#kiokuya

[iohourtime]

Kiokuya (The Memory Eraser) Review - With Spoilers

Since I read the book, sort of followed the filming progress, and read a bunch of interviews (that all sounded the same after a while), I should finish off by writing a review for the movie itself! 

Thanks to the pandemic, I was stuck at home watching Netflix for 7 months, so I’ve watched all sorts of movies & TV; sadly most are in the average to crappy category. To me, Kiokuya was probably in the average to slightly above average category. In other words, there are elements I like and there are things I feel the movie can improve on.

The review is a bit long since apparently I have a lot of thoughts about the script.😅 I pretty much summed up my thoughts in the “theme” section. If you are interested in the book / movie differences & things from the DVD visual commentary, I included those in the script & characters section. (Movie Walker included highlights from the visual commentary here.) . If you want to discuss the movie but don’t want to put spoilers on Twitter, leave me a message.

Theme:

The movie’s main theme is obviously about memory. If a memory is making your life miserable, or even stopping you from living, is it better to erase it? Or do all memories, even bad ones, shape you as a human? If someone’s memory of you is gone, are you killed in their minds? If you think someone is better off forgetting you, do you have the right to ask Kiokuya to erase their memories of you? Are the memories gone forever? If you have the power to erase someone’s memory, what are your responsibilities? And to some extent, what are the criteria to evaluate each request and what due diligence should you do before you accept this task? These were the questions the movie wanted you to ask. You know because the movie kept hitting you on the head through the dialogue! That’s probably my main complaint about the movie.

I didn’t study film so I don’t know the theories, but I think being heavy handed at telling you what you should be thinking is like listening to a textbook; it robs the audience of the chance to experience and internalize what they saw, and as a result, they are less able to connect emotionally to the film. That’s not to say people are not moved by the movie and empathize with the characters. I feel that it had more to do with the actors than the script though.

I think the cinematography was generally nice. I liked how they used the drone shots to film the beautiful Hiroshima scenery. The sunset scene was beautiful. The music did not seem intrusive. Other than that, I’m not sure I have more to say. (Fine. Yamada looked good in the plaid shirts and his hair was on point.)

Script vs Book: (Spoiler alert from here on!)

Kiokuya, the movie, was an adaptation of a “horror” novel of the same name. Although there were horror elements, mostly because Kiokuya was kind of a shadowy figure, even the novel itself was focused more on humanity. The original story was divided into 4 parts; the first 3 parts were really 3 separate short stories that explored different reasons people have for wanting their memories erased. The final part was about Kiokuya herself. The Ryoichi character simply served as a bridge between the stories. Here’s a brief description:

Kyoko - A while ago, she was attacked in a dark alley but was saved at the last minute. Even though she was unharmed, she developed a crippling phobia of the dark, so she locked herself inside her home at night and was not able to live a normal life. She and Ryoichi were kinda but not really dating, and Ryoichi, being a typical guy, figured he could fix her. Kyoko tried everything but as a last resort, she asked Kiokuya to erase her memory of the attack. Since her relation with Ryoichi was based almost entirely on overcoming the phobia, she forgot him too. Through this incident, Ryoichi remembered how Maki had her memory erased when she was 5 or 6 - she saw her mom confessing to her dad that she had an affair with her uncle. Kiokuya might have erased Maki’s memory a second time when she was 10-12. Finally, he realized he “forgot” about his year-long investigation of Kiokuya with Takahara & others. It seemed like he was doggedly pursuing Kiokuya because he felt violated more than his undying love for Kyoko. In his own words, he didn’t try to rebuild his relationship with Kyoko again after she forgot about him. There was nothing stopping him, so his feelings towards Kyoko were not that deep.

Takahara - He was a 30 year old ikemen lawyer, though like the movie, he was dying. The chapter focused on his touching friendship with his assistant. Takahara was also close with Nanami, a suicidal, 17-year-old daughter of a client who became very attached to him. When Takahara found out Nanami planned to kill herself after he died, he asked Kiokuya to erase her memory of him so that she would live on.

Misao & Kaname - They were childhood friends and Misao started crushing on Kaname. She confessed and was rejected, but after that, they were not able to be friends like before. She figured if she erased everything about Kaname, they may be able to start over and become friends again without the awkward feelings.

Maki - Ryoichi thought Maki was looking for Kiokuya to erase some unpleasant memories. Then he found out she was Kiokuya, who inherited her ability from her grandfather. In the end, Maki confessed to the burden of being Kiokuya and Ryoichi told her he would support her and that she didn’t have to do it alone. Maki decided to erase anything Kiokuya related in his memory, but their friendship remained intact. Oh, Maki was 17 in the book and also had a crush on Ryoichi. She erased his memories many times before. Like in the movie, she also would like Ryoichi to love her just once, although he never ever saw her as anyone other than his annoying little sister. 😅

The director of the movie, Hirakawa Yuichi, also wrote or co-wrote the script. While the movie stuck to the themes of the novel, the motivations were completely different. Kyoko and Misao were both rape victims, Takahara now wanted to protect his young daughter from the sadness of his death, and Maki was herself kidnapped by a psychopath when she was a kid. I guess Hirakawa needed to pump up the drama and felt the stakes were not high enough for a 2 hour movie? There is always some uneasiness with using rape and trauma to move the story along. I guess there is a difference between this and the usual example of “fridging a female character”, i.e. kill a love interest of the hero to motivate him on some journey. Ryoichi was motivated by being erased and he actually gradually realized he should not push for restoring Kyoko’s memories if it was her wish. He only found out what happened to her at the end of the movie. Considering their relationship in the movie was a lot more serious, they couldn’t really use the phobia of darkness reason. However, it would also take something really big for Kyoko to want her memory erased while not talking to Ryoichi beforehand. Anyway, I really don’t see a way out of this.

For Misao though, I didn’t think they needed to make her a victim of the same serial rapist, especially when they use the same reason as the book for erasing Kaname. I suppose they need to explain why Nanami (and later Ryoichi) was looking into them? But they could just have the doctor referred the case (who appeared to be breaking doctor-patient confidentiality?! Just me?) In fact, the whole Misao / Kaname storyline didn’t really do much other than allowing Ryoichi to find out from Kaname that Kiokuya was a young girl.

Maki’s childhood trauma was also a bit excessive. I can’t see it as anything other than to get Ryoichi out to Hiroshima to talk to Grandpa. While finding out mom was “dealing with” uncle would be traumatic for a young child, it might not be dramatic enough for a movie.

Ryoichi & Maki’s origins were also changed. They were now raised in Hiroshima and moved to Tokyo to attend university. The only reason was to place Grandpa-Kiokuya in Hiroshima after the bombing. While I liked the grandpa scene, was it necessary? They already covered the “Kiokuya after WWII” with the interview with the elderly woman. I think they could still keep Grandpa, since he was Kiokuya (and ironically suffering from Alzheimer’s) but maybe just skip the elderly woman part and use those minutes to build Ryoichi & Kyoko’s relationship! 

Upgrading Ryoichi & Kyoko’s relationship to being engaged gave him more incentive to look for Kiokuya, but all we got to see was 1 proposal scene and some snapshots, which made it harder for us to understand the loss Ryoichi experienced when Kyoko forgot him. Ultimately, I feel that more time should be given to the “before” times. They don’t even need that much. If done effectively like the movie Searching with John Cho, 5 minutes or so of clips would be enough to get us to care more. I’m not saying people won’t care, but it’s true that there are people who didn’t quite feel it. Yamada basically had to sell it with longing looks at Renbutsu, so how deeply you feel for them depends on whether you buy it or not.

