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[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 11 - Separate Houses

Tsuzuru: “’Romeo - in the future, you will be the man responsible for this house.’“

Masumi: “’This city’”.

Tsuzuru: “Huh?”

Masumi: “It’s not ‘this house’, it’s ‘this city’”.

Tsuzuru: “Ah, my bad......”

Masumi: “It’s not there, see? Didn’t you write this script yourself?”

Tsuzuru: “You can even remember everyone else’s lines perfectly!?”

Masumi: “That’s only because I’ve been hearing your lines recited every day - even an idiot can remember them.”

Tsuzuru: “Are you trying to insult me?”

Masumi: “You’re just paranoid.”

Tsuzuru: “What?”

You: “OK, stop! Tsuzuru-kun, continue from the top.”

Tsuzuru: “......k.”

You: (It’s been several days since we started reading the script, but we won’t be able to perform at this rate.)

(I want to continue regular training soon, but if this keeps on happening, we may not have enough time to practice.)

Masumi: “It’s your line next.”

Tsuzuru: “I know.”

You: (It’s just like last time - the atmosphere between them is horrible......)

Sakuya: “Ah, I-I’m sorry. That last line was mine, wasn’t it...”

You: (Having such a tense atmosphere is making it difficult to act, so everyone is making a ton of mistakes.)

“Alright, let’s stop here for today. We haven’t advanced much, so I hope everyone will do some more training on their own time.”

Masumi: “If by everyone, you mean two people.”

Tsuzuru: “Just who are you referring to!?”

Masumi: “Who knows.”

Tsuzuru: “You really are an unpleasant guy, huh.”

Sakuya: “I’m sorry. You’re saying that I need more practice.”

Masumi: *sigh*

You: (I have no complaints about Masumi-kun’s acting ability, but his behavior is troubling......)

Sakuya: “Citron-san, I’ll be turning off the light soon.”

Citron: “OK!”

Tsuzuru: “Yo, you guys awake?”

Sakuya: “Tsuzuru-kun? We’re awake.”

Citron: “It is strange seeing you at this hour!”

Sakuya: “You’re holding your pillow - is something wrong?”

Tsuzuru: “I don’t want to be with him anymore, so let me sleep in your room. The floor is fine.”

Sakuya: “Huh? By him, do you mean Masumi-kun?”

Tsuzuru: “Just hearing his name disgusts me. He’s the worst! Even when I’m practicing on my own, he criticizes everything I do bit by bit.”

Sakuya: “Really? That’s strange.”

Tsuzuru: “Strange? That’s how he always is.”

Sakuya: “No, it’s not. Masumi-kun always seems to be by himself at school.”

“He stands out a lot because of his looks, so he’s very popular with girls. But he’s famous for never getting along with anybody he speaks to.”

“I was surprised that he became so attached to the coach. To us at school, he came off as a guy who didn’t react or take an interest in anything......”

Tsuzuru: “Speaking of - when we started training for Romeo and Juliet was he began to criticize everything, wasn’t it?”

Citron: “I see! He is a Tsundere!”*

Tsuzuru: “Minus the lovey dovey part.”**

Sakuya: “Masumi-kun’s parents are usually overseas, so it seems like he is almost always alone at home. He may not be used to interacting with people very often......”

Tsuzuru: “He lives alone? He doesn’t have any siblings?”

Sakuya: “I think he is an only child.”

Tsuzuru: “I see......I can’t imagine living in a house all by myself. I have so many siblings.”

Sakuya: “Um, what Masumi-kun is saying is definitely harsh, but I think he’s right.”

“No matter what, I start to panic when my turn comes. It makes me wonder if practice won’t be enough......”

Citron: “Do not wooooorry! When I say my lines, I do not worry!”

Tsuzuru: “It’d be nice f’you cared just a little bit, Citron-san.”

“Hmm. You could be right. Alright, then shall we start morning training?”

Sakuya: “Ah, good idea! I’ll do it too!”

Citron: “I will join toooo! The one who wakes up early will be at the three gates of Toku-san!”

Tsuzuru: “Who on earth is Toku-san? You want to say the early bird gets the worm.” ***

“Alright, then let’s meet at 6am to practice tomorrow.”

Sakuya: “Yes! We should hurry to bed, then. You can sleep in my bed, Tsuzuru-kun.”

Tsuzuru: “Aaaah, n-nevermind! I think I’ll go back to my own room.”

Sakuya: “Really?”

Tsuzuru: “I should tell him about the morning practice at some point.”

Sakuya: “I see! I think Masumi-kun will definitely want to join us!”

Tsuzuru: “I guess so.”

Citron: “Then let us dial a message to Coach and Itaru, yes?”

Sakuya: “Let’s do it!”

“Itaru-san, are you there?”

“......huh?”

“It looks like he’s already asleep.”

Tsuzuru: “No, I can hear some kind of clacking noise coming from inside.”

Citron: “It is a cockroach, yes?”

Sakuya: “What!?”

Tsuzuru: “It’s probably not a cockroach. It sounds more like a controller.”

Sakuya: “If it is a cockroach, then we have to exterminate it! We’re coming in, Itaru-san!”

Itaru: “YEAH! 10 kills. Hmph. They can try challengin’ me again in 100 years or so.”

Sakuya: “Itaru...san......?”

Tsuzuru: “Ah, so he was playing a game!”

Itaru: “Hmm......?”

Citron: “Itaru, you are in relax mode, yes? A Japanese dried fish!” ****

Itaru: “Ah......Need somethin?”

Sakuya: “U-ummm, we all were talking about getting together for morning practice tomorrow. Would you be interested in joining us, Itaru-san?”

Itaru: “What time?”

Tsuzuru: “We’ve scheduled practice for 6 am.”

Itaru: “6 am, huh? Lemme think about it.”

Sakuya: “Ah, ok. Well then, excuse us.”

Itaru: “See ya-.”

Sakuya: ......

Tsuzuru: ......

Sakuya: “He was a bit different from his usual self, wasn’t he?”

Tsuzuru: “More than just a little, I would say.”

“I was only able to catch a glimpse of what he Itaru-san was doing, but it was a popular online game. It’s known throughout the world for causing people to disappear.”

Citron: “Ultimate Weapon 4. It’s a war-themed online FPS game. To have that equipment at only level 124, he must have paid his way through the game. ***** He is a completely lost cause!”

Tsuzuru: “It can’t be a good sign that you so much about that game, either!”

Citron: “In my country, it is integrated into core education system!”

Sakuya: “Are you serious!?”

Tsuzuru: “That’s a lie!”

Citron: “It’s joke!”

Sakuya: “For a second there, I thought you were telling the truth......”

“At any rate, do you think Itaru-san will come to our morning training?”

Tsuzuru: “Hmmmm. I wonder. He might be too busy playing video games. In the meantime, let’s go talk to the coach.”

To be continued......

*A Tsundere is a character trope (usually for a woman but not necessarily) describing a character who starts out hostile towards someone else before eventually loving them.

**The “Tsun” means disgust and the “dere” means affectionate love. Tsuzuru is joking here that Masumi is all “Tsun” but no “dere”.

*** Citron is trying to say “Hayaoki wa sanmonn no toku”. The literal meaning is very hard to translate to English, but the meaning behind the phrase roughly translates to “the early bird gets the worm.” However, he accidentally says “san mon no toku san”, which ends up being complete nonsense.

**** They don’t clarify what Citron truly means to say here, but I’m 99.9% sure that Citron means to say “honmono”, which means “the genuine article or the real deal” but instead accidentally says “himono”, meaning dried fish.

***** Japan actually has a word to describe video game players so spend a lot of money on a game so that they are overpowered early on - a “Kakinhei”, which literally means “Accounting soldier”. Citron uses this word to describe Itaru-san’s play style. We don’t have a word for it as far as I know, so I thought this was a cool fun fact for everyone. And also I spent hours reading up on it- fascinating stuff. 

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 10 - The Tension Between Two

You: “Today we can finally start reading the script together. Everyone was able to read it, right?”

Sakuya: “Yes! I’m excited to get started!”

Citron: “I only had 5 lines!”

Tsuzuru: “If you guys come up with your own lines, that’s no problem.”

You: “Itaru-san, were you able to read the script?”

