♪ Fly away on the wind ♪
♪ Like a flower in season ♪
♪ A song that will bring you the joy you've been swaying for. ♪
♪ Toward the dazzling morning sun. ♪
Hey, this is bad, isn't it?
"Loose Mary" Live Concert fire accident First Meeting: Accident Investigation Committee
On the day of the concert,
the livestreaming crew took this video footage.
Five days ago at 8:03 p.m.,
a fire broke out during a live performance by the rock band Loose Mary.
The keyboardist, Mizukami, a.k.a. Luna,
unfortunately lost her life.
It's a miracle.
In 2003, a fire broke out at a live music club in Rhode Island, U.S.A.
Fireworks used in the production caught fire on the curtains, and the place was instantly destroyed.
More than 100 people, including the guitarist, were killed.
Other fires have occurred in Santa Maria, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Luoyang, China; and other nightclubs around the world, claiming hundreds of victims.
There are many precedents of fires that have killed hundreds of people in nightclubs around the world.
Compared to them, the fact that only one person was killed in this case is truly a miracle.
This is a very interesting case.
You are smiling, Professor.
I understand what you're saying, Professor Amano.
We operate many event halls.
In order to prove that there are no safety issues,
I would like to ask you all to investigate the cause of the fire.
You had permission from the fire department to use fire at the venue, right?
Of course we did. It's just...
before the show, they actually wanted to make it a little more spectacular.
They wanted to add more explosives to the fireworks.
You allowed it?
Not at all.
But perhaps,
is it possible that the band members secretly added more gunpowder...?
The pillar of fire rose to the ceiling
and caused the fire to spread.
What's wrong?
Tomo-kun?
Yes.
If you have something to say, say it.
No... it's nothing.
Without any pretense
Without conjecture
Without reward
A third-party investigation of the truth, free from all ties.
That is the mission of the Accident Investigation Committee.
Drama 10
Framing Sound
I certainly did ask if the fire could be bigger.
File 3 - Manako, Escape
But I was told it was impossible, so I gave up.
We all talked about how we should not
rely on such things, but rather use our own performances
to liven things up.
You didn't do anything that would break the rules, right?
Isn't it obvious?
That kind of thing is usually done by professional staff, not by the girls.
I'm going to ask straight out, why do you think the fire occurred?
We don't know that either.
Loose Mary / Drums Rinko
Loose Mary / Bass Mitz
We were just trying to make the concert as exciting as we could.
Loose Mary / Vocals Aika
If it was caused by the fireworks, it was the venue's responsibility.
And yet, the media made it sound like we killed Luna.
Tomo-kun do you need to go to the toilet?
- No, not really. - You shouldn't hold back.
You said earlier that your stomach hurts.
Actually, that's right. It hurts, it hurts...
- Which way is the bathroom? - Sure, go out and to the left, then take the second...
I'm directionally challenged. May I ask you to show me the way?
- What is it? What? - Walk on your own two feet!
So now...
You're old enough to not need a guardian anymore.
It's serious girl talk from here on out.
Everyone calm down!
There are two emergency exits on the left and right, so just focus on one, and don't panic!
It's okay, just keep your heads down so you don't breathe in the smoke.
Aika, we have to get out of here!
Everyone, stay alive.
Loose Mary / Keyboard Luna
You're a miracle worker.
I just wanted to protect everyone.
We got this far because of our fans.
But it's all over now.
If Luna wasn't here...
There!
All those spectators were able to evacuate safely.
Why was Luna the only casualty?
I killed her.
- That's not true! - She took the wrong exit.
Only Luna?
I can only think that she went back inside on her own.
Why?
Luna and I haven't been getting along lately.
Luna! I've had enough.
How many times are you going to make the same mistake?
I'm sorry.
Apologize to your fans, not me.
What are you doing music for?
It's for the fans, right? It's for yourself, right?
That's right. But...
But... all I care about now is your expression.
- You mean it's my fault? - I'm the one to blame.
But...
I can't continue any longer.
It seems that Luna was planning to quit the band after that show.
Maybe she was planning to give up on music itself.
That's when the fire happened.
So she impulsively chose death?
No way...
Luna's body was found in the dressing room, right?
Indeed. It's right opposite of the entrance and exit.
Carbon monoxide poisoning from the smoke...
If it really was suicide....
that was utter foolishness.
Taking your own life
is the biggest mistake of all.
Not everyone is as strong as you.
Hey!
Is the color of the lighting too dark in there?
Looks like there's a lot of smoke.
Is that smoke?
But the fireworks haven't started yet, right?
