Flag (フラッグ)

The camera has been watching.

The countless acts of human folly and brutality on countless battlefields...

The camera has been watching.

The everyday activities of humanity.

Their little joys. Their secret hopes.

The camera has seen all this, and recorded it.

It has recorded these numerous fragments of time.

In each of these moments frozen in time, we catch a glimpse of the unvarnished truth.

As time marches on, it becomes the past.

But those voices from the past... Those moments frozen in time...

Those individual photographs have been known to change the course of history.

They have also been known to determine the course of a single person's life.

And now, once again, a photograph that was taken here...

...is about to change the world.

Holy Land

Flag

Flag

Flag

Flag

Flag

It has without a doubt become the most famous photograph in the world.

Needless to say, most people didn't give a second thought...

...to tragedies that are unfolding in a tiny, far-off country.

Even so, that photo made its presence felt even in those jaded minds.

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

"FLAG" Photographer Saeko Shirasu

She's the photographer who took this "Flag" picture.

Hey!

You look less like a slob now. You used to wear ratty jeans all the time.

"Careful, now. Don't dress all flashy just 'cause you're kinda famous."

When did you get back to Tokyo, Sempai?

- The day before yesterday. - You've been in town that long?

I first met Saeko Shirasu about five years ago. It was at a little personal exhibition.

Keiichi Akagi

I can't remember what it was of,

...but some girl was standing there transfixed, staring at one of the pictures.

That girl was Shirasu.

Back then, Shirasu had just graduated from photography school,

...and was doing things like working as a camera assistant.

She was having doubts about the pictures that she was taking.

Later on, she even started turning up at my office every once in a while.

Ever hear of Uddiyana?

Yeah, a civil war is still going on there...

Right. An opening's come up in our Uddiyana news staff.

There's a ticket if you want it. Shirasu, you interested?

Yes! You're coming too, right, Sempai? Sure! Count me in!

This ticket would change Shirasu's life forever.

On the day it happened, we were in Subasci, Uddiyana's capital.

Holy Land

The UNF, which had stepped in to put an end to the protracted civil war,

...finally managed to liberate Subasci that day with the help of the populace.

And that's how the flag came to be.

So, I hear you got another invitation from the UN.

- What did you tell them? - I'll think about it.

What's that?

I bought it over there. Isn't it cute?

May I take your order?

I guess you guys don't serve butter tea... I'll have a coffee, please.

After I parted company with Shirasu in Tokyo,

...I went back to Uddiyana, as if I was being chased out of town.

When this photo of the people of Subasci and the UNF working together...

...to hoist up a flag over a battlefield was circulated around the world,

...it was believed by many that this event would spur on a call for a cease fire.

But this civil war didn't prove to be that simple.

Instead of a cease-fire, every corner of the country...

...was now engulfed by smoke and explosions.

The creation of a roadmap that will lead to a cease-fire is already in its final stages.

We expect that within a week's time, there will be a basic consensus...

...will be reached between the local armed insurgent groups and the UN.

I do admit that there are some factions that are opposed to any cease-fire,

...but at the very least, the major insurgent groups have expressed their agreement.

They are using this flag as a symbol of peace.

Has a timetable to reach a cease-fire already been worked out?

For the time being, the plan is to hold the formal signing to coincide with...

...the country's most important religious event, the birth of the reincarnated Buddha.

That is all for today.

By "religious event," you mean the reincarnation ceremony?

Do the agreeing parties include the faction that backs Nyucient Ru Pou XXIII?

I'm sorry, but we've already run over our scheduled time for today,

...so I will answer any questions tomorrow.

What a joke... Everyone was playing their assigned roles to a T,

...knowing all the while that the REAL stage was somewhere else.

Shirasu!

What're you doing here? You decided to come after all?

From now on, I'm gonna be taking a whole heap of video footage, too.

Well, well, I have the honor of addressing the personal photographer to the UN herself...

What's with the attitude?

So, have they told you why they asked you here?

Maybe I really should give this to you...

Top-secret UN files. Here.

It's the scoop of a lifetime. But don't release them.