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This film makes life feel good again (100 Metres) — Transcript

by Lessons From Anime · 6,718 words · 997 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Why do we stop enjoying the things we
0:02used to? From feeling like we could do
0:04something all day, every day to having
0:07nothing to do or forcing ourselves to do
0:10what we used to love. From being so
0:13excited to being so burnt out and
0:16directionless in everything. Feeling
0:18nothing in victory and violently hating
0:22ourselves for defeat. It's easy to feel
0:25like everyone has something except you.
0:28Some talent, some purpose that you could
0:30never be as great as you wanted and are
0:33slowly losing that joy you once felt.
0:36I've felt that exact feeling slowly
0:40creeping in over the last couple years.
0:42I tried everything to fight it off to no
0:45success
0:46until I watched this film. A film which
0:49seems to cover every human experience
0:51[music] imaginable in pursuing
0:54something. The anguish of realizing that
0:57you're not talented [music] as you
0:58thought. Slowly realizing that the end
1:01goal won't save you. The frustration of
1:05hitting your ceiling and somehow it
1:07turns all of that
1:09into something beautiful. Something that
1:12makes it all [music] enjoyable again.
1:14100 meters opens up to our two main
1:16characters and everyone to at least some
1:19degree will be able to relate to [music]
1:22at least one of them. Togashi, the
1:24gifted wonderkid who equates his value
1:27of his results and Komiya, the [music]
1:29unassuming awkward outcast who hopes
1:31that one day he'll achieve enough to
1:35finally feel good. Now, Togashi wins
1:38every race with
1:39>> [music]
1:39>> such dominance that the other kids don't
1:41even see the point in racing against
1:43them. He believes [music] running the
1:45100 meter faster than anyone else can
1:47solve almost anything and it's hard to
1:50brain [music] him to think that as after
1:52all he got a lot of benefits from this.
1:55[music] He's super popular, he gets
1:57endless praise, he's told he'll go on to
1:59do such great things. [music] But
2:02despite it all, he just doesn't seem
2:04that infused by it all, does he? He
2:06doesn't even bother running on sports
2:08day because, well, what's the point?
2:10Everyone knows he'd win and she doesn't
2:12really care. It feels like it's quite
2:15externally rewarding, but doesn't do a
2:17ton internally for him. And that's not
2:21necessarily a terrible thing. I do think
2:24[music] people overly demonize external
2:26motivation and validation at times, but
2:29there are two traps he's fallen into
2:31that would go on to two crush him down
2:34the [music] line. It's not his fault
2:35whatsoever. I've done this and I
2:37guarantee you have as well. He's [music]
2:39told himself that, "I need to achieve X.
2:43I need to reach this level, etc." Now, I
2:45already hear some of you asking, "Well,
2:48what's wrong with that? Isn't it good to
2:49be ambitious? Didn't you make like 10
2:51videos on exactly that?"
2:54Yes, absolutely.
2:55>> [music]
2:55>> But when something starts to feel like
2:57an obligation instead of an opportunity,
3:00it is [music] going to end in disaster.
3:03Because when you don't reach it or you
3:05lose, you start to hate yourself. You
3:08beat yourself up for not doing more and
3:10being better.
3:11But when you do win,
3:12>> [music]
3:12>> it feels like almost nothing because you
3:14just expected yourself to. You don't
3:16feel like there's anything to celebrate.
3:18I've gone through that more times than I
3:20can count and I can guarantee [music]
3:22you've told yourself that at least once
3:24as well. Protoshi at this point it's
3:27become his entire [music] identity. Now,
3:29he's the fastest runner. But what do you
3:31think happens to someone who grew up
3:34with such sky-high expectations for
3:36themselves when they realize it might
3:39not happen? You might already know the
3:41answer, but even if we don't fall into
3:44this elite [music] gifted kid category,
3:47you'll no doubt have felt that drive to
3:50be something great. You'll have felt
3:52your view of yourself
3:53>> [music]
3:53>> improve or decline based on your results
3:56on something. We like to say the results
3:59aren't everything, but it's humanly very
4:01difficult to not be affected by the
4:04result, especially when it's something
4:06we've put a lot of time or effort into.
4:09It's completely normal. It's not
4:11something to feel bad about. We likely
4:13had such grand ambitions for ourselves
4:16until the world crushed us with how
4:18difficult it really is. Hit us with the
4:21reality of how ordinary we are. And it
4:24sucks because we felt the pull towards
4:27something and didn't quite make it. Or
4:30if we didn't feel a pull to it, we might
4:32have felt a push instead, represented by
4:35our other main character who is the
4:37complete opposite, Kamea. He's a
4:40terrible runner. He's frail, he's
4:43awkward, he has no friends, nothing
4:45except running. But unlike Tokuchi, he
4:48doesn't get anything external from it.
