Original subtitles

I know some may feel it's too soon.

However...

We need even fresher concepts,

even lighter footwork,

and passion that burns even brighter!

In order to meet our client's expectations,

we've created a new team led by our youngest creative director.

I give you Team Kamiya!

Oh, come on. This is definitely premature.

Must be nice being the director's favorite.

The heck is this?

And here I went to the trouble of raising a soldier...

Training him was such a waste of effort.

Well, I bet people will have plenty to say about us.

PRODUCTION HQ, CREATIVE DEPT., 1ST CREATIVE DEPT. DIVISION, TEAM KASUGA

I'm glad I was able to transfer out of marketing, but...

COPYWRITER YURINA MITSUHASHI

Looks like it's gonna be rough sailing, don't you think, Asakura-senpai?

Success!

A few words, if you would, Kamiya.

I'm gonna tackle things head-on at full force to create something great.

Lookin' forward to working with all of ya!

EPISODE 4: WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF THE BEST TEAM

KOU YATANI (24)

Yatani-paisen.

Congratulations on that job offer from Dai Nihon Advertisement.

What's your starting salary?

Hey...

Say, show me your job-hunting portfolio.

I'mma reverse engineer how you succeeded

and take the shortest route to landing an agency gig.

You have a ways to go before you worry about job hunting.

First-years should focus on coursework.

YUSUKE KAMIYA (19)

Classes are so boring, though!

I mean, come on, we don't do projects we can actually use

for job hunting until our third year? That's way too late.

Did you come to art school purely to become a designer?

What's a guy to do, man?

You gotta be an art school graduate to get a design position at an ad agency.

Listen, Kamiya...

There's a guy named Matsuura

who's looking to staff his graduation project.

Why not try helping him out?

Huh?

FILM DEPARTMENT RECRUITING MEMBERS!

You've only been here half a year, huh?

Must be nice! You're so young.

Illustrator, Photoshop... I've mastered all the design software.

Oh, wow.

I also have an understanding of video-editing software.

That's exciting to hear!

NAOKI MATSUURA (22)

In fact...

I know how to do planning and PR as well,

so feel free to take advantage of my skills.

All right, thanks. Let's make something really great toge—

That's not what I meant.

Y'know, there're greats like Lasseter

who're capable of doing everything by themselves.

You're pretty much saying you can't, so you need help, right?

Did I piss him off?

Oh well.

I like that!

Huh?

The fun of working together in a group is getting different takes on things.

That's not—

Oh, I know!

FINAL STORYBOARD, DIR. NAOKI MATSUURA A SINGLE DROP MAU GRADUATION PROJECT

Your thoughts on the presentation too?

Yusuke, could you take a look at the storyboard?

What the heck is up with this bubbly spring chicken?

Hey, where's my hair clip?

Huh? Gotta be around there somewhere.

Wait.

What's this?

An earring, right?

But this is sounding like a trick question, so...

I give up!

You don't give a shit about me, do you?

That's why I told you, y'know? I'm not interested in dating anyone.

She's not my girlfriend either.

But you never said anything about there being another girl!

Then let's stop seeing each other.

Anyway, you hungry?

Another woman?

Say, Yatani-san, why'd you tell me to help with Matsuura-san's graduation project?

You know I'm better suited to working on my own.

It's not just you.

Art students in general aren't crazy about group projects.

But you know...

Even Lasseter who you like so much...

His truly revolutionary breakthroughs

only came when he found himself the best team, don't you think?

You're too full of yourself.

Learn some humility, Kamiya.

Screw you. It's fine.

As long as I've got the skills, I'm allowed to be full of myself!

A SINGLE DROP DIR. NAOKI MATSUURA ANIMATED SHORT, MAU GRADUATION PROJECT

You'd think it's a standard font, but look closer,

and it's been carefully manipulated to match the mood of the art.

He's a first-year, yet he's capable of such sophisticated design.

He must've been studying constantly, even before getting into the university.

Really impressive, Yusuke.

Right? I've already made arrangements to submit it and—

But this won't do.

Huh?

The design itself is near complete,

but as it stands, it won't touch the audience I really want it to.

I don't follow.

What exactly is wrong with this poster?

It's a bit off from the intended theme of the film.

