Tune in to the Midnight Heart (2026) s01e08 Episode Script

1
Good morning, everyone!
How are you all doing?
I'm doing swimmingly, of course!
Morn, morning!
Morn, morning! Morn, morning!
Morning.
You're in great spirits so early.
What's the matter? I said good morning.
It's yours truly.
Okay.
Let's get ready
for the morning broadcast.
About the revisions to the script
Talk to me, dumbass!
What was that for?!
Don't just ignore me!
Ask me what's bugging me!
Right, sorry about that.
Did something happen?
I'm not telling you.
What's your problem?!
I've never seen
a hit-and-run in a convo before.
Do you want to talk about it or not?
Shut up! Shut up!
I have things to do, so I'm leaving!
What's her deal?
Gotta love it when she bleps.
She joined the theater club
last week as a temp helper.
The theater club?
But it looks like it
hasn't been going so well.
She agreed to it since it'd
help her practice her acting.
Huh Knowing her, I'd think
she could work with anyone.
Oh, please. Nene-chan actually
shuns people she isn't close to.
She's cheery in class, though, of course.
Nene only likes people who like her.
Really? Her?
I hate all the people who hate me!
That does make sense.
Can you do something
about this, Yamabuki-kun?
I couldn't say. Not without
knowing what the cause is
You can't, Bucky?
Don't be absurd.
How am I meant to resolve this
when she doesn't want to talk about it?
Besides, acting and voice acting
aren't quite one and the same.
Half-baked advice would only
plant weird ideas in her head.
Unfortunately, nobody can give her
a helping hand right now.
Unless
It's me, yours truly!
Hook, line, and sinker!
Wow, he's so fun to egg on.
THEATER CLUB
Oh!
Please forgive me for being so pathetic!
I was the one closest to you,
and yet I couldn't give you all my love!
Oizumi-san's been in the zone lately.
Her dream is to become an actress
and marry a celebrity to get his money.
Huh? What happened to marrying
the heir of a big corporation?
If If you'll forgive me—
if you're still willing
to give me your love—
won't you tell me that
you love me once more?!
Yep. I love you.
Wassup with that?!
Oizumi-san?!
Cut, cut. Stop the cameras.
We don't have any.
Himekawa-san!
I told you this before.
Did you actually read the script?
Huh? I did
That's not the impression I'm getting.
H-How uncharacteristically meek of her!
Listen up.
This scene has a couple oh-so-in-love,
and yet the foolish man
has run to another woman
after a trivial disagreement.
He then desperately begs for forgiveness
like the pathetic loser he is!
The girl has mixed feelings, but
she bottles them up and forgives him.
It's a highly complex and powerful scene.
And yet, this is how you acted it out
"Yep! I wuv you!"
It's shallow as hell!
Oizumi-san?!
Please stop throwing yourself
at the equipment.
Too shallow! Your acting is a sham!
A-A sham?
But I put a lot of thought into it.
I'm acting for real.
"Thought"? Don't tell me
You actually think when you're acting?
Huh?
You're not supposed to
think while you act.
When you cry or get angry, do you
stop to think, "Okay, time to cry"?
Emotions are born of impulses,
not conscious thought.
Is that not the case for you?
I-I
Unbelievable.
You have to think to answer
that question, too?
I see. I've heard of this before.
Let's take it from the top.
Get it right this time, Himekawa-san.
Okay
How irritating!
What exactly did I do wrong?
I agreed to help because
it'd improve my acting,
but if I was gonna be berated like this,
I wish I hadn't! Ugh!
Do I think when I'm acting?
Of course I do!
My brain is in overdrive!
I just don't have anything to base it on,
unlike with anime and manga!
How do I put on a good performance?
How can I portray the emotions?
Even now, I'm thinking about all that.
won't you tell me
that you love me once more?
I think and I think and I think
Y-Yep I love you
The restroom's out the door
and to the right.
I-I'm not holding it in!
Massage the pressure point
behind your knee to wake up your legs.
M-My legs aren't asleep!
I never expected her to be so meek
outside her comfort zone!
Let's have another great day today.
Okay, time to go back to class.
Is it just me, or is she
getting grumpier by the day?
Disaster will strike our village
if we don't offer a sacrifice.
Gah! This just pisses me off!
Damn that Oizumi girl!
"Don't think, feel"?
Who are you, Bruce Lee?
"Emotions are impulses"? She's just
saying random crap to boost her ego!
None of it makes any sense!
You're such a good girl, Nene.
You do everything your dad wants.
Of course I think about it.
I was always trying to think of
ways to make him happy.
Whoa, Yamabuki-kun's going in.
What do you want?
I saw what happened
in theater club yesterday.
Huh?
There's something I want to say.
What?
Are you here to cheer me up or something?
