Huh?
I've seen this once before...
Did I leave my body again?
I have to return to my body! But which way do I go?
Who's there?
Wait! I can't hear you!
Are you conscious?
I see... This is Komori's brain.
The CT I performed showed that there isn't any damage, so it wasn't really necessary in the first place, but...
But it's easier to see the fine details with an MRI, isn't it?
Editor's note: An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) uses radio waves and magnetic fields to take a picture of living tissue and internal organs.
Your name is Hirata, is it?
That a professor from Tokyo University would commute so far, just to do some counseling... This boy is really special, isn't he?
And how is that so? Is there something abnormal?
As I said, the accident didn't cause any...
No, I mean in general. The accident doesn't matter.
What do you mean?
When he was still a child, he experienced something very unusual.
I don't know if this is the cause behind it, but he seems to have occasional OBEs.
You know, before I returned to Japan, I was an assistant of Professor Michael Persinger's in Canada.
Editor's note: Michael Persinger is a Canadian neuroscientist known for his early work which focused on inducing a religious state.
So... you have been able to visit with God, then?
It was a first-class trip.
Yes?
Oh, it's you, dad.
I brought you this.
Thanks. I can probably leave the hospital the day after tomorrow.
I see...
Where's Mom?
She didn't feel well, so she's resting at home.
Don't let it bother you.
It's nothing to worry about.
Did Dr. Hirata already leave?
You mean my counselor? He hasn't come yet...
He should have been here before I arrived...
Looks like I've come to a remote region...
When I was hospitalized, I thought I'd be able to sleep as much as I wanted to,
but for some reason, I've been unable to leave my body.
I wonder if I nearly died again.
I wonder who that could have been...
Yo!
M-Masayuki!
What's wrong? You're acting like I caught you doing something bad.
Here, I brought you something to kill the time.
Thanks!
But I can leave the day after tomorrow.
That's good news.
Does it still hurt?
Nope, only a little.
Kumada is an interesting place. Next time, I think I'll ride one of those boats.
Masayuki, have you left your body since then?
Yeah... Yesterday I got chased by a disgusting ghost...
I see...
Oh, another friend is visiting you. You're pretty popular.
Not really...
Hello, Komori. Your accident was truly unfortunate, but Dr. Otori tells me that there is nothing serious.
I see...
Neither the CT nor the MRI shows any damage. You're very lucky.
Now, how would you like to see your own brain?
Yeah!
Okay, I'll show you.
I want to see too! I can, right?
Wow, it looks so real!
This is the CT we took the day before last. Essentially, a CT is a photograph made with X-rays, like a radiograph.
TL note: The voice actor made a mistake here. Her word "tougai" doesn't exist. She misread the word "zugai" ("cranium"), which consists of the same kanji.
Since he managed to reflexively cover his head with his arms, he didn't suffer any cranial damage.
Damage to the frontal lobe can cause many unpleasant conditions.
You hit your head right above your eye, did you not?
If the optic nerve becomes damaged, it is possible to have hallucinations.
This is known as Charles Bonnet Syndrome.
Editor's note: Charles Bonnet Syndrome is named for a Swiss naturalist who noted hallucinations in healthy people, usually those with optic disorders caused by old age.
You sure know a lot about this.
What kind of hallucinations?
They see people with strange eyes, little people, or creatures which should never exist... Various things.
Editor's note: "Little people" are Lilliput Hallucinations, named after the tiny people in Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
In fact, some cases of ghost or alien sightings are suspected to be an effect of such damage.
Ghosts as well, huh?
This CT is the newest type.
It can also display things like this.
Wow, it's 3-D now! But the texture's not that detailed...
It's not a video game, you know.
This region is Broca's area, and this is Wernicke's area, the speech area.
Editor's note: Both are regions of the brain. Broca's area and Wernicke's area control language processing
and specialized language skills. Damage to Wernicke's area can cause audio comprehension impairment.
It's a homunculus, right?
Editor's note: A homunculus, in this context, is a distorted drawing used to represent functions or actions of the somatosensory cortex and motor cortex.
I see you've heard of them. Yes, human sensory and motor capacities are connected inside the brain.
The theory of homunculi living inside the brain has already been disproven.
That graphic is still used because it's easy to comprehend, however.
Penfield, who made this graphic, discovered that by stimulating the brain using electric shocks,
one can create music inside the brain or reconstruct memorized scenarios realistically.
Professor Persinger is the one who advanced research in this direction.
He used electrodes which can be placed on the head, like the ones you are wearing now. However, by sending electric shocks,
he did not only induce things such as OBEs or near-death experiences,
but was also able to see ghosts and aliens, or angels and God.
Well, when my personal interest was depleted, I returned to Japan to start my own research project.
In other words, your duties in this hospital are only temporary.
I spend half of the week in the laboratories of Japan Bio Tech.
Dad's office?
Huh? Is your father...?
Nakajima.
So you're Dr. Nakajima's son.
Where are my memories located?
Well, let's see the MRI. An MRI is made with magnetic waves.
Wow, that's even more realistic. It's like an autopsy.
Here. This small thing is the hippocampus. It doesn't really look like a sea horse, does it?
TL note: The hippocampus is said to resemble a sea horse, and therefore, the word is derived from the Greek "hippos" meaning "horse" and "kampi" meaning "curved."
Temporary memories are saved here.
Oh, so it's kind of like cache memory, in PC terms.