Takahara’s story might have been changed because of who they cast. Also, Takahara & Nanami’s relationship in the book was kinda weird, considering Nanami actually loved him and she was 17 while he was 30. I definitely cannot agree with how Movie Takahara wanted to erase his daughter’s memory to spare her the pain of losing him. It reminded me of that Black Mirror episode where the mom put in a blocker to shield her daughter from bad things. It ended up messing up the girl & broke their relationship. Young children are resilient and the sadness would eventually change into something else, which would shape their characters. Also, just because she forgot her birth father didn’t mean she would suddenly get along with her stepfather. I won’t even get into the whole consent thing. It was a good thing Maki did not follow through.

Less good was what Movie Maki did to Ryoichi & Kyoko though. When I found out Movie Ryoichi & Kyoko were engaged instead of “pre-dating” like in the book, I was quite worried they would have Movie Maki erase Ryoichi from Kyoko’s mind for selfish reasons. I was hoping that maybe he got erased by mistake, but unfortunately, the script did go with the jealousy angle, which made Maki extremely unsympathetic.

In the visual commentary, they said they rewrote the ending because it didn’t fit. Maki erased her entire existence from Ryoichi's mind as penance for what she did. (I think initially, they were going with the book ending where Maki just erased Kiokuya from his head.) In the end, the actual cut used in the movie was more ambiguous - they “left it to the audience” to decide how much Maki erased and whether Ryoichi & Kyoko got a second chance at happiness. (The director said it ended on a hopeful note. Take it how you want.)

It’s unclear if Movie Maki erased Ryoichi’s memories more than once, but Book Maki had done it many times. Even though Book Maki seemed more responsible with her powers and didn’t slip up like Movie Maki, she did wipe part of Ryoichi’s memories without his consent. Ryoichi said that she didn’t have to do this alone and she could lean on him, so why didn’t she? Also, losing all that memory got to have some long term effect on him, right? In the movie, it was worse because Maki took the “easy” way out by erasing herself. Yes, she was punishing herself, but shouldn’t the more courageous thing to do was to own up to what she had done and work for Ryoichi’s (& Kyoko’s) forgiveness?

Speaking of Ryoichi’s forgiveness, I actually saw some viewers calling Ryoichi a cad for telling Maki that he would always protect her and be by her side to protect her. Apparently they seemed to think he was in love with Maki and forgot all about Kyoko. Well, I think in that moment, there were 3 things going on: 1) Takahara told him that it was better to forgive and that there will be justice in other ways, 2) he understood why it was devastating to Kyoko to remember what happened and 3) Maki was like his little sister. His immediate desire to comfort his friend overrode the anger and betrayal he might have felt. Had Maki not erased his memory around 2 minutes after, who knew if they would have a more substantial talk? He didn’t even have a chance to talk to Kyoko. (I suspect Maki would have tried to “spare him” by erasing his relationship with Kyoko as well. He still ended up at the cafe because he could remember physically going there a lot.)

Overall, I think the movie was a bit unfocused due to some extraneous storylines and having too much exposition, which was a disservice to some of the characters. It failed to show how their relationships build, like Ryoichi & Takahara became buddies over what seemed like a week! I wish they trimmed a couple of the minor stories and used that time to go deeper on the main lines.

Characters / Actors:

Yoshimura Ryoichi (Yamada Ryosuke)

I was watching the movie and halfway through when it hit me… Yamada’s Ryoichi was… normal? I mean obviously quite good looking in the boy-next-door kind of way, but Ryoichi was a regular, run-of-the-mill university student, who was normally an optimistic and forgiving but happened to be dealing with heartbreak at the moment. Seriously, if you’ve watched Yamada’s other works, his characters are usually kind of comedic, sort of pathetic, occasionally brilliant, psychotic, or… non-human. (Very odd roles for a Johnny’s actor.) He probably has not been this normal since the 24Hr drama. He still cried a lot, so that’s familiar.

OK, let’s get back on topic. Since Book Ryoichi functioned more as a character that connects the short stories rather than a real character, I didn’t have hopes for the movie version. Surprisingly, Movie Ryoichi came across as a real person and I did care what happened to him. While we didn’t get to see how Ryoichi & Kyoko were in happier times, he was able to convey the longing and slight awkwardness in their interaction when he tried to talk to her after. Similarly, in the scene where he learned of Takahara’s death, you could tell what was going through his mind even though he said nothing. Same with the final “confrontation” with Maki. Even though he didn’t say much, his eyes conveyed the emotions subtly: the longing, shock, confusion, etc. Overall, he was quite subtle and natural. As the articles say, he managed to “suppress his aura” and played an average guy. I hope he can play more of these subtle types of roles in future. (It is unfortunate that a lot of people have preconceived notions about Johnny’s actors, to put it politely. It’s like the reverse of the “fan blinder” that we sometimes get accused of having.)

Now there are some discussions as to whether he overacted in the crying scenes. The main “crying” scenes were probably 1) confession to grandpa in Hiroshima, 2) in the rain, and 3) reading the letter. I’ve seen people say he overacted in either 1) or 2).

When I first watched the Hiroshima scene, I did feel that his crying may have been a bit much because I was watching the movie with just Japanese subtitles, so I missed an important detail: Ryoichi told his mom he was going to Hiroshima to confront his past. When you consider that Ryoichi had been carrying the guilt for “causing” Maki’s kidnapping for 15 years, it was totally reasonable for him to prostrate himself in front of Grandpa. He would also be relieved when Grandpa told him the statute of limitation was over and he should forgive himself. As an aside, according to the director in the visual commentary, Yamada cried in the first take of the scene. Hirakawa said “Aren’t you crying too much?” Yamada said “OK, I’ll do another take without crying.” However, when the Director was cutting the movie together, he suddenly saw Ryoichi’s mental journey and ended up using the first take because it was the logical conclusion to the closure he got.

In the rain scene, he just learned about Kyoko’s attack. Knowing how much hurt she endured and how he did nothing to support and comfort her, he was still in a state of shock when he got knocked down. Then the dam burst and he cried hysterically. That seemed quite reasonable to me. I was more shocked that nobody checked on the guy who fell on the pavement and was crying. Pedestrians were cold! So I don’t really understand the objection to that scene. Maybe they thought this was something that happened a while ago and/or he didn’t love Kyoko that much, so he wouldn’t be that emotional?

I don’t think people have issues with the letter scene? Narratively, it made the most sense since he was close with Takahara, who was literally speaking to him from the grave via the letter. Oh, they talked about filming the letter scene in the visual commentary. Yamada was just reading the letter in silence and they added in Takahara’s narration in post production. Since he wanted to save the emotional outburst for the real take, he did not dare to look at the letter during the rehearsal.

One last thing, Yamada and Yoshine spoke in Hiroshima-ben when they were talking amongst each other. I have horrible listening skills and while I think he used some slang or phrasing, his accent still seemed mostly Kanto. It’s like if I call a bunch of people “wankers” with a Canadian accent; it doesn’t make me sound English. Maybe someone can tell me just how well (or not) he did.

Kawai Maki (Yoshine Kyoko)

I have only watched Yoshine in the drama Stay Tuned and I liked her there. She played this airhead character who could be super annoying if the balance was off, yet she came across as likeable. I think she portrayed Maki very well in this movie. Of course, I knew she was Kiokuya going in, so even at the beginning, you could see some of her subtle reactions to the Kiokuya discussions. I really liked her chemistry with Yamada - they felt like they could have been lifelong friends. While she played the annoying little sister part quite well, you could also see the pain she felt when she had to make difficult choices like erasing Nanami’s memory. Throughout the movie, you could sense her regret for what she did to Ryoichi. Her emotions in the final scene were also very raw. While Maki’s characterization was problematic, Yoshine was really good at playing that character and you might even be sympathetic towards her. Also, I feel that her Hiroshima-ben might be more on point? Some people didn’t buy that she was in love with Ryoichi the whole time. I thought the flashbacks made it pretty clear but I’ve also read the book, so there’s that.

