Chapter 2
Orientation Venue
There are two special instructors for the director course. One of them is here with us today.
Sakaki-san, could we ask you to say a few words?
—Of course
Hey...… wait. “Sakaki”…... could it really be…?
Y-yeah… looks like it…
—Hello. I suppose most of you are meeting me for the first time?
I’m Koryu Sakaki, and I’ll be one of your workshop instructors
Koryu Sakaki…!!?
I’ve seen him on TV before! He’s a famous director, right?
…..That’s right.
Koryu Sakaki, he became a renowned director overnight when he won the Kikukawa Jiro Theatre Award as the youngest ever recipient.
He’s famous for his highly artistic productions, yet he’s made a name for himself in entertainment too, with lots of films and TV shows to his credit.
Yeah. You see his name in the credits of pretty much every major hit.
And he’s popular overseas too, right? Even heritage theatres invite him.
I remember reading in a magazine that he’s “Japan’s busiest director at the moment”…...
Whoa~ I wonder what kind of person he is?
Indeed. The image his work projects is that of a true artist, someone very particular about every detail…....
I’m not really the kind of person who’s great at teaching others but—
ArcLand has done a lot for me, so I couldn’t bring myself to turn them down.
So feel free to take whatever bits of my talk you find useful and ignore the rest.
Here’s to making it a good experience for all of us.
…He seems much more approachable than I’d thought
Yeah. Didn’t expect that, honestly…
(…He certainly is an intriguing man)
(Every stage production Koryu Sakaki has done is one-of-a-kind)
(Be it a complex absurdist play or an entertainment-heavy show…... everything he does has its own distinct “color”.)
(He digs deep into the human psyche, balancing beauty and ugliness in one, there’s an intense allure to them.)
.......They really did bring in someone extraordinary.
……Heh.
(……? Just now—)
Rui? What’s wrong?
Ah, no. It’s nothing.
(Just now, he reminded me of someone for a second, but…...)
(……Maybe I’m imagining it.)
Thank you, Sakaki-san.
Our other instructor will be connecting in remotely from overseas due to scheduling conflicts.
As for who it is—
Wonderland SEKAI
Oh wow! Sounds like that workshop was really something!
Yeah! It was only the general briefing this time, but—
The environment they’ve prepared and the instructors were all just amazing!
It was easily a hundred times fancier than I pictured… I couldn’t stop being surprised….....
Nene-chan, you were so exhausted once the explanation wrapped up.
Oh dear~ Are you alright?
I’m fine. It just overwhelmed me a little…
Having world-level professionals teach us is such an incredibly rare opportunity for us.
That’s right. As long as we face this challenge straight on like we always do, we’ll come out stronger.
We’ll give it everything we’ve got!
Wooo!!
Hehe. You’re all so fired up!
…………
Rui-kun, what’s wrong?
Don’t tell me you’re getting sleepy~?
Huh?
You’ve been looking a bit spaced out for a while now
No, I’m fine
It’s just that… well… it hasn’t really sunk in for me yet.
Hasn’t sunk in?
For the directors’ workshop, there are supposed to be two special instructors joining from outside.
One is Koryu Sakaki, one of Japan’s top directors right now. And the other one is—
Flashback
The rich, the poor, the wise, the foolish, the majority, the minority, none of that matters.
Everyone laughs, cries, and gets angry together—
And when the show ends, they’re connected by the same feelings.
That’s the kind of show I want to keep making.
Because beyond that connection, I’m sure there’s an amazing world we’ve yet to see!
…………
Flashback Ends
——Tom Gray.
He’s the director I’ve always looked up to.
So that means you’ll get to learn directing from the person you’ve admired all this time?
That’s pretty much it
...…Maybe that’s why I feel so ungrounded right now.
…I get that feeling, trust me!
When I found out Amami-san was watching my performance, I was so shocked I thought I was dreaming!
Fufu, yeah. I never imagined something like this would happen to me.
If my younger self heard this, he’d never believe it.
…...I see. So he’s that special to you, Rui-kun.
Hehe. It'd be such a wonderful thing to tell young Rui about.
How future you will put in so, so much effort—
—and one day, you’ll get to meet the director you admire.
Rui! This is a chance you worked for!
I know you’re nervous, but time to switch gears and give it everything you’ve got!
Do your best, Rui-kun!
Zzz… zzz…
…Rui-kun, go for it~♪…
Luka sure talks clearly in her sleep!
…Fufu.
Thank you, everyone. I’ll give it my all and learn as much as I can.