River (リバー、流れないでよ)

Water is Life

Kibune Fujiya

My sincere apologies.

The situation hasn't improved much, but he's started.

So maybe by tonight?

Mr. Obata!

You stopped again?

The protagonist's wife died, right?

That's really bugging me.

But you killed her.

I can't stop thinking why she had to die.

Please, just keep writing.

She could have been saved, I believe.

Please ponder that while continuing to write?

- Oh wow! - That’s amazing!

Dip these in your hot pot.

They serve boar meat in winter.

Kibune isn’t just for summer,

winter here is lovely too.

Excuse me, sir.

The bath opens at 3 pm.

Is it cold?

The bath is hot but...

Good.

Oh, Mikoto.

These 2 parties are the last ones.

Okay.

That’s it for lunch.

- Okay. - Okay.

You go eat first then, Taku.

Sure.

Put some rice in the hot pot to finish with.

Another hot sake please?

Sure thing.

I’m done! Thank you.

Just leave it.

Thank you.

Wow, he eats real fast.

You think?

Thank you for the lunch.

Can I have a nap in Chinryu?

Go ahead. Have a rest.

Mind the steps.

It’s freezing!

It sure is.

Well, It’s been fun chatting with you.

So that's it?

Yeah, as we haven’t seen each other for so long.

Kohachi, prepare to shovel snow please?

Snowing?

Maybe later today.

It's a long winter. I hope the electric cable won’t snap again.

Clean room Aoi and take a break.

Okay.

- And check the beer. - Sure.

- I’ll give you a hand. - Oh, thank you!

It’s gonna snow.

No wonder it’s so cold.

You know a summit is taking place?

Yes, I do, in ICC Kyoko, right?

A suspicious item was found in a toilet.

Geez, some sort of terrorism?

It’s possible, right?

The world out there is too shady, right?

Unlike here in Kibune, it's peaceful.

Oh thank you.

Isn’t Fuka on spring break soon?

That’s right.

You must be happy.

Well, sounds like she's got a boyfriend, from University.

Oh yeah?

And she wants to bring him back with her.

That's great!

Not at all! I don’t know what to do.

Just be her dad, that's all.

It's too soon, isn't it?

She wants your approval. What’s he like?

She’s his senior.

So he’s younger!

That’s all I know.

I’m jealous. Take a picture with him.

- No thanks. - Please!

Because you want to see him?

Erm…

I’ll give you a hand.

Oh, thank you.

Oh, It’s gonna snow.

No wonder it’s so cold.

Wow, this déjà vu is insane.

You too?

I feel the same.

Really?

We’ve had that conversation

and we cleaned here too.

Oh my god. Same here.

There’s a strong familiarity here.

Weird.

So, you know about the summit?

Ha! Yes, I do, in ICC Kyoko.

- And... - A suspicious item!

How do you know?

'Coz you told me?

I feel like I did too.

This is beyond déjà vu. It's prognosis, isn't it?

It’s too weird, isn’t it?

Has Fuka got a boyfriend yet?

She has, indeed.

And she'll bring him home.

And you want to see his picture.

Yes!

And Fuka’s boyfriend is…

Younger than her!

Jesus! Holy...

Good god. What’s happening here?

What the heck?

What? When? How?

In a flash. Then we're back.

Time-warp?

By the looks of things, it could be.

Oh my god!

We cleaned, right? We cleaned this room.

We did, didn’t we?

This isn’t déjà vu, or prognosis, is it?

- It happened twice. - Right?

This is the 3rd time!

What's going on?

Ma’am, we’re looping.

Looping?

We cleaned that room twice.

This is the third time, we've been rewound.

Excuse me! Something strange is happening!

The sake bottle goes back to the pot.

Goes back?

I took the bottle out of the pot. But soon it went back.

And it feels cold! How creepy!

Hey, is everything normal here?

Well, it seems time has rewound?

- It’s looping, right? - Looping?

It’s happening in the kitchen as well.

The plates I washed already go back unwashed!

Is it happening here too?

Yes, more or less.

Is it happening to all of us?

Is this some kind of phenomenon?

Excuse me, but something strange is happening to us.

Have you seen Sugiyama? I’m sort of in trouble.

What the hell? Why am I back here?

I was upstairs and we talked!

Calm down, Chino.

Why doesn’t the bottle warm up? Am I daydreaming?

Chino! Are you okay?

Hey, will I be brought back here forever?

Chino...

I'm sorry but I don’t get it.

I was merely warming up sake, then this looping...

Chino!

Panicking doesn’t help at all.

Leave it, Chino.

But it’s done.

But it’s about to go back anyway.

Yeah, but...!

I said leave it. Forget about the bottle!

We can’t serve hot sake.

The guests are panicking, so we need to take care of them.

I understand. Let's go, Chino.

Are you all right?

We’ve been through lots of problems in the past.

When it rained, we pulled up the riverbeds.

We used candles when snow caused power cuts.

Here, we entertain our guests whatever nature throws at us.

Repeating time is nothing compared to that. Time loop? No problem!

There was a time this inn washed away in a flood.

As the original riverbed inn in Kyoto, to honor our reputation...

- Sorry, I talked far too long. - It's okay.

Look after the guests, I’ll go to the main hall.

Okay.

I’ll go see room Momiji, you go Hototogisu.

Understood

How’re you feeling, Chino?

A bit calmer.

What’s happening in Hototogisu?

They're finishing the hot pot and ordered a hot sake.

Room service.

Sure, come in.

Excuse me.

The rice in this hot pot doesn't go down.

We’ve been eating it forever.

It's so strange.

I'm so sorry.

The moment we empty it, it comes right back.

So strange, right?

That's not because of the rice, it’s to do with time it seems.

I mean, time is repeating, by the looks of it.

Come again?

So literally, a certain time passes then it goes right back by itself.

So the rice comes back when that happens.

The sake bottle goes back in the pot too.

You mean we’ll be eating this forever?

In a way, yes.

- I’ll be sick of it soon! - For real?