"In this world,
the brain is the only unexplored region remaining."
A 70-year-old female, unidentified.
She passed out on the road and her head bled,
so someone called an ambulance.
Wow, it's snowing!
The brain's hippocampus stores a person's memories.
- Mummy... - Sorry, I'm in a hurry.
Painful memories...
happy memories...
"Bar Casablanca"
...tough memories.
Wait, Mami.
- Have some fruits at least. - No, thanks.
You came back quite late yesterday.
I'm just borrowing your place.
Don't act like you're my mother.
You abandoned me.
Surely, the present is formed by the accumulation of memories.
Even if the present is disappointing.
I'll touch you a bit.
What is your name?
Do you know where you are?
It's retrograde amnesia.
She doesn't even know her own name.
- Even her own name? - Yes.
She was wandering in her pajamas, and was rushed here by ambulance.
So there's nothing to identify her.
We already called the police.
She remembers nothing? Oh, boy.
The CT scan image shows a small subdural haematoma
caused by an external wound.
Follow-up is needed.
Is it related to her retrograde amnesia?
I don't know the connection.
Aside from that,
there are traces of previous craniotomy
across the internal carotid artery and the cavernous sinus.
A small tumor is observed.
Obviously, she had surgery somewhere.
Let's look for her family as soon as possible.
- Okay. - That's all for today.
- Will you go check on her? - Okay.
You don't remember?
I was writing the surgery report late into the night.
When I could finally go home, I took a taxi.
Then I found myself at the bar.
So scary.
So you waited for Kijima to come out?
While practicing in my head how to suture the scalp.
- Let's hurry... - Don't look...
You're like a monster.
Did he come out?
No, he left from the back door.
What the heck?
- So... - What?
- Wait with me next time! - Idiot! Why?
Just tell him you love him at the bar.
Do I love him?
You're asking me now?
Thanks for waiting. Let's go.
Actually... Where are we?
The hospital. A large hospital.
I see. That's why I came here?
That's right. Let's go.
To which department, Uncle?
Neurology.
The brain.
You see, you're forgetful.
Oh, I see.
"Masashi Uchida"
That's why I came.
If we still can't identify her,
we have to apply for public assistance
for the patient.
Miyama, please find out who she is.
Thank you, doctor.
Excuse me, you dropped this.
Thank you, sir.
Well...
How old are you now?
- Me? - Yes.
I'm 33.
He has a disease. His memory.
Let's go.
Korsakoff syndrome?
How's the boy?
I have to ask a domestic helper
to stay at my home to look after him.
You're terrible!
And your daughter who lives with your ex-husband came?
I've heard.
It's dated.
What's the matter?
It's about the retrograde amnesia patient.
You've found something?
Yeah...
Where's mum?
Where is she?
She is...
my mother.
"Top Knife"
My mother was a surgeon.
Ms Kiwako Yamada.
My mum changed her surname when she and my father divorced.
She was a cardiothoracic surgeon.
I know.
The first female in the field.
My mother found out about her brain tumor
two years ago.
She was exposed to the risk of severe complications.
When she was still indecisive, she started to have double vision.
And she went to the hospital my brother... Takuma worked at.
"Teimei University Hospital"
Resection of tumor at the cavernous sinus
is extremely difficult.
There's a concentration of arteries and veins,
and a lot of blood flows through.
In addition, there's a cluster of important cranial nerves.
Is surgery possible, then?
Honestly, we can't be sure unless we try.
I'll do it.
"Surgery Time"
The surgery took nine long hours.
- The tumor. - Yes.
Pressure was applied too long, the bleeding is getting even worse.
Nobody wanted to do the difficult surgery.
As a result...
Do you know your name?
Who is he?
Mum?
The first female cardiothoracic surgeon
did not return.
It was reckless to begin with, wasn't it?
Weren't you overconfident in your skills?
You ruined mum's life.
Since then, from time to time, she leaves home and wanders about.
Dr Nishigoori didn't make a mistake.
As a neurosurgeon,
he did precisely what he should, and this is the result.
My mother...
was cold to my brother.
I have a different father,
but Takuma's two elder brothers are very talented.
I heard that she was very strict to Takuma.
Takuma hates her guts.
So he honed his skills to get even with his mother.
So?
My brother...
Maybe Takuma...
tried to kill my mother.
Do you know who this is?
You've just told me.
Miss Kozukue, my doctor.
That's right.
Well then, Mr Uchida, how old are you?
Well...
33, I think?
My goodness, you're funny.
