(Yakusho Koji is singing "Anta no Baraado", "Your Ballad", which was released in 1977 as Sera Masanori & Twist's debut single.)
I gave you
Days of love
2002, Early Summer
?? I'm not going to ask you
?? To give them back now
Ah... why are they not bringing our banana juice?
Banana... I-I'll go ask them.
Eh eh!
He's trying to run away.
Why the heck are you chewing gum!
Who told you to spit it out?!
- I'm sorry! - Ya hold it, kid!
- I'm sorry! - Hold it! - Ossan!
(Ossan means middle-aged man.)
Please don't call your father "Ossan".
Ossan, why are you hindering my date, Ossan?
Ossan!
Ah...
Do you know the story of Matsuura Aya-san's debut?
(Matsuura Aya, also known to her fans as Ayaya, is a Japanese pop singer, actress and model.)
When she was 14 years old, Matsuura Aya-san
went to see a Hello! Project's concert.
(Hello! Project is a Japanese idol project, the umbrella name for a collective of female singers whose recordings are produced by Tsunku, a prolific record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.)
All of a sudden, Tsunku-san told her
to get on the stage and sing.
He made her sing an unfinished song at Nakano Sun Plaza
(A hotel in Tokyo which includes a concert hall, the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall.)
wearing her ordinary clothes.
Matsuura Aya-san splendidly sang to the end.
And then she cried a lot in the backstage.
Do you get it?
Talented people are talented from the very beginning.
Matsuura Aya-san was born holding a microphone.
You were born wearing boxing gloves.
Anyone can go on a date,
but only the Chosen Ones can get on the ring.
Shut up!
First of all, I didn't hinder your date.
I only saved you before he would find out that your feet stink.
Stop talking nonsense, my feet don't stink!
Yu-kun's not coming back, huh?
Could it be you weren't that important to him?
Nobody would come back after getting so damn tired!
Why won't they bring our banana juice...?
- You bald man! - That hurts!
- I'm not bald, am I! - That hurts, you know!
It hurts because the way you train is lacking!
How many high school girls training to harden their heads do you think there are in Japan!?
Is a date more important than boxing!?
Of course it's not!
Aren't you aiming for the Olympic Games!?
Of course I am!
Very well!
Okay!
I'm so gonna kill you, I'm so gonna kill you, I'm so gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you...
- Kill me, kill me, kill me if you can.
Yu-kun, I'm sorry! Forgive me!
Get away from her! You bastard.
M-Ma...
You can have all our banana juice.
What's with your guard!
Yes!
Is that "Goodnight"? Flopping down on the ring?
Screenwriter: Sakamoto Yuji
What the heck is that? That's a cat's punch!
W e d d i n g M a t c h
O y a j i n o S e n a k a
F a t h e r' s B a c k
subs: maboroshinohikari
Yakusho Koji as Aoki Sosuke
Mako-chan!
Mitsushima Hikari as Aoki Makoto
A town where even 100 yen shops go bankrupt is finished.
Even if the town goes under, our gym won't shut down.
- Hang in there! - I will!
You call it a gym?! Your only regular is an OL trying to shrink her waist!
(A female office worker.)
If I get the gold medal in London and TV stations come here
- don't tell them we're friends! - What the heck! Hey!
Yamamoto Mizuki as Arisa
Asada Miyoko as Aoki Sachiko
A o k i B o x i n g G y m
Producer: Yagi Yasuo
I'm back!
Director: Tsuruhashi Yasuo
2012, Spring
One two three four, forward, backward,
down and side, down and side, right, left...
Two more to go!
One... two!
- I'll increase the speed a bit. - Okay.
Is it okay like this?
One two!
Two... 'kay?
- You've lost some weight. - Thank you very much.
Follow my hips, and...
Oh, Mako-chan! Is your training camp over?
- Ah ah ah! Listen, this is the residents' association membership fee... - Ossan.
- You know where my Ossan is? - Your father? Ah, maybe...
(The man instinctively raised his little finger which means "a girlfriend, mistress or female love interest".)
No, I dunno.
You hesitated, didn't you? Just now.
I'll leave the residents' fee and the Red Cross contribution here.
Okay, okay... ouch ouch ouch!
Hold it! Stop it, Mako-chan!
So-chan, the yakiniku was delicious, wasn't it?
The negi-tan was so thick!
(Sliced beef tongue with green onions.)
- Oh, and also those short ribs... - Kalbi.
