Episode 5

Introduction
A few figures are seated at sunset on a hedge overlooking a body of water. They are namely the main trio and a fourth individual. Tadakuni asks the others what sort of person this ‘Yamauchi dude’ was, who wrote the manga. Hidenori surmises that he’s probably a high school boy himself, and Yoshitake asks if he thought so because it has jokes only a high school boy would know. The fourth person says that the author isn’t a high school boy.

When Hidenori asks if he’s a high school girl, Tadakuni says that’s even less likely, but Yoshitake thinks it’s possible. This is also refuted by the fourth person. Tadakuni says that he’s able to tell that from the art style. The next guess is that he’s from elementary school, and the fourth guy protests that it’s getting out of hand. The others tell him that he should take a guess too.

The main trio then ask him who he really is. He responds that he’s the editor in charge of Yamauchi, and they’re disappointed, since they thought he was Yamauchi himself.

Opening Theme Song
“Shiny Tale” – by Mix Speakers Inc.

High School Boys and Dubbing
Main article: Chapter 28

The main trio are relaxing on a park bench after school, when they notice three middle-school girls talking animatedly to one another. Yoshitake says it’s the Gowa Middle School uniform they’re wearing. Seeing that they’re really excited about something, the guys wonder what it could be. Tadakuni suggests they add their own script.

Hidenori and Yoshitake start voicing two of the girls, making it seem like one is trying to kill the other. Tadakuni, as the third girl, tells them to quiet down inside the restaurant. The fight to the death is revealed to be a dispute over the bill, and the third girl takes the others to the manager’s office. After ‘three years’ of labour, she allows them to leave, and the three pound some mochi in celebration (this is where the girls start to play rock-paper-scissors in reality). One of the girls wails at losing the game, which is translated into getting mochi in her eye according to the boys’ script.

The girl runs off and comes back with two juice cans, ‘for revenge’ as per the voiceover. When her friend drinks from the can, the girl squeezes her from behind, causing her to spit out her juice. The boys conclude their dub by declaring that her actions have saved the world. After this, the girls then talk to each other and start looking at the main trio. Tadakuni dubs them saying ‘Those three guys have been looking at us for a while now’. Hidenori adds ‘They’re definitely checking us out’ and Yoshitake follows with ‘Ew, no. Let’s leave’.

Immediately, Hidenori and Yoshitake look downcast. Tadakuni tells them to stop getting depressed about something they made up themselves.

Intermission
A notice says “Dubbing a voice-over was pretty surreal, lol” and “Today, we’re lazily bringing you more prime stuff”.

Yoshitake: "Danshi Kōkōsei no Nichijou is brought to the viewers by the following sponsors... with a bang!" Hidenori: "3/10."

High School Boys and Seniority
Main article: Chapter 24

Motoharu is walking home from school, when his sister sees him and calls him. She asks him what he wants for dinner that night, and approves of his suggestion of a hot pot. Motoharu notices that four of her friends are with her, who remark that Mino’s little brother looks nothing like her. He introduces himself to them. Greeting him in turn, they stand forming a circle around him.

In alarm, Motoharu realizes he’s cornered by older girls, and that he may be toyed with. He wonders if they think they can get away with it, stating that a man’s pride is worth more to him than his life. One of the girls asks him why he’s growing a beard. He almost falters, then tries to be confident and says it wasn’t for any particular reason. Immediately, Mino smacks him in the back, telling him to be more respectful to his elders. He apologizes, having been reined in by the hierarchy.

One girl tells him to shave off his beard. Another girl then points out that he looks like the comedian Eikura, known for his phrase ‘Bobiin!’. The others laugh and agree, and ask Motoharu to say the phrase. When he shows hesitance, they force him into it and cackle at him afterwards. Motoharu, feeling humiliated, contemplates resistance before accepting that he’s probably outmatched. Someone then suggests the idea of changing his hairstyle, and they end up making pigtails for him using rubber bands.

They laugh at him again, and Motoharu’s endurance is almost at its limit. Mino then suggests that they should get moving, and he tries to get ahead of them and leave. However, she asks him to come with them. When he asks why, she tells him they’re all staying over at their place that night. Motoharu turns ashen-faced, and a cracking sound described as ‘a heart breaking’ is heard.

Transition scene: At Motoharu’s house, two of his sister’s friends hold him back while he yells in agony. A third girl approaches him holding a razor.

