Twitter Specials/2019
Reflective Columns
These articles were written by freelance writer Tamao to celebrate A3!'s 2nd anniversary.
Click here to view the original Spring column.
Sakuya Sakuma ― A Place Where Flowers Bloom
The first time the protagonist visited MANKAI Company, the only troupe member was Sakuya Sakuma. He had been living with relatives because he lost his parents at a young age, but had no place to call home and was lonely. When he was in primary school, he encountered "theatre". Although he was clumsy and constantly experiencing failure, plays were a place where the actors in their roles could stand with their heads held high; for him, who lacked even a place to feel comfortable, that became his dream and his aspiration.
Like that actor I saw that day—I wanted a role that I could perform proudly; a place to belong that I could claim as my own.
Yet in the very first proper troupe he joined, he took on the roles of lead actor and troupe leader, positions with responsibilities that would intimidate even adults. The play he made successful there was the Reborn MANKAI Company's debut play, Romeo & Julius. "Romeo", the role he worked desperately hard to create, became a Romeo that nobody else could play.
Sakuya-kun always tries his best at whatever he puts his hand too. Looking straight at his dreams and his companions with those pure eyes, he has the sort of resilience that refuses to crumble, no matter how high a wall it meets. I think he's like a cherry blossom flower, melting the hearts of those he meets and bringing a smile to their faces. He is not "lacking"; rather, he is a person with the potential to become anyone. The larger his dreams, the stronger the bonds with his friends, the more he makes you feel that he can reach tremendous heights.
Masumi Usui ― To Become an Adult
Masumi Usui decided to enter MANKAI Company after falling for the Director at first sight. Although he has slightly impure motives, he doesn't hide his feelings and (even now!) continues to declare them openly. Keeping separate from everyone and following his own path, he wasn't able to get along well with the others at first. His wish to "quickly become an adult" was born from his desire to make his love come true, but he might have thought he'd be able to live alone even after becoming an adult. What changed him just a little was acting and his companions in the Spring Troupe.
I'd never felt that way before.
Once you become an adult, you can live even without friends or family; however, loneliness and solitude can only be buried with love. Friendship, camaraderie and family - there are many different forms of love. Even if you can't always be together, even if you can't always get along, if you can understand each other's feelings, I think your hearts won't grow cold. Perhaps learning this sort of thing is a step towards becoming an adult.
Masumi-kun was the lead actor in the Spring Troupe's Second Play: Boy Alice in Wonderland. While he was clumsy in a sense, I feel that this play he made successful by overcoming problems together with him helped him to grow a lot on his journey up the stairs to adulthood.
Tsuzuru Minagi ― The Key to Reuniting Someday
Tsuzuru Minagi is the third son of a family of ten boys. Surrounded by a large family, he was caught up in caring for everyone and ended up putting off his dream of becoming a playwright. But I think that all the meetings and experiences he built up enabled him to write; there was a reason he is where he is now.
Even after he became the playwright for the troupe, there was still something on his heart: the precious friend he had separated from. The play he wrote while reflecting on that was the Spring Troupe's Third Play, The Clockwork Heartbeat.
......Thanks. I'll be waiting.
The feeling of "faith" might be stronger than any other. If you continue to believe that you'll reach your dream, someday that might come true, and you can even go search for the treasures you've left behind in the past, trusting that they're out there somewhere. I think that faith could be considered the reluctance to let go of a possibility.
Joy and happiness, pain and tears; he continues to put the feelings stored up in his heart into words and create stories out of them. And I'm sure that in his heart he is carefully storing the key to open his treasure - trusting that someday he will once again reach that hand.
Chikage Utsuki ― The Charlatan's Tears
In MANKAI Company's second spring, Chikage Utsuki became a new companion. Genial and courteous, he caused no trouble and got along with those around him, but his reason for joining the troupe was to exact revenge on a certain person. He acted in the crucial time period just before the start of the play run. Even so, his friends chose to trust not in his actions but in the heart and core of "Chikage Utsuki" the person, and continued to wait for his return. And when he came back having clearly lost his purpose, they smiled and welcomed him back without asking anything.
I suppose I’m also a fool... I’ve become just like him.
