Suruga Seiryo High School Drama Club
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: The Remake
Date & Time: Oct. 31 (Sun) 2:30 PM Place: Suruga Seiryo High School Gymnasium
Long ago and far away,
there was an old man who made his living as a bamboo cutter.
The Bamboo Cutter is about an old man
who finds Princess Kaguya inside a bamboo stalk and raises her.
She refuses many suitors who want to marry her.
And in the end, she is forced to return home to the moon.
Grandma, take a gander. I found this baby inside a bamboo stalk.
My word, grandpa. Who is this adorkable baby girl?
We should name her "Princess Kaguya."
A princess who always shines beautifully.
May her life be forever filled with happiness.
In just a few short months,
Episode 9: A Replica Is Bereft
Princess Kaguya grew up to be a lovely young woman.
Moririn!
Grandmother. Grandfather.
Have I truly received a letter from the imperial capital?
Yes. It bids us to hand you over.
Nobles and even the emperor are infatuated with your beauty.
You are allowed to refuse marriage.
You will always, always have a home here with us.
What is best for you is best for me, grandmother and grandfather.
Princess!
Please accept my betrothal gift.
It is my wish neither to wed nor to leave for the capital.
But if it will please you...
I humbly appreciate your affection.
Princess!
Princess Kaguya lived a peaceful life with her grandparents
after deftly dismissing her suitors.
Look, grandpa.
Princess Kaguya grew this all by herself.
Oh, look how big it is.
I watered it like you told me, and it turned out plump.
It's too beautiful to eat.
Grandpa, you silly goose.
But despite their best efforts, she could not escape her fate.
Princess Kaguya.
Why must you leave us and return to the moon?
Because I am of the city on the moon.
On the night of the full moon, celestial messengers will come for me.
You mustn't! Perhaps if we unite, we can drive them off!
You cannot.
The people of the moon are not like the people of this world.
No?
We are not the same.
We differ in how time passes for us, and in why we are born.
But I promise I will not forget you after I have returned.
I will send letters as well as drawings.
Oh, yeah. This story...
Look alive, men!
The moon messengers must not take the princess!
Who's with me?
Yeah!
Don't go!
Princess Kaguya, will you really leave us?
It shall be done.
I must return to the place I was born.
Please remember me, grandmother, grandfather.
This story is more than just The Bamboo Cutter.
Grandma, we must do something.
Yes, but she is a celestial being.
She was never meant to live with us in our world.
For this Mori-senpai,
this entire story from beginning to end has been about her own life.
Let us bid farewell with our smiles.
Here. Receive this heavenly vestment.
You liar!
You never wanted to be a puppet on a string...
with no will of your own.
You know people will forget you if you leave us.
Listen to your heart. Where does it say you belong?
Those flyers weren't an accusation.
They were a cry for help.
She wanted to let everyone know that she's not Suzumi Mori.
That she's here as her own person.
Quit being so obedient and tell us what you want.
Use your own words.
I'm begging you.
Please.
Can I?
Can I really do what I want?
Am I really allowed to stay here with my mom and dad?
Can I?
Please stay.
I want you to stay.
Okay.
Oops. I...
Mother. Father.
Look up at the sky.
The dawn is breaking.
That it is. It looks like it will be a sunny day.
I have decided I will stay here for the rest of my life,
together with both of you.
After the old woman poured her heart out and pleaded with her daughter,
Princess Kaguya changed her mind.
Princess Kaguya decided her true home was with the grandparents who raised her,
and not with the moon people she had no memory of.
We're also selling a novella depicting that familial bond.
"The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: The Remake," as told by the grandmother.
On sale now in the lit club room in the auxiliary building. Only 200 yen each.
I'm so sorry.
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
Fire Safety
I shouldn't have ad-libbed those lines.
There's no time for that. We have to move the props. The next group's waiting.
Uh, right!
As they say, all's well that ends well.
Yup.
It felt like a live improv show. It was great.
Ricchan. Thank you.
