Massan
Week 17: "A fool may give a wise man counsel"
Episode 97 - 102 (1/26/2015 - 1/31/2015)
RECAP:
[97]
A month has passed since Massan opened his Hokkaido Juice Company and the production of apple juice is coming along smoothly. Emma is now in third grade and is beginning to notices differences in her appearance between her and her mother. The school is planning to have the parents visit their class so the children are told to write an essay about their family to present on the day.
Massan is trying to promote his apple juice but finds that there are not many who are willing to sell it. If he cannot increase it's sales, they cannot make enough money to start making whisky. Massan later gets a phone call from Nonomura saying that he and Watari are worried about the sales of the apple juice, and ask him to come to Osaka for a meeting.
Later, Ellie notices while preparing food for everyone that Emma has forgotten her bento lunch. She rushes to the school to deliver her lunch to her and all of the students in Emma's class are shocked to see a foreigner there. After she leaves, one of the boys in the class gives Emma a hard time asking her why her hair isn't blonde like her mother's and Emma responds that it will turn blonde when she gets older.
[98]
Ellie returns from delivering Emma's bento to her at school. Later, when Emma returns from school, Ellie asks her if the kids had said anything to her about today. She worries that they may have picked on her but Emma assures her that they didn't. That night, Massan goes to talk with Emma in her room and he tries to explain to her how wide the world is and how it is full of many different people who speak different languages or have different colored hair or skin. Emma tells Massan about her hair turning blonde like Ellie's once she grows up and later that night, Massan mentions that to Ellie. He says that maybe it's time to tell Emma the truth about her being adopted but Ellie isn't ready yet and they decide to bring it up again once he returns from Osaka.
Emma goes to school the next day and the same little boy picks on her, and this time it hurts her feelings. When she returns home she refuses any snacks and goes straight to her room. That night, the little boy, Takeshi, who picked on Emma, is brought to apologize to Emma by his father. Apparently the two got in a fight, leaving the Takeshi with a bandage on his head. His father, however, tells Ellie and Emma that Takeshi is to blame as he told Emma that she was an unwanted child. After they leave and hearing what happened, Ellie hugs Emma to comfort her, not sure what to do.
[99]
Ellie puts Emma to bed and tells her that no matter what kind of situation, it is not okay to hit someone and tells her that even though Takeshi was wrong to say mean things, Emma was wrong to hit him. The next day, Emma is in good spirits as she heads off to school and once she arrives, she finds that Takeshi is not coming today.
At the barber shop, Kumatora and Saburo are playing Shogi while talking with Chie, Saburo's wife. Chie mentions that Takeshi doesn't have a mother and so during the potato harvesting season, he has to stay home from school to help out.
In Osaka, Massan meets with Nonomura and Watari and they tell Massan that the apple juice is too expensive. Massan tries to explain to them that they cannot lower the price as 5 apples go into each bottle and shipping costs are included in the price. They also suggest changing the name from "Ringo (apple) Juice" to "Ringo Jiru (apple juice)," using the Japanese word for juice. Before he leaves, they remind him that if he can't sell the apple juice, he won't be able to make whisky.
Back at Kumatora's home, Hanna tells Ellie that maybe its time to tell Emma the truth about her parents but Kazuma worries that its still too soon. As Ellie just listens to them, Kumatora comes in and says that the truth doesn't change anything. Ellie will always be her mother no matter what. Ellie tells them that she will talk with Massan when he returns.
[100]
Emma comes home from school and Kumatora shows her a drawing he drew of a caterpillar and explains how the caterpillar has yet to become a butterfly but if Emma listens well to what her mother says, she can become a beautiful butterfly someday. He then tells her that Takeshi stopped by yesterday and said that he was off from school to help with his family's field.
Massan returns from Osaka and he goes to talk with everyone at the factory. He tells them about changing the name to "Ringo Jiru" and says that he is off to go sell at the department store. Toshio and Kazuma then worry telling him that he can't do everything by himself, but he just tells them that he can't hire any help at this time.
Massan and Ellie finally decide to talk to Emma about her parents and once they sit her down at the table and tell her everything, Emma is shocked at the news and begins to cry. They assure her that just because they aren't her birth parents, that they never saw Emma as less than as their real birth daughter. This makes Emma feel a bit better and she tells Massan and Ellie that she understands. However, that night as she goes to bed, she cannot sleep, and the next morning she says good morning to Toshio in Japanese rather than in English as she usually did.
[101]
Emma goes to school and her friend Yoshie (Saburo and Chie's daughter) asks her if she finished her essay but Emma says that she hasn't yet.