He returned to his companions and participated in his first play, the Spring Troupe's Fifth Play: The Wonderful Charlatan of Oz. This line he delivered on-stage was part of the script, but I feel that the words are from his heart too. Up until then, he hadn't truly faced anyone in the company, but this was the first time he faced his companions without guile. Perhaps everyone's love and the tears the ex-charlatan shed had melted his frozen heart.
I think people who can hold strong emotions like hatred and fury are also capable of loving deeply. Although he continues to act as unaffected as ever, I hope that heart of his is now overflowing with warmth.
Citron ― Across the Ocean
In the Winter Troupe-centric Part Two, Act 8 of the Main Story, Citron's true identity came to light. There were been several hints leading up to that, but it turned out he was an important person from a distant country across the sea, not an exchange student. And for a certain reason, he had to return to his homeland.
Looking back on it, while Citron seemed to joke around and say light-hearted things all the time, he'd relax the air when someone was facing a problem and never show everyone that he was troubled. I know that it's because he truly feels that 'being able to be with everyone is a joy'. The fact that he continued to stay here instead of travelling around the world seeking freedom as he was supposed to is proof of that.
But those plans all went up in smoke. Because I met MANKAI Company....
For Citron, plays allow him to become anyone he likes simply as "Citron" instead of an important figure; they allow him to go anywhere he likes. But since he is a deeply caring person who cannot betray the responsibilities and expectations he has been given, he won't forget about the important things far across the ocean and will continue to love them just as much as his friends.
"Even when you're apart, you're connected." ―― These are the words Citron spoke to Tsuzuru during the third play. I think that invisible things like bonds, care, and love are eternal as long as they are in your heart.
Itaru Chigasaki ― The Things I Love, With the People I Love
On the surface, he's an elite, handsome office worker. But in truth, he's a hard-core gaming addict. The reason he entered MANKAI Company was for the personal conveniences of free accommodation and meals attached. Once you get to a certain age, it becomes reasonably difficult to "change". Itaru, too, stopped hiding his "dry self" in front of everyone and seems to like games most as always, so perhaps he was always like that. But what made that difficult to say for sure was the stage adaption he played the lead role in, the Spring Troupe's Fifth Play, Knights of Round IV THE STAGE.
That's why even if, in the worst case, I have to stop streaming from now on, it's not an issue. I already have all of you.
——— Itaru Chigasaki (Knights of Round IV THE STAGE, Episode 7)
Due to a certain event that happened in high school, he stopped forming deep connections with people and came to develop an external and internal persona. That's why game streams, where he can show his true self and talk about what he likes, were important to him, but he said that since he has everyone now, it's okay if he loses that. Listening to that, I understood just how important everyone had become to him.
When you listen to somebody talking about what they love, you get happy and enjoy yourself too. That might be because the extent of their love is being conveyed to you. This is why I think that what moves us in the audience most might be the plays performed by people who love acting from the bottom of their hearts. For Itaru, who led the perfect creation of a play like that, what he loves most might no longer be games, but the many people right beside him.
Spring Troupe ― The Show must go on
Please make our talent blossom, Director!
I've introduced the troupe members in conjunction with the Spring Troupe's first through fifth plays, but what I thought was really nice as I was rereading the story was that when one person stumbled, another would definitely come to their aid. Of course, all troupes create plays while helping each other out like that, but when the Spring Troupe that we all know was formed, there were only five members in the whole company.
Their tastes and personalities are so different that it's hard to think they'd have come to know each other without MANKAI Company; to put it more strongly, even if their schools and workplaces were all the same, it's hard to imagine them becoming friends. On top of that, not a single one of them had acting experience. So while they struggled a lot, you feel that it's because they overcame those hardships together that their bond has grown to become like that of a family.
Sakuya said so too, but even if a play seems to have gone well, not a single one has been smooth sailing from beginning to end. During the debut play, they struggled with acting and brought their mattresses together, saying, "if we don't understand plays, let's all try sleeping together on the stage!".
After resolving the incident with Chikage in Part Two, they slept on the stage together again, this time with him and the pain he had held in his heart.
