Original subtitles

WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE BUT KNOW NOT WHAT WE MAY BE. - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE -

KARIBE SEIICHIRO'S EVERYDAY ROUTINE.

06.00 AM: LEAVING FOR A MORNING RUN.

Good morning.

I've been running every day for a year now.

Good morning!

Morning. How are you?

Chatting with friends is also a precious time for me.

09.00 AM: DAY TRADING. Once I start something, I want to master it.

02.00 PM: MUSCLE TRAINING. Muscles never betray you.

04.00 PM: GROCERY SHOPPING. "Food" is a very profound concept, isn't it?

07.00 PM: ATTENDING A PAN-INDUSTRY SOCIAL GATHERING.

People call us the Karibe Brothers~

Shizuoka. Shiozuke!

Shizuoka.

Shiozuke.

- Shizuoka. - Shiozuke.

Shizizuku...

Nikaido-kun messed up!

You lost!

Interacting with people of different jobs and ages can bring inspiration.

Isn't this just a group blind date?

Karibe-kun... have you really changed?

I wonder if Maria-sensei will continue drawing manga again.

Of course he will!

Karibe-kun had been living his life for 11 years thinking only about manga 24 hours a day.

He just took a little time from that to have a long summer vacation.

But it's been a year since he took a break from "Ginten"...

after releasing that incredible chapter.

Yes.

ONE YEAR AGO.

This is the best!

Misuzu's loss of Ryosuke feels so real, it's heartbreaking!

It has what it takes to conclude the "Reiwa Arc".

Karibe-kun, this is truly an incredible chapter!

There's no way I'm missing two deadlines in a row.

We can still make it. I'm going to get it printed right away!

- Kogo-san. - Yes?

Please let me take a break for a while.

What?

Once an artist puts down their pen, it's hard to go back.

That's why everyone keeps drawing.

But... Karibe-kun will definitely make a comeback!

I ordered the coffee beans from Venezuela.

It goes perfectly with this.

A-are these, by any chance, m-made by you?

Yes, I baked them this morning.

I'm going to make a Basque cheesecake next.

Ah, you don't like Basque cheesecake?

Basque cheesecake?

I do! Of course I like it!

It's delicious, isn't it?

But, you see, Karibe-kun... baking is also a good thing...

but... I think it's about time to, um...

go back to manga?

Well, it doesn't have to be "Ginten". A new work would do, too.

For starters, how about...

m-making a one-shot story? Okay?

I'm sorry.

I'm still not ready...

Wait a sec.

Look. Memory is also doing well.

He's still as cute as ever! I want to pat him~

Why don't you just come visit us?

Papa and Mama are always nagging me to study, so...

I wish I could stay at Karen-san's place again.

That's my wish, too.

I'd also like to see the brand-new Uncle.

He doesn't change much at home.

Really?

Yes.

What the...

What about his relationship with Aiko-san?

Isn't it like this?

Oh, that's good. It looks good.

Sorry for the wait...

Welcome!

I hope work went well.

I'm so dead-tired! I've been busy looking for ideas and stuff.

Winning the Japan Manga Award really made you busier.

I also started another serialization.

"SHARP-TONGUED FLYING SQUIRREL." I read it. It was great!

What are you drawing there?

A Basque cheesecake.

What? Isn't that just a triangular prism?

It looks far from the real thing. Give it to me. I'll draw it for you.

Thanks a lot.

Karibe-san asked me for the recipe, so...

Is he learning how to make sweets too now?

Aren't you going to draw it?

Where the heck did my Maria-sama go?

Karibe-san is doing just fine!

It's you guys' fault in the first place!

This is what happened when you taught unnecessary things...

to Karibe-sensei who had no clue about the real world...

No wait, Karibe-san was the one who asked us for help...

That's right.

ONE YEAR AGO.

Welco...

I want to run around the neighborhood.

Please tell me what kind of clothes to wear...

and what route to take!

