[hip-hop music]
[man] First time back in Japan and in my home in a year.
Normally, this is where I'd find comfort, but it actually feels disgusting.
Because someone else was living here during the time I was gone.
[door creaks]
The someone else in question
was my teacher from middle school and his family.
This was a brand-new house,
and he was the last person I wanted to move in and live here.
He was warned to make no changes.
No hanging pictures, no new paint, nothing.
My new tenant should have left this house by now.
Where did he leave the key?
"MOLD"
[key jingling]
[grunting]
[sniffs]
That smell!
Hmm?
[gasps]
What's happened here?
[shuddering]
Huh? [retches]
What the hell is this?
It's all rotten! [retching]
[vomiting]
[gasps]
[bubbling]
Huh?
-[man] Big brother! Where are you? -Huh?
[growls]
Th-- there you are, big brother. It's been quite a while.
[owner] Come in.
No, it's pretty late and I'm on my way home.
[owner] Seiji… Explain this.
Uh… Listen. I wanna apologize for what's happened here.
I didn't think you'd be home so soon.
I didn't have time to get the place clean.
You think that's the issue here? It's everywhere!
Is this vengeance from teacher because I didn't wanna lease my house?
The man's always been strange, but I didn't think he'd do this!
[Seiji] No, it's-- it's nothing like that.
What is it, then? This place was brand new
and now it's been turned into a moldy cesspool!
Petty vengeance is the only thing that adds up!
-[Seiji] No, it's my responsibility. -Huh?
Either way, I'm gonna try to find your dog. See you later.
Uh-- Hey!
Seiji!
Uh… [sighs]
This is ridiculous.
[sniffs] And the smell.
[scrubbing]
[man] Rogi?
Wait a sec… You mean that weird teacher?
[Seiji] Yeah. You see, unfortunately, his home burned down recently.
He was hoping to borrow your house while they were rebuilding.
Just how did he find out that I'm going overseas for a work program?
I don't know, he must have heard.
Come on, gimme a break.
I just built this house and now I have to leave it.
It's depressing just to think about.
Look, I know how much you hate the guy.
But he was my homeroom teacher, and I couldn't refuse…
He also says he'll take care of the dog, too.
[sighs] I really don't like this.
He's coming by Sunday to look around and talk it over. See ya then!
-[dialing tone] -Hey! I didn't agree to do that!
Uh-- [sighs]
[Rogi] Oh… What a big, beautiful, white house. It's marvelous.
He's very proud. Now, if you'll follow me, please.
[barking]
[rings doorbell]
[barking continuing]
Hey, big brother.
As we discussed, I brought Mr. Rogi over.
Ah! It's been a while.
What's it been, 15 years, right?
You've become a marvelous and successful young man.
Now that time has passed, I can definitely see a resemblance to your father.
And this house is really something!
You are, without a doubt, the most successful of my former students.
I couldn't be happier with all you've achieved.
And it's like a dream come true to be able to live in a house like this,
even for a little while.
Now, hold on just a minute.
I didn't say I would lease the house just yet.
There aren't many days left before I leave.
It'll be impossible to get the paperwork signed and settled before then.
I suggest you find somewhere else.
[mournful music]
I've been looking high and low, but there just aren't any vacancies right now.
At the moment, we're living with my relatives, but I feel so ashamed.
Please, I'm begging you.
If we can't live here, there's nowhere else for my family to go.
Please.
Daddy! I like this house!
It's great! Can we stay?
-Please, Daddy? -[owner sighs]
If it would help ease your mind,
I'm happy to take care of everything here while you're overseas.
For me, please say yes.
-Seiji! Huh? -[baby crying]
Oh my, what's the matter? Are you hungry, little one?
[dog barking]
Please, Akasaka, I beg of you.
-Please? -[crying and barking continue]
[grunts]
Hmm?
[rustling]
What are all these weird bumps?
The walls definitely weren't textured like this before.
What's going on here? Something about the house is strange.
What the--
Damn it!
What's up with my house? Why is it so weird now?
Seiji. I want you to come clean with me.
Just what kind of life did that family have in this house, and where is Rogi now?
[Seiji] Truthfully…
I have no idea.
He left without saying a word to me about it.
His new house is done, right? Why don't you check there?
I've already done that. But there's no new house there at all.
