"#9 A Piercing Sound"
So this is Meiryo's koto club?
Satowa!
I'm so glad! You were late, so I was getting worried...
It's okay!
I have the anti-bacterial spray!
I take baths, you know!
What? Is that the koto club from Tokise?
So uncivilized!
Those things really play the koto?
Huh?! What are you all whispering about?!
Got a problem or something?!
Kudo!
Oh!
Did the girl you're interested in come, Kazusa?
Whoa, she's a beauty!
Wait... boys?
Huh, wait...
You guys aren't all... in the koto club, are you?
Huh?! So what if we are?!
Are you for real?! Brothers!
You, too? And you?
And you?
And you, you play the koto, too?
I'm Ousuke Kiryu, a first year at Meiryo.
It's the first time I've met so many guys who play the koto!
I'm so happy!
Ousuke,
you're being annoying.
I'm sorry, Kou.
Are you lonely because I'm getting along with students from other schools?
I feel like we can become good friends.
That boy's a good-for-nothing.
Don't get close to him, okay?
Well then, Satowa.
Listen carefully to our performance, okay?
Ugh.
That's really Kanagawa prefecture's number one?
Not just Kanagawa.
Himesaka is regularly one of the top contestants at nationals.
Huh? Really?
Yeah!
Well, you'll understand once you hear them play.
At the end of the day, they fit together.
Fit together?
Just because they fit together doesn't mean their music's good.
Maybe so.
But if you don't fit together,
the nationals are out of the question.
--Can this lineup... really fit together? --Fit together.
--Can this lineup... really fit together? --Fit together...
Shit, that might be impossible.
Everyone, please take a seat.
Himesaka's performance will now begin.
Excuse me...
I thought Meiryo was supposed to go before Himesaka today?
Meiryo's performance is already over.
I see.
Because we were late...
The piece we will be playing is called "Two Personalities."
Please enjoy.
"Two Personalities"? With this many people?
How on earth are they going to...
It's so intense! It hurts!
Wait, this is--
Are there really two parts?
Yes.
Originally, this piece is played as a duet between two people.
"2nd Koto" "1st Koto" It's done so that the duet between first koto and second koto becomes one melody.
The tempo is fast,
so if you mess up even a little, it'll sound off.
It's a difficult piece.
It's hard enough playing together with two people...
But even at this speed, with this many people...
...they're so together that it sounds like only one person is playing!
Forming one melody as a duet...
There's a part like that in "Kuon," too,
but we can't get it to work at all...
Just how amazing is this?
What is this?
Alternate picking?
Very rapidly, too.
So fast...
Is the whole melody played this way?
Last year...
...when I heard Himesaka perform...
...when I heard a national level performance, I was overwhelmed.
But now the club is reborn,
we've been recognized by the school,
and I've surely grown a little, too.
That's why I understand more than I did last year...
You'll realize
just how much better we are!
You guys just aren't a good match for Satowa!
Even at that high speed, they stayed together till the end.
This is a high school at the national level.
I may have been too naïve...
Crap!
So Wavy wasn't all talk after all.
See? Didn't they fit well together?!
Y-Yeah. They were pretty good.
Are you guys aiming for the nationals?
Yeah...
Well then... You'll have to do better than that performance just now, huh?
Man...
I really wanted you to hear us, Tokyo's representatives, perform--
Satowa!
Did you hear our performance?!
How was it?!
It was amazing.
The fact that you played "Two Personalities" with that many people,
at that speed...
Well then, let's hurry up and begin the transfer process!
--Huh? No, I-- --I'll introduce you to everyone, too--
Hey, what are you doing?!
Release your filthy hands right now!
Shuddup, Shaggy!
"Shaggy"?!
Were you not listening before?
She said she liked it with us, right?
You're too persistent. Just give up already!
Wha--?!
Even after hearing our performance, you still don't understand?!
That's just how low a level you are, huh?
You guys really are no match for Satowa!
We're the ones that understand that the most!
But that just means we have to catch up to her.
Wha...
Th-That's right!
We're already fully aware that we're not very good.
All that's left now is to try our hardest!
Hozuki! We'll try our best!
I can't keep up with you. Just play by yourself.
Okay.
Catch up?
How?
Man, those Tokise koto club guys were entertaining.
Mm, but it's really a shame.
I really wanted to let them all hear--
Not just a group that "fits together,"
but an actual ensemble.
But, man, wasn't Himesaka's performance amazing?
--Yeah, they were kinda like military troops. --The sale starts tomorrow apparently.
--Yeah, they were kinda like military troops. --Really?
Kurata?
Huh?
It is you! Whoa, is this for real?!
Long time no see!
We haven't seen you since our middle school graduation!
Nakayama? Tsuda?
What's with you?
You haven't contacted us since graduation, so we've been worried!
Sorry...
