Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Mold/Library Vision - full transcript
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.
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"
That smell!
Hmm?
What's happened here?
Huh?
What the hell is this?
It's all rotten!
Huh?
- Big brother! Where are you?
- Huh?
Th... there you are, big brother.
It's been quite a while.
Come in.
No, it's pretty late
and I'm on my way home.
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!
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!
- No, it's my responsibility.
- Huh?
Either way, I'm gonna try to find
your dog. See you later.
Uh... Hey!
Seiji!
Uh...
This is ridiculous.
And the smell.
Rogi?
Wait a sec... You mean that weird teacher?
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.
I really don't like this.
He's coming by Sunday to look around
and talk it over. See ya then!
Hey! I didn't agree to do that!
Uh...
Oh... What a big, beautiful,
white house. It's marvelous.
He's very proud.
Now, if you'll follow me, please.
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.
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?
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?
Oh my, what's the matter?
Are you hungry, little one?
Please, Akasaka, I beg of you.
Please?
Hmm?
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?
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?
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?
What's happening? Why are you...
Nothing! And I don't know anything!
You have to know something.
It's too similar...
Similar?
I'm telling you,
the house is too similar to him!
Him? Him who?
The baby!
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.
Huh...
Rogi...
Damn it...
Why does it...
It itches.
It itches... itches...
Ah,
I thought I'd find you here, Goro.
Huh?
- Koko.
- And what are you reading today?
Koko!
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.
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.
Goro, may I have a moment?
Yeah. Hold on.
- I'm almost done with my writing.
- 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?
Of course.
What is it? What's wrong, Goro?
I was having a bad dream.
My books were disappearing,
one after another...
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!
The most horrifying book in the world.
It's also the book
that my father cherished most of all.
Goro, please.
Gone!
It's gone! Damn it!
Damn it!!
FEB. 9
MAMA LEFT WITH A STRANGE MAN. I MISS HER...
Is that...
Mommy... Mommy!
My books!
My books keep escaping!
DIARY
GORO SHIRASAKI
Goro?
I found Renée of the Winter Wind.
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.
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.
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!
That novel is
the most horrific thing ever written!
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.
"A cursed prose
dedicated to the ghosts of hell."
"Prologue. Agdulum gu shauemek..."
"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..."
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."
"The final chapter."
"Samota."
"Yafedra!"
Hell of Thorns has been eradicated.
I was victorious.
It's... it's all right now...
Renée...
Renée of the Winter Wind has disappeared!
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.
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!
"The sound of rain slamming on the ground
can be heard inside the room."
"The sound of the door..."
- "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, 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."
DIARY
GORO SHIRASAKI
Goro?
Huh?
So that's where you were.
Renée...
DIARY
GORO SHIRASAKI
"...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."
"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!"
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.
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.
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"
That smell!
Hmm?
What's happened here?
Huh?
What the hell is this?
It's all rotten!
Huh?
- Big brother! Where are you?
- Huh?
Th... there you are, big brother.
It's been quite a while.
Come in.
No, it's pretty late
and I'm on my way home.
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!
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!
- No, it's my responsibility.
- Huh?
Either way, I'm gonna try to find
your dog. See you later.
Uh... Hey!
Seiji!
Uh...
This is ridiculous.
And the smell.
Rogi?
Wait a sec... You mean that weird teacher?
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.
I really don't like this.
He's coming by Sunday to look around
and talk it over. See ya then!
Hey! I didn't agree to do that!
Uh...
Oh... What a big, beautiful,
white house. It's marvelous.
He's very proud.
Now, if you'll follow me, please.
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.
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?
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?
Oh my, what's the matter?
Are you hungry, little one?
Please, Akasaka, I beg of you.
Please?
Hmm?
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?
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?
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?
What's happening? Why are you...
Nothing! And I don't know anything!
You have to know something.
It's too similar...
Similar?
I'm telling you,
the house is too similar to him!
Him? Him who?
The baby!
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.
Huh...
Rogi...
Damn it...
Why does it...
It itches.
It itches... itches...
Ah,
I thought I'd find you here, Goro.
Huh?
- Koko.
- And what are you reading today?
Koko!
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.
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.
Goro, may I have a moment?
Yeah. Hold on.
- I'm almost done with my writing.
- 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?
Of course.
What is it? What's wrong, Goro?
I was having a bad dream.
My books were disappearing,
one after another...
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!
The most horrifying book in the world.
It's also the book
that my father cherished most of all.
Goro, please.
Gone!
It's gone! Damn it!
Damn it!!
FEB. 9
MAMA LEFT WITH A STRANGE MAN. I MISS HER...
Is that...
Mommy... Mommy!
My books!
My books keep escaping!
DIARY
GORO SHIRASAKI
Goro?
I found Renée of the Winter Wind.
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.
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.
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!
That novel is
the most horrific thing ever written!
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.
"A cursed prose
dedicated to the ghosts of hell."
"Prologue. Agdulum gu shauemek..."
"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..."
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."
"The final chapter."
"Samota."
"Yafedra!"
Hell of Thorns has been eradicated.
I was victorious.
It's... it's all right now...
Renée...
Renée of the Winter Wind has disappeared!
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.
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!
"The sound of rain slamming on the ground
can be heard inside the room."
"The sound of the door..."
- "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, 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."
DIARY
GORO SHIRASAKI
Goro?
Huh?
So that's where you were.
Renée...
DIARY
GORO SHIRASAKI
"...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."
"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!"
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.