Original subtitles

The script was the winner of the 44th Creative TV Drama Award (2019) organized by the TV and Radio Writer's Association of Japan.

If there was a planet in this universe where one person could live on their own,

would you like to go there?

Can I?

How much would it cost?

The habit of immediately trying to obtain it with cash

is proof that you're corrupted by capitalism.

I'm sorry. How much bitcoin would it take?

The same goes for virtual currency.

I'm sorry, that was a joke.

Would you like to go or not?

Under one condition.

That is?

If we can all go to a planet where one person can live on their own, then yes.

There's no point in everyone going.

I'm sure it would be fun if we all went to a planet where everyone could live on their own.

Ryo-san, I see you're also nothing like me.

Please come out.

Hoshi to Lemon no Heya The Room of Lemon and Stars

Were you put off by my reply yesterday?

If so, I apologize.

I'm sorry for making fun of you even though it seemed important to you.

The fact that I met you, Ichiko, a sociopath like me on this site,

is nothing short of a miracle.

I'd hate for our connection to be ruined because of this,

so could you please give me another chance?

I'm going to study you more, so that it won't happen again.

Sicko.

I'm sure there are many of you who're staying at home because of corona, huh?

How are you doing, everyone?

It's been three days since the state of emergency was announced, and...

Today's Hatsumi Cooking:

Lemon flavored pork fried with ginger!

Too heavy for breakfast.

Maybe you haven't heard yet,

but the whole world is holed up at home right now,

so we need to be careful about our immune strength.

I know.

Let's start the day on a sour note, so you won't catch a cold!

It's a breakfast set meal!

It stinks!

It doesn't stink at all.

The lemon acid will rust the planetarium!

The acid in lemon actually prevents rust.

You haven't been to college, so of course you wouldn't know.

That's what you learn in college?

I'm glad I didn't go then.

I'm from the Lime Department of the Citrus Faculty at Lemon University.

I see you wasted your life.

What is a life wasted, I wonder?

Again, too heavy.

You think?

I love heavy topics.

A life wasted...

...is not knowing the taste of pork fried with ginger.

A life without knowing the taste of lemon.

I really would like you to know the taste of lemon.

I know the taste of pork fried with ginger!

The gourmet reporter

described the meat to be "as tender as tofu".

The meat is as tender as tofu~!

Don't trust reporters who use food to describe food.

You try it then.

This is the best food I've ever had!

I saw a video that says to not trust women who say something is the best ever.

All your sources are videos, huh?

Was it bad?

It's not bad!

Pork fried with ginger is for young people after all.

Dear Ryo-san.

"I want to study you."

That's super creepy, so you shouldn't say that kind of stuff.

I'm glad, you replied.

I have a lot of free time, so I don't mind replying to perverts.

I'm not a pervert.

Although I do get excited by strangling myself from time to time.

You're a pervert.

I'm joking.

I'm curious.

We're never going to meet,

so what's the joy in bothering me?

You can't say that for sure.

Isn't that right?

We might meet one day, right?

We can't.

We can't.

We can't.

Can't I have hope?

If we did meet, what would we even talk about?

Humans subsist on sharing their anxieties.

I read that in a book.

Their anxieties?

Are you saying that we, who don't share ours, do not exist?

Paradoxically, that's what it means, yes.

Paradoxically.

Paradoxically.

Please tell me your anxiety, Ichiko-san.

Do you want to exist, Ryo-san?

Just tell me, please.

My anxiety is...

What will I do if my mother dies?

I'm confined to my home.

If she were to die, I wouldn't be able to do anything.

Do you want to exist, Ichiko-san?

Or do you not?

Who knows...

To be more precise,

I didn't want to be born.

... I guess.

Ichiko...

Mom?

Open the door.

Delivery?

Yes, a delivery.

The battery for your planetarium, it seems.

Leave it in front of the door.

You won't come out?

Mom! There's water everywhere!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom?

Mom!?

What to do...

This is bad.

I just looked outside of my room and I saw my mother collaps...

An ambulance...

Mom...

Mom?

Mom!?

An ambulance... I need to...

This is 1-1-9. Is it a fire or an emergency?

Em...

An emergency?

Please calm down.

What happened and to whom?

Can you hear me?

It's all right. Please calm down.

Please try to be a little more brave.

Are you okay?

I can't...

Will you believe me no matter what I say?

A curious question.

If you believe that I believe you, I believe you.

My mother has collapsed.

She's no longer breathing.

Is that so?

Please believe me.

