E1 - The Cursed Book, the Maiden, and the Birthday

Source: Crunchyroll
Translator:
Editor:
Timer:
QC:
(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:34] Oto
    I'm going now.
[00:35] Adashino
    Okay.
[00:49] manager
    Ogawa-san.
[00:51] manager
    The new volumes just came in.
[00:53] manager
    Put the plastic covers on them
    for me, would you?
[00:55] Sumireko
    Will do.
SIGN    Mysterious Disappearances
SIGN    Mysterious Disappearances
SIGN    Midori Bookstore
SIGN    The Cursed Book, the Maiden, and the Birthday
SIGN    The Cursed Book, the Maiden, and the Birthday
[02:40] Adashino
    Cuckoo!
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    Ogawa Sumireko
[02:43] Sumireko
    Am I imagining things, Adashino-kun?
[02:45] Sumireko
    I thought I heard a bird call
    in the shop just now.
[02:50] Adashino
    Cuckoo!
[02:52] Sumireko
    You did it right in front of me that time!
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    Adashino Ren
[02:54] Adashino
    It was the kankodori, crying out in solitude.
[02:57] Sumireko
    The what?
[02:58] Adashino
    Did you know? The kankodori is
    also called the common cuckoo.
[03:04] Sumireko
    Is working the register with
    me really that boring?
[03:07] Adashino
    Not at all!
[03:09] Adashino
    Being on the register with you is
    the only reason I work here at all!
[03:15] Sumireko
    Well, I'm honored.
[03:17] Sumireko
    But you shouldn't tease your elders.
[03:20] Sumireko
    Come back in another ten years, young man.
[03:23] Adashino
    Ten years, huh?
[03:25] Adashino
    If I wait ten years, you'll have matured
    into a truly attractive older woman.
[03:30] Sumireko
    Uh-huh.
[03:31] Sumireko
    So you're not teasing me,
    you're making fun of me.
[03:34] Adashino
    But we really have nothing to do right now.
[03:38] Sumireko
    Bookstores everywhere are
    closing one after another.
[03:41] Sumireko
    I guess people just don't need them anymore.
[03:47] Adashino
    You sound sleepy.
[03:49] Adashino
    Were you up all night writing?
[03:51] Sumireko
    Well, thank you for asking!
[03:53] Sumireko
    You know how more info on Kisaragi Station
    came up yesterday on that occult forum?
[03:57] Adashino
    Oh, you mean that thing?
[03:58] Adashino
    That made-up, toothless urban
    legend that's clearly a lie?
[04:03] Adashino
    I'm amazed someone your age is still
    entertained by such nonsense—ow.
[04:07] Sumireko
    None of that stopped you from reading it,
    so you're in no position to talk, youngster!
[04:11] Adashino
    "Youngster"?
[04:13] Sumireko
    Through the occult, we can enjoy
    our fear and hesitation
[04:15] Sumireko
    toward things that are beyond
    human understanding.
[04:17] Sumireko
    It stimulates core needs akin
    to hunger and sexual appetite!
[04:24] Adashino
    So basically, Sumireko-san...
[04:27] Adashino
    you spent the night absorbed in something
    that acts on base instincts like porn does?
[04:31] Sumireko
    What?
[04:32] Sumireko
    It sounds to me like you didn't
    understand what I was saying at all.
[04:36] manager
    Well, this is a surprise.
[04:37] Sumireko
    Manager.
[04:39] manager
    I've never heard Adashino-kun speak so much.
[04:41] Sumireko
    Yes, he's been unexpectedly chatty.
[04:44] Sumireko
    Infuriatingly so.
[04:46] Sumireko
    Right?
[04:48] Sumireko
    Hey, you can't just clam up now.
[04:51] manager
    You didn't know?
[04:53] manager
    Adashino-kun only speaks
    with you, Ogawa-san.
[04:56] manager
    Oh, right.
[05:00] manager
    A present for you.
[05:02] Sumireko
    What is it?