4:51Kamea runs to escape from reality
4:55because something is wrong at home for
4:58him. The film is intentionally very very
5:02vague about what, so that we as viewers
5:05can [music] mentally replace it with
5:07whatever we've got going on ourselves.
5:09But something dark is going on at home
5:13that he has no idea how to even begin to
5:15resolve. And so with no other option, he
5:18simply distracts himself from that
5:20feeling, as many of us do through
5:23whatever means of our own choosing,
5:25>> [music]
5:25>> right? Because as you get older, your
5:27problems get increasingly complicated to
5:30try and solve. Sometimes they seem just
5:32completely impossible, so it's a hundred
5:35times easier to just take our minds off
5:38it for a bit. Sometimes in incredibly
5:39[music]
5:40unhealthy ways, you know, I would say
5:42substances, etc. But honestly, I think
5:44for our generation, more common is just
5:46doom scrolling or playing a video game
5:49for 12 hours even when you stopped
5:50enjoying it after one because it just
5:53lets you stop thinking about it for a
5:55bit. And I don't say that in a
5:56judgmental way by any means. It can be
5:59really hard, but that's a crucial point
6:03to remember for later on. Especially as
6:05what I think is becoming more common
6:08these days is eventually that person
6:11gets so fed up with their own
6:13circumstances. Frustrated with
6:15themselves for wasting so much time,
6:17tired of being a loser, etc. That they
6:20finally become honest with themselves
6:23>> [music]
6:23>> and that begins to push them towards
6:26something. They go to the gym, they try
6:28to make money, they do something because
6:31it makes them feel better. Whether
6:33through pure distraction for the act or
6:35satisfaction in winning. For Komiya, it
6:38starts off even simpler than that. He
6:41runs miles without even a destination in
6:44mind. So that the world plus with no
6:47obvious solution to whatever's going on,
6:49this at least subdues the pain for a bit
6:51before he has to return to that darkness
6:55until he's given a light at the end of
6:57the tunnel following a chance meeting
6:59with Togashi [music] where he's both in
7:01awe at his speed and captivated by his
7:04mantra. One that comes up repeatedly
7:07throughout the film. Running the 100 m
7:09faster than anyone can solve almost any
7:13problem. Maybe you see where I'm going
7:15with this. But although well-intended
7:17from Togashi, this is the moment that
7:19Komiya fell into a trap that would make
7:22all his achievements meaningless. That
7:24he just gets faster, everything will be
7:26okay. That's the solution to everything.
7:29And him having something resourceful to
7:32focus on and aspire to [music]
7:33is of course a brilliant thing. And we
7:36can see how much joy his first victory
7:38brings him after [music] a ton of
7:40training with Togashi, he goes from the
7:42most awkward one you'd ever see to
7:44winning a gold medal on sports day. And
7:47a medal represents hope. It makes him
7:49genuinely happy, but this is where the
7:52problem starts. And again, I guarantee
7:55you said this to yourself at some point
7:57that once I achieve X, I'll be happy.
8:00Once Y happens, I'll feel better. Once I
8:03reach this level, then I'll be happy. In
8:07my experience, it doesn't happen. You
8:10reach it and it does almost nothing.
8:12Instead, you just think that you'll
8:14[music] finally be happy once you reach
8:17the next level and the cycle continues.
8:20And it's tricky because that first
8:22success feels great. When I went from,
8:25you know, borderline failing my exams to
8:28being the top of the class. When I went
8:29from feeling like I could accomplish
8:31nothing to getting a silver play button.
8:33When I went from being the skinny kid to
8:35getting, you know, compliments on my
8:37physique, right? Achieving things is
8:39awesome. It is. Because it's not just
8:41the external rewards, it's the internal
8:44feeling of, "Wow, I'm not as much of a
8:46failure as I thought." Or, you know, "I
8:48can do things. I don't have to stay that
8:50way." And so, naturally, you assume to
8:52get that feeling back again, you just
8:54need more success. But the victories
8:57after the first just never quite hit the
9:00same, do they? It's almost like chasing
9:02a rush, you know, "Well, it made me feel
9:04better last time, so clearly I just need
9:06that again." And obviously, there's
9:08going to be exceptions to this. But I
9:10generally found that the first big
9:12milestone is always the most exciting.
9:14And it's because not that much actually
9:16changes. You're still doing the same
9:18thing just at a higher level. If Togashi
9:21wins and goes through, he's still going
9:23to be running 100 m, right? The first
9:25milestone is proof that you can do
9:27something that you thought you couldn't,
9:29which feels awesome. But beyond that,
9:31it's very easy to overestimate how much
9:34it'll do for you. So, what do you do?
9:37Well, it's partly learning to celebrate
9:39and be pleased with how well you've
9:41done, even if there are people out there
9:42better than you. You know, accepting
9:44that you haven't got to be the best in
9:46the world to be happy. And it's partly
9:49something else that I'll come to later.
