Where am I?
Who am I?
Do you want to know who you are?
If you do, I'll tell you.
I'll tell you who you are, and what you want.
What I want?
Howl at the Moon. The author is Sakutaro Hagiwara.
I see.
So what we're seeing here is all of his unique worlds blended into one place.
Why do you keep following me?
What did I do?
He's chasing you. That strange dog.
Yup. It's a strange dog.
Did you know?
Animals can instinctively sense if another creature is weaker than them.
I see.
So that's why it's following Dazai-kun?
What does that mean?
What?
The sound of a pistol?
That's...
Chuya!
"Episode 5"
Chuya! Chuya!
What do you want?
You scared me!
I thought you were dead!
Well, I think I am, actually.
Don't be weird.
Dead people don't talk.
You really dead, Chuya?
I am!
But then how can you answer him?
Is he an evil spirit?
No!
One possibility... would be that you've died as part of the events of this book.
You're so smart!
Let's go with that!
Oww!
Let him go, would you?
Be a good boy.
Huh? Sensei?
Look, I really don't care.
But can you do something?
I can't move.
Of course you can't. You're dead.
How's it feel to go to hell?
Hey, don't just assume I'm going to hell!
And don't treat me like I'm dead just because I'm a corpse.
Oh no. This is going to be annoying.
I'd like to help, but what can we do?
We could dig him a grave.
Don't bury me!
It may be better to solve what's going on here.
Solve it?
Find the killer, for example.
Yes, if he was shot, someone must have shot him.
And we're supposed to find him?
The killer's the Taint, right?
Yes.
But it's not that simple.
What do you mean?
The fact that we were all captured the moment we delved.
The strange things that happened without warning.
Taken together, they imply that that the Taint is manipulating the world itself.
Manipulating the world?
Is that possible?
I've never heard of it happening.
Either something extraordinary is happening, or...
Hey, I may be a corpse, but that doesn't mean you can ignore me!
Anyway, the one way we've got
to get close to the Taint is solve the mysteries in front of us.
Okay, I'll be the detective!
I don't know if this is "okay" or not, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.
Go get 'em, Dazai.
You're my assistant.
Listen, stop playing around.
This is a murder! Treat it like one!
Sorry. It's hard to take a talking corpse seriously.
We can probably assume the pistol's the murder weapon.
Nope, Ango.
You have to start by questioning your assumptions.
So what else could it be?
The real murder weapon...
...is this chair!
Was that here a moment ago?
I don't remember.
The chair's the real murder weapon?
So now we just need the murderer's name.
I have an idea about that, too.
The killer...
...is you!
That's a frog.
I believe the frog transformed into a human and beat Chuya to death.
And to, like, hide his crime or something, he splashed around some red paint...
What is "something"?
And then he, like, shot his pistol or something!
Perfect.
Nope.
Brilliant work, peach flower boy.
The corpse moved.
That deduction was like a mackerel floating in the sky!
Chuya!
Dazai! Dazai, wake up!
No! He's dead!
Yeah, looks like I'm dead.
You're a corpse! Don't talk!
This is a crime.
Yup. A murder.
Who would do this to Dazai?
I know, right?
Any idea who could've done it?
Do you have any enemies?
Anybody who you've angered?
People who Dazai's angered?
Oh no! There are too many!
I couldn't possibly narrow it down.
What does that mean?
Who even knows if it's murder?
Could be suicide, right?
Yes. Dazai attempted no less than three lover's suicides.
Two of which failed.
That's not important now, is it?
Suicide?
I hadn't thought of that one.
Et tu, Akutagawa-sensei?
You blew out your own stomach with a pistol, huh?
That takes guts, especially for a peach flower boy like you.
The pistol may not, in fact, be the murder weapon.
Perhaps someone hit him with the chair.
That's not suicide.
I told you that!
I was murdered!
Which means someone murdered you.
Who could he have pissed off?
It's impossible to say.
There's no end of candidates.
How about Haruo Sato-sensei?
