[Uncle] My views are down.
FIRE VS ICE
I guess my, City gas vs Ice magic, video wasn't as cool as I thought.
Yeah, they didn't like that you were wasting natural resources.
Less views means I need to save money.
[Uncle] This is my last auction purchase.
-What is it? -A piece of history.
It's an issue of SEGA SATURN magazine,
with the final results of a reader poll.
I never saw the results, and now I have it.
COLLECTOR'S EDITION
The hope of one day reading the results of this poll
is what kept me going during my worst days in the other world.
[Takafumi] Something that trivial?
-Takafumi! -What?
The time is right.
The final page of SEGA SATURN's history...
SATURN GAMES ARE THE WORLD'S #1
...is here for my reading pleasure.
I literally could not care less.
Mmm. Let's see, first place…
Huh? Tell me, what is it?
Aah. It's the port of that girlie game for the PC.
Uh, that's kind of anticlimatic, isn't it?
Nah, I can't really complain.
Judging by the reviews, it seems like the ranking was good.
-However-- -[cheering]
It's kinda sad, like seeing a tough street fighter
getting distracted by love and romance, you know?
-[chiming] -[Takafumi] Sure?
-[thud] -No way.
Eh?
[sloshing, gurgling]
[thunder rumbles]
[rumbling intensifies]
[grunting]
It's just, Guardian Hero should've been number one!
It was the first video game
to ever seamlessly integrate an in-depth combo fighting system.
And there was side-scrolling out the game.
197th place?
What the hell were they thinking?
Who are these dumbasses?
-[groans] -[thunder rumbles]
UNCLE: YOU'RE FINE THE WAY YOU ARE
GET HOME
SOLD CHEAPER THAN A SCOURING PAD
[sighs]
At least second place was a SEGA SATURN exclusive, an RPG.
Oof! I've never really liked playing RPG's.
-What? -I liked them at first.
YOU NEED SALT TO KILL SLUGS
But I always forget what I did, then when I boot it up the next day…
WHY DO I NEED SALT?
I never have any idea where to go.
Is that so?
One time, a thing happened in the other world
that was sorta like an RPG.
Huh?
Icuras elran.
-[shimmering] -You stupid orc.
I won't let you destroy our village!.
[Takafumi] What is this?
[Uncle] This was when I first arrived at the village.
Fast-forward, fast-forward.
-[rewinding] -[screaming]
I guess getting attacked on arrival was a common thing for my uncle.
The legendary blaze dragon was recently resurrected.
It was seen at the fire shrine, but it's moving closer.
And the people are afraid that it will burn our village down.
Only the god freezing sword,
which is passed down by our village's Ice clan,
can defeat it.
Problem is, the very last and only descendant of the Ice clan,
is a bit of a troublemaker.
This is Mabel.
Unless you can melt the ice in her heart,
the sword's seal can't be broken.
[breathes shakily]
Mount Marchid.
I once saw powa-powa blossoms on the top of the mountain
when I went there with my mother.
They were so beautiful.
[sighs]
-[whooshing] -[shattering]
[chuckles]
[roaring]
Then I went straight to the fire shrine and defeated the blaze dragon.
But why?
[chuckles] It was a tough fight,
but once I figure out its attack patterns, I managed to--
Not that! Why did you not go get the powa-powa blossoms?
[chuckles] I can't remember that stuff.
Come on. It's not that hard to do!
What? You defeated the blaze dragon?
[sighs]
Thank you so much.
-[Uncle] They were happy about it. -[chimes]
Sure.
-[doorbell buzzes] -[Uncle] Huh?
Eh? I'll get it.
Hmm.
[Takafumi] A SEGA SATURN System bundled with 20 games.
-Takafumi, was is it? -Oh.
Well, it's a-- It's just…
[sighs]
I bought it as a surprise, but we're supposed to be spending less money.
Hmm?
[Takafumi] Here…
What?
[gasps]
[breathes shakily]
[Takafumi] Is he happy or angry?
It's a little early, but happy birthday, Uncle.
Oh, also…
[shaky breathing continues]
Check this out. Guardian Heroes.
[chiming]
Love it.
[Takafumi] Why was I worried?
No SEGA gaming system could be considered a waste to Uncle.
[game characters grunting]
[wind whooshing, whistling]
[shudders] This must be what it felt like
when the aliens took over the city in Alien Storm.
It is eery when it's cold like this,
and no one else is outside.
In other world, the end of the year was way different.
[gasps]
Uncle!
-Curious? -Yeah.
Hmm.
The tagline for Alien Storm was,
"If aliens attacked, would you run away in fear or…"
You played as an Alien Buster, trained by the government.
[Takafumi] I wasn't asking about the game!
What's that, a manga?
Oh, yeah.