It needs to reach my audience beyond that.

Then you do it!

Oh, but you can't, can ya?!

That's why you asked me!

Kamiya!

That's right. I've asked you because I can't do it.

But if something isn't right, I'm going to say so.

There's no point in being a team if I don't.

A team?

That's right. As the team manager, I cannot approve this poster.

Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Oh, and by the way...

I'm going to add your name to the end credits, Yusuke.

He's gonna credit me in the special thanks with everyone else.

How freakin' lame!

A SINGLE DROP DIR. NAOKI MATSUURA ANIMATED SHORT, MAU GRADUATION PROJECT

This is the one! I've been curious about it since I saw the poster.

Really went all out for a graduation project, didn't they?

We will now begin the screening of A Single Drop,

directed by Naoki Matsuura.

Yusuke, you'll shine brightly someday.

But please don't ever forget...

PLANNING AND ORIGINAL WORK NAOKI MATSUURA

Thanks to everyone involved in this,

SCENARIO NAOKI MATSUURA

STORYBOARD NAOKI MATSUURA

CHARACTER DESIGN NAOKI MATSUURA, KENSUKE SAIKATSU

ORGANIZERS: DAISUKE ITOU, KANAMI UEDA, AINE FUKUDA, YOICHIROU YAMAGUCHI

and thanks to the work itself...

CREATIVE SUPERVISOR KOU YATANI

ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER YUSUKE KAMIYA

VENUE STAFF, VOLUNTEERS FROM THE FILM AND VIDEO DEPARTMENT

We're the ones being shone upon.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Not this one either.

Koichi, you aren't coming up with enough ideas in the first place.

Quit fixating on what you want to do.

Also, stop giving me proposals that are just way over budget.

Yes, sir...

As for yours, Micchan...

They're all solid, but they're boring.

I bet you don't even have a favorite among them, do you?

You guys... Why've you both been working independently all this time?

Did you say we had to do it together?

You're a team, damn it!

S-Sorry.

We'll have another review tomorrow.

Put your heads together before then.

I'm gonna hit the café for a bit.

What? But he just told us to work together.

You've said yourself that you focus better alone, right, Asakura-san?

You think everything Kamiya-san says is right?

I-I don't, but...

We've gotta try everything we can—

Huh?

You're spouting some real naïve baloney, aren't you?

You think you run a team?

What you need are soldiers.

You learned that under me, didn't you?

Yeah, I know that's your style, Yanagi-san.

But the way I do things—

You already know, don't you?

You and I are alike.

You couldn't possibly understand those who can't hack it.

Stuff it.

Oh, there you are!

Kamiya-san!

Director Furuya's looking for you.

He says to wear a jacket.

PRODUCTION HQ, SALES PROMOTION DEPT. DIRECTOR YUJIRO SHIRAI

Kamiya, you really saved me the other day.

Likewise, sir.

MEDIA HQ, MEDIA DEPT. DIRECTOR TAKUYA MIYOSHI

So you're Kamiya-kun, eh? A real handsome fella.

PRODUCTION HQ, MARKETING DEPT. DIRECTOR REN KUSUNOSE

I hear you've been taking good care of Micchan over there.

Tell her she can come back anytime.

SALES HQ, 1ST SALES DEPT. DIRECTOR KAORU GOURIKI

Hey, Kamiya, how old are ya?

I'm 33.

SALES HQ, SALES PROMOTION DEPT. DIRECTOR SEIJI IORI

That's nice. A young man indeed.

PRODUCTION HQ, CREATIVE DEPT. DIRECTOR SHO FURUYA

Sorry to pull you aside when you're busy, Kamiya.

Six directors in one room means...

There's no point in wasting precious time.

I'll get straight to the point and start with the conclusion.

I'm temporarily disbanding Team Kamiya.

I'm temporarily disbanding Team Kamiya.

Why?!

Ya listen here!

The beverage giant, Sunny Try, has asked us to participate in a competition.

They're offering 300 million!

They specifically requested the winner

of the JAGDA Newcomer Award, Yusuke Kamiya!

But isn't Dai-Nihon Advertisement their exclusive agency?

Apparently, the president of Sunny Try is stepping down in the next few years.

The next president won't be his son, but their current general manager.