9:51But for now, of course, the problem
9:53isn't that he's striving to become a
9:55better runner. The problem is that he
9:57expects it to solve all his other
10:00problems. Well, he hopes so at least
10:02because he doesn't know what else there
10:04is. And I think this is exactly where we
10:06struggle. [music] We know that it
10:08doesn't make sense to be so dependent on
10:10external validation and so obsessed over
10:14a single result. Like, okay, yeah, that
10:16makes sense, but what else is there? How
10:19do we find the other things to support
10:21that? Well,
10:23following this Komeito move school,
10:24presumably linked to whatever is
10:26happening at home, and he wouldn't see
10:28Tokeshi again for many years to come.
10:31And Tokeshi, now in his late teens, is
10:34everything [music] he was told he'd
10:35become. He's winning every race. He's
10:38been held as the next national [music]
10:40champion by the experts. But in instant,
10:43it all finally falls apart in his last
10:46year of high school. In his final race,
10:49he hears a new, terrifying sound.
10:52Footsteps catching up to him.
10:55Out of nowhere, he loses for the first
10:59time in his life. It's a moment that
11:02changes everything. He has a complete
11:06breakdown. He's terrified to even run
11:08again. And it's here that a major
11:11question is raised. Where's the balance
11:13here? Because we've seen the dangers of
11:15caring too much with Tokeshi, yet the
11:19undeniable results it brought. We've
11:21seen the cost of making something your
11:23entire identity, but also how that same
11:25intensity can be the thing that drags
11:28you up from the bottom to somewhere you
11:30never thought you'd reach. So, how do
11:33you balance all of that? That question
11:35has been in my mind for years and I feel
11:37like it's kind of been the elephant in
11:40the room in a lot of my videos. But,
11:41I've never really given an answer for it
11:43because I didn't really know myself, let
11:45alone trying to talk about it to you on
11:48here. The closest I really had was well,
11:50it's going to be different for everyone.
11:51Whilst not wrong, this film gave me a
11:54better answer than I could have ever
11:56come up with myself. It's here that we
11:58find out why Komeya chose this school
12:01specifically.
12:03Japan's national 100-meter champion,
12:05Zaitzu, used to go here. The undisputed
12:09king of the 100-meter sport 15 years
12:12and yet much like Komeya and young
12:14Tagashi,
12:15not even a flicker of passion shows in
12:18his eyes as he stepped up to the podium.
12:20In this psychological ecosystem where
12:23>> [music]
12:23>> the athlete's speed has such a deep
12:26impact on their self-worth, Zaitzu was
12:28something beyond that. He's one of all.
12:32He's obtained glory beyond what you, me,
12:3499.99999%
12:37of humanity would ever reach. And yet,
12:41nothing. In fact, it's the opposite.
12:43He's almost jealous of the challenges in
12:46a way.
12:47He starts his speech off by saying,
12:49"Society is a joke. Don't think too
12:52seriously.
12:53I'm a living thing. I will die, never to
12:56be born again.
12:57That's all the reason I need."
13:00Which nothing too revolutionary so far,
13:02right? The idea that nothing matters and
13:04therefore, you can do whatever you want
13:06without too much fear
13:08isn't anything new as a kind of positive
13:11nihilism, I suppose.
13:13But, how does someone who thinks nothing
13:15matters end up pushing themselves hard
13:18enough to become national champion?
13:21He claims, "Whenever I'm competing, I
13:23can focus. Since I'm not afraid of
13:25losing, my mind is clear.
13:27But I also fear defeat since I desire
13:30results.
13:31Understandably, he's asked by one of the
13:33students how the hell that works. You
13:36know, whether he gets mood swings from
13:38these contrasting ideas. Zaitsev
13:40responds
13:42that he doesn't. He benefits 100% from
13:46both and that he does so so that he can
13:49enjoy feeling nervous.
13:52It never even occurred to me in all the
13:54time I'd been this that you don't need
13:58to balance the two ideas. You could feel
14:01fine with losing for after all you're
14:03just a clump of cells, just a human. And
14:06yet feel so excited by the idea of
14:09victory at the same time because well,
14:12why wouldn't you?
14:13In your one life, there's no reason not
14:16to just go after whatever it is you
14:18want.
14:18>> [music]
14:18>> There's nothing you need. Life just
14:21simply isn't that serious. You should
14:24only pursue what you genuinely
14:27want. Even if it's as absurd as trying
14:30to run past a bit of paint 0.01 seconds
14:33faster than someone else. To choose
14:36something so absurd to dedicate yourself
14:39to gives meaning to an otherwise
14:42arguably meaningless life. Is the
14:45absolute purest form of freedom. And yet
14:48he goes a step further than that.