Itaru: “Yup. Thanks for bringing it to me. I haven’t been sleeping very well. I hope I didn’t say anything strange.”

You: “N-no, it’s okay.”

(He’s his usual self today......I’m glad he’s feeling better, but who on earth was the Itaru-san I met yesterday?)

Sakuya: “Huh? Masumi-kun, where’s your script?”

Masumi: “I’ve already memorized everything. I don’t need it.”

You: “Wha!? You’ve already memorized everything!?”

Masumi: “Yup.”

Sakuya: “That’s amazing, Masumi-kun. We’ve had the scripts for the same amount of time, but you can remember it all......”

You: (He is massively talented to be able to remember the whole script. I may have stumbled upon an amazing talent......)

“Ok guys, let’s get started right away - from the top.”

Sakuya: “’-Let’s leave together, Julius. Ummmm- let’s get out of this crowded town -- and travel around -- the world!’”

Masumi: “’Romeo, you have strength in you. I have my intellect. The two of us can do anything if we’re together.’”

Tsuzuru: “’Romeo, did you apologize? I wouldn’t worry about it. There are plenty of women all over the world.’”

Sakuya: “’Throw away---umm---your house and your name for me, Julius. We don’t need---’”

Masumi: “This is a problem.”

Sakuya: “Huh?”

Masumi: “You keep on tripping up. You’re making it difficult.”

Sakuya: “Ah, I’m sorry.”

Tsuzuru: “This is only the first reading. Saying that to him won’t change anything.”

You: “Yeah. It’s important that we get through the script first.”

Masumi: “He can’t even read it in a monotone voice.”

Sakuya: “Sorry......”

Masumi: “And you- I can tell you don’t regularly write scripts.”

Tsuzuru: “Huh?”

Masumi: “Doesn’t an author normally make the story engaging through the characters?”

Tsuzuru: “Which character isn’t engaging you?

Masumi: “Mine. I don’t feel like I understand the lines I’m reciting.”

Tsuzuru: “That’s only because you aren’t expressing it correctly. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s incomprehensible.”

Masumi: “Ah, I see. But the result is the same.”

Tsuzuru: “...what?”

You: “You’re going too far, Masumi-kun.”

Masumi: “I’m saying the truth.”

Sakuya: “......I’m so sorry. I don’t seem to be skilled at acting.”

Tsuzuru: “Masumi, stop disturbing the peace!”

Masumi: “Why? So I won’t say that you’re just as bad as he is?”

Tsuzuru: “That’s not what I’m saying at all!”

Citron: “You guys have blood on your head!”

You: “I think you meant to say ‘blood is rushing to your head’. But Citron-kun is right. You both need to calm down.”

Tsuzuru: “I’m chill.”

Masumi: ......

You: (Looks like we have no choice but to continue practicing even with this heavy atmosphere.)

“Let’s take a quick break.”

Sakuya: “Yes. I’m so sorry......”

Tsuzuru: *sigh*

Masumi: “I’m tired.”

Citron: “The air is cool somehow, yes?”

You: “It’s not good to say that, Citron-kun.”

Itaru: “Sorry, but I haven’t completely recovered yet. I was wondering if you would let me leave early?”

You: “Huh?”

Itaru: “Sorry about that.”

You: “That’s alright. Feel better......”

(Don’t tell me he’s going to become that again......He’s clearly leaving to go play video games. Is he truly not feeling well?)

To be continued......

[act-addict-actors-blog]

I’m Back (Sorry)

Hello everyone!

I wanted to apologize for disappearing out of the blue! I recently started a new job AND right after that, I was sick for almost two weeks. I didn’t have the mental energy to translate and post new chapters at the time and I apologize that I didn’t notify you guys.

I’ll be back to doing weekly uploads on Friday at 9pm central time like usual. You can expect the next chapter to go out tonight.

Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the translations!

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 9 - Romeo and Julius

You: “Let’s see here... The title is ‘Romeo and......Julius’?”

Sakuya: “It looks like the character of Juliet is a man now.”

Masumi: “Are they gay?”

Citron: “Oooooooh - very original, yes?”

You: “It looks like they’re just close friends.”

......

(......This is interesting.)

Sakuya: “I think this script is really captivating!”

You: “Yeah. He didn’t just simply change Juliet into a man, but he establishes their friendship as well.”

Citron: “It’s good, yes?”

Masumi: “It’s average.”

You: “Well then, I’ll start assigning roles immediately--”

Tsuzuru: “--Coach, the script!”

You: “Tsuzuru-kun? You’re already up?”

Tsuzuru: “H-how’s the script......?”

You: “It’s perfect. We’re going to use this script for next month’s performance.”

Tsuzuru: “Really!?”

You: “Yup.”

Tsuzuru: “Aw yeah!! Thank god......”

You: “Good job, Tsuzuru-kun. I was wondering how you were going to deal with there being a female role, but I didn’t expect you to come up with a solution this way.”

Sakuya: “Making Juliet into a man is such a good idea.”

Tsuzuru: “It’s not quite like Romeo and Juliet. I was separated from my friends because of my home environment just like Romeo......I used that as my inspiration.”

You: “It’s based on your life experiences?”

Tsuzuru: “Not completely. My family was very poor. My friend, who was the son of a wealthy family, suddenly told his parents that he didn’t want to play with me anymore.”

“We got along really well with each other, but we eventually grew apart.”

Citron: “That’s so horrible! The adult George* is painful, yes?”

Tsuzuru: “Adult considerations, you mean? Yeah, it seemed fishy at the time. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t his choice.”

Sakuya: “I saw that you changed the script so that it ends not as a tragedy where the two are separated, but a happy ending where they leave together.” **

Tsuzuru: “I head that the original Spring Troupe gave off a bright pleasant image. I think emulating that same image would be fitting for us.”

You: “You’re right. I think this script will be fantastic as the New Spring Troupe’s debut performance.”

“Well then, shall we decide on the casting?”

Tsuzuru: “Ah, I already assigned the roles.”

You: “Really?”

Tsuzuru: “I intend for Sakuya to portray the protagonist - Romeo.”

Sakuya: “Huh!? Me!?”

Tsuzuru: “You were the first member of the Spring Troupe and I feel like your personality fits our image well.”

You: “I see! It’ll be a simple method of immediately creating an image of happiness and cheerfulness.”

Tsuzuru: “S’right!”

Sakuya: “I can’t! If I’m going to stand on stage, I should be in a supporting role or even in the background.”

You: “We don’t have any background roles.”

Sakuya: “Well...are you sure you want to choose me......?”

Citron: “No protein!”

Tsuzuru: “No problem, you mean. Looks like it isn’t only Japanese that isn’t your strong suit.”

Masumi: “I don’t care who the leader is.”

You: “Then it’s been decided! Sakuya-kun will be the leader!”

Sakuya: “I’ll do my best!”

You: “Speaking of - Sakuya-kun, I want to name you as the leader of the Spring Troupe. Are you OK with that?”

Sakuya: “Leader......? Am I qualified for that?”

You: “If you are the leader, everything will definitely be OK.”

Sakuya: “......I’ll work hard!”

You: “Yeah, that’s the spirit!”

“What about the other roles?”

Tsuzuru: “Julius will be played by Masumi.”

Masumi: “Hmmmmm.”

Tsuzuru: “I’ll be playing Romeo’s friend, Mercutio. Julius’s older brother, Tybalt, will be played by Itaru-san.”

You: “It’s a smart idea to assign the roles based on age.”

Tsuzuru: “Lastly, Friar Lawrence will be played by Citron-san.”

Citron: “Oooooooh, but the friar has very few lines!”

Tsuzuru: “Exactly.”

Citron: “Since I am new member, this is why you are against my big talent, yes?”

Tsuzuru: “No! You can’t speak Japanese very well, right?”

You: “Well, the friar doesn’t have many lines, but he must leave a strong impact within a short time! That’ll be perfect for you, Citron-kun!”

Tsuzuru: “Right.”

You: “Even though the story is an abridged version of the original, the image is perfect. This is greater than anything I could have imagined, Tsuzuru-kun!　Now all we have to do is practice and then we can perform the play to the best of our ability!”

Sakuya: “Yeah!”

Tsuzuru: “Yeah, though practice is gonna be crazy.”

Citron: “Let’s have fun!”

Masumi: “This is going to be stressful for you, right?”

