Seeking eternal beauty
She fell into a swamp and lay there, preserved
After a thousand years
She awoke to put her curse on me
A terrifying cure, a curse for all eternity
What's that?
I have no idea, really
It's kind of blackish and muddy
Have you seen a doctor?
Yes
And?
There's nothing wrong with me
But my stomach's a little upset
You've got to take care of yourself
Right
Just write the damned thing
and get a load off
Right
I repeat, you're not writing literature
This will be a popular, readable love story
By Haruna Reiko, the literary-prize winner
That's the pitch
Don't worry
It won't damage your reputation
I know that
Hey, are you Okay?
A hallucination?
Nothing
You must feel awful
It's psychological
Take care, now
Right
Listen
I've been considering moving
What?
It might help my writing
You think?
I want to get out of my place in Koenji
I see
Do you know of anything good?
What are do you have in mind?
Big and quiet
With high ceilings
A nice view and cheap, of course
Impossible?
Can it be far away?
How far?
Pretty far
You know a good place?
I'll find one
The light's back on
Oh
The circuit breaker's over there
Thanks
Um
Yes?
It seems the former tenants
Left a bunch of things
Oh, really?
Shall I get rid of them?
No, just leave them
Yes
Beloved
Hello, Mr. Kijima?
It's me, Reiko
Sorry I've been out of touch
Yes, I'm all settled
It's a fantastic place
Yes, I know
I'll write like my life depends on it
If the lights go out again
This is the problem
Yes
Um...
That vacant building out back...
Vacant?
The one that's locked up and looks empty
What is it, anyway?
I think it's a training center
Part of Sagami University
Sagami University?
Yes
What's it used for?
I wonder
What kind of people use it?
I've never seen anyone in there
But last night...
It's not in even habitable
I see
Thank you
Yeah, I think this is a fine beginning
It's excellent
Your work always is
Now just pick up your pace
Right
So? How's the new space?
Not bad
That's good
No more excuses not to write
That's right
I wonder what that place is
It's to your taste, isn't it?
How did you hear about that property?
Through an acquaintance
An acquaintance?
Is there something wrong?
No
Did you know
There's a University facility out back?
No
It's kind of creepy
It's supposed to be vacant
But it seems like someone's there
And that's no hallucination
Shall I have it looked into?
I can call the cops, if you want
No, that's fine
Just please, don't use it as an excuse not to write
The documents from Sagami University
Oh, thanks
What are they for?
Oh, nothing
How about this one?
Huh
Last year, the archeological group from Sagami University
Discovered a mummy
A mummy?
Yeah, 1,000 years old
In the Midori Swamp
They dragged it out of the muck
It was a woman
" Anthropologist " " Yoshioka Makoto "
What?
That's him
Yoshioka Makoto, Anthropologist
He looks like a guy I saw near my house
Huh
He was carrying something big
Into the place next door
Really?
Wonder what it was
And in the middle of the night
He carried it like a human
Let's do a little more research
I'll handle it
This is Mr. Murakami from Educational Films
Hello
You're really Haruna Reiko
Oh, I'm deeply moved to meet you
We were meeting about something else
When you came up
I hear you're interested in mummies?
Yes, well
We've got documentary footage in storage
The label says Midori Swamp Mummy
I haven't looked at it yet
But the title caught my eye
It's kind of strange
Why was the film shot?
I couldn't tell you
But it was shot before the war
Before the war?
Yes
Sounds interesting, right?
It's not the one they found last year?
No, no, the film is ancient
From the late 1920s
I wonder what it means
Do you want to see it?
" Midori Swamp Mummy "
May 15th
May 16th
May 17th
Um...
What do you think it is?
Well, it's shot in time-lapse
I mean, they've cut frames
Cut frames?
They probably filmed all day long
And cut it down to 30 seconds
It's a technique for observing something over time
And in surveillance, to detect abnormalities
I wonder what they had under surveillance
I don't know
That was a mummy, right?
I wonder why it didn't decompose in the swamp
Apparently, some kinds of mud
Function to preserve organic matter
I see
Yeah, I looked it up a little
A thousand years ago
Women used to swallow
Huge amounts of mud to preserve their beauty
Liter after liter of pitch black mud
Of course it made some of them so sick they died
The things women do for vanity...
Who are you?
What are you doing?
Stop!
Please!
Stop!
Hello
Yeah, I know
I'll be right there
I'm closing the deal
With the National Museum for a special exhibit
I'm sure of it
The mummy will obviously be the centerpiece
Get to work on the preservation process
How much longer will it take?
Don't know
A month?
