King's Game: The Animation (王様ゲーム The Animation)

What in the hell is this place?

- -

What's that?

- -Huh?

Nobuaki. Nobuaki!

I want to live,

with you.

Stay with me, forever.

No!

Chiemi!

On your marks. Get set.

The first group of relay runners

is off to a strong start.

Class Four leads, followed by Class One!

And just like that, batons have been passed off

to the second group!

Uh-oh. Class One's runner has taken quite a tumble!

We are so screwed.

I'm sorry, Nobuaki!

- Nobuaki! Run! - Come on, you can do it!

Go, Natsuko!

I've got this.

She's fast.

Whoa! Class One's ace bolts past

Class Four's runner to grab the lead!

Yeah, take 'em down, Natsuko!

You're doing amazing, almost there!

We have a winner!

Class One takes first place in the inter-class relay!

Natsuko!

Now we have more points than Class Four.

Yeah, if we keep it up, we might win this thing!

Time for a group photo!

Please welcome Kanazawa, our new transfer student.

It's a pleasure to meet you all.

Your seat's in the last row, next to the window.

Hmm?

Welcome to the back. My name's Honda Natsuko.

-Nice to meet you. -Honda?

Yup. So, where'd you transfer in from?

Also, can I call you Nobu?

Hey. Look, Nobu.

What do you think, is this a total masterpiece or what?

It's our teacher!

So how come you moved out here to the boonies?

Were there any hot girls at your school?

Hey. Please tell me you like soccer.

So, Kanazawa, were you in any clubs or anything?

Will everyone please just leave me alone.

Oh?

Hey, come on, man. Let's all be friends.

No!

I told you all to leave me alone!

Hang on! Where the heck are you going?

Just let him go.

You guys really can't take a hint.

Hi there, Nobu.

I skipped class too.

So, what's up?

Did something bad happen at your old school that upset you?

Or is it... that you're just afraid to make new friends.

Hi, hi, Nobu!

How about you and me be partners in the inter-class relay!

Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

You just don't get it, do you? As far as we're concerned,

this sports festival is like a big welcome party for you.

As the star of the day, you gotta get out there and shine.

If you're gonna be one of our runners,

I can cut your hair for you.

- Uh... -I guess he is a little shaggy.

Same goes for you, kid.

By the way, I'm our team's ace.

Yeah, Natsuko here is insanely fast.

No matter what place we're in, when I get that baton,

we are totally taking home the gold!

-I can't. -You'll be great, Nobu,

I'm sure of it. Come on.

You know what I like about Natsuko?

She's always so happy.

Sure, but do you think that's real?

She might be covering up the fact

-that her parents were killed. -Yeah, I heard about that.

-A plane crash, right? -Uh-huh, but...

rumor is the whole thing was a murder-suicide.

-Ugh. -Either way, it's so sad.

What? Is that true?

Nobu, we're all hoping

that you'll get more comfortable with our class.

Losing people close to you

is like losing a piece of yourself.

I can't even make friends anymore.

So how come she's able to keep on smiling?

It's been a long time,

but I'm actually having fun again.

Everyone seems to be grinning and laughing constantly.

Things feel like they used to.

I'm starting to feel at home.

- -

No matter how much I hope and pray, I can't escape.

But I already knew that.

I don't have any choice.

-Hey! Hey! Nobuaki! -There he is!

-He's gonna do it? -Kanazawa,

you must have gotten the same text as the rest of us, right?

Or, wait, did you send it

'cause you've got a thing for Natsuko?

No, it wasn't me.

The order's the same as last time,

and so are the class's reactions.

Told you. The guy's pissed 'cause

he's been put in the spotlight.

Oh, come on, it sounds like an interesting game!

If you don't kiss, you get punished,

but, like, by who, huh?

This is so dumb.

Natsuko, you know you don't have to kiss this boy.

Well, I wouldn't mind, just once?

I need you to listen to me!

The King's Game is very, very real.

We're gonna start getting a bunch of orders!

Even if you try to run, you can't escape it.

But, please, no one freak out yet.

If you all will just trust me,

we can confront this thing together.

Damn, Kanazawa.

Didn't know you had such a weird sense of humor.

-I'm not joking! -That's kinda creepy.

Just come out with it.

You wanna to kiss Natsuko, don't ya?

No! The game is real! You only get 24 hours.

And if you don't do what you're told, you're punished!

You could even die! You've got to believe me!

You hear that? None of us are laughing anymore.

If I were you, I'd go back to being quiet.

-You guys. -What a freak.

And we tried to be so nice.

-What was that all about? -I've got no idea.

Everybody, you should be in your seats.

Don't be such a troll. Got it?

Nobody will believe me

if I try to explain it without any proof.

I don't blame them.

We didn't really believe it until people started dying.

We thought it was a joke.

Oh, there you are!

That was a pretty dumb way of telling her you like her.

But if you really have a thing for Natsuko,

then I can give you some help. Just don't make me regret it.

Because the thing is,

I happen to know that she's interested in you too.

So, here's the deal.

I'm gonna give you her phone number so you can call her.

-Can you please get outta here? -Huh?

I'm sorry.

-I was being weird earlier. -What's with you?

Is that how you treat someone who's trying to do you a favor?

-Please, just leave me alone! -You are such a pain.

If I don't obey the order, then I'm gonna die.

But I don't wanna drag Natsuko down with me.

There's really no hope for either of us, anyway.

If we're all gonna die, it might be better to go first.

It's almost been 24 hours.

I guess that's the end for us both.

Wow. The stars are gorgeous tonight.

But you'll miss them if you keep your head down.

-Natsuko? -I've been looking everywhere.

I'm so glad I found you.

Aimi said you were acting kinda strange

when she talked to you today.

Are you worried about what happened in class?

Or is it something else, did I do something wrong?

-Please just go. -But we've barely talked.