You: “It probably will be. But we were able to get such a fantastic script. So let’s enjoy ourselves at rehearsal.”

Masumi: “Hmmm... I could have written the script......”

You: “I’ll be much happier if you do your best as an actor, Masumi-kun!”

“Alright guys - we can finally begin going over the script tomorrow. Everyone, please become familiar with the script for tomorrow!”

(Now that the script is complete, I have a feeling we’ll be able to get a lot more done at practice today now that everyone will be there.)

(Well then, I need to hand over the script to Itaru-san and notify him about the casting decisions.)

(I wonder if he’s feeling any better......)

“Itaru-san, are you there? It’s me, Tachibana.”

......?

(Is he sleeping? No, I can hear a faint clattering sound coming from inside his room......)

“Itaru-san, is it okay if I come in?”

Itaru: “--DON’T COME IN!”

You: !!

“I-Itaru-san?”

Itaru: “Ugh, seriously? You gotta be fuckin kidding me. I missed three kills. Dammit...I’ll kill you, you noobs.”

You: “I-I-I-I-Itaru-san?”

Itaru: “Don’t fuckin waltz in here whenever you want. It’s loading right now. Don’t you understand by looking at the screen?”

You: (H-his face is so close......am I currently in the so-called “wall slam” situation***......!?)

“Well, if something is loading, then you’re most likely playing a video game......Who are you?”

Itaru: “I’m Itaru Chigasaki. Somethin wrong?”

You: “UMMMM......”

(The mature Itaru-san is playing video games......)

“But wait, didn’t you say you were weren’t feeling well......!?”

“Um, please read this script! The assigned roles are already written down! Feel better! Sorry for bothering you!”

(T-that surprised me......)

(I hope he’ll be back to his old self tomorrow......he will get better, right?)

To be continued......

*Instead of saying Jijou, which means considerations or circumstances, Citron says “George” or jyooji with Japanese lettering. I guess they sound kinda similar, so it’s funny? (It’s not funny)

** Thus ruining the entire point of Romeo and Juliet. Wonderful, good work.

***Your character is referring to the “Kabe-don”, or wall slam. This is an anime trope where the hot male character will pin a girl against the wall by putting his arm on the wall and leaning in close. By referencing this, your character is breaking the 4th wall.

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 8 - A Big Bear Under the Eyes

You: (It’s been a week......it’s the deadline for the script.)

Sakuya: “I don’t see Tsuzuru-kun around here. I hope he’s okay.”

You: “Masumi-kun, how is Tsuzuru-kun doing?”

Masumi: “I don’t know.”

You: “He’s in your room, right?”

Masumi: “Probably.”

You: “Probably!? You live in the same room- you haven’t spoken to him or anything like that?”

Masumi: “I haven’t. His very existence has changed.”

You: “What!?”

Masumi: “He’s been absorbed into his PC.”

You: “You mean he’s always on his computer?”

Masumi: “Probably.”

Citron: “Even though I speak to Tsuzuru, there was no reaction!”

Itaru: “It looks like he hasn’t been going to college either. Shouldn’t we go look at how he’s doing?”

You: “Yeah. Whatever the case may be, it is the deadline......”

Sakuya: “If he hasn’t been able to complete the script, what will we do?”

You: “We’ll use a different script.”

Sakuya: “Even if he’s already made progress?”

You: “We cannot wait any longer. We need a certain amount of practice in order to be able to perform, so we have to be able to read it by tomorrow.”

Sakuya: “I see......”

Itaru: “It may be strict, but this theater is an amateur organization so it can’t be helped.”

You: (I feel awkward about having to give him the final warning, but this is my job as the director.)

(One whole week wasted. Now we’ll have to do make up for lost time......)

“I’m gonna go see Tsuzuru-kun.”

Sakuya: “I’ll go too!”

Citron: “I’m worried too!”

Masumi: “I’ll go if you’re going.”

You: “What will you do, Itaru-san?”

Itaru: “I feel terrible about this, but would you let me return to my room? I want to rest from today’s practice. I haven’t been feeling well since last night......”

You: “Huh? Are you alright?”

Itaru: “If i rest a bit, I’ll feel much better.”

You: “OK, that’s fine. Feel better soon.”

Itaru: “Thanks. See ya.”

You: “OK, let’s go everyone.”

(Did I make a mistake in my decision to trust Tsuzuru-kun......?)

“Are you there, Tsuzuru-kun? It’s a week, as promised. I’d like to discuss the script with you.”

“Tsuzuru-kun?”

Sakuya: “He’s not responding.”

Citron: “Maybe he is sleeping, yes?”

Masumi: “He might be dead.”

You: “What!? Tsuzuru-kun, I’m opening the door!”

Tsuzuru: ......

You: !!

Sakuya: “He collapsed!! Tsuzuru-kun, are you OK!?”

Citron: “Ooooh Tsuzuru! How is it that you have died!?”

You: “This is bad - I need to call an ambulance--”

Masumi: “PC.”

You: “Huh?”

Masumi: “Look at his PC.”

You: “Ah, is there something written on the screen......?”

Sakuya: “It says......’I wrote it’.”

You: “Wrote it......you mean he did it!? Like he finished the script!? Tsuzuru-kun!?”

Tsuzuru: “......Zzz.”

You: “He’s sleeping......”

Sakuya: “Phew! Thank goodness he's just asleep......”

Citron: “Hey! Just like what I said, yes?”

You: “Thank god...... he managed to write up the script.”

(We believed in Tsuzuru-kun and everything truly turned out alright......)

“Alright! Let’s print this right away!”

Sakuya: “I can do it!”

You: “That would be great, Sakuya-kun.”

Citron: “Tsuzuru. Tsuzuru! Wake up!”

You: “We should let Tsuzuru-kun sleep for a little while longer. He most likely didn’t sleep at all with how hard he worked.”

Citron: “Ooooh, I see! A big bear is under the eyes!”

You: “Not a bear - dark circles.” *

“Good work, Tsuzuru-kun.”

Tsuzuru: ......Zzz. *mumble*

To be continued...

* The word for bear, “kuma”, is the same as the word for dark circles. Citron is mixing up his nouns.

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 7 - The Troubles Ahead

You: “Today, Itaru-san and Citron-san will start joining us for practice. Tsuzuru-kun will not join us while he writes the script.”

Citron: “I excited to start!”

Itaru: “I don’t have any acting experience so I apologize if I inconvenience you all, but I look forward to working with everyone.”

Sakuya: “Itaru-san, have you finished moving in?”

Itaru: “I brought the things I needed with me by car and I’ll receive the rest in a moving van next week.”

Sakuya: “You drive a car!? So cool!”

Itaru: “Let me know if you ever need anything - I can give you a lift.”

You: (Such an adult......!)

“Well then, thank you for offering. We’ll be sure to take you up on your offer if needed.”

Itaru: “Of course.”

You: (He’s so reliable. Everyone except the manager has been so young - it’s quite refreshing.)

“OK everyone, we’ll warm-up like we always do - with acting and vocal exercises. “

“Next, I want everyone to do some simple pantomime. You can’t use words - only body movements.”

“I will tell you the subject and everyone will have to guess what you are acting out. I want this to feel like a comfortable, fun game.”

“First up will be Sakuya-kun.”

Sakuya: “Yes!”

You: “Sakuya-kun, act out ‘what someone does before going outside’.”

Sakuya: “Got it!”

You: “Start!”

Sakuya: ......

Citron: “I got it! A Bon Festival* dance, yes?”

You: “Wrong.”

Itaru: “A robot?”

You: “Nope.”

(His awkward movements would certainly be less obvious if it was a robot......)

Masumi: “You can’t move cause your leg is broken.”

You: “Uh uh.”

Sakuya: ......

Citron: “What could it be-?”

Itaru: “Hmmmmm......”

You: “OK, time’s up. The correct answer was ‘what you do before going outside’.”

Sakuya: “I was acting out things like brushing my teeth and combing my hair, but......”

Citron: “I could not understand, yes?”

Itaru: “That was a little bit difficult.”

Sakuya: “Ugh......”

You: (Sakuya-kun seems to be a very awkward person.)

“Alright, next up is Masumi-kun.”

Masumi: “What should I do?”

You: “Act out ‘waiting for someone to arrive’.”

Masumi: “OK.”

......

