Meow!
Maihou Newspaper Corporation 60th Anniversary Piano Competition.
Music Preparation Room
Sumitani Junior Highschool
Crushed it!
She got all of that one!
Look at it go!
*Crash*
Oh, crap.
You don't have to hit the snot out of it!
Go get the ball, Tsubaki!
Whoa!
So she struck yet again, huh?
- Bye!
Oh jeez! It's a corpse!
*Twitch*
*Grab*
I better make a run for it...
Ow...Ouch...
Oh, it's you, Kousei. Thank goodness it's not someone else!
Huh? Tsubaki? When did you get here?
Whaaat? The window's broken! All I can see is red!
You broke it again? We just got this window fixed, you know!
A slugger is only as good as the number of windows she's broken.
You're blasting them too hard! Ease up a little!
No way am I batting with any less than my A-swing!
It's my last summer in middle school, okay? I'm gonna win the Triple Crown!
Anyway, gotta get this cleaned up.
Listen to me!
Dustpan...dustpan...
So I'm gonna have to apologize again? And write up the damage report...
Come on, that's dangerous!
What if you sliced a finger?
Well, what if I did?
Next-door neighbors, childhood friends...
you seek each other out whenever, wherever... Right, you loving hubby and wife?
We are not hubby and wife!
Anyway, what are you doing with that cell phone?
Aren't you in the middle of practice, Soccer Team?
Don't come in here with your shoes on, Watari!
That stupid bald vice principal.
Telling us off for an hour over a little broken glass?
Well, at least it only lasted an hour, right?
I was stuck with her for that hour. Put yourself in my shoes!
In the first place, the school shouldn't be standing right in the ball's path. No way!
Am I right?
I don't mind. Since the girls cheer me on from the windows sometimes.
Yeah, right!
Man, I'm starving.
So now it's food over sex, huh?
I'm gonna stop by the convenience store. Coming?
I'll go with you.
Me, too!
I mean, how messed up is that?
Why should I have to get yelled at, too?
Whoa!
This ice cream is delish! I'm gonna stock up!
Not listening...
Damn, Kousei, talk about collateral damage.
Not only did you get yelled at, but you have to write two letters of apology?
Oh, it's no big deal. Piece of cake!
I've been babysitting her since birth, so it's second nature to me now.
Busting a suspension bridge during a field trip...
Dumping me off a 10-meter diving board...
Was that back in third grade?
I thought I was gonna die.
Shut up!
Even though I'm an only child, it's like having a high-maintenance big sister.
You really are a nice guy, huh, Kousei?
You're kidding, right?
But Kousei, you'd better not be too nice.
You know what they say... nice guys are doomed to finish last.
Hey! I got a text from Keiko-chan!
I have somewhere to be, guys!
How many does that make?
She's No. 3.
Who knows what they all see in him? He's like Mr. Shallow!
But Watari's a good guy, you know.
He's the enemy of all women!
What about you, Kousei?
Huh?
Isn't there anyone you have a crush on?
What?
Miwa said something the other day.
That when you're in love with somebody, everything looks colorful...
There's no one who'd ever fall in love with me.
Too dark!
There's no sparkle in your eyes! We're fourteen, you know!
They don't sparkle because they're dark brown, obviously.
There it is! Conventional wisdom! You get my drift, don't you?
They don't sparkle! You're an adolescent, so they should be all lit up!
Lit up!
Yeah.
Your eyes are lit up, Tsubaki.
In Tsubaki's eyes, I'll bet everything around her looks colorful.
Unlike me...
When's your father coming home?
Mmm...in a month, or maybe two...
So you don't know yet.
Well, since it changes depending on the client's needs.
True...
If anything happens, your family will help out.
And besides, I'm used to being on my own now.
All right, see you tomorrow!
Okay! See you!
Hey!
Hello? Hey, my bad! I was gonna ask him today, but I forgot!
Okay, I'll do it for sure tomorrow. Hey, no worries.
If I ask him to... Yes. For sure.
So don't worry, okay?
I'm home...
Mother.
Miwa said something the other day.
"The moment I met him,
my life changed.
Everything I saw, everything I heard...
Everything I felt...
All the scenery around me started to take on color."
But... To me...
To me it all looks like it's in monotone.
Just like music scores... Just like a keyboard...
The autumn I was eleven... I...
Could no longer play the piano.
Leaving yourself WIDE open!
*Clang*
Jeez, what a boring reaction.
What does youth mean to you, anyway?
We'll never have our fourteenth spring again, you know!
Sitting alone in the classroom after school...
What are you listening to?
Hey, don't yank on those!
Hey, is this The Millions' new song?