At Massan's factory, the workers are switching the labels on the juice bottles as they worry about the current state of the company.
Emma comes home from school and instead of rushing in without tidying her shoes at the entrance like she usually does, she comes in, lines up her shoes, and quickly goes straight to her room to do her homework, without eating any snacks. Ellie is worried about Emma as she hasn't been acting herself lately but when she tries to talk to Massan, he says that she is overthinking it. She goes to check on Emma later and Ellie finds her passed out at her desk with a fever. She then talks with Hana and Kumatora about Emma's condition and Kumatora tells her about the essay she has to write.
Ellie takes care of Emma and as she sleeps, she calls out "mother" in her sleep. They have the doctor come check on her but find that it is nothing serious. She just needs rest. Ellie continues to watch over her as she sleeps and worries about whether she means Ellie when she calls out "mother." Emma wakes up the next morning and is happy to see that her mother stayed with her throughout the night. Yoshie then shows up with Takeshi to check up on her and Takeshi apologizes for before. He explains that he was just jealous that Emma has such a beautiful mother who always makes her bento lunches everyday. Yoshie then pushes him to say one more thing and he confesses that he like Emma.
[102]
Massan comes back late from the factory and Emma tells him and Ellie that she will do her best to understand their situation but that she has one request for Massan and Ellie. She asks that they not die before she does because she already lost her first parents and she doesn't want to lose Massan and Ellie. They promise and give her a hug and Ellie has a surprise for them. She made matching pajamas for all three of them and they all sleep together that night wearing their matching pajamas. The next day, Emma writes her essay.
The day of the parent visit comes and Ellie is trying to decide what to wear. She tries to ask Hana and Toshio and the two end up getting in an argument over it as they have for everything lately. Ellie gives up and decides on her own as the two argue.
Massan and Ellie enter the classroom with all the other parents. Emma is the first one up to read her essay. In her essay she explains about her birth parents passing away and about Massan and Ellie taking care of her and about Massan's love of whisky. She finishes by saying that she loves her parents very much and that she wants to be like her mother, Ellie, and marry someone like her father, Massan. Both Massan and Ellie are moved to tears by her essay as they applaud her.
Later, the bell at the factory rings and they restart sales of the apple juice with its new name. Massan decides to go to hospitals in Otaru and Sapporo to sell the juice, which ends up spreading the juice's reputation and leading to shipments going to Sapporo and Tokyo.
A month has passed since Massan opened his Hokkaido Juice Company and the production of apple juice is coming along smoothly. Emma is now in third grade and is beginning to notices differences in her appearance between her and her mother. The school is planning to have the parents visit their class so the children are told to write an essay about their family to present on the day.
Massan is trying to promote his apple juice but finds that there are not many who are willing to sell it. If he cannot increase it's sales, they cannot make enough money to start making whisky. Massan later gets a phone call from Nonomura saying that he and Watari are worried about the sales of the apple juice, and ask him to come to Osaka for a meeting.
Later, Ellie notices while preparing food for everyone that Emma has forgotten her bento lunch. She rushes to the school to deliver her lunch to her and all of the students in Emma's class are shocked to see a foreigner there. After she leaves, one of the boys in the class gives Emma a hard time asking her why her hair isn't blonde like her mother's and Emma responds that it will turn blonde when she gets older.
[98]
Ellie returns from delivering Emma's bento to her at school. Later, when Emma returns from school, Ellie asks her if the kids had said anything to her about today. She worries that they may have picked on her but Emma assures her that they didn't. That night, Massan goes to talk with Emma in her room and he tries to explain to her how wide the world is and how it is full of many different people who speak different languages or have different colored hair or skin. Emma tells Massan about her hair turning blonde like Ellie's once she grows up and later that night, Massan mentions that to Ellie. He says that maybe it's time to tell Emma the truth about her being adopted but Ellie isn't ready yet and they decide to bring it up again once he returns from Osaka.
Emma goes to school the next day and the same little boy picks on her, and this time it hurts her feelings. When she returns home she refuses any snacks and goes straight to her room. That night, the little boy, Takeshi, who picked on Emma, is brought to apologize to Emma by his father. Apparently the two got in a fight, leaving the Takeshi with a bandage on his head. His father, however, tells Ellie and Emma that Takeshi is to blame as he told Emma that she was an unwanted child. After they leave and hearing what happened, Ellie hugs Emma to comfort her, not sure what to do.
[99]
Ellie puts Emma to bed and tells her that no matter what kind of situation, it is not okay to hit someone and tells her that even though Takeshi was wrong to say mean things, Emma was wrong to hit him. The next day, Emma is in good spirits as she heads off to school and once she arrives, she finds that Takeshi is not coming today.