(Kalbi or galbi generally refers to a variety of grilled dishes in Korean cuisine that are made with marinated beef or pork short ribs.)
- It was so tasty! - Yeah.
You couldn't eat yakiniku when you were an active boxer, right?
The only things boxers can stuff themselves with
are konnyaku, shirataki noodles, and kuzu starch noodles.
(Low carbohydrate and low calorie foods useful to those on low-carbohydrate diets.)
And yet they shine just for a moment, when they get on the ring.
They only live to drink a glass of delicious water.
Being a boxer is like being a stray dog.
That's what it is.
So-chan, you're a doggy, right?
Ah? Arisa,
I wish you could have seen Dragon Aoki's way of life.
Arisa, if you saw me fight
you would've gotten dripping wet, eh eh eh...
Oh!
All right.
Down and side, down and side, right, left...
Mako-chan, right?
I have a present for you, Mako-chan.
Wait a second.
- Oh, welcome back. - I'm home.
- How was the training camp? - It went very well.
- Did you eat? - A little bit.
- Don't drink anything before the weighing. - I won't.
Is President Kondo doing fine?
Since Otaki will have his title fight soon,
- his stomach hurts. - What are you doing?
- Yes? - Why are you still standing there?
- Yes. - Jump rope!
Did you go somewhere?
Earlier, when I arrived, you weren't home.
Rather, it looked as if you didn't come back yesterday.
- That... - Pardon?
- I went there. - A get-together?
- Yeah. - Who did you meet with?
With those involved in the club.
Those involved in the club?
Well, people involved in boxing, you know...
What did you eat?
Let's see, what did I eat...?
What did I eat, again? Jump rope!
I had oden. 8 kcal konnyaku.
(A dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konnyaku, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth.)
That's all I ate. It's konnyaku every day.
- That's obvious, isn't it? - Jump rope now!
Sometimes I'm on the verge of losing heart.
I think "How I wish I could try some Kalbi short ribs".
What's that...
Eddie Townsend was the ideal boxing trainer.
(Edward "Eddie" Townsend was an American professional boxing trainer. He is revered in Japan for training several boxing world champions. An award given to boxing trainers was established in his honor, and a boxing gym in Osaka, bears his name.)
Eddie-san never approached winning boxers,
- he hugged only those who lost. - Yeah...
A trainer's job is to share joys and sorrows with the athlete.
Being one in body and soul.
Eddie-san must have never had Kalbi, don't you think?
Okay!
Come on, come now!
So what do those people involved in boxing call you?
Let's see...
Do they call you Pantaloons-san?
- Huh? - Don't you actually wish
they gave you a cooler ring name?
Something like "Dragon Aoki".
- The then president... - The then president?
He chose the boxers' names according to their family business.
My parents had a tailor shop, that's why.
What's the name of the man whose parents did home delivery?
Cardboard Yokoi-san.
- And the one of the furniture store? - Sofa Otani-san.
So if your parents had a yakiniku restaurant, your name would be--
Stop talking and raise it more!
- "Kalbi Short Ribs", huh? - Use those muscles.
You had Kalbi with Arisa!
You named your daughter "Makoto", a male name,
and then you date "Arisa"?!
- She pisses me off. - Give it back.
Who's "Dragon Aoki"?
Aren't you named Pantaloons Aoki, old man?
Why do you tell such petty lies?
Eavesdropping on someone's conversation as if you were bugging them
is something that...!
"If you saw me fight, Arisa,"
"you would've gotten dripping wet!"
Aaah!
Isn't that woman about the same age as me?
Ah!
Twenty... three?
- That's... quite a problem. - It's all right.
- Isn't it a crime? - It's not a crime.
Isn't it illegal? Isn't it against the law?
Isn't it an illicit love?
It's not illegal. And it's not an illicit relationship.
With a woman who's younger than your daughter?
Arisa and I are even engaged.
It's a legal love.
Eh?!
? do you think I'd say that? At such an important time?!
I know! But you have the trials tomorrow.
As I didn't want to make you worry,
I tried to avoid, you know, that the two things
would conflict!
Well, you know... it was something like a morai-jiko.
(Getting involved in a car accident you didn't cause.)
Ah...
- What's that thing in your hands? - It's Kani-pan?
(Crab-shaped milk bread.)
- Why do you have a Kani-pan? - Because I'm hungry.
- Hold it! - This is nothing compared to Kalbi.
If you eat that now, you won't pass the weighing tomorrow!
