--Megumi! --Megumi Shimizu!
Megumi!
--Megumi! --Where are you?!
If you're out there, say something!
"Megumi! "Megumi!
Megumi!
--Megumi! --Where are you?!
"Megumi! "Megumi!
Megumi!
--Megumi! --If you're out there, say something!
Megumi!
"Shiki"
I feel like this severe thirst is making me go crazy
We close our eyes and have a sinful kiss
Your scent drives me mad
When I wake up in the deep of night, I drink up insanity and love
Come now, into my arms, “the darkness there is bitter"
You're unsure and waver
In due time, it will become endless, "the darkness here is sweet"
I pierce you deeply
Come now, into my arms, “the darkness there is bitter"
You're unsure and waver
"Friday, August 12, Shakku"
"Thursday, August 11, Taian"
"Wednesday, August 10, Butsumetsu"
"Tuesday, August 9, Senpu"
"Monday, August 8, Tomobiki"
"Sunday, August 7, Senshou"
"Saturday, August 6, Butsumetsu"
"Friday, August 5, Senpu"
"Thursday, August 4, Tomobiki"
"Wednesday, August 3, Senshou"
"Tuesday, August 2, Shakku"
"Sotoba Village"
Oh hi, Megumi. You're all dressed up. Are you going somewhere?
There's no place around here to get dressed up like that for, you know.
Our cow is giving less milk these days.
Why don't you feed her a different kind of grass for a change?
Grass, huh?
"Megumi Shimizu, 10th Grade"
By the way, Megumi, have you heard?
They said that jizou statues around the village have been destroyed.
So? So? Who cares about jizou statues?! These're just rocks!
I hate this village!
There's not even one cafe where I can fashionably have a cup of tea!
I'm gonna leave this place!
Once I graduate, I'm definitely going to college in a big city!
Then I'll be discovered by talent scouts! And at night, I'll hang out in clubs!
There're only two things in this village that are important to me.
One is the big European-style house that was suddenly built on the site
where an old house had been demolished.
How lovely... I wonder what kind of people will move in there.
The other is...
Yuuki, who moved here from a big city.
Natsuno! I made some tea for you! Why don't you take a break?!
Okay.
He's so cool.
It'd be so great if! could live in that European-style house with him.
Argh! This bites!
"Saturday, August 6, Butsumetsu"
"Yamairi Area, Sotoba Village"
"Keep Out" "Do Not Enter"
"Mieko Murasako"
" Hidemasa Murasako "
Yes. One of this family's relatives in Kami-Sotoba passed away this morning.
Oh, yes. I heard about it.
Yes. So after chanting Buddhist scriptures by the deceased,
So you came here directly.
Yes. And then, I found Mieko and Hidemasa dead.
So I hurried next door to their neighbor, Mr. Ookawa, to borrow his phone.
And then, he, too, was...
No.
Okay. Thank you for your coopera--
Uhm, what was the cause of death?
Ah, according to the forensic exam, Mieko died a natural death.
We don't know the details about the other two yet since their bodies were
badly decomposed and they were also dismembered.
But there's no trace of them being cut by sharp objects
and some parts are missing,
so we think it might be by wild dogs.
Wild dogs?
Yes...
There're many of them around here these days.
Well then, thank you very much for your cooperation.
"Seishin Muroi, Vice Chief Monk at the Temple"
Yes. This area now has no residents.
"Toshio Ozaki, Director, Ozaki Clinic"
I attended the forensic exam. My nose still isn't working.
A natural death, huh? I thought it was some sort of crime.
It's this heat. It's really tough on old folks.
But... any way you look at it, the old lady died after the other two old men.
What?
Interesting, isn't it?
That is, old lady Mieko lived with the dead body for the past several days.
"Monday, August 8, Tomobiki"
Good morning, Megumi!
Whoa!
What?!
Huh?
What is it?!
You're going to school, right?
It's bad enough I have to take remedial classes over my summer break.
Why does she have to come too?
Don't worry. I have morning practice, too. More importantly, did you hear?
The Junior Monk at the temple found three people dead in Yamairi.
Oh, stop it. I don't care.
Since this place is full of old people, it's just natural to see lots of people die.
But...
Kaori! Megumi! Look at this, this is amazing!
The incident in Yamairi made the paper!
"Three Elderly People Die in Isolated Area"
Ugh! I've had enough!
What's the matter, Megumi?!
Nothing!
It says in the mountains of Sotoba, Mizobe town.
Seriously! Seriously! Seriously! They don't get it! They don't get it!
Yuuki...
Good morning, Yuuki.
You're looking towards the south again, huh? The direction of the city...
Her again...
You're ignoring me again.
Oh well... after all, you don't like me, so...
The bus isn't here yet, huh?
I can't wait to leave this village.
AH right! Yuuki looked at me for the first time!
"Roadside Restaurant Chigusa" "Sotoba Soba Noodles"
"Tuesday, August 9, Senpu"
"Kanami Yano, Owner of Roadside Restaurant Chigusa"
Hey...! What the heck?
"Tae Yano, Kanami's Mother"
Enough already...
Hey, turn off the lights! And stop honking!
