Original subtitles

What is that old man doing?

-Sir, almost there! -Get back, it's dangerous.

Okay, okay!

-A little this way! -Okay!

-Okay! -It's heavy!

Alright, okay!

Sir, how's this?

-Good. Finish it up. -Alright!

What are you doing?! Why are you planting this?

I did it for you too.

A cherry tree?

A Dragon Zakura.

Yeah.

It's a Dragon Zakura.

DRAGON ZAKURA

The "tatsu" in "Tatsumi" means dragon.

This Dragon Zakura

will see off future students who get into UTokyo.

-We've gotta have this! -It brings me back!

Ken!

What do you think?

Thanks for coming on short notice.

Anything for you, buddy.

-I marked the price down. -Thanks a lot.

-Good-bye! -Thank you!

-What is this? -"Dragon… Zakura"?

When you four pass,

this tree will be in full bloom.

Huh? Did you just say four?

-Huh? -Hm?

Huh!?

You covered for Mr. Sakuragi?

If I were gone,

he'd lose his chance to try out for UTokyo.

He's always been gunning for UTokyo.

-But that was… -Wow, Seto. Way to go.

Iwasaki, aren't you happy? Another friend.

Yes, I'm happy.

It's reassuring.

It's decided.

Yay! We got our fourth member.

Okay everyone, class is starting.

-Yes, ma'am. -C'mon!

-That's enough you two! -Okay.

-Call on us anytime! -Thank you.

See ya.

Its metallic luster goes from gold-green to red-bronze.

Its color changes based on the angle. It is nocturnal.

-It hides in dead leaves. -This soil is good.

So the bugs are healthy.

Ah, carabus insulicola.

-Yeah! -Huh.

You'll need an umbrella today.

Heavy rain is coming.

Heavy rain?

It'll come at around ten.

-Kenta. -Mari!

Mari Kosugi?

-The top liberal arts student. -I don't care about UTokyo.

-Let's go, Kenta. -Okay.

Why does the UTokyo Special Course have four students?

-I'm sorry! -If five people get into UTokyo,

I'll have to step down as chairman.

You don't need to worry.

Those four have among the worst grades in our school.

For them to get into UTokyo is unthinkable.

TOP UNIVERSITY COURSE PROPOSAL

What's this?

I'm going to crush the UTokyo Special Course with my bare hands.

We're starting. First off,

I'll tell you the rules for studying here.

Mizuno.

Rule one. Don't tell your parents.

Rule two. If Mr. Sakuragi or I tell you to do something,

even if you don't understand, at least try. That's it.

How long do I have to keep it from my parents?

I'll decide the timing and let you know.

If your parents find out now, they'll just get in the way.

We have to build your foundation for studying first.

Is that some kind of hellish training?

You think we're living in the past? Mizuno.

All this?

Hang on, this is for junior high.

Of course. None of you know any more than a junior high student.

First know that. You're starting from the basics.

-Really? -I guess so.

Do these workbooks, for all subjects, in three weeks.

Three weeks?

-I guess I could do that. -Do it at least five times.

-Five? -If you can't, ten laps around the school.

It is hellish training!

And starting today, I'll have things for you to do every day.

There's still more?

Amano, Seto.

Become a YouTuber.

Huh?

-A YouTuber? -Hayase, Iwasaki.

-You two do Twitter. -Twitter?

Take your own ordinary life, and tell it to the world in English.

Junior high level English is enough.

Amano, Seto, one video per day.

Hayase, Iwasaki, your quota is 20 tweets per day.

How dumb. I quit.

Wait!

Do what you want.

I have no use for a loser who quits without trying.

Loser?

I have no reason to go to UTokyo.

A reason to go to UTokyo?

-You don't need one. -Huh?!

-Who could do this without a reason? -How's this for a reason?

Go to UTokyo to make a great ramen restaurant.

Are you dissing ramen?

Is there any value in a reason given by someone else?

If you want a reason to go to UTokyo, find the answer yourself.

But a loser who runs away without trying

will never do that.

Fine.

Now we'll measure your current skill

with a junior high review mini-test.

-Ugh. -Clear off your desks.

Wow, it's pouring rain.

It was supposed to be sunny.