- I don't care if I fail. - Don't eat, don't eat,
don't eat, don't eat, don't eat!
Spit it out, spit it out, out!
Ah...!
Uh uh uh!
Why did you buy two Kani-pan!
You won't make it to the Olympics!
You won't be able to get the gold medal!
Let's run!
Run and lose some weight!
Come!
What else? What else did you eat?
Nothing.
- Café gohan! - Café gohan?!
(Any kind of meal served at a café)
- Where? - In Minato Mirai.
(The central business district of Yokohama.)
So you two rode on the Ferris wheel!?
(Cosmo Clock 21 is a giant Ferris wheel in the Minato Mirai.)
- Answer at once! - We did.
- How many times? - Only once.
What else did you eat?
- Pancakes. - Pancakes?
I mean hotcakes. Nowadays, girls
call them pancakes instead of hotcakes.
Wait, you know that...? Ossan,
what are you increasing your girlishness for?
- I'm not increas... - Is that necessary?
Do you need that girlishness?
I mean, I can no longer tell the difference among a cake, a pastry, a crab and bread!
Wait, wait! Hold it!
Please wait. Let's...
Let's clarify what led us to this situation.
Was it my engagement? Or was it what I ate?
Something in between.
If you eat nothing but konnyaku day in and day out,
your anger will focus on food too.
I can't believe the man who makes his daughter box
- is dating a 22-year-old girl. - She's 23.
Take a look at that.
I received it from Arisa?
See? She was kind enough as to--
Is that a token of kindness?
Does that suit me?
Hey you! That's a present!
If I stopped now, I'd surrender myself to sorrow.
I have to go on.
That's what Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind said.
(A manga written and illustrated by anime director Miyazaki Hayao. Its first sixteen chapters were adapted into a film of the same title.)
When things were tough, I'd always think of Nausicaä.
Like when I went to a mixer.
I was invited to a mixer, and since it was my first time
I went to see the old men of the Japanese chess club and rehearsed.
I dared to go thinking it'd definitely go well.
After looking at my face, the boys
asked me over and over whether I was angry.
There's an evil look in my eyes.
I glare at others when I'm my usual self.
I think your eyes look gentle, though.
Even so, we hit it off after a couple of drinks,
and when I began to think it might actually be fun,
you entered the room.
You caught them one by one and started preaching.
"How can you be so frivolous"
"at such an important time of your life?", you said.
You gonna have an orgy now?!
"I wish I never boxed", I thought.
Well, I had a rush of blood to the head that time...
Still, the next day, I woke up at 5 am,
and ran the riverbank.
The same river where you threw away my very first brassiere.
Do you need this?
Do you need this stuff now!?
I want to wear it.
I really want to wear it.
But if I wore such a thing,
I'd never be able to stand on the ring again.
If I wore a bra, my boxing life would be over.
I'm sure Nausicaä didn't wear a bra either.
I'm sure Nausicaä didn't go to mixers either.
If I stopped now, I'd surrender myself to sorrow.
I have to go on.
Thinking of those words,
I've kept at it until today!
Although nobody's interested in women's boxing!
Although our tournaments are considered a sideshow, and they treat us like minor performers!
Still, I've devoted myself to it for 27 years!
Makoto! I got it. I got it, so stop it.
Not that! Hold it!
That's the expensive one--!
Stop it.
It's all because of this...
Cut it out! Stop it!
Don't! Don't do that! Don't!
I'll break up with Arisa!
I won't marry her, I won't. I will not!
I'll break up with her.
When?
I'm going to tell her straight away. That it's over.
Okay!
Now jump rope a thousand times.
Yes!
What to do, I had some Kani-pan...
- Skip a thousand times! - I will!
It was only the wind that shut the door.
If Arisa had heard that noise she'd have hidden behind me.
How did you find out about Arisa?
- You brought her here, didn't you? - I did.
It was because our mayonnaise was not in the shopping bag.
The mayonnaise was not in the bag?
We always put mayonnaise in the refrigerator without throwing out the bag.
Because we did so until Mom left.
What an ignominious defeat, man.
- Sorry we couldn't meet your expectations. - Eh eh! She'll never make it.
That girl's got no talent.
Uh? ah!
I'm sorry.
Oh, let's take those off.
Mako-chan...
Your mother's come to pick you up.
I'll take her glove off.
I promised your mother
that if we didn't make it to the Olympics,
you'd quit boxing.
All right.
Ma'am!