14:50Because of course, being cells, being
14:52humans, naturally we will get a bit
14:54nervous about losing. Well, you're not
14:56going to get that out of you. We'll get
14:58anxious about not getting the things we
14:59want etc. And so Kōriyama asks him how
15:02he handles his nerves, opening up about
15:04his own fears of injury. But Zaitsev
15:07thinks this way to enjoy
15:10being nervous.
15:12He doesn't run for glory or for a title.
15:15He doesn't run to avoid any negative
15:17feelings that come with it. He doesn't
15:19try to make it something it isn't. he
15:21just enjoys
15:24the experience of running. Because the
15:26anxiety and fear of a challenge, the ups
15:29and downs of victories and losses should
15:31really be seen as a kind of beautiful
15:34blessing. Not only do nerves likely mean
15:36that you're challenging yourself, which
15:38will probably lead to something awesome,
15:40but because
15:41the alternative is nothing. Safety isn't
15:44always pleasant. Fear isn't always
15:46unpleasant. You know, often too much
15:48comfort just leads to boredom. Our
15:51brains are just naturally wired to
15:53constantly look for threats, for
15:54problems.
15:56And so if you don't really have any,
15:58your brain will start to create some.
16:01And so you need to choose them instead.
16:04A big competition, a risk, something to
16:08be earned or lost. Some of the best
16:11moments people describe in their lives
16:13are ones that were objectively
16:15stressful, and yet simultaneously
16:19you can understand that you'll be fine
16:21no matter what. You know, Zaitsev is not
16:23some enlightened monk who feels nothing.
16:26He feels all of it.
16:28He just stopped seeing the uncomfortable
16:30parts as problems to be solved and
16:33started treating them as part of the
16:35experience he signed up for. I'm
16:37obviously not saying that all problems
16:39are something to be grateful for.
16:41Obviously there's exceptions, right? But
16:43as Zaitsev says, the view from first is
16:47really the same as the view from last.
16:50You're still running the same race, and
16:53that's something I think is super
16:55important for a lot of people to
16:56understand. You know, the level you do
16:58something at probably won't change if
17:00you enjoy it or not. You know, you might
17:02get more external rewards, sure. But if
17:05you don't enjoy it at the level you're
17:07at, you won't suddenly enjoy it when you
17:10become champion.
17:11>> [music]
17:11>> And I think this is what stops a lot of
17:14people from starting something they want
17:16to as well. You know, they think they're
17:17too old, too short, too slow, too
17:20whatever it may be.
17:22And they think that, well, everyone's
17:23been doing it for so long already, it's
17:26too late for me to start my age.
17:29But, nothing drastically changes, even
17:32if that is the case. I was worried about
17:35this when I first started getting into
17:36volleyball.
17:37But, don't let the thought of I wish I
17:39was better get in the way of enjoying it
17:41because it doesn't make as much
17:43difference as you'd expect. If you don't
17:45enjoy it now, you're not going to enjoy
17:47it 5 years from now once you get better.
17:50You know, maybe it's just not for you.
17:52But, if it is, don't delay enjoying it.
17:56And this is a much longer discussion,
17:58but for Komiya, as we mentioned earlier,
18:01there will never be this moment where
18:02he's climbed high enough that solves
18:04everything. But, he's not got any other
18:07options right now. And so, unlike
18:09Tokishige, who out of shame from his
18:10defeat, went out of his way to avoid
18:13running, ignoring all offers from elite
18:16school just to hide away in a local one,
18:18Komiya instead sought out the absolute
18:21best he could. Even if it meant a 2-hour
18:24cycle each way, he similarly caught a
18:26bit of that consuming ambition that
18:29sometimes hits us, where we'd literally
18:31[music]
18:32anything if it meant being able to do
18:34what we enjoyed the most. What was
18:36particularly interesting about it all is
18:39despite that dedication, he still
18:41doesn't seem to care much. In his
18:43training, he's very mechanical. He's
18:46just going through the motions, even
18:48when he explodes into a sprint. He's
18:50still putting a lot of effort, of
18:51course, but this isn't the fire of
18:54someone excited for something. It's more
18:57of [music] just a doing it just because,
18:59right? And that's pretty normal, really.
19:02You know, this is a little bit of a side
19:04rant, but it is perfectly 100% normal
19:08not to be fired up all the time. [music]
19:11Chances are, if you're into videos like
19:13this, you're quite self-aware of how
19:15motivated you are at any given moment.