Throughout these two years, there have been many incidences where someone has tripped or halted. Even so, "The Show must go on" -- No matter what, the show can't end; it must continue. Without giving up on acting, the Spring Troupe stood together and strengthened their bonds even in the midst of a companion's crisis, connecting their dreams on-stage.
There is still much more for these actors to work on; even now, they are coming across countless trials and difficulties. Changing those into greater creative stimuli is a characteristic of the theatre called MANKAI Company. And I believe the Spring Troupe is comprised of the irreplaceable members who laid those foundations at the start. Those scattered people clustered together in one place, fumbled on from a place which had nothing, tended to the soil, and created a place for a multitude of flowers to bloom. In that sense, they are incredibly special.
As long as the flowers live, they will bloom over and over again. As long as there is a stage, as long as there are actors there, the show won't end. And so I'm looking forwards to the time someday when the Spring Troupe fills the world with flowers.
Click here to view the original Summer column.
Tenma Sumeragi ― 太陽に向かって
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I already asked you to follow me, you know.
Yuki Rurikawa ― 誇り高く美しく
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――Nyatsugumi Troupe, fight―! Nya―!
Misumi Ikaruga ― 完璧なさんかく△
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(Dear big triangle star in the sky, I hope I can light up fireworks with everyone too next yearーー)
Muku Sakisaka ― いつか王子様に
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...He would get the treasure by all means.
Kumon Hyodo ― サヨナラゲーム
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I’m fine...! I can keep going! Let me keep going!
Kazunari Miyoshi ― いま、一番大切なもの
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(Not for my future. What do I want to treasure most right now?)
Summer Troupe ― 弱さを乗り越えた先にあるもの
You are the first person to accept my weakness.
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Click here to view the original Autumn column.
Banri Settsu ― 勝者の孤独
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"—For the first time in my life, I found something I could get serious about."
Omi Fushimi ― その瞬間を、永遠に
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Now, I love the Autumn Troupe and everyone in the company just as much! I'll become strong for everyone!
Sakyo Furuichi ― 本当は、ずっと
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——Let’s go, all of ya!
——— Sakyo Furuichi (Tales of Chivalry: Ginji the Wanderer, Episode 9)
Juza Hyodo ― 静寂の炎
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Love? Isn’t that just what it is?
——— Juza Hyodo (Tales of Chivalry: Ginji the Wanderer, Episode 8)
Azami Izumida ― トゲだらけのつぼみ
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This is my “portrait”—.
Taichi Nanao ― 愛されたかった小さな花
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MANKAI Company’s... Autumn Troupe’s Nanao Taichi!
Autumn Troupe ― 不器用な少年たち
Finally I found something rewarding... it's your fault!
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Click here to view the original Winter column.
Tsumugi Tsukioka ― 過去と未来を紬ぐ糸
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I want to do more. I don’t want this to be the end. I want to stand on stage with these members again and again.
Homare Arisugawa ― 誉れ高き詩人
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I still don’t understand people’s feelings. However, I can put myself in people’s shoes. And that is fine with me.
Azuma Yukishiro ― 東雲の空、色づく世界
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“Good night...and sweet dreams.”
——— Azuma Yukishiro as Reo (Nocturnality, Episode 10)
Hisoka Mikage ― 密やかな月影
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...I’m going to put an end to this lost memory.
Guy ― 天涯の花の色
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I want to act again. I want to experience that moment where my heart trembles, and emotions well up from the my very core, forever.
Tasuku Takato ― その剣豪が丞くのは
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“To earn a place to die... To be judged as somebody worth dying!”
——— Tasuku Takato as Musashi (Die by the Sword, Episode 10)
Winter Troupe ― 遠けれど近く、儚くも強く
I wanna be on this stage. I can't think of anything else.
