Original subtitles

A recap of the previous episode.

After applying to this high school, we met the genius child actress again.

Are you taking our entertainment course?!

No, I applied for the general course.

Why?!

My sister applied for the entertainment course, so I was worried and tagged along.

Huh?!

My brother has a sister complex.

Gross!

You know, I've never really liked this girl.

But if you get in, she's gonna be your senior.

Hmm, I see.

I can hear you two.

Aww, fine then.

Let's get along, Loli senpai.

I'll really bully you!

Then I'll be dropping by the director's place.

Okay, bye.

Oh, wait!

Hey! I said hey!

Where are you going? Who's this director?!

Hey! Where do you live right now?

You listening?! I said hey!

What middle school you from?!

Are you a yankii girl?

How long are you gonna follow me?

Until you answer all of my questions.

You're still an actor, right?

No, not anymore.

I-I see…

So that's that.

Let's chat a little!

Hey! You wanna go to karaoke or something?

No way.

Oh. Then… maybe my place?

Isn't that closing the distance too fast?

I can't help it! I am still a celebrity after all!

I can't just sit down at a café to chat.

There are no stores with private rooms open at this time yet!

Oh, that's what you meant.

If that's the case…

Oh, Kana Arima!

Haven't seen you in a while, but you've grown!

Uh, well…

I am still working…

Compared to when I was a child actress, I'm not as… you know, but…

Well, make yourself at home!

I see.

Hey, Aqua.

If you're not an actor anymore, why are you visiting the director's place?

You sure you're not really studying acting?

Well, I was taught everything,

but now, I'm like the director's assistant aiming for backstage.

Really.

But I'm glad.

You were still in this industry.

Do you want seconds?!

Uh, I'm fine. I'm cutting down on sugars.

If you don't eat, you won't grow!

-You eat this. -What?!

Jeez.

But what a shock.

Huh?

Director, I didn't know you were still leeching off your parents.

You're still the same brat that never respects your elders.

But it's nice.

My parents moved back to the countryside, so I live in a dorm alone.

So, I usually depend on Uber for meals.

Really.

That must be expensive.

I'm fine!

Since at least my savings is loaded from when I worked as a child star!

I freaking hate you.

Hey, Director. Don't you have any videos of Aqua acting?

Umm, I do, but…

Don't show it.

I was just delusional and it's an embarrassing past.

I mistook myself for having talent and made a fool of myself.

You heard him.

So if you wanna see, you gotta talk this guy into acting yourself.

Is that how you wanna do it?

I'm not doing it.

Right now, I'm cast as the heroine in this one title,

but there's a role that's still open.

You want me to talk with the higher-ups?

Nope.

What?!

What's the title called?

A drama based on a shoujo manga called Mild Flavor Today.

I see.

Mild Today?

Yeah, you know it?

Anyone who's studied staging that doesn't know it must live under a rock.

It's a masterpiece.

So you're interested?

I told you I don't act anymore.

If I talk to them, it might smoothly go through.

Since the producer, Mr. Kaburagi, likes me!

Kaburagi?

Is his full name Masaya Kaburagi?

That's right.

There are three cell phones Ai left behind.

Two of them were for work and private use

and only had records of other group members and agency staff.

Ai seemed careless, but she was much more careful than I imagined.

I learned that she was seriously trying to hide our secret.

The problem is the other cell phone.

This one was used by Ai before she got pregnant.

It was several generations old,

so it was backbreaking to find a replacement for the dead battery.

But that was nothing compared to bypassing the passcode.

It's unusable for 30 seconds if I get the passcode wrong

and I don't even know how many digits it is.

It took me half a day to try 100 passcodes.

It took me a month for 1,000 attempts.

Day after day…

Day after day…

Day after day…

On the 45,510th attempt…

ENTER YOUR PASSCODE

I finally reached the passcode after four years had passed.

On that phone,

there were emails and numbers of a dozen of those affiliated in showbiz.

And one of them was…

Masaya Kaburagi…

Hey, let's try it!

Most of the cast are close to our age too.

The main boy has a girly face, so he's really cute!

-I'll do it. -What?

Call the producer for me.

Why do you all of a sudden…

Wait, no way…

The main boy has a girly face, so he's really cute!

Don't tell me you're…

Let's do it.

I can't wait to see Aqua's acting.

Oh, but this set has some problems, so be prepared, okay?

Hm?

FROM TOKYO

He was a child actor?

Yes!

Hmm.

He's got a pretty face.

If you with your strong acting skills speak so highly of him, bring him in.

Okay, I'll leave it to you.

Is it settled?

Huh? Yeah.

Well, I don't care who takes the role anyway.