I already told you.

If you believe me, I believe you.

What am I supposed to do?

What do you want to do?

Satonaka-san. Delivery for you.

Mom!

It's the delivery man!

Mom!

Satonaka-san? It's a battery for the planetarium.

Please come and get it.

Satonaka-san!

You ordered it yourself, didn't you!?

Ichiko-san! Your mother isn't here anymore, is she?

If you don't come out, there's nothing I can do!

Ichiko-san!

Please take the body to the bathroom

and stuff tissues in the nose and mouth.

The heck?

If you do that, you can somewhat prevent the smell of decay from coming out.

Please don't make fun of me!

I'm not.

That's exactly what I did.

I'm a shut-in myself.

I also can't talk to other people.

I panic.

My father died two weeks ago.

I'm living with his dead body.

That's fucked up!

What will you do, Ichiko-san?

That's...

I'm sorry.

I don't mean to scare you.

This kind of day is bound to come for people like us.

It came for me two weeks ago.

And today, it came for you.

For two weeks?

Yes.

Why?

I can't help it.

I've been trying to die too,

but it's been two weeks and I'm still alive.

The smell has gotten a little stronger.

If my father continues to decompose like this,

I'll be arrested for abandoning a corpse.

I'm afraid for that time to come.

Surrounded by so many people, I can't...

Stop this!

Don't be a wussy.

Dad?

Scared?

You were always looking at me like this, even when I was alive.

Go away.

Being dead makes no difference, huh?

Please go away.

Man, you can be such a pain.

Don't look at me like that.

It's your own fault that you became like this, isn't it?

No.

It's your fault!

I sent you to school, didn't I?

How much do you think that cost?

I don't give a shit about that!

Don't act tough now.

You think none of this is your fault?

Shut up!

Then, do you want me to apologize?

Don't...

Please don't.

I'm sorry.

Stop it!

You were a good lad.

I'm sorry.

Stop!

What is it that you seek?

What do you want? What would you have preferred?

I...

I wasn't supposed to be like this.

I shouldn't have become like this!

People were supposed to envy me!

I see.

What do you mean, I see?

Do something.

You're my parent after all!

So it's the parents' fault after all.

Your mother must be heart-broken.

Sorry.

What's with this shit now?

I'm gonna kill you!

I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!

What do you mean, sorry!?

It's not my fault...

It's not my fault at all!

I'm gonna fucking kill you!

I was unlucky to be born to such a shitty parent.

If only...

If only he had apologized before I became a shut-in,

I feel like things would have turned out differently.

Maybe so...

But I don't think it would have changed anything.

Why?

Just a feeling.

Don't talk as if you know me!

Once I've calmed down by gazing at the stars,

I'm going to call the police.

You can't do shit.

If I try really hard, I can.

I want you to tell me that I can do it.

I don't agree with this.

I think...

I think that if things were different,

I wouldn't be who I am today.

You think so too, right?

Things, you say.

What things?

For example...

For example...!

What if the new normal had always been a thing?

Everyone being a shut-in.

They'd have no reason to mock us.

Please change the battery.

Please change the battery.

Please change the battery.

No one is mocking us in the first place.

- But they do!

No one is mocking us...

...let alone do they know.

About our existence.

Being a shut-in...

...isn't about isolating yourself at home.

It means to isolate your own mind.

And once you've done that...

...you can't get help from anyone.

Even if it's just a little bit...

To give my mother a better farewell,

I'm going to try my best.

I applied a lot of color so that the tone would come out properly.

Yes, when you do it like this...

If that's the case,

what if you and I had met before we became shut-ins?

Here. Why don't you cool your head with this?

- Oh shit. - How filthy!

And lately, I've been more loose with this middle part...

You're such an eyesore!

How nasty. Look at her.

Don't you think that we could have supported each other?

I'm sure that if I had someone of my own kind,

I would have been stronger.

If you had been there, I'd have cut my hair,

and revealed my true face.

Why?

We're almost out of here.

It's impossible.

Why...

We were born with flaws that make life difficult,

but we were also born with a certain amount of pride and show of courage.

You disgust me.

Even though I'm full of defects myself, I still have certain standards.

But if we had compromised,

we might have been happy in our own way.

Don't you think so?

Probably.

Don't you think it's better to kiss me than having a rag shoved in your face?

Both choices suck.

- Come on. - Your hands are dirty, too.

You don't get to choose!

If you don't like it, you can die.

That's right.

This kind of delusion is meaningless.

Don't say that...