Thanks.
Okay.
Who is in the mirror?
An old man I don't know.
What year is this?
I know that.
It's 1992.
Mr Uchida, who is she?
This person?
The barber?
Who is he, then?
I think I've seen him somewhere.
Thank you.
It's okay now.
It seems his memory stopped at around 30 years ago.
Anterograde amnesia.
His memory doesn't last three minutes.
He forgets everything after three minutes.
He doesn't think I'm as old as him either.
He buys it if I say I'm his uncle, so I tell him that.
I see.
How did you stand it this far when he's in such condition?
He was living with his old mother alone in the country,
but his mother passed away.
I heard about it by chance...
So you suggested he gets diagnosed at a hospital in Tokyo?
He's staying at a local nursing facility,
and I brought him here.
You must be worried.
I want to do something to help him restore his memories.
Please try your best to help him.
You can count on us. We'll check thoroughly.
"Masashi Uchida"
Anterograde amnesia.
It's Korsakoff.
He's aware that he has a disease,
but there is a confusion of memory, and he feels like he's in a dream.
In a dream.
Oh, good morning.
His memory stopped at nearly 30 years ago,
and hasn't been updated since he was 33 years old.
The accident happened 30 years ago?
After doing some digging,
I reckon that a past hemorrhage in Mr Uchida's third ventricle
is the cause of his Korsakoff syndrome.
I don't know what caused the hemorrhage,
but the hydrocephalus is progressing.
He's shaky on his feet.
I plan to have him hospitalized for observation,
and consider operating on him.
We transferred him to a private ward just in case.
Next, Ms Kiwako Yamada.
Retrograde amnesia
can only be treated by following up on the patient when she's in rehab.
As you see in the image,
the tumor in her cavernous sinus wasn't completely resected.
However, if the whole tumor had been resected recklessly,
she could've bled severely during the surgery.
I think prejudgment was barely acceptable.
If it were me, I'd resect the whole thing.
You would?
It's obvious the tumor grew at a risky spot,
but the remaining tumor is touching the left side of the hypothalamus,
causing cerebral oedema.
This part wasn't resected.
It's possibly the cause of the retrograde amnesia.
But I think Dr Nishigoori's judgment was appropriate.
It's too risky to completely resect a tumor this big.
No, I resected an even bigger tumor at that place in Russia.
Complete recovery on the first attempt.
The surgeon was just frightened.
Hey.
Of course, I can do another surgery to resect it completely.
There was severe bleeding in her cavernous sinus
during the surgery.
I conserved the nerves,
kept the unresectable parts and used cyber scalpel--
No excuses.
You were frightened.
Admit it if you deem yourself a neurosurgeon.
It's stupid. Don't put on airs.
Wait...
Dr Kuroiwa, you went too far, okay?
Looking for this?
It was in his previous ward.
I'm sorry, we changed his ward suddenly.
It's okay.
Excuse me.
"Bar Casablanca"
Cheer-leading training camp?
Yes, so I can chill out tonight.
Oh? You must feel lonely, then.
I doubt it.
Don't act like you're my mother!
You abandoned me.
Did you crash again?
But didn't you tell me that the brain is full of contradictions?
People want to be organized, but they're sloppy.
They can be honest, but they lie too.
But such contradictions create diversities that Al doesn't have.
Indeed.
That's why various things make you crash.
This is also a kind of crash.
Love can start from here too.
Just kidding! Here we go!
- It feels so good! - I won't lie.
What? She's here?
- Go without me. - Okay.
I'll join later.
This way, please.
The usual.
You're as cheerful as usual.
Glad you're well.
- Here. - Thank you.
- Here we go! - Yeah!
But you went too far today, obviously.
Don't be absurd. I only stated the obvious.
It was his own mother, some things couldn't be helped.
Too naive.
He became a neurosurgeon to earn his mum's approval.
Go back to square one and start again.
You have a mother too, don't you?
She abandoned me.
He isn't young and shouldn't be affected by his parent.
Our job is all about skills.
Only our skills.
We've sacrificed various things for that, haven't we?
Happy birthday to you
Wow, you blew it out!
You have too, haven't you?
You were busy doing surgeries and sacrificed your family,
didn't you?
Perhaps.
That's Top Knife.
We are surgeons.
Sometimes we make mistakes and cause a patient's death.
But we accept all of it.
If one isn't prepared for that, we shouldn't use a scalpel.
- Let's go! - No, I'm good!
You can't work if you don't tell him clearly.
Wait...