If he was going to kill him, he'd have done it years ago.
Before that four-meter long letter came.
True.
Yasunari Kawabata-sensei, then?
Impossible.
Sure, Dazai wrote no end of whiny letters about losing the Akutagawa Prize to him.
But he wrote plenty back.
It's hard to see him as angry enough to kill.
Masuji Ibuse-sensei, perhaps?
--It could be Kazuo Dan, too.
--You made a lot of people mad, huh? --It could be Kazuo Dan, too.
Well, not that many...
So I've been wondering...
What's that clam?
It's a clam.
A rotten clam.
It moved.
So you saw through my disguise!
It talked!
Yes, I am the clam... that killed Osamu Dazai!
What?
You got killed by a clam?
It stinks now that it got bigger.
Should I turn you into rotten clams, too?
Huh?
Ango! Ango!
How? How could this happen?
Who could've done such a thing?
Right?
They sent me to hell, which means they've got good taste.
He's happy, huh?
Ango's like that.
Do you remember who got you?
He probably got stabbed in a fight.
I would never lose a fight.
I'm not like you, Chuya!
What did you say? You want to fight?
Don't even try.
You talk tough, but you're useless in a fight.
You're a corpse and you wanna pick a fight with me, huh?
A chair?
Akutagawa-sensei?
What?
That was a close one.
This world is under the Taint's control.
Was it your personal taste, deceiving us with these ridiculous stories?
Saku-kun?
"Sakutaro Hagiwara"
"Howl at the Moon"
The tainting continues.
Is everyone okay?
I couldn't say.
Should we go as well?
No.
If we all go and get wiped out, there'll be no one left to do anything.
Don't even say that.
Aren't you curious, though?
Why can anyone delve into this book, without restrictions?
That's very unusual, right?
Yes.
Do you know why, Shimazaki?
I have a theory.
Will you hear it?
What a book seeks is a connection to an author.
If it allows anyone to enter,
that means that the person it most wants to connect with isn't there.
If they're aren't the one you want most, what they are makes no difference.
I think it's similar to how a child feels about his favorite toy.
So the author that Sakutaro Hagiwara wants most is someone else?
Yes.
And that person probably holds the key to saving this book.
Wait, the only welcoming committee I get is a cat?
So you came,
"Saisei Muro" Saisei Muro?
Some of the soldiers were of a disagreeable sort,
and likely missed the target intentionally.
Who are these guys?
How the hell should I know?
When the man who'd died from the gunshots awoke in his dreams,
sad tears fell in the sky.
That's the kind of tobacco this is.
Wait, they're zombies?
On the pale white stomach of the drunk lying face-up, dead,
I saw clear pale drops of blood, and a twisted polygonal heart.
The ground around him gleamed,
covered with severed hands withered by rheumatism,
and squished guts.
--The grass was sharp. Everything shown like radium.
--Sakutaro, I've had enough of this crap! --The grass was sharp. Everything shown like radium.
Damn it!
Bamboo grew from the gleaming grass,
green bamboo grew,
and beneath the ground grew its roots.
The roots thinned and came to an end, and from the end came tiny hairs,
tiny hairs growing,
shivering slightly...
They just keep coming.
Bamboo grew on the hard ground.
Bamboo grew sharp upon the surface.
Bamboo grew straight.
Chilled and frozen at its joints,
the bamboo grew beneath the blue sky.
Bamboo. Bamboo. Bamboo grew.
Stop it!
The Taint is controlling you!
The Taint? Controlling me?
I'm not being controlled.
I'm working with the Taint of my own free will.
What do you mean?
Your book's going to disappear!
Do you understand that?
Behold, all sins are recorded.
But not all are mine.
What truly appears before me is a phantom of a shadowless flame.
A sorrowful ghost, disappearing above the snow.
What use are my fervent confessions on such a day as this?
All is but a phantom of a pale flame.
Now what?
Sorry, but I don't think I can hold back!
A thieving dog howls at the moon on a rotting pier.