Hot Hotcakes
Boba Seiryo!
So here's the thing.
I was talking with Suzumi's mom, and she gave me this.
To Ryo-chan
It's Suzumi's letter to me. She found it in her room.
She apologized for not giving it to me sooner.
But I'm too scared to read it alone.
So I want to read it together.
Huh? Is that a good idea?
It might have stuff about Mochizuki-senpai asking her out during the fireworks.
Wait a minute.
He did what? I had no idea.
You know more about Suzumi than I do.
So let's read it together.
I, uh, think I really need to get back to my club.
This is an order from a senior and your student body president.
Aren't you the "former" president?
No more backchat.
All right. I'll read it now.
"Dear Ryo-chan,"
"How are you? I'm fine."
"Gosh, that sounds like we're strangers, doesn't it?"
To Ryo-chan
"It's been that long. It's me, Suzumi."
"The reason I've decided to write you this letter"
"is because Mochizuki-kun asked me out at the Abe River fireworks festival."
"I've tried writing letters to you before, but I ended up tossing them out."
"Everything in those letters sounded too fake to me."
"But now, I think I can write what I really want to say to you."
"Do you remember Shun Mochizuki?"
"He's that sanctimonious kid who was always rude."
"He played the prince in that play in kindergarten."
"But he did promise me back then"
"that one day, I'd play a princess to his prince."
"My little doppelgänger."
"I want to thank you for answering my call for help and coming to me."
"Thank you for going to school for me when I was crying over having to play"
"the evil stepmother in the school play."
"Even if I did end up chasing after you,"
"and that caused my parents to split us up from each other."
"But..."
"But I'd call grandma and grandpa in Fujinomiya behind mom's back,"
"and they'd tell me how happy they were to have you."
"So I think that I made the right decision."
"I wish they'd been able to show me your paintings."
"Both grandma and grandpa said you were a great artist."
Should we stop there?
Yeah, I think so.
Oh, it says she was too embarrassed to answer Mochizuki-kun right away,
and she planned to give him a letter.
Why?
Yeah. She can be a real screwup.
She even slipped and hit her head because she couldn't walk in geta sandals.
So I guess I fell in love?
With who?
With Suzumi.
For 13 years up until the accident, I've always wanted to see her.
I've been missing her, hating her, adoring her, and feeling heartbroken.
Isn't that the type of love you see in manga and dramas?
All I would think about the whole time was Suzumi.
Everyone thinks that someone in a vegetative state can only breathe.
But Suzumi's not like that.
Sometimes, she smiles.
It's such a fragile, defenseless smile, like a baby's.
And at the same time, it's so empty.
She smiles when I play music for her.
She squeezes my hand when I hold hers.
But I know it's not really her. She's not doing those things consciously.
It's just her body reacting to stimuli.
Nothing I do actually reaches Suzumi.
You must really miss her.
Yeah. I really miss Suzumi.
Anyway, I said some messed up things to you.
Sorry for being a horrible senior.
It's fine.
Actually, I'll forgive you on one condition.
What's that?
Can you say your real name? I want to hear it from you.
I'm actually Nao Aikawa.
The guy who played grandpa was Aki Sanada.
I'm Ryo.
Suzumi's name...
has the characters for "cool" and "still" when you write it.
The character for "cool" is also pronounced "Ryo."
My mom and dad gave me that name. My very own name.
So it's Ryo-senpai then.
Nao-chan, thanks for finding me.
I'm glad we met.
I'll go back to Fujinomiya. My real home.
I'll talk things out with Suzumi's parents.
Then I'll keep waiting patiently for Suzumi to recover and wake up.
But one day, will you come meet my real parents?
Sure.
But what does Fujinomiya have?
Good question.
Well, it does have the Makaino Farm Resort.
I can take you there.
The Netherworld Farm?
Makai = Netherworld
"Makaino," not "Makai."
Oh. O-Okay. I promise to come see you.
I'll hold you to that. I'll be waiting.
Sure.
So we need to sell two copies in two minutes.
