"Mushi-shi"
Are you all right, Hana?
Yes.
We're almost to the bridge.
Hana!
"One-Night Bridge"
Gee, what a nice bridge...
Guess I'll have to cross.
Hey, it's already about to give way!
Man, how nerve-wracking.
Are you from these parts?
Yeah.
This bridge is on its last legs!
But I have to cross this bridge on my way back.
Yeah, you're right. I'll do something about it.
How long will you be around?
Frankly, I'm not sure.
Do you know the sender of this letter?
Yeah...
Thank you for coming such a long way. Please, come in.
This is my daughter, Hana.
Around three years ago, she fell off that vine bridge and into the ravine.
She survived, but ever since then...
All she does is sit in the sun in a daze like that.
I've taken her around to many doctors,
but since there's no sign that she hit her head, we still don't know the cause.
Oh? Aren't you?
Ah... How's Hana?
Oh, you're friends?
Hana's that way because of... me.
Please, I want you to help her.
Take me the bottom of the ravine.
Also... I want you to tell me how she fell.
C'mon... stop crying...
I can't turn down a marriage offer from the head family...
Yeah... if you refuse, they'll probably stop helping our village, I guess...
Well... not that you could refuse, though.
Shall we run away?
But... If we did such a thing, our families would be ostracized.
My parents would understand.
And if your parents really want you to be happy, they'd be able to bear it, too.
If we stay here, we can't live the way we want to.
Let's leave the valley and cross the mountains to a wide-open, bright land!
Let's do it, Hana!
Careful, it's bit weak there...
Zen...
What's the matter?
I can't do it...
It isn't right for just the two of us to become happy...
Hana...
I can put up with it...
Zen... you'll always still love me, won't you?
I'll always love you, too.
Even if I have to smother my true heart once I'm there...
I don't want it to be like that!
Anyway, let's cross the bridge.
Hana!
Hana!!
Have you found her?
No...
She fell from a height she couldn't possibly have survived...
But Hana came back, walking on her own two feet.
But... she came back a shell of her former self.
Everyone lamented that she became a tani-modori.
Tani-modori?
They say people like that appear in this ravine once in a great while.
They fall into the ravine... and luckily come back, but without their souls.
Then on the night the "One-Night Bridge" spans the ravine, they die.
Well, it's probably just a legend, though.
One-Night Bridge?
Some people say they've seen a bridge that spans the ravine for just one night.
That was quite a long time ago, though.
Something the matter?
No...
Looks like they're here.
What are?
The same things that have taken over Hana.
Hana... has been taken over?!
Yes, by vine-shaped mushi called Nise-kazura.
I don't see anything.
They're usually hard to see.
They're awfully weak for Nise-kazura.
If I pull in the opposite direction, they're strong...
Just like the Nise-kazura I read about.
The sunlight is no longer shining through?
They're gathering toward the remaining sunlight...
So this area is sorely lacking sunlight?
So how'd it go? Learn anything?
This'll be hard for you to accept...
Huh?!
The tani-modori and the One-Night Bridge are probably not just legends...
Both can be explained by Nise-kazura.
Normally, Nise-kazura live in the treetops.
But the Nise-kazura in this ravine are probably trying to get out
of the bottom of the ravine by taking over the bodies of creatures.
That's because they need more sunlight,
but lack the strength to climb out of the ravine.
They dwell in the bodies of creatures to get more sunlight and build their strength.
Each time enough of them have done so, they leave their hosts and form groups
to get across the ravine... and move to a better location...
That's what the One-Night Bridge probably is.
I've heard before...
that there is a ravine that mushi cross over once every 20 years or so.
Then... why do the tani-modori have to die when that happens?
If those mushi things leave, won't they return to normal?!
I explored the bottom of the ravine, and I found no animal bones.
There's a high likelihood that the Nise-kazura are living in dead bodies.
If that's so, even if they leave, only a dead body would be left.
No... Then you mean Hana will eventually be?
This is the year!
I heard the One-Night Bridge was seen on the year of my grandpa's birth.
Grandpa's 60 this year!
Isn't there any way to delay it?!
I'm afraid that's...
I'm not asking you to bring her back to the way she was.
I just want her to stay alive just a little bit longer...
So please...
Then you mean?
Unfortunately...
I'm afraid that keeping her like this is the best way to extend her life...
You can remove the mushi, can't you?
Yes... But if I did, in all probability, she'd die instantly...
It doesn't matter!
Do you think she's happy living like this?!
I'd rather...
There's no need to take such a reckless gamble.
If she had really survived three years ago,
she'll return to her former self after the One-Night Bridge appears.
There's no telling when it'll appear... or if it even really exists.
If Hana returns to normal, she has a good marriage offer waiting for her.
I cannot keep the other family waiting any longer!
I can't go along with that...
She's no longer who she once was,
but she's at least still being kept alive.
I can't treat her like a thing.
Ginko-san...
Oh, Zen...
Already leaving?
I'd like to, but...
Tomorrow, I'll have the bridge reinforced with this.
So spend the night at my place.
You live here alone?
I have family in the village,
but I'm, you know, ostracized.
The people in the village won't have anything to do with me.
You didn't think of leaving by yourself?
Well, I thought of it many times,
but Hana is still alive...
When Hana's gone, I'll probably leave soon enough.
What's that noise?
Ah!
So it finally fell...
Isn't it because you crossed it?
No one's gone across recently.
Well... Rebuild it quickly... please...
But we'll have to work on it in our spare time... It'll take a while...
Darn... what bad luck.
Zen!
I hear you're giving shelter to the mushi master here.
He and I still have unfinished business.
Give me a break!
That must be a tani-modori, too...
Could there be more of them around here?
Hana?!
What's the matter? Where're you going?
Hana...
You're warm...
You're still very much alive...
You are... Hana, aren't you?
You've just... forgotten everything, that's all, right?
There she is!
Hana...
Zen?! What do you think you're doing?!
I told you never to come near Hana again!
Hana?!
She's not breathing...
Hana! Wake up, Hana!
Zen! What's the matter?
Hana... is dead.
A black thread... came out from her neck...
I see...
Say Zen, why don't you leave here with me?
That would be for the best.
What? But...
The One-Night Bridge will probably appear tonight.
We should be able to cross over it from this side.
This area is already filled with Nise-kazura that gained enough strength
to be visible even to your eyes.
Make up your mind before midnight.
If you miss this chance, there's no telling when you might ever leave.
You came... There's no looking back.
If you go back on this bridge, you'll fall.
Don't worry. We'll somehow make it.
Yes... he's right...
I'll forget.
I know I can forget... once I leave here.
What's the matter?
What're you doing? You can no longer go back!
I can't go on... What was once Hana is in here...
You're wrong! Hana died three years ago!
No, I'm not...
I kept on going these three years because Hana was still alive...
though it was hard to see her in that state...
But now, when I think about it, it was still better that way...
I can't go forward by stepping on Hana...
Don't go back!
I do not know exactly what happened to him after that.
But in all probability...
It will be about another 20 years
before a one-night bridge spans the ravine again.
"One-Night Bridge"
Inside the cage.
"Inside The Cage" Inside the cage.
"Inside The Cage"