O...kay.

We weren't even that close, so of course, I was surprised.

Shall we start from here?

Okay.

Left, left, left, right.

I was wondering if he could keep up at first.

Karibe-san? Karibe-san, you're too fast!

But now, I feel like I'm the one who's left behind.

The request to me also came out of nowhere.

Wel...

Please take me to pan-industry social events.

Okay.

He still looked like he was out of place at first.

Guys, I know it's nothing new, but let's play a game!

How about playing the mozzarella cheese game?

Okay, then, let's gather around Karibe-san!

Come on, come on!

But before I knew it, he'd blended well with the others.

Mozzarella cheese~!

Mozzarella cheese?

Karibe-san always puts his all into everything he does.

He's so disciplined even when doing ordinary things.

His growth is unbelievable.

There goes my Maria-sama~

I'm back...

Welcome back.

Sensei, the next NAME for the "Sharp-Tongued Flying Squirrel"...

No, please. I'm done with work for today.

Let's continue tomorrow.

Sorry. I couldn't help it.

You've turned into a workaholic.

I really am enjoying my work.

It's all thanks to you, Karen-sensei.

It seems that being an editor is your true calling.

I'll work hard to make it so.

You're so positive.

Your work ethic is the complete opposite of someone I know.

Who's that?

He seems to be enjoying his life like a party animal now.

Karibe-sensei, that is.

I heard he's going to make a Basque cheesecake next.

Huh? A cake?

If you want to go back to him, just go back.

If Karibe-sensei doesn't make manga anymore, it doesn't matter whether he's in love or not.

Karibe-san and I are no longer...

That's right. You wouldn't want to help such a pathetic guy.

Right.

How about changing the perspective to that of a boy?

I'm not good at drawing from a boy's point of view.

If you can show a new side of Kinjo Karen,

don't you think it'll make drawing more fun?

"Ad-Lib Unrequited Love" became more popular thanks to your advice.

All right. I'll give it a try.

I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, I also have a favor to ask you.

Okay?

I'd like you to gather some info.

Welcome, Karibe-sama.

- Is everyone here? - They're waiting for you.

I'm afraid it will be noisy again today.

Don't worry about it, please have fun.

Welcome.

Are you here for the event...

Is this seat okay, sir?

It's perfect!

Thanks.

Whoa, it's KB!

There's no way Karibe-kun can get along with those party animals...

Hey, hey!

Huh?

KB! KB! KB!

He actually can.

So that video wasn't a fake, huh?

Kogo-san?

Huh?

Wh-why are you here, Karen-sensei?

Well I...

I asked my editor to gather some information here.

Editor? Oh, you mean the one from Sazanami Shinsha?

Yes, her.

Well, you know, I just want to take the opportunity to have a look at the scene.

Gathering information about what?

A group blind date.

Oh, is it the one with Karibe-kun...?

What? Karibe-sensei?

He's right there.

Oh, crap! I have to stop Aiko-san!

Aiko-san, you say?

I'll explain later!

Wh-what's going on? Huh? A-Aiko-san...?

Please pick up...

Aiko-san?

Huh? why are you here?

Aiko-chan!

That idiot!

Aiko-chan! Aiko-chan?

Ah, it's really you!

It really is Aiko-chan!

Don't you think you're too loud?

SUBTITLES BY @EVEYCHOOEY.

It really is you, right?

It's been a while, Nika-chan!

Aiko-chan, what brings you here?

Are you watching over me by any chance?

Why would I?

I knew about this event from someone and decided to come.

So, Karen-san's editor...

That's me.

Oh, I see!

But I think I'll take my leave... Just stay a bit longer.

You've come all the way here.

Let's have some fun.

That's right, Aiko-chan.

Let's go.

So, Aiko-san has been staying with you for the past year?

Yes.

And today is a surprise to reunite her with Karibe-kun?

Like I'd do that!

