Original subtitles

Hikaru Kamiki.

When Ai got pregnant at sixteen,

he was a fifteen-year-old middle schooler.

And you'd have to go even further back, to twenty years ago.

So Himekawa-san was conceived when he was... eleven?

Oh my god.

Showbiz has a checkered history with tons of revolting scandals like this one.

It's a world of beauty and glamour, but it also has a dark, ugly side.

I guess this is why they say to let the sleeping dead lie.

Even if Kamiki is the mastermind and is forced to confess,

he would've been a minor at the time, so he wouldn't get jail time.

Should Aqua-kun find him, he'll have no way to legally bring him to justice.

Meaning the only way for him to get revenge will be with his own two hands.

I can't let Aqua-kun and Kamiki make contact, no matter what.

I'll have to deal with this myself.

This is ultimately just guesswork.

It's entirely speculation on my part.

But I've found the guy who ruined Aqua-kun's life,

and I'm not gonna let him get away.

For now, I have to investigate.

Get to the bottom of this.

Hello, Aqua-kun?

You sound sleepy.

I've had to walk around a lot lately, so I'm exhausted.

I thought you were on break until your next shoot started.

What are you up to?

Oh, uh... I'm trying to lose weight!

That part's true.

Why? You're plenty slim already.

Okay, but I'm pretty sure you'd hate it if I put on weight.

I love you however you are, Akane.

I knew I made the right choice.

I'm glad I'm going out with you.

Right now, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Akane.

Meeting you has been nothing but a positive for my life.

You know what I'm like, but you accepted me and stood by me.

You told me when things weren't okay,

and little by little, you gave me hope.

It's made me reluctant to let go of the times I'm spending with you.

What should I do?

You decide for me.

Should I just forget everything and try to live my own life?

Or should I...

What should I do, Akane?

That's not right, Aqua-kun.

You need to make your own decisions.

I don't own you, and you don't own me.

This only works if we're two independent people choosing to be together.

Any other kind of relationship would just be an addiction.

But...

Once you've made your choice, I'll help you as much as you want.

I know I've told you this before.

I want to help carry your burdens—

together with you.

Thanks, Akane.

Aqua-kun's still being held prisoner by his mother's death.

But I know the day will come when he's freed from it,

and I won't let anyone get in the way of that.

I'm sure it'll happen soon, Aqua-kun.

What's wrong? You've got a face like a wet weekend.

It's my VTuber sister...

People found a video from back when she streamed with her real face!

Oh, so her past life was exposed.

Eh, that's more common than you'd think. Nothing to worry about.

Well, in that video,

- she went off on people she hated and made a whole bunch of problematic statements!

- She's got that corpo backing, right? She's a total ****, then! Lmao!

Naturally, she got mega-canceled and has to stop streaming for a while!

Yikes.

Hey, I've got an idea.

If her real face is out there, she might as well join B-Komachi.

She's got the looks and the gift of gab.

I think it'll work out.

Oh, uh, urgh...

I mean, it depends on what she wants.

Ask her!

That girl, huh? I'm not against it or anything,

but she's a girl with a bit of a toxic side...

A similar gimmick to mine.

And I'm already the least popular B-Komachi member.

Our subscriber growth has stabilized our revenue,

but it's not like I'm in this for the money.

B-Komachi's success is entirely down to Ruby.

I haven't landed any acting gigs at all lately.

What's more, I only get idol gigs as part of a package deal with Ruby.

I'm just an added bonus— a hanger-on leeching off of Ruby.

Is this what I wanted to do?

Why did I become an idol?

Rookie idol, my ass. So much for becoming his one and only star.

I feel like such an idiot. He totally hates me.

Heya, Arima! It's been ages!

Uh, you didn't mention it was this kind of place.

Didn't I? Sorry about that.

I'm an idol now. I don't think it's a good idea for me to be here.

I'm gonna head out, if you don't—

What are you, some goody-two-shoes?

You know a ton of idols come drinking around these parts.

Our jobs are damn stressful. We deserve to cut loose sometimes.

I saw your new music video! It was great!

- Heck, that girl over there is a member of Masterpiece.

- Really? Thank you so much!

- Everybody does this, I swear.

- What'll you have?

Uh, oolong tea, thanks.

Come on, drink with me.

Wait, Mako-san, have you even hit drinking age?

I feel like you were only a year older than me.