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter:\h\h\h The Remake\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h
As Told by Grandma
Suruga Seiryo High School Literature Club
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter:\h\h\h The Remake\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h
As Told by Grandma
Suruga Seiryo High School Literature Club
They're the only ones left.
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: The Remake
As Told by Grandma
One copy: 200 yen
But selling this many should be enough to save our club, right?
It should be within the margin of error.
You're right.
I'll go make the case—
A copy is 200 yen, right?
I'd like one, too.
Senpai!
Thank you all for coming to the 17th annual Seiryo Fest.
We made it!
I commend your efforts, literature club.
Will we be disbanded?
I'll talk the faculty out of it.
They can't say your club has no achievements to its name now.
Your ex-student body president will take care of the rest.
But we need to go to the gym first.
We still have the after-fest assembly.
Right.
Mori.
Can we talk?
Mochizuki-kun, sorry. We're running late.
No, listen.
I swore to ask you again if our play was a success.
Huh?
Like I told you that night, I'm in love with you.
But I-I want to know how you feel—
Sorry.
I love someone else.
I can't go out with you.
There's still hope.
So cheer up. I'm sure Suzumi might feel differently.
Huh? What?
Hm? Suzumi?
Just hang tight till the after-fest is done.
We have a whole lot to talk about.
Uh, I have no clue what she just said.
They used our clubroom for their rom-com again.
Mochizuki-senpai.
I had a lot of fun with the play.
Yeah, me too.
Me three.
Yeah, I had fun too. Thanks, you guys.
Haunted Abandoned Hospital
I wonder if our class is done cleaning up.
Nobody's here.
It looks like they aren't finished.
Nao.
You're right. They've barely started.
Should we clean up ourselves?
Um, Aki-kun?
What?
Did you, uh, just try to kiss me and miss?
I didn't miss.
I kissed you where I wanted to.
You wanted to kiss me on the nose?
Uh, technically, yeah.
And did you try to kiss me at the aquarium, too?
Lay off me.
And sorry.
Then, can you try again?
I want to do it for real, Aki-kun.
You mean it?
I do.
There you guys are.
Come on. The after-fest's about to start.
Thanks to all of your efforts, another Seiryo Fest has successfully concluded.
As of this event, we in the student council will officially step down.
We might've been like meddlesome in-laws to the new student council.
But this weekend has been really enjoyable.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And I repeat, this fest could not have been a success without all of you.
For the years to come, I call on the faculty,
the organizing committee, our local community,
and all the students here—
Hey, Aki-kun.
If the original's heart stops, does the replica...
President Moririn?
What happened?
Where's Moririn?
I came back home in a total daze.
I only remember asking Sunao to erase me on the spot.
I wanted it all to be a dream.
We've just received word from her parents.
The senior, Suzumi Mori, passed away last Sunday.
She suffered a concussion at the end of July,
and the injury left her completely unresponsive.
She fought hard to recover,
but she spent her final moments peacefully at home with her parents at her side.
Sensei.
I believe President Moririn was in the gym on Sunday.
The wake and the funeral will be family-only.
The school will hold a memorial service tomorrow from sixth period.
How can anyone believe that?
Everyone saw Suzumi Mori holding the microphone on Sunday.
Everyone saw her play Princess Kaguya.
Nao.
I'll walk you home.
This isn't like that other time.
Yeah, I guess.
I wish it had rained today.
I'd even have taken an out-of-season typhoon.
Yeah?
Nao?
This rocky beach stings all over.
Aki-kun, you won't leave me, will you?
I wish I could promise that.
Nao.
Go ahead. I won't mind.
With what?
You don't have to wait for rain or a storm.
You're free to cry, whenever you want to.
Ryo-senpai!
We were just starting to get to know each other!
I even made a promise!
To you.
Welcome back.
I'm home.
What happened?
A senior at school died.
Were you close?
Hey, Nao.
I'll start attending school tomorrow.
I'll go every day, even during exams or when I don't feel like it.