Episode 3

**Goals!** (もくひょう！, *Mokuhyō!*) is the 3rd episode of Maesetsu!: Opening Act.

## Summary

Taking advantage of their day off, both owarai groups Tokunatsu and R凸 go on a material hunt in preparation for the upcoming comedy contest.

## Plot

We're shown a 4-way perspective of the daily morning routines of the main characters.

At The Baron the girls discuss the postmortem of their gig there the day before. It's denoted that half of the attendees were family and so Nayuta states they should have conducted a survey of people's opinions. On that topic, Rin details that she posted their performance online. Sadly, not only the video didn't get many views, the comments were a tad shrill, which forlorn Mafuyu. Understanding where they lack, Rin suggests they improve their comedic material. As it's their day off for all of them, Nayuta suggests they collect new material in preparation for the preliminary round of the contest.

Eventually, the girls split up, and both Rin and Nayuta enjoy a bit of a shopping spree together. They end it off enjoying a pancake special at a restaurant. Realizing they've yet to come up with any new material, they find a couple of pigeons use them for a comedic ventriloquist act. This leads to them talking about their performance back at The Baron, which wasn't really a great success. In light of their shortcomings, Nayuta suggests they work extra hard on getting better material. Rin believes that Nayuta is acting like they're going to bomb in their performance.

Meanwhile, Mafuyu talks with Fubuki how comedy helped her social awkwardness. Although Fubuki doesn't believe that to be all true, she states that they haven't even started working on gathering new material yet. Hearing this shocks Mafuyu as it's true. Elsewhere, Manatsu and Kanae walk together and at first talk about Kanae's visit to the Guidance Counselor. To cheer her friend up, Manatsu shows Kanae a video of her sister and friend's performance at The Baron from Rin's YT channel. Upon noticing, a video featuring Junki, the man in question is criticized by his partner Ubuno for having such a low subscriber rate. Junki, however, states that they have to sell their tickets to their next gig, but Ubuno already has... to herself that is. Hearing this disheartens Junki as the purpose of selling tickets to people other than yourself.

Later that afternoon at The Baron, the girls talk about how they failed to collect new material by instead being distracted by other means. It's then that Junki and Ubuno join them and sell them tickets to their upcoming owarai gig in Shibuya.

At home, Mafuyu is greeted by Manatsu and Kanae; they tell Mafuyu about how they enjoyed the video about the gig she was a part of at The Baron. In turn, Mafuyu informs them about the 'behind the scenes' video, to which, they then attentively watch. The following day, Manatsu tells Kanae her aspiration to become a comedian and asks Kanae to become her partner. Recalling why Mafuyu became a comedian, Kanae agrees to become a comedian as well, which elates Manatsu. Ultimately, they decide the name of their owarai as Tsundora.

On the day of Junki and Ubuno's gig, the girls make it to Shibuya and learn that JK Cool is also performing there too. Following Rin's suggestion, it's decided they should watch JK Cool's gig too in preparation for the New Comedy King Playoffs. JK Cool's performance proves to be insightful and after it, the girls get directions to Freak!'s gig where it's a smaller venue than JK Cool's. Before Freak!'s performance, the girls watch a gig by BAN BAN BAN. Junki and Ubuno's owarai Freak! is next and the girls seem unimpressed by their performance. After the performance, Junki and Ubuno approach the girls and thank them for their attendance. Noting that they need to polish their skills for the upcoming contest, an unknown man compliments Junki and Ubuno for their performance. Just outside, the girls state that their half-way goal is to be able to perform in Shibuya too.

## Characters

* Mafuyu Kogarashi
* Fubuki Kitakaze
* Nayuta Asōgi
* Rin Araya
* Arashi Waraino
* Eru Kusaba
* Manatsu Kogarashi
* Kanae Kanari
* Junki Tomita
* Ubuno Hatsuna
* Masatake Yamamoto
* Hiromi Sameshima