It's just a burnt field!
Seriously?
[creaking]
It's mold.
Seiji, look around.
Each day, the abnormalities in this house get a lot worse.
Look closely. Every surface is covered in mold.
The bathroom's especially bad because of the humidity. I can't use it.
And for some reason, the second floor's worse.
But it's not humid up there…
That's horrible. It's completely horrible…
Big brother, you shouldn't stay. You'd be better off leaving this house.
You know something, don't you? What happened here while I wasn't around?
[Seiji gasping]
[yelps]
-[thump] -[groans]
-[gasping] -What's happening? Why are you--
Nothing! And I don't know anything!
You have to know something.
[whispers] It's too similar…
Similar?
I'm telling you, the house is too similar to him!
Him? Him who?
[whimpers]
-The baby! -[doorbell rings]
[pattering]
[rustling]
[gasps]
[baby cooing]
It's just like you were saying. It might be some kind of mold.
Something never seen before.
And it infected the baby, as well as the older girl.
Like I said, it's dangerous to stay in this house.
You need to pack up and leave it as soon as you can! You hear me?
Then, could you let me stay with you at your place for a bit?
Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course.
Okay. Bye.
[sighs]
[creaking]
[squelching]
[grunts and gasps]
[shudders]
Huh…
[loud squelching]
[gasps]
Rogi…
Damn it…
Why does it…
It itches.
It itches… itches…
[gentle piano music]
[woman] Ah, I thought I'd find you here, Goro.
Huh?
-[Goro] Koko. -And what are you reading today?
[Goro shouts] Koko!
[panting]
Koko!
What's wrong, Goro? What is it?
What happened to the book that was here?
Uh, a romance novel titled Renée of the Winter Wind
by Michelle Lanne.
-Oh, I have it, I'm reading it right now. -[Goro sighs]
Don't take books without my permission!
Always ask me if you want to read anything! Is that clear?
I have a duty to protect my books.
There is no fathomable reason for me not to be able to find a book,
even just one, at any time, ever!
-I'm very sorry. -Put the book back.
[Koko] Goro, may I have a moment?
[Goro] Yeah. Hold on.
-I'm almost done with my writing. -[Koko] Your diary?
Yes, a daily one. And I've never missed a single entry.
And you started when you were only four?
Indeed. All my memories are packed within these pages, so to say.
The library shapes my past,
and this diary is my way of writing out the present from my own perspective.
Are there entries about me among those pages?
[Goro] Of course.
[Goro breathing shakily]
[groaning]
[yells]
What is it? What's wrong, Goro?
I was having a bad dream.
My books were disappearing, one after another…
[Koko gasps]
[Goro breathing heavily]
[gasps]
It's gone!
Renée of the Winter Wind! Where'd you put it, Koko?
I returned it to the shelf, as asked. You even confirmed me doing so, remember?
My mother cherished that book above all others!
It's rare… No! I have to find that book!
It's really late. How about we look for it in the morning?
You're kidding, right? I need to confirm the contents of each shelf before sunrise!
Tanio Akasabi's Hell of Thorns is gone! [gasps]
The most horrifying book in the world.
It's also the book that my father cherished most of all.
Goro, please.
[Goro panting] Gone!
It's gone! Damn it!
[shrieks] Damn it!!
[sobs]
[pensive chamber music]
FEB. 9 MAMA LEFT WITH A STRANGE MAN. I MISS HER…
-[soft thump] -Is that…
Mommy… Mommy!
-[Goro] My books! -[gasps]
My books keep escaping!
DIARY GORO SHIRASAKI
[doorbell buzzing]
[gasps]
[Koko] Goro?
[Goro] I found Renée of the Winter Wind.
[Koko] What?
It rang the doorbell and was just standing there.
It rang the bell?
She was a beautiful woman. And somehow looked like my mother.
But there's no doubt she was Renée of the Winter Wind.
As proof, she recited the entirety of the novel Renée of the Winter Wind
from chapter one all the way to the colophon.
And outside of her recitation of Renée of the Winter Wind,
she was completely like a crippled person.
[Koko] Goodness, Goro. That was some dream.
This was and is no dream. She's standing there right now!
Take a look. It's Renée of the Winter Wind.
[soft piano music]
[Goro shivering]
[Koko] What's the matter, Goro?