Did I really have to bump into them now?
Oh, but why are you at Meiryo?
Oh, um...
...for a club... joint practice session...
Oh, what club?
The koto club.
Huh? What's that?
A club... for playing the koto.
The koto? Oh, that instrument?
Is that a joke?
The koto?!
Have you gone crazy?
What's so funny?!
What's so funny about the koto?!
Wai-- Kudo!
Kurata, who is this guy?
Shuddup! This guy is actually serious about--
Kudo! It's fine!
Huh?! No, it's not!
These guys just belittled you and the koto--
It's fine! Okay? Let's go.
Bye, you two!
Hey, wait a minute, four-eyes!
I'm not fine!
I said, let go!
H-Hey, Chika.
Are you not frustrated by what they said?!
Not really... I'm used to that kind of response.
Don't get used to being ridiculed!
That's not what I meant...
I just don't pay it any mind anymore.
If that's the case,
then be more confident about it!
Don't just laugh it off!
--Confident? --Anyway, you've been acting weird from the start.
If there's something you've been holding back or want to say, just--
You wouldn't understand, Kudo.
All right, that's enough.
Don't fight when we're at another school, all right?
Come on, let's go.
Ah, you made an underclassman make that kind of face.
Please leave me alone!
Hey.
Are you truly aiming for the nationals, Kurata?
Is something wrong with that?
What's with that response?
You laugh it off with your old classmates,
and you can't even look me in the eye.
If you, the club president who must lead those around him,
isn't even confident in himself...
...then the nationals will be utterly impossible.
Well, I don't care whether we go to the nationals or not anyway.
Oh, Takezo. You were at Meiryo?
What were you there for?
Just some club business...
Huh? You're not actually serious about that club stuff, are you?
Lame.
How on earth...
...do I become confident?
"Koto Club" Well, let's do it once more from the top.
The duet still isn't meshing together,
so let's do it a little slower.
Three, four--
Shit.
It's no use even at this speed?
For the time being, let's try practicing on our own.
What?
It's just,
I thought it'd be best if we can play it better individually
before we try and play together...
Why are you--
You wouldn't understand, Kudo.
H-Hey, Chika. Where are you going?
To practice alone. Visualization training.
Um, Kurata...
Sorry, I'm gonna go, too...
Even though this isn't the time for wavering...
Tetsuki! Food! Cheese hamburg steak!
No, we're having pork cutlet bowls tonight.
No fair!
I heard from Sane and the others.
You haven't made up with Kurata yet?
I don't need to. We aren't even fighting!
He's just being his normal four-eyes self.
Ah, right, right.
I don't know the details, but...
Upperclassmen are upperclassmen, right?
So?
Even if they're worried about something,
it's hard for upperclassmen to confide in
or complain to an underclassman, right?
Try keeping that in mind.
Is that how it is?
My older brother would never actually confide in me either.
What's with that?
I can't do anything, then.
How can we catch up to her...? Think...
Sorry for the sudden intrusion!
I'm Kurusu, his classmate from the koto club.
Huh?
I have something to discuss with Takezo, the president, about the club.
Huh? He's the club president?
K-Kurusu?
Good evening, Takezo.
Wow, your room's so clean.
So, why have you come to my house?
Don't worry about it.
What's this? A DVD of the National Culture Festival?
Yeah.
I thought I'd listen to the national performances.
Wow, you're so serious about this, huh?!
You're gonna go bald in the future for sure!
"National Culture Festival 2017" "National Culture Festival 2018" Uh... thank you...
"National Culture Festival 2017" "National Culture Festival 2018" But you know?
Just because you're the club president
doesn't mean you have to handle everything on your own.
So I talked to Suzu earlier,
and starting tomorrow, I'll be the club's vice-president!
What?! The vice-president?!
Yup! There hasn't been one up until now, right?
It must be hard doing it all by yourself!
If there's something troubling you, then tell me.
All right?
I'm sorry.
Because I'm so unreliable, I've made you worry.
But... I can't possibly put such a burden on you--
Look at me properly!
Just so you know,
carrying it all on your own and moping around like you are
is way more of a burden.
The club becomes gloomy, and the atmosphere is bad.
Don't you see that?!
Uh, um...
The reason I wanted to join the koto club
was because I saw a group of people with seemingly no common ground
supporting each other by compensating for what the others lacked.
And I thought...
I thought that was...
...kinda cool.
Huh?
Wasn't it because it pissed you off and you wanted to mess with us?
Sh-Shut up!
Anyway! I'm telling you not to carry it all on your own!
Confiding in the people around you might make it easier sometimes.
You'd hear me out if I talked to you, right?
Well, I'd hear you out, too!
Th-That's all I came to say! So, bye!
Ah, wai-- Kurusu!
Sorry for the intrusion!
So noisy. Who was that?
