Even a Replica Can Fall in Love (2026) s01e09 Episode Script

Long ago and far away,
there was an old man
who made his living as a bamboo cutter.
The Bamboo Cutter is about an old man
who finds Princess Kaguya
inside a bamboo stalk and raises her.
She refuses many suitors
who want to marry her.
And in the end, she is forced
to return home to the moon.
Grandma, take a gander. I found
this baby inside a bamboo stalk.
My word, grandpa.
Who is this adorkable baby girl?
We should name her "Princess Kaguya."
A princess who always shines beautifully.
May her life be forever filled
with happiness.
In just a few short months,
Princess Kaguya grew up
to be a lovely young woman.
Moririn!
Grandmother. Grandfather.
Have I truly received a letter
from the imperial capital?
Yes. It bids us to hand you over.
Nobles and even the emperor
are infatuated with your beauty.
You are allowed to refuse marriage.
You will always, always
have a home here with us.
What is best for you is best for me,
grandmother and grandfather.
Princess!
Please accept my betrothal gift.
It is my wish neither to wed
nor to leave for the capital.
But if it will please you
I humbly appreciate your affection.
Princess!
Princess Kaguya lived a peaceful life
with her grandparents
after deftly dismissing her suitors.
Look, grandpa.
Princess Kaguya grew this all by herself.
Oh, look how big it is.
I watered it like you told me,
and it turned out plump.
It's too beautiful to eat.
Grandpa, you silly goose.
But despite their best efforts,
she could not escape her fate.
Princess Kaguya.
Why must you leave us
and return to the moon?
Because I am of the city on the moon.
On the night of the full moon,
celestial messengers will come for me.
You mustn't! Perhaps if we unite,
we can drive them off!
You cannot.
The people of the moon are not
like the people of this world.
No?
We are not the same.
We differ in how time passes for us,
and in why we are born.
But I promise I will not forget you
after I have returned.
I will send letters as well as drawings.
Oh, yeah. This story
Look alive, men!
The moon messengers
must not take the princess!
Who's with me?
Yeah!
Don't go!
Princess Kaguya, will you really leave us?
It shall be done.
I must return to the place I was born.
Please remember me,
grandmother, grandfather.
This story is more than just
The Bamboo Cutter.
Grandma, we must do something.
Yes, but she is a celestial being.
She was never meant
to live with us in our world.
For this Mori-senpai,
this entire story from beginning to end
has been about her own life.
Let us bid farewell with our smiles.
Here. Receive this heavenly vestment.
You liar!
You never wanted to be
a puppet on a string
with no will of your own.
You know people will forget you
if you leave us.
Listen to your heart.
Where does it say you belong?
Those flyers weren't an accusation.
They were a cry for help.
She wanted to let everyone know
that she's not Suzumi Mori.
That she's here as her own person.
Quit being so obedient and
tell us what you want.
Use your own words.
I'm begging you.
Please.
Can I?
Can I really do what I want?
Am I really allowed to stay here
with my mom and dad?
Can I?
Please stay.
I want you to stay.
Okay.
Oops. I
Mother. Father.
Look up at the sky.
The dawn is breaking.
That it is. It looks like
it will be a sunny day.
I have decided I will stay here
for the rest of my life,
together with both of you.
After the old woman poured her heart out
and pleaded with her daughter,
Princess Kaguya changed her mind.
Princess Kaguya decided her true home
was with the grandparents who raised her,
and not with the moon people
she had no memory of.
We're also selling a novella
depicting that familial bond.
"The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter:
The Remake," as told by the grandmother.
On sale now in the lit club room in
the auxiliary building. Only 200 yen each.
I'm so sorry.
I shouldn't have ad-libbed those lines.
There's no time for that. We have to move
the props. The next group's waiting.
Uh, right!
As they say, all's well that ends well.
Yup.
It felt like a live improv show.
It was great.
Ricchan. Thank you.
So here's the thing.
I was talking with Suzumi's mom,
and she gave me this.
It's Suzumi's letter to me.
She found it in her room.
She apologized for
not giving it to me sooner.
But I'm too scared to read it alone.
So I want to read it together.
Huh? Is that a good idea?
It might have stuff about Mochizuki-senpai
asking her out during the fireworks.
Wait a minute.
He did what? I had no idea.
You know more about Suzumi than I do.
So let's read it together.
I, uh, think I really need
to get back to my club.
This is an order from a senior
and your student body president.
Aren't you the "former" president?
No more backchat.
All right. I'll read it now.
"Dear Ryo-chan,"
"How are you? I'm fine."
"Gosh, that sounds like
we're strangers, doesn't it?"
"It's been that long. It's me, Suzumi."
"The reason I've decided
to write you this letter"
"is because Mochizuki-kun asked me out
at the Abe River fireworks festival."
"I've tried writing letters to you before,
but I ended up tossing them out."
"Everything in those letters
sounded too fake to me."
"But now, I think I can write
what I really want to say to you."
"Do you remember Shun Mochizuki?"
"He's that sanctimonious kid
who was always rude."
"He played the prince
in that play in kindergarten."
"But he did promise me back then"
"that one day, I'd play
a princess to his prince."
"My little doppelgänger."
"I want to thank you for answering
my call for help and coming to me."
"Thank you for going to school for me
when I was crying over having to play"
"the evil stepmother in the school play."
"Even if I did end up chasing after you,"
"and that caused my parents
to split us up from each other."
"But"
"But I'd call grandma and grandpa
in Fujinomiya behind mom's back,"
"and they'd tell me how happy
they were to have you."
"So I think that
I made the right decision."
"I wish they'd been able
to show me your paintings."
"Both grandma and grandpa said
you were a great artist."
Should we stop there?
Yeah, I think so.
