Manga creator Hoshino Rene is from Cameroon.

He came to Japan at age four and grew up in an environment where people looked and spoke differently from him.

His manga portrays his experiences growing up in Japan.

As a kid, one thing that made me extremely nervous was the short-distance sprints on Sports Day.

When Rene came in at third place...

How could an African boy lose?!

He must be off his game.

So let me say this out loud!

Not all black people are physically gifted!

My manga helps readers reframe things
that they had once seen as negative.

In this program, we follow Rene as he meets children with foreign roots and turns their thoughts into manga.

This time, he meets twin brothers from Cuba who attend the same high school.

With their father's remarriage to a Japanese woman, they gained a new family.

But they were also in for a surprise.

Greet people properly! Focus on your workbook!

They came under the strict tutoring of their new step-grandfather.

They were a handful.

We were real brats back then.

I never want a repeat.

Now, grateful for their step-grandfather's care, they want to make a manga with Rene and put their appreciation into words.

Let's do this.

Will the manga accomplish its mission?

It's time for Rene to go to school.

This is Miyakonojo City in Japan's southwestern Miyazaki Prefecture.

The area is known for its mild climate and thriving livestock industry.

Rene is on his way to a school in the suburbs to meet a pair of high schoolers who want to create a manga together.

What will they be like? This will be fun.

He arrives at Miyakonojo Higashi High School.

Hello.

It's a private school with more than six hundred students.

A teacher shows Rene to the classroom, where the pair are waiting to meet him.

This class is specifically for students studying to enter university.

- Hello. Nice to meet you.
- You're identical!

Rene is greeted by twin brothers.

Sixteen-year-old Kendri and Kevin Torralba from Cuba.

You both have great smiles.

You're also good-looking guys,
so you must be popular with the girls.

- Not really.
- I don't think so.

Kendri and Kevin came to Japan at age nine and say they relate to many things in Rene's manga.

One is the story in which kids approach young Rene at the park.

Hey, say something in English!

Sorry. I can't speak English.

You can't speak English!? But you're American!

I'm not American. I'm African.

And where I come from, they speak French.

Rene would feel frustrated every time his explanation was met with a puzzled look,

a situation that the twins know all too well.

We're from Cuba, where they speak Spanish.

But in Japan, "foreigner" equals "American."
So, people always talk to us in English.

As foreigners, we have a lot in common.
I catch myself going, "I know that feeling."

It's reassuring to know that others,
and even a manga creator like him,

have had similar experiences.

Inspired by Rene's manga, the two want to make a manga about their own experiences in Japan.

Off the top of your head, what do you want
to cover in the manga?

Honestly, for me, it's our past.
And what it took to reach this point.

We started with zero Japanese and
zero knowledge of local manners.

We also knew zero about the food culture.
And it took time to gradually level up.

I want to cover that the most.

You both have a clear image and vision
for it and are passionate about it.

And that will show in the manga, so let's
use all that and make something great.

-Yes.
-Let's do this.

Rene visits their home to learn more about them.

This is it.

There's a flag!
There's a Cuban flag on the roof.

People might mistake this for
the Cuban embassy.

Why do you have it?

We wanted it to feel like Cuba.

This whole area is Cuba.

All this? You know you can't claim here
for Cuba, right? I see. So this is Cuba.

- Please come in.
- Hello. Excuse me.

- Hello. Nice to meet you.
- Welcome.

Rene is greeted by their father, Maurice, and their stepmother, Nahoko.

Maurice is a PE teacher at the high school that Kendri and Kevin attend.

Nahoko, who is Japanese, runs a dental clinic.

Maurice got a divorce when Kendri and Kevin were still young.

He later remarried Nahoko, whom he met while she was vacationing in Cuba.

Wanting to give Kendri and Kevin a good education, the couple decided to settle down in Japan.

From your perspective, what areas
did they struggle in?

Everything.

Because it was all completely different.
The language, culture, everything.

In Japan, the kids clean the school.
But in Cuba, that's a penalty.

I see. It's a penalty there.

The teacher would say, "Start cleaning."
And it was like, "What?"