In the visual commentary, they were talking about their various acting styles. Yoshine said she carried her emotions with her even after the director shouted cut. So when she was shooting the last scene, she was still crying furiously afterwards. Yamada said she was like an acting monster - she could get right into the emotions even during the table read. It was funny how different she is from Yamada and Renbutsu. They are the flip-the-switch type - when the director yells cut, it was like they woke up from a dream into a different world. She also apologized to Yamada when they were watching the scene where she confessed to selfishly erasing Kyoko’s memory of Ryoichi.😅

Takahara Tomoaki (Sasaki Kuranosuke)

I have not seen Sasaki’s other projects, so I had no idea what to expect. His Takahara came  across as pretty charming, easy going, and playful, though you could feel his love for his daughter and the hard decision he had to make. He also had a natural chemistry with the other cast and was very believable. While I disagree with what Takahara wanted, Sasaki’s acting as Takahara made sense. I don’t know what more to say. It is probably expected since he is a veteran and is generally well regarded as an actor.

Sawada Kyoko (Renbutsu Misako)

I have only seen Renbutsu in Hagaren. I liked her character there. I also liked how Yamada decided to break the ice with her back then by asking if she has any friends. (She had more friends than him. 😅) To be honest, there wasn’t much for her to do in this movie, although I think she was believable as the very confused Kyoko. She was apprehensive about Ryoichi in the “after” scenes, who was honestly coming across too strong. I don’t think Ryoichi & Kyoko really had crackling sexual chemistry based on the proposal scene, but they seemed like a cute couple. They were pretty cute together in the behind-the-scenes featurette when they took the “dating photos”. I wish those dates were included in the movie.

Conclusion:

As you can see above, I have some general issues about the script but I think the actors elevated the story. The movie could have been better if it streamlined some of the storylines. Right now, it was trying to go for a deeper message but the stories themselves were a bit too superficial to accomplish that. I suppose the problem was that the original novel was more like an anthology of short stories dealing with memory, so it was hard to create a through line for a movie.

[iohourtime]

Yamada Ryosuke x Nakajima Yuto: The two who melted together (anan part 1)

anan 2184 (2020.01.22)

(There are more photos and a crosstalk. I'll post part 2 when I'm done translating.)

Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yamada Ryosuke san and Nakajima Yuto san graced our magazine [on this issue]. It is the first time we had this pair on the cover of anan. As sweet as chocolate, we captured the moment when they melted together for the cover gravure. It will bring out your memories of chocolate.

Yamada Ryosuke

When he heard that this issue’s theme is chocolate, “I love it” Yamada Ryosuke san replied immediately. “There’s one type I especially like. It is a penguin shaped milk chocolate that has a bitter caramel centre; it’s a luxury item that costs 300 yen each. Since the filming of “Moeyo Ken” was really tough, when I returned to the hotel after filming, I would treat myself to 1 piece to encourage myself. On the days where I had really difficult sword fighting scenes, I ate 2 (laughs). I like it that much. If I have to give a reverse Valentine gift to hardworking women? I will use good whiskey to make a highball and spend the time together with her. Since that is someone I like, I can send my thoughts straightly. I am not very good with the type that plays games. I don’t understand people who will not confess their love because they are afraid of being turned down, when they cannot suppress their feelings in the first place.

I played Yoshimori Ryoichi in “Kiokuya: Anata wo Wasurenai”. There were scenes where I cannot hold back my feelings. “The script for that scene said ‘1 tear roll down the face’, but I cried too much. Although it was NG at one point, in the end, that was the cut that was used. Ryoichi is a blend of Yuto and I. [Ryoich’s] ridiculously earnest part is Yuto’s and the taking action once he decided part is mine. His reaction to each thing that happened in front of him was interesting to play. I don’t need Kiokuya, who can erase people’s memories. There are no memories I want to erase; it’s just too painful if I lost [the memory] of the time I spent with the group. It spanned more than half of my life and there is nothing more fun than this.”

Nakajima Yuto

In the drama “Boku ha Doko Kara”, Takeuchi Kaoru, who has the ability to copy other people’s thoughts when he writes their texts, is played by Nakajima Yuto san. “Kaoru wanted to be a novelist, but thanks to his ability, he could not write his own work. ‘What am I’ was something that confused him. In order to show that side, I asked myself the same question; didn’t I become someone who wanted to find himself? I was grateful that I could make my own choices and enjoyed my own growth process. Although having the special power was troublesome to Kaoru, I would like to have a special power. Teleportation, shapeshifting, etc will be cool. I think I will transform into someone nobody knows and walk around the city a lot.

I often received Valentine’s chocolates from the staff on the film set. “They could be expensive and the person might have lined up at the shop for a long time to get them. When I think about that, I am really thankful for [the gift]. If I were to give someone [chocolates], I will give them classy and delicate chocolates. The type where there are many flavours and are lined up one-by-one [in the box]. That way, you can eat without getting bored, and that’s how I like it too. You can hold that and take a plunge to confess in a place where there are lots of people. Since you can use the power from the people around you who would say, “do your best!” (laughs) Right now, is there someone who would buy nice chocolates for me? I think it is important to set rewards. Especially when I am so busy with work and I start to lose track of myself, spoiling me a little will bring a lot of help to me. I think giving chocolates to someone who worked really hard as a reward is great.”

The Yama who wants to be spoiled belongs to me exclusively (smiles). - Yuto

The time the two of us spent together is important. - Yama

Click here for Cross talk and more pictures.

[iohourtime]

Yamada Ryosuke: Pict Up 2020.02 (1)

[iohourtime]

Yamada Ryosuke: Pict Up 2020.02 (2)

[iohourtime]

Cover interview: Pia Movie Special 2020 Winter

Kiokuya: Synopsis

Kiokuya, translated as Memory Man or Memory Agent, is an urban legend about someone who can take away any memory you request. When university student Ryoichi proposed to his older girlfriend, Kyoko, it was the happiest day of his life. But the next day, he lost contact with Kyoko and when he found her again, she forgot everything about him. Devastated, he thought back to his childhood when Kiokuya may have erased his friend, Maki's memory too. With the help of Takahara, a lawyer and senpai, they looked for the mythical Kiokuya in an attempt to get back Kyoko's memories.

What if some memories are so horrible that they stopped someone from living? What becomes of a person when the memories are gone? What would you do for your loved ones?

* I'll translate the interviews later. Basically Yamada did so many interviews that covered similar grounds that I'll probably just do a master post.

Kiokuya movie review (from the article):

The movie "Kiokuya: Anata wo Wasurenai" (Memory Man: I won't forget you) is one that shows many sides. While the original novel is a fantasy horror, the movie has elements of suspense, love story, and human drama. Among this, it is also sometimes comical, and you may think it reminds you of something. Whether it's laughter and sadness, worries and fears - those are things that make up "life". There's nothing like a purely happy life or a purely unhappy life. There will be happy times and tough times, tears and joy. Going back to the movie, it is a story that talks about the way people are through the memories that were erased and what they wanted to erase. And speaking of life, [the movie] strikes at our hearts and once again let us realize that no matter who they are, each and every person has burdens they carry.

Yamada Ryosuke is the lead in this movie. Since he was playing a life-sized university student, Yamada may not appear too extraordinary. However, for the role of Ryoichi, he exuded a feeling that was unique to him*. That is the one thing that connects the 5 movies (including this one) where he played the lead role. Of course, this movie, style and role are different. It is different from the growth & change he showed in his character, Shiota Nagisa, in the two parter, "Ansatsu Kyoushitsu" and "Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: Sotsugyou Hen". But what is the commonality between these 5 movies? It is the nature of these roles; no matter which project, Yamada played someone who was seeking the truth, someone who was focused on his search. This movie is thus a story about the search for "Kiokuya" and the "memory that was erased". Looking back at his drama projects as well, you can see that he was a good fit with mysteries, and those are part of Yamada's qualities and charm. Within his gentleness is his capability and compassion, and above all, it is not unrelated to the charm of his beautiful eyes that projected his acceptance of the truth. He is an actor who is worth discovering and knowing the truth. Yamada Ryosuke also has such a side.