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MANKAI Company Stage Memories 2018
These messages are from a video released as part of the 2nd anniversary celebratory campaign.
| Spring: Happiness visited them again | |
| Summer: They overcame with their close-knit bonds. | |
| Autumn: They held a dream and became independent. | |
| Winter: They found their most captivating selves. | |
| Thanks for a full house! 9 plays were performed! What are the memories that were created during these plays...? |
| Chikage | Honestly, at first I'd thought you an intrusive and annoying bunch. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. When I was overflowing with emotion and couldn't control it, too...I'm grateful that everyone in the Spring Troupe supported me. |
| Sakuya | I was really happy that you came to genuinely face me. If something happens, we'll support you as many times as you need! After all, we're family. |
| Chikage | Thanks, Sakuya. ...Now this is a home that nobody can steal from me. Let's keep getting along as members of the same family. I won't lose the coin toss battles either, okay? |
| Kumon | The continuation of the dream I'd thought lost was there on the stage! I'm glad I was able to act with everyone until the end~. Tenma-san, sorry for making you worry so much. Thanks for all your encouragement! |
| Tenma | You pushed me forward too. We'll help you as many times as you need. You've got the best companions in the Summer Troupe. Besides, there's no better leader than me! |
| Kumon | Tenma-san, so cool! I want to stand more on stage and become much, much, stronger...! I want to act lots with everyone, encourage the audience with our comedy, and cheer them up! |
| Azami | I gained a lot of experience from the guys in the troupe, and was able to find a new dream...I started acting without meaning to, but I found many things through that runaway experience. |
| Banri | Your portrait wasn't bad, you know? Your excessive boldness is suited for the Autumn Troupe. I'll keep teaching you what's fun about acting, so I'll be counting on you for the make-up and beauty stuff that's foreign to us. |
| Azami | Sure. I plan to keep instructing you in it from now on too. Don't you slack off on your skincare either! I'll accomplish both my make-up and my acting dreams. I won't do things halfway. I'll brace myself and live as my own person. |
| Guy | I want to thank you. I'd given up, thinking androids couldn't understand human emotions. Thanks to everyone, my memories, emotions....my precious friend, and my own self - I was able to take back all of these. |
| Tsumugi | We were happy coming to see different sides of you while we were creating the play together as well. We were glad that you said acting and spending time with us was fun. |
| Guy | Just as my meeting with Citronia was special, my meeting with everyone in the Winter Troupe has also become special to me. The moment when my heart is moved like that, and emotions well up in me from the depths of my chest...I want to experience it over and over again. |
| Itaru | Being able to be involved with "KniRoun", something so precious to me, and be acknowledged by my idol....It still feels like a dream. Being able to convey the excitement of that journey that captivates anyone on it, too. |
| Chikage | It was a challenge that made you willing to have the sole place you could shed your outer self destroyed, huh. I think we were able to show the "KniRoun" that could only be portrayed on stage because you were the leader. |
| Itaru | Yeah. Precisely because I had my own fixations and ideals, I'm proud that I dragged everyone in and worked hard. I'm really glad...that I could create our own version of "KniRoun" with everyone I trust in the Spring Troupe. |
| Kazunari | Being honest about our own feelings and treasuring "now, this moment" over the future's "someday"! Thanks for pushing me forward so I could make a choice I won't regret, Sumi! |
| Misumi | You're my special, important friend. That's why I'm glad you could smile properly~. Let's watch the summer's big triangle star while doing fireworks with everyone again next year! |
| Kazunari | OFC ☆ Devoting myself to the acting I love with everyone I love...I wanna work even harder from now on! I'll carve out the path to becoming the UMC that nobody's become before with my own hands ♪ |
| Taichi | The dream of 'lead actor' I'd thought was far ahead of me suddenly dropped into my hands; I was honestly troubled and anxious. But everyone I love in the Autumn Troupe recognised me as lead...I was really happy. |
| Azami | I was happy when you resolved things too. And standing in the role of the co-lead supporting the lead was fresh. Besides, your very first lead role...it's good that you could show that person, isn't it. |
| Taichi | A-A-chan! That subject is...! But I've still got to aim higher and work harder! I'll work hard, polish myself, and become a super popular actor~! As MANKAI Company's Taichi Nanao! |
| Tasuku | I want to stand on stage with companions I can trust while aiming for the stars as an actor. This was the play where I realized I'm not just here to repay my debt for being picked up. |
| Guy | I played Kojirou as best as I could, but...acting next to you, I was made painfully aware if my own shortcomings. I want to grow with each play from now on as well. In order to do that, I'll need you to whip me into shape. |
| Tasuku | Haha. I like acting with the guys in the Winter Troupe, but I also like your unyielding acting. I still can't decide where I'll die as an actor, but...The place I should be right now is undoubtedly this company. |
| Itaru | Standing on stage in the role of a teacher...I felt a bit unworthy of it at first, but I'm glad I could do it. I hadn't had a very good image of school either, but there are things I remembered while visiting my old school and hearing stories of that time. |
| Banri | Visiting Hanagaku left an impression on me too. I was able to show my old teacher my acting as well. I'm aware that I was a damn cheeky problem child, but you were a student who didn't need looking after, right? |
| Itaru | I guess. Games and theatre are amazing, for making the two of us hit it off when we definitely wouldn't have interacted if we were classmates. I learned that there's still a surprising amount to learn even after you become an adult. We've got to use what we gained in each of our troupes and work hard, don't we. |
| Thanks for a full house in 2018 too! Thank you very much for watching ♪ |
MANKAI Company Season Memories 2018
These messages are from a video released as part of the 2nd anniversary celebratory campaign.