Just what time do you think it is?
"Takasago Moving Company"
Oh, I'm sorry. I got lost.
I've been driving around in circles over and over, and I'm totally lost.
Where're you headed?
Thank you. It's an area called Sotoba.
Sotoba?
Yes.
That's here.
Huh?
It's written under that traffic light.
Huh?!
Well, it's hard to see, isn't it?
L-I'm so sorry!
If you make a turn at that light, you'll see the village entrance.
Are you possibly moving to Kanemasa?
Kanemasa?
Oh, it's like a name for a part of the village.
Aren't you moving into that European-style house on the hill?
Ah, yes!
Ah, we're the Kirishiki family.
I'm sorry for causing trouble right when we're moving in.
Geez... Looks like strange people are moving in there after all.
Yeah, looks like it.
"Takemura Stationery Shop"
I heard it was a young man.
It was a truck, an expensive car and another car.
Huh? A tractor?
Oh?
Oh, what a cute girl in such a boring old village.
What?
Would you like to come and have a cup of tea with us?
Uhm, but...
Oh, you Simply must!
Say, miss. Would you like to be our daughter?
What?!
Don't be so pushy.
But consider this your home and come visit us, okay?
Y-Yes...
--No, no, no! Yuuki is...
--Ah! Megumi! --No, no, no! Yuuki is...
Taking a walk?
Ah... I heard that people finally moved in there. Looks like they have a daughter.
They have... a daughter?
Yeah. I heard they're a family of three.
A married couple with a daughter a little younger than us.
I see, so... what kind of people are they?
Well...
I just overheard the neighbor ladies chatting.
I'm not really interested so I just passed by...
Aren't you curious?
What? Are you curious?!
Of course.
They're strange people, you know.
Strange? How are they strange?
B-But...
they did move in during the dead of night, and their house is weird, too.
Like I said, what's so weird about it?!
A-Anyway you look at it, it's out of place in Sotoba, you know.
It seems gloomy, too. If I lived there, I think I'd get depressed.
M-Megum...
What's the matter?
This is stupid! This is stupid!
This is so stupid!
Unfashionable residents in an unfashionable village.
And you guys aren't embarrassed about it in the least!
It's not that house that's weird! It's you guys that are weird!
It's okay for you to go out for a walk wearing a T-shirt and slip-ons,
but you'd laugh at me if! change my clothes to go run an errand.
I hate this village! I hate it! I hate it!
Someone's watching...
Someone's watching me... Someone's watching!
That's okay. I'm different from other villagers.
I even practice walking like a model!
Ouch... Ow, ow, ow...
"Tanaka" "Dog"
Wait! Wait!
"Yoshikazu Tanaka, Kaori and Akira's Father"
Kaori, have you seen Megumi today?
Hm? I saw her when I was walking Love.
Megumi's mom is on the phone and says that she isn't home yet.
What? Megumi's missing?
L-Idiot! I'm sure she's just running late.
But it's already 9 o'clock.
Mom! Megumi went up the hill to Kanemasa!
The Shimizus live in Shimo-Sotoba, right?
We'll comb the mountains!
"Hiroko Shimizu, Megumi's Mother"
Megumi!
"Thursday, August 11, Taian"
Megumi!
"Mutou, Chief Office Administrator, Ozaki Clinic"
Seems like this is going to take a while, doesn't it?
I hope we can find her.
"Takeo Shimizu, Megumi's Father"
I found her!
"Knock first!!" She's just been laying here all this time. She won't even eat.
What's wrong, Megumi? Don't you get hungry?
No injuries. Well, some insect bites. That's about it.
No fever. Her pulse is a little fast and her blood pressure is quite low.
Must be anemia.
Just in case, I'll do a blood test. I'm gonna take some blood, okay?
I'm sleepy-
Huh? sleepy?
Very sleepy-
"Saturday, August 13, Senshou"
They've sort of been our village's specialties for ages now.
Oh hey, Kaori. Walking Love?
Yep.
This is Mrs. Kirishiki. Her name is Chizuru. You know, from Kanemasa...
Megumi... How're you feeling?
Oh yeah, Megumi! It was amazing! I was surprised!
I met the mistress of that European-style house this evening!
She's chic and like an actress.
That's right.
I was a little embarrassed, wearing a T-shirt.
Exactly.
What?
I know it better than you.
She's beautiful... so beautiful.
"Monday, August 15, Senpu"
Hello. Ozaki speaking.
Wham?!
Megumi did?
Shimizu died...
So I don't have to close this shoji screen anymore...
I was walking towards my grand dream
It was an endless journey in which I lost my way time and time again
That time, it was raining with snow mixed in
I couldn't tell if they were my tears or not
Farewell, we can never see each other again
PH take another step towards the future I chose...
by overcoming a big obstacle
Why did you say, "This is the end" even though we loved each other?
Now I see it clearly
So, I'll "walk" with determination
Life and death are like two sides of the same coin.
Despite that, I felt that the death of Megumi was tragic.
The future she pictured... The joy and sorrow that she was to experience...
I couldn't help but feel
that someone unfairly deprived her of those things.