* The original text said it's "something that he can perform because he's Yamada". It sounds kinda clunky so I paraphrased it even though it's not quite the same.

[iohourtime]

Kiokuya (Memory Man) - Novel Spoiler (Part 1)

*While the most literal translation of Kiokuya (記憶屋) is “Memory Store”, XX-屋 can also refer to XX-man, like Koroshi-ya means hit man.  Since the story about a mysterious person, Kiokuya, it is more correct to go with the second translation: Memory Man.

You may have heard about Yamada Ryosuke being cast in a new movie, Kiokuya, which was adapted from the novel of the same name written by Origami Kyoya.  (Here’s the official website and twitter.)  The novel was released by Kadokawa Horror Publishing but was also described as a “love story” or “sad love story”. Yamada himself said that he read the novel and rather than it being “scary”, it’s more of a “human love story”. So what is it?

I’ve just read the Chinese version of the novel and I will summarize (and fully spoil) the plot after the cut.  I only read the novel once, so some of the plot might be a bit jumbled, but it shouldn't affect the story. (Or it’s the work of Memory Man! )  Based on the synopsis of the movie, it seems like there will be some changes to the novel. I don’t think they’ll change the ending though.  Anyway… final warning.  Close this if you don’t want to be spoiled.

Novel Spoilers are divided into 4 parts due to length. Here are the links for the other 3 parts:

Part 2 - “at present 1″, “Episode 2″, “at present 2″ Part 3 - “Episode 3″, “at present 3″ Part 4 - “Episode 4, “Epilogue”

Sorry, this ended up being almost like an abridged version of the light novel. I’ll post the remaining parts over the next week. One interesting thing is that the author is a lawyer by trade and a writer in her spare time. That’s probably why the chapter headings have legal terms. (They were originally in English to begin with.)

If you can read Chinese, here is the link for the ebook on Kobo (available to Canadians). It’s also available on books.com.tw and actual bookstores in Asia.  There is also a manga adaptation released by Gangan. You can access the sample chapter on here, which basically takes us up to the end of the first episode.  I just want to say that they could easily use Yamada’s personal wardrobe for this character.

…………

Movie Synopsis:  

University student, Yoshimori Ryoichi (Yamada), just proposed to his older lover, Sawada Kyoko (Renbutsu Misako). For some reason, he was not able to contact her the next day. A few days later, he saw Kyoko again, but she had lost all memories of Ryoichi. Unable to accept this, Ryoichi went looking for the truth about Kiokuya with his childhood friend, Kawai Maki (Yoshine Kyoko), a senpai and lawyer, Takaharu Tomoaki (Sasaki Kuranosuke). Is this the work of the urban legend, Kiokuya, a person who can take away people’s unpleasant memories.

Prologue

The first time Ryoichi heard of the Memory Man was when he was 3 years old. It seemed to be a popular folklore among the older people. Whenever one of them forgot something, his grandmother used to joke that the Memory Man must have “eaten” their memory

....

He saw a man wearing a long coat and an elementary school aged child. As the man touched her forehead, Ryoichi screamed “run”...

...

“Ryo-chan!” Maki shouted, waking him up from his slumber. His MAC was still on the urban legend forum and Maki saw this before he could close the browser.  Maki was 3 years younger than Ryoichi and was currently in high school.  They grew up across the street from each other and were very close.  

Maki said, “Oh Memory Man.  You're interested in him? You even did a timeline and everything!”

Ryoichi made some excuse about researching a paper for university about how urban legends started and spread.

Maki said, “Wow, the first sighting of Memory Man was 50 years ago?  I only heard of him about a year ago. It’s a really popular urban legend among us high school girls right now.  Do you want me to help?”

Ryoichi played it cool and pretended to be disinterested and finally managed to kick Maki out of his room.  However, he wasn’t doing this to be mean - he just wanted to protect her from finding out about Memory Man. He was very sure she was one of the three people whose memory was erased by Memory Man.  They both saw something when they were really young and Maki was inconsolable, but the next day, she was completely OK and seemed to have forgotten about it. He didn’t link this incident to Memory Man until a year ago when the second person he knew had her memory erased.  And then there was a third person.

1st Episode: Notice (1 Year Earlier)

Ryoichi was invited by his senpais to this gathering. He didn’t really want to go because he felt uncomfortable being surrounded by upperclassmen, but he went anyway. Suddenly, another senpai walked in and sat nearby. Long haired, pretty,  and carrying a pink bag, but in her hands were textbooks on psychology and neuro sciences. “Such a gap, and just my type!” Ryoichi thought.

“Are you a psychology student!?” They started chatting. They happened to both like the same baseball team, movies, etc… In other words, they totally hit it off. Ryoichi was thankful to the senpais who “forced” him to come. Then out of nowhere, Kyoko said she had to go. Ryoichi was shocked and thought it was him, but the other senpais said she didn’t usually come to these events and if she did, she would leave before it gets dark.  Ryoichi kicked himself for not even getting her email.

Luckily, they were in the same class and Ryoichi saw her again. They were chatting again and talked about the urban legends Ryoichi was looking at.  She apologized again for leaving and explained why she left so suddenly: she was scared to walk home in the dark by herself. While normally kinda passive, Ryoichi got this urge to ask her out.

“If we go watch that movie we both wanted to see right now, we can be done before dark. That's OK, right?” Ryoichi asked.

“Sorry, I can't today”

“How about Monday?”

“Sorry, I have something i need to do.”

Ryoichi was dejected.  Kyoko added “Sorry, but I am very happy you asked me.”

Ryoichi bumped into Kyoko on Monday at the hospital and she finally confessed - she had been seeing a psychologist on Monday to treat her phobia and she felt ashamed for being so scared at her age. Kyoko said, “So, do I lose any points?” Ryoichi said, “You know, let’s go watch the movie and I will walk you home.  You don’t have to be afraid.”  Kyoko agreed reluctantly.

It was dark. Ryoichi saw Kyoko pulled out a rape whistle and mace. As they walked towards her house, they passed by this dark alley. Ryoichi felt Kyoko’s body tensing, her grip on her rape whistle and mace tightened. She said (somewhat ashamed) that she was once attacked while walking down a dark alley. Even though a passerby managed to save her from being raped, she developed a crippling fear of the dark and could not walk home by herself once it got dark. She knew it was psychological and had been seeing a specialist but it did little to allay her fears.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I can just have that memory taken away?”, Kyoko said.

Ryoichi said even though he had no experience with being attacked, he swore he would help her conquer the fear.  Kyoko nonchalantly asked about his research paper on Memory Man.  She thanked him and walked into her house.

Ryoichi researched more about Memory Man for his paper. He found an urban legend forum and joined the chat group.  Usually, urban legends are based on local folklore, or a real event that was distorted.  The popular ones typically have a being with an identifiable feature or they have a scary element, i.e. something that could happen to you. Memory Man was different. It was pretty lowkey and was only popular in a specific region - his city. There were no description of memory man and he might not be bad.  “Why would senpai mention Memory Man?”

Ryoichi and Kyoko started hanging out regularly and they would stay out later and later.  8pm, 9pm, 10pm... and Ryoichi would always walk her home right to the door.  He decided one day that maybe she was ready to face her fears.  It would be like teaching a kid to ride a bike and letting go once they are riding on their own.  He said he was going to be at this student event, but when Kyoko got there, she found out he was not able to make it. (But he was checking upon her.) It was too late for her to leave before dark, so she took the subway to the nearest station. But she was petrified when it was time for her to go. She tried leaving but was too afraid and kept turning back to the station area. She finally decided she would just stay the night at the 24 hour restaurant right by the station.  Ryoichi panicked when he saw how bad her fear was. He ran up to her and she realized what was going on. Rather than be mad at him, she was just mad at herself for being weak.  

