★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 9 - Back to the Basics
Woman A: Thank you so much~!
Woman B: We’ll keep on supporting you!
Chikage: Please get home safely.
Young Man: You guys showed me how cool actors are all over again! Thank you so much!
Boy: That was fun~!
Citron: It was our pleasure!
Towa: Thank you so much!
Izumi: No, thank you for participating. And it was all thanks to you that we even had the wonderful idea in the first place, Towa-kun.
Towa: --Actually, I was kinda hesitant about participating at first. I didn’t want to be a complete failure in front of Masumi-kun…
Towa: But I’m glad I took the risk ‘cause I had a blast!
Towa: And now that I know what kinda view Masumi-kun and the others see when they’re up on stage…
Towa: I feel like I know even more about how theater’s done and I feel like I know more about everyone too.
Towa: It’s like a whole new world has opened up for me!
Tsuzuru: When you put it like that, it makes it feel like the whole thing was definitely worth it, don’t you think, Masumi?
Masumi: Well, it’s not like you didn’t do your best.
Towa: Oshi praise overdose…!
Izumi: Come and see our next play, okay?
Citron: We will see you then~!
Towa: Yeah! I’ll be there! Well then, I’ll be heading out now!
*Footsteps*
Rento: This event was a huge success even though it was our first time doin’ it.
Akashi: I… don’t usually get many opportunities like this… so I had fun…
Rento: It was nice ‘cause us backstage crew guys don’t usually get to interact with the audience members much.
Izumi: Thank you both for all your help today!
Rento: Just gimme a call if you’re doin’ anything like this again, yeah?
Akashi: Me too…
Izumi: Of course, absolutely!
Sakuya: We look forward to working with you again!
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Izumi: …Everyone’s acting sure was lively and they all seemed like they were having fun.
Sakuya: I couldn’t help but remember the first time I stood on stage while watching them.
Tsuzuru: Same, it really is a nostalgic feeling, huh?
Citron: I could feel everyone’s excitement~!
Itaru: We were just like that when we first started out.
Chikage: Now that you think about it, we really have grown a lot.
Masumi: I was better than they were.
Tsuzuru: And for some of us, there’s parts that haven’t changed at all.
Sakuya: For me, I used to be so nervous just trying to read a single one of my lines. Half the time, all I could think about was which of my lines was next.
Tsuzuru: I know, right!? I was always panicking because I’d be too busy wondering how I was supposed to be moving that I’d completely miss when someone else said their line.
Citron: I could say my lines when I was practicing by myself, but then I would always make mistakes when we would practice together!
Masumi: You still do that.
Itaru: I’m pretty sure if past-me saw the current me, he wouldn’t be able to believe we’re the same person.
Chikage: Because you didn’t think you’d end up being so devoted to theater?
Itaru: Something along those lines. Then again, doesn’t that go for the both of us, Senpai?
Chikage: I suppose I can’t deny that.
Izumi: When he said that he felt like he had a whole new world opened up for him, Towa-kun’s eyes were really sparkling, weren’t they?
Masumi: He was pretty nervous at first, but he ended up having fun.
Sakuya: When I decided to join MANKAI Company, I was pretty excited like that too.
Sakuya: I’m so glad I took the risk and dove into this new world.
Tsuzuru: I remember hesitating before I took that first big step into this world too. But once I finally made the decision to join the troupe, I didn’t even have a chance to second-guess taking that step before I was forced to full-out sprint into it.
Masumi: I didn’t hesitate at all because it was fate for me.
Izumi: Ahaha, I guess it kind of was. This is so nostalgic.
Sakuya: This has kinda made me wanna perform RomiJuli again!
Citron: Me too! I was almost reading the lines for myself!
Itaru: I know, right?
Izumi: Why don’t we do a rerun of it?
Tsuzuru: If we’re doing that, then I wanna create an actual role for Chikage-san.
Citron: I would like to appear in even more scenes!
Izumi: That’s a good point. The current Citron-kun can play way more roles than the Citron-kun back then.
Chikage: But aside from those few things, if everything else stays the same, there won’t be anything all that new about it. Especially since we’ve already done reruns of it before.
Sakuya: Then why don’t we do it after the Fleur Cup?
Itaru: Since RomiJuli’s a pretty popular work that’s got all sorts of things like movie and ballet adaptations, it’s easy for theater newbies to get into it.
Itaru: Pretty fitting to fulfill the requirements for our back-to-the-basics quest line, don’t you think?
Izumi: But competing in the Fleur Cup with a rerun performance is way too risky of a move…
Tsuzuru: …Ah.
Izumi: ?
Tsuzuru: What about a sequel, then?
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
Tsumugi: Good job on doing the workshop. How was it?
Sakuya: Everyone seemed a little confused at first, but as soon as they started talking and moving around more, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves!
Tsuzuru: It was really inspiring to watch too.
Tasuku: Sounds like it gave you guys a chance to take a step back and look at theater more objectively again.
Tsumugi: It really sounds like quite the learning experience. I think Winter Troupe should try doing that too.
Homare: I think we should make sure to have adequate time to create poetry when we do that.
Tasuku: That would change the entire point.
Homare: I believe that the skills that come with studying poetry that has a particular emphasis on the rhythm of language could be easily transferable when it comes to thoroughly analyzing lines in a script.
Guy: You make a good point. Shakespeare was a poet in addition to being a playwright, after all.
Hisoka: …And we could end it with a bonfire where we roast marshmallows.
Tsuzuru: We all know that’s just your own agenda even if you try to frame it like it’s some kinda recreational thing at the end of a summer camp.