19:18And it's very easy to spiral and think
19:20something is wrong with you when it's
19:22not super high for a while. But, it just
19:25happens. And I think this is more
19:26important than ever when more and more
19:29people are looking to get into this idea
19:31of making their full-time jobs to be
19:34following their passions, right? They've
19:36got something they love outside of their
19:38job, and they want to do that full-time
19:41instead. You know, I've spoken about
19:43this in one of my other videos, but
19:45YouTube is not my full-time job. I still
19:47work full-time alongside this. But, I
19:49have of course spoken to plenty of
19:51people who are doing it full-time. They
19:53all say the same thing. Eventually, that
19:56thing you were so obsessed and excited
19:58by just kind of becomes the norm. You
20:01know, you don't have that fire all the
20:03time. Sometimes you enjoy it more,
20:05sometimes less, but the expectation that
20:08you'll find something you enjoy 100% of
20:10the time is a dangerous one in my eyes
20:13because it just doesn't really happen.
20:16You know, of course there are ways to
20:17positively influence that, and we'll
20:19talk more about that when we get to
20:20Togashi's career later on. But, I've
20:22always found it interesting that
20:24professional athletes and massive
20:25YouTubers end up retiring so early on
20:29when they're doing something that
20:31clearly they used to have such immense
20:33passion for, and it still brings in so
20:36much money for them. Obviously, it's not
20:38that simple. There's lots of other
20:40factors at play here that I don't have
20:41time to discuss. But, it's interesting
20:43how even all that isn't enough to keep
20:47someone super excited forever. You know,
20:50so expecting that is only going to
20:52frustrate you. And equally, or perhaps
20:54even more frustrating, is the
20:56realization that maybe you're not as
20:59great as you hoped you were.
21:01And this is where we cut back to Togashi
21:03following his first defeat. Now, by
21:05simple definition, unfortunately, that's
21:08most of us, right? That's definitely me.
21:1099.99% of us are just not going to go
21:14professional at the thing [music] we
21:14love. It is what it is, you know, it's
21:16something to come to terms with.
21:18Although, I don't think it's something
21:19to be down about like whatsoever. And if
21:22you are, by the end of this video, you
21:24won't be. But rationally, one loss
21:28should not be the end of the world for
21:30Togashi. There's no reason why he can't
21:32just run again, continue training. But
21:34he's never learned how to handle or
21:37respond to defeat. And to go back to the
21:40start, when the victories do so little
21:43for you, but defeat is a reason to hate
21:46yourself, what have you actually got to
21:48gain at that point?
21:50What is the point in running that race?
21:51It's no wonder he doesn't want to keep
21:54doing it. And side note, this is what
21:56I've kind of noticed over the years that
21:58the people [music] who are actually
21:59slightly less obsessed with something
22:02tend to actually do extremely well in
22:04the long run. You know, the people who
22:06are more like 70, 80% all in rather than
22:09100, they quite often end up going
22:12further because they don't get these
22:15crazy negative spirals. They don't
22:18obsess over optimizing every tiny detail
22:21to the point where they start to major
22:23in the minors and burn out. They don't
22:25see defeat in a way that causes them to
22:28hate themselves when it happens. They
22:30might feel frustrated, but they won't go
22:33off the deep end. And there's honestly
22:36real value in not feeling like defeat is
22:39the end of the world, especially as it's
22:40kind of inevitable, right? But it's not
22:42easy for Togashi because it's all he's
22:45ever been valued for. He goes as far as
22:48to come up with a whole cover story
22:50about injury to excuse why he [music]
22:53lost because running is all he is. If he
22:56lost without a valid reason, it would be
22:58beyond shameful. And yet he doesn't
23:01really have any other route. You know,
23:04even at his new school he's immediately
23:06recognized as that fast runner. They
23:09repeatedly ask him to join the track
23:11club and despite [music] Nishida
23:13refusing, eventually he agrees to do a
23:16single run in exchange for being left
23:19alone. Not a race, just a run. No
23:23crowds, no opponents, not even a timer,
23:26just 100 m in front of them, his
23:28footsteps hitting the ground and the
23:30wind [music] against his face and
23:32something just clicks. Yeah, [snorts]
23:34although he's obviously still quick,
23:36with no one timing him, in that moment
23:38he wasn't fast, he's just running. It's
23:42beautiful. It reminds him how much he
23:44used to just love running before the
23:47pressure to maintain a reputation or
23:49always win got to him. When was the last
23:52time you let yourself do that? To just
23:55do something you love without worrying
23:56about what it will bring for you or how
24:00good you are at it.
24:01Nowadays it seems like every hobby has
24:04to become a side hustle. It has to be
24:06optimized and monetized. And of course
24:09there's nothing wrong with that.