Ah...
This is it.
What?
So the source of the fire is not fireworks.
You mean this large air conditioner is the source of the fire?
There have been several fires caused by air conditioners in the past.
It's not impossible.
Isn't that right, Tomo-kun?
Eh?
Weren't you aware of that possibility from the beginning?
You were? Then why didn't you say so?
- Let's go. - Eh? Where?
To the manufacturer of that air conditioner, of course.
No, but it hasn't been confirmed yet...
I smell failure.
Have a nice trip.
Is everything all right?
Isn't that always the case?
The Professor always goes to interviews without making an appointment.
The one I'm worried about is him.
This is the company Notsuda-kun worked for before he joined us.
Eh...
No, sorry to keep you waiting.
I'm glad to see you're doing well, Noda-kun.
It's Notsuda.
Unisonair Development Deparment Chief Kuroshima Yuuji
Oh, is that right? Excuse me.
Well, please come in.
I'm surprised that you're in the Accident Investigation Committee.
To be precise, he is participating as my assistant.
Oh, I see. Hehe.
I've heard of the famous Professor Amano for some time.
It's an honor to meet you.
Thank you.
But, it's not good to just barge in out of the blue,
and ask me if there's anything wrong with our product.
It's just a possibility, so as to prove that there's no problem,
can you please show us the documents related to that air conditioner?
That's impossible.
That is the most confidential of our company secrets.
Then, have there been any reports of the same type of air conditioner catching fire?
All electrical appliances can catch fire due to user's carelessness or mistakes.
However, there has never been a case where a defective product was the cause of a fire,
obviously not.
Are you sure? When we entered the HVAC market two years ago,
that was our flagship product.
In one month's time, based on that product, a version of air conditioners for homes,
will be launched into the market.
If you give our product a bad name without any proof,
I may have to file a claim for large sums of money in damages.
In the first place, Notsuda knows better than anyone else that there's nothing wrong with that air conditioner.
That's right.
What do you think?
Is there anything you want to tell me?
That's ...
Are you... going to repeat the same mistake again?
This is "Thundering Blue Sky" ramen with 20 times spiciness.
Ah, I'm hungry. Let's eat.
Delicious.
Too much for you?
How can you eat something like this?
I eat spicy food when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
My nerves are taken over by my taste buds, and then I regain my composure.
But it's still not enough.
Three years ago,
I participated in the development of that air conditioner.
But I was just an underling doing miscellaneous tasks.
I happened to find a possible mistake in the product,
and reported it to my boss, Kuroshima.
This new coating protects the substrate,
but it has poor heat dissipation properties, so I'm wondering if there's a possibility of heat buildup and control system failure.
3 Years Ago
That's ridiculous. We're already in the final check stage.
And we're only discovering this defect now...
If that hypothesis is correct,
we'll have to go back to the drawing board on the entire project.
Do you have any idea how much of a loss we'll incur?
But if the product gets launched with this defect,
wouldn't this problem be irreversible?
As long as there's nothing wrong with it, that's all that matters.
It took us three weeks to verify it.
But there were no problems.
And because of that, a rival company beat us to it.
Don't ever mention your trivial hypothesis in front of me again.
How are you going to take responsibility for the loss of 1 billion yen because of you alone?
Do you understand! You made a mistake.
Listen up, we have to make up for it no matter what with the next product.
Failure is not an option.
Yes!
We'll split up the teams and work on them simultaneously.
- Mechanical system - Kimura - Yes!
- Yoshikawa - other components - Yes!
After that, I was removed from development work.
I was forced to do simple data entry work.
The data was sent to you via e-mail.
Excuse me, I'll take my leave now.
Chief.
Hey, Notsuda.
What the heck did you do.
I sent the e-mail to the wrong address.
I leaked confidential information.
I was in a hurry to regain everyone's trust at that time.
I deserved it, didn't I?
In the first place, I shouldn't have mentioned that theory so carelessly in the first place.
Uhm...
are you that interested about me?
- I am. - Eh?
Failure, if handled incorrectly, will lead to another failure.
How do you break the chain of failure.
I thought your failure would be a good validation of that.
You knew about it? What I did before?
Shiho and the others looked into it when I hired you.
Then why did you send me with you?
I'm a disgrace to that company.
Of course they wouldn't want to cooperate if I went with you.
You were involved in the development.
I thought they'd get impatient and start to slip up about the defects.
Please leave me out of this investigation.
Speaking of which, why do I have to handle the accident investigation by myself?
It can't be helped. It's an emergency.
We found a problem with the robot arm that was supposed to be finished.