I've been wondering
Your hair ornaments.
Are they an homage to stag beetles?
Did you come here just to ask me that?
You piss me all the way off!
What the hell are you thinking?!
Now that's impulsive, Himekawa.
Did you think before you got mad
and sent me flying just now?
Shaddup!
I
I was trying, okay?
That's the way, Himekawa.
Your raw emotions are spilling out.
And yet
She just kept berating me! I hate it!
Excellent! This makes for great acting!
Empty your mind and obey your instincts!
You want to get back at her?
Let's do just that!
I'll give you some special training!
Over my dead body!
Good! You're showing a lot of feeling!
FEELINGS ARE IMPULSIVE
They often say to
"get into character," but
I doubt you can do it for something
you don't have experience with.
You're not a professional
actress, after all.
So, to play the role
of someone who's been cheated on,
you'll first need to experience
being cheated on yourself.
On that note
I'm sorry! Please forgive me
for cheating on you!
We're not even dating!
The role you're playing
is a woman cheated on after a fight
by a man she was happily dating,
and she still forgives him.
Is that correct?
Yeah.
What do you think?
Suppose a cheater professed
his love for you again.
Could you actually say you
love him just like in the script?
Erm
You'd think about it, right?
I guess.
That's why experiencing it
is the way to go.
The impulse you feel then will
make your acting authentic.
We're doing this again?
I have to pretend to be your girlfriend
and also have to experience
being cheated on?
Who are you going to cheat on me with?
That'd be me.
Wha Why Iko?
It's because I'm in love with Bucky.
Wha?!
Or so the story goes.
Don't take it seriously.
She just has the most free time now.
So you and I are in love,
and you cheat on me with Iko?
That doesn't sound realistic.
There's no point.
Are you going to let Oizumi get away
with trash-talking you, then?
She'll mock you forever,
saying you're all voice and go,
"Oh, I guess all those faceless voice
actors just aren't that good at acting!"
Don't you want revenge?
Don't you want to make her pay?
I so wanna get back at her!
Yes! That's the spirit!
I'll make her cry uncle!
Great! Your feelings are exploding!
I'll make her kneel
and lick my shoes!
I don't know about that.
Let's begin our special training, then.
We'll take this somewhere more suitable.
Okay.
What?
Oh, it's just
I'm sorry.
I've always been a pain to deal with.
I don't mind at all.
A girl who's a handful has her own charm.
The heck was that? Buzz off.
Furin High School
There you have it.
Me and Ki Iko have been
going out in secret.
But you're my one true love.
Please
Will you give me one more chance?!
The bathroom is over there.
Ugh! I knew you'd say that!
Sorry, it just doesn't feel real to me.
I can't imagine Iko going out with you.
You're the love of my life, darling.
Till death do us part.
This is fake as hell.
I suppose it'll take a while.
Take your time and get used to it.
Are we done for today?
Yeah. Iko and I will go
finish up some club tasks.
I just don't see this working out.
Iko and him dating?
I simply can't picture it
one bit
I guess it's not totally impossible.
Anyway
I'm kinda curious what it feels like
to have someone you love stolen from you.
Say, Arisu.
How long will we have to
hide our relationship?
Just bear with it. If anyone
found out we were dating,
it'd be a major headache.
I really wanna have you all to myself,
but that's asking too much, huh?
Still, isn't it fun to pretend
that we're acting?
I guess, yeah.
Are those two really What? No way!
No way! No freaking way!
She's looking at us
and her eyes are popped out.
Stop! Don't look! You'll give it away!
Is this prank really going to work?
C'mon, Shinobu and Rikka said so.
I see.
You want Nene-chan
to experience being cheated on?
In that case
All you need to do is get a girlfriend.
You make it sound so easy.
I mean a fake one, of course.
If she sees you get lovey-dovey
with another girl in secret,
it'll be a big shock for her.
Wait, wait.
Won't this plan fall apart
if she doesn't like me?
And what if she doesn't have
any positive feelings for me?
Get over yourself, you dumbass!
I hate you!
Things got awkward between us, too.
I think she likes you
well enough, Yamabuki-kun.
If she really hated you,
you'd have been kicked out long ago.
Yep, yep.
Is that so?
So, who's gonna be the girlfriend?
Let's decide with rock-paper-scissors.
Rock, paper, scissors!
The prank does seem
to have worked, but now what?
Uh, isn't Nene-chan more distraught
than we thought she'd be?
She's frozen stiff.
Even if it's not exactly cheating,
I figured she'd be taken aback to see
a guy she's close to dating her friend.
But she's way more than taken aback.
Heck, those two froze up, too.
Well, they expected Nene-chan
to jump in to stop them,
so they probably have
no idea what to do next.
This is a problem.