Sakuya: “You’re searching for something?”

You: “Ah, almost!”

Citron: “He is waiting for something, yes?”

You: So close!

Itaru: “I got it. He’s waiting for somebody.”

You: “Correct!”

Masumi: “Did I do well?”

You: “Yes, you did.”

(Masumi-kun is also good at pantomime. There really is nothing he can’t do.)

“Next is Itaru-san.”

Itaru: “Don’t be too hard on me.”

You: (Itaru-san and Citron-kun are passable for beginners. As they gain experience, they’ll only get better and better.)

“OK, the next situation is--”

Itaru: “Practice is supposed to go until 9pm, right?”

You: “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s already time to wrap up.”

Sakuya: “I can keep going!”

Citron: “As service, I can make extension, yes?”

You: “Don’t say it like we’re running a shady business.”

Masumi: “If I can be with you, I can keep going until morning.”

You: “That’s too suggestive!!”

Itaru: “Hmmmm. But some of us have school tomorrow and it would be better not to overwork ourselves. I have work, as well.”

You: “T-that’s true. OK everyone, let’s call it a day.”

Sakuya: “Um, is it OK if I do a few more vocal exercises?”

You: “Ok, but only 30 more minutes.”

Citron: “I will join you!”

Masumi: “I’ll stay if you’re here.”

Itaru: “OK, I’m heading out. Good job, everyone.”

You: (Itaru-san vacated pretty quickly. He may not have necessarily have wanted to be in theater originally......)

Sakuya: “Amenbo akaina a i u e o!” **

Citron: “Ame--aka--uo--!”

Sakuya: “It’s ‘amenbo akaina a i u e o’, Citron-san.”

Citron: “Aka--aka--manbo--!”

Sakuya: “No, that’s not right!”

Citron: “Japanese is so difficult, yes?”

You: (Citron-kun has a problem all his own - Japanese. I have a feeling that he’s capable, so I hope he improves before the performance.)

Citron: “Ame-yoko-yay! Woo-!”

You: (......I have an endless list of worries.)

To be continued......

* Citron is referring to the “Bon Odori”, a traditional dance done at Japan’s Bon Festival. This festival is when the spirits of one’s ancestors are said to return for a time, so people will go to clean their family’s gravestones and celebrate their return. The dance differs depending on location, but you can easily look up a video to get an idea of how Sakuya was moving (not great).

** Sakuya is reciting the “Gojyuuon no uta” or the “50 sounds song”. This is a Japanese tongue twister that helps with pronouncing the 50 sounds in the Japanese language in a clear way. It’s quite helpful to try reciting it when learning Japanese (thought Citron could still use some work lol).

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I just reached Rank 100...I don’t know whether to be proud or mortified.

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A3 Character Voice - Itaru

Let’s welcome Itaru to the troupe!

Itaru’s voice is very similar to Sakuya’s in terms of accent - a very clean Tokyo accent. However, unlike Sakuya, the tone of his voice is much more mature and he speaks informally but also very carefully - there is no slang in his voice whatsoever.

He’s being presented in a very specific light - could he be hiding some dark secret!?!? (If you’ve read ahead you know tho lol).

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Act 1 Chapter 6 - Tsuzuru’s Determination

You: “Well everyone, today I am happy to introduce our two newest members - Itaru Chigasaki and Citron!”

Citron: “Again it is nice to meet everyone!”

You: (I’m still not used to Citron’s face without the mask on. He is more beautiful then I had expected.)

Manager: “Ooh! Forming the reborn Spring Troupe by getting five new members in under three days? What an accomplishment! We expect nothing less from our great director.”

Tsuzuru: “Then, where is the new guy, Itaru-san?”

Sakuya: “He went home to prepare for the move. It looks like he’ll be joining us for practice tomorrow morning.”

You: “Now, I’d like to decide on what program to do for next month’s performance.”

Sakuya: “Is it OK to do this even though Itaru-san isn’t here?”

You: “We only have seven weeks until the performance, so if we don’t prepare a script soon, we won’t meet the deadline.”

Manager: “Can we not use the old Spring Troupe scripts?”

You: “I think that’s a good idea.”

Sakuya: “Recreating the previous Spring Troupe’s Romeo and Juliet! This seems like it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Masumi: “Hopefully our performance can compare to theirs.”

You: “That’s a distressing thing to say, Masumi-kun......”

Citron: “Romeo and Juliet is good, yes? In my country, everyone has big cry at scene where Romeo return to outer space!”

You: “I think your version is a bit different, Citron.”

Tsuzuru: “Um--”

You: “What’s up, Tsuzuru-kun?”

Tsuzuru: “If possible, I would like to write a new script......”

You: “Is that so? You did originally aspire to write your own script, huh.”

(But, I’m worried that without an immediate script, the members won’t have time to memorize their lines......I feel bad for Tsuzuru-kun but......)

Manager: “What about if you wrote the script for our next play, Tsuzuru-kun?”

Tsuzuru: “Do we even know if we’ll be able to do another play?”

Manager: “T-that’s......”

You: ......

“Tsuzuru-kun, how many hours would it take you to write a script?”

Tsuzuru: “I’m written some scripts before for my studies, but it would definitely take me longer than two hours......”

You: “I see......”

(Should I let write it even with this time restriction? It seems more important for him to practice acting right now to improve his skill.)

(Is it better to make him give up this time around?)

Tsuzuru: “One week......I can do it in just one week if you give me the chance. If not, I’ll back off and practice with you guys.”

You: “Tsuzuru-kun......”

(He has such a serious expression on his face. He really wants to write the script.)

“All right. You don’t have to come to practice for one week. In that time, you have to complete a script for us.”

Tsuzuru: “It’s......it’s alright, then?”

You: “However, if you bring me an incomplete script, I’ll be very upset.”

Tsuzuru: “Scary......”

You: “Of course it’s scary! The future of the theater rides on this. So don’t merely think “Oh I just wanted to write”. Don’t let anything stop you from being self-motivated.”

Tsuzuru: “--I understand.”

Sakuya: “Work hard, Tsuzuru-kun!”

Manager: “Have you decided what type of play you want to write?”

Tsuzuru: “After having watched the original Spring Troupe’s performance, Romeo and Juliet keeps popping into my head. I intend to write something like that.”

Citron: “That’s good! I will play role of captured alien!”

Tsuzuru: “That’s not what Romeo and Juliet is about.”

Masumi: “Are you going to play Juliet?”

You: “Me!? I don’t think I’d be able to do it. I’m only the director. I don’t go on stage anymore.”

(That’s right, I had decided that I would not stand on stage as an actor. I can’t do it. I’m not qualified......)

Manager: “Mankai Company’s actors have been only men since the beginning, anyway. Traditionally, female roles have been performed by men.”

You: “Woah, really?”

Sakuya: “Well, then who is going to play the woman’s role?”

Manager: “For the original Spring Troupe, someone who sounded feminine and who looked good in female clothing would typically take on those roles. This is a problem, huh......”

You: “With this group, I’m scared that if we wear women’s clothing, it’ll look cheap and badly made.”

Tsuzuru: “Leave that problem to me.”

You: “......I understand. We believe you can do it, Tsuzuru-kun.”

Tsuzuru: “K.”

You: “Alrighty - we’ll leave the script to Tsuzuru-kun. Let’s call it a day, everyone.”

“It’s a weekday tomorrow, so Sakuya-kun and Masumi-kun have school, right? We want to make sure you don’t miss it.”

Masumi: “You can wake me up.”

You: “Sakuya-kun, I’ll leave that to you.”

Sakuya: “Yes!”

Manager: “Director, is it alright to let Tsuzuru-kun write the script? Should I at least try looking for the Original Spring Troupe’s script?”

“Everyone else probably wants to begin to read it so that they’re at least familiar with it and......”

You: (That would certainly make me feel better, but......)

“No. It’ll be alright. Let’s believe in Tsuzuru-kun.”

(Tsuzuru-kun’s eyes told me that he can definitely do this. It’s only a hunch, but I’m going to trust my intuition.)

To be continued......

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A3 Character Voice - Citron

Let’s welcome Citron to the troupe!