Oh, it says she was too embarrassed
to answer Mochizuki-kun right away,
and she planned to give him a letter.
Why?
Yeah. She can be a real screwup.
She even slipped and hit her head
because she couldn't walk in geta sandals.
So I guess I fell in love?
With who?
With Suzumi.
For 13 years up until the accident,
I've always wanted to see her.
I've been missing her, hating her,
adoring her, and feeling heartbroken.
Isn't that the type of love
you see in manga and dramas?
All I would think about
the whole time was Suzumi.
Everyone thinks that someone
in a vegetative state can only breathe.
But Suzumi's not like that.
Sometimes, she smiles.
It's such a fragile, defenseless smile,
like a baby's.
And at the same time, it's so empty.
She smiles when I play music for her.
She squeezes my hand
when I hold hers.
But I know it's not really her.
She's not doing those things consciously.
It's just her body reacting to stimuli.
Nothing I do actually reaches Suzumi.
You must really miss her.
Yeah. I really miss Suzumi.
Anyway, I said some
messed up things to you.
Sorry for being a horrible senior.
It's fine.
Actually, I'll forgive you
on one condition.
What's that?
Can you say your real name?
I want to hear it from you.
I'm actually Nao Aikawa.
The guy who played grandpa
was Aki Sanada.
I'm Ryo.
Suzumi's name
has the characters for "cool" and "still"
when you write it.
The character for "cool"
is also pronounced "Ryo."
My mom and dad gave me that name.
My very own name.
So it's Ryo-senpai then.
Nao-chan, thanks for finding me.
I'm glad we met.
I'll go back to Fujinomiya. My real home.
I'll talk things out
with Suzumi's parents.
Then I'll keep waiting patiently
for Suzumi to recover and wake up.
But one day, will you come meet
my real parents?
Sure.
But what does Fujinomiya have?
Good question.
Well, it does have
the Makaino Farm Resort.
I can take you there.
The Netherworld Farm?
"Makaino," not "Makai."
Oh. O-Okay. I promise to come see you.
I'll hold you to that. I'll be waiting.
Sure.
So we need to sell two copies
in two minutes.
They're the only ones left.
But selling this many should be enough
to save our club, right?
It should be within the margin of error.
You're right.
I'll go make the case—
A copy is 200 yen, right?
I'd like one, too.
Senpai!
- Thank you all for coming to
the 17th annual Seiryo Fest.
- We made it!
- I commend your efforts, literature club.
Will we be disbanded?
I'll talk the faculty out of it.
They can't say your club
has no achievements to its name now.
Your ex-student body president
will take care of the rest.
But we need to go to the gym first.
We still have the after-fest assembly.
Right.
Mori.
Can we talk?
Mochizuki-kun, sorry. We're running late.
No, listen.
I swore to ask you again
if our play was a success.
Huh?
Like I told you that night,
I'm in love with you.
But I-I want to know how you feel—
Sorry.
I love someone else.
I can't go out with you.
There's still hope.
So cheer up. I'm sure Suzumi
might feel differently.
Huh? What?
Hm? Suzumi?
Just hang tight
till the after-fest is done.
We have a whole lot to talk about.
Uh, I have no clue what she just said.
They used our clubroom
for their rom-com again.
Mochizuki-senpai.
I had a lot of fun with the play.
Yeah, me too.
Me three.
Yeah, I had fun too. Thanks, you guys.
I wonder if our class is done cleaning up.
Nobody's here.
It looks like they aren't finished.
Nao.
You're right. They've barely started.
Should we clean up ourselves?
Um, Aki-kun?
What?
Did you, uh, just try to kiss me and miss?
I didn't miss.
I kissed you where I wanted to.
You wanted to kiss me on the nose?
Uh, technically, yeah.
And did you try to kiss me
at the aquarium, too?
Lay off me.
And sorry.
Then, can you try again?
I want to do it for real, Aki-kun.
You mean it?
I do.
There you guys are.
Come on. The after-fest's about to start.
Thanks to all of your efforts, another
Seiryo Fest has successfully concluded.
As of this event, we in the student
council will officially step down.
We might've been like meddlesome in-laws
to the new student council.
But this weekend
has been really enjoyable.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And I repeat, this fest could not
have been a success without all of you.
For the years to come,
I call on the faculty,
the organizing committee,
our local community,
and all the students here—
Hey, Aki-kun.
If the original's heart stops,
does the replica
President Moririn?
What happened?
Where's Moririn?
I came back home in a total daze.
I only remember asking Sunao
to erase me on the spot.
I wanted it all to be a dream.
We've just received word from her parents.
The senior, Suzumi Mori,
passed away last Sunday.
She suffered a concussion
at the end of July,
and the injury left her
completely unresponsive.
She fought hard to recover,
but she spent her final moments peacefully
at home with her parents at her side.
Sensei.
I believe President Moririn
was in the gym on Sunday.
The wake and the funeral
will be family-only.
The school will hold a memorial service
tomorrow from sixth period.
How can anyone believe that?
Everyone saw Suzumi Mori holding
the microphone on Sunday.
Everyone saw her play Princess Kaguya.
Nao.
I'll walk you home.
This isn't like that other time.
Yeah, I guess.
I wish it had rained today.
I'd even have taken
an out-of-season typhoon.
Yeah?
Nao?
This rocky beach stings all over.
Aki-kun, you won't leave me, will you?
I wish I could promise that.
Nao.
Go ahead. I won't mind.
With what?
You don't have to wait
for rain or a storm.
You're free to cry, whenever you want to.
Ryo-senpai!
We were just starting
to get to know each other!
I even made a promise!
To you.
Welcome back.
I'm home.
What happened?
A senior at school died.
Were you close?
Hey, Nao.
I'll start attending school tomorrow.
I'll go every day, even during exams
or when I don't feel like it.