Narration then
starts discussing faith and compares it as a sort of lighthouse for the
people. It illuminates the way the world is, shines as a way to confirm
how things are, and guides the way one should take. It decides which
way is up and which way is down, which way is in front and which way is
behind. Something that can bring that about can be like the fear and
respect for a higher being that rules over all creation. Alternatively,
it can be the pity and grief for that being’s opposite.
In
time, faith is used to show ideals that exceed and are farther away
than anything now. From another standpoint it can be used to see even
worse realities and to verify your own position. But in any case, it
exists because people use it as they need it as a guidepost. Even if
Tokyo were to change its state for example, layered with multiple
faiths, it will probably continue to exist. And one such guide is in a
certain school.
Narration then focuses on
Umamichi Academy, describing it as a powerful looking school surrounded
by historic shrines and temples. But perhaps it *was* would be more
accurate. As camera tunes in at its front gate as some crow flaps off,
there is a notably different atmosphere surrounding it.
As
the camera focuses on the sign with the school’s name it describes the
school with some expressions. Unparalleled in a fight, far above the
pack. Vainglorious, in heaven and earth. The name of the school is one
the students of Tokyo hesitate to say, a place known as a gangster
school. And for whatever reason, it’s only during Halloween that the
school shows another side of itself.
As the
background changes to add in a bunch of decorations, narration talks
about how the school turns to a festive Halloween mood, again for
unknown reasons. Despite that no one goes in; they just hang back at a
distance. With all the ostentation the school just ends up looking like
some terrifying art piece.
Scene shifts to
its roof, where there is a large, large manly man who looks like he was
born to lead people. And next to him talking to his back is a kouhai
looking beastman discussing the state of affairs and apologizing for
letting out a literary expression. But anyways since the school opened
up to the public for the event they’ve only had around 20 people come
in.
Li Chou says they’ve tried requesting a
collaboration with Daikanyama to take advantage of their popularity,
but what happened is that even less people turned up at the school.
Maria has given Umamichi more advertising though at least. Sanat Kumara
barely acknowledges that.
Li Chou continues
on and says he did think that trying to make use of a popular event to
help the school’s reputation would be tough, so he tried asking for help
from local tourism businesses, temple line shopping streets, and the
shopping district in getting into the holiday. To differentiate it from
Daikanyama it was Li Chou’s idea to add more Chinese style imagery from
Hourai. He then asks what Sanat Kumara thinks.
Sanat
Kumara gives another laconic reply, which makes Li wonder if he thinks
it’s out of synch with Umamichi’s usual image. He wonders if people
around like more guady and flashy styles, which is opposite of what
Shibuya goes for. Sanat Kumara goes “I see” for the third time running,
at which point Li Chou decides to ask if he was just back channeling.
Sanat gets caught at it as he goes for a fourth time before tuning into
the conversation.
Li is upset by the whole
thing as he accuses Sanat Kumara of not listening. Sanat Kumara turns
around to apologize and says he didn’t, only to switch tacks and says he
wasn’t listening to all his complaints. Li’s so surprised by this that
he cocks his head while Sanat starts going into some sports movie mentor
speech trying to fire him up, grabbing him by the shoulders and staring
him in the eyes.
According to Li Chou’s
thoughts, zealous is Sanat Kumara’s default state of being which scares
him. Sanat tries making a point about the reason why Li was made
executive head of Umamichi’s culture fest, but Li can’t bring himself to
say it’s because it was dumped onto him, just like almost all of the
student council work.
Sanat Kumara
proclaims that it’s because Li’s eyes naturally say he can do it, that
he can do more and that he’s still hasn’t shown his true colors. Li
thinks otherwise but also thinks it’s not entirely wrong, which scares
him. He looks away for a second before returning with a serious look in
his eyes and agreeing with him.
Sanat
Kumara declares that Li Chou totally isn’t the kind of man to falter in
the face of adversity and that’s why he got the festival executive role.
Li freaks out about the pressure and compares it to being surrounded by
enemies. Sanat asks if he came to get a push from him, in which case he
should go and kick ass.
Li: EXcuse???
Sanat: If you
are not a Man™ who’d stop here then all you have left to do is to take
the path you think is correct and MAKE IT YOUR BITCH!!!
This
seems to actually work on Li Chou as he says he’ll do it and says he
has a plan for the evening festival after Daikanyama’s daytime festival
is done to turn the situation around. Sanat Kumara then asks Li Chou
about what he’s fighting, which Li is confused about. He drops the point
and tells him to go full speed ahead to that burning red sunset of
youth.
Li can’t help but point out that
it’s nowhere near sunset, but Sanat shouts about how he should be able
to see it with his mind. Li of course is doubtful, but this somehow
works. Sanat Kumara describes it as Li’s passion, the burning flame of
his adolescence! They shout each other’s name and have a Man Hug.
After
they let go Li Chou boasts how he’s always steadfast and a great
authority. Inconveniences can talk to the hand and take his edgelord
greetings. He is a lonesome delinquent that don’t need no lame friends!
No one’s seen anything from him yet, his patience will win out in the
end~! His failure from his old world? Psh, he’s ready for round two!