Citron’s voice is unique in that it is technically bad/broken Japanese, but it still has a distinct written style to it (also I’m 99.9% sure no one learning Japanese would ever speak like he does). He ends almost every sentence with a “ダヨ” (basically, he’s ending every sentence way too enthusiastically, shown by adding lots of exclamation marks) or ネ (a sound that implies that you’re seeking approval or recognition for something while talking. I’ve tried to reflect this by adding a “,yes?” to the end of his sentences). 

Citron also adds random English words into his sentences. The voice actor does a good job of making him sound strange, but the English words are still spoken with the Japanese syllables so it’s not very believable as a foreign accent. 

He also has a lot of puns and word mistakes, which makes my translating life a living hell. But I learn a lot and that’s what matters I guess.

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Act 1 Chapter 5 - The New Troupe Member

You: “Good morning, guys! Let’s work hard today!”

Sakuya: “Good morning!”

Tsuzuru: “Morning.”

Masumi: “......zzz.”

You: “Alrighty - today we will be inviting people to join our theater.”

Sakuya: “Then three people is too few?”

You: “Well, the first Spring Troupe was five people and if we don’t have a minimum of five members, we’ll be restricted on the scripts we can use. So we need to add two more people.”

Tsuzuru: “Having only two leads and a supporting role would give us no choice but to increase the the dialogue for each actor, huh.”

You: “Right? Therefore, for now we’ll increase the main cast to five people, but when it’s necessary I was thinking that we could ask an actor from a different theater company to make a guest appearance.”

“So let’s get out there and gather new members the same way we recruited Tsuzuru-kun and Masumi-kun - A Street Act!”

Sakuya: “Ok!”

Tsuzuru: “K.”

Masumi: “......zzz.”

You: “Please stop falling asleep, Masumi-kun!”

Tsuzuru: “But, is it alright for a beginner to do a Street Act?”

You: “That is a problem......Tsuzuru-kun, you selected this theater company because it offered company housing, right?”

Tsuzuru: “S’right. Since I wanted to be independent, I was combing through Broadway St. strictly looking for something that offered convenient transportation options.”

You: “Okay, so if we search for someone like Tsuzuru-kun, I think that would be fine.”

Tsuzuru: “So by someone like me, you mean......”

Masumi: “A person who looks like a homeless bum?”

Tsuzuru: “Wow, do I really come off like that......?”

Sakuya: “T-that’s not true!”

“Then after that, we’ll look for a guy like Masumi-kun!”

Masumi: “I’m the only guy you’ll need.”

You: “I don’t know if we’ll be able to find someone else as uniquely talented as Masumi-kun.”

“So our target is somebody with nowhere to stay......Ok, let’s set the scene to be intimate and cozy to appeal to the homeless.”

Tsuzuru: “Please stop using homeless to describe my situation......”

“At Mankai Company, I was able find a home!”

Sakuya: “Now we are able to eat a warm meal everyday. Right, An-chan?”

Masumi: “It’s great to not have to sleep in a doghouse anymore.”

Passerby A: “What on earth is that?”

Passerby B: “Their acting is too over the top to be believable.”

You: (Well, the reactions aren’t great, but maybe we’ll draw some more attention this way.)

???: “Daikon!* I see! they mean the Japanese** Daikon radish, yes?”

You: “Huh?”

(A foreigner? He’s attracting a lot of attention......)

???: “A white and splendid Daikon!”

.You: (Oh, he’s talking to me!?)

“Sorry! They didn’t mean that type of Daikon, they meant Daikon as in a bad actor.”

???: “OH- Soooorry-. Beg your pardon, lady.” 

You: (This guys seems too fishy to be a regular tourist. He might be an actor affiliated with another Theater Company. Maybe he’s trying out a new role.)

“What Theater Company are you from? We’re doing a Street Act, so get out of the way.”

???: “OH- Cool Japan really is country that has everything, yes? But, if  I see stripper***, I prefer woman, yes?”

You: “Not strippers, a Street Act! I see through your disguise, so if you wanna do your own Street Act, find somewhere else to do it.”

???: “I am just foreigner passing by, yes? Not actor, yes?”

Passerby A: “I wonder who that guy with the mask is?”

Passerby B: “One of the actors maybe?”

You: (This is bad......this guy is drawing too much attention.)

Sakuya: “Coach, is there a problem?”

Masumi: “Who’s that guy?”

Tsuzuru: “Another Street Act?”

You: “I don’t think he’s an actor.”

Tsuzuru: “If he’s not an actor, then what’s with the clothes?”

???: “In my country, this is normal, yes? If I wear too few clothes, it is very perverted!”

You: “You’re from another country? Are you touring Japan?”

???: “I’m foreign exchange student, yes? Here is the Mecca of theater. I was interested in seeing it!”

You: “You’re interested in the theater? Do you already have a place to live?”

???: “Not yet!”

You: (If that’s the case, he might be a potential new member......! Now that I’ve had a good look at him, he seems to be telling the truth and he could really shine as an actor.)

“Well then, won’t you join Mankai Company? You can live here so you don’t have to worry about where to stay and you can study theater.”

Tsuzuru: “Coach, are you for real!?”

You: “Well, three people isn’t enough to cover all the characters and he’ll leave quite an impact. As long as he can stand on stage, he’ll be great for a worldly image.”

Tsuzuru: “Will he be able to recite lines?”

???: “I will be fine!”

Tsuzuru: “Will you, though?”

???: “It’s good, it’s good. I decide to join Manzai**** Company!”

You: “It’s Mankai Company.”

Masumi: “Aren’t we reaching too broadly by hiring foreigners?”

You: “Don’t say things like that!”

Citron: “I am Citron. Nice to meet you, yes?”

Sakuya: “Nice to meet you!”

Tsuzuru: “Is this really alright......?”

You: “The sun is setting. Shall we call it a day?”

Sakuya: “I can keep going!”

Tsuzuru: “If we keep on going with no end in sight, people will still just walk by.”

Citron: “They say that if it is busy, you must spin. Let’s spin around!”

Sakuya: “H-hey, please stop Citron-san! I’m getting dizzy!”

You: “I think you meant to say “Haste makes waste”. That word can mean “spin”, but not in this context.” *****

Citron: “OH- A mistake, yes?”

Sakuya: “If you made a mistake, then please stop spinning!”

You: “Tsuzuru-kun, how did you search for a theater company with housing?”

Tsuzuru: “I looked at the train station’s bulletin board for theater flyers that were advertising company housing, I also......”

???: ......

You: (Ah, someone just stopped in front of the bulletin board.)

Sakuya: “Ugh...everything is spinning. I can’t even walk straight......”

???: “Ouch--”

Sakuya: “I’m so sorry! I was so dizzy, I didn’t see you!”

You: “I’m so sorry about that. Are you alright?”

???: “Y-yes.”

Citron: “ Soooorry- Sakuya’s miss is my miss, yes?”

???: “I don’t mind.”

You: (This guy was looking at the property information.....I wonder.)

“Excuse me, are you currently searching for a place to stay in this area?”

???: “Huh? Yes, I am. But, who are you?”

You: “I am Tachibana, Mankai Company’s President and Director.”

“Our company offers housing if you join. Do you think you’d be interested at all?”

???: “Housing......”

You: “We have company dorms. We have practice twice a week at night and if you perform, the housing and meals are free!”

???: “The dorm and meals are free?......Is the dorm room for only one person?”

You: “No, the rooms are technically for two people and the bathroom is shared.”

???: “A two person room......I have a lot of luggage, so I’m very intent on getting a one person room.”

You: “Is that so?......”

Sakuya: “I’m living alone right now. There’s only one room left for the Spring Troupe, so why don’t we have that room be the single?”

You: “Sakuya-kun and Citron-kun, will you two will be ok living together?”

Sakuya: “That’s fine.”

Citron: “I am also ok. I adore the Japanese style room, yes?”

You: “Now that they’ve said that, a one person room is should be possible.”

???: “In that case, please tell me more details.”

You: “Yes! I’ll tell you more about the company dorms.”

Masumi: “First a foreigner and now a salaryman......I’m the one actually looking for a job here.”

You: “You need to graduate from high school first, Masumi-kun!”

To be continued......

*In Japanese, a bad actor is called a “Daikon”. This is the same word as the Daikon radish, a Japanese vegetable. Passerby B used this word earlier to describe their acting. Since Citron isn’t a native speaker, he is mixing up the two.