[05:03] manager
    A book that was reverse-shoplifted.
[05:05] Sumireko
    Reverse-shoplifted?
[05:07] manager
    You haven't heard of it?
[05:09] manager
    The name says it all.
    It's the opposite of shoplifting.
[05:11] manager
    It's when, rather than stealing our stock,
    someone leaves extra behind.
[05:15] Sumireko
    Sounds like a disgruntled customer
    with an axe to grind.
[05:18] manager
    Well, we could just leave it at that, but...
[05:21] manager
    Ogawa-san, it's your birthday, isn't it?
[05:25] Sumireko
    Well, yes...
SIGN    Newcomer's Award Presentation Ceremony
[05:32] Adashino
    Sumireko-san.
[05:34] Adashino
    How is that new novel you
    mentioned before going?
[05:37] Sumireko
    I haven't been able to write lately.
[05:40] Sumireko
    I need to pull myself together.
[05:41] Adashino
    And you're still treating me
    like we're not friends.
[05:44] Adashino
    If you'd told me it was your birthday,
    I'd have gotten you a present.
[05:48] Sumireko
    Then here's your chance.
SIGN    Ogawa
[05:52] Sumireko
    Your consideration in leaving
    your depressed senpai alone
[05:56] Sumireko
    would be the best present I could hope for.
[05:59] Adashino
    I couldn't possibly just leave you alone.
[06:02] Adashino
    Despite how it may seem, I am a fan
    of the author Ogawa Sumireko.
[06:08] Sumireko
    Yeah, just keep talking.
SIGN    Midori Bookstore
[06:13] Sumireko; narration
    I'll make a note of it here so I don't forget.
[06:16] Sumireko; narration
    This is me, Ogawa Sumireko...
[06:19] Sumireko; narration
    and my friend who's never at a loss
    for something to say, Adashino Ren.
[06:23] Sumireko; narration
    What follows is but a humble account
    of our friendship and parting.
[06:27] Adashino
    Well, I'll see you tomorrow.
[06:28] Sumireko
    Yeah. Goodnight.
[07:07] MC
    Congratulations!
[07:18] Sumireko
    Happy 28th birthday, me.
SIGN    Happy 28th Birthday, Me
[07:25] Sumireko; internal
    Back then, I could write anything.
[07:29] Sumireko; internal
    When I was fifteen,
    I received a newcomer's award.
SIGN    Simply Walk Alone, Like a Rhino's Horn
SIGN    Simply Walk Alone, Like a Rhino's Horn
[07:35] Sumireko; internal
    But past the age of twenty, someone
    like that is just an ordinary person.
SIGN    Ogawa Sumireko
[07:40] Sumireko; internal
    That's me, I guess. An ordinary person.
[07:45] Sumireko; internal
    I wish I could go back to how I was then.
[07:52] Sumireko
    Oh, for crying out loud.
[08:00] Sumireko
    I can't even read the title.
[08:06] Sumireko
    It seems like Japanese,
    but it's slightly different.
[08:09] Sumireko
    But there's hiragana here.
[08:10] Sumireko
    Maybe I can read the key points?
[08:13] Sumireko
    "In the heavens, the sun and moon shine.
    You are like them in my thoughts,
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    In the heavens
SIGN    The sun and moon shine
SIGN    You are like them in my thoughts
[08:17] Sumireko
    and I regret that with each
    new day, you grow older."
SIGN    And I regret that with each new day
SIGN    You grow older
[08:21] Sumireko
    That's from the Man'yōshū, isn't it?
[08:25] Sumireko
    I guess that means people from way back
    then wanted to be young again, too.
[08:33] Sumireko
    Maybe I'll go buy a cake or something.
[08:37] [Messenger] text
    Happy birthday!
[08:39] [Messenger] text
    Happy birthday!
[08:40] [Messenger] text
    Happy birthday!
[08:40] [Messenger] text
    Please become an
    even more attractive
    older woman, okay?