MASAYA KABURAGI

What? Aqua, you're gonna be in a drama?!

Why did you tell her?

Because you would never say anything yourself.

It's the agency's job to promote the activities of registered artists.

Mama did say…

that my future might be an idol and Aqua might be a future actor.

So you never forgot those words.

It's not like that.

If I can meet the producer Ai had interacted with when she was alive

and retrieve the root of his hair, that'll be all I need.

I'm not thinking of doing anything great like fulfilling Ai's wishes

or dreaming of becoming an actor.

What's the title of the show?

The title is Mild Flavor Today. It's based on a shoujo manga.

Oh! I know it! Mild Today!

It's the one in Aqua's room! It was interesting!

Don't read it without asking.

It's a drama by a recently established streaming platform.

Three episodes have already been released out of six.

There are many new faces in the main cast.

It's a rather small-scale series.

Looks like Aqua's role is the bad guy in the last episode.

That's perfect. You do have an evil face.

Shut up.

It's a streaming platform's drama, so we can watch it right now.

I wanna watch!

I hate humans.

Because everyone only thinks about themselves.

Oh, it's Loli senpai!

You know,

are you even having fun with a face like that?

What do you want?

Nothing. I just chased after a cat and found you here.

What the heck?

Hey, you look cute when you smile.

W-What? Don't tease me!

Be honest with yourself.

Hey, you!

Don't touch my girl!

Huh? Who the heck are you?

Please stop, you two!

Don't fight!

Was Mild Today's story like this?!

For the most part, wasn't it?

The staging is good, so it's not impossible to watch,

but there's these characters that were never in the original story.

It's probably the production's direction to use as many actors as possible.

Uh.

The flow of events wasn't like this either, right?

When you cram 14 volumes of manga into half a season,

some scenes have to be cut out.

The acting is also…

Looks like many inexperienced actors are in it.

I don't know, but this is awful!

You're being too straightforward.

I mean, wasn't Loli senpai better at acting too?

KARAOKE CAN

Shut up! She said something like that?!

I hope she drops dead!

Your foul mouth sure hasn't changed.

I'll say this for my reputation's sake,

but there aren't that many high schoolers who can act like me!

Then why did the show turn out like that?

This drama's plan is to cast as many up-and-coming models as possible

so that it reaches the female audience who likes pretty boys.

Acting skills aren't a priority.

But the title will be destroyed like that,

so that's why they're using me, who's known for acting, as the heroine.

Considering that, wasn't your acting pretty weak?

Obviously, I'm holding back!

The rest of the cast members are all just cheesy actors!

Nice nails.

People become stronger with people.

Smile for me.

I'm the only one who can properly act in the main cast, you know?!

What if I put on my best performance in this group?

That'll just highlight the other actors' cheesiness and it'll become a cheese fest!

Cheese fest?

I want to go all out and act too.

Who would want to go out of their way to give a poor performance?

But, good performance and creating good work are different.

It's true the seller's business scheme stands out too much in this work.

There's no way this can become an interesting piece.

When the author of the original story came to the first episode's set…

her look of disappointment really hit me hard.

But the cast and crew are each doing the best they can.

For the viewers and manga fans, I want to make this as good as I can.

At least I'll make it worthy of watching.

If it's for that, I'll even act poorly.

Even if that means hurting your reputation as an actor?

What's important as an actor is communication.

Back then, I used to flaunt my acting skills.

I was certainly popular, but I never respected others.

That's why, once I had peaked, jobs disappeared in an instant.

"A reason to use me over children with better acting skills."

I realized that's what's important.

In fact, I'm a flexible actress now,

who's never stubborn, and works hard to raise the quality of work.

Producer Kaburagi and I go way back.

He appointed me this time too, because I'm aware of those things.

Since when did you learn to be so cooperative?

I am an adult now.

Well, I'm sure it helps having this great face that can rival that of models!

Actors really have nothing but self-confidence.

And so, the filming is tomorrow! It'll be released next week!

It'll be rapidly edited and rapidly delivered!

We'll skip the read-through, rapidly rehearse, and rapidly film!

The schedule is done for too.

The boy of your role griped and quit, so we had to reschedule. It was a disaster.

Especially because it's not a great role.

But that's also why I was able to squeeze you in.

Using connections and skipping the read-through.

The same process again.

When we were kids, you told me off when I did the same before.

Ah, good memories.

I never thought I'd be the one doing it now.

What a dirty grown-up I've become!

Quit laughing.

But I can understand how the director felt now.

You understand why I recruited you, right?

I don't care how much shit anyone gives us or if they call us cheesy actors.

Please, let's make this a great title together.

If it's with you, I believe we can do it.

A poorly planned project with a cast that can't act.

