It's all over.
Nothing worked out.
Fushi decides how he'll be spending his life.
Hello, I'm Nono.
He'll go on in this world as he had been.
That is his decision.
To Fushi
Happy birthday!
Well? How's life been treating you?
Are things working out?
I'm just getting started. This is only the first chapter.
Mizuha-san has the highest math and physics grades in our year.
I'm so proud to have gone to the same middle school.
Kasabe-san, are you in her class, too?
Yeah... just barely.
So you're going into sciences for university, too, then?
I guess. What about you?
I'm kind of thinking childcare.
But I heard you need to be able to play piano,
and I've never even touched one, so I dunno.
And my fingers are so short.
Piano...
You used to play piano, didn't you, Mizuha-san?
Really? Teach me!
Eh, maybe someday.
Sorry I'm late.
You scared me!
Happy birthday, Mizuha.
What do you want? I'll make you anything.
You make it sound so cheap.
You really are amazing, Fushi-kun.
I'd heard the rumors, but you really haven't changed at all.
I know. No fair, right?
How come we have to turn eighteen?
By the way, is Yuki-kun not coming?
Sorry!
I had to take care of some stuff.
Happy birthday!
Man, you sure are beautiful at eighteen, too.
Thanks!
Long time no see, Yuki-kun.
And, uh... who's that next to you?
Yeah, that's me. Tonari.
So, have you found a girlfriend, Yuki-kun?
Nah, I'm completely hopeless.
I'm so busy making videos.
Oh, I've been watching your channel!
About the Nokkers.
Yeah, it definitely isn't easy.
Hang in there. You're just getting started, aren't you?
Th-Th-That's right!
Imma stay strong!
Jeez, Yuki-kun, pipe down a little.
Hey, they have beer here!
You aren't thinking of drinking, are you?
I'll come get the bike tomorrow.
Hey, Messar. What's up?
I don't think that's the only issue.
Bon? He's at the TV studio.
'Scuse me!
Come on, Tonari-san.
No! You really shouldn't drink!
You're underage!
Over here!
Hanna, stop her!
What?! You're broke again?!
I'm not making money.
I don't want Aiko scolding me again.
Bye.
Hello?
Huh? Satoru's favorite color?
It's black. Black.
What do you mean, that isn't cute?
Why don't you decide, then, Sumika?
Bye.
Messar! I told you I'm not making you any!
Shoulder massages?
No, I'm good. Later.
You seem busy.
I kinda feel like a tool.
What's up?
I came to tell you what I decided I want for my birthday.
Oh, what'll it be?
Your words.
My words?
The words "I understand."
What do you mean?
I just want you to say "I understand."
Don't say anything else.
I feel like I'm being tricked into agreeing to something I shouldn't.
Just for the next ten minutes.
Got it?
Got it.
I'm leaving for good after today.
I'm going overseas.
Now that people know about the Nokkers,
there's been more interest in the Guardians.
So we're making a branch overseas.
That's not all, though.
We have lots of members.
And I want to work with them to find
a solution to the Nokker problem that's getting so much attention lately.
I feel like that's my duty.
As someone who knows the Nokkers,
I want to make a world that you would be happy with.
I plan to leave without saying anything.
My flight is tomorrow.
Anyway, could you do me a favor?
Could you not tell our friends for a while?
You're going to know where I am, right?
I don't want to see them sad anymore.
We can always go...
Understood?
Understood.
I'm not going to ask you to come see me.
I just want you to feel.
Feel that I'm out there somewhere.
That there used to be a girl named Mizuha who looked like this.
Understood.
One last request.
Could you close your eyes for thirty seconds?
Took you long enough, Fushi.
Who were you calling?
Hey, where's Mizuha?
Mizuha-senpai, where did you go?
Cheer up, Yuki.
Done editing the video.
Check it over, please?
Is that enjoyable?
Building models, you mean?
I got the materials from my online buddy who left the scene,
and now I'm totally hooked!
I'm going to take pictures with a kaiju once I'm done building the city!
Oh, you wanna join, Satoru-dono?
No. I'm beyond such things.
Oh? You have experience in the field, huh? You're always welcome in the hobby.
Okay.
Fushi, we should get going.
All right, we'll take it from here.
Yup, thanks.
See you, Black One.
Right.
Well, then, Nono, pardon the inconvenience.
Sure, no problem.
Is something happening?
I came today to say goodbye one last time.
I'm leaving Fushi in your care.
Goodbye? Why is it your last time?
