I lift my eyes a little and look into the sky
All I do is mutter every time
I turn my back on this perfect everyday life
Where am I supposed to go
With you who are giving me a look like that?
Shadows on back streets
Hands of a clock
Repaint the time that has been stopped
Extended hands, puzzle pieces that don't fit
Until the abandoned two reunite
Something that has been lost
Recover the last piece
Let's start walking
First, let me apologize.
I'm sorry, Yamazaki.
I won't be able to go to the Summer Comic Stall.
I'm setting off now on a journey far away with Kashiwa.
It's a journey to put an end to the person I've been up till now.
I truly was a failed human being.
So I want to be reborn, and this time lead a respectable life.
I'm praying the game will sell.
Looks like it'll get hot again today.
Be sure to take good care of yourself.
Tatsuhiro Sato.
What a ridiculously rash thing to do.
Hitomi had been acting strangely recently.
I thought a trip might do the trick to change her mood,
but that backfired big-time when it got canceled.
I can't believe she even drew her friend Sato into this.
The "Off" meeting's location is an uninhabited island some kilometers away from land.
Our only hope is to go straight out there and stop them.
They're supposed to go through with it tonight. We still have time to make it.
I brought the boat fuel.
With this, even if the wood's a little damp it will probably still burn well.
The boat fuel...
Yeah, there's no use in leaving it behind anyway.
Our lives will end today.
So, they are serious, huh?
Are you still wavering?
Huh?
That's no big surprise, even I wavered repeatedly over this.
What's more, it seems you only learned about this "Off" meeting yesterday.
Y... Yes.
But it's already too late to turn back now.
That's why I'm tossing the return fuel: To signify an end to wavering.
That makes sense.
What good is acting like I'm satisfied with that?!
I have no intention of dying in a place like this!
Open wide. I just came on a little trip to cheer up Senpai,
Ahh... I just came on a little trip to cheer up Senpai,
and I thought that would be the spark for me to escape from my hikikomori life.
Sato... and I thought that would be the spark for me to escape from my hikikomori life.
And I thought that would be the spark for me to escape from my hikikomori life.
Senpai... and I thought that would be the spark for me to escape from my hikikomori life.
Why do I have to die with these guys?!
I can still turn back.
If only I had that fuel...
Uh, umm...
Eh?
I...
Sato...
What is it?
Well, umm...
Let me do it too!
Sure.
Here I go...
Whoosh!
What am I doing?!
If you think about it,
there were an array of circumstances that make it no surprise that Sato would think about death.
22 years old, a college dropout, no job,
living as a hikikomori for four years, no girlfriend, no income,
and, incidentally, no guts either.
The game design we were doing together had reached a stopping point too,
so he'd run out of things to do for the time being.
Most of all,
a certain recently-proven fact hurt Sato deeply.
You've been observing Sato's actions all this time, haven't you?
Well, that's...
We know that our apartments are clearly visible from your house.
What on earth are your intentions?!
This is my first time at a campfire.
For me too.
My old lady never let me take part in these kinds of events.
She said it was because it'd be a disaster
if the son who was going to take over the clinic suffered burns or anything.
It's surprisingly tough to be a spoiled rich kid.
Brings back memories of our high school culture festival, huh?
What? Yeah...
It's beautiful, huh?
It is.
Well, shall we go have our final dinner?
Wait for me just a minute.
I've been jerked around by you too.
Or, strictly speaking, by Sato, who made a thoughtless agreement with you.
Because Sato promised you he'd show you the game,
I had to spend time with him too.
If you were watching Sato,
you must have been aware from the beginning that it was a lie.
Why did you make him do it then?
All I wanted was to help him.
That's where you went wrong.
Why do something that's like giving food to a stray dog?
This stuff is the best!
Never thought I'd get to drink such great sake before I died.
But I don't plan on dying yet!
This is no damn good, getting swallowed up by the moment!
Damn it...
Why should I be expelled just for carrying a little medicine out of the building?
That bunch of incompetents...
That's what the world is like.
If I'd known this would happen,
I would never have forced myself through med school entrance exams.
Hey, you're fortunate, kid!
Because the medical entrance exams are Hell.
Oh, right.
It's a conspiracy.
This world is bound hand and foot by conspiracies,
even though all we ask is to live normal, peaceful lives.
The only way to outwit a conspiracy is to do something beyond the pale.
That's why I'm going to die here.
So, how does that conclusion follow?
Looks like a cabin cruiser owned by a person named Minegishi went out just after noon.
Apparently, a woman matching Hitomi's description was among those on board.
And a man who looked like Sato too.
Let's go after them right away.
But we don't have a boat.
I just arranged to rent one.
We'll take it out to that island.
This is it.
But who's going to drive it?
I have a small-watercraft license.
Get that, would you?
Right.
What are you going to do?
I don't know what your intent was; you've mercilessly toyed with Sato.
Weren't you actually expecting things to end up something like this?
No, I wasn't!
I need Sato.
I mean, he's the one I found at last.
In Sato...
I finally found somebody who's important to me!
It's time. Shall we get going?
The first owner of this island took a beating from the bubble economy.
In the depths of despair, he ended his own life...
...by throwing himself from this cliff.
They said the body never surfaced.
A fitting location for our end, isn't it?
It certainly is.
Umm, but that's ocean below us, right?
If we do this wrong, we might survive.
That might happen in manga or TV dramas,
but in reality there's no chance of it.
If you want to be certain of dying, this method is the best.
Huh?
Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to enjoy my last day.
Not at all, just glad I could be useful.
If I had met someone like you earlier...
I won't say it. I'm glad I get to die with you.
Me too.
Sato...
I somehow felt that things would end up this way,
that the one who would be near me at the end would definitely be you.
If we manage to be reborn in the same time,
play cards with me again, okay?
Senpai...
Next time, I'll stay with you for your whole life.
Thank you.
That's it!
On that island, Sato and the others are going to...
Please let us make it in time.
I never imagined my life would be about to end in a place like this.
But if I'm with her...
...maybe it's allowable.
Jogasaki...
What?
S... Senpai...
No second thoughts, are there?
Umm, so we really have to...
If you don't want to take them off, you can leave them on.
Here we go.
Is this for real?!
It's no good!
Damn it.
I've been seeing nothing but my old lady's face in my head the whole time!
I just can't die after all!
So, you didn't want to die because your dream of being a doctor was torn away?
Were those words a lie?
It wasn't a lie! I really did think I wanted to die!
But if I imagine my mother grieving when I die...
That goes for all of you too, doesn't it?!
There are one or two people who need you, aren't there?
You have families too, right?
I don't have one.
"A rift caused by money ends relationships."
When my company went under, my wife took my son and left me.
I don't have anybody who will grieve for me.
Even if you're living apart, he'll grieve if his father dies!
Don't you even get that?!
You're carrying this photo because you do have second thoughts, right?!
If you're alive, you can start over, right?
I guess so...
At the very least, I shouldn't take young people like you along with me.
It would cause grief to your parents.
But...
I...
I stole an unforgivable amount of money from my parents' wallets!
Money for having fun?
Were you threatened by a pack of delinquents or something?
If that's it, an acquaintance of mine is a good lawyer.
If you discussed it with him, I'm sure he'd resolve things well.
Is that true?
Yeah...
I'm so glad...
With this change in mood,
I can get home alive.
What are you going to do for fuel to get back?
Huh?
Doesn't matter to me, since I don't intend to go home.
Senpai...
Nobody needs me.
At work, everyone gives me the cold shoulder, and even my botfriend...
He said I was important to him, but in the end, he didn't need me!
Why would he? He's a perfect guy who can brilliantly accomplish anything all by himself!
But!
I'm so sick of how the world is!
NIHON
Sato!
HIKIKOMORI
This is a conspiracy!
KYOKAN
Let's escape, toward a new life!
Right, Senpai!
Huh? No, wait.
What's "a new life" mean?
Just a... just a second! Senpai!
Senpai!
Hitomi!
Stop, Hitomi!
Please! Stop this rash behavior!
Because I need you!
Jogasaki...
Let's get married, Hitomi!
What?!
Those are the words I was waiting for.
I can't conceive of a life without you!
What on earth did I come all the way here for?
Won't you become my wife, Hitomi?!
Yes!
Time to die.
It'd be just too pathetic to back out like this.
Hey! Stop!
You have a family that would grieve if you die too.
I've been hikikomori for years now.
My parents think I may as well be dead.
They'll be like, "What, finally?"
All of you just don't like the idea of someone dying in front of you, right?
There's nothing to worry about.
We've only known each other a few hours after all.
Hey, young hikikomori guy, there!
If you're alive, good things are bound to happen!
Same's true for you too. If you're alive, good things are bound to happen!
Even I was fortunate enough to meet a wonderful woman like Hitomi!
I don't know if you're her botfriend or what, Even I was fortunate enough to meet a wonderful woman like Hitomi!
I don't know if you're her botfriend or what, I'm sure someday you'll meet a wonderful woman too!
But after all, to you... I'm sure someday you'll meet a wonderful woman too!
To you, someone like me
is no more than a rock by the wayside!
No, you're not!
Misaki?
You're not any rock by the wayside, Sato!
You're a human being!
That's right!
You're a flesh-and-blood failure of a human being!
Huh?
You're the first person I've ever found
who's so much more of a throwaway hunk of refuse than me!
You're hikikomori, more pathetic than a stray dog!
I need you, Sato! I absolutely need you.
So... So... You can't die! Absolutely not!
What... What's the story with that girl?
I'll die just for you!
Reconsider, Sato!
You still have a chance to try again at life!
Even a hikikomori's parents grieve if he dies!
Something good will happen if you stay alive!
Let go! Let me die!
Uhh, Sato... Let go! Let me die!
Uhh, Sato...
That's about enough of this.
We don't have a right to get involved in anything as dramatic as a suicide incident.
No matter how depressed we are, how much we suffer,
all we're gonna do is come right back to our idiotic everyday lives.
And even if we can't return to them, we'll only die idiotically somewhere.
A dramatic death just isn't fitting for us.
Let's go home.
Sure...
G... Gonna die...
We're gonna pull you up now, okay?
Here goes. One, two...
Episode 13 Welcome to Paradise!
Even if this world were going to end tomorrow
Since it's you
Would you take the curt attitude of
"If so, that's okay with me"?
There's no need to strain yourself
Just sometimes would be fine
So lift up your face and look this way
Look at me
Though it's a tiny world
For some reason it's too big for these two hands
Though it's an endless world
For some reason it's too small for these two hands
Hey, I want to laugh with you
In the irritating morning light
I'm Hidehito Nomura. I'm a former medical student.
Yes, I'm Minegishi.
I'm Yuu Kusano. We came back.
Next Episode
Welcome to Reality!
Next episode, "Welcome to Reality!"