**Citron will interject with a lot of English words in his speech since he is a foreigner, but since I am translatinginto English, you can’t tell. Anything that he says in English will be in italics so that you can tell when he says an English word.

***Street = Strip. They sound sorta similar, I guess? He thinks the boys are gonna strip lol.

**** It’s not in Kanji so I can’t be 100% sure, but Manzai means comedian in Japanese, so this could be a pun as comedy is a form of acting.

*****Citron mispronounced the Japanese proverb/phrase 急がば回れ (can translate to Haste Makes Waste) to 急がば回せって (lit. If it’s busy, spin around). 

[act-addict-actors-blog]

A3 Character Voices/Accents

Japanese will use how a character talks to reflect their personality and I always liked this aspect of Japanese SO with the upcoming introduction of Citron, I’m going to do start doing a quick rundown of how each character’s voices are as they are introduced. In the meantime, here’s a list of the main character’s voice traits so far.

Sakuya- Speaks politely in a very clear Tokyo accent (the “standard” accent, what you would learn if you were studying Japanese)

Masumi- Speaks informally, with very short, blunt sentences. He speaks his mind.

Tsuzuru - Tokyo accent with a lisp (I think) that will sometimes remove the “de” sound from his words. I try to reflect this by shortening some translated words.

Furuichi - Speaks in a mostly Tokyo accent, but will sometimes add a tone to his words that imply yakuza/gangster origins. However, whereas an actual gangster will sound really gruff and menacing, Furuichi doesn’t do that. (Foreshadowing!?!?)

Manager - Flops between formal and informal depending on the situation. Has a clear Tokyo accent. Sounds a bit silly by holding out a lot of the sounds he makes.

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Sorry for the delays

Hello directors-

I wanted to give a big thank you to all the followers I’ve received since I started translating this game. I greatly appreciate everyone and I hope my translations have been helpful.

I wanted to apologize for the inconsistent release of the translated chapters - I have just started a new job and things have been so crazy that it has been hard to get chapters out regularly. I have decided that I will try to keep a consistent, weekly schedule so that I can make sure I have a chapter up regularly.

Thus, I will be posting Fridays at 9pm. When my job has calmed down, ideally I want to speed up the translation rate again, but for now I will keep to this schedule.

Let’s all keep on enjoying the game!

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 4 - The First Step

Sakuya: “Good morning, coach!”

Tsuzuru: “Morning.”

Masumi: “I’m sleepy.”

You: “Good morning, everyone! Huh? Where’s the manager?”

Sakuya: “Breakfast is always at 12pm, so he’s probably still sleeping.”

Tsuzuru: “Wouldn’t that be lunchtime then?”

You: “I see. Well, shall we get started?”

Sakuya: “Yes!”

You: “First, we’ll do some exercises to warm up.”

Masumi: “Warm up exercise?”

Tsuzuru: “Is that necessary for acting?”

You: “To survive a performance, strong physical fitness is necessary. Even if you’re not performing, you need to be flexible so you don’t get injured.”

Tsuzuru: “I see.”

You: “When the warm ups are finished, we’ll do vocal exercises. OK everyone, spread out.”

Sakuya: “Ok.”

Tsuzuru: “K.”

Masumi: “......zzz.”

You: “Masumi-kun, wake up!”

You: “Ok, now we’ll finally begin basic acting training.”

“Since it’s our first time, we’ll make it fun with some simple exercises. We’ll start with some improv.”

Sakuya: “Something like a Street Act?”

You: “Exactly. If everyone can do simple one person set-ups, you’ll be able to do improvisation and acting well.”

Sakuya: “I’ll try it!”

Tsuzuru: “Gotcha.”

Masumi: “......zzz.”

You: “Masumi-kun, stay awake please!”

......

(Sakuya-kun is a little awkward, much like he was yesterday. Tsuzuru-kun seems to be at around the same level - though he did say that he was inexperienced.)

(Masumi-kun is on a completely different level from the other two. I can’t image that he is inexperienced.)

“Ok, let’s stop there! We’ll take a quick break and then we’ll change the scene up.”

Masumi: “How did I do just now?”

You: “You were good.”

Masumi: “Really?”

You: “Yup.”

(Sakuya-kun and Tsuzuru-kun will preferably need to do various roles. We’ll need to identify their specialty.) 

Masumi: “......zzz.”

You: “Masumi-kun, WAKE UP!”

Masumi: “I’m not feeling very motivated.”

You: “Even though I so highly praised you?”

Masumi: “It was suitable, I guess.”

You: “Uh......”

(Masumi-kun is quite skilled, but other than being well-rounded, it is difficult to pinpoint how to praise him.)

(Out of all our current members, he’s our most valuable player and I really want to thank him but......Oh, it’s time to change up the lesson.)

“First, let’s identify everyone’s characteristics and strengths. Try acting out being in a snowstorm.”

Sakuya: “Yes!”

Tsuzuru: “K.”

Masumi: “......zzz.”

You: “MASUMI-KUN!”

(Now who here shows some potential......)

Manager: “Ah, coach. Just who I was looking for.”

You: “What do you need?”

Manager: “I’ve made contact with Masumi-kun’s parents and we have their permission for him to join.”

You: “Really? That’s great.”

“They weren’t worried at all?”

Manager: “Who knows? I got a message from a secretary on the answering machine and she only said a few words......”

You: “Seriously?”

Manager: "Right? It just felt like such a dry response.”

You: “Yeah......”

(I wonder what type of household Masumi-kun has......)

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 3 - Legendary Curry - The Beginning

Manager: “All right, food’s ready!”

You: “T-this is......”

Tsuzuru: “This give a whole new meaning to ‘food terrorism’......”

Sakuya: “O-on second thought, I think I’m good.”

You: “What the heck- has your cooking always been this bad!?”

Masumi: “I’ve lost my appetite.”

Manager: “Please don’t hold back. I have seconds for everyone!”

Tsuzuru: “Well, then I guess I’ll have a bite......”

You: “T-true. If we try to eat it, it could turn out to be delicious! I’ll dig in.”

Sakuya: “Ah, please be careful!”

Tsuzuru: “Ugggggggh”---*pbbbtttttp*

You: --*bleh*

Masumi: “Thanks for the meal.”

Manager: “Usui-kun, you didn’t even eat one bite!”

You: (T-this is terrible. The foundation of the theater lifestyle was definitely the meal plan, but with this disgusting meal it can’t be a perk of joining any longer.)

(What can I do with these leftover ingredients......)

“--I’ll make Curry!”

Manager: “Eh?”

You: “If I make curry, I can use this filth and just add whatever kind of spices needed to make the curry.”

Tsuzuru: “Is that even possible?”

Manager: “Oh, you guys wanted curry? Well then, let me fix that for you and make--”

You: “I will do it!”

Masumi: “You can cook?”

You: “Only as well as any normal person.”

“Also, from now on, I’ll be in charge of making the meals.”

Manager: “I can’t leave the meal duty to be done by our director! You don’t have to worry. I’ll go to the kitchen and--”

Tsuzuru: “Then she can and I can share the duty.”

Sakuya: “Tsuzuru-kun, you can cook too? That’s amazing!”

Tsuzuru: “My parents were always so busy working, so I would make meals for my younger brother. If it’s an easy meal like fried rice, I can make it.”

“But, even if you try to fix it, I don’t think you be able to manage this......thing.”

You: Even so, if it’s curry......I should definitely be able to make it. Hold on a sec.

“Thanks for waiting! All done.”

Tsuzuru: “How did it go?”

You: “The taste is perfect.”

Masumi: “I’ll eat anything if it’s something that you’ve made me.”

Sakuya: “It smells really good!”

Manager: “What kind of curry mix did you use?”

You: “......mix? You couldn’t possibly mean a pre-made, perfectly seasoned curry mix available at a grocery store?”

Manager: “Eh? Yeah, that’s what I mean......”

You: “I didn’t have the luxury to use a mix, you demon! It’s so lazy! Compared to actual curry, this is a sin.”

Manager: “Whaaat? Then what did you use to make it?”

You: “Ok I’ll tell you so listen up. Firstly, you choose a spice to use and......”

Masumi: “Thanks for the food.”

Tsuzuru: “It was delicious.”

Manager: “W-woah!? You two already ate the whole thing!?”

Sakuya: “What!? When!?”