I wouldn't have made her come if I knew Karibe-sensei was here.

I guess so.

Is Aiko-san gonna be okay, though?

Morning runs, muscle training, stock trading, socializing, cooking, cleaning.

Karibe-san mastered everything in no time 'cause he put his all into them.

What is his goal, I wonder?

Who knows.

He couldn't stop asking me a lot of questions,

but he never responded to mine, you see.

I think I can relate to that.

Hayase-san, let's have a drink together.

Okay!

See you later, Aiko-chan.

Bye.

Let's go.

Wait, don't pull me like this, whoa! Be careful!

Look at him getting all gooey.

Hayase is surprisingly popular with women.

Even though he has a boring face and personality?

But he still is a good-looking guy.

I'm not sure about that.

He's good at organizing gatherings like this, so his popularity goes without saying.

Why not? Isn't it monkey?

Monkey! Monkey!

I didn't know you liked to come to places like this.

I sometimes do, for socializing.

How are things with Yuna-chan?

I see.

I'm hoping to meet someone new...

but it's not happening at all.

I mean, I was the one who broke up with her,

so there's nothing I can do now.

Sometimes, you never know what you've got until it's gone.

How have you been doing?

Well... I'm devoted only to work.

You okay with that?

That's too bad!

It's long over anyway.

Or maybe it had never even started.

Had you told me your editor was Aiko-chan,

I would've invited her to another gathering.

Why would I tell a loose-lipped and frivolous person like you?

I'm not like that!

But you do this kind of thing a lot, don't you?

No. Only about once a week.

That often?

I'm frequently asked to set up these gatherings.

You're also surprisingly popular with women.

No... You can't really call it popular...

Well, I have to go now. Bye.

Let's have another drink later.

No, thanks.

You don't have to be so mad.

I'm really sorry about Aiko-chan...

That's not why I'm mad!

There's a limit to even how clueless you can be.

What clue?

What have you been doing at Kinjo-san's place?

I'm in charge of her serialized manga for Sazanami Shinsha.

As a freelance editor.

I see.

Yes.

Good for you.

You said you wanted to become an editor, didn't you?

Yes.

Um...

You're not going to make manga again?

It's none of your business.

Have you become a stronger drinker?

I feel like you're drinking too much.

I'm oddly nervous, so I won't get drunk at all.

Excuse me! Can I have another glass?

- Aiko-san! - Aiko-chan!

There's no sign she'll wake up.

Shall we take her home?

Yes.

Eh, wh... wait...

You woke up now?

Yes, I'm completely awake.

I'm really fine. Please put me down.

I'm sorry!

I don't remember the process that led up to this...

Did I say anything rude?

You just slept like a log.

That's a relief.

Wait, this isn't the time to be relieved.

Um... I... I haven't been this drunk in a while...

Bye.

You took me all this way...

Thank you...

very much.

You must never disturb the work of Mangaka Karibe Maria!

Sensei fell in love with you...

and lost the balance between reality and fiction in the process.

Bye-bye... Karibe-san.

Karibe-san!

I've been putting a curse on myself by saying that...

decent happiness ruins a writer.

But I won't succumb to that anymore.

Karibe Maria is a genius, remember?

What?

You actually can't enjoy them, can you?

Those shallow social gatherings...

and that regular normal life of yours...

I find them fun to do.

Why are you lying?

I'm not!

You're not that kind of person.

I don't need you to decide who I am.

The outsiders can see things more objectively!

Well, I can, too!

Please draw manga again.

If I could do it just because you told me to, I would've done it by now. Then why aren't you doing it?

You won't get it!

Are you running away?

Hell I'm not!

Yes, you are.

You're like a criminal on the run right now!

Huh?

Now that you stopped making manga,

you're just like a stuffed costume with nothing inside!

You...

You're still as rude as ever!

Now wake up and go back to being a human.

What nonsense!

Be an Onigawara or whatever you can as long as it's a human!

