Hey, farmhand!
Hurry up and wake—
Hachiken-kun, isn't it tough to wake up at 5 AM every day?
No, it's fine!
I always wake up at 4 AM for the equestrian club!
Then let's start your day at 4 AM beginning tomorrow!
Oh, please no.
Damn you, farmhand!
Don't think I'll accept you just because you work hard.
Dad, you're in the way.
Hey, farmhand!
Carry these!
Okay!
Fix this!
Okay!
Put these away!
Okay!
Damn you, farmhand!
Dad, you're in the way.
Episode 08 Hachiken Makes a Huge Mistake
Let's take a break.
Sure.
Hachiken-kun, why don't you join us for some tea?
Hachiken-kun?!
Yes?!
Oh...
Are you okay?
Um, yes!
Don't push yourself too much. Take a break.
Taking care of yourself is part of work.
Pa, you're still recovering, too!
I'm okay.
But being a live-in farmhand is tough,
no matter what you say.
Still, I'll try my best!
I mean, please let me try.
Well, it's just that
I don't really have a sense of what I want to do with my future.
And, um,
even though I want to support my friends when they're worried about their future,
I don't really have a leg to stand on right now.
So, at the very least, I want to do a proper job here.
Hey, Pa!
We really should get Hachiken-kun to marry into our family!
Why's that necessary?!
Why not? He's hard working!
I won't accept him!
Dad!
Grandpa!
We have a problem!
What's the matter?
A whole bunch of cows from the town ranch got loose
and now they're all mixed up with our cows!
Where'd they all come from?
There's a nearby pasture where they let young heifers from other farms graze.
They must've broken through a fence and walked off.
How many are there, you think?
At least three hundred.
We wouldn't want our cows
to get chased by the heifers and get injured.
Let's separate them out and corral them.
I have no idea which is which.
You can tell by looking at their udders.
The city ranch cows have never been milked,
so their udders still have to develop.
Ours have been, so theirs are hanging like Ma's—
Okay, so the city ranch cows are young,
which means they'll get... bigger...
What the hell you looking at?!
Ow! Sorry! Sorry!
Shouldn't we herd all of them into the exercise pen
before they tear up the fields?
Yeah, let's do that.
Come on, get in there.
Hey, get a move on.
Hey!
This isn't working.
We don't have the manpower.
Let's go ask for help.
Mikage Ranch
landmark here
horse paddock and cattle shed
Not that way!
This way! Over here!
What?!
A Super Cub?!
Hey, don't interfere!
Whoa, nicely done.
Who is that?
So cool!
What?
Ow...
Hey, you all right?
Eh? What the hell?
Is cow dung this sticky?
That voice...
Hey, Yuugo!
Been a while!
Bro...
Hachiken's got it tough,
being compared to a brother like his.
But that means Hachiken wouldn't be so shabby, either, right?
Why're you here, Bro?
Mom asked me to try to get in touch with you.
Leave me alone.
I just happened to be going around Hokkaido on my bike.
But when I went by your high school, the dorm was closed.
I heard you were staying with someone called Mikage.
Are you mooching?
I work here!
You have enough time to ride around Hokkaido on a bike at this time of year.
Are you a student?
He's in college.
He goes to a university in Tokyo.
Wow, that's quite far.
Which one?
Tokyo University.
Oh, I quit.
You quit?!
I make ramen now.
Ramen?!
The ramen I had in Tokyo was so good!
It just spoke to me. I knew this was it!
What does that mean?!
Well, if I can say so myself,
I have a great sense of taste.
When I correctly identified all the broth ingredients to the ramen shop owner,
he accepted me as his apprentice on the spot!
But you got into Tokyo University.
What a waste.
Well, if even someone like me can get in,
Tokyo University's not that big a deal.
There's a way to study so that you'll pass the entrance exam.
Do you get it now, Mikage?
How his words and actions just totally gut you when
you put your life into studying but still failed in the end?
Man, all this running around's made me hungry.
Come to think of it, we haven't had lunch.
Let's do the rest of the fieldwork this afternoon.
Okay.
I'll just carry the stakes over first!
Well, thanks for herding the cows, buddy.
