Japanese-American Perspectives

Episode 7 just finished. Kaoru flies to the US to visit Goro at training camp. Goro does well in an exhibition start but then gets a call to fly over to LA. He initially thinks he's been demoted but finds out that the All Japan team requested his presence. Goro should be excited, but he's not?!


*SPOILER ALERT*

Opening Credits

The episode begins with Kaoru asking her mother if she can go to the United States to visit a friend. Taiga, sitting at the dining table, suddenly shouts out that he knows why Kaoru wants to go to the States.

"Oh I know why you want to go to the States. You want to visit Shigeno!"

Taiga also lets out that Kaoru and Goro are going out. Embarrassed, Kaoru runs over to Taiga and begins pulling on his cheecks to keep him from saying anything more. Kaoru's mother now remembers that Goro is in the US fighting for a shot at the Majors.

"Goro's working hard in the US and I just thought it would be nice if I could go and cheer him on," says Kaoru.

Taiga follows up and says, "I wouldn't be too worried if Kaoru is going to be with Goro, mother. But I don't think father will allow it when he finds out that Kaoru will be visiting / staying with a guy."

Kaoru drops her head when she realizes that Taiga is probably right. But to her surprise, her mother says differently.

"Ok. I'll tell father that you'll be going with a friend. Just don't be a burden to Shigeno."

And with that Kaoru begins her trek to see Goro in the US.

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Kaoru has landed safely in Miami and is driving a rental car, which we see swerving a little in the lane. We also find out through Kaoru's voice over that she got her driver's license a year ago, but isn't used to driving because she hasn't driven since then.

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Kaoru pulls over to the side of the road to stretch and check her map. Her voice-over tells us that she's been driving for a few hours now and that she should be arriving at Goro's place soon. Talking out loud Kaoru says, "I'm all alone on an international trip, but hey, this seems simple enough!"

Kaoru gets back into the car and turns the key. The car fails to start. After several attempts, she begins to panic. Reazling it's no use to continuing trying to start the car, she gets out. She looks around and realizes that there's nothing in sight except for trees. Off in the distance, she sees a truck approaching. Just as she's about to flag it down, she imagines being chased around and quickly turns away from the truck.

She decides to walk to the nearest phone.

Cut to scenes of her walking up a hill and the time of day shifting from midday to early evening.

"Drat, did I pick the wrong way. I've walked over an hour and still no signs of any houses. And the sun is setting... This isn't funny. Please, let there be something on the other side of this hill."

As Kaoru reaches the top of the hill, she sees a sign for a motel at the bottom. Excited, she quickly runs towards the motet and finds...

...that its closed and abandoned. She drops to her knees and begins to cry.

Behind her, a black car pulls up. A man wearing sun glasses (Keane) steps out.

Kaoru begins to freak and begs for her life.

And then we hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, Shimizu, what are you doing here?"

Kaoru: "Goro?"

Goro: "What happened to your car?"

Kaoru: "It broke down. But why are you here?"

Goro: "You said you would get in around 5 and it was starting to get late so we picked a route we thought you might take and drove along to see if we could find you."

Tears are welling up in Kaoru's eyes. Goro extends his hand to help her up, but before he can do anything more, Kaoru begins wailing out and screams, "Took you long enough! What would you have done if something happened to me!" Goro responds, "Nope, I wasn't worried about that."

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Back at Kaoru's car.

Keane is working on her car. After fidgeting around under the hood, he tells Kaoru to turn the ignition. The car starts. It's at this point that Keane's name is revealed to Kaoru. Without saying much of anything else, Keane gets back into his own car and drives off. Goro tells Kaoru that Keane has already signed a major league contract and is a full-time player.

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Kaoru and Goro are in the car heading back to Goro's place. Goro looks annoyed as Kaoru beings to talk.

Kaoru: "I was really worried that I'd be lost out there forever. No matter how much I walked, I couldn't find any stores. And then the sun started to set."

Goro: "Here not even a day and you're already causing problems. Like I said, I'm not here to fool around."

Kaoru: "Honda, have you eaten dinner yet?"

Goro: "Are you kidding, with all the fuss you've caused? I have a game tomorrow so I'm really busy. Just hurry up and take me back to the dorms."