Bye!

What the heck?

What the heck is her deal?!

I said something out of line...

To think that we finally met again...

TO NIKAIDO-KUN.

TO NIKAIDO-KUN. I'm back!

"I'm going to be away for a while."

"Take this letter and go to Nikaido-kun's place."

PLEASE TAKE CARE OF REN. What's this supposed to mean...?

Oh, no! Could it be a suicide note?

Don't say such horrible things!

Ren-kun will hear you.

Sorry. I was taken aback.

I can hear you.

Could it be that Uncle...

No, he's not!

Yeah. Auntie was just being silly...

"Auntie"?

Don't worry.

Going away for a while means that he'll be back.

You really think so?

Yes.

- Aiko-san! - Ren-kun!

It's alright.

It's gonna be alright.

Thank you for letting me stay here.

My pleasure.

I've left the room Mao used as is.

- Mao-chan's room? - Yes. It's on the second floor.

He's really coming back, isn't he?

Yes.

No matter how much he changed,

Karibe-san would never leave Ren-kun alone.

I guess so.

But how long do you think "a while" is?

Well... I also have no idea...

For the past year, Karibe-san...

has seemed to be playing some kind of character.

A character?

Like doing what's needed to do in order to be that character.

He can pull off something like that, can't he?

Oh! He actually can.

He pretended to be Aiko-san's boyfriend when her sister came before.

Thank you very much.

He was playing the handsome character from "Ginten" back then.

That makes sense then.

But why bother playing such a superficial party-animal character?

Um... I don't know the answer to that...

but there was a time when I kinda saw his true nature for a moment.

When was it?

Karibe-san, you're too fast!

Sorry!

It's rude to overtake my trainer, isn't it?

No, that's totally fine.

I'd like to ask you something.

Morning runs, muscle training, stock trading and nightlife...

What makes you so focused and disciplined when it comes to them?

The reason is simple.

What is it?

I just don't want to have any free time.

What?

Well, since you said it's fine. I'm going ahead!

Okay...

Because he doesn't want to have any free time?

Maybe because he'll think about Aiko-san when he's free?

Yes...

I see...

Oh, Ren-kun.

Aiko-san...

Um...

What's the matter?

Here...

For me?

Hello.

Aiko-san? This is Kogo.

Is Karibe-san back?

That's not why I called you.

Then why?

There's a job I'd like to ask you to do.

I'm not yet competent enough as an editor...

to take on other work.

Sorry for the short notice,

but I'm going to send you the location, so please come there at six.

But I'm about to have a meeting with Karen-sensei...

I've already gotten permission from her.

Is that so?

Okay... then...

Yes.

Is this really the place?

Wh...

The one who wants you to come is not Kogo-san.

But me.

What?

Are you asking me to do a pseudo-romance job?

A year ago, I realized that...

the reason I couldn't draw manga anymore...

wasn't because I'd found decent happiness.

But because I was a genius.

And geniuses tend to focus on only one thing.

That's why ever since I became a mangaka, I'd been living my life...

thinking only about manga 24 hours a day.

But...

after I fell in love,

my routine of thinking about manga 24 hours a day had changed.

I believed that it was the reason why I couldn't make manga anymore.

That's why I took a break from "Ginten",

and set myself the task of not thinking about manga at all.

But then...

This isn't right!

I found myself trying to draw manga again.

So in order to forget about it,

I ran,

built up my body,

and did house chores.

This... would make a good drawing.

But the next thing I knew,

No!

I was thinking about manga again.

I searched for something that I could immerse myself in so that I wouldn't have time to think about it.

Even at night, when I was at home, I found myself thinking about it.

That's why I attended social gatherings. What kind of sweets...

- do you like? - do you like?

Learning all those uninteresting topics and games was such a pain.

But thanks to that,

I had less and less time to think about manga.

Yes.

I'd reached a stage where I could spend my time on things other than manga.