Tsuzuru: “The spice’s flavor lasted for too long, but it was good.”

Manager: “Oh, then I’ll dig in too!”

Sakuya: “Thanks for the food!”

Manager: “T-this is......!”

Sakuya: “It’s delicious! This is the first time I’ve ever had such delicious curry in my entire life!”

Manager: “Me too!”

You: “Of course. If we had just made this in the first place, we could have saved a lot of time and effort......”

Manager: “I’ll take seconds......”

Tsuzuru: “Manager, do we have any shallots in the kitchen?”

Sakuya: “I’ll take more too!”

You: “Would you two listen to what others are saying!”

Manager: “Thanks for the food!”

Sakuya: “Thanks for the food - it was delicious!”

Tsuzuru: “Thanks!”

Masumi: “I wanna eat that everyday.”

You: “Really? There wouldn’t be much variation if I just made curry 365 days a year.”

Tsuzuru: “That sounds horrible......”

Sakuya: “Even so, it’s great that we all get to eat together.”

You: “Yeah, it’s quite lively and enjoyable.”

Manager: “This reminds me of the old company dorms.”

“Speaking of, I have the taped performances of the original Spring Troupe. Shall we watch them together?”

You: “That sounds nice. I’ll brew some coffee.”

Sakuya: “I’ll help!”

Masumi: “I’ll watch you brew the coffee.”

Tsuzuru: “You better only watch!”

You: (So this is the original Spring Troupe......)

Sakuya: “They’re amazing......”

You: “Yeah. The audience even did a standing ovation.”

Sakuya: “Mankai Company really was an amazing company, huh?”

Manager: “The Spring Troupe was so vibrant and in sync. They put on so many performances that they were the most popular of the four troupes.”

Tsuzuru: “Romeo and Juliet is such an old motif to use, but they make it feel so fresh.”

Manager: “At first, I said that if they picked a tragedy as their motif, their image would definitely falter. I thought that they should have another troupe perform it instead.”

“......But the theater’s screenwriter wouldn’t give up no matter what. He rearranged the play to suit the Spring Troupe, resulting in a great success.”

Tsuzuru: “Oh, I see......”

Sakuya: “I wonder when we’ll be able to act like that.”

Tsuzuru: “It seems like a tall hurdle to overcome.”

You: “We can do it. Definitely.”

(We can’t let a theater that made such amazing performances be destroyed.)

(And I can’t let the theater that Dad built up to be put to shame. I must bring it back to its former glory......!)

Manager: “Let’s make it happen!”

Sakuya: “Yeah!”

Tsuzuru: “Well, we have no choice but to move forward.”

You: “Tomorrow, we can finally begin training. We’ll meet at 7AM in the training room.”

Tsuzuru: “Seriously? That’s the same time as my old job at a bakery......”

Sakuya: “Got it!”

Masumi: “You’ll wake me up, won’t you?”

You: “No, that’s not happening! Get to bed quickly and let’s get ready for tomorrow!”

To be continued......

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 Chapter 2 - Sakuya’s Family Circumstances

Manager: “This is Mankai Company’s housing.”

You: “Wow, it’s quite spacious.”

Manager: “On the first floor, we have the lesson room, the lounge, and the baths.”

“Next to the lounge we have the kitchen, so we basically use the lounge as an eating area.”

“There are six dorm rooms on the first floor and six on the second floor for a total of twelve rooms.”

Tsuzuru: “Twelve? Will only the Spring Troupe be using all the rooms?”

Manager: “No. We will distribute three rooms to a troupe. Each room will will have two people in it.”

You: “Are you living here already, Sakuya-kun?”

Sakuya: “Yeah. I’m currently living in Room 101. I don’t have much luggage, so I’ve already organized my room yesterday.”

Tsuzuru: “My stuff is currently being held in a coin locker, so I would like to move in here today.”

Manager: “Of course, go ahead! All the rooms are open, so please pick the one that you would like to use.”

Tsuzuru: “Then I’ll choose Room 102 - right next to the stairs.”

You: “I’ll also be able to live here with everyone, right?”

Manager: “The director’s room is Yukio-san’s old room on the second floor. Please use that room.” 

You: “Dad’s room......”

Masumi: “Then I’ll take that room as well.”

You: “That’s not going to happen.”

“Masumi-kun, since you’re still a high school student, we’ll need permission from your parents to live in the dorms.”

Masumi: “That’s not necessary.”

You: “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Sakuya-kun, you got permission to stay here right away, right?”

Sakuya: “Ah, no, um, my family is......”

You: “Don’t tell me you didn’t tell them!?”

Sakuya: “No, I didn’t......”

Manager: “Eh!? Is that true!?”

You: “You didn’t know either Manager!? What if someone thinks we’ve abducted a minor and are holding him capture!?”

Manager: “Eeeh!? T-t-t-that’s unthinkable!”

You: “...Anyway, your parents are probably worrying about you so please contact them. Sakuya-kun, please tell me your contact information.”

Sakuya: “Ok, I understand......”

You: “Do you think your parents will be home at this hour?”

Sakuya: “They should most likely be there.”

You: “Got it. I’ll try calling them.”

Sakuya’s family: “Hello? Yoshinaga residence.”

You: (Huh? The last name is different than Sakuya-kun’s.)

“Hello, I apologize for calling so late. I am Tachibana* from Mankai Company Theater.”

Sakuya’s family: “Huh? A theater?”

You: (For now, I’ll explain to her about Sakuya-kun joining the theater and him living at the company dorms......)

“So that is the situation. Do you give permission for him to stay here?”

Sakuya’s family: “Will there be a cost for him living there?”

You: “No. Since he being recruited as a live-in member, the cost is included in the welfare benefits.”

Sakuya’s family: “If that’s the case, then I don’t care what he does.”

You: (She agreed pretty coldly. Moreover, rather than understanding Sakuya-kun, she seems to care a lot more about money.)

Sakuya’s family: “Just make sure he still goes to school please. I’ll be the one who has to take responsibility if asked about him.”

You: “Yes, of course.”

Sakuya’s family: “Well then, I think I’ve understood all you’ve told me. Goodbye.”

You: “Would you like to speak to Sakuya-kun?”

Sakuya’s family: “No thank you. Please excuse me.”

You: (What the heck. She sounded so cold......)

“Sakuya-kun, I got your family’s permission so you’re all good to go!”

Sakuya: “Really? Thank god......Thanks so much, coach.”

You: “You’re okay with me not contacting anyone else?”

(The last name was different, so maybe he has other family that I can contact.)

Sakuya: “I’m okay. My parents died when I was little, so one of my relatives let me live in their house. Therefore, our last names are different.”

You: “Oh, I see......”

Sakuya: “I’ve been in their care for about half a year, but I’ve been staying at a friend’s house for a while now so I haven’t gone back very often......”

“This is my first time having my own room. I’m so excited! I’ll work hard as a member of this theater from now on.”

You: (He has some pretty complex family circumstances.)

“I’m glad! If you leave, this dormitory will probably be destroyed.”

Sakuya: “No! That would be terrible!”

Tsuzuru: “That would be a problem for me too.”

You: “Well then, let’s work hard so it won’t be torn down!”

“Next is Masumi-kun. Please tell me your family’s contact information.”

Masumi: “Even though our relationship has only just started, you want to meet my parents......”

You: “I don’t want to call them just to say hi! And we’re not in a relationship!”

Masumi: “Hmmm. OK, here’s my contact information. But I don’t think you’ll be able to reach them.”

You: “Is it better to call at a different time?”

Masumi: “With the time difference and them being so busy, I always miss them when I call. If you leave a message, that should be enough.”

You: “Time difference!? Do they live overseas!?”

Masumi: “Where are they right now anyway......I’ve forgotten.”

You: “Let’s try calling them regardless.”

......

(I can’t reach them......)

(Oh well. I’ll leave a message on their answering machine.)

“I left a message. For today, it might be better if you return home.”

Masumi: “But if I go home, no one will be there.”

You: “Really? If that’s the case, I’d worry about you if you went back alone. Maybe it’s best if you stay here for now.”

Manager: “Only Room 103 is left. What would you like to do?”

Masumi: “If I can’t be in the same room as her, then I don’t care where I stay.”

You: “We’ll be having an increase in the number of new people from now on, so we should try to fill all the rooms.”