I had a hankering to ring in the new year while reading.
Would you be able to follow it after 17 years?
KochiKame never changes.
KochiKame ended.
What? It has an ending?
[groans]
[humming]
It doesn't end in that one.
[Takafumi] So, tell me.
What was the New Year's like in the other world?
It's not in the index either.
[Uncle] For real?
Icuras elran.
It's not a big deal, it's just a little stupid tradition.
They throw a thanksgiving festival to celebrate their deities.
So, they will help them through the winter.
[Takafumi] Whoa. What a spread.
[Uncle] Everyone there gets so excited for this festival.
That would've been nice if I…
All right, everyone. Let's have a great night. Cheers!
-Yeah! -[Takafumi chuckles]
If I could've gotten into the spirit of it all.
[Uncle] But it's not like my personality changed over there.
I ate by myself and went to the inn.
And that's it.
[chimes]
[Takafumi] What?
Oh, the food was amazing. And the chicken--
I don't care! There was a festival, and that's all you did?
-That's it. -What about the awful woman?
Oh, oh. She wasn't there. By this point, she was gone.
[stammers] Wanna play the SATURN?
Hell yeah! Let's play.
-[game music playing] -[Uncle singing] Guardian Heroes.
Guardian Heroes.
[Takafumi] You're gonna break the buttons.
-[game character grunts] -[Uncle] I just remembered.
That icy girl, Mabel, came up to my room that night.
[Takafumi] Oh, with the god freezing sword.
[Uncle] Now, we've got a battle!
-What? -Tell me about that now!
-But we finally got to the next stage. -Now!
Honestly, nothing really happened that night.
-Look. -[shimmering]
[crickets chirping]
MEMORY - SHOW A PIECE OF YOURSELF
Why are you here?
I wanted you to teach me. [sighs]
I want to be strong like you, but I'm so weak.
Oh.
Please teach me how to not to be so weak.
-You're weak? -Hmm?
Who decided that you were weak?
-What? -Who told you?
It was the mayor.
Don't live the way they tell you to.
You have to live the way that you want to live.
-[gasps] -[whooshing]
-[breathing heavily] -[chiming]
Being brave enough to be our truest self, is real strength.
[Takafumi] Whoa. Now that was smooth!
He inspired her.
This must be how you slowly forged a bond with your friends in the other world.
[Uncle] Mabel, what's your life been like?
[sighs]
[stammering] I've just stayed in my room. Closed myself off from rest of the world.
-That sounds great. -[gasps]
-But I, uh… -There's nothing wrong with that.
I didn't care what other people said, I was a SEGA fan.
And I'll stay one.
I used to lock myself away in my room for days, playing my SEGA SATURN.
Forget the others.
It's okay?
Oh, yeah.
[laughing]
[Takafumi groaning]
[Mabel laughing] Yes!
-I can be in my room forever. -After I helped her choose her own path,
she returned to her room.
Ah, and she offered me the sword.
-You can have my god freezing sword. -No thanks. Looks cold.
-Okay. -[cracking]
[Uncle] I didn't wanna carry it.
Anyway… That's how that went.
[chimes]
All right. You want some soba?
Ooh! Hell yeah! Put that hot water on.
[slurping]
[Uncle] Mmm.
What did you do for New Year's when you were a student? Did you game?
[burps] No. I'd watch the It's Okay to Laugh! special.
We didn't normally get to watch it, so it felt cool.
It's Okay to Laugh! ended.
What the hell? Why is everything ending?
Sorry.
Argh. I guess it's been 17 years, right?
[Takafumi] Uh, it only ended three years ago.
Now it feels personal. Those jerks!
-KochiKame ended just last year. -What?
What do you like to watch, Takafumi?
Uh, you may not know it, but it's called No Laugh.
[chuckles] Oho! Cool! What happened to Tamori?
It's not related to It's Okay to Laugh!.
Seems like Uncle watched a lot of TV.
The New Year passed as we gamed, talked, and ate soba with each other.
JANUARY, 2018
[wind rustling]
[Uncle laughing]
That was a really impressive breeze there.
I'd appreciate it if you could keep that sorta thing up today, huh?
-[Uncle chuckles] -[sighs]
[Uncle] Oho, you! You're such a kidder, I love it.
-[chuckling continues] -[person] I'm not walking this way again.
-[Takafumi] Fujimiya? -Eh?
Hmm?
Takafumi?
[chuckles] It is you!
That's crazy!
I, uh, may have frown a little. I haven't seen you in forever.
Yeah.
It's been a while. How have you been?
I'm okay, I work part-time.
Yeah? I'm in college.
[wind rustling]
That's cold.
-Oh, how about you come over? -Oh.
Your place?
Yeah.
[stammering]
I have to drop off my groceries first.