Kaoru: "What's with the attitude? I can't help it if my car breaks down. And besides, how many girlfriends do you know fly all the way to the US to see their boyfriends? Can't you at least show that you're a little happy to see me?!"

Kaoru is so engrossed in the conversation that she takes her eye off the road to turn and look at Goro. But Goro quickly motions to Kaoru to keep her eyes on the road and then finally screems out, "Look out!"

Quick cut to a truck heading straight at their car. The trailing sounds of screams as the camera pans up into the night sky...

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The dorm that Goro is staying in is located right alongside a beach. Goro is fiddling with his keys to open the door as Kaoru looks out at the view. Goro still appears annoyed.

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Kaoru in the kitchen cooking...

Kaoru is standing in the kitchen cooking. Goro is in the living room relaxing on the couch.

Kaoru: "Honda, Honda. Dinner is almost ready. It's been a while since you've had Japanese food, right? You're gonna love it."

Goro sniffing the air...

Goro: "Curry? You call that Japanese food?"

Kaoru: "If you've got a problem with that, I won't give you any!"

Goro suddenly has a flash back to when Kaoru prepared curry before and threw a whole apple in.

Kaoru: "Dinner is served!"

Goro begins to dig around.

Kaoru: "Let's eat!"

But Kaoru notices Goro picking through the currey with his spoon...

Kaoru: "What are you doing?"

Goro (with a big smile): "There are no apples!"

Kaoru: "Of course not!"

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The two have finished dinner and are sitting around talking about Goro's chances of making the major league roster. He shrugs and says he has no idea, but at least he hasn't been sent down to the minors yet.

Goro then remembers to give Kaoru the phone number to his dorm so that she can call him from the hotel room.

Kaoru: "Hotel? Oh, did I forget to mention? I spent all my money on the plane ticket so I have no choice but to crash here."

Goro is surprised.

Cut to a view of the dorm complex from the outside. We hear Kaoru shouting, "Don't kick me out, don't kick me out!"

Kaoru: "Why can't I just crash here? I'll sleep on the couch and you won't even know I'm here. Besides, I don't have money to pay for a hotel room."

Goro: "Stop right now! I told you, I'm not here to fool around. I've been used as a reliever up to now but tomorrow they're giving me a chance to start. It's going to be really important day for me. This dorm complex was packed when training camp first started, now more than half of these rooms are empty because those players were sent down to the minors. This is my reality: if I get hit tomorrow, I might not be allowed to stay here anymore. Everyone here is fighting for a chance to stick around. No one would dare bring their girlfriends / partners to a place like this."

Kaoru slowly stands up, grabs her things, and heads for the door.

Aww... Don't make her cry...

Kaoru: "I'm sorry. Of course I know you're working hard. But you left for America right after coming back from Okinawa and then I don't really hear from you much. Honda, you're always working hard toward you dreams. I know I'm being selfish, I know! But I'm not as strong as you think: I don't know if I can sit quietly in Japan again for another year waiting for you."

And with that, Kaoru rushes out to her car in tears.

But as she's about to get in, Goro comes running to apologize. "I'm sorry. I was being rude and cold. You might think me old-fashioned, but I don't think men should easily let women stay with them. Especially with someone so important, I don't want to take things like this so lightly."

Cut to Kaoru's eyes and then fade to a ceiling fan. Kaoru is lying in a bed in a motel. She smiles as she recalls the words Goro spoke to her.

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Kaoru's wristwatch is on the night stand. It's past 2pm. Kaoru groggily looks at her watch and leaps out of bed. She can't believe she slept for so long. She rushes off to the ballpark to try and catch Goro's game. But when she arrives at the stadium, Goro isn't on the mound and the score is 6-0. Kaoru fears the worst: was Goro knocked out early?

But as the inning ends, a fan stands up and calls out Goro's name. And then Kaoru sees him trotting onto the field. She realizes her mistake: the Hornet's (Goro's team) is up by 6 runs and Goro is throwing a no-hitter through 5. Kaoru is happy to see that Goro's start is going so well.

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The two of them are walking outside of the stadium. The game is over and we find out that Goro pitched 6 innings of no-hit ball and was then taken out of the game.

Kaoru: "Why didn't they give you a chance to finish the game? I was hoping to see a no-hitter!"

Goro: "It's an exhibition game so those things don't matter."