24:10But it can feel almost weird to let
24:13yourself do something that won't quote
24:15get you something. That isn't
24:17productive. Not necessarily our fault
24:20when you know, economic struggles kind
24:21of force us to have some sort of side
24:24income to be able to survive, but just
24:26doing something because you genuinely
24:28love it is such a beautiful feeling so
24:32easily lost as we see throughout the
24:34film. To fully dedicate yourself to
24:36something is of course an equally
24:38beautiful thing. And whilst the film
24:41doesn't shy away from the potential
24:43physical and [music] mental dangers of
24:44becoming too tunnel visioned on a single
24:46pursuit, I think I've kind of covered
24:49the mental side already. And of course
24:51the physical is obvious, right? If you
24:53try to push through when your body is
24:55telling you to stop, it's going to come
24:56back to bite you eventually. And this
24:59leads us all to the scene that really
25:01put this film on the map. Perhaps the
25:04coolest looking shot of all time,
25:06the rain scene.
25:08There's not much you can do to make a
25:09sprint interesting to watch. They just
25:12kind of run in a short, straight line.
25:15And yet it tells the entire story of
25:18Kome and Togashi's lives. Togashi starts
25:21off impossibly far ahead of everyone,
25:24yet out of nowhere, Kome overtakes him
25:28and still doesn't show an ounce of
25:30excitement at defeating someone he once
25:32looked at with such pure awe. He's not
25:35even out of breath. He's almost more
25:38machine than human. If you told him at
25:40the start of the film that he would beat
25:43Togashi one day, he'd either not believe
25:45you or be absolutely ecstatic about her.
25:49But it does nothing for him. And
25:51likewise, the message this race sends to
25:53Togashi is very clear. You're just not
25:56good enough anymore. Give up running.
25:59And so the question remains when neither
26:01of them are seemingly getting anything
26:04out of this,
26:05when did they stop enjoying it all?
26:08And above all,
26:09why continue to run?
26:1210 years pass by. Togashi is now barely
26:15getting by as a professional athlete,
26:18one season away from losing his contract
26:20and having to watch Kome race at the
26:23very very top. The position he grew up
26:27thinking he would be in one day. He now
26:30has to stomach the idea that he may
26:32simply never be as great as he hoped.
26:35And this is where we meet someone who in
26:36his mere 10 minutes of screen time
26:40became one of my favorite characters
26:41ever, the forever second, Kaido. And I
26:45love this archetype of the constant
26:48runner-up. You know, Vegeta, Seto Kaiba,
26:51those kind of characters because it's so
26:53raw and real. To feel like you're
26:56hitting some kind of constant invisible
26:59wall. As though you just weren't born to
27:01succeed at this. As though something is
27:05almost blocking you from it. 15 years of
27:09second places, of living in his rival's
27:12shadow, of watching himself slowly
27:15decline through age. It'd be enough to
27:17drive anyone at least slightly mad,
27:19right? To make them justify in their
27:22head somehow. Oh, he's only winning
27:23because he's younger. Or at least resign
27:26themselves to their fate of being number
27:28two. Accepting that that's all they'll
27:30ever be. And yet in a cast of characters
27:33who assign so much value to their
27:37results, Kaido refuses to be defined by
27:41that. He's a very clear parallel to
27:43Togashi in terms of the super gifted kid
27:46hitting a wall. But unlike Togashi, he
27:49doesn't let his whole identity anchor on
27:52those results alone. And yet, he's
27:55utterly committed [music]
27:56to giving everything towards winning the
27:59next one. He still believes it's
28:02possible. Provided he's willing to look
28:04reality dead in the eye, he believes he
28:07can escape it. And this is many people's
28:10favorite quote from the movie. It's one
28:12of my favorites in anything. Looking
28:15straight into reality can be extremely
28:18terrifying. You have to accept things
28:20you don't want to accept. But to truly
28:22reject reality, you have to face it
28:25head-on with your eyes wide open. Sounds
28:28simple, but when he said this, I
28:30realized that I don't think I've ever
28:33truly 100% done this
28:36in my life. To be fully, brutally honest
28:39with yourself about everything. Maybe
28:42you waste a lot of time, but don't
28:43acknowledge it. Maybe there's things
28:45you're just not willing to do for
28:47whatever reason. Maybe you're not being
28:49consistent. Maybe there's things other
28:51people are doing that you're not. But
28:54every time you look at them, rather than
28:56figuring out why they're ahead, instead
28:58you come up with some justification to
29:01downplay it. I just made a whole video
29:03on this. If you open up the comment
29:05section on any post of someone saying
29:07they're doing well, there will be
29:09multiple comments trying to downplay it
29:11or dismiss their success, right? Maybe
29:14that's even your first reaction when you
29:16see it, though. It was certainly mine.
29:18But Kaido believes in the complete
29:20opposite. Not to resolve your problems
29:23with yeah, buts or I'll show them or one
29:27day I will or any number of things, but
29:29instead to simply look at what you're
29:32not doing and accept that you don't
29:34already know or do everything you could.
29:37And it's horribly uncomfortable, right?