We don't have much, but come join us for lunch!
Oh, how about I make ramen for you?
It's great that farms have big pots like these.
We're out of pork.
Oh, can you use this?
It's venison.
Oh!
Hachiken-kun cleaned a deer that got hit by a car.
Not bad.
Oh, right.
I should call Mom...
No Signal
Uh, what?
Yeah, there's nothing to worry about.
I saw the school, too.
He seems to be having fun.
He made pizza.
Pizza?
At school?
Yeah.
Anyway, he seems to be having fun,
so just let him be for now—
Pizza?
Yes, Yuugo made it at school...
Rubbish. Give me the phone.
Wait, Dear—
Shingo?
What're you up to?
I'm deep in the mountains, visiting Yuugo!
That's not what I meant.
Why did you drop out?
To annoy you.
You told me to get into a good college, so I did, for you.
I let you have your day in the sun,
so I'll do what I want to do from now on.
You're both worthless sons.
Is Yuugo there?
He's working at his part-time job.
Tell me where.
Nope.
Bye!
Parents shouldn't butt in when their children are working really hard.
So uncivilized.
Don't you agree?
Oh, I'll get right on it!
Here you go!
There was no pork,
so I tried to make venison char siu!
Huh? Is this venison from...
I heard what you did, Yuugo.
You cleaned a deer!
Amazing!
Let's see how far you've come!
Thanks for the food!
This tastes horrible!
Jeez... What is this?
I'm shocked!
Yeah, isn't it shocking?
Even though I have a great sense of taste,
I don't have a good sense of cooking.
I went through so much for this venison...
I kind of feel let down.
Oh, Great-Granny's got quite an appetite!
That makes me happy.
Whoa! Huge!
These ones are actually still small.
These are for Ban'ei racing, right?
Doesn't horse racing make good money?
Nah, though it used to.
Even if you put everything into raising them,
they often become horse meat.
You could say it's an old man's hobby.
Hey, Bro.
Don't interrupt our work.
I'm not! Don't be rude.
You've gotten the hang of this.
I am a member of the equestrian club, after all.
First the agricultural high school, and now this club of yours.
I didn't expect that from you.
Do you even like animals?
I didn't expect my high school life to be like this, either.
I only got a glimpse,
but Ezonoo seems like a good school.
Well, it's not a bad school.
There were lots of good pigs, too!
I bet they'll be super tasty as char siu.
Speaking of tasty, the food here is awesome.
It's all fresh!
I haven't had a good meal in a long time.
How've you been getting by?
I take on part-time jobs wherever I go.
I have an early start tomorrow, too.
So what's your hourly pay?
Well, it's not really paid by the hour...
So a job like this is per diem?
So, are you mooching, after all?
Hachiken-kun, thanks for all of your hard work until now!
Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.
That's not true!
You were a huge help!
You'll be paid extra!
Yay! Compensation!
Here, your compensation.
Sorry that we have to pay you in goods...
But if this one grows up nice and big,
you can sell it for a good price!
Think of it as an investment.
You can always eat it yourself.
Bye!
I'm so sorry.
I can't believe my brother even had breakfast here.
He did seem to enjoy it.
Although it's nothing special,
city folks think freshly picked food tastes really good.
Come to think of it,
Nishikawa mentioned something about that at the pizza party.
Does milk also taste the best when it's freshly squeezed?
Yup, we normally boil it first,
but raw milk is great!
Oh, can I try—
No.
The Food Sanitation Act stipulates that raw, non heat-sterilized milk
cannot be sold as a product.
I see.
But there's no particular law against drinking some in your own home.
Well, it's your own responsibility.
For example, if you were to take it upon yourself
to open the bulk tank without my knowledge and drink raw milk,
it's not my problem, even if you get an upset stomach.
Yup, not my problem!
Pro
Prostr
Prostrati
Prostration
Hachiken-kun, it's fun to watch you overreact.
But it's so good.
Your brother said he had faith in his sense of taste, too.
Maybe you both have a good sense of taste.
Is that so? Is it just in our genes?
Well, it's because, you know?
Your parents made sure you guys had good food growing up.
Hey, farmhand! Hurry up!
Time to herd the cows into the milking room!
