Wow, pretty!
Happy birthday, Eren.
Yay!
Dear, that looks so expensive...
One of my paintings sold, so...
I see.
Just a little longer...
Please just let me do this for a little while longer.
I just keep...
thinking of myself.
I lied to both of you...
My painting didn't sell.
Mom?
My dad...
took this way more seriously!
Yet that still wasn't even close to enough!
He staked his life on it!
Risked everything he had!
And cursed himself to the grave!
Kashiwa Sato. Taku Satoh.
EPISODE 2: THERE'S SOMETHING BEYOND THIS, Y'KNOW
Groovisions. Ikko Tanaka.
NIGO... Makoto Saito...
Damn, I can't even name ten.
Hey... Remember I said I might go to art school too the other day?
I scouted a potential studio.
This place had good reviews.
You were serious, huh?
It's already autumn,
but apparently, a lot of second-years start with the summer intensive.
I've got to catch up fast.
You'll be fine.
Koichi, have you ever used acrylic paint?
The entrance exam isn't just sketches, you know.
I heard there's a "color composition" exam using acrylic paint.
There's an academic part too. Art school isn't as easy to get into as you think.
I'm going for the Department of Art and Culture.
I'm interested in creator management and stuff.
MAU's Department of Art and Culture, huh?
Yeah, exactly!
I guess it would be Tama Art for me...
Yeah, I think so.
If anyone asks me who I'm like,
don't you think I'd have the Kashiwa Sato style?
In the sense that it's logical and...
Yeah, maybe?
MY KOICHI NOTEBOOK
Don't worry, Koichi.
I'll turn you into Kashiwa Sato.
NEAREST STATION FIVE-MINUTE WALK FROM KANNAI STATION
BASHAMICHI ART ACADEMY
Oh, found it!
This has got to be the building.
BASHAMICHI ART ACADEMY
Hey, quit putting your hood up.
You won't get popular, y'know? Being all emo.
Hey, you listenin' to me?
It helps me stay calm.
Nah, don't go chilling out in the shade.
You some kind of animal?
Come on, wait inside.
I told you to knock it off, Baldy!
Huh?
The atmosphere here is different from our high school art club.
There are about twenty students.
It's concerning that it's mostly girls, but...
What's Eren doing here?
I'm Kaido, the president of Bashamichi Art Academy.
Nice to meet ya.
You two observin', yeah?
Yes.
Eren!
BASHAMICHI ART ACADEMY PRESIDENT RYUTA KAIDO
Oh? You guys go to school with Eren?
Yes, we're in the same year.
But she's not even in the art club,
so I'm a bit surprised to see that she attends here.
She's not a student here.
Then why is she...
Ya see, her dad was my senior back in art school.
So I've known her ever since she was little.
I get her to stop by once in a while.
I see. So you're going to start holding art classes, huh?
Yeah. Just found a nice property and everything.
Your wife works too, right?
I could watch her anytime.
She seems easy enough to handle.
You're a lifesaver.
I could even teach her if you want.
"Teach," huh?
See that? You mix the paint to get your color.
You can make any color you want.
Any?
That's right. Any at all.
Huh. Then why...
Hmm?
Your picture. Why doesn't it have very much color?
I'll teach you how to use the "tools" as much as you want.
In exchange...
Please show me the world you see!
Yo, it's been a while, Eren!
Did ya get a little taller?
Take a look at this. I managed to paint a masterpiece, and...
That child...
she doesn't paint anymore.
He probably liked drawing as a kid.
His habit of just drawing lines is from doing manga-style art.
FANTASY MONSTERS!
You haven't progressed from lines to surfaces
because you were simply a kid who loved to draw.
It's because you love to draw that your sketches don't improve.
Could there be a greater irony than that?
That's how unfair the world you want to be part of is.
I never want to see a dream end again.
Whether it's mine...
or anyone else's.
Eren, sorry to keep you waiting.
All right, gonna step out for a bit!
Don't slack off now, ya hear?
ARTS AND CULTURAL FESTIVAL
Eren.
I won't lose.
It's been ten years, huh?
For him to walk out into traffic first thing in the morning is...
He must've been in debt, right?
It still hasn't been ruled a suicide yet.
Yamagishi-senpai...
I refuse to believe that you'd commit suicide and leave your daughter behind.
You know that guy Koichi Asakura at the studio?
Yeah, the one who came in today.
Him too...
He believes in his potential like a complete idiot.
It really pisses me off.
If hard work paid off in this world, my dad would still be alive!
I'm so pissed!
At that jerk who only knows to work hard,
and at myself, who only knows to be angry!
Sayuri.
I've mastered a new expressive technique!
I don't believe in hard work.
Some things don't change no matter how much you put in.
I wish dreams had expiration dates too.
Michelangelo, one of the three great masters of the Renaissance,
Otherwise, I'll be scared forever...
spent four years on the Sistine Chapel...
Scared that one day, I'll want to draw too...
and end up going crazy like my dad.
BASHAMICHI ART ACADEMY
Oh, Eren-san.
If you're looking for the president, he's out today.
I see.
Said something about going to the hospital.
The hospital?
Yeah, maybe it's getting worse.
He apparently has some kind of eye disease.
What are you saying?
Well, I don't know the details either, but...
Hey! Didn't know you were here.
Huh? President, weren't you going to take off...
Yeah, well, I managed to wrap it up quickly.
Besides, if I'm not here, you guys'll slack off, won't ya?
Hmm? What's up, Eren?
What, ya feel like drawing?
Just kiddin'.
I can't...
Eren?
Hey!
I can't...
I just can't anymore!
Eren...
Your left hand is very special...
Unlike your dad's.