In other words,

I'd reached a point where I could balance reality and the fictional world.

Ah... so...

you're saying that you were able to make manga again?

No.

Huh?

I couldn't draw anymore.

I realized it at the same time.

That the reason why I kept making manga back then...

was because...

it was the only way for me to be on equal footing with this world.

And even if it'd been a painful process,

I'd come to the conclusion that if there was a place for me in this real world,

then...

there was no reason for me to keep drawing manga.

But...

But that day...

the night I met you again...

for some reason I felt like drawing again.

After seeing you, who had become an editor like it was nothing,

who was still a bad drunk,

who was sleeping on my back,

who was swearing at me with that hateful look,

for some reason...

for some reason I couldn't help but feel the urge to draw manga!

Just like before...

when you inspired me to make my first manga...

That...

Ah, this ain't it!

I always end up talking too much!

Karibe-san.

Is this... the new chapter of "Ginten"?

I was holed up on the island for a week drawing it.

Please read it.

"DON'T COMPLAIN WITH YOUR EYES!"

I know!

I told you not to complain with your eyes!

You two seem close.

- Not at all! - Not in the slightest!

"WHY DON'T..." "...WE CREATE ITS MEANING TOGETHER?"

Why don't we create its meaning together?

"...WE CREATE ITS MEANING TOGETHER?"

It's so great!

I'd like to make a request.

What?

Have a romantic relationship with me.

Not a pseudo-romance, but a real one.

From now on, I want to fall in love with you, draw manga,

and live that kind of life.

B-b-but of course...

I have to consider your feelings too!

You may not feel the same way about me anymore...

Me too.

I've also been trying my best to live on my own.

So that if one day we could be in a relationship again,

I wouldn't get between you and your manga.

You still have the same unhappy face that resembles a capybara.

You're so mean!

I heard...

this is the present you planned to give me a year ago.

Ren-kun told me.

He said he picked it up and kept it for me.

I see...

Isn't it your birthday today?

Ah, yes.

I was so engrossed in drawing the manga that I forgot!

I already got the best present I could ask for!

No, that won't do!

I planned to make a reservation at the restaurant after finishing this!

It really is fine.

I'm so incompetent!

No, you're not!

I even thought of a line to say to you!

What line is that?

Never mind.

I want to hear it.

- Forget it! - Please let me hear it!

Let me hear it!

I...

I want to be...

your one and only partner in life.

What are you to me?~♬

Could it be that...? Could it be that...?~♬

What am I to you?~♬

Could it be that...? Could it be that...?~♬

We're two halves of one whole, entwined in a red thread?~♬

"GINGA TENSHI" CORNER.

THE "REIWA ARC" CONCLUDING VOLUME.

"GINGA TENSHI". THE "REIWA ARC" CONCLUDING VOLUME. Here it is.

I can finally buy it!

Ah, Misuzu!

Ren-kun!

You look way cooler now.

Really?

Don't cheat on me.

I won't.

Don't you think this is too sudden?

Yes, it is.

It means they were meant to be together.

Anyway you guys... when did you get back together?

Wait, what?

How nice! I'm so jealous!

They're coming!

Let's go!

Congratulations!

Seiichiro-san, hurry up!

Congratulations!

- Congrats! - Congratulations!

Congrats!

I never thought that Karen-sensei would be the one proposing.

But anyway... they look good together.

Welcome back, Aiko-san!

Welcome back.

Thanks.

- Let's come in. - Okay!

Sorry, Ren-kun.

You've gotten really strong.

Yes.

Let's go!

What are you grinning about?

- What? - Let me see it.

Huh? No!

Oh, come on!

Not in a million years!

- Just a bit, please. - Just give up.

No way.

Stop!

- Okay, okay, I'll stop. - Just give up.

Get out.

"THE PERFECT LIFE PARTNER FOR ME IS YOU."

Twitter: @eveychooey Support me: ko-fi.com/eveychooey