| Tenma | I wondered what we'd do when we ran out of chocolates and balloons to give out, but... |
| Thanks to the roses that came for you, we were able to get through it. | |
| Homare | Your quick wit there was truly wonderful! |
| With you overcoming your dislike of carrots, it seems this has been a year of huge growth for you, hasn't it? | |
| Tenma | That carrot cake was delicious, but it's not like I've overcome it yet...! |
| Besides, I was in the back the whole time. I'm grateful to all of you who worked hard out front. | |
| Tsumugi | Being trapped in the ferris wheel with the Director...I was flustered, worrying that we wouldn't make it in time for the stage performance, |
| but you all connected things with an adlib at the start; that really saved me. | |
| Itaru | My natural chuunibyou was helpful, and Prince Macaron was satisfied too. |
| Things developed even further and we miraculously overcame it. As expected of acting idiot Tsumugi. | |
| Tsumugi | Ahaha, that goes for you too. We're both acting idiots here. |
| Ah...I've got to use the chuunibyou stamps I got back then occasionally too... | |
| Masumi | That's the day I was able to get the first 'like!' on the Director's first Inste post. |
| I won't forget that training camp where I was able to etch my 'like!', my existence, into the Director's life... | |
| Hisoka | Masumi, you were worn-out because you couldn't sleep the whole time...Everyone was worried. |
| Were you able to have a good nap under the cherry blossoms in full bloom? | |
| Masumi | I want to make all the Director's firsts mine in the future, too... |
| There's no way I'll hand her over to Kazunari, Sakyo, or anyone else. So I can't let my guard down even for a second... | |
| Hisoka | Masumi...isn't listening to me at all. |
| If you can't sleep, I'll find a good napping place for you agai......Zzzz...... | |
| Muku | To think we'd have a survival training camp on a deserted island...! It started raining when we searched for the legendary flower...I was relieved that you came for us...! |
| Omi | I'm glad I was able to find you two safely. It was thanks to the trail you left. |
| It was a complete coincidence that we watched it, but the things we learned from the survival movie came in handy during the training camp. | |
| Muku | Yes...! I'm glad I watched it with you...! I can't become like the protagonist of that movie, but when I thought I had to protect the Director, I gained courage naturally...! |
| Omi | I'm sure the Director felt your proactivity was reliable. |
| We were able to see the legendary flower, and the onsen was also exceptional. The training camp was a valuable experience. |
| Homare | That memorable day we played supporting roles in the drama Tenma-kun was the lead actor in! |
| I want to time-leap back countless times to that wonderful day when poetic inspiration welled up ceaselessly in me. | |
| Banri | Only you'd be able to overcome an accident that almost stopped the filming with a poem. |
| You were in top condition during the photoshoot for the pamphlet too, weren't you? I really laughed at that cheap phrase. | |
| Homare | Hmph, of course I was the MVP, but all of you looked rather sharp in your tuxedos too ♪ |
| The proposal etude in the chapel was passionate too! Don't you think too, Guy-san? | |
| Guy | Those etudes with a proposal theme, huh. It wasn't something I'd thought of before then... |
| But even if everyone wants to say the same thing, the expression of it varies so much between people. I was very intrigued. | |
| Sakyo | Takato, I caused you trouble during the Star Festival. Both in terms of helping out with the stall and with acting... |
| Thanks for taking care of the bon in my place. I'm grateful. | |
| Tasuku | No, I didn't do anything. It seems Izumida was thinking of various things in his own way. Being bad at conveying your feelings...I sympathised a little with that. |
| Sakyo | ...Since then, I don't know whether I've been able to relate to the the bon as equals, but... |