I don't know what I don't know
And the archeologists you mentioned
The ones from 80 years ago
Unfortunately no record of their dig survives
I see
So there's no way to know whether
You've dug up the same mummy
They found 80 years ago
Besides, if it is the same
Why would anyone bury it
Right back where they found it?
I understand
It's less than ideal
I understand
But what can I do?
It's not your problem, it's mine
You just handle the money, as usual
Yoshioka!
I've got qualms about this, too!
Oh, yeah?
It's only a mummy
But...
What?
Last night I was paralyzed
It's happening every night, now
So I've gotten used to it
I can't move at all for awhile
But it doesn't mean anything
I get sleepy right away
But...
Not last night
There was something at the foot of my bed
Like it was...
Just waiting for the moment when I went rigid
Then, finally...
It...
Crawled onto my chest
It was heavy and cold
Almost like rubber
It stayed on me for 3 full hours
When dawn came
It finally went away
It wasn't a dream
The mismatched spatula
Marks on the exterior base
And the grey color of this cross section
Set this apart from others
That's all
Thank you, professor
Next, we'd like to have Dr. Yoshioka
Present his report on the eternal corpse
Right
Slides
Yes
Say, Yoshioka
I heard you've been
Up at the training center in Ibaragi
What are you up to?
Nothing
Same old
Studying mud?
Yeah
Listen, I've got some grad students in training
I'll send them over
Just 3 days, put them to work
I don't need help
It doesn't matter what
It's just training
I'm Yoshioka
Right
I'm Haruna
I need you to keep something for a little while
Keep what?
The mummy
Just for a little while
But...
I'm expecting students this afternoon
I don't want them to see it
Please
Why me?
I was sure you'd keep it for me
Just for a couple of days
Don't bother about it at all
Sure
I'm grateful
It's supposed to be kept in an environmentally
Controlled container in the lab
I see
But it just doesn't feel like
The right place for her
Ouch! It's me!
Ouch
Oh, no!
A little gift
Oh, thank you
How did you get in here?
You gave me a real scare
Sorry
The door wasn't locked
I see
What are you doing here so late?
I drove out
I was worried
How's it going?
How's what going?
The romance novel
Answer me
Are you making progress?
Yes
How much?
Well, I'm writing away
Oh... Mr. Kijima
Please
One more week, that's it
Finally time to jump off that cliff
Have you got problems?
Of course not
Professionals never do
I've known many writers
To get stuck in writers' block and vanish
I don't want that to happen to you
You still haven't unpacked
Want me to send you some help?
No, I'm fine
Don't blame me, Okay?
I'm getting rid of what you couldn't
For a thousand years
Well done
I'll read it later
And tell you what I think
How about a title?
I'll leave that up to you
Okay and email me the file
I'll rush it over to production
Aren't you going to read it first?
No, I'm sure it's a masterpiece
If you don't like it, just kill it
No way
I'm not killing a piece you stayed up
Writing 3 days and nights
I see...
What's wrong?
Nothing
Lose your nerve?
No
What you write gets published
That's the nature of being a pro
You're right
It's in your hands now
Mr. Yoshioka
Miss Reiko
I took the mummy back last night
Oh, I see
Thank you for keeping her
She's almost a thousand years old
Her garments suggest that
Her family was privileged
Approximately 20 years of age
Height, 155 cm
Her bone structure indicates a noble visage
For a woman of her time
The huge deposits of chalky mud
In her stomach and lungs
Prevented decay for over 1,000 years
That's about all we know
Still, the cause of death is unclear
Whether she fell into the swamp by accident
Or was buried there in some sacrificial ritual...
Is it possible she consumed
All that mud intentionally?
A form of suicide?
Yes
It's possible
I see
She would stop at nothing to acquire
An eternally youthful body
That's a natural supposition
But maybe
She regrets it now
Regrets it?
Yes, swallowing all that mud
What are you doing?
Making an incision in the abdomen to remove the mud.
Easy enough
Don't you think it will provoke
Some new terrible misfortune?
I've had enough misfortune
Where were you? You're late
I've been waiting
Was the door open?
Yeah
Just like last time...
It was open last time, too
Do you have... a key?
I went to a lot of trouble to find this place
What do you want?
Hey, you've got it wrong
I'm here to talk about your book
Get out
How dare you, I'm your partner
Get out! Just get out!
I'm disappointed by your outburst
That's the girl who used to live here
Ouch
You slammed the door on my finger
A college girl from the country
With dreams of becoming a writer
You know the type
I set her up to live here
She was talented but she went nowhere
She took off about 3 months ago
I have no idea where
She was just a nuisance, anyway
Hey, are you listening?
