[The Interview: Ikeda]
[INTERVIEW ROOM 08:00]
Posted July 19, 2025. Original video (link)
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transcript below.
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Kuneyasu: Thank you for coming in to speak with us today, Mr. Ikeda. I trust your new accommodations are fitting you nicely?
Ikeda: Oh yeah, for sure, I'm having a great time.
Kuneyasu: That's good to hear. I'd like to jump straight into the interview, if you don't mind?
Ikeda: So we're just gonna talk?
Kuneyasu: That's right.
Ikeda: That's boring though.
Kuneyasu: Well is there a change to the process you'd like to suggest?
Ikeda: How abouuuuuut... we talk, but we talk over a game?
Kuneyasu: A game?
Ikeda: [flipping through a deck of cards] Yep.
Kuneyasu: I-... Mr. Ikeda, did you take those from the resident lobby?
Ikeda: [cards flipping] Was I not allowed to?
Kuneyasu: It's... discouraged.
Ikeda: Nobody told me that.
Kuneyasu: Well- Either way, I'm not very good at hanafuda. Besides, I'd rather we went about this interview as per standard procedure.
Ikeda: C'mooooon. Think of all the time you're wasting trying to get me to talk to you when you could just play the game and get it over with!
[a beat]
Kuneyasu: Fine, but if I'm going to play, you're going to cooperate throughout this interview.
Ikeda: Sounds like a deal. We'll do three rounds.
Kuneyasu: Fine.
Ikeda: I'll let you pick first.
Kuneyasu: Generous. [places card] Willows.
Ikeda: Ooh, wisteria. That's April. Bad luck for you.
Kuneyasu: Right. You deal then. [after cards shuffle] Could you please state your full name and occupation for the record, Mr. Ikeda?
Ikeda: Sure thing. Ikeda Daiki, I'm an artist.
Kuneyasu: An artist? What kind?
Ikeda: I paint, I sculpt, that kind of thing. Visual arts. Fine arts.
Kuneyasu: I see. And do you enjoy that?
Ikeda: It pays the bills.
Kuneyasu: And yet you're certainly not a well-known artist to any sort of degree. I'll admit, I'd never even heard of you before now.
Ikeda: Hm. You think you're pretty funny.
Kuneyasu: What makes you say that?
Ikeda: I'm pretty sure you already know what I do, don't you?
Kuneyasu: I'm aware your particular style of art isn't super legal, if that's what you mean.
Ikeda: I recreate fine art, let's leave it at that.
Kuneyasu: You're an art forger.
Ikeda: And you're a kidnapper. What kind of moral high ground are you trying to claim here? You sound ridiculous right now.
Kuneyasu: I-
Ikeda: [interrupting] Three lights.
Kuneyasu: ...That was fast.
Ikeda: Too fast, honestly. Let's keep going. Koi-koi.
Kuneyasu: Right, uh... do you have any pre-existing medical conditions we should be aware of?
Ikeda: Nope. Healthy as can be.
Kuneyasu: Allergies?
Ikeda: Wouldn't know, haven't checked.
Kuneyasu: Phobias?
Ikeda: Well, right now I'm pretty afraid that your wife's gonna leave you when she realizes how much you suck at hanafuda. You're losing to a kid right now.
Kuneyasu: I- My wife?
Ikeda: I'm not reading your mind or something, dumbass. You're wearing a wedding ring.
Kuneyasu: I-... right, um, anyway-
Ikeda: [interrupting] Poetry slips, plus blue poetry slips, that's the round. Three lights, poetry slips, blue poetry slips, times two for the koi-koi, and that's twenty-six points.
Kuneyasu: ...I feel like I'm probably not coming back from that.
Ikeda: Probably not, no. New round.
Kuneyasu: And you've already got the willow light.
Ikeda: Rain man? Yeah, isn't that handy?
Kuneyasu: How have you been getting along with the other residents so far, Mr. Ikeda? Have you had the chance to meet them yet?
Ikeda: Barely. I woke up late. That Tsukigata guy's fun though. The rest of them aren't all that interesting.
Kuneyasu: Did you-
Ikeda: [interrupting] Cherry blossom viewing. Five points.
Kuneyasu: ...And you're ending the round there?
Ikeda: Yep. Next round.
Kuneyasu: There's no way for me to recover here.
Ikeda: Then I guess you'd better wrap up your questions pretty fast, doc.
Kuneyasu: Right, well- I'm not sure I've got much left to ask you, but I'm curious. Why is it you aren't particularly interested in the other students?
Ikeda: Because I'm pretty sure that wherever we are right now, we aren't supposed to be. That's a bit more pressing to me than whoever the hell these guys are.
Kuneyasu: Is that so? Where do you think we are right now?
Ikeda: That's... not a terrible question, actually. It looks like a hospital or something. Is it a hospital?
Kuneyasu: I'm afraid not.
Ikeda: Then why are you dressed like a doctor?
Kuneyasu: Well- I mean- I am a doctor, I'm just not a medical doctor.
Ikeda: Pfft, wow, awesome. So you're not a doctor.
Kuneyasu: I am.
Ikeda: Of what?
Kuneyasu: Psychology.
Ikeda: [dramatically] Oh, please, help! I'm having a heart attack! Someone get a doctor! Ah- [mimicking him] Ma'am! Excuse me! I'm a doctor!
Kuneyasu: Mr. Ikeda-
Ikeda: [interrupting] Of psychology!
Kuneyasu: [sigh] Hilarious.
Ikeda: Three lights. That's game. I win with thirty-six points, you lose with zero.
Kuneyasu: I did warn you that I wasn't very good.
Ikeda: Pretty sure that means our time's up, doc. Sending me back to my room now, I'm guessing?
Kuneyasu: Well first, Dr. Tatematsu will be escorting you back to the resident lobby to return those cards.
Ikeda: Pfft, whatever, sure.
Kuneyasu: After that, you'll be going back to your room, yes.
Ikeda: May we never meet again.
Kuneyasu: One can only dream.
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