SIGN    Sumire
[08:43] [Messenger] text
    Thanks. One day
    I'm gonna stab you
[08:45] [Messenger] text
    Thanks. One day
    I'm gonna stab you
SIGN    Sumire
[08:45] [Messenger] text
    I'll be waiting
[08:45] [Messenger] text
    Read
[08:49] [Messenger] text
    Thanks. One day
    I'm gonna stab you
[08:49] [Messenger] text
    I'll be waiting
[08:49] [Messenger] text
    Read
[08:49] [Messenger] text
    Don't forget this, youngster.
    Age comes to everyone equally
SIGN    Sumire
SIGN    Sumire
[08:51] Adashino
    "Youngster"...
[08:52] Adashino
    I'm hardly of the age to be called that, though.
[09:00] Sumireko
    I swear, he has no tact whatsoever.
[09:08] clerk
    Welcome.
[09:18] Sumireko
    Did my clothes stretch?
[09:22] Sumireko
    Huh?
[09:26] Sumireko
    My eyes...
[09:42] Sumireko
    My shoes...
[09:57] clerk
    Huh?
[09:59] clerk
    What're you doing?
[10:03] clerk
    Miss!
SIGN    Midori Bookstore
[10:10] manager
    Adashino-kun, come here a minute.
[10:13] manager
    Ogawa-san's absent without leave.
[10:17] Adashino
    Sumireko-san is?
[10:18] manager
    She isn't answering her phone,
    either. I'm worried.
[10:21] manager
    Did she say anything to you?
    Should I go check up on her?
[10:28] Adashino
    I heard that she isn't feeling well.
[10:30] manager
    What? Really?
[10:32] Adashino
    Apparently, she's so incredibly constipated
    that her whole body is stuffed full of poop.
[10:37] Adashino
    The doctor said it's life-threateningly
    bad, so she's staying home.
[10:41] manager
    For real?
[10:42] Adashino
    She said she's terrified, crying,
    and holed up in the bathroom.
[10:45] manager
    I see. Please tell her I said
    to take care of herself.
[10:50] Adashino
    I will.
[10:53] Adashino
    What actually happened?
    That's what I want to know.
[10:55] [Messenger] text
    Sumireko-san,
    what's happened?
[10:57] [Messenger] text
    Sumireko-san,
    what's happened?
[10:57] [Messenger] text
    If you're not feeling well,
    I'll tactfully let them know
[11:00] [Messenger] text
    Sumireko-san,
    what's happened?
[11:00] [Messenger] text
    If you're not feeling well,
    I'll tactfully let them know
[11:00] [Messenger] text
    Helloooo
[11:02] [Messenger] text
    If you're not feeling well,
    I'll tactfully let them know
[11:02] [Messenger] text
    Helloooo
[11:02] [Messenger] text
    What's this? Are you ignoring me?
[11:04] [Messenger] text
    Helloooo
[11:04] [Messenger] text
    What's this? Are you ignoring me?
SIGN    Sumire
[11:04] [Messenger] text
    Quit bothering me
[11:05] [Messenger] text
    What's this? Are you ignoring me?
[11:05] [Messenger] text
    Quit bothering me
SIGN    Sumire
SIGN    Sumire
SIGN    Sumire
[11:05] [Messenger] text
    Quit bothering me
[11:05] [Messenger] text
    I don't know who you are,
    but you're being a pain
[11:07] Adashino
    Sumireko-san?
[11:07] [Messenger] text
    I don't know who you are,
    but you're being a pain
SIGN    Sumire
[11:10] child Sumireko; internal
    It could totally start with a mysterious text.
[11:13] child Sumireko; internal
    A boy sends the text,
[11:15] child Sumireko; internal
    and just like he tells her, he starts working
    at the same shop as the main character.
[11:18] child Sumireko; internal
    Oh, yeah! A bookstore would be best!
[11:23] Sumireko; narration
    And so, I went missing.
SIGN    And So, I Went Missing
[11:28] Adashino
    Visit Sumireko-san at home?