This is the last time I can be myself.
Tomorrow.
It's been four years since I acquired this body.
Four years since I came here.
Tomorrow, I will lose everything that makes me me.
First, all the powers that are unfit for a human body.
Second, the memories of when I used those powers.
I'll forget about all of you,
and I'll live on with only the memories
I've collected as the human called Satoru.
Even if you were to tell me who I really am, by tomorrow,
I won't have the slightest clue what you mean.
The pilot is leaving the ship.
It's up to you all to decide what you want going forward.
So this is that "freedom" you were talking about at some point.
You don't need to listen to the devil anymore, Fushi.
I'd like to hear what exactly you are before you lose your memories.
So your goal this whole time was to turn into some awkward kid?
You've got some awful taste, if that's what it is.
So you can erase your memories quite easily.
Is it so peaceful now that you can lose your memories without any regrets?
What do we do after you've left us behind?
What if the Nokkers go out of control again
and Fushi is permanently out of commission?
What if there are still Nokkers in our bodies?
Even Fushi can't tell, right?
What if they decide to kill us?
Fushi knew the risk when he decided to trust the Nokkers.
That's why he decided not to inherit my powers.
Isn't that right?
Yeah. You're right. But...
I understand that you're worried.
Is it your ultimate goal to live long lives?
Or is it to exterminate the Nokkers?
I can't say.
Either way, your happiness won't be guaranteed.
Yuki, bring me the thing.
Sure.
In any case, I've forfeited the one power that allowed me to control the Nokkers.
I suspect you'll be more content
worrying about your plans for tomorrow than about a matter that's already done.
A clay pot?
I leave that with you. Those are my memories.
Perhaps have a look when you're deathly bored.
Your memories?
Wait, where are you going?
Home.
I've been instructed by the institution staff to be back early.
What? That doesn't make any sense.
Enough with the bullshit, kid! Is this all you've got for us?
That's right.
I simply came to say goodbye.
Let me smack you while you still have your memories!
Wait, Messar!
Lastly, Fushi,
for the occasion in which you throw a fit and become a crab or fruit again,
be sure to have your friends nearby at all times.
Hold it!
You... You brought Fu-chan here!
You better take care of him until the end!
You know what?
When I was little, I taught him how to eat.
I taught him how to pee and how to say thank you!
What have you done for Fu-chan?!
March...
Nothing.
I've done nothing.
March...
I can tell you what he did for me.
He brought me together with great friends.
Progress report.
This is to be my last.
This is merely a will to be left for a fragment of myself.
In the beginning, I was nothing.
All I had was the sensation of being,
and the sensation that I was surrounded by many more.
We toyed with our shifting sensations.
Extending, spinning, spreading, and applying meaning.
We would transmit this to others, myself among the recipients.
We could create with absolute freedom.
We repeated it, over and over.
There was no notion of "impossible."
A seeming eternity passed.
And I became bored.
I knew not where this sensation came from or if I was the only one who felt it.
In retrospect, I was greedy.
I immediately began work on a new creation.
I decided to build my own paradise.
A world that would change on its own and iterate on itself.
I made it snow and summoned storms.
I amused myself, watching them flee.
I'd placed constraints on them.
They had language, and they had limited lives.
I aimed to create a world that was the opposite of mine.
The flesh, so fragile, would quickly cease to move.
The dead flesh emits a stench and becomes grotesque.
For some reason, others would gather around them.
And I felt...
that it was very beautiful.
I came to aspire to be among these specks of dust,
to end my existence after experiencing the sensations here.
To that end, I would need something to manage this place—
or to preserve it.
I created the clay pot people
and experimented with storing information inside their pots.
But those of this world were never meant to live very long.
The clay pot people, like the others, had little time.
Then, I made a special one.
An object with most powerful flesh.
Fushi.
My eternity will vanish into nothing,
but I am glad to have granted my final wish.
Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you.
You're there, aren't you, Black One?
Happy birthday, dear Satoru...
You're there, aren't you?
Happy birthday to you!
Thanks, you guys.
The Black One left us behind.
No! No! I haven't gotten fatter!
See?
What's wrong, March?
I tried to make a fabulous perm,
and it turned into a bird's nest instead.
Oh, that's all it was?
How dare you?!
You just made fun of me, Fu-chan!
Sorry, sorry.
I couldn't make sense of even half of what Black One said.
But I think he taught me that any situation will eventually become boring.
That you'll never be fulfilled.
Sorry I'm late.
