If a couple professes their love
for each other under that tree while the blossoms are in full bloom,
they'll be together forever.
I WISH HE'LL CONFESS HIS LOVE TO ME BEFORE THE BLOSSOMS FALL. - MEI KONNO
I'm going to Tokyo.
I like it here.
I couldn't imagine going to another town.
I want us to stay just as we are.
All of us together.
I was thinking how great it'd be if we could all be here.
You finally got your wish!
Woohoo!
-Excuse me. -This area is closed off.
Kota!
I will stay here, waiting.
I will always be here, waiting.
Please come to me.
It's the seventh anniversary of Kota's death.
A cherry blossom tree is attracting national attention.
Huh? Mei?
Has it been seven years already?
I heard the news about the cherry blossom tree.
Mei?
Hold up!
What's wrong with her?
NAGANO PREFECTURE YAGAMI PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL
HAIKYU!! BY HARUICHI FURUDATE
Volume 41?
What are you doing?
That's my seat.
Huh? No, this is my seat.
No, you're wrong.
CLASS 3-A NAOKI SHINDO
It's my seat.
You're not even in the right uniform.
You're the one in the wrong uniform.
-What's this? -That? It's "Haikyu!!"
I know that. But only five volumes have been released.
What are you talking about?
What year do you think it is?
2020?
This isn't some sort of time warp.
You're dead.
Huh?
I understand things like this.
You had an accident seven years ago
on your bike, fell off a cliff, and died.
Look at this.
YAGAMI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT DIES ACCIDENTALLY, FALLS FROM CLIFF
AROUND 5PM ON THE 12TH, A MALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FELL FROM A CLIFF AND DIED.
KOTA SOMETANI CONFIRMED DEAD AT THE SCENE
This can't be true…
Hey! You took my phone!
MANAGED SITE NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY
AGAINST CONSTRUCTION STOP LAND DEVELOPMENT
-Excuse me. -Yes?
What happened to the lady who used to live here?
Where is my mother? Please tell me.
Mrs. Sometani?
Oh, right, the woman who's son died in the accident?
After the accident, she immediately left town.
Do you need to talk to her?
Give me back my phone.
GRAVE KOTA SOMETANI
APRIL 12TH, 2013
Do you believe me now?
It makes no sense.
I died?
17 YEARS OLD
And it's been seven years?
What the heck is going on?
I just don't get it.
Am I that tired?
Huh?
This is really crazy.
What are you talking about?
When I went to see the tree, Kota was there.
He was wearing his uniform and stood right beside me.
And then, he called out my name and said "Mei!"
Mei…
What you're saying is crazy.
You're right.
-It must have been a dream. -Yeah.
Ryohei!
Ryohei, listen! I just saw Kota. He was running.
Haruka!
Mei?
NISHI YAGAMI STATION
-You saw him too, Mei? -Yeah.
So, what I saw wasn't an illusion.
Of course it was. What are you saying?
You just mistook him for someone else.
No, it was definitely Kota. He was wearing the old uniform too.
And if Mei saw him too, it must be true.
It's nonsense. How could a dead guy be running around?
But this sort of stuff happens a lot.
Like in Ghost or Be With You.
Those are movies! It's impossible.
But if it really was Kota…
-Mei! -Hey, your bag!
Kota!
Kota! Where are you?
YAGAMI SHRINE
Please…
Somehow, please allow me to see Kota again,
even just once.
Kota…
Mei.
-Why are you here? -Huh?
I'm cleaning the garden. I decided to be a live-in worker here.
Well…
I don't really know what's going on.
It seems like I've come back from the dead.
Ouch! Hey! Get off.
You're going, Kota!
I said get off! You're tearing my mouth open.
What are you doing?
Huh? Ouch!
Let go of me!
You're alive.
It's not a dream.
It's crazy. There's no way Kota is back from the dead.
Calm down.
There's no way that could happen in reality.
I'm telling you that Mei said she'll bring him here.
But if she does, that means he's a gh--
a ghost!
It's insane to be waiting for a ghost.
What should we do?
I don't know. Stop asking me questions like that!
Ryohei! Haruka!
Somehow it seems like I'm back from the dead.
Kota!
Wow. Is this real?
It's really you!
-I really missed you! -Oh, oh ,oh!
Long time no see, Kota.
Yeah, it's been a while.
-You've gotten old, huh? -No, I haven't!
You're the same as ever.
So I guess we are celebrating our reunion, right?
Right.
Okay, let's toast to our reunion.
-Cheers! -Cheers!
What are you looking at?
You can drink juice even though you're a ghost.
You are a ghost, right?
I'm not sure.
What about food? Can you eat?
Yeah. I'm hungry.
Really?
Hey, this is weirder for me than it is for you.
I mean, you all graduated seven years ago.
You're all drinking beer too.
-Beer doesn't suit you. -You're right.
Ryohei became a train station attendant.
-A train station attendant? -Yeah.
I'm an employee of Nishi Yagami Station.
Wow. Is that so?
I work in a beauty salon in Kita Yagami.
-Oh, really? -You're working hard.
You didn't know that?
Yeah, I'm back in town for the first time in seven years.
I didn't stay in touch with them.
No way? But you guys were so close.
Speaking of that, where's Iori?
Did I say something wrong?
He's avoiding us.
After you passed away, he immediately started avoiding us.
After graduation, he never replied to any of our calls or messages.
But why?
Why would he do something like that?
I guess he was in shock after you died.
Can I ask you something?
I've always wondered,
why were you on that mountain track that day?
Mountain track?
Where the accident happened.
On that day, you'd planned to meet Mei under the cherry blossom tree.
So why did you go to the mountain track?
I don't know…
I remember I had plans to see Mei.