Y-Yeah, I just got there!

Yikes. I call bullshit.

Anyway, don't be so uptight.

Here, cheers.

So now I gotta drink, or I'll be killing the vibe.

Dibs.

There you are, Shima!

'Sup.

Heard of him? He directed Blazing Fluids and Snake Eyes.

Of course I've heard of him.

If I hadn't been told he was coming,

I would've ignored the invite from this depraved bitch.

Masanori Shima.

He won a film award just this year. He's the fastest-rising director around.

If he takes a liking to you, you could land an acting gig.

If this guy takes a liking to me, I could land an acting gig.

That naïve hope is why I put myself in this situation.

It might not be playing fair,

but in Japanese showbiz, this is what actually works.

At this point, this is pretty much all I can do.

So I'm gonna go down swinging.

You're Kana Arima-san, right?

I saw you in Family Breakdown. You sure have grown up.

Thank you. I had the privilege of seeing Snake Eyes, too.

It was a marvelous movie.

Oh, don't be so stiff.

I'm a fan of yours, Kana-san. You can drop the formalities.

Oh, I couldn't.

She's a popular idol these days. Have you heard of B-Komachi?

I sure have. Ruby Hoshino's group, right?

My producer said he wanted to cast her.

How lucky.

I could never be an idol, but Arima's always been a charmer.

I'm so envious.

No, I'm just a bonus extra to Ruby. She's the amazing one.

I've got nothing.

That's not true.

Everyone in this business knows you've got real talent.

You just don't have anyone who can draw it out.

If it were me, I'd use you right.

Oh, why don't we trade LINE IDs?

Go for it. He's not a playboy or anything.

What do I do? Should I run this by our manager?

Huh?

Why do I have to tell you my Insta password?

Isn't that an invasion of privacy?

Your socials belong to the agency. We have the right to manage them.

It says so in your contract, too.

I know what this is!

You lose your accounts if you switch agencies!

That's how you keep your talent trapped!

Exactly.

By the way, we've also trademarked your name,

so you won't be able to go by "Ruby Hoshino" anywhere else.

But that's my real name...

Help! Help! I'm being exploited!

I'll move to a bigger idol agency! That'll show you!

This makes no sense!

Just so you know, the major agencies are even more restrictive.

That's right.

You'll need your manager's permission to even give out your contact info.

They'll monitor who sends you DMs on social media.

If you get the "pure girl" role, they'll keep all men far away from you.

They'll delete your blog posts or rewrite them from the ground up.

They won't let you hang out with your friends from back home.

And if you start dating someone,

they'll sneakily pull strings to make you break up.

Huh? Do idols not have human rights?

And for some corpo VTubers,

NDAs ban them from putting their work on their resumes after they quit.

They rank pretty low on the rights scale, too.

Compared to that, we're pretty easygoing.

If you start dating someone, we won't meddle as long as you tell us.

And we don't keep tabs on who you're in contact with.

When most of your work is online like mine,

the "no boys allowed" thing can make collabs all but impossible sometimes.

Even if you take all the precautions, lots of girls mess up around year three.

The more you restrict them,

the bigger the blowback is once the novelty wears off.

You're not children anymore,

so we won't meddle in your love lives if you know where to draw the line,

but talk to us if anything goes wrong.

Please keep in mind that protecting our talent is our biggest priority.

Oh, but Ruby, we will meddle in your affairs.

You're not an adult yet.

Boo!

I'm eighteen already.

I can make my own decisions.

This bitch!

My wife grew up in the States, and she always says,

"The actors' guilds practically hold the reins of showbiz overseas."

But because Japanese agencies aren't that powerful,

actors here have to shut up and do whatever the showrunners say.

Basically blue-collar workers.

That's painfully accurate.

In Hollywood, if a production breaks the rules,

the guild hits the studio with a fine.

They ensure actors are so well protected, if an audition makes you wait an hour,

you can bill for that time.

Wow, lucky. I wish it were like that in Japan, too.

With Japanese movies, the budget doesn't trickle down to the actual productions.

The distributors have too much power.

Internal politics, ageism, connections, and agency clout have created

an environment where projects only get greenlit with proven box-office stars.

It's unsustainable.

Japan cares far too little about actual acting ability.

Maybe it'd change with a guild monitoring auditions like they do over there.

But as things stand now, we won't develop good actors.