Anyway, your clothes are tacky.
What?
It's bad?
But it isn't a problem. He accepts everything.
His mouth is bigger than a shark's.
- Fizzy. - Fizzy.
- Thank you, Shizuka. - Okay.
- Cheers! - Cheers...
Yay!
See you.
No, not like that...
Oh, Sacchi!
Dr Miyama!
We want to work smoothly, so...
Go! The shark has opened its mouth.
I haven't been writing summaries.
Still the same?
Yeah.
No reaction from her even when she sees me.
It's always the case.
She only sees my elder brothers.
If her memory returns...
what will you say to her?
To the mother who gave you up.
What will it be?
Can you...
see me?
"Touto General Hospital"
"Small Conference Room 5"
Hey! Hey... How did it go?
- What? - Last night.
- Not enough sleep? - Yeah.
Congratulations! Glad I left you there.
You got the wrong idea.
- I don't remember. - What?
I didn't know what to say, so I kept drinking and eating.
There you go. Are you going to eat all of this?
You're eating a lot!
Okay...
Enjoy! Here we go!
Until the bar closed? Nothing happened?
I gained three kilograms.
Who cares?
Surgery?
Yes, a surgery on your head.
You will get a bit better.
What are you talking about? I'm well enough.
That's why I was successful despite not going to college.
Was it tough?
Yeah.
Everyone else went to college,
only I went to Tokyo after high school.
You joined a securities company, right?
They drove me like a slave.
Life was tough.
But you made efforts there.
Yeah, I wanted to get even with the university graduates.
And?
However, when I started to climb the career ladder,
the bubble burst.
The firm was in financial straits.
High school graduates like me were the first to get laid off.
That's terrible.
Finally, an investment company that was our client took me in.
So I worked very hard.
Desperately.
And?
What did you do there?
I...
Oh? Who are you?
Your uncle.
Let's have a tangerine.
I love tangerine.
- One more. - One more?
- Have this. - Tangerine.
I love it.
Memory is an amazing thing.
There is no firm memory.
It's overwritten subtly when each person recalls it.
To their advantage sometimes.
Yes, unconsciously.
That's how the brain works.
If that's the case, maybe...
there's not much difference between him and us.
Do pay attention when you see Mr Uchida.
I'm sorry?
Does he really...
not remember?
Could he be pretending?
He doesn't recall what is unfavorable to him.
No. In Mr Uchida's case, it obviously isn't like that.
I see.
It can't be helped. That's what her family says.
But if you operate on her...
I'm confident I can cure her,
but I have to get a consent form first.
Your mother will be transferred to another hospital for rehab.
We just suggested to your sister another surgery,
but she flatly refused.
She'll receive occupational therapy and speech therapy.
In a sense, isn't it great? Her brain won't be operated on.
Your failure
will linger in your mother for the rest of her life.
Let's stop fighting, yeah? Let's not fight.
We're here now.
Where are we going?
We're just going outside for a bit.
To enjoy some fresh air.
I see.
Hey. Where is Mr Uchida?
He just went outside with Mr Yamaguchi.
"Kiwako Yamada"
Uchida.
Let's...
set things straight.
You joined an investment company, didn't you?
Then, after the bubble burst,
you acquired various companies.
You acquired them...
then made them go bankrupt.
That's what you did.
It's freezing.
You drove a hotel in Nagano into bankruptcy.
Do you remember?
It... it's freezing.
My dad died because of you.
He hanged himself.
You used your best friend.
You must remember.
Uchida!
Mr Yamaguchi!
It's freezing.
It's freezing, Uncle.
We were childhood friends.
We grew up in a mountain in Nagano.
We were always together until high school.
Both of us were... naughty.
We often sneaked into orchards to steal apples.
And we ate them.
To begin with...
it's my father's fault that he was in debt.
But Uchida used nearly nothing to buy the loan.
He unscrupulously sold our hotel and made an enormous profit.
Is that something you do to your friend's family?
And?
I couldn't believe that he lost his memory.
So I thought, I'd get him to have surgery at a large hospital
and make him recall that.
When he remembers...
I will take my revenge.
I understand why you are infuriated.
But...
is it possible that he had a reason for what he did?
If we look at the result,
maybe he did something horrible to your father,
but he was a member of an organization.
Finally, an investment company that was our client took me in.
I worked very hard.
Desperately.
Maybe he was reluctant.
- But... - indeed,
he does not remember.
But it doesn't mean everything in the past is gone.
In the brain,
memories are mainly stored in the hippocampus.