29:39It's so much easier to think to
29:40ourselves that oh, they're just doing
29:42better because they're lucky. They're
29:44just this, they're just that. To embrace
29:47reality is the only way to truly escape
29:50her. And it becomes a lot easier to do
29:52when you take a page out of Zaitsev's
29:54book and just take it a little less
29:57seriously. There's no reason to be
29:59afraid of admitting all of those
30:01shortcomings because it's just not that
30:03serious. Much like Zaitsev, rather than
30:06trying to balance two contradicting
30:08ideas, he uses both of them. He's fully,
30:11completely realistic about where he is.
30:14He is utterly optimistic, arguably even
30:17delusional about where he can go. He
30:20uses escapism only for motivation rather
30:24than hiding from his current situation.
30:26And this is exactly what Tokishiro did
30:28to her. We get a little montage of him
30:30going around, winning races, eating,
30:33stretching, doing everything he needs to
30:35and he looks happier than he's ever
30:37been.
30:38Until fate strikes again. He hits that
30:40invisible wall that just refuses to let
30:43him have what he wants. He gets injured
30:46a week before his final race to save
30:49[music] his career. If he doesn't
30:50participate, his future as a runner is
30:52over. If he does, which he can still do,
30:55but he runs the risk of ruining his leg
30:58forever. Now, you've probably seen that
31:00one gift of him crying on his knees
31:02shortly after he received his diagnosis.
31:05He runs into a group of kids who are
31:07coincidentally practicing for their
31:08[music] own race. They've got this very
31:10pure, childlike joy for the sport. And
31:13Tokuchi gets up to give them some advice
31:16and tell them that there's no need to
31:17sacrifice [music] everything for it as
31:19it's not like their whole life depends
31:21on it. The irony isn't lost on him and
31:24he can't even get the words out without
31:25breaking down because he knows the same
31:28applies to him. He knows he can still
31:30have a stable career as a coach that was
31:32just offered to him. You know, it is not
31:35the end of his life. Yet, only now when
31:38it's finally about taken away from him
31:41for good, does he realize how much he
31:43just wants to run, to compete in this
31:45race against Cormier, that he'd been
31:47getting caught up on all the wrong
31:49things this whole [music] time when it's
31:51just been able to do the thing. The
31:54thing you enjoy is the most important
31:57part. And it's really interesting that
31:59Tokuchi still chooses to run despite
32:01[music] the risks. Right, because
32:03earlier on I didn't dwell on this, but
32:05we spent a whole mini arc with someone
32:08that Tokuchi wants to look up to. They
32:09let the pressure get to them. They
32:11pushed themselves when they shouldn't
32:13have and the injury they got derailed
32:15their entire career as a result. And so,
32:18the series could have just as easily
32:20gone down the route of him accepting his
32:23life without running. You know, he
32:24becomes a coach. We seen that he quite
32:26enjoys that, so it would have been a
32:27very reasonable route for him. But
32:30Tokuchi to take that same risk.
32:32Obviously, yeah, it is kind of reckless,
32:34but it represents him doing whatever he
32:37can to experience the thrill of
32:39competition instead of just accepting a
32:42safe career that others attempt to push
32:44on him. For him to lose that excitement,
32:47that chance to run alongside his old
32:49friend one last time is just not an
32:52option. [music] It's something almost
32:54essential for living, something that we
32:56should never give up on for as long as
32:58we can prevent it. And so, this leads us
33:01into the penultimate race, a semi-final
33:04heat containing Zaitsev, Komiya, and
33:07Kaido. The latter of which knows that
33:09not one person out there expects him to
33:12win. Zaitsev or Komiya, Zaitsev or
33:14Komiya, Zaitsev or Komiya, it's all he
33:17hears leading up to the race. And after
33:1915 years of losses,
33:21>> [music]
33:21>> who could blame them? Unsurprisingly, as
33:23the race starts, his old legs start to
33:26fall behind. This is his reality, he's
33:28just slower. He doesn't flinch from it.
33:31He doesn't despair or become [music]
33:32filled of frustration. He just resolves
33:35to escape from it, to change the fact
33:39rather than comfort himself on them. And
33:41after 15 long years of banging on that
33:44door, it finally breaks open. Kaido
33:47wins. [music] Zaitsev is eliminated.
33:49Ironically, as though the universe
33:51wanted to get in the joke one last time,
33:53[music]
33:54Kaido gets the second fastest time in
33:57Japan's history. But who cares? He's
33:59done it. Zaitsev retires following this.
34:02And this isn't him being a sore loser.
