Eighteen Years, to the Sea (十八歳、海へ)

A NIKKATSU PRESENTATION

Number one's a woman?

Kei Arishima, huh? I'd like to see what she looks like.

Education Institution Ochanomizu Seminar Position/Points/Name/School Nae/Desired School 1/ 352/ Kei Arishima /Kushiro Kouran/Pending 2/344/Junji Kiyomizu /Shiroishi/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 3/342/Masayuki Iwata/National/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Kei Arishima, huh? I'd like to see what she looks like.

Education Institution Ochanomizu Seminar Position/Points/Name/School Nae/Desired School 1/ 352/ Kei Arishima /Kushiro Kouran/Pending 2/344/Junji Kiyomizu /Shiroishi/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 3/342/Masayuki Iwata/National/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Cut it out. You can imagine, she's from Kushiro and got the top spot!

Education Institution Ochanomizu Seminar Position/Points/Nae/School Name/Desired School 1/ 352/ Kei Arishima /Kushiro Kouran/Pending 2/344/Junji Kiyomizu /Shiroishi/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 3/342/Masayuki Iwata/National/Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

13 1/142/Atsuo Kuwata/Waseda University Language and Literature Dept.

61/263/Hiro Tokuda/Yuka City/Kyoto University Language and Literature Dept. 62/261/Takahashi/Sakai/Nagoya University, Medicine Dept.

1/352/Kei Arishima/Kushiro Kouran/Pending

Excuse me, I'm looking for a girl in the national sciences course.

Her name is Arishima.

There's no way I'd know her by name in a school like this.

There's hundreds of people in that course!

EIGHTEEN

YEAR OLD

TO

THE

SEA

EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD, TO THE SEA

This beach doesn't really smell like a beach.

What's the beach smell like in Kushiro?

I don't remember. I never had much time to go to the beach.

Well, I figured. You're the top student, after all.

Don't say that based on just a mock test!

Where were you from, again?

I told you in the train, didn't I? I'm from Imabari, in Shikoku.

What about the beaches at Imabari?

I dunno.

I was in Osaka for two years, so I completely forgot.

Why did you invite me to the beach of Kamakura?

I'm the bottom student, you're the top one.

There's not really a deep reason. I just heard that the top...

...can be kinda lonely.

A sea firefly!

Really? Where?

They were used as flashlights, back in the day.

- By you? - No, by my mom!

Used them as flashlights?

You liar!

I'm telling the truth!

She says she sent them to the soldiers fighting in the war!

Sea fireflies, huh?

I've never seen one.

She'd take the fish heads, with the help from local fishermen,

tie them to a string hanging from a bamboo,

and throw them into the sea when the tide was high.

After a while,

a bluish-white mass, of 10, 20 centimeters, would gather around the bait.

A bluish-white mass, huh?

Ew!

When you scrape that off, you find some two millimeter, translucent sea fireflies.

She got about 0.2 liters of them in just 3 hours!

She'd put them in little boxes, and take them to school, and the soldiers would eat them.

You're saying you ate sea fireflies?

No, it was my mom! It's her story!

It's a good one, isn't it?

You're pretty good at telling stupid stories!

You think you can seduce me by telling a story about your mom?

You invited me here to seduce me, right?

Erm, well... If I manage to.

- If you manage to? - Yeah.

But, you know, I don't have any money.

I'm gonna have to refuse, then. I don't really have money, either.

Well, if that's the case, why don't we try having it al fresco ?

Al fresco?

Yeah.

What's that? Some sort of food? Is it a pasta?

Are you kidding? It's not al pesto or al polpo !

We don't have that in Kushiro! In all of Hokkaido, actually! I wanna eat it!

What's wrong? Are you off to eat al fresco ?

Don't say that so loudly, come on!

Hey, stay back, Arishima!

It's better to not get close!

How many times ya gonna make me repeat?!

If you just apologize, I'll let it go. It's just two words!

Say something! Hey!

Out of the way!

Stop right there! Dammit!

- Wanna go again?! - That's what you get!

Where did you come from?

You should at least greet us properly! Huh? Are you gonna ignore us?

We're not kidding!

Give him one more, leader! Get him!

The hell's with that look, punk?!

Who do you take us for, you bastard?

I don't do fist fights.

How about we go into the sea for a game of death?

Game of death?

That's it. It's a contest of death.

One versus one.

Ah, that person is...!

Which one? The guy with the pompadour or the one with the short hair?

The one with the short hair. He's also in the National Sciences course!

Really?

He's always napping in the front row seats!

Three!

Four!

Five!

Six!

I wonder what they're doing?

You're so dense. This is the Kamakura Beach.

And what about it?

Osamu Dazai.

Dazai?

"A woman in a back-alley bar in Ginza liked me."

"There's a time in everyone's life when they're liked by someone. It's an immoral time."

Ten!

"I invited the woman to Kamakura and we entered the sea together."

Eleven!

"The woman died and I survived."

Twelve!

I got it.

So they're trying to see who dies and who survives?

Except they're both men.

Hey.

Show that guy, leader!

Alright, leave it to me!

Leader!

Hey, Ochanomizu Seminar!

You better survive!

Cut it out!

There's two classmates cheering for you!

Seems like I won!

What?!

Hey! He's going to die!

Leader!

Come over here!

He won!

Hey, cut it out! Let's get outta here!

No! I want to see him come back victorious!

Dammit!

Hey!

You bastard!

Put those rocks back. I'm going to check.

The match is set!

Your leader gave up.

Wait!

- Idiot! - Drop dead, you idiot!

Excuse me!

Hey, what were you going to say to him?

I don't know.

Of course you do. Your heart was throbbing, wasn't it?

Me. You. Become. Friends.

What?

I. Was searching. You.

Together. Talk. Eat. Sleep.

What are you doing?

I read that somewhere.

The sun's come up already, huh? And we didn't even do anything good.

Where are you going back to, once classes are over?

To Shikoku?

Nope, to Osaka.

A relative has a factory there. I'm gonna work part-time and go to prep school at night.

- How about you? - I'm going back to Kushiro.

Me. You. Become. Friends.

I. Was searching. You.

Together. Talk. Eat. Sleep.

You think there's anything left from that bonfire?

What the...? Hey!

- Hey. - Huh?

Wanna do that?

- That from before? - Yeah.

Let's get into the sea, then.

It's colder than you'd think, huh? Certain bits of me are gonna shrink!

Will you rescue me if I drown?

That's what decides who wins, isn't it?

"The woman died and I survived."

Are you going to abandon me and run away, like Dazai did?

Cut it out. It's not like it's for real!

So we're just playing?!

We're doing something really stupid, aren't we?

We sure are!

Oh, the water hit my chest! It's gonna shrink!

You're that worried about your boobs?

No, stupid! About the cold!

It's coming to the right side of my head.

Why the right side?

I always get a migraine on the right side.

Do you know what a migraine is?

That's what happens when you study too much!

That's not true!

Ever since I was little, the back of the right side of my head...

...feels like a jet taking off!

That's awesome!

It's not something to laugh about!

Wah! It suddenly got deep!

It got deep here too!

Be quiet for a second.

Hey, there's a small wave coming.

- Be quiet. - What's wrong with you?!

It's gone!

My migraine is gone!

It's like my head has cleared right up. I feel so good!

- You feel good? - Yeah.

So good that I could just gently die right now.

Hey, cut that out! We're just playing, aren't we?

Feels like everything is melting away.

I get it! So this is the sea, huh? I can feel it!

Is this the time to feel the sea?!

Are you alright?