You really care about the actors, huh?

Why wouldn't I?

I want to make good films, and I can't do that without good actors.

I want to bring real change to this industry.

I'm relieved. He doesn't seem to be lying.

He's a pro who cares about the business.

And besides...

I swear!

Models who get into film are so demanding when they can't even act!

Say it louder!

- One of them made the bus come all the way to their front door,

- He's the right amount of bitchy.

- I feel like I'm in the acting world for the first time in ages.

started complaining to their makeup artist about their coactors,

- I can discuss art and acting

- and basically ruined the mood on set.

- and listen to drunks moan about bad shoots and coworkers.

I really want to come back here.

You see,

I want to bring about an era where real actors like you are valued.

I want my next film to make full use of the skills of people like that.

There it is.

Huh? Are you saying you'll cast me in it?

Uh, I'm not sure about that yet.

It'd be a shame if we worked together and wound up having creative differences.

So I'd like to get to know you better before I decide.

I want to know what's inside you— your soul? Your philosophy?

My philosophy?

Excuse me. It's almost time.

Oh, right. Thank you.

I'd like to take this elsewhere, but I can't drag a kid around so late.

No, it's fine.

I can't drink yet, but I am an adult.

All my idol work did was leave me feeling powerless and empty inside.

I was never meant to be part of that world.

I have to land a big role here and use it to get back into acting.

Let's continue this chat!

Hmm, in that case...

My office is right around the corner. Wanna come over?

I'm sure people are still working,

so let's get together and chat.

I love your beauty spot. It's so sexy.

Huh? Really?

Yeah. Did you know that there's a meaning behind where you have moles?

What? I had no idea.

They say you get 'em where your beloved kissed you in your past life.

What the heck? That's so romantic!

You wouldn't know, huh? But I...

Is this okay?

Won't the staff be surprised if I show up out of nowhere?

Yeah, I bet they'll jump for joy that the Kana Arima is here.

Oh, yeah, where's Mako-chan?

I don't think she's coming.

Huh...

Huh? Did everyone leave?

What a lovely studio. Mind if I take a look around?

Go for it.

Wow, it's so big.

Yep, should've seen it coming!

There's a bed and everything.

What'll you have?

Cola, please.

Should I contact Miyako-san?

Nah, I'm an entertainer.

I'm used to these sticky situations.

I just need to be a fun drinking buddy.

And if the director gets horny on me...

Sorry, it's that time of month! Teehee!

What? Aw, that's too bad.

I'll use the magic words to get out of it!

You look like someone pulled a fast one on ya.

Relax. I'm not some dumb college kid.

I know where to draw the line.

Right, of course! You wouldn't look at little ol' me that way!

Oh, I would. Totally.

I only work with people who interest me.

I can't be all-out unless I'm interested. Not in love, and not in work.

I want to work with people who make me go all-out for them.

That's all.

You're a player, huh?

I don't deny it.

Aren't you married? What would your wife say if she knew about this?

Oh, she plays around pretty much every night, too.

We've got a "don't ask, don't tell" thing going on.

Why do so many creative types have zero common sense?!

You're free to slap me and leave if you wish.

Think for yourself, and do what's best for you.

That said, I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm showing you my respect and interest as a fellow human first and a man second.

I swear it won't be some minor bit part.

I'll give you your ultimate role— one that will define your career.

Kana Arima, you're an actor right down to your soul.

You've felt the pressure of the cameras,

the feeling you only get when you let a role take over you,

and that sweet release of laying it all bare for everyone to see.

Those things are not something you can forget.

I can make it back there again?

If it really gets me back there,

I'll do anything...

I'm sorry... I can't do this!

I...

I have somebody I like!

You like a guy enough to cry about it?

Yeah...

What's he like? Tell me about him.

Ugh! That guy!

He always acts like I'm not even on his radar!

But then he gets all nice on me, so I get the wrong idea!

I keep trying to forget him, but I just can't!

How annoying can you be? Die, you stupid piece of trash!

Oh, yeah?

That's actually fascinating. I'm entertained!

There's nothing entertaining about it.

That's where you're wrong.

You've tried and failed for a year to get over this guy who has a girlfriend,

and you're still here screeching over him.

Women like that are oh-so entertaining.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Never again. I'm sticking to getting jobs the right way, with my skills.

Time to grab some ramen and go home.