After that time, she started talking more and more about Memory Man. She became even more untouchable. Every time they walked together, she would hold her rape whistle and mace tight. She threw herself into the research of Memory Man.

Ryoichi too, started became more active in the forums when Maki disrupted him to borrow a DVD. They talked about what the high school students know about Memory Man. What’s Memory Man? A world class hypnotist? A being that can “eat” memories? If it’s all psychological, shouldn’t Kyoko senpai be able to conquer this by herself?  (Meanwhile, Maki was all like - is she your girlfriend?)

One day, Ryoichi asked if she wanted to go out. Kyoko said, “No, there is something I need to do alone.” Ryoichi knew she was trying to meet Memory Man, who supposedly only shows up to people who needs him and when they are alone. He called Kyoko later, asking her not to do anything drastic or place her hopes on this urban legend that is probably not true.  He said he would walk her home for as long as she needs.

Kyoko said “You know, it's useless. I'm paralyzed by fear. Even when I was walking with you, I was afraid every second of it. I know you are a nice guy, but even though I know you won’t hurt me, I was still nervous. My guards are up.  I am very happy you’ve been helping me get home and that you worry about me. But I can’t do it. I know I can’t face you like this. I don’t want to only look at you as someone I rely on to protect me. I want to be able to just have a normal relationship with you.”

Ryoichi wanted to tell her to trust him, but he couldn’t get the message out.  He also knew he screwed up. That he just wanted to be a knight in the shining armour for her and forgot about her actual needs. He was an idiot and an asshole.

The next night, he walked over to her place to try and apologize, then suddenly, he saw Kyoko emerged from the dark alley alone. How could this be?

He walked up to her and said “Sawada senpai. Why didn’t you come to school?”   

Kyoko looked at him and said “Sorry, who are you?”

Ryoichi was shocked. “I’m your kouhai. We are in the same class together. I walked you home before.”

Kyoko was apologetic, laughing that she didn’t realize she was too drunk to remember him walking her home. She was like a new person and even said it was not dangerous walking in the dark in the residential area, since she could just scream if anything happened.  “Your name is Yoshimori?” She confirmed and that was the end of the encounter.

The feeling of being completely erased from someone’s memory was a bombshell to Ryoichi.  He suddenly remembered an incident from the past. Maki was crying, so Ryoichi took her to her grandfather’s. The next day, he asked if she was OK, but she completely forgot. It was like the incident was wiped off her mind.  Now it was happening again with Kyoko.  He was completely gone from her memories. His chest tightened and he had this uneasy feeling, disgust even, about Memory Man.

Ryoichi saw Kyoko in class a couple of days later. She was talking with friends about going to an alumni speaker event. The speaker was a young lawyer and supposedly quite hot. Ryoichi followed her… for some reason, he didn’t have the urge to go up to her and ask her to remember him.  The lawyer, Takahara Tomoaki, told the attendants they could ask him anything.  

Ryoichi asked “If someone lost their memory and it was caused by this person, will there be consequences?”

Takahara said, “You mean, are memories protected by law? Ethically, if it was done without consent, then it is wrong. But since this is not within the boundaries of criminal law, it will not be punished.”  Kyoko had no reaction to this discussion about Memory Man at all.

Over the next year, Ryoichi never really talked to Kyoko again. He also saw her less and less. Maki started to get more grown up, but she was still hanging around Ryoichi’s room like she used to.  Did Maki’s meet the Memory Man as well? Is it possible that two people in his life had their memory erased? Ryoichi became obsessed.  

Takahara called him out of the blue. “Do you want to talk about Memory Man? You live near XXXX, let’s meet.”  

How did Takahara get his phone number and know where he lived?  He didn’t remember giving Takahara his number.  Did his memory also get erased?

Ryoichi realized he may be the third known victim of Memory Man.

Continue to part 2

[iohourtime]

Kiokuya (Memory Man) - Novel Spoiler (Part 4)

This is the last part of the recap of Kiokuya (Memory Man), the novel in which Yamada’s new movie is based on. There are obviously spoilers in here.  

All rights reserved to the author and Kadokawa.

Links to previous part(s): Part 1:  Prologue + Episode 1 Part 2: at present 1 + Episode 2 + at present 2 Part 3: Episode 3 + at present 3

Episode 4: First and Last Contact*

*This part is pretty long because I kept a lot of the conversation in the last scene. I feel that the movie is probably going to end the same way. Frankly, that is probably the only plausible ending to the story.

Ryoichi saw Kyoko talking with friends in the cafeteria. She glanced over at his direction but did not see him. He didn't feel as shell shocked as before, but he still couldn't forget it ever happened.

Ryoichi did not find another plausible case after Saza.  However, Memory Man became even more popular among the high school crowd, so the forum was flooded with new traffic. The discussions were mostly baseless speculations, although it was generally accepted that the following were the ways to contact Memory Man:

If you need him, he'll show up.

Leave a note on the message board by the train station.

Sit on the green bench at the park and wait.

One day, Ryoichi was going home from the store and decided to check out the park. There weren’t a lot of slides and stuff, plus there were a lot of tall trees, so the park was kind of secluded. There was a guy with a long coat sitting on the deep green bench with his dog.  A young high school girl approached the bench and may have made eye contact with him. Flustered, Ryoichi left immediately while wondering if the girl was trying to contact Memory Man.

Since that day, Ryoichi chose to walk home through the park to observe. Every day, there would be some high school girls nearby. They just seemed to be curious more than anything, but one day, there was a girl who looked like she was searching. He sat down next to a girl and asked if she was “waiting for someone”.

“I'm researching the Memory Man.”

Her face turned white. “That had nothing to do with me.” And she left hurriedly. Ryoichi wondered if he was being over sensitive.

…………

A week later, Ryoichi walked by the bench again and saw a familiar figure. Maki!

His heart raced, just like the first time he saw someone waiting there. This was probably just a coincidence. She just wanted to sit down for a bit.  He tried to comfort himself but he felt an unexplained terror. He didn't want to see her because if he did, he would have to confront the truth. He ran home.

…………

Ryoichi never got a response from ICO or DD. Even though the chat room had been taken over by the newbies, he went in hoping to bump into those two. He found Doctor instead, who hadn't seen them lately but thought they might just be waiting for the new people to get bored and leave.

Ryoichi wasn't so sure. Yes, ICO might not have time for this nonsense but DD totally thrived on this. A thought suddenly entered his head. Did they have their memory erased because they were getting close?! Once the idea was planted, he couldn't get it out of his head. He knew DD worked at the flower shop of Hospital K,so he had to go see for himself.

He got to the flower shop and saw the familiar had of light brown hair.  “Hey.” Ryoichi said tentatively.

“Oh welcome. Do you need help with the flowers?”

“No… I'm RYO. Do you remember me? We were in the same chat room and met once offline. We talked about urban legends.”

“Urban legends? Oh, I remember some site I didn’t visit in my browser history. It could be my brother using my computer without permission again! Maybe you mixed us up?  He sometimes pretend to be me for shits and giggles.” DD smiled.

Ryoichi felt a shiver down his spine, yet he was able to stay calm outwardly. “Can I ask you a question? Have you heard of Memory Man?”

“Sorry. Is it a movie?” Whoever he was in real life, he was no longer DD.

…………

This was the third time Ryoichi had been forgotten but he was hit just as hard as before. It was clear that DD and probably ICO’s memories were erased. Kyoko, Nanami, and now DD. They were 3 people he knew.  Was it a coincidence? He had this uneasy feeling that Memory Man was onto him. He couldn't even talk to ICO and DD since they forgot about the investigation and him!

Ryoichi went for a walk to clear his head and ended up at the park. He ran into that girl at the bench from the other night.

“Sorry, do you remember me?  I asked you about Memory Man before.”

“The popular urban legend?  I'm not interested in these weird stuff.” She replied with a shrug.

Another one.  Ryoichi was so freaked out he couldn't move. And then he looked over at the bench and saw her.

