Play It Again

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OVA Play It Again
Information
Title:	Play It Again
Japanese Title:	プレイ・イット・アゲイン (Purei・Itto・Agein)
Original airdate:	December 22, 1999
Manga source:	Gosho Aoyama's Collection of Short Stories: Play It Again
Case
Cast:	Sanjuurou Tsurugi Sanjuurou Sakura Michiko Tsurugi Tatsuya Nakadai Ran Mouri Sonoko Suzuki
Staff
Director:	Osamu Nabeshima
Screenplay:	Kazunari Kouchi
Storyboard:	Osamu Nabeshima
Technical Director:	Osamu Nabeshima
Animation Director:	Atsushi Aono
Character Design:	Yasuhiro Moriki (design works)
Voice cast: Chafurin as Sanjuurou Tsurugi Kappei Yamaguchi as Sanjuurou Sakura Ikue Ohtani as Michiko Tsurugi Isshin Chiba as Tatsuya Nakadai Wataru Takagi as Toride Hiroyuki Yokoo as Makita Rin Mizuhara as Harue Wakana Yamazaki as Kaoru Yukiko Iwai as Rena Takashi Nagasako as Teacher Hiromichi Kogami as Student Akiko Koike as Student

Cast

Sanjuurou Tsurugi
	80 years old Swordmaster Michiko's grandfather

Sanjuurou Sakura
	Sanjuurou's younger self

Michiko Tsurugi
	High school student Sanjuurou's granddaughter

Tatsuya Nakadai
	High school student "The Heisei Musashi"

Characters

Characters
Ran Mouri (cameo) Sonoko Suzuki (cameo)

Plot

Michiko Tsurugi refuses to allow her grandfather Sanjuurou Tsurugi to show up for parent day at her high school, causing him to make a bet with her. If she can beat him in a sword fight, Sanjuurou won't go to the school. Michiko tricks Sanjuurou by forcing him to chase her around a large cherry blossom tree, tiring him out so much that she easily wins the fight. Disappointed, Sanjuurou lies down underneath the tree and admires the fact that despite the fact the tree was planted when he was young it still blooms beautifully and doesn't look any different unlike himself and he wishes to himself to be young again.

When he wakes up, Sanjuurou decides to go to Michiko's school anyway to demand a rematch. When he arrives in her classroom though Michiko doesn't recognize him and Michiko's teacher tells him to change his clothes and to head back to his own classroom. Confused, Sanjuurou goes to look at himself in a mirror and discovers he's returned to being a teenager! Sanjuurou decides to take advantage of his newfound youth and goes exploring the town eventually finding himself at the home of his first love who he'd given a comb to 60 years ago. Sanjuurou then returns to the school and stops in the restroom. While in the restroom Sanjuurou overhears Nakadai from the kendo club talking to his friends about taking advantage of Michiko as his next target. Can Sanjuurou protect his granddaughter from the lecherous Nakadai?

Resolution

  Show spoilers »

Nakadai challenges Sanjuurou to a fight which Sanjuurou loses on accident when he discovers Michiko cheering on Nakadai to win, realizing that Michiko actually has a crush on Nakadai. In the nurses' office Michiko bandages the wound on Sanjuurou's head and asks who he is to which Sanjuurou replies, "Sanjuurou Sakura". Unsatisfied with the outcome of the fight, Nakadai challenges Sanjuurou again at the Tsurugi household, but this time he cheats and uses real swords. Seeing Sanjuurou outmatched, Michiko runs inside the house and returns with one of Sanjuurou's metal swords which she tosses at Sanjuurou just in the nick of time.

Sanjuurou uses his "Cherry Blossom Storm" technique to humiliate Nakadai by shredding Nakadai's clothes off of his body. Michiko is relieved to see Sanjuurou win the fight and runs inside to get the first aid kit for treating Sanjuurou's scratches. Sanjuurou looks up at the cherry blossom tree and notices that all the petals have fallen. Sanjuurou thanks the tree for showing him such a wonderful dream.

When Michiko returns, she is surprised that Sanjuurou Sakura is no where to be found and finds her grandfather standing by the tree instead. Sanjuurou teases Michiko asking if she had fallen for some naughty boy recently. Michiko sticks her tongue out at him and tells him it's none of his business causing Sanjuurou to laugh.

Trivia

Ran and Sonoko's cameo.

• Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki make a cameo appearance while Sanjuurou is perusing the bookstore.
• The animation staff fleshed out the short story by making this short story OVA connect with the story presented in Detective George's Mini-Mini Big Strategy. The comb George retrieves for the client in the previous short story is in fact the comb that Sanjuurou gave his first love over sixty years ago.

Gallery

• 

  Sanjuurou Tsurugi lying under the cherry blossom tree.

See also

• OVAs