High School Boys and the Savior
Main article: Chapter 26

Ringo, while heading home, is stopped by Motoharu (whose chin is bandaged), Karasawa and the Vice President. They request her to lend them some equipment from her school, having forgotten to arrange for it in time. She refuses, for the reason that she’d get into trouble if found out, and starts walking away. The boys plead with her, following her as she turns into a dark alley.

In the alley, they block her path and continue to beg, even as she ignores them and munches on a snack. A boy from West High, walking by, overhears them and misinterprets the situation. He steps in and politely asks the trio to leave the girl alone and stop making her uncomfortable. After a pause, the guys react in shock and embarrassment, realizing that he thinks they’re harassing her. They glance at each other and nod in agreement.

Suddenly, they turn aggressive and demand that he stay out of their business. When he doesn’t leave, Karasawa throws a punch at him, but he easily dodges it and hits him back. He then takes down the others quickly, and asks Ringo if she’s okay. Too stunned to understand, she says yes and even takes his hand to be led away from the alley. The three council members, on the ground, are relieved that the act went well. They had pretended to be delinquents so that the ‘saviour’ wouldn’t have to be embarrassed.

However, Ringo’s cluelessness threatens to ruin everything. She pulls her hand away from the saviour and is about to tell him that the guys were her friends, when the VP suddenly kicks her from behind. She yelps, turning around, then pauses to think. After a while, her eyes light up and the guys are relieved that she understands the situation. Ringo then grabs the savior’s collar and threatens to beat him up – forcing the trio to give up in despair. The savior figures out the story in the end.

High School Boys and Old Friends
Main article: Chapter 27

Hidenori and Yoshitake are called to by a high school boy with a girl hanging on to his arm. They recognize him as Kiyotaka from middle school and the three start chit-chatting. In the middle, Hidenori and Yoshitake are put off when they notice the girl glaring fiercely at them. They wonder what’s happened, and wordlessly conclude that they may be interrupting her time with her boyfriend. Acting on this, they try to make an excuse and leave, but Kiyotaka obliviously pulls them into a restaurant, frustrating them.

Inside, the girl continues giving them a fiery glare, making them even more uncomfortable. Kiyotaka is still unaware and continues laughing and talking about their old friends, much to their chagrin. To top it off, he then starts talking about a mixer he attended recently, shocking the two that he’d be so callous in front of his own girlfriend. Hidenori, unable to take it, interrupts him and starts saying his girlfriend must be uncomfortable.

However, Kiyotaka tells them she’s his younger sister, and the two fall back on the table in consternation. He follows up by pointing out she has a bad squint because she lost her contacts, and that he had come to take her home. She apologizes sheepishly, and he laughs at her situation. Hidenori and Yoshitake yell at him, saying he could have told them about it sooner.

High School Boys and the Tale of a Hero
Main article: Chapter 29

Hidenori is climbing up the stairs to a shrine. He wonders what people would answer when asked to choose someone they admired the most. Whereas most people would answer with some famous name, he wouldn’t, because of an event that happened eight years ago. The scene shifts to a flashback from eight years ago, at that very shrine. A young Hidenori, having been beaten up by bullies, is lying in the sand with his books scattered and clothes dishevelled.

As he cries, he hears a tune being played on a flute and turns around, only to see a boy of about his age wearing a bug-shaped mask and an oversized scarf flying behind him like a cape. The boy asks him if he was being picked on, and declares himself a friend of the weak. Hidenori is too shocked to speak. The stranger then throws him a steel whistle, telling him to make use of it if he’s in trouble, before leaving the scene.

A few days later, Hidenori is once again getting bullied at the shrine. Four boys have ganged up on him, and the leader is about to start kicking him, when he reaches for the whistle. Just before he blows it, the masked stranger shows up and tells him not to. He tells him not to depend on stronger people all the time, and fires two rubber bands from his fingers, knocking two bullies down. The other bullies realise he’s Rubber Shooter, who was known for winning fights against some other students. They run away in fear.

Rubber Shooter asks Hidenori if he’s okay, and Hidenori asks him why he came to save him. He responds that it was because Hidenori was his friend, and he leaves. Hidenori recalls that he never saw him again, but his words resonated with him and he returned to the shrine whenever things were going wrong. Suddenly, he hears a tune being whistled from the top of the stairs, and realizes in shock that it’s the same as Rubber Shooter’s – Pachelbel’s Canon. He runs to the top in the hope that he can see the hero again after all this time.