Sakuya: Sounds like a workshop that’ll show off each of your unique characteristics.
Izumi: Let’s plan another one when we get the chance.
Sakyo: Looks like everyone’s finally here now.
Izumi: Alright, let’s start the troupe-wide meeting, then.
Izumi: I’d like to talk about Spring Troupe’s next performance, which will be during the voting period of the first quarter of the Fleur Cup…
Izumi: After doing the workshop, we all talked about how we should go back to the basics, back to where we first started.
Citron: To put it simply, we want to do RomiJuli again!
Sakyo: You mean like a RomiJuli rerun?
Tsuzuru: No, not quite. I was thinking of something more along the lines of a sequel…
Tsuzuru: A version of RomiJuli that we’d only be capable of doing now that we’ve grown more-- The future of the RomiJuli we did back during our debut performance.
Tsuzuru: I think it’s something that we could do only because we’re living in the future from when we did it back then.
Sakuya: And it’d be our first attempt at doing a sequel, so I’m sure it’ll be a bit of a challenge.
Sakuya: Of course, we really wanna perform RomiJuli again, but…
Chikage: We have to be sure that our upcoming performance serves as a stepping stone to the finals of the Fleur Cup.
Itaru: Aside from that, if we don’t at least ensure we get enough votes and earn enough points, we might not even be able to make it to the next round, let alone the finals…
Itaru: And those aren’t our only concerns, so that’s why we wanted to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions.
Tenma: A sequel to your debut play, huh… never saw that one coming. But I get how you feel about wanting to do it again.
Tsumugi: You can’t help but wonder how you’ll be able to play your role now. There’s always a sort of newness to it no matter how many reruns you do.
Kazunari: And since it’s our very first performance, it’s probs the one that like, set the vibes of your troupe and the vibes of the whole company the most~.
Sakyo: It was pretty rough around the edges, but I guess you could say that it set the direction for the entirety of the Newborn MANKAI Company.
Banri: And it’s prolly the one you’ve done the most reruns of, so it’s def well known. That’s a bonus, ain’t it?
Juza: ‘N since you’ve gotta good foundation for your roles, it’ll prolly let ya approach the performance inna way ya usually wouldn’t.
Juza: ‘N above all, it’ll be a nice challenge to perform a sequel that’ll fill in the blanks ‘n connect the dots from your debut performance.
Homare: The things that have changed, the things that have remained unchanged, mundane things in your daily lives… those can all be expressed on stage.
Guy: I think this could be a good experience for you as actors and it will help you grow even more.
Tasuku: And I think that it’s a valuable opportunity to experience living out more of the life of one of your characters.
Taichi: Plus the OG RomiJuli fans would def be hella hyped!
Omi: The fact that it’s also been a fan-favorite since the beginning is one of it’s advantages too.
Azami: It’ll also be easier to imagine the settings.
Yuki: My concern is that since they’re the same characters, it’s not as completely brand new as it could be.
Kazunari: It’d probs be a good idea to keep that in mind and make some changes to the visuals.
Itaru: I’m personally a little concerned about the curse of sequels never being able to surpass the originals.
Banri: We can do more with sound effects ‘n lightin’ than we could do back then, so we’ll just have to show ‘em how much we’ve improved.
Yuki: Thinking of our past selves as our rivals is kind of getting me fired up.
Kazunari: And there’s no way we’re gonna lose to ourselves~!
Sakyo: That said, we still need to satisfy the audience members who haven’t seen the original. Unlike with the Mankai Performance, there’s a fairly big gap between the original and now.
Kumon: But I’m kinda jealous of you, Chikage-san! I wish I had my own role in Summer Troupe’s first performance!
Misumi: And I’m ki~nda interested in what the Genie from “Water me!” is doing right now!
Muku: I know, right!? Just like we’re living in the future from back then, I want to see how their futures are going too.
Azuma: If we’re doing a sequel for Spring Troupe’s first performance, then perhaps we should do the same for Summer and the other troupes too.
Tenma: Well, that would be the logical thing to do.
Juza: I kinda wanna be Lansky again…
Omi: I’m suddenly getting pretty motivated.
Sakyo: All that said, none of us are gonna get to that point if Spring Troupe’s sequel fails.
Homare: Choosing to do a “sequel” in a situation where we cannot afford to lose and have to accommodate many a new audience member is certainly a bold decision.
Izumi: That’s true.
Tsuzuru: W-Way to put more pressure on me.
Hisoka: …Every troupe’s gonna have to do their part in order to pass the baton onto the next one.
Guy: After Spring Troupe in the first quarter, Summer Troupe will follow in the second quarter, then Autumn Troupe in the third quarter, and finally Winter Troupe in the fourth quarter. We all must contribute to the rankings in order to stay in the finals.
Tsumugi: But isn’t it somewhat reassuring to think that RomiJuli, the very first performance, will be by our side as an ally for this?
Sakuya: Yeah… because it’s the “beginning” of our Spring Troupe.
Citron: It was both Spring Troupe’s and the Newborn MANKAI Company’s first adventure!
Masumi: If we can’t pull off our performance, then there’s no way the other troupes will even get a chance.
Itaru: Basically.
Chikage: I think it’s well worth the gamble.
Tsuzuru: No choice but to just go ahead and do it…
Izumi: Alright, that settles it. Let’s fight for the New Fleur Award using sequels to each troupe’s debut performance as our weapon!
Izumi: (Finally, we’re taking our first step toward the Newborn Fleur Award.)
Izumi: (Now all we have to do is stay as united as we are now as we keep our eye on the performance. Please let us get through this without any trouble…)
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