But after hearing her story and watching it over,

I can tell that the script and staging are adjusted to the cast.

Even with bad acting,

you can tell there are many techniques used to make it into something watchable.

The crew is good.

And the heroine has genuine talent.

This may work somehow.

TV dramas usually have read-throughs and rehearsals indoors with the main cast,

and the director lays out the storyboard off of that.

Normally, it's a dry run or camera rehearsal,

then a run-through, and then filming takes place on set.

But this location could only be secured for one day,

so the dry run to the run-through will be treated as one rehearsal.

Practice is done only once.

What a mess. Even my director is a little more organized.

There's no budget or time.

-Yo, Kana. -Hm?

Isn't this rain awful?

I wanted them to postpone the shoot.

There is a bit of leakage, but it'll be fine.

When it's humid, my hair gets frizzy.

This place is so muggy and unpleasant too.

Oh, let me introduce you. This boy here is today's stalker role…

I'm Aqua.

-Nice to meet… -Hi.

He's got a bad attitude. I didn't even get his name.

He's the lead actor, Melt Narushima.

Well, he's young too,

and that's common for someone who rose to fame smoothly.

Although, I'm not one to talk…

Certain idol group agencies have proper training for artists,

so they're well-mannered, liked on set, and you can't go wrong with them.

There's a good reason why they're always being cast.

And so, greetings are an important duty. Go on!

Nice to meet you.

I'm Aqua from Ichigo Production. I look forward to working with you today.

Yeah, nice to meet you.

Masaya Kaburagi.

The man who was affiliated with Ai Hoshino somehow.

The one who could be me and Ruby's biological father

as well as the person involved in Ai's death.

I need to find a chance to retrieve something that I can send for DNA testing.

That person just now is in charge of this set.

His thoughts are passed on to the director and then they get conveyed on set.

He has strong connections with model agencies,

so this casting was mostly decided by him.

Anyway, he's obsessed with pretty faces, so that's probably why he chose you too.

We're starting the rehearsal!

Let's do this. You got the script down in your head, right?

My role is the stalker who stalks the heroine.

How ironic is this?

Since I'm gonna be playing a stalker just like the one who killed Ai.

Ready, action!

We'll stop temporarily.

There's a bit of a leak here.

Then for this shot, let's increase the dolly speed and go to the next one.

You can act properly.

And you said you were aiming for backstage?

Anyone can do this much if they practice.

I'm just good enough to not inconvenience others,

but there's nothing appealing about me.

The acting Kana Arima saw that day

was just an abnormality caused by the contrast between my age and body.

Now that my body has caught up to my mental age,

I'm just an average actor found anywhere.

If you were expecting some kind of spectacular acting, sorry.

I was never…

Well, it'd be a lie if I said I wasn't expecting anything.

But it's enough.

Your acting is like that of a person who's been practicing for a long time.

I like it.

Your detailed techniques are thoughtful and careful.

It's like you're holding back your ego and adhering to the story.

Maybe that's something unnoticeable to the average person,

and aside from longtime actors like us, it might not matter to everyone else.

Don't be so caring.

I have to be. I am the leader here after all!

A lead role is a big job I haven't had in a decade, so of course I'll work hard!

That's true, I haven't seen you lately, so I was surprised you were still acting.

HAVEN'T SEEN YOU LATELY

The days of my dark ages were long.

I couldn't get work for so long that my career was considered dead online.

But I always continued my acting lessons.

I didn't know what I was working for anymore.

And the word "retire" crossed my mind so many times.

But!

The time when my skills are acknowledged has finally come!

I thought, "I'm really glad I continued!"

That's why, even if you didn't give a spectacular performance,

I was just glad to know you continued in this industry.

Just knowing the fact that there was someone else struggling

in this dark unforeseeable world with me.

That's enough for me.

Can we resume the shoot?

Melt has a magazine photo shoot after this.

Almost.

Ms. Arima is keeping the cast busy, so…

Kana, she's really convenient.

She'll butter up anyone nicely, so it's perfect to keep her around.

The name "Kana Arima" is known to the public after all.

She left her agency becoming a freelancer,

so I can use her brand value for close to no cost too.

What a bargain.

Well, just the part where she's fussy about acting is a pain though.

This drama is only promotional material.

Acting skills aren't being demanded.

Seems like she doesn't understand that.

The time when my skills are acknowledged has finally come!

You aren't being acknowledged.

That's reality for you, Kana Arima.

It's more rare to be properly acknowledged.

I've got the sample, so my mission's complete.

But…

We'll resume the shoot now!

Since I am here,

I'll have some fun before I go home.

Subtitle translation by: Kanami Kitabayashi