At the top, he finds Yoshitake, who’s whistling and holding rubber bands the same way Rubber Shooter used to. Hidenori is aghast. Yoshitake says he’s surprised to see him there, but Hidenori takes off, running back down the stairs. He resolves that if anyone asked him whom he looked up to, he’d probably just say Hideyo Noguchi.

High School Boys and the Literary Girl 3
Main article: Chapter 30

Hidenori walks down to the riverbank at sunset. As he’s about to sit down with a book, he notices none other than the Literary Girl standing behind him. He screams internally, while she appears delighted. Sitting in despair, he realizes she’s after another fantastical romantic encounter like the last time. He wonders if she’s immune to reality, and also wonders if she knows how painful it was for him to come up with those lines. However, being a self-branded ‘entertainer’, he decides to go with the flow.

His first attempt is saying that the wind is cold. He realizes immediately how flat it sounded, and it doesn’t impress the girl at all. He tries to calm down, but ends up quickly throwing out another line about ‘a cold front approaching’. When the Literary Girl appears surprised and disappointed, he apologizes internally and follows up by saying it was blowing in from the coldest winter of Siberia.

The girl becomes even more downcast, and Hidenori senses the tension building up. He mentally apologizes again and racks his brain for a phrase. Finally, inspiration strikes him and he looks up and straight ahead. His glasses glinting with confidence, he remarks that the wind is sparkling.

The Literary Girl is unable to hold herself back and lets out a short giggle, before covering her mouth. Hidenori’s face contorts in despair and his spirit is in tatters.

Ending Theme Song
“Ohisama” – by Amesaki Annainin

Theme Song
The girls start playing their jingle as usual.

However, this time, Yanagin appears dissatisfied after the performance. When asked what’s wrong, she yells that the song didn’t match their movements whatsoever, and that with such a terrible band, high school boys would look down on them. Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the high-school-girl fad and travel to London after playing their souls out for just a week. Ikushima is excited at the mention of London, but Habara points out this isn’t that kind of show.

Yanagin says that’s nonsense and tells them to practice their hearts out. After this, they repeat the jingle.

Resentment
Main article: Chapter 32.1

Yanagin punches Karasawa while calling him an idiot, but he blocks. In the aftermath of the last scene, it turned out that the chocolates given to the girls were expired ones. As revenge, Yanagin tries to punch him repeatedly, but he blocks each time. Frustrated at his defence, she tells Ikushima to hold him back, and Ikushima grabs him from behind. Yanagin throws a kick at Karasawa, but he spins around just in time and Ikushima ends up getting the blow.

She yelps in pain, and Yanagin tells him to stop it, accusing him of looking down at them hypocritically. She and Ikushima then pile on the insults at him. After a point, he pinches the brim of his cap and takes it off, revealing a gigantic scar running from one eyebrow all the way up his forehead. Immediately, the two girls turn ashen-faced and say sorry. Habara also reacts badly, and tells him he should perhaps forget the scar, as it’s already been a while since it happened.

Karasawa tells her that’s a good joke. Tearing up, Habara holds out a 5000 yen note to him and begs for forgiveness. Behind her, Ikushima and Yanagin call her pathetic.

Outro
A notice says that the next episode features the short ‘High School Boys and the Holy Night’, among others. Hidenori says it would be Christmas next episode, before complaining that the seasons are going by too fast.

Another notice that says “It looks like we’ve caught up with the seasons. But not much happens over the New Year’s break in the daily lives of high school boys”. Yoshitake announces that the show was brought to the viewers by “Sorry, I’m Ken-sama!” and the following sponsors. Hidenori rates it a 9/10.

End Screen
The end screen features five of the usual panels of Yoshitake, with the send-off message “See You Next Week”.

Characters
In order of appearance:
 * Yasunobu Yamauchi's editor
 * Yoshitake
 * Hidenori
 * Tadakuni
 * Gowa Middle School girls
 * Motoharu
 * Mino
 * Yoshitake's older sister
 * Mino's friends
 * Nago (cameo)
 * Ringo-chan
 * Karasawa
 * Vice President
 * The Savior
 * Kiyotaka's younger sister
 * Kiyotaka
 * Rubber Shooter
 * Bullies
 * The Literary Girl
 * Habara
 * Ikushima
 * Yanagin