"What did we do wrong?"

Japan was the polar opposite of Cuba.

The twins struggled to fit in at school and occasionally clashed with their classmates.

And it was their stepmother, Nahoko, who advised them on how to navigate situations.

She told me to ask why someone had said
something instead of just getting angry.

She said, "You need to clear things up."

The kids are always on my mind.

I'm responsible for them being in Japan.

My focus has been on doing all I can
to raise them into responsible adults.

As a family, they tried different things to help the boys adapt to life in Japan.

Kendri and Kevin take Rene to meet someone they want to feature in the manga.

Hello. It's us.

Rene meets Nahoko's parents and the twins' step-grandparents, Youichi and Chihoko Inoue.

They told me about you and
I wanted to meet you in person.

Thank you.

The twins first met Youichi and Chihoko when they were eight and still living in Cuba.

They were both impressed by the couple who had flown in to see them.

They brought presents.
Snacks and toy vehicles.

My impression of him at the time,
was that he was like Santa Claus.

After the twins arrived in Japan, Youichi took it on himself to care for them during the day while Nahoko was busy at work.

That was when their image of him as a kind Santa Claus came to an end.

Youichi began their Japanese language studies in earnest.

The boys were required to study four pages of a kanji workbook a day and weren't allowed to play until they had completed it.

We'd try to slack off sometimes,
thinking that he wouldn't notice.

We'd show him the four pages from
the day before. And say, "See, I did it."

That's too obvious!

He's not stupid and would be like,
"No, you didn't."

They tried so hard to fool me.

- That's what kids do. I get it.
- I was on to them.

We tried to go play.

But it must have been tough at the time.

- It was.
- I wondered why we had to study so much.

For sure. How did you two take it?

We kept calling him "old fart."

You would.

Youichi's concern for their well-being extended beyond home life.

He got permission from the school to sit with them in class every day.

To see their usually cheerful faces look
so worried caused me to worry.

While it's customary in Japan for elementary students to walk to school on their own,

Youichi accompanied them there.

He initially went to make sure they were okay.

Stay in line.

Walk straight.

But often ended up correcting their manners.

I felt bad for them, but being in Japan,
they had to learn.

Because they were going to live in Japan.

Thanks to Youichi's constant coaching,

the boys adapted to school life and learned conversational Japanese in less than a year.

By junior high school, the boys were proactively studying on their own and getting higher grades.

Their dream now is to become automobile engineers.

Hoping to enter university, they both study an additional three hours at home every day.

- Without Grandpa's strictness...
- We wouldn't have changed.

- We wouldn't have.
- We'd have been brats for life.

We owe him a lot.

With the manga project, the twins hope to not only depict their experiences

but also convey their appreciation for their family, particularly Youichi.

After talking with Rene, they decide to hold a presentation of the manga for their family.

Rene also talks to each individually to get their personal take on their grandfather.

He first asks Kevin to describe him.

- How do you see your grandfather?
- Grandpa is...a boss.

That's true. He has that boss-like aura.

And how will Kendri describe him?

Grandpa is too kind.

You think that now.

I'm very grateful for how much he did for me.

So, it was tough when you were a kid,
but looking back, you realize its value.

That's deep.

Having gained insight into their background and thoughts, Rene is ready to get to work.

Let's make it the best manga ever!

Returning to Tokyo, Rene begins drawing while his impressions are still fresh.

This one.

I really like this one.
It's my favorite of the bunch.

He went to school with them.
That's so interesting.

Rene goes through the family pictures the twins have sent him for reference.

They had a battle of wills.

I've been drawing manga for a while,
and I think I identify the most with them.

They had a similar childhood.

Rene himself grew up in a stepfamily.

This is my dad and mom.

His Cameroonian mother remarried his Japanese stepfather, Jiro, when Rene was still young.

And Jiro appears frequently in Rene's manga.

Why are your test scores so low?

You need to study harder!

Don't lie.

Don't cause others trouble.

Rene remembers his stepfather as being strict about his studies and manners,

but he now appreciates the care behind it.

That was his way of showing love.
And I'm very grateful to him.