Editor's note: Cache memory is a type of storage in a computer where small amounts of data can be stored temporarily for quick access.
Yeah. This small almond-shaped thing here, next to the hippocampus, is the amygdala.
Editor's note: The amygdala, part of the emotion- and memory-controlling limbic system, stores memories of emotional reactions.
This small organ is responsible for human emotions.
In particular, fear, defiance, and hatred are generated here.
Fear...
The hippocampus and the amygdala are located next to each other.
This means that something is memorized in greater detail if the emotion of that moment was intense.
So if I managed to fear or despise historical dates and mathematical formulas, I'd be able to memorize them correctly?
If the hippocampus is damaged for some reason, it is possible that you won't even remember what you were doing five minutes ago.
On the other hand, if the connections between the optic nerve and the amygdala are damaged,
you can begin to doubt, for example, that your parents are your real parents.
Such an affliction is called Capgras' Syndrome.
Editor's note: Capgras' Syndrome is the rare, delusional belief that a loved one has been replaced by an imposter.
In another case, you might think that you're already dead and can smell your own flesh rotting, which is called Cotard's Syndrome.
Editor's note: Cotard's Syndrome was named after French neurologist Jules Cotard. It can also cause delusions of immortality.
The memories saved in the hippocampus are only temporary. So if you're asking where long-term memory is...
There's no specific region.
Even with an MRI, you can't see synapses.
Editor's note: Synapses connect cells in the nervous system and allow them to create neural circuits. The human brain has about 1-5 quadrillion synapses.
Did you know that the brain consists of neurons and the synapses which connect them?
I thought it was somewhere here...
Electric signals run from neuron to neuron through the synapses. This is the activity inside the brain.
There is a repetition of signals, which is called LTP.
Editor's note: LTP (Long Term Potentiation) is when two neurons have enhanced communication from being stimulated simultaneously.
These signals are thought to contribute to long-term memory.
In other words, the current theory is that memories exist everywhere in the brain.
Here, look at this. These are synapses.
What are you saying?
So you're saying that when you nearly died, you went inside your brain?
I don't know, but it looked really similar to those synapse things.
And you saw someone there.
Maybe it's my sister...
Wait... The explanations they gave us mean that our OBEs are only happening inside our brains,
but what happens when we leave our bodies has got to be real.
I mean, we were even seen by that old man!
Anyway, if it's something that's happening inside our brains...
Maybe you're just part of my imagination?
Editor's note: This is the instantiation property, which states that if something has a property, it must exist. It is similar to "cogito ergo sum," or "I think, therefore I am."
That'd be awful.
Imaginary!
Masayuki, you're imaginary!
No, you're imaginary.
Your whole existence is imaginary.
Ah, where's Makoto?
Well, I asked him to come...
Huh? Kumada Hospital?
I'll never go to Kumada!
He said that and then wouldn't come.
No, it's really easy!
Please, I need your help with this.
Okay then, I'll contact you again.
Okay, thanks.
Who are you? How did you get in without permission?!
Building a dam, building a biological facility... What do you plan to build next?
You brat! Acting like you know everything, what are you trying to say?
Well, I could care less what happens to this shitty village.
But it's getting on my nerves that you're earning money like this.
Get out, you twerp! Who do you take me for?
I want you tell me about my dad.
Your dad? Whose dad? Which shitty family are you from?
Ogami.
You got along very well with my parents, didn't you? As well as with Komagusu from the Kameiwa Shrine.
Y-You're Ogami's son!
I hardly remember anything about my father. But I'm gonna be pissed if I don't find out!
He definitely resembles Ogami...
Even if I asked my granny why my dad committed suicide, she wouldn't tell me the truth.
I thought maybe you'd know!
I don't know! I don't know why your dad died! And when it happened, I wasn't really close to him anymore...
I see... Well, it looks like you're still hiding something, but for today, I'm going home.
See ya!
Tarou!
Ah, Kei.
Is it okay for you to walk around like this?
Yeah, the day after tomorrow I can leave the hospital.
I'm sorry that you had to come all this way.
It's fine, and besides, I live here in Kumada.
Yeah, that's right.
I'm glad that your injuries weren't serious.
Mother is...
Don't worry. She was just a bit tired.
I wonder if I won't be able to leave my body anymore...
Crap!
Do you know a female doctor named Otori?
There's one who works in our labs.
I met her today at Kumada Hopsital.
I see...
If you content yourself with the education you get here, you'll regret it your whole life.
Can't you say anything else?
What?
Nothing, you're just imaginary.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn...
Damn, damn...!
Damn, damn, damn...
Damn it... Damn it!
So this is a dream after all?
Who's there? Sister?
What? I can't hear you!
Do you want to see your sister?
I want to see her! There are things I want to ask her!
Your sister is dead.
I know, but in Kakuriyo I could meet someone who's already dead, couldn't I?
Am I wrong?
Hey, wait!
In 1923, Madame Sosie of France informed the police that children were being held captive in the Underground of Paris,
but she realized that those children had been substituted with the police, her husband, and many other people.
Since then, Delusional Misidentification Syndrome, or Sosie's Delusion,
Editor's note: Delusional Misidentification Syndrome is a blanket term for various disorders
in which one believes that a person or place has been altered. Capgras' Syndrome is one such disorder.
has become known as Capgras' Syndrome, so called for the man who reported it.