That's why you're going to stay at the site and work on it for a while.
If that's the case, I'll stay to help. There are other members of the Accident Investigation Committee as well.
I said that too, but she said she couldn't be irresponsible like that.
She said she would leave the rest to you.
Manako accepted this position on condition that you continue to work on the Accident Investigation Committee.
That's all I'm asking, so you do your best.
- Ikumin, help him out. - What? Me?
How about it?
You don't have enough range of motion in your wrist joints.
I knew it. This suits you better than accident investigation.
What are you doing here?
We're working on a project with this company.
I just heard you were here.
How many degrees is it now? It's 23 degrees. Turn it up two degrees.
- Will you get out of my way? - What a terrible thing to say.
A mother came all this way for her daughter.
Please, it's distracting, go away.
Yes, yes.
- Raise the range of motion another 10 degrees. - Trying now.
The most common cause of fires in air conditioners is short-circuiting caused by condensation, right?
Yeah.
But this model uses a new coating to protect the circuit board.
That can't happen because we take every precaution to prevent condensation.
No more twisted wires, no more problems...huh?
What was the design flaw that you suspected before?
This coating lowers the heat-dissipation characteristics,
which could cause the control system to malfunction due to heat buildup.
I see.
But that hypothesis was wrong.
Maybe it's not the air conditioner after all.
You can't even come up with a single hypothesis until now.
Perhaps, you are thinking about something?
Ah, no... it's okay.
You've always been like that, haven't you?
How is Tomo-kun doing?
He reluctantly took on the accident investigation,
but he really wanted to help you.
He originally said he wanted to do robotics.
That's right.
But that's impossible with the way he is now.
As long as he stifles his own thoughts out of fear of failure,
he has no future as an engineer.
You're very harsh, Shiho.
That's what you think, too, which is why you let him continue with the accident investigation, right?
I'm scared that something irreversible will happen again,
and I won't be able to stay here anymore.
If I come up with another wild assumption and it turns out to be wrong...
not just my credibility, but everyone's will be affected as well.
The Professor is not going to abandon you.
No.
I think the reason I was hired here was to test her theory of failure analysis.
It means that she doesn't consider me an engineer.
So it wouldn't be surprising if I get fired at any time.
Then at least tell me. What hypothesis did you come up with?
I've been researching since then.
That the fireworks used more gunpowder than usual.
There must have been some kind of mistake in the exchange with the band who wanted to go overboard.
I'll try to finalize our opinions and make a report at our next meeting. How do you feel about that?
Yes. I have no objection.
Do you have any? Notsuda-san?
Eh?
Uh... well...
No, nothing.
Then, the next meeting will be held on Friday, October 4th.
I heard the cause of the fire was fireworks after all.
We haven't decided 100% yet...
It's me.
I was the one who first started asking if we could make it a little more spectacular.
It was Luna's last live concert.
It was my fault.
Deterioration in the coating
- Where's Manako? - What's wrong?
The entire development of the robot arm has been scrapped.
Why on earth?
A mistake was discovered in the environment setting that's a prerequisite for development.
- At this late hour? - Manako was convinced it would work.
The only way to improve it is to start from scratch.
No way the Professor would miss that...
And it was Dr. Nagumo who pointed it out.
That's quite a shock for the Professor, isn't it?
I've been trying to reach her, but she's not answering.
Don't tell me she's planning to jump off again...
Jump off?
There was an attempt once, at Sudogawa Canyon. It was due to a similar incident.
Somehow we managed to dissuade her at the time.
Because she does failure analysis, she realizes the magnitude of her own failures.
I wonder if she'll be okay.
I gotta go!
Notsuda-kun.
Take care of Manako.
I will.
Professor!
Professor, don't do it!
Taking your own life is the biggest mistake of your life.
Wasn't it you who said that, Professor!?
What are you talking about?
What do you mean...
You were just about to jump, weren't you?
- Was I? - Yes.
No way. You're the one who's jumping.
Three, two, one, bungee!
Hahaha! Exciting!
So amazing!
Thank you! Nice bungee! Nice Bungee!
- Yeah! - Thank you!
Ah I feel so refreshed.
But I'm the one who jumped!
I can't wait to see someone I know fall.
What is that? I thought I heard you were going to jump...
No way I can do it. I'm not good with heights.
I tried once as a challenge, but it didn't work out after all.
Huh? Didn't Shiho and the others tell you?
Huh?
Don't tell me she's planning to jump off again...
There was an attempt once.
Ah, that's why you misunderstood.