Family is where people care for each
other unconditionally.

And their step-grandfather did all that even
though he wasn't biologically related.

I think Kendri and Kevin will appreciate
that even more as adults.

Family bonds that transcend nationality and blood ties.

How will Rene express it in manga?

Several days later.

The twins get their first look at the manga ahead of the presentation.

Awesome.

The manga is still in draft form.

Rene wants them to look over the storyline and give him their feedback.

I'm tired of studying. Wanna play?

No, wait. I sense Grandpa's eyes on us.

I really did.

It's spot on. He's watching us through
the door crack.

He always had his eye on us.

It's great.

It's fun.

The manga comically portrays the twins' relationship with their step-grandfather and seems to hit the right note.

How should we do this?
We only have two days.

Let's see. I think...

They begin divvying up the lines and discussing how to present it.

At this part, we should both say "zero"
and put our arms like this.

I like that.

Kendri.

Kevin.

I can't wait. It's too good. So this is
what creating a manga is like.

It's wild.

The day of the presentation arrives.

To have the family see the manga on a big screen,

Rene has requested the use of one of the high school classrooms.

Good morning.

This will be Kendri and Kevin's first look at the finished product.

- Alright. Have a look.
- Wow.

No way! It looks just like him!

Their step-grandfather Youichi jumps off the page at them.

A look of fierce determination on his face.

Then, he arrives in person, unaware of what the manga is about.

He's accompanied by the rest of the family and people who've supported the twins since their arrival in Japan.

Please welcome today's presenters.

If we told you that our family came from
the sky, would you believe us?

Like Santa Claus' sleigh, their story is packed with surprises and goes through turns and twists.

We used to live in Cuba, a peaceful country filled with smiles.

Then, a person that would change our lives came from the sky.

She was from Japan, and her name was Nahoko.

She would play with us a lot.

Later, Nahoko's parents also visited Cuba to meet them.

They gave us presents!

Sort of like Santa Claus.

The following year, Kendri and Kevin found themselves on a plane to Japan.

We thought we were in Japan
for vacation.

- But it was no vacation.
- What!?

We got the surprise of our lives.

We're going to live in Japan with the Japanese people we met in Cuba!?

And just like that, their lives in a new and unexpected place began.

We had a hard time adjusting to life
in Japan.

Living in Japan meant we had to start
everything from zero.

We were two wild rascals from Cuba.

We knew zero about Japan or its customs.

What are they doing?

And, of course, we knew zero Japanese.

The language barrier was more like a giant sky-high wall.

What's more, they faced a formidable figure.

And that was the person they'd once seen as Santa: their new step-grandfather, Youichi.

The boys tried to outwit him but found him to be more than a match for them.

I'm tired of studying.
Wanna play?

No, wait. I sense
his eyes on us.

You're right!

There were also surprises like this.

We thought he was driving us someplace fun.

How do you read that kanji?

And that one?

What about that one there?

But it turned out to be
a kanji quiz drive!

He was determined and relentless,
and every day was a battle of sorts.

To us at the time,
he was a real-life final boss!

The story then transitions to their time in high school, their power struggle now a thing of the past.

Our understanding of Japan's culture,
customs, and language is no longer a zero.

Our dreams aren't at zero, either.
We want to become automobile engineers.

The twins then deliver their message to Youichi.

Looking back now, he was too kind.

He went above and beyond for us.
And we're truly grateful.

Cuba and Japan. We both came down
from different skies.

And for us...

...coming together to form a family is the greatest
and most amazing story ever!

It's thanks to your support that I am
who I am now. Thank you so much.

I'll keep leveling up and hope
you'll continue to support me.

How do you feel now that it's over?

Well, Grandpa is smiling,
and Grandma is crying.

I'm tearing up. I'm just so happy that
you grew up into such good kids.

With the power of manga, they were able to clear a new level and deliver their message of appreciation.

This means a lot. I'm happy to know
they felt that way.

All I can do now is say "Go for it!"
There's nothing left for me to do.

I'm really glad. And I'd been looking
forward to it myself.

We were able to complete it, present it,
and accomplish our objective.

Mission complete!