01x02 - Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan 2: Mutsu-kabe Hill

[bunniefuu]

Hello, Mr. Kishibe!

It's such a nice day!

MINORU KAIGAMORI, AGE 23, EDITOR

What are you reading?

De Staël.

Dostarl?

Is it a new band or something?

He was a Russian artist. He died in 1955.

Listen, Kaigamori.

ROHAN KISHIBE, AGE 27, MANGA ARTIST

Of course,
it's absolutely unacceptable

for a professional to be late
for a business appointment, but…

it's also not right for an editor
to arrive six minutes early

for an appointment with a manga artist!

I'm sorry. So coming early is wrong too.

You were lucky it was me this time.

Now, let's talk about my next 61-page
one-shot manga, shall we?

Excuse me, Mr. Kishibe! We are your fans!

Could we have your autograph?
Please write "To Akira"!

No, no! No autographs, you two!

Mr. Kishibe is busy! He's working!

I've signed them already.

Unlike some, I'm a fast worker.

I always give my autograph
to thank my fans.

Wow! How did you do that?!
Drip painting using coffee!

Thanks, buddy. You rock!

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha!

-By the way…
-Huh?

Before we start discussing work,
I need to ask you about something.

Sure.

To be honest, it's about money.
About my payment. Okay?

Could you pay me in advance?
I've recently gone bankrupt.

I'm not in debt yet, but I have no home.

What?!

I'm staying with Koichi for now.
I don't even have a desk to work on.

My Sailor Moon figures,
Led Zeppelin paper-jacket records

and Rurouni Kenshin manga…
I've sold the lot.

What did you say?

You don't have an office?
What do you mean, bankrupt?

Haven't you just bought some mountains?
In a resort village?

Yeah, so that I can do some research
for my comics about a specter

which supposedly lives there.

Some developer was trying to build
a damn road to the resort village.

So, I bought six mountains around there
to stop the construction.

See, I needed to buy
as much land as possible

to stop the construction.

Then, the resort road plan was scrapped,
so the land price slumped.

That place is now just wilderness
in the middle of nowhere.

The mountains I bought are worth nothing…

which means, I'm penniless.

Can I get paid in advance?

Hang on a minute.

Did you buy those hills
to research your manga?

-Yep.
-Not for an investment?

No. What I need is reality in my manga.

For your research on some specter legend?

Enough!

If the road was built,

that specter might be scared off!

Then my plan will be wrecked!

Hey, hey! Don't give me that look!
Did you just look away?

Why are you looking away?

You think I'm off my head, don't you?

Mr. Editor!

Look, a manga artist doesn't always
have to spend his money on super cars

and gaming rooms in the basement.

Besides, it was there.
The research was well worth it.

Remember, this story is exclusive
to your magazine.

"It was there"?

What do you mean "it"?

Haven't you been listening to me?

I saw it with my own eyes.

The specter of Mutsu-kabe Hill
is still there.

It's still there now.

I'm sorry, Mr. Kishibe, but…

could you please say that again?
What is there?

There was a girl called Naoko Osato,
a university student in her last year.

At the end of September,
she k*lled her boyfriend.

EPISODE 2: MUTSU-KABE HILL

Naoko Osato…

She is the only daughter of a successful
family in Mutsu-kabe village,

who have been making miso paste
for 300 years.

Their property stood at the end
of a single-lane road on a mountain.

In other words,
they owned the entire mountain.

Gunpei…

can you go home now ?

Put away the video game too.

Why?

Has someone come to the main house?

Doesn't matter! Will you just leave now?
From the back door.

Nao? Ah…

Nowadays you're, like, a bit cold, huh?

Surely you're not with another guy?

If you've already worked it out,
that makes things easy.

At least we've got something nice
to remember.

My father will never let us marry.
You're just a part-time gardener.

As the only daughter,
I'll be responsible for the family estate.

I don't think so!

You're kidding, right?
Why can't we just carry on, Nao?

Let me go.

We don't need to split up.

Let go of me!

Shall I show me holding you like this
to your new man and your precious daddy?

I said let go!

You…

I-- I'm sorry.

B-but you hit me first.

I really love you, Nao.

It's fine this way. Nobody needs to know.

Go! Go home!

Nao, listen--

Go! Take that money and go home!

She may get flustered to see you
drop in unannounced.

She'll be desperately trying
to do herself up!

They're coming. I'm stuck!

Please, take your stuff and go now!

I'll be honest with you.

You're awesome.

But he's my fiancé.

I'm going to marry him next spring,
after I graduate.

So this is the end for us.
We can't see each other any more!

What?

Gunpei.

Hey.

No.

You're messing with me again…

aren't you?

Gunpei…

stop playing around.

No pulse.

He's d-dead.

Naoko thought she should
attend to Gunpei's wound anyway.

She pressed a towel she found nearby
onto the wound.

He's playing tricks on me.
This can't be true.

I just shoved him lightly.

Why was that golf club there?

Why?

It looks as if…

as if I hit him with the golf club!

Gunpei!

What shall I do?

A doctor! I've got to call a doctor!

If he is dead, will a doctor be any good?

Or should I call the police?

Naoko, are you there? It's your father.

Shuichi has come to see you.

No, I'm not here.

I don't exist anywhere.

It's locked.

Maybe Naoko is not here…

I may be mistaken, Mr. Osato,

but I think I just saw movement
through the window.

I must hide him!

S-somewhere!

I must hide Gunpei!

Under the sofa for now!

What's going on?

He's got no pulse,
and his heart's not beating.

Why's he still bleeding?

Naoko! Are you there?