When the soul turns its ears to listen,
its miserable voice--
That's enough.
I'm not interested.
Death isn't to your liking?
You are an author, after all.
And after all, you stand taller than the other authors.
Countless authors were influenced by you.
Is it Saisei?
Saisei Muro was the finest of poets.
The loneliness he described in Poems of Love, meant so much to me.
I was in awe of the way
he described the mornings and evenings that everyone experiences.
In Poems of Forgotten Spring, he made even sighs and socks sound sad.
I was in awe of his linguistic powers.
Sai... Sai was a true master.
But...
He abandoned poetry and went to the world of novels.
I see.
And you think it's my fault?
No, I don't.
It's my fault that Sai ceased to write poetry.
You're amazing, Saku.
What's this about?
Your poetry always amazes me.
Your unique choice of words.
The rhythm of your beautiful text, like a song...
That's what they call god-given talent.
I'm sure your poems will be read for many years,
and move many people.
I can tell.
Your poems are amazing too!
Let's keep writing wonderful poems together, forever!
Sai!
Do your best, Saku!
Novels?
Yup.
I like your poetry.
So why...?
Don't leave me.
I'm sorry.
You're amazing, Saku.
If it weren't for me, Saku would've kept writing.
It's my fault for existing,
for writing my poems!
Then what about you?
What is your goal?
I want my books to disappear.
For Sai!
The Taint's wish aligns with my own.
You outsiders have no chance.
I see.
By bringing the author himself to their side,
the Taint gained enough power to alter the world?
But I don't understand...
Even if your books were to disappear now,
Saisei's past wouldn't change.
So why?
It will change.
Why?
If my books disappear, Sai will continue to write,
and his poems will be famous long into the future.
The fate of a book changes both past and future!
Are you the one who told Saku-kun these lies?
They're not lies.
You know that.
If there's any chance, I want to take the risk.
And if you're going to interfere, I won't hold back!
Interfere?
I'll leave that role to him.
Sai?
Why?
Hey.
It's good to see you again, Saku.
So you're the Taint?
Stop it, Sai!
You don't have to do this!
Of course I do.
I'm going to protect your books.
No, Sai.
I...
This is my wish!
My books should disappear!
So...
Then why did you call me?
That weird cat told me that this book was calling me...
That its will was strong...
And that's why he was able to reincarnate me.
Is that true?
You wanted me to stop you, right?
No, I really...
My books really shouldn't exist!
Because of them, you...
Do it.
Pull the trigger. Now.
And remove this book from the world.
Do it! Do it!
The books you wrote contain your feelings. Your soul.
I couldn't stand them disappearing.
I won't let you erase them.
Anyone who tries, even you... I'll stop them!
But because of me, you...
That's just arrogance.
It's not because of you.
I was just more cut out for writing books, that's all.
I'm sorry, Sai. I just selfishly assumed...
You really are selfish.
That's just like you, though.
"Howl at the Moon"
Looks like you had a rough time.
"Howl at the Moon" A little.
But we succeeded in saving the book, and a new author, too.
I think it went well.
It went well, huh?
But you've forgotten your original goal, haven't you?
My memories.
Indeed.
Yes, I want my memories as Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the author, back.
But...
If I save the books,
someday I'll save the people who the books will save.
"Setting Sun"
I think that's very valuable on its own.
And that's enough for now.
"Howl at the Moon"
Literary Gourmet!
Dreamy Cute Omelet Chapter.
Saku, you liked this, right?
"Woosh" Saku, you liked this, right?
I worked hard on it!
"Omelet Made with plenty of fresh eggs! Change the shape, add different fillings, the possibilities are limitless!" It looks good!
"Omelet Made with plenty of fresh eggs! Change the shape, add different fillings, the possibilities are limitless!" But you need more, right?
Sai, your face is kind of...
I'll cast a spell on it!
Increase!
The omelets multiplied!
Eat lots, okay?
No! Save me!
"An Elegant Appetite by Hagiwara"
A dream, huh?