Ten o'clock?!

You'll need an umbrella today.

Heavy rain is coming.

It'll come at around ten.

Seriously…

It's as expected.

-Seto got a failing score in everything. -I figured.

The goal is to pass five students.

We need one more… two if possible.

I wish someone would come.

I have a candidate.

A very smart one.

Are you thinking of Mari Kosugi?

But she…

Hmm…

Wow, so this is the UTokyo Special Course.

-Fujii… -What's this tent? Hilarious.

Seriously? This is for junior high.

You're at this level. Isn't that bad?

What do you want?

Nothing. I just came to see.

And? Which one is your type?

-Huh? -You joined to get a girl, right?

Everyone's saying that.

I joined to get into UTokyo.

You really think you'll pass? At that level?

What's his deal? Jerk.

What are you going on about?

You must be here for one of those girls too.

Me?

Uh, no, I'll pass.

I can't stand dumb girls. I'll catch the dumb.

Hey.

I do feel sorry for Iwasaki. Her badminton career is over.

Her coach ditched her, and now she's snuggling up to Sakuragi.

It's like, how desperate can you get?

-Shut up! -Let me go.

Seto, Seto, stop it.

What are you doing? Stop!

Get away, split up.

Ryo Fujii.

You were there? If you're here, stop the fight!

You'll never get into UTokyo. Give up.

If you know about me, you know my grades.

You caught the flu and could only take Tatsumi's entrance exam.

Deviation score 68, top in science.

-Aiming for UTokyo Natural Sciences 1. -And you think I'll fail?

I'm calling it.

A year from now, it won't be you getting into UTokyo.

It'll be the UTokyo Special Course students.

Wow. Shall we have a contest?

I don't think they could score half the points I could.

Sure.

Let's do it.

I hear you're having a contest with Fujii.

I'll stand witness to this contest.

As you like.

If Fujii wins,

the UTokyo Special Course disbands.

-What? -If we don't go all in, it's boring, no?

-If it's disbanded, we would be… -Fired, I assume.

But, what about the students?

The students aiming for UTokyo.

I'll take them in.

-Huh? -Our school has established a new course.

"Top Uni Course"?

Weren't you against becoming a high-level school?

The chairman's educational philosophy is to respect students' freedom.

Not only UTokyo, if they want to aim high,

we will respond to those needs.

By the way, Fujii says he's joining the Top Uni Course.

Well? Will you do it?

Or won't you?

Of course not.

-We'll do it. -Huh?

The contest is in three weeks.

Fujii's score and our students' average score.

The higher score wins.

Exam questions from old UTokyo exams.

The chairman, Mizuno, the Top Uni Course teacher and I.

We will discuss and decide.

Alright.

The loser's class will be eliminated.

What are you saying? We won't! We won't do it!

Why did you accept such a contest?

The science top? We'll never win.

We'll be fired and homeless. What are you doing?

Why are you so worried? Did you forget?

-Huh? -You were a loser through and through.

Remember how you got out of it?

We destroy the inferiority complexes they've given themselves.

-We'll never have such a chance. -But what if we lose?

What will be, will be.

-More like, we'll be bankrupt! -Oh yeah.

Right.

TOYAMA LANDSCAPING

CHERRY BLOSSOM TREE

Three hundred thousand…

That bastard…

I can't! Never, never!

-Be for real. -If we lose, the course is gone?

That's going too far.

What, don't you want to win?

You're going to let Fujii mock you?

Of course not.

There's a chance we could win?

That…

depends on you guys.

Why did you say yes?

A fun game like this?

How could I miss out?

C'mon, don't do this for fun.

Don't worry.

There are ways.

Number one…

That would be…

What?

What?

-This. -Huh?

We already heard that.

Solve problems, read explanations, and study.

If you still don't get it,

teach each other.

Teach each other?

Amano, you teach math. Hayase, literature.

Iwasaki, your English was highest.

-Seto. -Yes!

You're bad at everything.

I know that.

But idiots teaching other idiots? What's the point?

That's it. You said something good.

There are advantages to being idiots.

If you're with someone who knows a little more,

your brain decides that you can do it too.

Plus, the one teaching gets to organize their knowledge,

unclear parts become clear, and their degree of understanding goes up.