Eren, do it for us.
Do it... for us...
I can't... I can't....
If only I didn't have this left hand...
Eren!
You won't know unless you try!
Eren!
Eren...
God, Buddha, anyone will do...
I beg you...
Please save Eren.
Y'know, Asakura...
You draw more than anyone else, yet you aren't improving one bit.
One piece says it all.
Like the personality of an artist and how they feel.
You have a bad habit of cutting corners, and it shows.
This picture reflects your exact self.
Don't tell me...
Do you still think you're good at this?
N-No, I have a lot of room for improvement.
If ya can't admit to yourself that ya suck, you're never gonna improve.
Koichi.
Stop sketching for a while.
Go take a picture of something you could use as a motif for your color composition.
Do you have a camera?
Yeah. The one Dad uses for his hobby.
Let's go take pictures tomorrow. I'll come with you.
Eren...
Huh? You're not going to draw?
You see...
I'm lending them to Ms. Rabbit.
Then let's draw together.
No.
Eren, I named you...
PICTURE LOVE
to mean this.
That's why, Eren...
your left hand is...
So sleepy...
Why do you want a photo of the rising sun?
Come to think of it, you painted a sunrise on the storehouse wall too, didn't you?
I'm told I was born in the morning.
Right as first light broke. So they named me Koichi, meaning "light" and "first."
What about you, Sayuri? Where's your name come from?
My dad is a fan of Sayuri Yoshinaga.
Nice! Your dad has good taste.
Yeah, I guess.
Well, it doesn't matter.
When it comes to your name, you can dream up anything you want
and convince yourself of it!
Hey...
Hmm?
Koichi...
You know...
I want you to know that I really...
Eren?
Huh?
It was around this time...
when my dad died.
Even though ten years have passed,
I still feel like he's right here.
Just like how I still can't move from this spot.
Those guys are...
Koichi, she's fine. Let's just go.
But it's right here.
Huh? What is?
Amazing.
Huh?
Hey! Koichi!
You idiot! What are you doing?!
Oh... I was captivated by the morning sun.
Hey... Thanks.
Why couldn't I bring myself to believe in him?
Eren?
So you're saying Yamagishi-senpai didn't commit suicide?
I don't know. I don't know, but...
Sorry.
Okay, I'm heading out.
W-Wait up, Eren...
Don't you want to draw? Well?
I can't just conveniently switch gears like that...
I haven't been drawing properly for over ten years.
It's already too late.
Eren...
President!
I think this one turned out pretty well, so... Oh!
This guy... He's getting worse!
I'm going home.
Hey! Take a look at my—
Shut it.
It's way too early to be patting yourself on the back.
Again, she didn't even spare a second glance.
Maybe I'd have been better off if I were a southpaw like her...
I can't even draw a proper line.
Huh?
What's this guy fooling around using his left hand for?
Hey, swing by the studio for a bit.
Got something real interesting to show ya.
You piece of garbage...
DRAW! -KOICHI
You're too quick to be content with your own work.
This isn't it, Koichi.
There's something beyond this, y'know.
I was always bored.
But then she showed me...
She hit me with the harsh truth.
Get serious.
Give it all you've got, Koichi.
I'll crush you each and every time!
You, who's no genius...
Show me how you plan to fight against living an ordinary life.
Show me just how far you can go!
Show me!
And then...
give up.
MUSASHINO ART UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAM HALL
All right. Please begin.
Only one in eighteen people here will make it.
Damn it, don't look... Don't look around!
DRAW! -KOICHI
YOU SUCK
More than anyone else in this exam hall, she's by far...
Well, well. So you passed, huh?
Koichi, you aren't consistent yet.
MUSASHINO ART UNIVERSITY, VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN: ACCEPTED
You could've stuck to prepping for another year, but...
I guess luck's a skill of its own.
And how about you, Sayuri?
I'm going to MAU, same as Koichi.
Anyway, congratulations on getting in.
TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, JAPANESE PAINTING: ACCEPTED
But don't you go thinking this is the goal.
MUSASHINO ART UNIVERSITY, ARTS AND CULTURE & TAMA ART UNIVERSITY, ARTS: ACCEPTED
In fact, this isn't even the starting line.
The goal is becoming a full-fledged designer, isn't it?
That's not necessarily the case.
You never know when your life will actually begin.
For some, it starts once something is gained.
For others, it starts once something is tossed.
That part is kind of up to you individually.
But, well, once it happens, you'll know.
If someone were to ask me when my life truly started...
I'd probably tell them...
DRAW! -KOICHI
it was that day.
I'm gonna be an amazing designer!
And then you're going to date a gravure idol, right?
Koichi.
You seem pretty occupied with yourself.
I had no idea...
that we're allowed to live our lives so completely for our own sakes.
Koichi...
Thank you.
What?
I couldn't hear you, Eren.
Translation Yukari Murase-Louden
Timing Riley Dalton Editing Riley Dalton
Quality Control SMR Translation Check Rei Miyasaka
Koichi!
Wake up! We're out of time!
Open the D draft file!
What is this?
That's not the latest text, is it?
Micchan!
Let me see the copy we just fixed!
Yes, sir.
Hello? Yeah, we're working on it right now.
Huh? What, why?!
I've sent it over to Koichi-san's PC.
Koichi! Replace the celebrity photos.
What...?
Replace cut 192 with 211 and cut 185 with cut 31!
U-Um, cut 192 is...
Huh?! It's not like I want Sales to apologize, jeez!
It's been nearly ten years since I got into art school,
and there's one thing I know for certain...
Koichi, make those corrections!
Yes, sir!
My life... never even began.
Don't you stop! You make sure you tell them over there!
And make it clear!