But memories where emotions are involved
are stored in the amygdala.
His amygdalae are not damaged.
In other words, his brain remembers only how he feels towards you.
That's why even after he came here,
when you're with him...
Mr Uchida...
is very calm and stable.
I've seen him somewhere.
I am your uncle.
That's right!
Uncle!
At least...
he loves you a lot.
Even now.
Even though he doesn't know who you are.
Even though he can't recognise you.
His heart...
remembers, so to speak.
It's me.
Your uncle.
Oh, Uncle.
What's the matter?
I found it here.
I don't know whose it is.
Oh, an apple.
It looks tasty.
Let's peel it.
Good idea!
It's a bit difficult to peel with this.
It's okay.
I love apples.
You do?
In the past...
I used to go to apple orchards with my friend.
We stole apples and ate them.
Did you?
It was fun.
Was it?
I wonder how he's doing.
Amazing.
I'm sure.
Yeah.
Everyone...
is doing well.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It's so good!
So good.
It's tasty.
You were frightened.
Admit it if you deem yourself a neurosurgeon.
It's stupid. Don't put on airs.
Yes.
Dr Nishigoori...
Doctor, wait...
Kuroiwa...
Doctor.
Please do the surgery for my mother.
"Touto General Hospital"
"K. Kuroiwa"
"Anesthetizing Time"
"Surgery Time"
Okay, folks, listen up.
Now, we'll go inside the cavernous sinus.
She'll bleed a lot, so we'll stop her heart for now.
Given her age and condition, it's one minute at most.
I'll resect the whole tumor
and stop the bleeding in that minute.
We can only stop it for one minute.
After one minute,
her heart will beat again and blood will flow.
It'll fail if we don't get it done before that.
Give it your all!
Yes...
Dr Hamada, start the adenosine IV, please.
Yes.
- Start. - Let's do it. Serrated scissors.
Here.
- Curette, angled up. - Here.
- Tumor forceps. - Here.
Thirty seconds left.
There's more.
- Angled up again. - Here.
- This is bad. - Is this okay?
Angled down.
Here.
- Straight. - Here.
- Tumor forceps. - Here.
Her heart started beating.
Okay.
We'll stop the bleeding. Bipolar forceps.
- Ten seconds left. - She'll bleed!
- Nine, eight, - Fibrin glue A.
- Seven, six, - Heart rate 20, it's back!
- Five, - B.
- Four, three, - Bipolar forceps.
- Two, one. - Bleeding stopped.
Cardiogram reading?
Heart rate 35.
BP 50 over 30.
We can feel relieved for now.
Next, repair the dura mater. 4-0 nylon suture.
Memory is being overwritten all the time.
Whether consciously or unconsciously.
So I shouldn't have thrown away the incombustible rubbish.
But you don't have to be so angry...
Hello?
No memory remains unchanged.
But the important thing is...
Look, the rainbow is beautiful.
Just kidding.
- Uncle. - Let's go.
How we live in the present is what matters...
the present we'd want to remember.
Tell me what you'd been doing till so late last night.
Just leave me alone! You abandoned me.
I didn't!
Listen.
It's true I'm always busy.
I've always been.
But I'm aiming to become Top Knife, and it's my job.
I can't give it up.
I was so busy at that time,
that I couldn't look after my daughter.
Since that made me and your dad fight,
I figured it'd be better for me to leave.
But I love you. I love you the same even when we're apart.
That's who I am.
I didn't abandon you!
Understand?
If you understand, then you can stay.
However, you must be back by 9:00 pm.
No talking back insolently. Okay?
Yes.
Okay.
That's fine.
I feel sick. I drank too much.
"Stroke"
Sacchi?
This is bad, it's already after 10:00.
It's okay, I took the day off.
What have you been doing?
Well, you were talking over there,
but I fell asleep while I waited for you to return.
I was wondering when you'd return.
Sacchi...
Mum? Mum?
Not so soon.
Mum?
Mum, can you hear me? It's me, Chiharu.
Takuma?
I knew...
you weren't talented.
You aren't.
- Nishigoori! - Darn!
Now, I finally know. I am...
Mediocre.
"Contrast between two pianists?"
A chance to make use of my talent.
- Surgery is preferred. - I can choose not to do it.
You can't!
Some things are more important than one's life!
I have to settle it quickly and send him somewhere.
This is a song written by the outpatient, Miss Negishi!
The brain is our heart.
I slept with him.
I'll start dating someone!
- See you! - What's going on?