"Shusei Tokuda"
Is he...?
"Chuya Nakahara"
Just watch.
"Osamu Dazai"
Dear Akutagawa-sensei,
I don't think I can handle living in this prison of books.
Thus, I have decided to run.
Immediately!
Um, Chuya-san.
I keep climbing and not getting anywhere.
Is there even an exit?
Of course not.
You said there was!
I did!
And I lied!
Why did you lie?
'Cause it's fun!
Nakahara-kun, that's not appropriate behavior.
I can't take it anymore. I'll just jump off the ledge and die!
Oh, yeah? Have fun!
Dazai-kun, calm down.
Correct.
"Toson Shimazaki" If you want to die, inform me in writing.
Shimazaki, you can't expect that from this peach flower boy.
He's not even serious.
He's not?
He's tried a bunch of times.
With women, too.
It's mean to say it like that!
It's true, though.
How many lovers' suicides have you screwed up?
I just happened to survive, that's all.
Dazai-kun, just come down.
Let's talk about this.
If you want to get him down, this is the fast way.
I'm dead!
It hurts so much I'm dead! I'm dead from the pain!
That's hilarious!
You're a lively one, huh?
You're nothing but a soul. How could you die?
How do we know unless I try?
"Episode 2"
Sorry, sorry.
Forgive me. I didn't mean any harm.
You meant nothing but harm.
Nakahara-kun, why do you tell lies like that?
Because I'm bored.
Unless you're delving, there's nothing to do here.
Is there really no exit?
No idea.
Because...
Dear Kenji Miyazawa-sensei,
I can't take this anymore!
There's nothing to drink here, and I can't take it anymore!
I'm leaving! I'm getting out of here!
I gave up on leaving by the stairs...
Fell and broke my butt. The end.
So you fell too, Chuya?
Yeah. You and I are broken-butt buddies, peach flower boy.
I've been wondering...
What's a "peach flower boy"?
He looks like that, but actually he loves peach flowers!
What's my face got to do with it?
Oh, I see.
It's got something to do with his life before he came here?
Just like me and Shusei.
I can't believe you looked at that ceiling and decided to climb up there.
There're many rooms here.
But none of them lead to the outside.
So it's normal to assume that the exit must be someplace special.
Is it?
I thought the same thing.
Dear Unknown Interview Subject who is Somewhere in the World,
I want to hear stories from more people.
And so I need to leave this cramped book-filled... oops.
You too?
As I endured the pain from the fall,
I wrote a poem about the scene I saw as I fell.
It really is dull here.
Where is the exit hiding?
There is no exit.
There he is again.
Hey, monster cat.
I'm not a monster cat.
I'm just a regular cat.
Normal cats don't talk.
It sighed!
It is a monster cat.
Do monster cats sigh?
Do you have proof?
No? But they do, obviously. They're monsters.
Listen to what the acting Director says.
You don't understand your roles as reincarnated authors at all.
I don't know what that even means.
Hey, I heard your book got tainted!
--Loser! --I'm listening, sir, so please continue.
Shusei, you're a good person.
Very plain, though.
Shut up, Shimazaki.
First, there's no exit from the library.
Secondly, even if there was, you have nowhere to go.
What does that mean?
As I said before, you are souls, modeled after authors of the past.
As souls, the only place you can maintain human form is this space.
Because we're souls, we can't die while we're here?
"Run, Melos" Yes.
"Run, Melos" And because you are souls without bodies,
"Run, Melos" you can delve into books.
Wait, did you say "reincarnated" back there?
The rest of them weren't saved from books like me?
No way.
What kind of loser gets stuck in a book?
Then how?
We were called here directly, in the form of reincarnation.
Called by who?
That is...
The Alchemist.
"Ryunosuke Akutagawa" Akutagawa-sensei!
"Ryunosuke Akutagawa" Morning, everyone.
It's past noon.
When I wake up, that's morning for me!
Amazing, Akutagawa-sensei!
A new interpretation of the word "morning!"
It's just an excuse for sleeping in late.
Well, if it isn't you-know-who.
I didn't want to see your face, I don't think.
Today, you're going to tell me...
...what really goes on in the mind of Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
I'm not telling you a thing.
How many times do I have to say that?
Forget it.
What's wrong?
It seems like I'm not welcome, so I'm going.
He and I have never gotten along.
Back to our discussion.
What reincarnates authors to fight the Taints,
and creates the library to give their souls a place to dwell,
is the Alchemist.
The Alchemist. That's a pretty fancy name.
What is the Alchemist?
A being that exists to fight the Taints.
Nothing more can be said.
So what, we don't know?
But even without knowing, we can still go forward.
I'll fight the Taints.
For my own sake as well.
Akutagawa-sensei.
It's strange...
You can see the stars from here, but it's not connected to the outside world.
If anything, it's arrogance to think that everything you see is connected.
We have no way of knowing if those are even real stars.
Correct.
They may be fake.
But they are pretty.
Yes.
Just because they're fake does not lessen their shine or beauty, I think.
If it were otherwise, then nothing we authors created would have any value.
You may not be able to reach them. They may not really exist.
But still, you can think of those stars as beautiful.
I think that ability is what makes life worth living.
Is that why you fight to protect the books?
Yes.
But that's not all.
I have no memories of my life as the author Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
You don't?
I hear the titles of the books I wrote,
but I don't know why I wrote them,
or what I felt when I did.