And that's who authorized this.

It's common for a company to shake up business partners

with a leadership change.

In other words, this 300-million-yen competition

is a showcase for the incoming president.

We speculate that they're in search of their next exclusive partner.

And Sunny Try's annual advertising and promotional budget is 23 billion yen.

Kamiya... You understand the gravity of that figure, don't you?

It will shift the power balance in the advertisement industry.

I understand. However—

Who asked for yer damn opinion, Kamiya?!

If we win this, we storm the industry!

If we lose, then we fall!

Meaning this is war, damn it!

Now, now, Director Gouriki.

We only have this opportunity thanks to Kamiya here, after all.

We'll assemble top talent from every section and create a task force.

Kamiya, you'll focus your efforts there.

The second we get a huge project, this happens?

I mean, yeah...

Those guys are still nowhere near ready.

You couldn't possibly understand those who can't hack it.

Indeed, I suppose this competition would be too much for such a young team.

After all, there's 23 billion yen at stake.

I understand how you must feel.

But let's be adults here, Yusuke.

Asakura and Mitsuhashi will move to Terada's team for the time being.

You will lead the task force, and—

Please give me five minutes!

I'll explain why we should be doing this with my current team!

POSSIBILITY

According to your speculation,

"COMPETITION TO FIND EXCLUSIVE PARTNER" NEW PRESIDENT, 23 BILLION ON THE TABLE

the incoming president is doing this to find a new exclusive agency.

Were there any project specs?

We've yet to find that out.

But you surely have a rough idea, no?

A TV commercial or poster. Perhaps an in-store POP display.

Nine times out of ten, it's a poster.

How are you so certain?

You aren't just spitting BS, are ya?!

JAGDA NEWCOMER AWARD

They reached out to us after seeing the JAGDA Newcomer Awards, right?

Which means this project will be close to what I submitted for the award.

Yes, I suppose so.

But in that case, don't you find it strange?

300 mil for a poster is way too much.

Sunny Try has 23 billion yen to spend, you know?

Whether it's 30 million or 300 million, it makes little difference to them.

Director Iori, you've been in charge of Sunny Try before, haven't you?

Are they so fast and loose with money?

No, Sunny Try is very strict when it comes to money.

In fact, they're so versed with ads,

they know exactly what a fair price is.

Then why set it at 300 million?

You'd better be getting at something here!

It's an experiment.

The incoming president of Sunny Try, a peer in the same industry,

couldn't possibly be unaware of a certain experiment conducted

by a major overseas competitor since January, right?

A super-scale marketing demonstration experiment...

The heck is that?

For many years, said company has invested

over 70 percent of its advertising budget into commercials alone.

However, they formulated a hypothesis

that outdoor ads throughout the city would be more effective

than TV ads, since they're so close to the point of sale.

And so they proceeded to experiment.

OTHER, OUTDOOR ADS, TV COMMERCIALS

For half of the experimental period,

commercials were kept to 40 percent or less of the budget,

with the rest going to outdoor ads and such.

For the other half, they did their usual and spent 70 percent on TV commercials.

With the insights they gained from this,

they revised their marketing strategy, and the result was...

their highest profits in 30 years!

You're saying Sunny Try's 300-million-yen competition

is an in-house experiment of its own following this approach?

That would require a ridiculous amount of time and resources.

It's far beyond a mere showcase!

That's right!

The incoming president isn't just looking for someone to do business with.

He's looking for a new partner who'll fight alongside him!

Which is precisely why—

Impressive insight. Taking this into account,

I absolutely want you on the task force.

You think even the current Team Kamiya can handle it if it's a poster?

Indeed, perhaps they can.

However, that alone isn't going to cut it.

Let us exhaust all of our options!

Come up with wild schemes! Secret plans! Brilliant plots!

Think of every possible plan we can implement!

And what is that going to get you?

A whole bunch of massive meetings, stacks of thick documents,

and ass-kissing for ulterior motives.

Director Furuya, this conference room is a microrepresentation

of your traditional ad agency organization!

That's right. And you're a part of that too.

You'd try to deny that now?

I'm not gonna completely deny it.

But that's not what Sunny Try is looking for right now!

Then what are they looking for?

An even fresher concept!

Even lighter footwork!