There's nothing for us to do.
Himekawa's still frozen.
Maybe we should start over.
What's wrong?
So, have you ever kissed anyone?
I have, yeah.
Really? Who? And when?
It was fairly recently.
Do you have feelings for Bucky?
Not really. I hate all boys.
But well,
he's better than the other
boys I know, at least.
Nene was being cagey back then,
but I guess I'll be upfront about it.
What?
I want to kiss you.
Huh?
What?!
I like you, Arisu.
FEELINGS CAN ESCALATE
I want to kiss you.
I like you, Arisu.
I see how it is. Good call, Kirino.
Couples kiss. This will
make us look more convincing.
Now Himekawa will have
no choice but to step in.
Well, I'm still not convinced
that doing this will make her jealous.
But yours truly is pretty good
with fake kisses.
I was always the prince
in preschool plays, after all.
Isn't she getting too close, though?
Is she really going to stop in time?
Wait, is she actually going to kiss me?
She's getting a bit too into the role!
Hold it, Kirino!
Are you seriously
Stop right there!
Wh-What are you two thinking?
We're at school, you know?!
Hell, you shouldn't be doing
this outside school, either!
This is neither the time,
the place, nor the occasion!
Calm down, Nene-chan.
Sorry. They were just acting.
Let us explain from the top.
And that's the story.
Sorry for tricking you.
But it wouldn't have seemed as real
if we hadn't done that.
I'm not mad or anything.
Well? Was this experience
helpful for your acting?
Hell if I know!
Ack, is she actually mad?
It'll be fine I think.
We should calm her down some.
Nene-chan.
This whole thing was Shinobu's idea.
Hey, Rikka-chan?!
You really came through, Kirino.
I had no idea what to do back there.
I didn't think you'd pretend to kiss me.
It made us look like a real couple.
Right? My ad lib saved
your skin back there.
For a second, I panicked
because I thought you
might really kiss me.
Say
Have you ever kissed Nene, Bucky?
Come on, now. Of course not.
Here. It's not much, but thank you.
You haven't?
Did she tell you otherwise?
Not really.
Then why would you ask me that?
Hey.
I want your drink instead.
I already took a sip from it, though?
It's fine.
If you say so.
I'll make do with this for now.
Bitter!
I knew you couldn't handle coffee.
THEATER CLUB
Oh!
Please forgive me for being so pathetic!
I admit it!
I am a complete and utter fool!
It has taken me this long to realize
how important you are to me!
My rose only blooms in splendor
because I have you, my sun!
Is it me, or is her acting
getting more showy?
I'm impressed Himekawa-san
actually came back.
After getting that flak, too!
She has guts!
If
If you'll forgive me—
if you're still willing
to give me your love—
won't you tell me
that you love me once more?!
I don't want to see your
stupid mug ever again.
Get out of my sight.
Time out!
Himekawa-san, that's not the right line.
And you're way too scary.
You're supposed to forgive
the protagonist there.
No, that was fine.
Oizumi-san?!
Your expression and line
delivery were excellent.
It felt real, like you'd
actually been cheated on.
Your emotions truly shone through!
Did someone cheat on you for real?
Something like that, yeah.
What, really? Tell me more!
What more do you want me to say?
I got my payback.
Praise me.
Yeah, I saw. You were amazing.
It's embarrassing when
you're so direct about it.
You're getting along
with the members, too.
Yeah. I've learned to be
more open with my feelings
and speak my mind whenever I can.
That's good to hear.
You might've played a part.
Thanks.
Now I kinda get it when
they say emotions are impulsive.
They slip out even when
you try to bottle them up.
I'd love to use that in my acting.
You've actually shown some growth.
Putting on an act with Iko was worth it.
Still The kiss was going too far.
NO ENTRY
Hold on.
That was Kirino's ad lib.
I expected you to butt in much earlier.
Huh
So
If I hadn't stopped you,
would you two have actually kissed?
Kirino and all you teenage girls
sure love to talk about this stuff.
It was all an act.
There's no way we'd do that.
Yeah?
Iko might've been serious, you know?
Not a chance.
If it were me
I might've kept going and kissed you.
Huh?
N-Nothing! I'm outta here!
Hey!
This is your fault, okay?
Now I'm saying whatever pops into my head!
How is that my
Just kidding.
That must've looked
pretty impulsive, right?
I needed to get some
payback for that prank.
I guess I've gotten better at acting.
PAYBACK ACHIEVED
Translation:
\h\h\h\h\h\h\hTiming:
\h\h\h\h\h\h\hEditing:
\h\hSriram Gurunathan
Mariana Martinez
William Haggard\h
\h\h\h\h\hQuality Check:
Translation Check:
S Bilyeu\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h
Michelle Tymon