| I think I have to remember what happened then occasionally and admonish myself. | |
| Sakuya | We acted out a performance to advance the plot of a mystery-solving game on a luxury cruise! |
| Though I wasn't sure what we'd do when our pistol prop disappeared... | |
| Taichi | It's good that the performance went well, isn't it! It's thanks to your help! |
| The buffet party and dance party were both good memories, too~! | |
| Kumon | What, what!? A murder mystery on a boat!? Let me in on the convo too! |
| Sakuya as the detective and Taichi as the murderer were both cool! | |
| Sakuya | You acted out a realistic portrayal of the victim every time as well! |
| I hope the memory of our acting stays in the heart of the boy we met at that time. |
| Misumi | I wonder if Rabbit was able to meet up with its brothers after that? |
| Thanks for helping return Rabbit to the shrine, Chikage-san! | |
| Chikage | The dancing and staged fight sequences at the shrine were a good experience. I'd like to avoid chasing animals again, though. |
| So in the end, what did you ask the full moon for that time? | |
| Misumi | I told you then too, but it's a secret~ Let's make a wish together again next time, too! |
| The full moon and that Rabbit might grant it. | |
| Yuki | It was fun getting to make all the Halloween outfits I'd wanted to make. |
| Though it sucked having all the candy we gathered taken by GOD-za. | |
| Azami | I had fun getting to do all the Halloween make-up I'd previously been forbidden to do as well. |
| Though it sucked not being able to clear the requirement Shitty Sakyo put out. | |
| Yuki | Azami, let's fight Sakyo as a tag team in the next budgeting battle too. |
| As the costume and make-up supervisors responsible for the theatre's visuals, let's keep getting along well. | |
| Azuma | My first trip overseas was a regrettable memory. Kazu, you repainted the memory of that rain. |
| The performance modelled on Greek mythology that we did for the theme park's opening ceremony was fun too. | |
| Kazunari | No matter how many times it rains, Kazunari Miyoshi here will turn them a~ll into sunny marks ♪ |
| Rely on me anytime, Azu ☆ I want to meet the cute pups again too ♪ | |
| Azuma | I want to meet cute drunk Kazu again too. Hehe. Would you show me a different side of you to normal again? |
| When shall we go on the Greek trip we promised to take together? I feel reassured having you with me, so I'm really looking forwards to it. |
| Juza | I saw how hard you worked first-hand, so...I'm glad the special program's surprise was a success. |
| The catching practice we did then, and the acting, were good memories. If you need help again, tell me anytime. | |
| Tenma | I've been saved by you countless times; I'm grateful. Thanks to you, I was able to make my fan's dream come true. The regional filming with the guys in the troupe was a novel experience too. The time outside of filming was also fun. |
| Juza | Yeah. I'm glad I was able to eat good food. We made lots of unforgettable memories. |
| The illumination we saw at the end. I'll never forget that scenery either. | |
| Tsuzuru | To think I'd experience being on TV twice in this short time period... It was a whirlwind end-of-year... |
| Being able to overcome that wall was thanks to you and the others. Thank you very much. | |
| Citron | For my precious partner's sake, this is a cheap order! You can do it if you try! How reliable~. |
| Besides, I was moved by your brotherly love. Your retorts during the talk were sharp too~! | |
| Tsuzuru | ...Haha. I'm kind of embarrassed. I'd like to try writing the script I talked about that time as well. |
| And...Let's do them again and again from now on. Both our manzai and the MANMAN Grands Prix. | |
| Citron | Yes, my matchless partner! Let's aim for broadcast manzai and train hard from now! |
| We're Citrun because of your retorts~. Even my motivation is already MANMAN[1]~! |
| 2018 was also full of sparkling days ★ | |
| Thank you very much for your support ♪ |
- ↑ Meaning 'max'