Don't say that!

Don't say that!

I'm sorry for being such a terrible daughter.

I'm sorry for being full of defects.

I can't even give you a funeral.

This is the best I can do.

The smell of lemon.

My dear...

I see you can talk to the dead.

Yes. This seems to be fine.

Maybe something like embalming

could be a doable job for you?

Embalming?

Applying cosmetics to dead bodies.

No?

Teach me how to apply makeup.

If only you had approached me sooner.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for not being upfront.

I'm sorry, too.

It's been hard on you, hasn't it?

Ichiko.

When you were bullied at school,

I wasn't there to help you.

When you started to become a shut-in,

I should have listened to you more.

It's not that easy, since you're so sensitive.

I'm sorry.

Apparently you can even apologize to the dead.

Embalming. Maybe you really should give it a try.

I can't do makeup.

You can if you try.

That line again...

The dead person tells you that you can.

You should listen to them.

I'm scared.

Of the dead?

The living.

Well...

Decomposition is much scarier.

Until you take action, I'm going to rot little by little.

How does that sound? Horrifying, no?

Stop it.

I mean, it's not like I can help it.

Break a window and hide inside your closet.

Do that and the police is ought to show up.

Until they do, you can wait and gaze at the stars.

And after that?

And after that!?

I'll be surrounded by people, interrogated...

My face will be seen...

And the whole country will talk about me.

My mug shot will get exposed.

The people who bullied me will laugh.

Everyone will laugh.

The more you let me rot,

the more you'll get humiliated.

I wouldn't be able to bear it.

That's why you have to act now.

Is there no other way?

No.

I'm hopeful, you see.

I'm sure that somewhere in this world,

you'll find the aspiration to live.

I'm...

...already 32, remember?

You'll be fine.

I'm 32, and afraid of people...

It's okay.

I'm 32...

And I can't talk to anyone...

It's okay!

You'll be fine.

You love the stars, don't you?

I'm starting to like lemons, too.

They have a nice scent, don't they?

Ichiko.

If you look hard enough, I'm sure you'll find plenty more things to love.

And once you do, make sure to hold them as tight as this.

They will fill your heart.

I also love you, Mom.

Ryo-san, are you still here?

What?

Please tell me your address.

I'm going to tell the police.

Look who's gotten stronger all of a sudden.

You hate the idea of becoming like me that much?

My mother still speaks to me even in her death...

I can't just ignore her.

How admirable of you.

Admirable?

It's too little too late.

I'm just an idiot...

...who failed to get her shit together ahead of time.

It's always the same.

Whenever I think I've found a friend online, they turn out to be better than me.

I'm the worst of the worst!

A planet where one can live on their own!?

There's no such fucking planet!

I'm forever stuck on this shitty planet!

I have to live here for the rest of my life, oppressed and disgusted!

What am I supposed to do?

We're both going to become the laughing stock of the internet.

Do you understand?

I can't deal with this.

I can't deal with being ridiculed by them!

You should be the same.

You should be no different.

Being outside...

...doesn't feel nice at all.

You went outside?

I broke the glass.

Someone might come.

The hell?

I've done did it.

Please send me your address.

I'm going to leave a message

and hide inside the closet.

Please replace the battery.

Oh no...

Ichiko.

Mom?

Mom?

Yes.

Look...

I've done it.

The first time since you became a shut-in.

What do you mean?

It takes a lot of courage to stop going to school.

You're very brave.

Thanks.

To celebrate, here's a lemon.

Lemons can be used as batteries, too.

I'm sure you must have done it in grade school.

I was bullied in junior high school

and have been a shut-in ever since. My name is Satonaka Ichiko.

I'm currently hiding inside the closet.

I can't talk to people.

Satonaka-san!?

Satonaka-san? Is everything all right?

After you.

My mother, Satonaka Hatsumi is dead.

I haven't been able to make an emergency call.

Satonaka-san? If you're here, please respond.

Satonaka-san?

Her dead body is in the tatami room.

I wanted to tell someone, so I broke the glass window.

I'm sorry.

Apparently there's a dead body in the tatami room.

- Copy that.

( His address. )

Excuse me, where's the tatami room?

Ah, over here.

Urgent, urgent!

Train station PB to PS.

We've arrived at the reported location in Matsugaoka 3-chome, Tachikawa.

We're currently searching the premise.

Mom...

Mom...

In here?

I'm opening the door.

Translation: HPriest Twitter: @hpriestsubs ko-fi/patreon: hpriestsubs