While
Li Chou’s ranting and puffing up his chest, Sanat Kumara is off to the
side watching him and smiling. Narration talks about how nice the sky is
today and how some fireworks herald the beginning of the festivities.
As the laments about summer’s end comes, so too does the excitement for
autumn’s arrival draws near along with the important events for greeting
the coming winter.
Title card pops up, and the prologue is titled Raise the Curtains! Hard Luck Party Night.
Camera
then tunes in over at Daikanyama, and the dark angel mob makes an
announcement to all the party goers that they’re now restricting
admission. Handouts of candy and such will be happening shortly and he
reassures people that there’s enough to go around. If you get out of
line you might lose your spot though, so please be careful. If anyone
has questions they can ask the nearest angel.
As
the angel finishes his speech, Managarm walks over and talks about how
many people there are and that there’s just enough candy to hand out.
The angel says he’s getting reports that the other angels have their
hands full keeping the lines in order, though thankfully it doesn’t seem
like anything will happen.
Managarm says
that they do have an encore of the previous year’s play and Gabriel’s
concert happening. He laughs saying that if there weren’t this many
people around it’d be weird. The dark angel talks about there being an
evening festival party at another school and asks if it’ll be okay.
Managarm
has heard about the thing with Umamichi, and Maria walks over saying
she brought over extra stuff that Chouji made for the handouts. Managarm
congratulates her on her work and asks if it’d been tough with so many
people. Maria answers that it is hard, but it’s worth doing if everyone
is enjoying themselves. The concert and play are moving along as
planned, and Maria says she also will be helping with the night
festival.
Managarm asks if it’s really okay
to be doing so given Umamichi’s reputation. There’s also rumors about
them trying to take advantage of Daikanyama’s popularity. Maria says
it’s fine and says their planning committee is plenty motivated, so she
feels it should turn out great. She’s looking forward to it too for that
matter.
Managarm decides that if she’s
okay with it then so can he. The dark angel reports that he’s gone to
meet with you guys and says the gang told him you’re already at
Umamichi. Maria is mildly surprised and wonders if you’re having fun at
the moment. For now though she says everyone should do their best so
they can proudly pass things over to Umamichi.
Narration
picks up to talk about how you went into the opposite direction from
Daikanyama’s festival and tunes the camera in at Umamichi’s front gate
where you ended up after following a map. You comment on reaching it and
its decor, saying you thought a temple had decorated for Halloween. No
one else seems to be around, but a dust cloud kicks up as a voice calls
out to you.
Hanuman runs over to greet you
and lays it on thick with stereotypical ninja speak, and you greet him
back. Hanuman then talks about how novel and sort of embarrassing it is
to show you around His School. It’s his only chance to show you his
school’s culture festival though, so he’ll be sure to escort you. You
can talk about how novel it is to see him in uniform, say you always
thought he was a Shinjuku student, or say he looks cute in a uniform.
Going
B, Hanuman realizes he’s never mentioned it before and tells you he’s a
middle schooler at Umamichi. He does realize he spends a lot of time at
Shinjuku and weakly claims he studies like he’s supposed to. But in any
case he’s happy you came. Everyone said they’d be going to Daikanyama’s
festival so he thought no one would be able to come over to here. You
can say you wanted to see his school, say everyone will be coming later,
or say you overslept.
Going A, Hanuman
says he’s ready to cry happy tears over that. He heard everyone will be
coming by tonight so he’s super excited. But in any case he urges you to
come in so he can start the tour, and you take him up on the offer.
As
you step through the gate you comment on how authentic things look and
how it feels like it’s a festival from another world. Hanuman says
you’ve got discerning eyes to have noticed and says that was the goal of
the exec committee. The decorating might have gone a bit overboard
though. You look around and notice stalls have been set up too, but no
one looks to be around whether they be visitors or students.
You
comment on the lack of people, so Hanuman admits that most of the
students are truants. Everyone’s probably skipped out, frankly. They all
like festivals and the sort, but since no one really comes to visit
they figure they may as well wander off themselves. Hanuman also brings
up that he was planning as dressing up as Wukong, but everyone leaving
depressed him to the point he didn’t go through with it.
Since
you’re here though Hanuman says he’s happy about that again. He’s also
sure his friend in the committee will be too. That said he does feel
like there’s even less people around than last time. Around that time
your phone rings, and it’s a call from Shirou.
Shirou
yells into the phone asking if you can hear him since it’s loud where
he is. He also asks if you’ve met up with Hanuman and that he’s finally
been let in after waiting in line all morning. He plans on coming over
after he sees Maria, then stops for a second to apologize for stepping
on someone’s tail.
But back to the phone
call, Shirou says it’ll probably be a while. He got separated from
Ryouta and the others in the meantime. For now though he asks you to
pass on his apologies before he has to abruptly end the call. Hanuman
hopes Shirou will be alright. You compare the noise level with an
amusement park, comment that popularity may be its own problem, or
comment on the extremes between here and there.