A friend from Takezo's koto club, apparently.
The koto club? Ah, no wonder.
The guys he was with before were an uncivilized bunch, too.
Takezo.
You should choose the people you hang out with better.
Hey now, Takeru--
Takeru,
don't say such things about stuff you know nothing about.
Takezo.
Your girlfriend came over today, right?
No, she's not my--
And it seems you're the president of the koto club, as well?
Why didn't you tell us?
Why?
I mean, even if I am,
I just became it because I was the only one left.
Takezo.
Don't lessen your own worth.
You worked hard by yourself to continue the club, right?
That alone is admirable.
I was so happy you told Takeru off earlier.
You never get angry when Takeru talks badly about you, right?
But it made me think, "If it's about his friends, he will get angry, huh?"
You must be surrounded by some wonderful friends.
"Koto Club"
Huh? Where's Kudo today?
Ah, um...
He said he's gonna do visualization training alone again today,
so he's still in the classroom.
I see...
Sorry, Takezo.
We're not quite sure what to do...
I mean, I think Chika isn't sure what to do either...
Takezo?
I'm a huge idiot.
I've been so focused on myself
that I haven't been seeing what's going on around me.
Even though I wasn't the only one struggling...
Up until now,
Chika hadn't really involved himself with anyone.
Even if he did, they'd just fight,
and it'd end with him punching them.
So getting angry on someone's behalf
or wanting to understand where someone else is coming from
is something I think he's rarely experienced.
So, right now, I think he's really frustrated
that he can't do anything to help.
Kudo!
Um...
I'm in the middle of visualization training. Don't talk to me.
I'm sorry about before.
Meiryo was actually the school I failed the entrance exam to.
So I didn't really want to go to the joint practice session.
But I pretended not to know my own feelings and went.
I got overwhelmed by Himesaka's performance,
and drove myself into a corner,
and said something horrible to you.
I have no self-confidence,
so when you said those things so confidently in front of everyone,
I felt inferior.
I'm a failure as a club president. I'm sorry.
I thought it might bother you for me to tell you all this,
but I felt like I should--
Not really.
I don't have much faith in myself either.
But even if I don't believe in myself,
my granddad did,
and you believed in me, too.
Huh?
Before, when everyone doubted me,
you came, right?
You believed in someone like me, and saw me as a member of the club.
That's why, it's because you're here now that I...
Like I can say that!
Say what?!
Shuddup! Anyway!
The only one who doesn't see you as the club president is you!
Don't be controlled by something you can't even see, like confidence!
Since you can't see it, if you say you have it, you've got it!
...supporting each other by compensating for what the others lacked.
I see... Yeah...
I already had something more important than self-confidence.
You're right.
Ah! They've come back!
Right? Just as I said they would!
Guys?
I'm glad! You guys have made up, right?
Huh? We weren't even fighting.
We know, we know.
Because you guys were all awkward, we're really behind on practice.
Right?
We'll be doing morning practice starting tomorrow, so don't forget.
Huh? Really?
Really.
--What time will we start practicing? --Yay! It's been a while since we've practiced in the morning.
Would 7 o'clock be too early?
"Aim for nationals!!"
Hey, guys?
I think it's impossible for us to get to the nationals.
Huh?
Himesaka, Kanagawa's number one,
is clearly better than us.
I think it's impossible for us to get better than them.
At the rate that we're going, anyway.
Even if we put in the same amount of effort as Himesaka,
we'll never catch up to them.
No matter how much effort we put in,
the likelihood that we'll be crying is way higher.
But even so, I truly want to aim for the nationals with everyone here!
Hey, four-eyes. I'm taking this off.
Huh?
All right. One character each, okay?
Huh? Aren't there not enough?
It's okay, as long as we add two characters.
Takezo should go first, right?
I won't hide it anymore.
I won't turn my eyes away anymore!
Battles you know you'll win aren't fun anyway, right?
It'd be tough working hard alone,
but we're all in this together.
I'm no good with hard work, but I'm gonna try my best!
Here you go, Hiro!
Thanks!
Oh, that's right! I haven't told you guys,
but starting today, I'm gonna be the club's vice-president.
I'm looking forward to working with you guys!
What?!
Hozy. What two characters are you gonna add?
Exclamation marks?
This used to be my goal.
It's impossible for me alone,
but if everyone's with me...
Right?
Having goals that are a little high is more fun anyway, right?
Is it okay if I put it up here?
Oh, a little bit more to the right!
Oh, it looks good!
'Kay, it's finished!
"Takezo Kurata" "Saneyasu Adachi" "Michitaka Sakai" "Aim for 1st place in the nationals!!" "Kota "Hiro "Satowa "Chika Mizuhara" Kurusu" Hozuki" Kudo!"
Next time, "Near Yet Far."
"#10 Near Yet Far" Next time, "Near Yet Far."