Haruto Asuka/ETERNAL GOD

A Playwright’s Observation Diary (Haruto Ver.)

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Tsuzuru	Right, once again, thanks for collaborating with me on the play. I really appreciated the opportunity.
Madoka	The feeling is mutual. Thank you for everything as well.
Tsuzuru	I wanted to talk more at the closing party, but the atmosphere made me a little tense, so I could barely get my words out as it was.
	That’s why I’m glad we had a scriptwriter-only party today to celebrate our collab.
Madoka	I agree. I wanted to talk to you as well, so I’m glad we met up again.
	Like I said at the party…
	I was able to learn a lot from you while co-writing “Twin Kingdoms," so it ended up being a lot of fun.
Tsuzuru	I wholeheartedly agree. It was a great experience for me too, and I also had a lot of fun during the process.
	There were so many times you caught me off-guard with your ideas. It was exciting watching you come up with scenes and lines I never would've imagined myself.
	In the end, I pulled a lot inspiration from you.
Madoka	I thought your contributions were incredible as well.
	I can only hope to be as good as you someday.
Tsuzuru	Haha, thanks. I'm a little embarrassed to hear that.
	I hope we can continue to inspire each other as fellow scriptwriters instead.
Madoka	O- of course!
	Although... I’m just starting out, so I’d like to learn a little more from you if that’s alright.
	Could I ask you a question?
Tsuzuru	Err, I’m still learning myself, but I'll try to answer it if I can.
Madoka	Ah, thank you so much.
	So… As an in-house playwright, what do you usually consider when writing a script?
Tsuzuru	Hmm, that’s a good question…
	If I had to say, I probably think a lot about what each actor’s life is like.
Madoka	All of them?
Tsuzuru	Yeah. The more I know about a person, the more roles and storylines I can come up for them.
Madoka	I see...
Reni	Alright, let’s begin the practice session.
Troupe Members	Yes sir!
Madoka	(Minagi said that the more I know about an actor, the more inspiration I’ll get, right?)
	(Hopefully by observing the troupe members during their practices, I’ll learn more about them.)
	(However, it’s kind of hard to focus on all of them at once. Maybe I should just pick one…)
	(Today, I’ll focus on…)
	(Got it! I’ll observe the actor everyone in the God Troupe relies on the most—Asuka Haruto.)
Haruto	For this scene, I think you could incorporate the characters’ relationship into the line delivery a little more.
Troupe Member A	Gotcha, let me try saying this one more time…
Haruto	There you go. Now, let’s discuss the blocking for the next scene…
Madoka	(As always, Haruto is ready to give advice and offer feedback to the other troupe members.)
	(He’s really become the heart of the God Troupe’s practices, how amazing…)
Shift	Haruto! Give me advice too!
Haruto	No.
Shift	Whaaa~ Oh wait! Is it ‘cause I’m so good that there’s nothing for you to say?
Haruto	Don’t even think of gettin’ cocky with me, ya nitwit.
Troupe Member A	Ahaha!
Troupe Member B	Those two sure get along. Haven’t they gotten really close lately?
Troupe Members	Good work everyone!
Haruto	Hey.
Madoka	Oh, Haruto, that was a good practice session.
Haruto	Just now, it seemed like you were watching me awfully closely. What’s up with that?
Madoka	!
	I’m really sorry if I bothered you. It’s just… well… recently, I had a talk with Minagi from the Mankai Company and…
	He told me that in order to write a good script, it was important to observe and understand the actors.
	That’s why I was sitting in on the troupe’s practice today: to get to know everyone better.
Shift	Oh I get it! So it was Haruto’s turn today!
Haruto	Don’t just butt into other people’s conversations!
Shift	Anyways! Since today’s practice ended early, the three of us should hang out, so you really get to know him!
Haruto	What.
Madoka	…! Haruto, please let us come with you!
Haruto	D- don’t look at me with those puppy-dog eyes.
	Argh… fine! I get it! You guys can tag along.
Shift	Yes!!
Madoka	Haruto, thank you so much for this.