Hanuman
shrugs it off and says that since you’re here, he’s sure everyone else
will be along later. He then gets the idea to introduce you to one of
his kouhai, who he describes as kind of extreme but fun. They’re also
supposed to be greeting people by the gate so they should be close by.
Hanuman
looks but doesn’t see then, so he wonders if they went to use the
restroom. At that point engine sounds rev up as another dust cloud kicks
up. A cheerfully bright and strangely murderous voice calls out as
someone appears, and an androgynous Overly Lively Student turns up
talking about how their Stronger Than Me Sensor picked up on something.
You
are taken aback by this arrival and can express huge shock over a
gakuran skirt. This new student (who uses ‘ore’ by the way) is laughing
and making engine noises with their mouth as they say no one can escape
them as they zip around at top speed. Hanuman notices they’ve gotten
into one of their moods and tells Nezha to stop already. Nezha takes
note and does an emergency stop.
Nezha then
says they won’t come to a standstill in time and leaves whatever
happens to Hanuman, who isn’t happy to hear this. Nezha crashes into
Hanuman and seems relatively unconcerned, more or less sure that Hanuman
can walk this off. Hanuman turns out to have dodged the crash as he
lands back down from his jump. Nezha laughs it off while Hanuman notes
with some sadness that they don’t seem repentant about this.
Narration
points out that Nezha is laughing things off as if Hanuman were talking
about someone else. They then ask why he stopped them. It’s a special
day today so they have to greet (re: ambush) the really strong people
right. Hanuman scolds them saying they shouldn’t do it like that and
calls them a battle maniac.
Nezha laughs
some more talking about how they’re the strongest and that they want
other people to know. Just don’t mind the fact that there’s still plenty
of people around they haven’t conclusively settled things with yet, tee
hee.
Nezha finally takes a look at you and
sees your uniform, which they interpret to mean that you’ve come to
raid the place. They’ve heard there’s lots of strong people at Shinjuku
too so they’re so down for a brawl. Hanuman yells for them to stop and
calm down so he can explain what’s up.
Scene
shifts to a hallway in the school as time skips to after that
explanation where Hanuman gets around to properly introducing Nezha, his
kouhai. They greet you, and you can either greet them back, comment on
how there’s so many hot blooded people around, or wonder if Nezha is why
no one visits. Going A, Nezha suggests beating on each other later on,
somewhere in secret where Hanuman won’t stop you guys.
Hanuman
says things turned out just like you thought they would. He also says
there’s a lot of mischievous students at Umamichi. It’s a bit scary
compared to other schools, and he feels that the reputation it has has
some truth to it. That said he still feels everyone is a good person if
you get to know them. You either comment on the rumors, the newness of
Hanuman being a senpai, or drool over the gakuran skirt.
Going
A presumably skips ahead to things where Nezha asks about your strength
and how they could tell. In fact they say you’re as strong as several
tens of Chinese dragons. Whenever they see any they get this urge to
smash them. Hanuman tells them to stop saying dragons would be one
thing, but he does understand the bit with oriental dragons.
You
ask about this differentiation between different types of dragons.
Nezha explains it as dragons (竜) being the strong ones who were chased
out of the world while the other kind of dragons (龍) are the strong ones
who rule over worlds. If they were to get into a fight with any though,
there wouldn’t be much of a difference, so they don’t bother making
one.
On that note Nezha invites you to
play. They start talking about how wars are determined by number of
people and that it’s their role as the strongest and fastest to thin
things out. It’s why they want to destroy things when they see any side
with too many people, which they want to do with you. As they look at
you with rapt attention the artifact on their arms and legs make some
high pitched noise.
Nezha pesters you for
an answer, and Hanuman tries to stop them in alarm as he says you don’t
look like a Chinese dragon by any stretch of the imagination. He also
calls you an important playmate and threatens to not play with Nezha if
they pick a fight with you. Nezha whines in response since they don’t
want that to happen.
Nezha then talks about
how strong Hanuman is and that they’ve never beaten him in all their
battles. They then ask that if you’re his senpai, does that make you
stronger than him by definition? You either say you’ve never won against
him in a game, say you won’t have a reckless battle with him since he’s
important to you, or brag that you don’t intend on losing to Hanuman
either.
Going A, Nezha agrees and says they
never won in that respect either despite how hard they’ve tried. They
then decide this makes you guys rivals. In any case Hanuman is glad
Nezha likes you, figuring your strength means that wouldn’t have been an
issue.
Nezha asks where Hanuman is going
to go and whether they can come along since greeting time is over.
Hanuman tells them about showing you around, then thinks it’d be an
issue to leave Nezha hanging around to try picking a fight with someone
else. He asks if you’re okay with having them along. You either say yes,
say he has it tough, or say things are looking rough here too.
Going
A, Nezha cheers and offers to give you a piggyback ride if you can’t
keep up with their speed before making more engine noises. Hanuman tells
them to not go full throttle inside the building or else they’ll break
the windows again. He sighs over their shortsightedness.
But
anyways Hanuman says it’s a senpai’s job to look after a kouhai who
seems to be in danger and talks about trying to be like That One Bancho
around. And that’s where the episode half ends.
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