“Maki…”

“Ryo-chan!” Ryoichi felt a sense of danger. If all the people around him were getting their memory erased, who will be next?  Maki trotted over to him without a care.  

“Are you going home?  Let's go together!”  Ryoichi let Maki grab his arm. He looked at her smiling face and told himself not to be scared.

…………

Ten years ago, Maki’s parents were renovating their house so they temporarily moved in with her paternal grandparents. Her maternal grandparents also rented an apartment nearby. One evening after dinner, Ryoichi walked her home to her other grandparents.

Since their moms were best friends, Ryoichi and Maki were like family. Ryoichi took her upstairs to her mom and they heard a conversation they were not supposed to hear.

“We shouldn't see each other alone again.”

“Um. Please tell Maki for me…”

Ryoichi still remember Maki’s face, how hard she was trying not to cry. That was the first time, and probably the last time he saw Maki so heartbroken. Because she forgot all about it the next day.

…………

Ryoichi sat on the green bench. Maybe if he just sat there, he could prevent another person from being Memory Man’s victim? He couldn't help thinking about ICO and DD. How could Memory Man know about them?  Was he or she someone close to him? Maybe someone in the original chat group? It must be someone who knew about the investigation!

Thinking back to the first sighting from 50 years ago, it seemed incredulous that Memory Man, who was probably elderly, to be spying on them online. Maybe there were more than one person?

Memory Man is good at investigation, could be female… could it be ICO? Was she stringing us along the whole time? Then again, it could have been anybody. If that person had marked Ryoichi, would Maki be in trouble?  He couldn't bear to think about Maki having her memory erased again.

The dream. The recurring nightmare. What does it mean?  Although Maki is no longer a child, if Memory Man strikes, there's nothing she can do against him! Don't be scared again. Don't run away like last time. Like I did in the dream.

“Ryo-chan?” Ryoichi looked up. Maki was standing in front of him.

“I'm waiting for someone.” “Who?” “I'm not sure…” Ryoichi must have confused the heck out of her “... hold up, I'm actually waiting for you!”

“Huh? Why?” Maki asked.

I have to do it. Ryoichi thought. Talk to her.  Ask her.  Stop hiding.

“You know you could meet Memory Man if you sit on this bench.” Ryoichi started gently.

“Oh, you mean that rumour? Yeah, it is harder to find someone at school who doesn’t know about this.” Maki replied.

“Are you trying to look for Memory Man?”  Maki did not speak, nor did she look at Ryoichi.  Ryoichi knew he got his answer.  

“I am not going to ask what you want with him. I just want you to know that if you make the request, that memory will be completely erased from your mind. Do you know how that feels? Just because you don’t remember, it doesn’t mean it never happened. Don’t you find that…” Fear, sadness, loneliness. Ryoichi remembered how he felt when Kyoko forgot about him.  “I just want you to think carefully about it. You can’t undo it. I know I am selfish, but those memories make a part of you. If they are gone, you are not 100% you anymore. I don’t want any part of you to disappear.”

Is he too late? Can he still talk Maki out of this destructive decision? He didn’t know where to begin or how to convince her.

“I thought you don’t believe this urban legend.” Maki said.

“I don’t believe in the story. I know.” Ryoichi came clean about everything. “Maybe you don’t remember, but you met him when you were a kid. I was walking you home after dinner.  We saw something that made you very upset. I remember how hard you were crying. All I knew was that I couldn’t leave you there, so I took you to your Grandpa Sugawara’s apartment building and saw you walk through the gates. The next day, you didn’t remember a thing. You even asked me what was wrong with me. I was very scared and thought maybe you were in shock and forgot about it, but now I know you must have met Memory Man.”

Ryoichi tried to convince Maki with logic. “Maybe you think this was ancient history and since you don’t actually remember, it is no big deal. But don’t you find this horrifying? That someone could take something as important as memory from you with or without your consent? I am sorry I am rambling… but I just want to tell you everything before you decide to meet Memory Man.”

Ryoichi wasn’t sure he could convince Maki. “Yes, while I am very worried about you, on the other hand, if you have your memories taken away, I know I will feel repulsed, and scared…”

“Are you scared?” Maki asked. Ryoichi knew he had to tell her the truth if he hoped to convince her.

“I had this dream of you with him. He put his hand to your forehead. My heart was screaming at me to grab you and run, but I always wake up at this point. When I think about it, I must have seen the exact moment when your memory was erased.” Ryoichi finally told Maki what he had tried to keep from her for the last year. But wait… the original incident happened when Maki was 5 or 6. In the dream, Maki looked around 10 or 11.  Did she met him twice?  He paused to think.

“What do you know about this urban legend?” After being silent for so long, Maki suddenly asked.

“I just know from the internet. The meeting places, how you pass along the message, etc. Oh, and that Memory Man could be a tall, thin man… or a woman. Wearing a grey jacket.”

“And Memory Man will erase the memories of those people who joked around with the request, right? There are so many theories. ‘Memory Man eats your memory’, ‘You won’t remember your encounter with Memory Man’, ‘Once the memory is gone, it won’t come back’, ‘Memory Man cannot erase his own memory.’” Maki listed what she heard before.

Ryoichi was surprised. Of course he heard some of them, but Maki’s research was very detailed.  So she was that serious about her search for Memory Man?

“Oh, that conversation? Even though I don’t remember, I knew what it was about. We heard my mom and dad talking right?” Maki said.  Ryoichi stared at her. Maki smiled slightly and continued.

“Just like you said. My mom had an affair with my uncle. I found out about it when I was in junior high.” It dawned on Ryoichi - Maki tried to get her memory erased again at that time. “I knew my mom stopped the affair already and she gets along with my dad now. I just cannot look at her the same way even though I don’t blame her anymore. So I asked him to do it… He refused.”

“Refused…?” Maki nodded. “That was when he told me about the first incident.”

So Maki knew all along. She was just pretending. Ryoichi knew why she might hide the fact that she met Memory Man.  He was just laughing at himself for foolishly thinking he could protect her.

“He said I was too young and he had no choice but to make me forget. But in the second time, I was already old enough to think for myself so he refused. He didn’t want to use his powers easily because it cannot be undone.” Ryoichi knew it was hopeless. Maki had already decided.

“Ryo-chan, you do remember.” Ryoichi looked baffled. “You just said you saw it in your dreams.”

“It’s true that memories will not coming back. He told me that second time.” Maki said.

Why would Memory Man tell Maki all this?  Ryoichi was confused, but he only managed to ask, “You actually remember Memory Man?”

“He was my favourite person. Ryo-chan remembered him too.” Maki smiled sadly with tears in her eyes. “It was Grandpa Sugawara.”

Ryoichi had always thought things would be different had he walked her to her grandpa’s door. Turn out it wouldn’t have mattered.

“The last time Grandpa erased someone’s memory was 30 years before that night. When I asked him that second time, he refused. Shortly after, he died. I think I may have been the last one he used his powers on.”

“Then in my dream… that man with you, was that Grandpa Sugawara?”

“No… he was someone unimportant.” Maki said.

Why? Why was I trying to tell her to run? Ryoichi thought as he sank back on the bench. “I always thought he did something to me too…” Maki shook her head.

“No… it was me. Grandpa didn’t eat your memories. You have met Memory Man many times. You don’t remember?” Ryoichi was so shocked he couldn’t even nod.

“I took them just in case.  The first time was a failure though; that’s why you keep having those dreams.” Maki looked like she gave up. “They said Memory Man only appears at dusk…well, I have school! And the long grey jacket? It is the school jacket. The bench story was around for a while, and the message board? I’m not sure how that got out, but I did take a few requests that way. I’ve met ICO, by the way. I also met the guy who worked at the flower shop in the hospital… I was getting worried since it looks like you have found Memory Man.”

