Gentle Words

Examination Hall, Early morning

The students sit in their seats, waiting for the exam to start. Their exam papers are face down in front of them. They all look like intelligent and hardworking students.

The teacher is standing at the front of the examination hall. She is dressed formally. She looks down to check the time on her watch and then looks up.

Teacher: “You may begin.”

The sound of papers being flipped. All the students are flipping over their exam papers.

The students begin to work on their exams, writing diligently. They all look incredibly focused.

One student (Keiji) is still. His face isn’t seen, but his hands are shown on the desk. He hasn’t touched his pen. He hasn’t even flipped over the exam paper.

Keiji’s clothes are scraggly and very ‘modern.’

A close-up of Keiji’s face. His eyes are closed.

Keiji’s hands are tight. He is clearly frustrated.

The sound of a chair scraping on the floor. The teacher looks over to see what the sound is from.

Keiji is out of his seat, walking down the aisle leading to the hall’s exit. His back is turned. He has his hands in his pockets.

Close-up of some of the other students in the exam. They are smiling and laughing in a mean and bullying manner. Clearly, they don’t like Keiji and his leaving the exam is funny to them.

The teacher sighs. She is annoyed by Keiji’s behaviour, but she ultimately chases after him.

A close-up of Keiji’s exam paper. It is still on the desk, just as he left it. It hasn’t been flipped over.

Title card: Onnagata. Episode 1.

Tall building, Rooftop, Early morning, Blue sky

The teacher is at the end of the staircase. She opens the door to the rooftop, and some of the light pours in, illuminating some of the dark stairwells behind her.

Keiji is standing at the edge of the rooftop, his back leaning against the wire fence that stops anyone from falling. He is lighting a cigarette.

The teacher walks towards Keiji. She has a disappointed look.

Teacher: “It’s not too late to go back.”

Keiji puts the cigarette in his mouth. He has a sombre look.

Keiji: “I’m going to fail either way.”

The teacher stops in front of Keiji.

Teacher: “You don’t know that.”

Keiji laughs.

Keiji: “You don’t need to be polite, sensei. Let’s not kid ourselves. Nobody expects me to go to university.”

Close-up of the cigarette in Keiji’s hand.

Keiji: “I’m just a good-for-nothing who only skips class and makes trouble for the school.”

A close-up of Keiji, smiling. He’s pretending he doesn’t care, but deep down inside, he does.

Keiji: “What do you think, sensei? Should I join the Yakuza or work in a convenience store?”

The teacher rips the cigarette out of Keiji’s mouth.

Teacher: “If you really believed that, you wouldn’t have come. Nobody comes to take an exam they know they’ll fail.”

The teacher folds her arms.

Teacher: “You really wanted to go to university, didn’t you? And you actually studied for it too.”

Keiji avoids her gaze. He doesn’t say anything.

Teacher: “Are you going to cry?”

Keiji has a frustrated look.

Keiji: “Cry about what? I’m just another good-for-nothing. No point crying over something that’ll never happen. Right, sensei?”

The teacher turns around. Keiji is still behind her, leaning against the wire fence.

Teacher: “You still have options, Endo-kun.”

The teacher continues to talk, her back turned to Keiji. Keiji starts to climb the wire fence.

Teacher: “You can study for the exam again and retake it next year.”

The teacher continues to talk. Keiji has reached the top of the wire fence.

Teacher: “You can go to a vocational school.”

The teacher turns around. Keiji is gone.

Teacher: “You can…Endo-kun?”

The teacher runs up to the wire fence and looks down.

Teacher: “Endo-kun?!”

Keiji is in the air. He has leapt off the school building. The wind is in his hair. He is confident in his jump. He looks as if he has done this multiple times before. It is natural to him.

Keiji lands on a slightly shorter building across the gap.

Keiji turns to look at the building he jumped from.

Keiji sees the teacher behind the wire fence. The distance between them makes her look small.

A close-up of Keiji’s face. He’s waiting for the teacher. He wants her to chase after him.

Keiji sees the teacher leave. She didn’t really care in the end.

Keiji’s expression is initially one of sadness. Nobody ever chases after him. Nobody actually wants to help him. Keiji’s expression turns to one of annoyance, perhaps even a touch of anger. But he’s used to this. This has happened before, and he is resigned knowing it will happen again.

Keiji walks away.

Pachinko parlour, busy pachinko machines, Various people playing them in the background

Keiji sits at a pachinko machine, mashing the buttons. He is clearly annoyed/angry. He sits in a very lazy and delinquent fashion, laid out over the chair.

Keiji recalls the teacher’s words.

Teacher (flashback): “Are you going to cry?”

Keiji slams the machine out of anger.

Shadows approach Keiji from behind.

Gang Leader: “Had a bad day, Keiji?”