That was definitely on purpose, wasn't it?
Then, let's go to the next place.
What?
Now, please change to lying on your back.
I slept well.
Seriously, how can you sleep like that when people are worried about you?
How can you sleep like a bomb?
That's all right. It felt so good.
This is just an escape from reality.
You're just running away from your own failure.
That's right.
Eh?
You have to run away.
Everyone gets depressed when they fail, and it's hard to stay calm.
Even if you force yourself to do your best in such a situation,
you'll end up making a big mistake.
It's her fault that I failed.
I was just distracted by her acting like a mother.
It's not my fault. You think so, don't you?
It's not like you to blame others.
You'll be punished if you keep talking nonsense like that.
What... OUCH! That's....
- Haha, look at that... Ouch!
Ouch... ouch, ouch...
Spicy food again?
To recover from failure:
1. Run away
2. Complain to someone.
3. Sleep soundly.
And 4. Eat something delicious.
What's wrong?
Here it comes... This is amazing...
Tomo-kun, you should eat too.
- I absolutely hate it. - You're not listening to your boss's orders?
That's power harassment. If I sue, I'll surely win.
If you can do it, do it.
I'll leak the picture of you crying on the bungee.
I wasn't crying!
You're very strong, Professor. It's hard.
So hot!
If I were in your shoes, I probably wouldn't recover for a month.
Hmmm, painful.
I wish I could be as strong as you.
It's too painful. I'm crying.
The character for "painful" and the character for "spicy".
I can't tell the difference.
"Painful" and "Spicy" are both written as "辛い"
What am I saying?
I Notsuda Tomo, am going for it!
It's so painful... it's funny.
You should either laugh or cry.
You too, Professor. Ah, it's so painful.
Oh, it's spicy!
I'm sorry I'm late.
Are you okay?
My throat and buttocks hurt...
Huh? The Professor's still not here yet...
She came over in the middle of the night to work on the design of the new robotic arm.
What?
She's going to give a presentation on the robot arm first thing in the morning.
It's going to take another year from here, so we can't take it easy.
Thanks to Notsuda-kun, it seems she's completely over it.
No, I didn't do anything...
Isn't it your turn next?
Today, I would like to summarize our final opinions and make a report.
Okay, first of all, the cause of the fire was that the stage pyrotechnics used a larger amount of gunpowder than usual.
It ignited the ceiling of the facility, and from there...
Please wait.
Will you still consider that the fire started from the air conditioner?
I thought we discussed that before and came to the conclusion that it was unlikely.
Yes, but in a live performance venue...
a certain hypothesis is possible.
Hypothesis?
In a venue where smoke, a sticky gas, is often used.
Naturally, it adheres to the air conditioner.
That air conditioner is coated with a new material.
The coating is damaged by thermal stress and the buildup of oily deposits.
And for that reason, the circuit board could catch fire.
Is that Professor Amano's idea?
No, it's my own.
It's a little too aggressive to be a hypothesis.
You're only an assistant.
You should know that.
Well, there's no need to verify it this time.
If you try it and nothing happens,
it's not only you who will be embarrassed, but also Professor Amano.
I support his theory.
The Accident Investigation Committee has been entrusted to him.
Professor.
Doctor, thank you for lending us your facility.
This time it's for Notsuda-kun's sake.
At your age, you still like young men like that?
I won't deny it, but it's his talent that interests me.
It's hard to find a hypothesis that threads a needle like this.
That means there's no way it can be proven.
I knew it!
I said it on the spur of the moment. He seemed so confident.
Seriously.
We're ready!
What we're using this time is the same age as the one that was damaged in the fire,
the same one that was used at a live music club owned by the same management group,
a Unisonair large air conditioner.
The circuit board will be covered with an oily smoke component,
while it is in operation.
Let the experiment begin.
10 minutes elapsed.
Internal temperature 32 degrees Celsius.
30 minutes elapsed.
Internal temperature 40 degrees.
Thank you.
One hour elapsed. Internal temperature 43 degrees.
It's true that the temperature has risen significantly, but it's not enough to cause ignition.
It will soon be one and a half hours.
That's the time when the fire broke out.
Two and a half hours have passed.
Isn't it enough already?
What a nuisance.
I told you from the very beginning that there was nothing wrong with our product.
Well, since that's been proven, let's call it good.
You've got to be kidding!
We've had to delay the release of our home-use air conditioners because of this incident.
Hey, Notsuda!
How far do you have to go to drag us all down?
I'll make sure you pay for this.
I heard you agreed with Notsuda, Professor Amano.
How do you intend to take responsibility for this?