“So, the Memory Man I have been looking for was…”

“Sorry, Ryo-chan.”  Maki looked like she would break down and cry. Ryoichi didn’t know what to do.  He was more stupid than he thought. He was worried about Maki trying to find Memory Man. She hadn’t been looking at all.

“I feel differently about my powers. I was given a gift and I should use it. That man you saw in your dream, Ryo-chan? That was my first client. Unfortunately you saw me, so I had to erase your memory. That was the first time. The second time was after you started your investigation into Kyoko-san’s incident. I really don’t want to erase the memory of someone I know… but my efforts were wasted anyway. You kept looking. I was going to do it again, but I was so afraid and delayed doing it.”

“You felt afraid?”

“Yes, I was afraid.”  Then why did you do it? Ryoichi thought to himself.  Maki interrupted his thoughts.

“If someone asked me for help and I have the power, then why shouldn’t I? That’s my life purpose. I know this is serious so I only erase what is necessary and no more.” Maki looked at Ryoichi as if she was begging him to understand.

“I am not afraid when I erase other people’s memory since I appear before them as Memory Man. But you are different. I am Kawai Maki in front of you. You know everything about me.” Ryoichi saw a glimpse of the Maki he knew; the one he felt compelled to protect. He also knew he had been useless.

“I don’t blame you. I know you had to do what you think you need to do. I just want you to think about it.” He knew she was hurting inside and thought she had no choice with her mission. He wanted to get through and help her see the other side.

“I know those people really wanted the memories to be gone. I agree with you. But some of those bad memories could eventually transform into fond memories. Or they could become the catalyst for something different. Those people could change their minds in a few years. Having these gaps could prevent them from doing what they were supposed to do in life.”

“Ryo-chan. Were you sad when Kyoko-san forgot about you?”

“It was painful but not enough for me to want to forget meeting her. It’s a choice. I am allowed to choose to remember, right?”

“I knew you would say that, Ryo-chan.  I guess I am giving them a second chance. The slate is wiped clean. But is a second chance really useful?”  Ryoichi was shocked to hear that coming from Memory Man.

“Kyoko-san is no longer afraid of the dark, but what if she gets attacked again? Then what I did would be pointless. Ando Nanami may have forgotten Takahara-sensei, but what if she meets another person she couldn’t live without? Kaname and Misao can try rebuilding their friendship. Maybe this time Misao will fall in love with a different boy. Or she falls in love with Kaname again and their friendship is over. Or maybe Kaname feels different this time? All these what if’s!  I never felt confident I actually helped. And why do other people have this choice and I don’t?”

“Maki…”

“Because I am the Memory Man, I cannot erase my own memory. People can happily forget but I cannot. I have to bear their burdens each time I erase their memories. Even when the person I care about forget about our time together, I still have to remember.” Maki wiped her tears from her eyes. “Grandpa is gone! Is this my punishment?”

Ryoichi wished he could help her. “Perhaps you have done enough already. Don’t force yourself to continue. I know you have the power but you don’t have to use it, right? I know I am an idiot but I want to protect you. I don’t know what I can do so tell me? Do you really want to keep going with your mission? Let me help.”  Ryoichi didn’t know what else to say. “Maki… don’t cry.” He pulled her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulders.

“No, Ryo-chan, I don’t need your protection. Really.” Ryoichi held Maki tighter.  “Just once… can you like me?”

Ryoichi didn’t even have time to think about what she meant. He just saw a fog enveloping the surroundings and a white light broke through.

Epilogue

Yoshimori Ryoichi came to his senses and was surprised to see himself sitting at the park holding a sobbing girl in his embrace.  He looked and saw his neighbour, a girl who was like his little sister.

“Maki?” Ryoichi had not seen Maki cry like that before. In his mind, she was always a sunny girl. “Maki, are you ok?” But Maki would not stop. “OK, OK…. Don’t cry… I don’t know what to do when you cry.”  He didn’t know why, but he felt his heart breaking for her.

Maki was still sobbing and muttered something. Ryoichi thought he heard her say “I’m sorry.”

<The End>

My comments

So that was kinda of sad, right? I suppose they could have gone with a happier ending but it will be a cop out. What do you think? Anyway, thanks for reading till the end. I wish I could be a bit more concise in the recap, but oh well.

[iohourtime]

Kiokuya (Memory Man) - Novel Spoiler (Part 3)

This is a continuation of the recap of Kiokuya (or Memory Man), the novel written by Origami Kyoya that Yamada Ryosuke’s new movie is adapted from. Since the novel has not been published in English, I’m posting a semi-detailed summary / recap of the story for anyone who wanted to know what this “horror” story is about. (Seriously, it’s not horror.)  There are obviously spoilers but it sounds like the movie will definitely change some of the plot. I made a couple of comments.  

All rights reserved to the author and Kadokawa.

Links to previous part(s): Part 1:  Prologue + Episode 1 Part 2: at present 1 + Episode 2 + at present 2

Episode 3: Calling for Moratorium*

*This chapter covers the story between Kaname and Misao. Ryoichi and Maki do not pop up until the “at present segment”, but there are some parallels. One thing I can't quite capture with the recap is Ryoichi & Maki’s relationship since their interactions are sprinkled throughout the book. I tried to add some of the Maki scenes even when it's not too relevant. The gist is that Ryoichi clearly saw Maki as a little sister but Maki could be jealous because her “big brother” was “taken” by another girl or she had a crush on him.

Also, since I don't have the manga, I don't know the official pronunciation for the names. The main characters should be fine because I got them from the sample manga.

Saza Misao was the one who brought Sekiya Kaname out of loneliness but she was also the one who pushed him back into the abyss.  They had known each other since childhood when Misao and her family moved next door.  His first impression of her was that she looked like a boy.  Her first impression of him was that he didn’t smile. There was a reason for it - Kaname’s mom just left the family for a younger man, only visiting her son once or twice a year.

Even though Kaname was aloof, Misako's sunny nature soon warmed his heart and they started doing everything together. Kaname had problems remembering Misao's name at first, so he called her Saza.

At that time, Kaname's uncle Masa was living with him and his dad. Since Kaname's dad threw himself at work and his mom only saw him once or twice a year, Masa and Misao were basically his only family. He only ever smiled when he was with them. That was something his uncle noticed too and he was grateful for his nephew's bubbly friend, whom Kaname saw as a boy.

Misao's family moved away after 3 years and Masa also found work with room and board provided. Still, he would come and help out at his beloved nephew's house.  When Kaname was in grade 4, Misao moved back. To him, even though she kept her short hair, she now looked like a girl.  They were still the best of friends when they were both 15.  Since Kaname was very quiet, his reserved nature had been interpreted by his classmates as a “mysterious aura”, so a lot of girls were interested in him.  At least that was what Misao told him. She had turned into a pretty young woman but she was still as warm as before and remained Kaname’s best (and only) friend.

One day, there was a trio of girls waiting for Kaname and gave him a letter asking him to go to the west staircase after school. He knew what was going to happen.

“I've been watching you in the library. I like you”, said the girl.

“Sorry. Can I go now?” Kaname replied coldly.

“Are you rejecting me because of Saza?”

“No, this has nothing to do with her.” Kaname was baffled that he had to explain himself. “I'm not dating Saza. I'm just not interested.” He turned around and left the girl. He just felt gross about the encounter.

………...

Kaname met his mom. Ever since she left them, she started to use more makeup and perfume. While he didn't hate her, he felt a headache whenever he had to see her. These girls / women said they liked our loved him but they didn't know him at all. Why was it so easy for them? He just felt disgusted.

………...

“Kaname”, Misao called out to him. What was she doing here? “Wait. Don't go yet!”

………..

Masa noticed Kaname acting strangely. He was trying to find out but his nephew just clamped up. Changing the topic, he asked, “Where's Misao?” “Who knows. It's not like we are in the same class.” Kaname replied coldly.

Masa bumped into Misao a couple of days later and tried to find out what happened. Misao didn't answer but kept a forced smile on her face. “I wonder if it is my fault.” Masa thought.