[11:31] manager
    Now that it's been a week,
    I can't overlook it anymore.
[11:34] manager
    Could you go and check on her for me?
[11:37] Adashino
    Me?
[11:42] Adashino
    It's Adashino.
[11:44] Adashino
    I came to see how you're doing.
[11:48] Adashino
    Are you there?
[11:55] Adashino
    It's unlocked.
[11:57] Adashino
    She's not the most security-minded, is she?
[12:03] Adashino
    We're here to search the premises!
    We're coming in and doing whatever we want!
[12:10] Adashino
    Damn it! Something smells good!
[12:14] Adashino
    I wish I could've come here
    under different circumstances.
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    growing younger
SIGN    old book
SIGN    from where?
SIGN    ° friend
SIGN    ° used bookstore
SIGN    ° secondhand
     book market
SIGN    gods
SIGN    Private number
[12:23] Adashino
    She just left her phone here.
[12:26] Adashino
    There are no signs of a struggle.
[12:29] Adashino
    Where could she be?
[12:56] Adashino
    I see.
[12:57] Adashino
    This is the cause.
[13:07] child Sumireko
    I have all the material I need!
[13:09] child Sumireko
    Now I can write another novel!
[13:15] child Sumireko
    Being a child again isn't half bad!
[13:19] child Sumireko
    The ideas keep welling up!
[13:21] child Sumireko
    I just can't sit still!
[13:27] child Sumireko
    I'll head home and get writing!
[13:33] child Sumireko
    Head home...
[13:37] child Sumireko
    Where is home, again?
[13:40] Adashino
    Sumireko-san.
[13:43] Adashino
    It's dangerous for a child
    to be out walking alone.
[13:47] Adashino
    If you don't know the way home,
    I'll show you.
[13:51] child Sumireko
    Who are you?
[13:53] Adashino
    Now, that's just cruel.
[13:55] Adashino
    Have you forgotten?
[13:56] child Sumireko
    No. I remember every—
[14:03] child Sumireko
    My head hurts!
[14:05] Adashino
    It's a natural reaction to the form you're in.
[14:09] Adashino
    Did you think you'd grown young again?
[14:12] Adashino
    You've simply been forced into a child's body.
[14:15] Adashino
    The excess blood, muscle, and bone
    you had left over after shrinking
[14:20] Adashino
    are still within your body right now.
[14:23] child Sumireko
    How do you know this?
[14:27] child Sumireko
    You're Adashino-kun.
[14:32] child Sumireko
    This isn't right. Why aren't you
    surprised by how I look?
[14:38] Adashino
    Sumireko-san, you read
    this book, didn't you?
[14:41] child Sumireko
    That's...
[14:43] Adashino
    This is a cursed book that
    mustn't be read aloud.
[14:46] Adashino
    It's a Curiosity called a Juusho.
[14:47] [SONG] text
     Juusho
[14:49] child Sumireko
    You're saying I got smaller
    because I read a cursed book?
[14:53] child Sumireko
    You expect me to believe
    a ridiculous story like that?!
[14:56] Adashino
    It's no less ridiculous than the body you're
    in right now. Yet you don't believe me?
[15:01] Adashino
    Your life is at stake here.
[15:05] child Sumireko
    My life?
[15:07] Adashino
    In the waka collected in the Man'yōshū,
[15:10] Adashino
    among the poems whose authors are unknown
[15:12] Adashino
    are some written by things
    that cannot be called human.
[15:17] Adashino
    Poems that revive the dead
    when read: the Banka.
[15:18] [SONG] text
     Banka
[15:20] Adashino
    Poems that manipulate
    people's hearts: the Soumon.
[15:21] [SONG] text
     Soumon
[15:23] Adashino
    Poems that can bring back
    a person's youth: the Zouka.
[15:24] [SONG] text
     Zouka
[15:25] Adashino
    That's just to name a few.
[15:27] Adashino
    Number thirteen, Zouka. Author unknown.