-Huh. -Wow.

Number two. Have you started YouTube and Twitter yet?

Well…

People who move slowly miss opportunities.

Especially Amano.

Don't think, just do it.

-Uh, okay. -And number three.

Before school in the morning, and after school,

you'll get a problem from Mizuno.

A problem? What do you mean?

You'll understand eventually.

Right?

I see…

Listen.

While you're here worrying, Fujii is getting smarter.

We have three weeks.

How you spend that time is up to you guys.

-Okay. -Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

That's what YouTubers do, right?

UTOKYO SPECIAL COURSE

What is a three-day monk? Explain in one sentence.

A quiz?

-Thank you for waiting. -A three-day monk…

That's Hayase.

Hey! Well, I thought so too.

Three-day monk…

"Giving up easily," I guess?

Why is she asking this?

Where are most pumpkins sold in Japan produced?

Hokkaido?

Mexico?

Mine is from New Zealand.

MINE IS FROM NEW ZEALAND.

Why do you think most pumpkins come from those places?

Why?

How would I know?

Um, "I have good…"

Do I need an "a"?

"I have a good day today."

Is "have" right?

Good enough. Eighteen tweets to go.

I have to do that too.

I don't have time for a quiz.

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Why?

That's just a proverb.

Watch it.

Everyone, did you think about the problems?

I did think about them…

First, the pumpkin-producing regions problem.

In addition to Hokkaido, there were Mexico and New Zealand.

Why are those three areas common?

Hokkaido is cold, Mexico is hot. I couldn't find anything in common.

When are pumpkins in season anyway?

Summer? No, it's winter.

Hayase, what's wrong?

Is there any point to this?

What are you saying?

Why are we doing all these nonsense quizzes?

Fujii is way ahead of us.

He had a huge English notebook full of sticky notes.

There's no time before the contest.

If everyone has time to talk about pumpkins,

we could be memorizing English words.

Okay, let me ask you.

How do you memorize those words?

Say them out loud, or write them over and over?

Classic exam failing method.

So what should I do?

Smart people have good memories.

We can't win.

You're wrong.

Having a good memory

doesn't make much of a difference, save for some unique people.

In UTokyo, 80% of the students have the same memory as you.

Really?

Then why…

-There are tricks to remembering. -Tricks?

For example…

What does this word mean?

-I think it means to get together? -Yes.

Okay, here's a question.

Why does "unite" mean "get together"?

Why?

Because somebody decided that's what the word was?

By some important person a long time ago?

You can't think like that.

Hayase, what kind of ability do you think UTokyo wants the most?

Um…

Knowing lots of difficult things?

No. How well you can consider the substance of things.

That's it.

Substance?

In this case,

I would first look up the origin of the word "unite."

And then…

I would learn that "uni" means "one."

Making something one is "unite," which is why it means "get together."

It can also mean "combine," "link" and "marry."

Another meaning is, "possess in combination."

If you consider they all come from the word meaning "one" it's easy to remember.

Yeah it is…

There are many other "uni" words.

Tell me what you think of.

Uni…

-Uniform! -Yes.

So why is "uni" used there?

Because a team all wears the same clothing.

-That's right. -Yay!

Anything else?

At a university, you can learn many things in one place?

Good. Keep it up. Hayase?

Um… uni… unicorn!

-Because they have one horn? -That's right!

Seto?

Uni…

Uniqlo.

That's a brand name.

It's not even English.

Uniqlo's name comes from "Unique Clothing Warehouse."

"Unique" means "one individual, unlike others"

so you're barely right.

Oh, unique.

I think I could remember that easily.

-Yeah. -Listen.

UTokyo students think "Why?" about everything they see.

They try to see the substance.

What you must do is copy that way of thinking.

By the way, those problems you think are quizzes?

They're all questions from past UTokyo entrance exams.

Seriously?

In UTokyo exams, you might have to add a punchline to a comic strip.

Or in "Janken Glico," which makes you win more,

rock, paper, or scissors.

These have all been questions.

UTokyo has a lot of questions based on daily life.

-Wow. -So that pumpkin one…

That was a geography question from 2015.