Are you all right? Is anything wrong?

I've got a spare key. Let me open it…

Father!

I--I didn't hear you!

I was tidying up in the kitchen!

Oh, you are there.

Shuichi is here.

Oh, I'm so glad!

Please have him wait in the main house!

Your voice sounds a bit odd.

Are you okay? Do you need help?

I'm fine! I'm getting dressed.

Please, don't open the door.
I'll be with you in a minute.

Please!

Please don't open the door!

FIRST AID

DISINFECTANT

No.

Wh-- what is this?

Can humans bleed after they are dead?

Naoko!

You're using an awful lot of water.
What are you up to?

It's me, Shuichi.
Are you wondering why I'm still here?

Actually, your father lent me
the spare key so that we can be alone.

No! Don't come in! You mustn't!

Naoko.

Actually, I saw someone
behind the window a while ago.

You don't have anyone in there with you,
do you?

Aren't you alone?

It looked as though
someone else was there with you.

I'm sorry. So sorry!
But this is your fault!

Not mine!

What…

What's going on, Naoko?

So there is someone, then.

Gunpei, please!

Stop it! Please stop it!

I'm opening the door and coming in!

You said you saw someone else here.

So who was it, Shuichi?

Please, please stop.

Stop.

Gunpei, forgive me.

Stop.

Forgive me.

I'm sorry. I was wrong.

I was really mistaken.

I'll be in the main house
with your father.

So, as arranged, Naoko Osato
married Shuichi the next spring,

and he was welcomed
into the Osato family.

And ever since then…

Gunpei Kamafusa
has never stopped bleeding.

Every day, he quietly bleeds
about 300cc of blood.

If his body is not moved,
he never bleeds more than that.

However,
the bleeding is steady and continuous…

even though all signs of life
have completely disappeared.

Naoko Osato has never been on a trip
away from home since her marriage.

Every morning…

Naoko takes a glass jar full
of Gunpei's blood

and discards it secretly.

Every single day, to make sure
that the family won't see it.

Naoko, come and eat with us!

I'm coming!

Ever since the detached guest house
was demolished for conversion,

there in the attic above the closet
in the main house lies Gunpei.

One day, Naoko noticed something.

When she sprays water
over Gunpei's body…

somehow his skin briefly goes back
to the state it was in when he was alive.

He's so cute when he's asleep.

Gunpei, you are mine alone.

I'm the only one
who can take care of you, forever.

What is this man?

He's definitely been dead the whole time.

I found out about Gunpei Kamafusa

when I visited this area several times
for the research of the specter legend…

which had been rumored since long ago.

So you see, Mr. Kishibe,
this is definitely and absolutely…

a profitable deal for you!

Enough already!

I won't sell you my mountains, never!

Come now, Mr. Kishibe, just think.

Hello, this is Batsudera.

I found out about this…

through a chance meeting with
Naoko Osato, and by reading her memory…

using my ability, Heaven's Door.

Thanks to that stroke of luck,

I learned about the existence
of this man.

Yes.

Hello.

Bad signal. Just wait a second, please.

What is he, this Gunpei?

I must find out what he is.

I want to know what he's after!

He's in the attic
above the closet in that house.

You are Rohan Kishibe, aren't you?
You draw manga.

What…

I know. You've been snooping around here.

Who are you?

I've been told not to talk to strangers.

You…

There are lots
of perverts around nowadays.

Hey, wait!

Are you all right?

What are you doing running off like that--

Sh-- she's dead.

Wh-- what's happened?

Could it be…?

This is ridiculous.

This looks as if…

as if I have done…

something to her here!

What the…? Is this girl…?

No way! It's impossible!

Is she Gunpei's child?

Naoko Osato, did she…

get pregnant by that body in the attic
and bear his child?!

Mr. Kishibe, where are you?

Where in the world are you, Mr. Kishibe?

My God! It's going to possess me!

Heaven's Door!

Damn it! The memories
of her life are fading away!

They'll all disappear! If they do,
she'll never come back to life again!

Before that…

I don't know Rohan Kishibe. Even if
I meet him, I won't be able to see him.

Mommy!

I'm hungry!

That was a close shave.

One second too late
and she would have possessed me.

Or…

possibly ruined me!

She was really formidable.
Such a close call.

Oh, here you are, Mr. Kishibe!
Sorry to leave you like that.

It was a call from my office.

I'll never, ever sell them to you.

What on earth?!

This is the specter I went looking for.

I'll call it
the "Mutsu-kabe Hill Specter."

I don't know how long it's been around.
Maybe a long time.

It's been feeding on human love
and the weakness of the human mind.

It has humans do everything for it.

It doesn't work, takes no responsibility
and suffers no hardship.

Its only purpose is to reproduce.

Perhaps I could call it a creature.

The best moment of this creature's life is

when it dies in front of someone.

Maybe more of them
exist somewhere on Earth.

It seems likely they continue to exist
by dying in front of someone.

Is this a true story? That's unbelievable.

But it's not a complete lie.
You know anything about it?

Yes, I remember there were
similar creatures in the Orion Nebula.

Hey, you can't just
barge into our meeting like--

I've always wanted to ask,
are you really an alien?

Yes! I came from
the Magellanic Clouds to live here.

But my spaceship is still waiting,


This alien guy is such a bore.

How many Mutsu-kabe Hill Specters
are there? I'm not interested in that.

Naoko Osato looks happy enough,
and I've found out the specter's purpose.

I'm no scholar or journalist.

I'm just a manga artist.

Mommy!

Will I marry a handsome man one day?

Of course you will.