[15:31] Adashino
    In the Man'yōshū, this poem is about a nobleman
    wishing for a lady's youth to return.
[15:36] (Flashback) Sumireko
    "In the heavens, the sun and moon shine.
    You are like them in my thoughts,
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    In the heavens
SIGN    The sun and moon shine
SIGN    You are like them in my thoughts
[15:41] (Flashback) Sumireko
    and I regret that with each
    new day, you grow older."
SIGN    And I regret that with each new day
SIGN    You grow older
[15:43] child Sumireko
    A poem that causes mysterious
    phenomena when read?
[15:47] child Sumireko
    I've never heard of any such thing!
[15:49] Adashino
    It's the moon god Tsukuyomi's
    Water of Youth.
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    Tsukuyomi's Water of Youth
[15:52] Adashino
    Still, this poem only begins to show its power
    when a number of conditions are met.
[15:57] Adashino
    Apparently, it's very rare
    for the spell to activate.
[16:00] child Sumireko
    Conditions? What are they?
[16:02] Adashino
    Shall I tell you?
[16:04] child Sumireko
    Please do.
[16:06] Adashino
    First, the time must be around midnight.
[16:09] [SONG] text
     Midnight
[16:11] Adashino
    Second, it must be read
    under the light of the moon.
[16:14] [SONG] text
     Moonlight
[16:16] Adashino
    Third, the reader must be at least 28 years old.
[16:19] [SONG] text; upper right
    At Least 28 Years Old
SIGN    Happy 28th Birthday, Me
[16:20] child Sumireko
    All three of those did happen.
[16:23] Adashino
    And the final condition...
[16:27] Adashino
    Fourth, the reader must be a virgin maiden.
[16:30] child Sumireko
    Huh?
[16:30] [SONG] text
    Virgin Maiden
[16:32] child Sumireko
    I think I must have misheard you.
    What did you just say?
[16:36] Adashino
    The reader must be a virgin maiden.
[16:38] Adashino
    The reader must be a virgin maiden.
[16:41] child Sumireko
    You said it twice...
[16:45] Adashino
    This Curiosity has proven your chastity.
[16:48] child Sumireko
    I'm begging you, could you
    please just stop talking?
[16:51] child Sumireko
    I feel like I might kill you without thinking.
[16:54] child Sumireko
    Why did a book like that come to me at all?
[16:57] Adashino
    It was purely a coincidence.
[16:59] Adashino
    It wasn't as if you were specifically chosen.
[17:02] child Sumireko
    Are you telling me that it wasn't my fault?
[17:06] Adashino
    You're on the verge of death right now
[17:07] Adashino
    because of your thoughtless wandering,
    so that part is your fault.
[17:15] child Sumireko
    Am I really going to die?
[17:19] Adashino
    Moonlight is necessary
    for you to return to normal.
[17:22] Adashino
    Let's go someplace where we can see the moon.
[17:26] Adashino
    If we go now, we can still make it.
[17:33] Adashino
    We can see the moon from here.
[17:35] Adashino
    Let's give it a try.
[17:38] child Sumireko
    Should I just read the same poem again?
[17:41] Adashino
    What you initially read was a hanka.
[17:44] Adashino
    What you'll read now is the complete
    chouka that it summarized.
[17:49] Adashino
    Here. Hurry.
[17:51] child Sumireko
    All right.
SIGN    m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
SIGN    I wish that the bridge to the heavens were longer
[17:53] child Sumireko
    "I wish that the bridge to
    the heavens were longer.
SIGN    I wish that the highest mountains were taller
[17:55] child Sumireko
    I wish that the mountains were taller.
[17:58] child Sumireko
    I wish that Tsukuyomi's Water of Youth
    were something I could steal
SIGN    I wish that Tsukuyomi's Water of Youth
SIGN    were something I could steal and give to you
[18:02] child Sumireko
    and give to you to make you young again."
SIGN    to make you young again
[18:22] Adashino
    You seem to have reverted safely.
[18:25] Sumireko
    This feels embarrassing for some reason.
