Because of the extensive damage in Chuo Ward following the events in Last Magia many of the Halloween events in Kamihama have been canceled. Ayaka Mariko and Shizuku Hozumi are hanging out one day at a local café. Ayaka is talking to Shizuku about it and how much she still wants to do something to cheer up all the people in the city. Shizuku figures it can’t be helped since no one else in the city is doing anything and wonders if Ayaka just really likes Halloween. Ayaka says it’s not so much about Halloween as it is doing something that the city of Kamihama really needs right now. If that’s the case, Shizuku asks Ayaka why she doesn’t organize something herself. Ayaka’s eyes begin to sparkle as she gets more and more excited at the idea. She tells Shizuku that she’s going to organize a live comedy show for all of Kamihama. She asks Shizuku if she can be her partner but Shizuku isn’t so sure.
Later, Ayaka meets up with Seika Kumi at her apartment complex. Seika is more than happy to be Ayaka’s comedy partner but she wants to know how Ayaka is going to get their show to go live. Shizuku says she already tried asking her that but Ayaka just keeps saying they’ll figure it out later since the most important thing is the desire to make others smile. Rather than be discouraged, Seika rises to the challenge. Ayaka’s comedy routines have always encouraged Seika and this time Seika wants to give something of her own back.
Scene 2
Ayaka and Seika teamed up to form a manzai duo and practiced daily well into the evening. During their practices, Ayaka would tutor Seika and encourage her to speak louder otherwise the material won’t work. Ayaka tries to explain that the joke relies on the rhythm of the boke (funny man) which is why they changed the flow of the dialogue so that the straight man, the tsukkomi, stands out more and is easier to understand. Seika nods in understand and asks if they can’t start over one more time. Seika repeats her line once more but Ayaka urges her to emphasize more. However, Seika doesn’t want to blow her away if she uses all her might so Ayaka tells her to think of it like fighting a Witch. Seika then asks if she can use a whip against Ayaka, causing Shizuku to shake her head. Ayaka is getting a little upset and insists that manzai isn’t done with props so they restart the skit one more time.
The two looked so serious that it made Shizuku chuckle a bit. When Ayaka hears Shizuku chuckling, she decides she needs a new audience member since Shizuku was laughing when she shouldn’t have during the skit. Ayaka spies someone passing nearby and her and Seika go to practice their skit on him. Shizuku watches them run off just as she’s thinking to herself that she would have liked to have done something to help. Either way she’s glad that Ayaka is having fun. Suddenly she hears a shout coming from Ayaka and goes over to see. It turns out the victim of their rehearsal is a spokesperson for a local sweets retailer and, as it turns out, also the person who is in charge of the annual Halloween event. He had been wanting to take the event to the public since very few companies are participating this year and is short on events. If more groups were to participate, then they could hold the event again this year. He thinks Ayaka’s manzai would be great for the event. Ayaka can’t stop smiling at this great opportunity!
Scene 3
It’s the day of the Halloween event and Ayaka is excited. Shizuku says she looks good in the Halloween costume she chose for her. As they wait for the event to begin, Shizuku asks if Seika is still not here yet. Ayaka says she tried calling Seika several times but she hadn’t answered her phone yet. Just as she says this, Seika calls her on her phone. Seika weakly tells Ayaka she’s on her way but she’ll be a little late. Ayaka asks if she’s okay but Seika is barely able to respond when she tells Ayaka it’s just a fever. Ayaka tells her not to worry and to focus on getting better. She can always make people laugh once she’s feeling better. Seika says thank you and hangs up.
As Ayaka stares at her phone, Shizuku asks if she’ll be okay. Ayaka says she will be and figures Seika must be exhausted from practicing so hard every day. Shizuku asks her what she’s going to do about the manzai, but Ayaka is certain it’ll work out somehow. When Shizuku asks her if she has an idea, Ayaka puts her hand on Shizuku’s shoulder and asks if she can call her partner. Shizuku’s not surprised but she’s not too keen to stand on a stage with everyone staring at her. Ayaka says it’s all or nothing and begs Shizuku to go up there with her. After repeatedly saying please, Shizuku finally gives in and is willing to go up there. After watching Seika and Ayaka practice repeatedly, Shizuku ended up memorizing the skit. That, and if she doesn’t do it then Ayaka wont’ stop until she does anyways. Ayaka tells Shizuku that she knows her too well and they head up to the stage.
They start their skit with a joke about a werewolf that transforms by staring at the sun. Ayaka calls it the king of chimimouryou and calls everyone in the audience chimimouryou. The skit keeps going and eventually they finish. Backstage, Seika managed to make it there to congratulate them on the event. Ayaka tells her she should be at home resting. For her part, Shizuku didn’t see any of the audience members laughing during the manzai. However, she hopes someone passing by might have smiled and since Ayaka looks so happy about the whole thing, Shizuku decides to not say anything. Seika apologizes for not being able to make it but they tell her not to worry about it. Ayaka says it’s thanks to Shizuku but Shizuku warns her she’s not going to do something like that again. Ayaka says comedy must be amazing if Shizuku was willing to.
References
Manzai is a traditional stand-up comedy act involving a duo - a tsukkomi (straight man) and boke (funny man). They tell jokes that involve misunderstandings, puns, and other odd gags that you often see Ayaka throw out.
Since this is a Halloween event, they are talking about Japanese youkai in their act, as well as werewolves. Mountain spirits (such as yamabiko) are often associated with the echo you hear when you yell out to the mountains, which Shizuku plays straight saying she is scared of it. Ayaka is making a joke that everyone is a chimimouryou, which are mountain and river youkai. They are essentially saying "Mountain spirits! Mountain spirits! Everyone's mountain river spirits!!"
It ends with them telling the audience to participate and yell out too. It's hard to translate, and, as you read, didn't really get any laughs... we can only try our best.