Kaoru: "Oh, but hey, a performance like this can only be a good thing."

Goro: "It's still too early to get excited. Today's team wasn't that great and I need to keep pitching well. But I'm feeling a little relieved. The last thing I wanted to do was pitch poorly then get dropped to the minors right in front of you. Oh yeah, I have the day off tomorrow and have some free time. You interested in going out and having some fun?"

Kaoru: "Yes!"

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Goro's phone is ringing. Having just taken a shower, Goro answers the phone. His boss is on the other line and tells Goro that something has come up and that he wants Goro on the first plane to Los Angeles. Goro asks if he's been demoted and his boss says that he'd be crazy to demote someone who pitched 6 innings of no-hit, no-run ball. He reassures Goro that it isn't a demotion and that what awaits him in LA should be a great opportunity.

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Cut-scene consisting of an airplane flying, scenery passing by a car window, and traffic along a highway.

"We're here."

Goro is sitting in the back seat of a cab. He gets out and is a little disappointed to see that he's at a minor league park.

Coming up from behind, Goro's father calls out, "So you're here! It's been a while."

Goro is confused at seeing his father in LA.

Goro's father: "You really need to pay more attention to the news. Japan finished the first round in first place and now we're here for the second round."

Goro: "But what does that have to do with me?"

Goro's father: "Get this Goro - you've been picked to play on All Japan as a replacement for the injured Suguro!"

Goro: "WHAAAT?!"

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Toshiya is taking BP and letting it rip. After Goro left camp, Toshiya apparently continued working hard and made the team -- he even hit a game-tying 3-run homer against Korea as a pinch-hitter in the first round.

Toshiya steps out from the cage, finished with his turn. The manager Sasaki approaches and tells Toshiya: "Looks like you've got your swing going. At this rate, even with Domoto as our starting catcher, I'll need to seriously consider you at DH." It's at this point Goro and his father approach Sasaki.

Coach (looking at Goro): "Sorry if I surprised you. You're here based on your efforts at Okinawa. Looks like you'll have your chance. I'm counting on you."

Goro (after a pause): "It's just so sudden. Of course I'm grateful that you picked me. But would you mind if I turned down your invitation? I don't think I have the right, or the experience, to wear the All Japan uniform. I know this all too well. It would be embarrassing for me to wear the uniform."

Coach: "You're right. It's still too soon for you. I got a lot of people hounding me for picking someone like you, a kid without any experience. But there's no need to be so hard on yourself. Besides, the two players that know the most about international competition, Kyoshiro and Itao, strongly pushed for your presence here. The final rosters are also due tomorrow and I don't have time to find someone else. Let's do this. Together with Sato and Mayumura, I want you three to infuse some energy into the team."

Goro (confused): "Ok."

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Goro and Toshiya are in a hotel room.

Toshiya: "You were so excited about the World Cup and look at you now. Why are you so down? This isn't like you."

Goro: "I just don't understand it. I was shown first hand just how inexperienced I am when I faced off against Kyoshiro and Itao. And whether I'm here or not, with this kind of roster, it shouldn't be too difficult to win. And besides, I'm probably just going to be used in middle relief or spot situations."

Toshiya: "That isn't true Goro! I'm not sure if it's because of how early it is, but the pitchers aren't at the top of their game. Plus, the schedule has been really tight. I'm almost 100% certain that the bullpen is going to get a lot work."

Goro: "But two teams get to advance to the next round, so even if things aren't perfect, with the type of rotation we have, I don't see it being a problem."

Toshiya: "What are you talking about? Being one of those two teams isn't going to be that easy. Venezuela has their ace Montana to go along with two high calibre offensive players in Silva and Pedayno; all the players on their team also have major league experience. Then there's the Dominican Republic with one of the top sluggers in the Majors: Guerrero. They are a baseball powerhouse having sent close to 100 players to the Majors. These two teams, plus Korea, are in our bracket. In order to make the next round, we need to beat two of these teams. You aren't just a sympathy selection. And if we can get past this round, America awaits!"

An image of Joe Gibson flashes across the screen.

Toshiya: "Let's win this thing Goro! Who cares about when we're used or that we're rookies! Let's win and show the world how great Japanese baseball is!"

Toshiya tries to rile Goro...

Goro: "Ok Toshiya. You've got me pumped."

Ending credits