Keiji turns around. He sees the Gang Leader, who looks like a very obvious delinquent/criminal/gang member. The Gang Leader has a malicious smile. He is standing with two or three other gang members behind him.

Close-up of the Gang Leader. He gestures behind him.

Gang Leader: “Let’s talk outside.”

Alleyway outside Pachinko Parlour, Dirty, Full of trash, Run-down

The Gang Leader puts his arm around Keiji.

Gang Leader: “You know, Keiji, I heard you went to take a university exam today.”

Keiji looks uncomfortable being so close to the Gang Leader.

Keiji: “Yeah, and I flunked it.”

The Gang Leader smiles maliciously.

Gang Leader: “Don’t worry about it, Keiji. People like you and me? We weren’t meant to go to university and get fancy jobs. Even if we did, those corporate losers would just spit on us. People like us, Keiji, we have to stick together.”

The Gang Leader continues to talk to Keiji, who looks more and more sad.

Gang Leader: “Come and join me, dude. I need someone like you who’s good at getting their hands dirty.”

Keiji forces himself to smile. He’s very clearly sad inside.

Keiji: “Yeah. You’re right.”

The Gang Leader laughs happily.

Gang Leader: “Haha, that’s great!”

The Gang Leader continues to talk. He is oblivious to a fist coming towards his face from the side.

Gang Leader: “This is a cause for celebration, man, c’mon. Cheer up. You looked like you were going to cry— “

Wham! Keiji’s punch sends the Gang Leader flying against the wall.

The Gang Leader is against the wall. His cheek is bruised, and his nose is bleeding. He is pissed.

Gang Leader: “You bastard!”

Keiji runs out of the alley.

The other gang members chase Keiji down the street.

Keiji continues to run. He turns the corner into another alleyway.

Keiji looks around the alley for an escape. He glances up and notices an open window high above him.

Dark hallway, No source of light except the lone window Keiji climbed through

Keiji manages to climb in through the window. He looks around and wonders where he is.

Keiji sees a door and walks through it. He finds himself in a Kabuki Theatre.

Kabuki Theatre, Full of people, Dark, Lights are focused on stage

Keiji stands at the very back row of a Kabuki Theatre. There is a play going on right now but Keiji doesn’t pay it much attention.

A close-up of Keiji’s face. He is not impressed. The light from the Kabuki show illuminates the front of his face. It is dark behind him.

Keiji (Narration): “Kabuki? How lame.”

A close-up of Keiji’s face. He looks blankly at the Kabuki show. He appears almost bored.

Keiji closes his eyes. He looks contemplative.

Keiji (Narration): “I have never cried in my life.”

Keiji is about to turn away. The light from the Kabuki show gets dimmer.

Keiji (Narration): “I didn’t cry when my dad died.”

Keiji is half-turned away. The light from the Kabuki show is even dimmer now.

Keiji (Narration): “I didn’t cry when everyone abandoned me.”

Keiji’s back is fully turned away from the show. It is almost completely dark now.

Keiji (Narration): “I won’t cry now.”

A close-up of Keiji’s face. He suddenly opens his eyes. He turns back to the Kabuki show.

There are glimpses of someone new on stage. There are glimpses of their kimono and hair. Keiji’s eyes go wide.

The panel is bright with light and almost completely empty. There’s no audience anywhere. On one side there is Keiji, half-turned away. His expression is one of awe. It is as if he is looking at the most beautiful person he has ever seen in his life. On the other side, there is Jun. Jun is in a feminine kimono costume. He is standing with elegance and grace. He is beautiful. Keiji is staring right at Jun, but Jun is not looking back.

A close-up of Keiji’s face. He is absolutely in awe. He has never felt the way he is feeling right now. It is a combination of joy, sadness, relief, and pain. All the emotion he had been hiding is starting to come to the surface.

A single tear goes down Keiji’s cheek. It is so subtle, even he doesn’t notice it.

Keiji (Narration): “I studied so hard.”

A stream of tears flows from both sides of Keiji’s cheek.

Keiji (Narration): “My classmates laughed at me. My teachers abandoned me.”

Keiji is fully crying now. His expression is one of pain.

Keiji (Narration): “I wanted to prove them wrong.”

Keiji brings his hands to his face. He cries into his palms. He is not holding back anymore.

Keiji (Narration): “I wanted to go to university. I wanted someone to think I was worth something.”

Keiji continues to cry. He hears a voice speak to him.

Jun (Off-panel): “Are you okay?”

Keiji looks up. The onnagata, Jun, had left the stage and walked all the way through the audience to stand before him. The rest of the cast and the audience are staring at the two of them. Jun has a kind and caring expression. He is genuinely concerned about Keiji.

Keiji is in shock. Nobody had ever been this kind to him. His tears are still flowing.

A close-up of Jun’s face. He has a gentle, caring smile. There is a kind warmth to him.