Close your eyes a try one of those. They have a whole new flavor now.
A Year Later
Totally tastes of crab, doesn't it? Come here, ma'am!
Close your eyes and try one. You'll be surpri--
It's true.
It tastes of crab.
- I'll buy one. - Ah...
Thank you very much!
How is your daughter doing?
- My daughter? - You said she'd get the gold medal.
She's... getting married tomorrow.
- Welcome back. - Been here long?
- For a little while. - Where's Koguchi-san?
- I'm alone. - Forgot something?
You haven't done the cleaning lately, huh?
The rooms are untidy too.
- I cleaned the other day. - When was "the other day"?
Mm...
If you can't remember, then it wasn't the other day.
Eh eh eh...
- What's that? - Mm? Ah...
Deep-fried chicken and assorted fried food.
- Deep-fried food... - Eh eh eh... here.
Did you get things ready?
- I did. - Like your morning dress?
Do you know the place?
Will you make it?
- It's at 9. - You said at 10.
- At 9. - 9? Okay.
Want me to pick you up?
Isn't Koguchi-san waiting for you?
Right now he's with Mo--
- Mm? - Dad...
We can't start, if you don't come.
You and I have to walk down the church aisle.
You think I won't go?
I'll go.
I know you think I won't, but I will. I'll go.
Eh eh eh...
Ah...
How's your job?
Why are you here? You have to be there at 9 tomorrow.
- Nope, I have to go at 6. - Then go home quick.
I will, but...
Look at this!
I'll dismantle it next week.
When was it made, again?
28 years ago.
Mm...
Be careful!
What if the bride skins her knees?
I'll wear a wedding dress, anyway.
If you got injured on the day before the wedding, I'd feel sorry for Koguchi-san.
Go home now.
Makoto.
I came to speak my last words.
The ones you say the night before your wedding.
The ones a bride tells her father.
Dad... for 28 years--
You looked after me.
Thank you.
Those were supposed to be my lines.
Ah...
Okay, then. I'm going home.
- Turn off the lights. - Good night!
Hey... you got bad at jump roping.
You think so...?
Skip once more.
Okay...
Ah ah ah...
Your legs can't keep up at all.
I haven't skipped for a year.
A couple of punches and you'd lie down on the ring, before you even knew it.
- I only got bad at skipping. - I don't think so.
I can dodge.
Ah ah ah! You raised your upper body!
That was another great move. It was "Goodnight".
That is not true.
Got rusty in a year, huh...
Wait.
Please wear the focus mitts.
- Go home now. - Please.
- It's your wedding tomorrow. - Just for a little while.
If you sprain your fingers, you won't be able to wear the ring.
The wedding will be suspended.
When the groom's parents
ask him what happened
he's going to burst into tears. Ah, how terrible!
Jab one-two.
Your underarms were wide open. A cattle could pass through.
Okay...
You're a pussy. That's a pussy's punch.
And look at your hips!
They got like that 'cause you don't run enough.
Even dandelion seeds wouldn't be blown off by that soft touch of yours.
Yes...
Right? right...
Place your right foot forward.
So weak! You're wavering, you're wavering.
Your lower body! Twist more at your waist!
Left elbow down.
Yes, right! Stretch your arms and draw in your chin.
Right, right, good!
Okay, that's it. One-two, one-two!
One-two! Right, great!
Nice touch, nice touch, nice touch!
I'm out of practice, after all.
Still, it reminded me of many things.
Ah...
Sorry, sorry.
It'd be no joke if the bride suffered a dislocation.
- Go home. - Yeah.
Good night.
- Ah... - Mm?
At 9, right?
Yes, please.
Guess fried food's no good, huh?
Eat what you want to eat.
Yeah...
What is it?
- At 9, huh? - At 9.
What?
Then, I'll see you tomorrow.
The wind shut the door.
Ah...
Good night.
Makoto!
Start boxing again.
Box once more
and aim for the Olympic Games.
Are you stupid?
It was only a year hiatus, you'll recover in no time.
I'll clean this place tomorrow.
Okay? And I'll also fix this.
Start training again from tomorrow.
Err... I'm getting married tomorrow, you know.
I know you had that sort of plans--
They're not plans, I will get married. I told Koguchi-san
that I'd marry him and be his wife.
- Can't you work that out? - I can't.
Don't you want to go to the Olympics?
The Olympics are over already.
They'll take place again. In Rio de Janeiro.
Won't you aim for it?