Oh, sure. I'll send you the address.
30 MINUTES LATER
[doorbell buzzing]
[Fujimiya] Takafumi?
-[cell phone beeps] -Hmm.
TAKAFUMI: I'M GRABBING SOME SNACKS.
GO INSIDE WITHOUT ME. THE DOOR'S UNLOCKED.
Are you home?
[door creaks, closes]
Hmm.
Stonagas resto rarbarum.
-[screaming] -[thudding]
[groaning]
Icuras cuora.
[Fujimiya whimpers]
Icuras cuora. Icuras cuora.
Oh, Japanese.
-Spirits of memory, deliver unto oblivion. -[screams]
Takafumi, the enemy… She saw me.
Erase-- The sooner I erase,
-the less it alters their brain. -She's my friend! She's my friend, Uncle.
[Uncle pants] A… friend?
Well, any friend of Takafumi's is a friend of mine. [chuckles]
-[Takafumi] Phew! -[Fujimiya laughs nervously]
-When you said, "hard time"… -[Uncle] I thought she was an assassin.
[Takafumi] For who?
You're actually just taking care of your uncle
who hasn't worked for 17 years?
[Takafumi, Uncle] Mmm.
I'm a YouTuber.
I saw him mumbling to himself like a crazy person.
Sometimes, I talk to the elemental spirits to help improve my magic.
He is insane.
-Yeah, I know that. -Huh?
But he can actually use real magic!
-I can. That's what my channel is about. -[Fujimiya groans]
Show me some magic, right now!
I have over two million views. I can't start doing it for free.
-Right? -Mm-hmm.
He's acting like this is a business.
Just try not to mess up Takafumi's life more than you already have, all right?
Oh.
You have feelings for Takafumi.
What? No, no, no, no, no. We're just friends.
She doesn't. We're friends.
[Fujimiya moans]
Well, that can't be. I know how relationships work.
Because I watched all of Evangelion in middle school.
We've all seen Eva?
Okay, I watched it first.
[airplane humming in distance]
Back then, Eva was sponsored by SEGA.
[Takafumi] It's always SEGA.
Oh, so you know Asuka?
[Uncle] The girl in the red suit, right?
[gasps] No! Uncle will remember her tsundere behavior!
I did you a favor. You're in my debt.
I didn't mean it like that.
It's not like we're going to be "together forever".
He'll realize the elf had feelings for him.
[Uncle] Did you know?
Asuka actually had deep feelings for Kaji.
Oh, I see. Not everyone is emotionally intelligent enough to pick up on it.
[Takafumi] Yeah. Sure, man.
SO SHALLOW…!!!
I've had enough of this.
You need to stop treating real life like it's an anime.
You're right. Here's something real.
There was a girl named Kaede Nanase.
After an enemy removed a part of her soul, she became a different person.
Her affection for me was replaced
with a love for murderous rage in the heat of battle.
In the middle of a long fight, she would become joyous.
Amidst the explosions,
there was a glimmer of her old self for a moment.
[gasps]
Who she killed and what she lost…
It all taught me one thing.
"It's never too early to tell someone how you feel about them."
[Fujimiya] That's so sad.
[Takafumi] I can't believe how detailed he got with that lame story.
[Takafumi stammers] Fujimiya.
[Fujimiya] What?
[Takafumi] He's just talking about a video game.
[Fujimiya] What?
-You're kidding. -No!
It's my real experience with a video game.
That's enough.
[groans, gasps]
[Uncle] Spirits of memory, swiftly delve deep.
"I can't believe he had a roommate. I feel stupid for changing outfits."
-What? -[Takafumi] That's true. You did change.
I didn't change.
-[chimes] -And you took a shower.
I did not.
-[whimpering] -[doorbell buzzes]
Ooh. Who is that?
[Fujimiya stammers] Is he a mind reader, a scammer?
What the hell are you?
Hmm.
A middle-aged man,
who came back from the another world--
[delivery person knocking] Mr. Shibazaki, a delivery for you.
-Yeah, okay. -[delivery person knocking] Mr. Shibazaki?
-Mr. Shibazaki? -Okay.
-He needs to leave. -Mmm.
You should kick him out.
If you're having trouble paying rent, I can help you.
-Wait, you would move in? -What?
-I guess, I never thought to ask. -What? That's not-- No, I…
Ah, no, but Uncle's here already.
[door creaks, closes]
[thuds]
How heavy is this? 15 kilograms?
-[laughs] It's just rice. -Just rice?
How accurate does my signature have to be?
[Uncle chuckles]
[Takafumi] So, I was no longer the only person who knew my uncle's secret.
He seemed excited to let Fujimiya in on it.
Also we should probably stop buying rice online.
There was some sort of murderous vibe in the air, or something.