"Many pumpkins are imported from Mexico and New Zealand. Explain why."

By the way, pumpkins are in season in summer and autumn.

Think about that. Well?

I get it. In Japan, they're only available in summer and autumn

but Mexico is warm year-round.

When it's winter in Japan, it's summer in New Zealand!

-That's it. -Wow!

We solved a UTokyo question!

Do you get it, Hayase? That's why you can't think "It's always been that way."

Everything has meaning. Substance.

Why is the question written that way?

Why are we making you do things that seem like games?

See it from every angle to get the substance.

I guess I'll get serious about Twitter.

That reminds me, Amano, your video was funny.

Yeah, that was awesome.

Like this, right?

Uh… I guess.

-Seto, you're not doing YouTube? -Why would I?

Do it!

How many students joined the Top Uni Course?

At this moment…

Just one, Ryo Fujii.

Why?

Actually…

Tomorrow, the Top Uni Course classes will begin.

If you want to join, talk to me.

I'll be in charge of it.

Hey, Fujii. See you tomorrow.

Mr. Oyama.

Where did you graduate from?

-Huh? -Heisei School of Education.

A third-rate school.

Why do I have to be taught by someone with a lower deviation score?

I signed up for the Top Uni Course because the chairman asked me to.

But I have no intention of taking classes. Good-bye.

-Hey… -Third rate!

Third rate, third rate!

Good grief. That Fujii is such a jerk.

That's why I'm against becoming a high-level school.

Studying all the time makes people stupid and heartless.

You are so right.

Well, as long as he wins the contest, that's fine.

Then we can destroy the UTokyo Special Course.

Hey, Kaede. I don't get this.

This "party" means a political party.

Politics? That's not a party at all.

-I'll look up the origin. -Okay.

Um, "part."

It looks like it came from "portion."

A party is where a number of people get together and have fun.

A political party is people with the same beliefs coming together.

When you put it like that, it makes sense.

-Thanks. -Yeah.

Hang on. This one too.

Which one?

POLITICAL PARTY

Seto, are those flashcards?

-Great! -I guess.

By month, at representative points on the Pacific side…

-Another beer. -Yes, sir!

Oh, shadows.

-"Bottle." -What's up?

Are you studying? What's gotten into you?

No, it's nothing.

Give this to Mr. Sakuragi.

-Huh? Okay. -Hurry.

-Here. -Uh-huh.

This is Setoya.

Sorry, could you wait a little longer?

I'm sorry. I'm trying to collect it now.

I'm sorry.

ONE DAY BEFORE THE CONTEST

Here are the results of today's mini-test.

Mizuno.

Amano, from a total of 500, 400.

It went up.

Hayase, 380 points.

-Yay! -Iwasaki, 420 points.

-Yes! -Seto, 270 points.

Everyone has gotten much better in a short period. Well done.

Isn't that great? We might really win!

-Seto, you improved a lot. -Yeah.

Seto, you worked hard.

You can be happy. I know you feel the difference.

Shut up.

Honestly, it'll be hard.

I can't say that to them though.

Everyone's working hard, but they're finally at junior high level.

Can they win?

It will depend on the type of questions.

If it's physics, they'll be clobbered.

Especially Seto. Are you listening?

We took past UTokyo exams from the last 20 years

and chose possible questions for each subject.

Okay, now we just have to select the questions.

I have a proposal, Chairman.

I'd like you to choose the questions for the test.

Me?

Bottle.

Care.

Oh, it's climate.

-Hey! -Hah, "unique"?

Don't you know that?

Give it.

I feel sorry for the Special Course kids.

They'd have better chances without you around.

You don't even feel bad?

You're holding them back. Catch on!

Or are you too dumb?

If you lose, those teachers will be fired, right?

If it were me, I'd stand down.

SPECIAL EXAM UTOKYO SPECIAL COURSE VS FUJII RYO

Where's Seto?

Maybe he's running late.

He probably just ran away.

Huh? He wouldn't do that.

He's worked so hard.

Thanks for waiting. Is everyone here?

Ma'am, not everyone.

Oh, Seto called and said he'd be away today.

-Huh? -Good for you guys!

He'd hold you back if he was here.

Shut up!

We still have five minutes, right?

