Thread by @RinmeikanGranny

「わたくしは、先日助けて頂いた亀でございます。浦島さん、あなたは竜宮をご覧になったことがありますか」

"I am the turtle who received help from you the other day. Urashima-san, have you ever seen Ryugu before?"

Are you ready to dive back under the sea? The next chapter begins!🐢

Chapter 2 of the Beloved Days of Ryugu Castle begins in the practice room, where Tamao and Rui are rehearsing their dances for the play. Rui laments that Urashima's closing solo dance is difficult, with its shifting tempo and comical yet formal movements.

However, Tamao praises Rui's smooth movements and skill with the dance, saying that within the strong, masculine movements, we can see the weakness of Urashima's heart. (This totally doesn't parallel Rui's situation at ALL 🙄)

While Rui mentions that she's looking forward to the creativity that Ichie and Fumi's direction will bring to the dances, Tamao wonders how Yuyuko's doing with the script. As Tamao checks the clock, Rui is reminded that Tamao isn't just Otohime, but also the project coordinator.

Since they still have some time before joint practice starts, Rui suggests they swing by to see how Yuyuko is doing. Tamao is surprised and asks whether Rui's ok with where they are in their dance review. Rui assures her she's got most of it down, so they go on their way.

Yuyuko, meanwhile, reads some of her penned lines aloud to check how they read. While she's going through both Otohime's and Urashima's parts, Rui and Tamao show up with a gift of tomato chips to encourage Yuyuko in her work.

Having overheard some of Yuyuko's lines where Otohime reveals herself as the turtle that Urashima helped, Rui praises Yuyuko for her innovation in bringing a new twist to the old myth.

However, Yuyuko informs Rui that that part is from the original myth, and launches into a discussion on the history and overall story of the Urashima Taro tale, mentioning that this old Rinmeikan version of the script is also mostly based on the original fairy tale.

Rui thinks it's a rather sad love story, but Yuyuko reminds her the tale doesn't end there. When Otohime gives Urashima the jeweled handbox, there's another version of the story, whereupon opening it he doesn't become an old man...

Instead, Urashima changes into a deity, a crane, and to honor the vow they exchanged, he returns to Otohime's side...

Tamao and Rui are far more taken with this version of the tale. Tamao mentions that although she's heard the version where Urashima becomes a crane, she never realized it was part of the original story.

Rui admits the version she heard as a child, with Urashima turning into an old man, always made her uneasy.

Urashima does the right thing by helping a turtle, he enjoys happy days at Ryugu Castle as thanks, and then, even though he's not supposed to open the jeweled handbox, just for breaking that promise he turns into an old man. Even as cause-and-effect, it seems too harsh.

Tamao believes the tale was changed as a way to instill a lesson: to not break one's promises. As a result, the story changed little by little.

But Rui is still confused. In both the crane version and the old man version, doesn't Urashima still break his promise of opening the jeweled handbox when he shouldn't?

But Yuyuko mentions there's an even more important promise: that of returning to Otohime's side.

With that, Rui starts to better understand the theme of both characters: Urashima, who protects his important promise, and Otohime, who builds her feelings for the person who saved her.

Rui says she now better understands the role of Urashima Taro, and so Yuyuko takes the opportunity to jump into old-man Rakugo mode again and narrate Rui's thoughts:
"...while saying such things, Rui felt complete empathy towards Otohime, who invited feelings of love."

Rui freaks out.

"H-hey, what's with that narration!? You were doing that before, too, quit it...!"

Yuyuko: "No, no, it's just practice."

But Rui starts to catch on. "Come on, Yuyuko!"

Tamao seems completely oblivous to the battle taking place in front of her, and mentions that it appears that practice and the script editing are both progressing well.

Yuyuko tells Tamao that most of the main script changes are done, and only minor adjustments are needed. If possible, she'd like for Tamao to give some feedback and advice.

Tamao is all too happy to help, and she offers to not only do a review, but also make copies to mark up. Yuyuko mentions that she should be the one running off to make copies, being the script editor, but Tamao says she'll handle it and Yuyuko and Rui should take a break.

Tamao departs, and Rui melts.
"Ah....no matter the time, Tamao-senpai doesn't forget kindness and caring....if only I could be like that--"

Old Man Yuyuko strikes again:
"Upon saying that, Urashima Taro's cheeks took on a red color like coral."

Rui: "C-come on, quit that...!"

The scene switches to Ichie and Fumi. Ichie wastes no time in tackling Fumi from behind, who responds in annoyance:
"Ugh...!? Why are you leaning on my back...! You were doing that to Rui earlier...!"

Ichie: "Hehe, this time I'm helping with role-making! The feelings of the turtle who took Urashima Taro, you understand them, right?"

Finally Ichie lets go, and Fumi asks if she was able to gather video reference materials for the scene where Urashima Taro is welcomed to Ryugu Castle. Ichie says of course, she's gathered lots of references from comedies because they tend to have a lot of pair dance sequences.

Tamao shows up carrying bags, and it's not only snacks, but she was also looking up video reference materials to help Ichie and Fumi. They're both thankful, but Fumi is surprised Tamao had the time to get all this, considering she's so busy herself.

Tamao almost begins to wonder whether doing all this is indeed impossible, but she seems to brush it off. She's thankful for Fumi's concern, and then she's off to return to practice.

In the practice room, however, Rui is doing her lines by herself. Yuyuko sleepily walks in and asks where Tamao's gone off to, and it turns out Tamao had to take a call from the event planning committee.

Concerned, Yuyuko wonders whether Tamao will be able to properly ensure time for herself, considering she's been running all over the place, and she was even helping Yuyuko check the script earlier...

Rui gets angry and comes to Tamao's defense.
"Since it's Tamao-senpai it'll definitely be fine! Because it's Tamao-senpai...!!"

Yuyuko asks her what's with that logic, but Rui continues to adamantly defend Tamao.
"A-anyway, because she's trying her best for all of us, we need to meet her expectations!"

Accepting Rui's explanation for now, Yuyuko suggests they start their practice, and so marks the end of Chapter 2. 🐢