It came back. Hell of Thorns is-- It has returned!
It's the most horrifying novel in the entire world!
I tried to fend it away.
But it entered from the window, grabbed the novel,
and read the cursed thing out loud in a disturbing, raspy voice!
[sobs] That novel is the most horrific thing ever written!
[whimpering]
[sighs] Poor Goro.
Let's have a doctor take a look at you, okay?
Koko, there's no need for that. I have an idea.
It will return. No doubt. I know it.
[clock ticking]
[clock chiming]
[clank]
[creaking]
[soft rustling]
[trembling]
[gasps]
[Goro] "A cursed prose dedicated to the ghosts of hell."
-"Prologue. Agdulum gu shauemek…" -[sighs]
"That bloody tale shook up the entire world,
and as the ominous premonition appearing on my retina
further spread slowly to my entire brain,
-the entrance to hell…" -Goro, are you--
"…that was clear in anyone's eye--" [screaming]
Stop! What's wrong?
"In the first place, that traumatic incident
has gnawed away at my psyche and caused quite sinister changes to my physique."
"It must have been the doing of none other than hell."
"The peculiar excochleation done onto me in 1955 by that cursed surgeon
had sent me into an even more abnormal situation."
[breathing shakily]
"The final chapter."
"Samota."
"Yafedra!"
[Goro screaming]
Hell of Thorns has been eradicated.
I was victorious.
It's… it's all right now…
[Goro screaming]
[sobbing] Renée… Renée of the Winter Wind has disappeared!
[sobs] There was nothing I could do.
I kept listening to her recitals over and over
and ended up memorizing it word for word!
Now I don't think it's likely that she'll ever show herself in front of me again.
[sniffles] If I'd have known it would end like this,
it would've been better had she never showed herself at all!
That's it, I've made up my mind.
I will integrate every last book inside me.
If I hate to taste the sorrows of parting,
I will store every tome of this library into my head!
[pages turning]
"The sound of rain slamming on the ground can be heard inside the room."
-"The sound of the door…" -[sentences overlapping]
-"That doesn't matter…" -"They call the place Seishin Village."
-"…chaos…" -"…born from a chaotic ocean…"
"…like I was pulled by a strange force…" -"That's right…"
-"…the mystery of life… -"Tonight, I am going to become God."
[Goro gasping]
[Koko] Goro, please.
Stop doing this to yourself.
Don't get in my way, please. I'm almost done with my endeavor.
However, I'm reaching the limit of my brain capacity.
Will I memorize everything? Or will my brain burst first?
As a result of the colossal amount of information entering my head,
my own memories are disappearing…
"I saw a chance and snuck a mic and stereo headphones into her bag."
"I'm going to record her date--"
"Chapter one. The Encounter."
"Renée's romance was as faint as the snow falling onto the city…
and about to disappear."
[eerie chamber music]
[pages rustling]
DIARY GORO SHIRASAKI
[Koko] Goro?
Huh?
[sighs]
So that's where you were.
Renée…
[glass smashes]
DIARY GORO SHIRASAKI
[man] "…could say this was my own self. Asaltite dogramos afrodina. Repeat."
SHOGO SHIRASAKI
"I feel the metamorphosis of my physical body,
the transmutation of my psyche."
"The transmutation appears clear within my vision,
and the world both glimmers and falls into shadow."
"The endlessly continuing world is simultaneously finished there."
[shivers] "And just like that bottle,
the world is simultaneously front and back,
where the surface and the symbolism intertwine…"
RENÉE OF THE WINTER WIND HELL OF THORNS
"…strange color, can't put into words…"
KOKO'S MAPLE LEAVES
"…but is instantly recognizable."
"These were a few of the things I realized on my way to hell."
"In other words, hell is the entrance to heaven, and heaven the entrance to hell."
"Symbolism and symbiosis."
"LIBRARY VISION"
"O folk of hell, scream, so long and so loud that your throats split apart!"
[cheerful pop music]
[man] Gather round and listen closely to the tombstone thrusted there.
To the many tombstones.
See now, I can also hear the voices of a conversation, you see?
The fact that I can hear it means that you can clearly hear it, as well.
But for those among you that can't hear it, I must find a way to share.
I'll teach it to the insects.