Hang on!

You don't have to count Seto's score.

I need a little handicap, otherwise it's boring.

The person you are trying to reach is…

What are you doing, Seto? I hope he didn't really run away…

He's not that kind of guy.

Look, I found this.

He's not showing his face, but that voice…

-Seto? -Why isn't he here?

He worked so hard.

It's time.

But Seto's not here yet.

Forget about Seto.

How could you say that?

Are you confident enough to worry about another person?

Or have you given up from the start?

-No! -Then focus on yourself.

I told you.

I'd help you win,

so you believed me, and did what you could.

You'd throw that away?

In an exam,

you never know what will happen. Entrance exams are the same.

That day, at that time, no matter the conditions,

you only have one chance.

All you can do now

is focus on yourself. That's it.

MISSED CALLS IWASAKI, HAYASE, AMANO

I'll clean up. You go to school.

Now is not the time for that.

Thank you.

The test is worth 20 points. You will have twenty minutes.

Now, begin.

An English essay and geography question.

What is this map?

It looks hard.

How can I answer this?

Fujii is writing a lot.

What could he be writing?

Calm down. Focus on yourself.

Right. Don't forget to think.

Substance. Think about the substance.

Oh, that's what this question is asking…

Time's up.

Let me through.

Sorry.

-Let me through. -Sorry.

Pardon me.

I will present the results.

Amano, 14 points.

Hayase, 13 points.

Iwasaki, 15 points.

Fujii,

11 points.

Y-Yay!

Really? We won?

We won!

No way!

Yay!

Mr. Sakuragi really is amazing.

How lame, Fujii. You lost to the Special Course.

You're kidding! How could I lose? Give it!

There must be a mistake with the marking.

Re-do it, third-rate school!

Nope, there's nothing wrong with the marking.

What's wrong is your answers.

Show this idiot, Mizuno.

Idiot?

First, the English question.

What would happen if you could read other's thoughts?

That was the question.

Read your answer.

It's long.

I don't know what you're saying.

You do know. If people could read minds, they can't lie, so peace would come.

-That's obvious. -I see. Now I understand.

You didn't write that people couldn't lie. You didn't explain that.

It wasn't logical and on top of that, you used too many hard words and phrases.

So you had a lot of spelling mistakes.

What did you guys write?

Amano.

Yes, sir.

That's good. Hayase?

Yes, sir.

-Good. Iwasaki? -Yes, sir.

-Good. -Simple and easy to understand.

It's easy English, with no spelling errors.

No way.

Compared to a complicated answer,

answering simply is actually more difficult.

But in the real world, it's a skill you'll need your whole life.

Discussing things every day, and teaching one another.

Always valuing communication.

That was to build this skill. YouTube and Twitter, too.

So that's why.

Next is the geography question.

What it is really asking is if you can imagine how people feel.

How people feel?

Fujii,

you only answered from the administrative perspective.

There was nothing about the citizens' perspective

so you only got half the points.

You clearly chose these questions to give the Special Course the advantage!

That's not true.

The questions were chosen by the chairman.

But that's…

I have a proposal, Chairman.

I'd like you to choose the questions for the test.

Me?

You, more than anyone, have noble principles towards education.

I'm sure the questions you choose will follow those principles.

Something to bring awareness to the students.

-Am I wrong? -You're very right.

For example, Mr. Oyama's questions.

They're mostly asking about esoteric knowledge.

But cramming in knowledge isn't what matters in life.

Having a rich life matters.

Ah, I see.

This geography question Mizuno chose.

This will encourage a broad perspective and critical thinking.

This English question is very practical.

You tricked me.

You led me to choose them with your clever words.

So what? They're all real UTokyo questions.

Fujii should have solved them with ease.

That's why you chose them, no?

Fujii, you didn't lose because of the questions.

It was your nasty personality.

My personality?

That's unrelated to the exam.

You look down on people and reject help even from teachers.

You've studied all on your own.

But you have a weakness.

If you had taken advice, you could've avoided this.

UTokyo often has questions that require multiple perspectives.

You need to be able to imagine how different people feel.

It's a message from UTokyo about who they want.

People who kick down others

and try to climb up alone are not what UTokyo wants.