I just can't remember.
Why?
I don't know.
Yes. I don't know.
And that's why I want to keep going forward.
If I purify a book and save an author who knows Ryunosuke Akutagawa well,
perhaps it will help me remember who I am.
And that's why you fight!
Yes.
I'm trying to find myself, you could say. It's selfish, huh?
No...
I understand how you feel, Dazai-kun.
You're being told to fight just because you're an author.
And bossed around by a cat! What the hell?
That's more than just a simple cat.
It speaks for the Alchemist, you could say.
But why a cat, you think?
No idea.
But there's one thing I do know.
I'm glad it wasn't a dog.
What?
Someone came back from a delve.
I think it must be...
Is that...?
Hey, I know that voice...
You're...
"Sakunosuke Oda" ...Saku Oda!
So you're here, too?
Sorry I couldn't make a cooler introduction...
Saku Oda! Wake up!
Saku Oda!
Saku Oda will survive, right?
We don't know.
Why?
You're the one who said that souls don't die!
Wounds inflicted in a book are different.
The Taints have the power to destroy an Author's very soul.
Thus, wounds received when delving are carved into the body.
If those wounds are fatal, then...
They'll die?
Then why'd you make Saku Oda go to such a dangerous place himself!
We didn't want to, damn it!
Only the authors called by the tainted book can delve into it.
This time, that was only Sakunosuke Oda.
He was probably chosen by the author.
The book being tainted this time is In the Forest of the Cherry Blossoms, Beneath the Full Bloom.
Its author was Ango Sakaguchi.
Ango!
Why wasn't it me?
But what do we do?
Saku Oda can't delve like this.
There's no time...
I'll try.
Akutagawa-san?
He went inside when I was inside Run, Melos.
I'm the only one who hasn't tried delving.
Yes. You're the only one who still has a chance.
I'll go too.
Ango's trapped in that book, right?
Then let me go!
The Reprobrates.
A collection of authors from the same era,
which rejected the literature that had come before them
and sought to create its antithesis.
Ango Sakaguchi was one of their most important members.
As was Sakunosuke Oda. And Osamu Dazai.
I refuse to be grouped with others.
You're a poet. Not an author.
I guess you couldn't be counted as part of the group.
Ango's a good drinking buddy.
I don't want him to disappear.
Ango Sakaguchi, huh?
I've never met him, but... I agree with your words.
There is no literature in this world which can be allowed to disappear.
When all the pages turn black, the book will disappear from this world.
It seems I have the right to delve inside.
Okay, I'll go too!
There's little time.
And whoever you're up against, they defeated Oda.
Don't screw up.
Wait for me, Saku Oda!
I'll save Ango!
Here we go, Dazai-kun. Focus.
What?
No, Dazai-kun! Focus!
Dazai-kun!
Delving requires intense concentration.
I should've explained that better.
Well, it'll work out.
All I ever do is fall.
But that cherry tree...
What was that?
Hello?
What?
Put those away.
Forgive our rudeness.
You fell from the sky and surprised us greatly.
I see.
Sorry about that.
What is it?
You're pretty.
Sorry! Sorry!
You're heading to the capital too?
Yeah. It's probably the place with the most people, right?
I need to go find Akutagawa-sensei there.
You're searching for someone?
Yeah. So I'll go with you.
Okay!
But why were you lying on the ground there?
I don't know...
I saw the cherry blossoms and suddenly I got scared.
The cherry blossoms?
Weird, huh?
They're so pretty.
Cherry blossoms are pretty, yes.
But they're also terrifying, I think.
This place, Suzuka Pass, is famous for its cherry trees.
But when they're in full bloom, travelers refuse to take this pass.
Why?
Because when you travel beneath the cherry blossoms in full bloom, you go mad.
So they all run to escape from them.
Could you have done the same?
In the Forest of the Cherry Blossoms, Beneath the Full Bloom.
If Sakaguchi is trapped by this story's core,
and the Taints are trying to change its ending...
Excuse me. Are you all right?
Yes.
I apologize.
I think this would suit you best.
Thank you. But it's not for me.
A present?
Yes.
But since you were kind enough to choose it for me, I'll take this one.
Thank you. You're a wonderful gentleman.
You're welcome.
So this is the capital?
It's late.
Dazai-san, stay at my place tonight.
You seem to know many things I do not.
I want to hear more from you.
With pleasure.
Saku Oda-san! You need to stay in bed!
Shusei-san, Dazai-kun left, right?
Then I need to go...
You're not up to delving right now!
Leave it to Akutagawa and Dazai!
No! Right now, Ango is...
Right now, Ango is too dangerous!
If you like, I can teach you all kinds of things!
I'm looking forward--
Is that you...?
Ango?
Give it to me.
Give me your head.
Stop it, Ango!
Don't you recognize me?
Ango!
"In the Forest of the Cherry Blossoms, Beneath the Full Bloom"
Literary Gourmet!
"Crispy Chicken Wings."
"Step Step" Everybody always makes me do all the work.
I'm so hungry...
This is what I wanted! Nice simple chicken wings!
Squeeze some lemon on top of it and add in some rice...
"Nom nom" "Aah"
Bean jam bun. For some reason, I really want that bean jam bun he's eating.
Bean jam. Bean jam. Gears of Bean Jam!
"Nom nom" "Yes!" Excuse me! Give me a bean jam bun!
You too, Shusei?