Sakuya: “Masumi-kun can stay in my room if he wants.”

Tsuzuru: “That’s fine with me too.”

You: “Hmm, then let’s decide with Rock, Paper, Scissors.”

“Everyone ready? Rock, Paper, Scissors!”

Sakuya: “Paper.”

Masumi: “Rock?”

Tsuzuru: “Rock. “

You: “Ok, it looks like Masumi-kun and Tsuzuru-kun will share the same room.”

Masumi: “If you say so.”

Tsuzuru: “I understand.”

You: “All right, it’s been decided!”

Kamekichi: “I’m hungry. Oi, there’s nothing to eat.”

Manager: “Ah! It’s already dinnertime.”

“Ok, I’ll start preparing the meal. Today is coach’s inauguration and a celebration for all the new members, so I’ll make something for everyone!”

To be continued...

* Tachibana is the player character’s last name (you may remember it when they said her Father’s full name back in the prologue). I don’t use it as a label because you get to give her an unique first name yourself. If people would like me to label the player character as Tachibana, I could change it. Please let me know.

[act-addict-actors-blog]

Act 1 - The Show Must Go On!  Chapter 1 - The Three Conditions

Manager: “Well then, let me show you where the dorms are.”

You: (I came here thinking that I would be able to learn something about my father, but I never thought that I would end up becoming a member of my Father’s theater.)

(And to top it all off, those conditions that we received from that Yakuza guy - Furuichi......)

“Three conditions......what are they?”

Furuichi: “Are you ready? I’ll only say this once, so listen up.”

“One - Have the relaunched Spring Troupe put on a debut performance sometime next month and have their final performance be a full house.”

“Two - Create a total of four similar units within the year by recruiting more people. This will let you put on various performances and be successful.”

“Three - Pay back the theater’s debt within one year.”

“If you cannot achieve all three of these conditions, I will, without question, turn this theater in a burlesque.”

Manager: “Impossible! Everything you’ve said is completely impossible!”

Furuichi: “If that’s the case, then I’ll take the theater sign down right now.”

Manager: “You’re too cruel!”

You: “Having to do not just the debut performance, but four shows in a year is completely unreasonable!”

“And there are only ten months left this year! At least wait a full year for us to--”

Furuichi: “I’m not fucking around!”

You: --

Manager: “Eek!”

Furuichi: “Do you know how much this theater owes? 10,000,000 yen.”* 

You: “T-ten million......!?”

Tsuzuru: “Woah-......You serious?”

Sakuya: “I can’t even imagine that......”

You: “......it’s impossible. We should all just give up.”

Manager: “Director, please don’t say things like that......!”

Furuichi: “Now do you understand? I’m at my limit as to how many allowances I can give you. This is completely non-negotiable. Unless......”

“If you were to, say, sink to a new low in order to pay the debt**, that would be a different story.”

You: --

Masumi: “Don’t you dare touch her.”

Furuichi: ......

Masumi: ......

Manager: “Our director stooping so low to save us......”

You: “What the hell, Manager!? Are you seriously considering this!?”

Tsuzuru: “Ugh no, we can’t do that!”

Sakuya: “What are you guys talking about......?”***

Manager: “N-no, I was only thinking about it . Hee hee-”****

You: (He’s not whistling or anything, but this playing dumb act is getting old......)

Furuichi: “Humph. In that case, there is one more condition.”

You: “......What is it?”

Furuichi: “It’s you.”

You: “Me? I’m not gonna sell my--”

Furuichi: “You will become this theater’s director. This is the last condition.”

Manager: “That’s an easy one!”

You: “Hey, don’t agree to that so easily! Why, exactly, am I needed......?”

Furuichi: “Take a look at that curly-haired piece of garbage there and you’ll understand. If I left this task in his hands, this theater would close down without even having to wait a month.”

Manager: “Ugh......I can’t deny that......”

You: “I was only helping with recruitment for today. I never had any intentions of becoming a director......”

Furuichi: “Running away? I thought you would. You’re the same as your father.”

You: “--What do you mean by that?”

Furuichi: “I heard that while your father was a director here, he suddenly up and left.”

“Even though he was a pretty good manager, he packed up and ran. So it seems like the frog’s daughter is still a frog after all.”

You: --

Manager: “Yukio-san was not that type of person!”

Furuichi: “If that’s the case, why has this theater been put in such a situation?”

Manager: “That’s......”

You: (My father ran away......?)

(That shouldn’t be. He always worked with such enthusiasm. For my father to just run away, that’s......)

--

(He never returned home and when he occasionally did, he would only talk about the theater, even though he never took me there.)

(But, that’s because he loved this theater. And he absolutely adored this theater company.)

(Dad’s theater company closing down......he would hate that.)

(This theater is my father’s castle that he built up himself. This is proof that my Dad gave everything he had to this theater.)

(I won’t let his treasure be destroyed.)

“......If I didn’t run, would you take back what you just said, Yakuza-san?”

Furuichi: “What I just said?”

You: “My Dad didn’t run. He didn’t abandon this theater company.”

Furuichi: “If you are able to truly complete all the conditions, I’ll take that back.”

You: “I understand.”

Furuichi: “To become this theater’s director, you’ll need to deal with all of the trouble this hack has brought to the theater this year.”

You: “Yes. I will be responsible for completing this task.”

Manager: “Yay! Hooray for the coach!”

Furuichi: “Hmmm. At best, do as much as you possibly can.”

“At any rate, they’ll need as much guidance as possible for the performance next month. I’ll come and see the performance on the last day.”

“......Also, my name is not Yakuza-san. It’s Sakyo Furuichi.”

You: “Furuichi-san......”

Furuichi: “Let’s head out, Sakoda!”

Sakoda: “Aye-aye sir!”

Manager: “You’ll be sorry-!”

You: (As usual, the manager’s attitude changes so quickly......)

Manager: “Well~, let’s work hard toward next month’s performance-!”

Sakuya: “Y-yes!”

Tsuzuru: “Are we gonna be ok......?”

Manager: “Anyone who plans to ride this out, prepare yourself!”

You: “How can you be so optimistic? We’d normally have at least half a year to prepare, but to put on a performance next month......”

Manager: “We’ll be okay because we have you, coach!”

You: “Yeah but--”

Manager: “Because Yukio-san left, we haven’t had a director all this time. I’ve been doing everything by myself and I wasn’t sure what to do......”

“But, since you’re here now, it’ll definitely be alright! Let’s all do our best to bring the theater back to it’s former glory!”

“Since you’re Yukio-san’s daughter, I have no worries!”

You: “Manager......”

(I wonder if he trusted my dad this much......)

Manager: “Hmmhmmhmmmmm~ Will we pay our debt of in a year? If we do, we could renovate the theater!”

You: (Even so, I’m not feeling so good about our present situation.)

Sakuya: “Um, the theater isn’t going to close, right?”

Tsuzuru: “Things seem really bad. Can we really do this?”

Masumi: Are you a member of the theater now, coach?

You: (Everyone is worried......As the director, I have to reassure them.)

“I’ve come too far to back out now- I will look after you all!”

Manager: “Coach......!”

Sakuya: “I’m excited to work with you, coach!”

Tsuzuru: “Well, I’ve come this far. I’ll work hard.”

Masumi: “I don’t care about the theater. I’m fine as long as you’re here.”

You: “I’m looking forward to it, everyone!”

Manager: “Ah~ I haven’t felt this much relief since Yukio-san left! I’ll be able to sleep well from now on~.”

You: (Are we really going to make it......?_

(I’m worried about what the future holds, but I absolutely must protect Mankai Company- the theater my Dad holds so dear.)

(......I had said I would try and be responsible but I can’t help it - I’m worried.) 

Manager: “Director, over here!”

You: “Ah, yes! I’m coming!”

To be continued......

*Ten million yen is currently around $90,000 USD. If you wanted to make the ratio 1:1, you could round up and say that Mankai Theater owes about $100,000 USD.

** This is a metaphor that literally translates to “sinking into foam”. While it English it doesn’t really make sense, in Japanese this is a metaphor for becoming a prostitute (don’t ask me why cause I have no idea). 

*** Sakuya doesn’t understand the metaphor, innocent baby.

**** Does anyone else find this whole prostitute conversation kinda creepy? Cause I sure do.