That's why I said you'll never get into UTokyo, Fujii.

People like you?

UTokyo doesn't need you, nor does society.

Know that.

That's bullshit.

Serves you right.

Fujii, why not give up on UTokyo?

Cut it out, you guys. Go back to class.

All of you are idiots.

-Keep laughing. -Huh? What did you say?

Don't get high and mighty.

You're idiots who only feel superior when beating someone down.

-What gives? -You're just saying "idiot" over and over.

I call them as I see them.

Compared to you, Fujii's twisted spirit is a hundred times better.

He chose UTokyo, and he's working in his own way.

Hey, old man.

Come outside.

Stop!

What do you think you are doing?!

Uh, no, I, uh…

Enough of this nonsense!

I can't allow you to insult students in front of me.

They're not insults. This is kindness.

You…

Shall I tell you why you're idiots?

This is why.

You don't know anything.

I'm not talking about textbook knowledge.

You don't know the reality and structure of the world.

-Give it up. -Hey.

-Gimme a break. -Don't mock the students!

Do you know what's happening in the world now?

Unprecedented crises.

Epidemics. Natural disasters.

Leading to economic paralysis.

Unimaginable things are happening, one after another.

A war could even break out.

What are you saying?

What was common sense doesn't fly anymore.

Absolutely anything could happen.

When that happens, this country where you all live…

What does it need the most? Do you know?

How would I know?

Money.

Taxes.

This country wants you all to stay idiots. That's the truth.

Without any doubts.

Without knowing anything, without looking up anything.

Just following the system, continuing to work,

and paying money. That's the citizens they want.

How would you reword that?

You there.

Kohashi. Iwai.

Huh?

Huh?

Diligence?

Close.

A workhorse.

This country wants you to shut up and pull the carriage.

They want workhorses. That's easier for them.

"The world is fair. The citizens are free. There is no discrimination."

We're told this.

But reality is different.

No matter how hard you work, no matter how you muster your strength.

If you can't see the substance,

you can't even stand in the ring with authority.

So what?

That's the government's fault.

We've got nothing to do with it.

That's why you're idiots.

It's someone's fault, the nation's fault, the era's fault. Criticizing others.

What changes by complaining?

It suits the ones who make the rules. That's why they made this system.

If you say you've got nothing to do with it,

you'll spend your life being tricked and paying money.

Why is society like this?

Who made it this way, for what reason?

Learn how to see the substance, and find your own answer.

Then finally

a workhorse can become a human.

To get there, studying is the only way.

Studying

is the only equality this country allows.

Right now, you're lucky.

Now you've got me.

No matter how stupid and lazy you are,

if you want it, I can get you into UTokyo.

You get it? If you want to be more than just exploited.

If you don't want a life of discontent.

You've got to study!

Ugly and stupid can go to UTokyo!

There he goes.

Please don't plant biased ideas in my students.

Everyone, back to class.

-Break it up. -Back to class.

Break it up.

Hey, Fujii.

You're welcome to join us anytime.

I'll fix your spirit.

Why would I?

We've managed to save our jobs.

But we have to get five students to pass.

Didn't you say you had a smart candidate?

They'll come eventually.

This is a stag beetle. A giant stag beetle.

It's a rare variety. It has a huge jaw.

Time to go home, Kenta.

Mari.

Here.

-Let's go. -Yeah.

I'm going to Setoya now. Do you…

No. Don't go to Setoya for a while.

But I'm worried about Seto.

Leave him.

Hang on, sir.

Do you know something?

He who masters IT, masters the exam!

Use Study Sapuri to root out your weaknesses.

Study with these "idiot" headbands.

Idiots!

Are you toying with our children?

Ten Family Rules for UTokyo.

Your children can definitely get into UTokyo.

-Is that you, Mizuno? -Yes, sir.

Cramming is true education.

This is the Spartan you wanted.

I'll accept no less than 100%.

I have a bad feeling about this…

If you're good at elementary math, you'll be able to study.

I'll deal with our debt somehow.

I'll drop out and work.

I'm an idiot anyway.

So you're giving up on UTokyo?

This is my problem.

If you want to change, don't accept the status quo!

Subtitle translation by: Claire Tanaka