-Hey, man.

-Hey.

Your hotel in Oita was quite the buzz.

It hit my highest revenue ever.

You're making good money, huh?

I hope you're not gambling illegally.

Nah, I'm clean.

You might not have to make money anymore

but there's a call for PR proposals

for a foreign-owned hotel.

Do you want to collaborate

with my company?

Oh, I didn't know that. When's it due?

We're working directly with the hotel,

bypassing the ad agency.

Is it legit?

Well, it might be a bit

special.

Whoa, you're really pushing the envelope.

The presentation I prepared with Kondo

was able to beat out other ad agencies.

That's amazing. How old were you?

Um, I was

Matsuoka reacted to the term "ad agency."

That term had her momentarily wondering

how many times she had been manipulated

by those who bore that title.

She instantaneously had stopped

listening to Shingo's story.

So, I actually started working

with the hotel's PR director.

I heard he's pretty nice, but that

he'd drop me if the results were bad.

The turnover is quick

in rich foreign-owned companies.

Excuse me.

Come in.

This is SHINGO.

I'm SHINGO. Nice to meet you.

I'm Sato.

-Take a seat.

-Thank you.

So SHINGO, in the end, the inns and hotels

you were managing were rural, right?

Um, yes.

You might've been a star there,

but I wonder how it'll be here.

You're pretty much a newbie.

Right

How old are you again? Pretty young, huh?

Can you handle our brand?

I mean, our clientele is different,

and that age group

doesn't use social media much.

But with this campaign, you're aiming

to target a younger demographic, correct?

Well, yes. But that doesn't matter much.

All I need to see are results.

My campaigns have been

successful most of the time,

so I just wondered

if I can leave it up to you.

I see.

I'll do my best.

Well,

if it doesn't work out in three months,

I can just drop you, so it's fine.

Thank you for your time.

-Yep.

-Thank you.

He wasn't nice at all.

I heard he's usually a really nice guy.

Great news for young people

who want to stay at a resort hotel

but don't have much money.

That famous luxury hotel is

starting an amazing campaign

for those who have

never stayed with them before.

The signboard might've

already given away a spoiler.

-Details about the hotel are at the end

-Hold it.

-Oh.

-Come.

So

What are you going to do with that?

First, I'm going to edit it

to target couples and upload it.

Will it achieve it?

Achieve what?

High views.

Look, my campaigns are always successful.

Instead of uploading

these short videos online,

I could teach you a more effective way.

I think I mentioned this

in my presentation.

Yeah, so?

You want me to do something different?

It's not about doing something different.

May I continue filming, then?

It's not that.

Look.

I want someone who listens to me.

Not being flexible about changes

shows that you still have

the mindset of a student.

Your videos have

never hit it big, have they?

Sorry

You have no idea

how quickly I got promoted.

I got to this position in no time.

Instead of relying on social media,

you should reach out to the media.

Just tell them,

"PR director Sato is making a move."

I see

This is the buffet.

One, two, three, four, five, six

Although it's a buffet,

there are 13 chefs

who will cook for you on the spot.

Here is the buffet.

One, two, three

One, two, three, four, five, six

Although it's a buffet, there are 13 chefs

who will cook for you on the spot.

This is a surprise even for me!

The rooms have large windows

with a panoramic view.

And even the bathroom! Voila, ocean view!

Yeah, no.

We can't use this.

It's not suitable for our clientele.

For the younger clientele

No.

We can't use this at all.

None of Shingo's videos were released

during the contract period,

and the contract ended.

Six months later,

Shingo received a phone call.

Hello?

Mr. Sato, the PR director,

apparently passed away from a stroke.

I was wondering if you'd like

to attend his funeral.

No way, I'm not going.

Why not?

Why would I?

After I endured all that power harassment

and unfair criticism,

he practically broke the contract.

Yeah, but he died.

So what?

What he did to me won't disappear.

I can go on bad-mouthing him

without a problem.

Don't be so petty.

I'm petty? What do you mean petty?

You know exactly what happened.

Yeah, but he's already dead.

What do I care if he's dead?

Does being dead suddenly

make him above criticism?

Huh?

Why won't you answer?

You're not grateful to him at all?

Nope, not at all.

Okay, yeah.

I do understand your sentiment too.

But aren't you being petty?

I mean, it would be nice if I could live

without holding grudges.

I know people like that exist.

But whether you can forgive someone

just because they're dead is

a separate issue.

Calling you petty

makes it sound like it's your problem.

-That's not fair.

-Yeah.

Right?

Well, yeah.

Towards the end, I was just complaining

but that's my story.

I hope no one has to experience that.

Before entering the orifices,

Shingo posted his last social media post.

In his post, he wrote that

he would be entering the orifices.

And also that, if someone was holding

a grudge against him,

he would like to talk to them

before entering the orifices.

Subtitle translation by:

Mariko Yasuoka-Sator

Apartment number 813!

Why are you shouting out

the apartment number?

We wanted to see the corpse.

Want me to find out?

I'm not interested in your curiosity.

Seven Orifices.

This was the first time I regretted it.