34:05It's not a cowardly retreat or a tragic
34:08downfall. He just finally enjoyed a
34:10genuine rivalry, the feeling of having
34:13to truly push himself and still lose. To
34:17continue to run to simply try to cling
34:19to his past glory is a waste of his
34:22life. When we're all cells, we're all
34:24biological matter with limited lifespan,
34:27it's absurd to waste time on something
34:29like that instead of something you
34:31genuinely desire. Of course, not
34:34everyone is going to understand that. To
34:36many people, I'm sure, Zai Su's
34:38retirement just looked like a retreat to
34:40avoid losing more in future. But again,
34:43why let something like the thoughts
34:44[music] in other people's heads get in
34:46the way of anything? And that leads us
34:49to the final race of the series, the
34:53last discussion between Kakeru and
34:54Togashi before they finally get a
34:56rematch after a whole decade. And it's
34:59the culmination of everything we've
35:01spoken about so far. Kakeru, now having
35:04an existential crisis, doesn't know why
35:06he came so far. He thinks the emptiness
35:09he feels has no solution, that he's
35:11never experienced the joy of going all
35:14out, and he doesn't know what the point
35:16of any of it is. He gets faster, races
35:18again, gets faster, races again. What is
35:20there for him at the end of it all? Is
35:23it all for nothing? To which Togashi
35:25responds, "To give it our all. After
35:28all, running the 100-meter dash faster
35:31than anyone else can solve almost
35:33anything." Which is initially kind of
35:35weird, right? He knows by now that
35:38that's not the case, or at least not in
35:41the way he said it as a kid. Back then,
35:43he thought the result of winning the 100
35:46meters solved all his problems. Now it's
35:49the pursuit of running the 100 meters,
35:51not "I will run" or "I have run," but
35:55"I'm actively pursuing it," grounded in
35:58reality, as Kakeru says. And Kakeru
36:00understands that difference because he
36:03spent his whole life using running as a
36:05vehicle for something else. First to
36:08blur the world, then to climb out of it,
36:10and then to prove something to himself.
36:13He's been trying to use it as a tool
36:15when it's just not. It's not the answer
36:18to anything anymore. It's just a
36:20100-meter [music]
36:21dash. It's the same place Togashi
36:23arrived in that run with no crowd, no
36:26time, and no opponent is the same place
36:29I used to live in for years without ever
36:32quite being able to explain it. The same
36:34place Kakeru found when he stopped
36:36flinching from his reality and ran
36:38[music] through it anyway. They all got
36:40there differently, but they all got
36:42here, here in this final race. And going
36:45into this, I had no idea who was going
36:47to win. Leaving it, of course, I still
36:50have no idea who won because the film
36:52infamously leaves it completely hidden.
36:55Cutting to black can see. I don't think
36:58I've ever seen a sports anime end this
37:00way. Normally, it's the big celebration
37:03after so many chapters of build-up. The
37:06roaring of a crowd, the champion getting
37:08what he worked so hard for. And of
37:10course, my first initial reaction was,
37:12"Wait, but who won?" But what's more
37:15controversial, to me, this shot of them
37:18grinning as they crossed the line
37:21is the absolute best way this film could
37:23have ended.
37:24Neither of them care who won.
37:26Taku is no longer running to protect
37:29their reputation or feeling like a loss
37:31is the end of him. Kakeru is no longer
37:33running to try and save himself or
37:35feeling like winning is the only
37:37solution. They're both just ecstatic.
37:39They gave that final race everything
37:41they possibly could. And it sounds
37:43incredibly basic to just say, "Well,
37:45they learned to love the process more
37:46[music] than the results."
37:48But it's not something that just
37:50happens. You can't just think to
37:52yourself that you'll start to do that
37:54and suddenly start to enjoy it more,
37:56right? You kind of can, but not
37:58completely. There's no technique, no
38:01sudden mindset shift, no video that you
38:04watch that suddenly makes the joy come
38:06back, right? Not even this one. That
38:09question I opened with, "Why do we stop
38:11enjoying the things we used to?" I don't
38:13think it's because anything has changed.
38:16I think it's because somewhere along the
38:19way, we started asking it to be
38:21something that it was never going to be.
38:24We made it carry our self-worth or be
38:27our escape or our proof that we're not
38:30ordinary, but it can't. It's just an
38:32activity, a pursuit. It can't do
38:35anything like that. I suppose you could
38:37say that it's less about finding the
38:39[music] right reason and more about
38:41letting go of the wrong ones, of
38:43accepting that it's just a 100-m run and
38:47nothing more. The film doesn't tell you
38:49to care less and neither am I,
38:50obviously. Sue still feels nerves. Kaido
38:53still wants to win after 15 years.
38:56Togashi still breaks down at the thought
38:59of never racing again.
39:01The pursuit is a beautiful thing and
39:03caring about her is not the problem.
39:06It's what you've attached to her. So, if
39:09you're watching this and that feeling I
39:11described at the start sounds familiar,
39:13I'm not going to tell you that it goes
39:14away or that one day you'll find your
39:17thing and it'll click. What I am saying
39:20is that the version of you that loved it
39:22all before the pressure got to it isn't
39:25gone. It's just been waiting for you to
39:27stop needing it to be more than it
39:29actually is. Go run your 100 m.

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