And passion that burns even brighter!

That's how you described my team the day we formed.

We're a small, elite group in a boutique agency!

Even if it was just lip service, you said it yourself, didn't ya?!

The official assignment is still a little ways off,

but I'll block off time for an orientation, okay?

All right.

Hey, Kamiya.

What's up?

You got pretty fresh with Furuya-san in there, didn't ya?

Oh...

Well, butting heads isn't all that bad.

The ground hardens after the rain, as they say.

You're not capitalizing on each other's strengths at all.

You need to voice your opinions more.

You really think we're gonna win the Sunny Try competition with this?

You wanna just go back to marketing?

Director Kusunose said you'd be welcome anytime.

Are ya even motivated enough to do creative work?

I am. Plus, I'm learning different things!

Don't learn on the job!

Your job is to generate good ideas with confidence.

I bet you don't even like your own ideas.

Who cares whether I like them or not?

What matters is whether the client does.

M-Micchan...

Then which one do you think the client would like most?

That would be... the third one, I guess.

Not bad, but it'll get buried among all the other ads.

THE BODY, ENERGIZED.

What do you think, Koichi?

Um, well, let's see...

This looks like it would need a restrained logo design.

I'd want a crazier idea!

What do you mean by "crazier"?

You know. Like, an idea that breaks the mold.

You mean like thinking outside the box?

Yeah, exactly.

Then we need to define our box before I can figure out what's outside it.

Don't give me that "you're right!" look.

Micchan, could you teach me how to define the box?

Excuse me? I'm the junior here, y'know.

Yeah, but lately, I've been thinking none of that matters.

Then treat me to something, okay?

Aw, come on. Lunch at the minimum!

GENERATE FREE & FLEXIBLE IDEAS, UNCONSTRAINED BY EXISTING CONVENTION

Ya ready? Listen up.

To begin with, your framework is a key point to consider.

And you can map this all out...

GOOD MIXER, POST-WORKOUT, EASY TO DRINK WITH MEALS

FEATURES, USABLE SCENES, EMOTIONAL IMAGE, CONSUMER OPINION

NEEDS MORE THRILL. A RUSH. ANY OTHER TAKES? TOO CONVENTIONAL

We won.

That 300-million Sunny Try presentation?

They said we got the job.

See, you got this.

You've got the guts, after all.

Th-Thank you very much!

Kamiya-san, Director Furuya is—

Yeah, yeah, I figured you'd show up.

You seem like you're in a good mood today.

No jacket required.

I know.

I thought you were on board with us.

Changing the team could potentially leave a bad impression on the client, you know?

The company understands that.

Which is why I want you to be the creative director of the task force.

I want to do this with my current team.

Those guys have grown.

More than the competition, we'll—

Kamiya!

"The Sunny Try project will be handled by a specialized team,

with the entire company ready to back them up."

It wasn't my decision. It came from above.

From above you, Director?

Did the executive in charge...

It was the president's order.

No one can defy that.

That's the nature of the organization.

Ad agencies don't change so easily.

Kamiya, you'll stay here and fight alongside me, won't you?

THE BODY, ENERGIZED.

Man, that's bold.

It's definitely different.

It feels like it could use some more refining...

More than this?

No, no, it looks perfect.

His truly revolutionary breakthroughs

only came when he found himself the best team, don't you think?

Excuse me for a bit.

KOU YATANI

Yo, Koichi.

Kamiya-san.

You're still working at this hour?

Something like that.

Oh, yeah, about that Sunny Try project...

We decided to use your logo as-is.

I'm sure you don't know what to say given you're off the project.

I'm so glad...

I was able to help in some way after all, huh?

Koichi...

I'm so glad I was able to work with our team!

We're the people behind the scenes.

Most creative works in the world don't get attributed to anyone specific.

That's especially true for advertising.

As long as it gets out there, that's enough.

Even if no one knows...

who created it.

THE BODY, ENERGIZED.

You suck.

A man's path blurred by tears...

A man's path blurred by tears...

TRANSLATION: YUKARI MURASE-LOUDEN

TIMING: MARIANA MARTINEZ EDITING: RILEY DALTON

QUALITY CONTROL: SMR TRANSLATION CHECK: REI MIYASAKA