At the barber shop, Kumatora and Saburo are playing Shogi while talking with Chie, Saburo's wife. Chie mentions that Takeshi doesn't have a mother and so during the potato harvesting season, he has to stay home from school to help out.
In Osaka, Massan meets with Nonomura and Watari and they tell Massan that the apple juice is too expensive. Massan tries to explain to them that they cannot lower the price as 5 apples go into each bottle and shipping costs are included in the price. They also suggest changing the name from "Ringo (apple) Juice" to "Ringo Jiru (apple juice)," using the Japanese word for juice. Before he leaves, they remind him that if he can't sell the apple juice, he won't be able to make whisky.
Back at Kumatora's home, Hanna tells Ellie that maybe its time to tell Emma the truth about her parents but Kazuma worries that its still too soon. As Ellie just listens to them, Kumatora comes in and says that the truth doesn't change anything. Ellie will always be her mother no matter what. Ellie tells them that she will talk with Massan when he returns.
[100]
Emma comes home from school and Kumatora shows her a drawing he drew of a caterpillar and explains how the caterpillar has yet to become a butterfly but if Emma listens well to what her mother says, she can become a beautiful butterfly someday. He then tells her that Takeshi stopped by yesterday and said that he was off from school to help with his family's field.
Massan returns from Osaka and he goes to talk with everyone at the factory. He tells them about changing the name to "Ringo Jiru" and says that he is off to go sell at the department store. Toshio and Kazuma then worry telling him that he can't do everything by himself, but he just tells them that he can't hire any help at this time.
Massan and Ellie finally decide to talk to Emma about her parents and once they sit her down at the table and tell her everything, Emma is shocked at the news and begins to cry. They assure her that just because they aren't her birth parents, that they never saw Emma as less than as their real birth daughter. This makes Emma feel a bit better and she tells Massan and Ellie that she understands. However, that night as she goes to bed, she cannot sleep, and the next morning she says good morning to Toshio in Japanese rather than in English as she usually did.
[101]
Emma goes to school and her friend Yoshie (Saburo and Chie's daughter) asks her if she finished her essay but Emma says that she hasn't yet.
At Massan's factory, the workers are switching the labels on the juice bottles as they worry about the current state of the company.
Emma comes home from school and instead of rushing in without tidying her shoes at the entrance like she usually does, she comes in, lines up her shoes, and quickly goes straight to her room to do her homework, without eating any snacks. Ellie is worried about Emma as she hasn't been acting herself lately but when she tries to talk to Massan, he says that she is overthinking it. She goes to check on Emma later and Ellie finds her passed out at her desk with a fever. She then talks with Hana and Kumatora about Emma's condition and Kumatora tells her about the essay she has to write.
Ellie takes care of Emma and as she sleeps, she calls out "mother" in her sleep. They have the doctor come check on her but find that it is nothing serious. She just needs rest. Ellie continues to watch over her as she sleeps and worries about whether she means Ellie when she calls out "mother." Emma wakes up the next morning and is happy to see that her mother stayed with her throughout the night. Yoshie then shows up with Takeshi to check up on her and Takeshi apologizes for before. He explains that he was just jealous that Emma has such a beautiful mother who always makes her bento lunches everyday. Yoshie then pushes him to say one more thing and he confesses that he like Emma.
[102]
Massan comes back late from the factory and Emma tells him and Ellie that she will do her best to understand their situation but that she has one request for Massan and Ellie. She asks that they not die before she does because she already lost her first parents and she doesn't want to lose Massan and Ellie. They promise and give her a hug and Ellie has a surprise for them. She made matching pajamas for all three of them and they all sleep together that night wearing their matching pajamas. The next day, Emma writes her essay.
The day of the parent visit comes and Ellie is trying to decide what to wear. She tries to ask Hana and Toshio and the two end up getting in an argument over it as they have for everything lately. Ellie gives up and decides on her own as the two argue.
Massan and Ellie enter the classroom with all the other parents. Emma is the first one up to read her essay. In her essay she explains about her birth parents passing away and about Massan and Ellie taking care of her and about Massan's love of whisky. She finishes by saying that she loves her parents very much and that she wants to be like her mother, Ellie, and marry someone like her father, Massan. Both Massan and Ellie are moved to tears by her essay as they applaud her.
Later, the bell at the factory rings and they restart sales of the apple juice with its new name. Massan decides to go to hospitals in Otaru and Sapporo to sell the juice, which ends up spreading the juice's reputation and leading to shipments going to Sapporo and Tokyo.
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