Are you listening to me?
Air conditioner catches fire
New type of coating
Deterioration of coating
Adhesion of oily film
Deterioration due to heat stress
Tomo-kun, you made a mistake.
Eh?
Kushiro-san, how do you maintain the air conditioners?
Our group checks it before every performance,
and always cleans it before each performance.
It is the same with this type of air conditioner that was used in the venue that caught fire.
Thanks to the new coating, it can be easily cleaned without removing the circuit board.
Easy maintenance is the hallmark of our air conditioners.
Now you're doubting us?
No. However, that maintenance may be the cause of the fire.
What do you mean?
Let's test it out.
First, as you did at the live music club,
clean it with a solvent.
Now let's begin the experiment.
Air conditioners, in the cold and in the heat...
have been in use under conditions that don't always allow for complete maintenance,
for many years.
Manufacturers have gone through various failures to achieve zero ignition.
The mainstream view is that it is impossible to eliminate ignition from the circuit board.
So, even if it were to ignite, it would not cause a fire.
The circuit board is often guarded with a steel plate to prevent it from catching fire.
I already know that.
But with the coating that our company introduced...
This type of failure will absolutely not occur.
We can cut costs because we don't need unnecessary guards.
If we assume that failure will always occur and spend money to prevent it,
we will not be competitive.
The internal temperature is approaching 80 degrees Celsius!
So much already...
The coating used is a versatile new material.
But you haven't experimented enough with using it in air conditioners, have you?
That's not true.
It has exceed 100 degrees! It continues to rise!
For example, under the strain of the air conditioner's unique thermal stresses,
deterioration of the coating will start to occur.
Impossible!
130 degrees!
The oily deposits that Tomo-kun pointed out...
On the contrary, it could be that it has been temporarily filling in the cracks.
180 degrees!
Ironically, frequent cleaning has...
removed the deposits...
Moisture has slowly worked its way into the substrate area.
200!
If we continued that for 1 year, 2 years...
And if you kept doing that....
Oh... that's absurd!
Failure cannot be reduced to zero.
Neither machines
nor people.
The ability to recover from failures, rather than just accepting them and blaming them,
and the creation of an environment in which recovery can take place,
are what prevent major failures from occurring.
I'm happy for you, Director Kuroshima.
If we hadn't noticed due to this accident,
I'm afraid another casualty would have been caused by one of your products.
Notsuda-kun has saved lives.
Your biggest mistake
was letting him go.
Your hypothesis was wrong.
But because of that, it allowed us to get to the real cause.
Your mistake,
was a mistake worth making.
This is the truth about the fire.
It wasn't your fault.
But
it doesn't change the fact that Luna died because of me.
I disagree.
I've been wondering.
why she was backstage.
If she really wanted to die,
she would've stayed at the stage where the fire was burning.
Luna was found dead backstage
with a smartphone in her hand.
Luna went backstage to get her phone.
Smartphone? Why would she need such a thing...?
I thought so too, so I asked her family to let me borrow her phone.
Inside it, she had recorded a number of lyric ideas and melodies that he came up with.
A number of them were recorded.
The most recent one is....
♪ I'm supposed to say thank you. ♪
This is....
Aika wrote this melody for her next song.
She wrote the lyrics to "Stay with me".
♪ Even though I'm thinking ♪
I think she was trying...
to keep the band together.
♪ Overcoming many failures, we are... ♪
This was something irreplaceable for her.
That's why...
She risked her life to get it back.
♪ For the sake of being kind ♪
♪ To be right, to fail again and again. ♪
♪ I will never be broken. ♪
She didn't kill herself.
♪ Our love will never be broken. ♪
♪ I believe in resilience. ♪
The band Loose Mary is still together after all.
Yes, that's what they decided.
So, Professor, look at this...
What is it?
A robot that can copy Luna's performance,
the girls asked me to make one.
But if we can successfully develop a robot arm,
I don't think it's just a dream.
That's why I'm asking you, Professor.
I decline.
What?
They asked you, so it's your responsibility to do it.
No, but...
I'm leaving the robot arm job to you.
Are you sure?
If you don't want to, that's fine.
No, of course I'll do it!
Thank you!
Well then, I'm off to meet this challenge!
Have a good trip!
The reason you hired him
was not research material for failure analysis, right?
He's actually an extraordinary engineer...
Uhm... Excuse me.
Where was that robot arm company again?
Looks like I have to go, after all.
Yes, please do.
Go on, go!
Wait, Professor!
Let me... let me do it!
Give me a chance, Professor!
Please!