Oh, okay!
Starting milking process...
You've totally gotten the hang of this.
Well, I've been at this for over three weeks, after all.
Time sure does fly.
When do you go back to school?
The day after tomorrow.
It went by in a flash!
Hachiken-kun, you put in your best effort.
Not bad.
Maybe we'll pay you extra!
Pay...
I wonder what I'll spend it on.
The pipe's come loose!
All the milk's spilling out!
What?!
Man, oh man...
Now we've done it.
What a waste.
When'd this happen?
Oh, I...
I forgot to connect the pipe earlier...
So, it was off from the start?
I guess that means we've spilled quite a bit.
Yeah, I'd say about five hundred liters.
What's done is done.
Let's milk the rest of the herd.
Aki, get this cleaned up.
Okay.
Snap out of it!
If we don't milk the rest of 'em soon, they'll get mastitis!
There's no time to get hung up over it!
Okay...
Um...
How much does milk cost?
So five hundred liters would be forty thousand yen...
My mistake sent forty thousand yen down the drain...
Wait, if you deduct overhead costs like feed costs from the purchase price,
how much of that even makes it to the farmers?
Oh, good morning.
When did you wake up, Hachiken-kun?
I woke up a bit earlier than usual.
Today's my last day on the job, so...
I'll go bring the cows in.
Wait, Hachiken-kun!
Aki! Let him.
Hello!
Oh, the Komaba twins.
What's up?
Oh good, you're still here.
I'm going home tomorrow.
Why?
You wanted to see me?
We wanted you to eat these!
Thanks.
I'll have them tonight, maybe—
Oh, nice corn.
It's our first harvest!
We just picked them!
Please eat them with everyone!
Oh, my!
We'll have to boil them right away.
Hachiken-kun, we're taking a break and we need a pot.
The one we boiled ramen in yesterday.
But I—
It's time for a mid-afternoon snack!
Just bring it!
Aki, bring cinder blocks.
Okay!
There you go!
Ow!
Hot, hot, hot...
So sweet!
What is this?
Did you add sugar?
Why're you here?!
I got fired.
Fired?
Yeah, then I got hungry.
Anyway, this is super sweet.
Is it a special variety?
No, it's the normal kind you can find anywhere.
The sweetness of corn fades rapidly once you pick it.
So eating it when it's like this is a privilege of farmers.
Although farmers have it tough,
we can also savor the joys of the harvest that much more.
Do you like it?
Yeah, it's super tasty!
Yeah!
That makes me happy!
I planted the seeds!
I weeded them!
The two of us built the fox fence together, too!
After all that work, you gave them to me?
Yeah!
You helped us feed the cows.
Oh, corn?
Hold on a sec!
You gotta have 'em this way!
Here, have one!
Here!
Th-Thank you!
Hot, hot!
Awesome!
Let's grill some eggplant.
Oh, we don't have enough soy sauce.
Bring miso.
Right on!
See you!
Take care!
I should be going, too.
Thank you for letting me join in.
I'll come again.
Shut up!
Don't come any more!
Later!
Hachiken-kun.
Yes?
Come here for a sec.
Okay...
Payment
Hachiken-dono
Thanks for your hard work.
You were a huge help to us during your summer vacation.
Good job.
Um, I can't accept this.
Why?
I caused you so much trouble yesterday.
I wasted so much of your valuable product...
That couldn't be helped.
It's Gramps and Pa's fault for not checking.
Yep.
So, here!
Then please at least let me compensate you for the loss—
Listen, Hachiken-kun.
This is the amount we, your employers,
found your work here over your summer break to be worth.
But...
Just accept it.
We're only human.
We all make mistakes sometimes.
Just don't make mistakes when lives are at stake.
I accept with gratitude.
It's money he's earned through hard work.
I don't think he'll waste it on anything frivolous.
The fool will spend his money on worthless things.
The wise will spend his money to better himself.
A man's worth can be measured by how he spends his money.
This story is a work of fiction. The people and groups are fictitious, but the themes relating to food and life are firmly based in reality. Visiting the places and facilities used as models can be dangerous and may result it contracting diseases from the animals. Please enjoy this story as a work of fiction.