Shift	Alright! We’ve achieved the first objective of our mission~ Arriving at the supermarket!
Haruto	What do you mean "our mission”?
Madoka	Umm… what are we doing?
Shift	Hehe, let me explain. One of the older guys in the troupe gave me some takoyaki plates that he didn’t need anymore!
	Oruto loves takoyaki, so we were gonna make some together.
	The catch is… I’ve only made takoyaki a few times before. That’s why, I thought about asking Haruto since he seems like the kinda guy who knows his way around a kitchen.
Haruto	This has nothing to do with Madoka’s observation though…
Shift	Well wait until you hear about this—Our little takoyaki party is officially sponsored!
Madoka	O- officially sponsored?
Shift	After practice, I told Reni about our friendship bonding mission, and he gave me some money for it.
	Mann, I didn’t expect him to do that, but I’m really glad I said something.
Haruto	What!? How shameless are you!?
Shift	But it’s for our sake! Reni thought it was a good idea for us to get to know each other better too and gave it his stamp of approval.
Haruto	…! Well, I mean, if Reni said so…
Shift	Alright! “Mission: Make Takoyaki” is a go! Let’s get those ingredients!
Madoka	Yes, we probably should.
Haruto	Jeez, how do I keep getting roped into these things?
Oruto	Whoa, that’s amazing! You’re really making takoyaki!
Haruto	The dough’s all ready… Now we just need to heat up the takoyaki plates and add a little oil…
Madoka	Wow Haruto, you’re really good at this.
Oruto	And you’re doin’ it super quick too!!
Haruto	Hey, pass the chopped ingredients over here.
Shift	No problemo! Here they are!
Haruto	What the—When did you have time to buy more ingredients!?
Madoka	Other than the octopus and crunchy tenkasu bits… there’s also cheese, kimchi, pollack roe… corn, bacon and tomatoes, konjac jelly…
Oruto	Ooh, pickled plums and natto too!
Haruto	The octopus and sausages are traditional fillings… but whaddaheck is the rest a’ this junk!
Shift	We’re having a takoyaki party! Trust me, it’ll be more fun this way!
Haruto	You’ve got a lot of nerve putting this shit in front of someone from Kansai…
Shift	It’ll be fine, trust me! Let’s start making the takoyaki!
Haruto	Wh- Stop that! Jeez, you really do whatever you want…
Shift	Oruto, Madoka, feel free to fill them with whatever you like too.
Oruto	Gotcha! I’m gonna add this and that~ Then mix it real good!
Madoka	It’s like this, right?
Haruto	You guys too…!? Fine…
	Have it your way, but you’re responsible for eating your own garbage.
	I’ve just gotta carefully flip the dough and… There we go.
Shift	Whoa! You’re crazy good at this!
Oruto	Wow!! So cool!
Madoka	They’re so nice and round… Your handiwork is amazing…
Haruto	It’s no big deal.
	Alright, I’ve just about finished, so now all we have to do is add some sauce, a bit of dried seaweed…
Shift	And shake things up a bit!
Haruto	Now what the hell are ya doin’!?
Shift	We’re playing Russian Roulette!
Madoka	The takoyaki’s all mixed up… We can’t tell what’s inside what anymore…
Shift	It’s more exciting this way, trust me!
Haruto	Count your days.
Oruto	This smells so good! And it looks super tasty too!
Shift	Alright everyone, hurry up and pick one so we can dig in!
Oruto	Right behind ya!
Madoka	It looks good.
Haruto	Fine… Whatever.
Shift	Hot! Hot! Mmm…Delicious!
	It’s still hot, but the outside is nice and crispy while the inside is all soft and tender. Nice job, Haruto!
Oruto	This tastes amazing! Mine had sausage inside!
Madoka	Hot, hot… But mmm, it really is delicious. Mine was octopus.
Shift	Mine was cheese and pollack roe! They went super well together!
Haruto	…! …Sour! What is this!? Pickled plums!?
	It’s not… Inedible at least…
Shift	Ahaha! Haruto, you got it! That one’s my fave!
Haruto	The heck are ya puttin’ in these!!
Madoka	They really are delicious though. It is kind of exciting to try them.
Oruto	Yea!
Shift	Alright, next time I’ll be the one to make takoyaki for you! It’ll be my special recipe filled with all kinds of ingredients!
Haruto	Keep it to ya self!
Madoka	Ahaha!
	(It’s kinda nice seeing Haruto and Shift go at each other like this.)
	(For the next script, it might be fun to write a comedy scene with Shift throwing curveball after curveball at Haruto.)

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