You stupid?
- Are you an idiot? - I am serious.
That's why I'm asking whether you're stupid.
I'm a bride. And you're the bride's father.
- But as a trainer, I-- - You're no longer a trainer!
- And I'm no longer an athlete! - But I liked it better that way.
It was better when we were a trainer and a boxer.
Don't you think so?
That's the best, isn't it?
Let's be a team again
and aim for the gold medal--
Ah!
I'll get married. I will get married!
I will get married! I will get married!
I lost.
That's why, once again--
That's not it!
You get it, don't you?
You realized it ages ago, didn't you?
That I have no talent for boxing.
You'd given up, right?
You waited for the moment to give up, didn't you?
That's why you were seeing that woman, right?
I thought this all along,
while running at 5 am,
while eating konnyaku.
"If all my efforts come to nothing,
I'll be too pitiful to look at".
Uh uh... and that's how it turned out.
It didn't turn o--
Mom is not doing well!
Having a dream
was just as going to jail.
Dad...
Your name should have been Yuka.
Your mother chose it,
and asked me to go to the ward office to report it.
Well, I went but...
I named you Makoto of my own accord.
Your mother got really mad at me
but I had already decided.
"I'll turn this child into a boxer".
When you were 3
I made you wear gloves, and by the time you started elementary school
you were already able to run with me every morning.
Your mother
never liked that.
Obviously...
Although she bought you dolls and cute clothes,
you would just fight me without even looking at them.
Guess you were a first year in middle school. Finally, your mother
said she would make you quit boxing.
And yet, I... I forcibly...
That was because I said I didn't want to quit.
Yeah...
And so I managed to find an excuse.
I thought I could finally
bring you up as a boxer without reserve.
From that day our family stopped sitting at the dining table.
I got to be the one who decided your menu.
Chicken breast, milk, protein supplements.
I modified your diet so that you'd lose weight and build your muscles.
You could no longer eat your mother's home cooking.
Your mother... could no longer make your meals.
One day, in summertime,
an electric blanket was delivered to us.
When I asked her what it was,
she said it was the prize of a crossword puzzle contest.
Come to think of it, while you and I were at the gym,
your mother would often write something in her room.
"So it was that?", I thought.
While you and I were at the gym,
your mother was doing crossword puzzle.
I was so shocked.
We didn't worry at all when your mother left us, did we?
I thought you would follow her,
but the next day you went running at 5 again.
I thought you'd quit boxing, but you kept eating your konnyaku.
I was so very happy...
Shut up, Ossan. Just shut up already.
On that day
you threw a jab.
Your jab was like a thunderbolt.
Forward, forward, jab, jab.
Step, one two!
I was floored by your great punch and
I thought "I wish I could die like this".
If I had died like that,
I'd have been happy.
"What a nice defeat."
"This is a good defeat", I thought.
I thought I could finally lose.
That knockout is my treasure.
If you wanted to leave, you should have done it that day.
That was your last chance to quit.
It's too late to quit now.
You've come so far.
How could you possibly quit?!
Makoto, let's go to the Olympics.
Aim for the gold medal with me!
Ah...
Ossan, I'll be 30 soon.
No wonder I get it.
As I thought, you are not normal.
You have a disease, although it's an unidentified one.
I've been infected too.
At this rate, I won't be able to get married.
Dad! Pantaloons!
Dragon Aoki!
Get on the ring!
If you don't want me to marry, you'll have to defeat me first!
This time I'm gonna kill you for sure!
Come!
M-Mako-chan...
Makoto, Koguchi-san is here.
What are you doing?
We're having a match.
- Pardon? - Fighting.
But our wedding is tomorrow...
Yes, um, at 9.
What are you doing?!
Why are you punching my bride?!
Mako-chan, are you okay?
You're bleeding!
- Blood... - Shut up.
- Huh? - Go home.
What're you saying?
I'm sorry. Please leave.
No no no. I have no idea what this means!
You wouldn't get it. I think you'll never understand.
- What? - I'm sorry, that's how it is.
Well, you're in the way, so leave at once.
GET OUT!
Great, great! One more!
Good, right, right...
Down, down. Keep your elbows down.
Compact, compact. Right, like that.
Try to visualize it. Visualize it, okay?
Next episode, written by Kuramoto So, will star Nishida Toshiyuki, Yuki Saori, Kobayashi Nenji, Kimura Tae, Mitsuishi Ken, Ichikawa Mikako...