Gekidol (ゲキドル)

Your dream isn't possible!

You may want to save everyone, but you can't do that!

You may want to save the world, but you simply can't!

I won't let anyone tell me I can't achieve it.

Because I--

Because I have--

I have you!

I have you, after all!

Just stunning!

The Theatrical Material System was more compelling

than I thought!

Totally!

Amazing! Theater is amazing!

Actors are amazing!

I want to do it, too!

I want to be in a play!

To act! To stand on a stage!

That was incredible!

I think it went like this.

Your dream isn't possible!

You may want to save everyone, but you can't do that!

You may want to save the world, but you simply can't!

I won't let anyone tell me I can't achieve it!

Because I have--

I have you!

I have you, after all!

And, so, it's been five years since

the Global Synchronic Urban Disappearance.

As might be expected, the large-scale phenomenon

was more pronounced in urban areas,

though here in Toshima Ward, the damage was particularly bad.

So bad, in fact, that it has been called

the Loss of Ikebukuro ever since.

Even now, as government reconstruction progresses,

unexplained electromagnetic abnormalities,

or Auroras, as they're called, have been observed.

Your dream isn't possible!

You may want to save everyone, but you can't do that!

You may want to save the world, but you simply can't!

I won't let anyone tell me I can't achieve it!

Ms. Morino, did you have something you'd like to add?

I can do it!

I'm delighted to hear it, come to the front

and fill in the blanks.

That is what you're getting at, right?

Well, not exactly, but--

Seria, that reminds me!

How did you like your first SMT experience?

"SMT?"

Super Material Theater!

Please don't tell me you didn't end up going!

Sorry, Higuchi, of course I went!

Thank you! For the ticket, I mean.

They're hard to get, aren't they?

Uh, don't mention it. It's nothing.

I've gone tons of times already.

Also, can you please not call me Higuchi anymore?

Everybody else just calls me Mako.

The show was freaking incredible!

I've never seen anything like it!

It was like the characters flew right off the stage!

Hey! Higuchi! Tell me who you like!

Huh? Who I like? The lead was my favorite!

She's so cute and cool, and both her acting and singing

were great!

She's totally amazing!

Do you mean Izumi Hinasaki?

Izumi Hinasaki.

You haven't heard of her?

She's been on TV a lot lately.

She's actually pretty small, honestly.

I didn't know.

She didn't seem small to me at all.

I wonder if that's because she has the stage presence

of a real star.

Do you want to be like Izumi?

Huh?

If you do, take this.

Who, me?

If you really want to join us, you're welcome

to come check it out!

Alice in Theater?

I bet it's just another one of those SMT copycat groups

that keep popping up.

Yeah, that makes sense.

TMS tech is the same, but the actors are always

totally awful.

Mako, is something wrong?

It's just that...

This the troupe Izumi Hinasaki used to be in.

The Izumi?

-- -- Oh.

Hey, Seria.

Sorry, but it looks like we won't be able to come back

to Japan for a little while longer.

Grandpa's health has taken a turn for the worse lately.

I'm sorry you have to be there all alone.

Eloise.

So, Grandma's gonna be in France a while.

That's okay.

I'm glad you can be by Grandpa's side until he gets better.

I'll be okay here by myself. I'm not lonely at all.

Oh! Fun news!

I figured out what I want to do.

But I'm not sure that I can do it.

What do you think, Alice?

"Don't worry!

I know you can do it, Seria!"

I'm not so sure.

"I have no doubt!"

Really?

"Absolutely!

Show me how your dream turns out!"

Still no response from Seria?

Yeah.

You were nice enough to invite her, too.

Change of plans, you guys!

I just remembered I have to be somewhere!

Mako!

Oh, excuse me!

I'm very sorry!

Seria!

Sorry, it was an accident!

What are you doing in this area?

I could ask you the same thing!

Huh? Did I hear that right?

You want to act?

Yeah.

I've never found anything I felt compelled to do,

till now.

This feels like my fate.

Have you thought this through?

If you join a theater troupe, we won't be able

to hang out much anymore.

First of all, you have to understand this:

acting is a special profession where only certain,

chosen people can be successful!

I mean, SMT's producer Takezaki said so!

Oh, I forgot.

You've auditioned for SMT in the past yourself,

isn't that right, Higuchi?

Yeah, but I got eliminated right away.

That brought me down to earth fast.

It was a big-time reality check.

There's no way regular girls like us have what it takes

to be that special.

Especially not a girl like you, who walks around

with her head in the clouds all freaking day!

Not only that, but you have to have tons of training

to set foot onstage!

It's not just talent!

It requires an incredible amount of work!

Maybe so, but I still want to.

I will!

I'm gonna train as much as it takes!

You can't!

Do you hear me? You can't do it!

Motivation alone isn't enough.

That's not how things work!

I'm trying to save you from the pain of failure!

You just need to do what I say!

I understand you better than anyone else in the world,

don't you realize that?

I'm sorry.

I wonder if Higuchi's right about this.

Maybe I was dazzled by the SMT stage.

Maybe I was dreaming too big about something

I could never do.

"I won't let anyone tell me I can't achieve it!"

Because I have--

I have you!

I have you, after all!

Is it my cane?

Uh, sorry.

I call it my cane, but it's also a very effective weapon.

This area can get kinda rough sometimes.

Especially for a young girl as beautiful as me.

All sorts of guys try to latch on, you know?

Who-- Who-- Who do you think you are?

Sorry, I just thought I spotted one of our

troupe applicants.

"Applicants?"

You gave me the flyer!

Kaworu Sakakibara.

I'm resident director of Alice in Theater,

and occasionally an actress, too.

Nice to meetcha.