But besides that, I don't remember anything from that day.
What about you, Mei? Where do you work?
Well, I was working for a publishing company in Tokyo.
A publishing company? How cool!
-That's amazing. -No, it's not like that.
It was a small company and I was just an office temp.
In any case, I quit.
Huh! Why?
Well, a lot happened.
It just got too bothersome.
Thank you for the meal.
-Thank you for coming. -Thanks for the meal.
-Thanks for coming.
Are you going back to the shrine?
Yeah, I've no other place to go.
Shouldn't you stop wearing that uniform?
-Huh? -I mean…
If someone who knows you sees you, they might panic.
Oh, I guess you're right.
-Mei, you should come stay with me. -Huh?
-Are you sure? -Of course.
I'll go ahead and tidy up the place.
So take your time. Why don't you go for a walk with Kota?
What? But…
I'll take your bag with me.
See you later.
I want to drink a bit more, so you two enjoy yourselves.
It was fun to meet up with everyone after such a long time.
Yeah, it was.
Was it my fault?
What do you mean?
Did everyone go their separate ways because I died?
I never thought you would leave this place.
Was it because I died
-that you went to Tokyo? -No.
I had to vacate the house due to the land development project.
So I thought about going to Tokyo, it was just a change of mind.
It's not your fault, Kota.
I wonder where my mom went.
What?
I heard that she moved out immediately after I died.
I don't know what happened to her.
I really want to eat my mom's inari sushi again.
It's strange to come back all of a sudden.
We didn't really get into that.
I'm not talking about Kota. I'm talking about you, Mei.
Huh?
I was surprised when I met you at the station.
When you left this town saying memories of Kota were too painful for you,
I thought you'd never come back.
The cherry blossoms…
I saw on the news that the tree was in bloom.
And I just couldn't stop myself.
I was on the train before I knew it.
Maybe it all happened,
so you two can meet again.
Huh?
It's incredible.
It's a miracle. A miracle.
But…
But it's too late now.
It's been seven years.
In Kota's mind, it's not too late.
He's the same as he was back then.
He's still the same Kota that loved you from back then.
I WISH HE'LL CONFESS HIS LOVE TO ME BEFORE THE BLOSSOMS FALL. - MEI KONNO
That's the one that fell under the veranda.
Huh?
Is that the girl who was waiting for you under the cherry blossom tree?
Now that you've come back to this world,
you should tell her how you feel.
When you are done sweeping, bring the offerings to the main shrine.
And then pack the gifts into bags.
-You want me to do all that? -Of course!
That's why I asked you to come work for us.
I've left a change of clothes inside. See you later.
I WISH HE'LL CONFESS HIS LOVE TO ME BEFORE THE BLOSSOMS FALL. - MEI KONNO
With a growing chorus of discontent
about the cherry blossom tree that blooms off-season in winter,
yesterday, President Shindo of the Yagami City Neighborhood Association
met with Mayor Akaike.
Mr. Shindo was part of a campaign against the land development…
-I… -Uh-huh.
I'm off work today, but I have an errand to run.
So just do whatever you want.
Okay, thanks.
Hello?
Hey. It's me.
-Morning. -Um…
-Can we meet today? -What?
Yeah.
Then, I'll meet you after I finish my work at the shrine.
At four.
Let's meet under the cherry blossom tree.
Right, sure.
Okay, see you later.
See you then.
Mei!
Mr. Hirose…
Iori…
Sorry to just show up like this.
Um…
Mei has come back to town.
And also…
I have something important to tell you.
So why don't you come see everyone after all these years?
I'm sorry, but I'm busy.
-Bye. -Wait.
I saw what happened that day!
I saw it.
-I need to talk to you. -Huh?
Before Kota got into that accident
I saw him talking with you.
Tell me,
what happened that day?
So this is the tree that blooms in the winter?
It's a strange sight.
Why are you here?
I thought if I came here, I could see you.
I was worried about you.
I couldn't get through to you with calls or texts since you left.
I went to the editing department, but they said you'd quit.
I decided to get a divorce.
What?
I really thought about it.
I want to be with you Mei. So…
let's start over.
I'm being serious.
You don't have to answer me right away.
You can take your time to think about it.
Kota?
Why didn't you come?
Could you not get out of work on time?
Did something happen?
-You are seeing someone. -Huh?
What was that about? He was cheating with you?
What do you see in a guy like that?
His wife probably left him.
And he thought he could apologize to you and be forgiven.
You've been completely taken for a ride. You're an idiot.
Don't talk to me like that. You have no idea…
I know!
I've known you since we were kids.
I know you better than anyone.
You knew me until I was 17.
I'm 24 now.
People change in seven years.
You're right.
The Mei I know
wouldn't be happy to be some dude's plaything.
And she wouldn't quit a job
just because it was too bothersome.
You used to enjoy whatever you did. You were clumsy, but you were
always so earnest. That…
That's what was so great about you.
You really changed.
You have no idea.
You don't know what I went through after the accident.
You don't know how I felt over the past seven years.
How could you understand?
Why did you come back now?
Why come back after seven years?
It's unfair to say things like that, after causing so much pain to people.
When I was 17,
I made a wish on a shooting star crossing the night sky.
I wished that things would always stay the same,
that we could be together, and remain the same.
If possible…
I didn't want Kota to know this side of me.
The girl that Kota fell in love with
back then
is gone.
That fact made me
hopelessly sad.
Was it better if I'd never came back?
What will you do about Kota?
In this world, there is no such thing as a coincidence.
Like back then, you're running away again.
Stop it!
There's no way someone can come back from the dead.
I decided to go back to Tokyo tomorrow.
Bye.
Subtitle translation by: Shane Forde