I'm definitely missing something!
Huh? Missing what?
My muscles!
Which set of muscles do you think I'm missing?
It's not that I don't care anymore.
But luckily, there are no bad Nokkers right now.
Now it's up to us.
We have to prove to ourselves that our bodies aren't so cheap
that we can let the Nokkers take over.
Either way, your happiness won't be guaranteed.
What is happiness to us?
That became my question.
Messar always seemed to be enjoying himself.
That's the one thing I could learn from him.
That ought to give me a hint about how to live my life.
What, Fushi?
Do I really look that happy-go-lucky to you?
Yeah. You don't look miserable, at least.
I left my misery behind in Renril.
You mean Princess Alme?
No future misery is ever going to top that.
That much I'm sure of.
It's all uphill now.
Hell yeah!
Maybe it's not a bad idea to live in the moment for once.
No, Messar is just making his brain feel good with booze and gambling.
That's just an illusion. You can't call that happiness.
Do you know what happiness is, Hairo?
This is!
What's that sheet?
The bread factory technician certificate!
I dunno what that is, but that's amazing. Congrats!
Hairo said happiness is something that can be attained by your own efforts.
Eko learned to use some basic words.
Her tutor, Yuki's parents...
She has all sorts of people teaching her.
Happiness can come in the form of being guided by someone, I realized.
Well, what about you, Fushi-san?
Your work with the Black One is over now.
Do you not have plans to start anything new?
No, I dunno yet.
Nothing other than to just carry on.
I see.
I'd like to take this opportunity to ask...
Please, when I die, bring me back to life again.
Oh, I was just being selfish back then.
Don't worry about it, Kai.
No, that's not what I mean.
I simply don't want my end to be when I die.
Okay. Got it.
I'm being guided along, too.
Hey! Let's all go have steak to celebrate Hairo passing his exam!
You're driving, Bon?
Indeed! Sexy, right?
With my brand new driver's license.
Are you sure about this?
Do you really know how to drive?
We've always made it through, haven't we?
We aren't about to stop now!
Fushi-san, remember, I'm counting on you.
That's right.
Even if we're unfulfilled now, there's still more to come.
So I want to at least cherish the fun that's in front of me now.
Fine. We'll have to buy supplies, though.
Oh, you dropped this.
Oh, thanks.
Huh? Is it broken?
It's an antique. It never worked.
I got it as a birthday gift.
They tracked it down and bought it for me.
It's running!
Thank you!
Hey! You okay?
Hurry up!
Hold up!
Hey, that watch works now!
Yeah?
That's awesome.
We spent sixty years here.
Oh, you came all this way?
I'm sure some of the old timers won't know who you really are.
Uh-huh.
You could just show up for the incense and a prayer.
So many people came by.
You'd probably do best to show up as a general attendee.
I'm sorry this had to be so complicated for you.
Just show up in your ordinary clothes for a quick visit.
Aiko...
Your family's been so good to me.
Thanks.
I'm grateful to him for staying with us for so long.
I'm sure my brother appreciates you saying that.
Funeral services were held for
foremost Nokker researcher Professor Emeritus Aoki Yuki
at Minamoto Funeral Home.
Many high-profile guests attended to bid him farewell.
The body cream he designed and developed in his younger years
gained attention for its ability to block Nokker infiltration.
Kaibara Cybernetics' microchip is the primary means of controlling the Nokkers,
but he was loved dearly for having been the first
to place a spotlight on the possibilities between the Nokkers and humanity.
I lived a thoroughly enjoyable life thanks to that man.
I simply want to thank him.
Time really flies, doesn't it?
It does.
Man, this place has gotten lonely.
Aiko says I can live here forever,
but officially, I'm supposed to be dead.
I guess I should find my next place.
Where do you want to live next?
I'll take you anywhere you want.
Not yet, Fu-chan.
Of course. Sorry.
You know I'm adorable and full of life.
I'll go anywhere as long as I can stay that way.
You're March no matter which March you are.
You're right. Thank you, Fu-chan.
How was life here?
Were you able to make your dream come true?
My dream was to become a mother, wasn't it?
No one ever took a liking to you, huh?
You're awful, Fu-chan! How could you?!
S-Sorry!
I was a full-time man magnet!
They were just never up to my standards!
You're right, of course.
I love you for never forgetting to dream, though, March.
Don't expect me to forgive you just because you said that!
Ow! Ow!
Hey!
Come on. Time to get going.
Okay. Shall we?