Don't make me any angrier
I don't think it's wise to infuriate your editor
God, you're the worst
Who the hell do you think you are?
It's not your talent that won that prize
Surely you know that
So why don't you try making more of an effort?
Try being a little nicer to me
Oh, well, I'll be back
Are you all right?
" Yoshioka "
Oh, hello, Reiko
It's me
The police are here
There's a Missing Persons report for a girl
They say Mr. Kijima's involved
Mr. Kijima hasn't been home
Or to work since yesterday
I'm sure this is a homicide
Reiko, you watch out
All right
Mr. Yoshioka
Wait
You're so selfish
Selfish?
I have every right
Let go
How dare you...
Who are you?
I was next door
I saw you from the window
I'm... still alive?
You should've just left me alone
I don't know what happened here
But you were in danger
If I hadn't seen you...
Have you come to save me?
That's right
Why?
Because you seem to be having a hard time
Save me, then
Save me
Hurry up
But how?
How will you save my soul?
Who...
Are you?
It doesn't matter
Are you the woman I found?
You'd been waiting 1,000 years
Yes, waiting to destroy men
Stop!
Let's go, come with me
Where?
To hell
The dead shouldn't speak
Where were you?
Just checking up on something
Me, too
I just remembered
When I was walking through the woods the other day
I found a strange place
A strange place?
Can I come in?
A strange place?
Almost like a grave
What shall we do?
What should we do?
Report it to the police
Or go ourselves now
And find out what's buried there
What do you imagine it is?
I don't know
It may be nothing
Yes
You still want to?
Yes
Reiko
Yes
Are you religious?
No
I don't care how, please pray
Yes
It's a bust
Looks like it
There's nothing
No clothing fragments, no ornaments
A total miscalculation
But I've never enjoyed a miscalculation so much
Reiko, it's because of you
That I'm free
Free? Really?
Yes
So you're free, too
Can I trust you?
Yeah
I'll throw it all away
Everything except you
I'll do the same
Throw away everything but you
An answer to your prayers
Let's go back
Huh, so that's how it is
Whatever
How'd you find this place, Reiko?
I wasn't trying to keep it from you
If you'd asked me, I'd have told you
But it's too late
People die
They all die
So I don't care how
You're fine with this, right?
You're Kijima Koichi
You're under arrest for attempted murder!
What an ordeal
I still can't believe it
It's all your fault
Don't drag me into your fate
I'll solve my own problems
So you decide your own fate
If you can move, why did you wait?
I understand
I'll save you now
What have I done?
Forgive me
It's over now
We should have done this a long time ago
Corpses on my right, on my left
Everywhere, corpses!
You're okay, you're okay
We've got to bury it in the swamp again
It's gone
Turned to ashes long ago
I let myself in
That's fine
You were really moaning
Yeah
What is it?
Mr. Yoshioka
There's one thing I want to know
I know
I had a nightmare
I always do
I don't want to tell you... why
I see
But I want to know
It's not a pleasant story
Tell me
You'll regret it
I don't mind
I killed her
Her?
The girl who lived there before you
Why?
I don't know
Probably there was some confusion
What kind?
I returned from the swamp
Spiritually and physically exhausted
Which is when I stumbled on her
She slipped right inside me
In some inexplicable way
And then
Why was it?
I began to feel I'd made
A terrible mistake about human life and death
In an instant
she shattered my convictions as a scientist
I felt as though a thousand years
Of time were rushing in
In the end
She said she would take me to hell
I became confused
If I let her keep talking
Something terrible would happen
When I came to
I had my hand firmly over her mouth
That's all there was
And where is she now?
That...
I don't know
What did I do with her?
I can't remember
Don't you remember?
Then nothing's certain yet
Maybe that's true
Let's clarify things
How?
Go to the swamp
There's only a swamp there!
Is that so?
That's fine, then
Let's go make sure
No!
Why not?
If we do that...
I've thrown everything else away
I couldn't
You can
You have me
Maybe the old Yoshioka couldn't
But now you have me
Isn't that true?
Will you pray?
Sure
Which one?
I don't know
This one
No, I can't do it!
Why not!
Are you going to leave her there?
Buried in the mud
All alone for eons
Abandoned forever?
No
Then save her
You saved one yesterday
What am I supposed to do?
All right, I'll do it
I can do this
No, you stay here and pray
See?
This is reality
I didn't kill her
No
It was all a delusion
That's right
It's all over
Everything's done
We're both free of everything
It took a long time
But it's over
Yes
The beginning of a new era
Yeah
Shall we go somewhere?
Where?
On a trip, now
Yeah
Anywhere
Somewhere far
To the end of the earth
I'll never let you go
Forever