[18:28] Adashino
    You're wearing panties under there, right?
[18:31] Sumireko
    Of course I am.
[18:32] Sumireko
    If you have any decency at all, could you
    lend me something to cover myself?
[18:38] Adashino
    Decency? Was that something I had?
[18:42] Adashino
    Please leave that book with me.
[18:45] Adashino
    I'll make sure it's disposed of properly.
[18:48] Adashino
    Will this towel suffice
    to hide that butt of yours?
[18:51] Adashino
    Huh?
[18:52] Adashino
    What?!
[18:56] Adashino
    Wait!
[18:58] Adashino
    Sumireko-san!
[18:59] Sumireko
    Sorry, but I can't give this to you!
[19:01] Sumireko
    I'll be sure to use it well!
[19:03] Adashino
    It's dangerous!
[19:04] Sumireko
    Wha—
[19:05] Adashino
    You will give it to me!
[19:07] Sumireko
    "In the heavens, the sun and moon shine.
    You are like them in my thoughts,
[19:09] Sumireko
    and I regret that with each
    new day, you grow older!"
[19:13] Adashino
    Hey!
[19:14] Sumireko
    Who is that guy? How did he get ahead of me?
[19:19] child Sumireko
    "I wish that the bridge to
    the heavens were longer!
[19:21] child Sumireko
    I wish that the mountains were taller!
[19:22] child Sumireko
    I wish that Tsukuyomi's Water of Youth
    were something I could steal
[19:24] child Sumireko
    and give to you to make you young again!"
[19:28] Adashino
    Why are you so good at using that?
    You, with your caterpillar eyebrows!
[19:40] child Sumireko
    Where am I?
[19:45] Adashino
    Now, please give me the book.
[19:49] child Sumireko
    No!
[19:50] child Sumireko
    I need this!
[19:52] child Sumireko
    If I'm not young, no one will read my books!
[19:55] Adashino
    Why do you think that?
[19:58] child Sumireko
    Because I've come to realize
    that I have no talent!
[20:04] child Sumireko
    All I keep getting are rejections.
[20:06] child Sumireko
    Talent? That gilding has long since worn away.
[20:09] child Sumireko
    All that's left is an immature person
    who can't socialize with others!
[20:13] child Sumireko
    But even so, I still want to write novels!
[20:17] child Sumireko
    I know better than anyone else
    that they're not any good.
[20:20] child Sumireko
    I write and I write, and then I'm told
    it's not good enough, so I revise it...
[20:26] child Sumireko
    But even so, I still want to write!
[20:40] Adashino
    Your nose is running.
[20:44] Adashino
    Don't worry. You can write.
[20:47] Adashino
    You've always had the courage within you.
[20:50] Adashino
    You're fine with running around
    town half-naked, after all.
[20:54] Adashino
    I am a fan of the author Ogawa Sumireko.
[20:58] Adashino
    Please let me read a new work of yours.
[21:05] child Sumireko
    "I wish that the bridge to
    the heavens were longer.
[21:07] child Sumireko
    I wish that the mountains were taller.
[21:09] child Sumireko
    I wish that Tsukuyomi's Water of Youth
    were something I could steal..."
[21:13] Sumireko
    You don't play fair, Adashino-kun.
[21:16] Sumireko
    If you insist like that, then I can't say no.
[21:24] Adashino
    I'm glad you're back, Sumireko-san.
[21:31] Conductor
    If you'd like to report a found article,
    please come this way.
[21:38] Conductor
    A Juusho, is it?
[21:40] Conductor
    This can be exchanged for
    one ticket to Yami Station.
[21:46] Adashino
    I won't this time, thank you.
[21:49] Conductor
    That's a shame.
[21:53] Conductor
    We await the opportunity to serve you again.
[21:58] Conductor
    Mysterious disappearances...
SIGN    Schoolhouse, Drool, and an Apartment Wife
[23:36] Sumireko
    Next time: "Schoolhouse, Drool,
    and an Apartment Wife."