The one that's playing on that commercial now? Whoa!
Oh, back off...
Kousei, tomorrow's Saturday, so you're free, right?
Don't just jump to conclusions!
Oh, so you have plans, then?
See, this girl in my class asked me to introduce her to Watari.
And we're gonna meet up tomorrow.
You come, too, Kousei.
Huh? Why would I go?
Well, if it's just me, this girl, and Watari, it's gonna be awkward for me.
Because you know it's gonna get romantic as heck.
But two on two would be perfect.
And besides...
I hear this girl plays classical music.
Since you play piano, Kousei, you'd have something to talk about,
which would be a big help, see?
Whenever the conversation lags, you could talk about instruments and stuff, right?
But I...
I quit playing the piano. I haven't played in two years.
You liar! You were playing yesterday in the music room!
That was for work!
Work?
I'm transcribing the new songs by ear.
For karaoke and stuff.
If you can do that in the classroom, you wouldn't have to play the piano.
I was just checking the sound.
There are tons of other part-time jobs out there, you know.
To me...
It looks like you're desperately clinging onto it.
You were way cooler when you played the piano, Kousei.
It was my mother's dream...
To raise me to become a world-class pianist.
My mother ran a music school, and I took lessons from her
day after day, for hours on end...
She would hit me... yell at me...
She wouldn't let me off even if I cried.
You're going to make it big in Europe, in my place.
If it'll make you happy, Mother... If it'll make you get well...
Then I'll keep at it.
Just when I finally had a European competition in my sights, three years ago...
My mother passed away.
I hate the piano.
But if I'm still clinging to it,
it must be because I have nothing else.
Take away the piano, and I'm empty...
There's nothing left but an ugly resonance.
Can't hear it today, either...
They're late.
They should've been here five minutes early.
They're the ones who asked me to come... Huh?
To mark the spot? To ward off evil spirits?
These are women's, right?
Huh? What's this?
S-Spats? Huh? Huh?
A melodica? Pretty good playing, too.
Miwa said something the other day.
"The moment I met him, my life changed.
Everything I saw, everything I heard...
Everything I felt...
All the scenery around me started to take on color.
The whole world began to sparkle."
Tears...
I blew on it too hard...
Onee-chan...
No pigeons came!
Huh? That's weird.
It's gotta be a bugle, or it won't work.
You mean a trumpet.
Well, but it's a melodica.
Borders, race, ecology... none of them mean anything in music.
Let's all try it together!
Let's do it!
What a great picture they make...
They're the Bremen Town Musicians!
Here are the pigeons!
It's the first spring storm!
My hat!
Hey, you!
You moron! You've ruined my chances for marriage!
I-I'm sorry! But this was just a miraculous coincidence...
Hey! My leggings!
Why, you!
D-Don't use instruments as weapons!
You camera voyeur! You won't get away with this! You pervert!
What part of "coincidence" don't you get?
Who would ever target you...
My melodica...
You're so full of it!
What the...?
My recorder...
What the...?
Hey, I don't see them. You think they're waiting in the wrong spot?
Listen, Tsubaki, is this girl really that cute?
Girls calling other girls "cute"... not exactly credible, you know.
Aha! Kao-chan!
Hey, Kao-chan!
Tsubaki-chan!
Uh, let's take it from the top. This here...
...is my classmate, Kaori Miyazono.
Nice to meet you!
And...
This is Ryota Watari. He may not look it, but he's the captain of the soccer team.
Nice to meet you.
She's totally sweet! Good job, Tsubaki!
It's a real pleasure.
Pleasure!
Can you believe that instant about-face?
I'm ashamed of myself for being transfixed.
Oh, and not that it really matters,
but this is Friend A.
Oh!
Please excuse my earlier behavior.
One word out of you, and you're dead, Camera Voyeur!
*Menacing*
She looks like Hell itself...
Wow, so polite.
Oh, please! Not at all!
Yo, Kousei...
Beating him to the punch by approaching her first...
My, my, aren't you the player?
I'm telling you, it was a miraculous coincidence!
What are you so pissed about?
But you're out of luck!
Kao-chan likes Watari.
Today, you're in a supporting role.
You're just Friend A, serving as Watari's foil. Give it up!
Who'd want a vicious girl like...
Hey!
I'm gonna be up soon! I've got to head over right now!
Head over? Where?
There.
Isn't that...
Towa Hall.
I'll be performing there today.
I'm a violinist.
A violinist? That's awesome!
Isn't it?
Let's go, Kousei.
I... I'm gonna pass...
You come with us, too!
The spring of my fourteenth year...
I...
Episode 1 Monotone/Colorful
I'm taking off with you.
Episode 2 Friend A