…………

“Masa! How are you?” Misao greeted him warmly yet another few days later. It seemed like whatever troubled her was gone.

“It's great to see you so happy. Do you want to come over to Kaname’s place for a cup of tea?  I don't think he's home yet but I have a key.” Masa said.

“Kaname… san? Who's he?” Misao replied.

What's going on? Masa thought.  At that moment, Kaname appeared.

“Oh, are you Kaname-kun? Nice to meet you.” Misao smiled brightly.

…………

Misao completely forgot about Kaname while remembering everything else. Her parents took her to the neurologist but they couldn't find anything wrong in the CT scans.

“I know you have some idea what happened,” Masa asked his nephew.

“No clue. I need to do homework.”

Masa watched his nephew and thought. “You must know that Misao liked you.  You must feel hurt at being forgotten.”

~~~~~~~~

Two months ago, Misao told Masa about her feelings for Kaname had grown beyond just friendship. “But I don’t think he sees me that way. I thought about confessing, but…” Misao was confused about what she should do.

Masa knew that his nephew was affected by his mother’s abandonment. Although they saw each other, he was always disgusted at how his mother changed. In some way, Kaname had associated love with these negative feelings towards his mother.  Masa knew how well Kaname and Misao got along and was hoping Kaname would find happiness with Misao.  He did not expect Misao to be rejected so heartlessly as well.

Coming out of his reverie, he saw a girl wearing a uniform visiting Misao. “She must be a classmate.”

~~~~~~~~

Masa went “home” more often to check on his nephew, whose only friend, the only person who could make him smile, had now become a stranger. He heard someone knocking on the door.

“Hi, it’s Misao! Mom asked me to bring over all this food.” Misao said cheerfully.

“Oh, do you want to join us?” Masa invited.

“Sorry, I already ate, but next time, tell me all about Kaname. I heard we were good friends since childhood and I think if we talk, I could get some memories back!”  To Kaname, “I’m really sorry I forgot about you…”

“It’s not your fault.” Kaname said without feelings.

“If we are such good friends, it is a shame that I cannot remember. I will try very hard to remember, Kaname-kun.”  Misao said before she left.

While Misao was still the friendly, kind girl she had always been, she no longer had that unspoken understanding with Kaname.

…………

“Are you OK with that?” Masa asked Kaname. “That she forgot about you.  Don’t you want to know why that happened?”  Kaname said he didn’t want to know and that there was nothing they could do.

“Is it the Memory Man?” A gentle female voice asked. “It’s the Memory Man erasing her memory at her request.”

“That’s just an urban legend.” Kaname said.

“Do you regret? Do you regret rejecting her?”  This person asked.

“... Even if she said the same thing to me know, I would still reject her. I have never wanted to think of Saza as a love interest.”

“Oh…. I think she knew as well.” The person left.

“Is that true?” Masa asked Kaname.

“When Saza confessed to me, all I thought was that I never expected it from her. I don’t want a relationship with anyone, I thought she was special and that she understood. I felt betrayed because of all people, I never wanted her to confess.”

“You didn’t say that to her, right?” Masa was alarmed.

“No, but I turned her down coldly. I always thought we could stay the same way forever, but one little ‘I love you” changed all that. We could no longer go back to our original relationship.  Every time I see her, I can only think about this… betrayal.” Kaname said.  “But I hurt her. I hurt her so much that she erased me from her memory.”

Masa knew that of all people, Misao would understand Kaname’s dilemma. She did not ask Memory Man to erase her memory because she couldn’t handle the rejection. She wanted to give Kaname what he wanted - a way to go back, but she couldn’t forget her love for him.  The only solution was to wipe Kaname off her mind, along with the love that was built over many years.  This way, they had a shot of starting over as friends without all the complications and hurt that came from her confession.  She did that because Kaname was her most important friend.

Kaname bowed his head. He didn’t know what to think.  All he knew was that tears were flowing from his eyes.

…………

Kaname was looking out the window and saw Misao talking with friends at school.  “I never wanted you to forget me.” His heart was filled with remorse.

“But it is too late.” Kaname remembered this low female voice. “If the memory is gone, it will never come back. But this was her wish.” She said. “Don’t try to make her remember you. It won’t happen. Right now you are just neighbours. Maybe if you try, you can be friends again?  Think of this as a second chance. The feelings of love is gone to make way for a lasting, platonic friendship. Then again, maybe she would fall in love with you again.”  She laughed and added “If that happens again, I can help you ‘eat’ those feelings again!”  She left Kaname alone to his thoughts.

Looking at Misao, Kaname made a decision. He walked to the school yard and said hello to Misao, albeit somewhat stiffly.  Misao gave him a bright smile.

at present 3

When Kaname let Ryoichi in, he listened to Ryoichi’s story. Ryoichi was worried Kaname would find his story incredulous, but turn out he did not have to worry...

“She did it for me. Even though I didn’t want her to do that, but do I have the right to be angry? I was the one who desperately wanted our relationship to go back to normal at first.”

Although Kaname was filled with regret when he told his side of the story, Ryoichi did not sense any anger at Memory Man.  They went over to Misao’s house to talk. Ryoichi kept to his cover as a university student doing a research paper on Memory Man.

“Memory Man? That is a popular urban legend at school, but it sounds kind of ridiculous.  Oh, you don’t want to ask me what I know about this story? You want to hear about how I lost my memory? It’s not too exciting.”  Misao said apologetically. “Well, when I first lost my memory of Kaname, my friends were all like ‘Memory Man erased your memory!’ But I don’t believe he exists.” Ryoichi was surprised at how nonchalantly she was talking about this.

“It is such a shame I forgot all about our friendship from before, but we are pretty good friends now, so I don’t feel like I’ve really lost anything.” She added. “Besides, I would never want to do that. Even if I am sad, I want to learn from this pain. I will never ask anyone to take away my memory.”

Ryoichi couldn’t really respond to her.  After they finished talking, he went back to Kaname’s apartment to ask about the person who bothered her before.  The description definitely sounded like ICO and Ryoichi promised to try and get her to stop coming around to harass Misao.  Before he left, he asked Kaname. “Most people who spoke with Memory Man cannot remember what he looked like. Do you remember anything?”

“I can’t remember much but I got this feeling it’s a woman.  It’s weird. I don’t remember anything else, but I have this strong feeling I spoke to a woman.”

Ryoichi had always imagined Memory Man to be a guy. Perhaps it was that recurring dream about Maki and the tall man in a coat. “Could he or she have controlled your memory? Rewritten it in the way he or she wanted to be remembered?”  Kaname wasn’t sure.  

“But if he or she can erase your encounter as well, why would there be these bits and pieces in your head? Maybe Memory Man’s powers are not very stable?  Or maybe he or she wanted people to remember a just enough so that the urban legend can spread?  Then, why was all my memory of the encounter wiped?” Ryoichi asked rhetorically. “Maybe somehow, Memory Man was worried about my investigation and decided to use more force?”

………...

When Ryoichi got home, his mom had a mysterious smile on her face.  “Maki said your older girlfriend was looking for you.  Oh, she said you were out meeting another younger woman.  Son, you need to pace yourself.”

That uninvited visitor must be ICO. If she was not sending information by email, she must have found something important that must be discussed face-to-face.  He walked upstairs and found Maki in his room.  “Why are you still here?”

“I am spying on you to make sure you are not bringing strange woman back to your room!” Maki said, glaring at him. “Your girlfriend from last time came to see you. I wish I told her you were out with another girl!”

“Not my girlfriend. Neither one.” Ryoichi decided to tell her part of the truth. “Remember I was researching Memory Man for the school project? I was just interviewing people who have unexplained memory losses.  She basically forgot all about her childhood best friend.”

“Childhood friend? Kinda like us.”  Maki said, looking into Ryoichi’s eyes.  “...I think I understand her feelings.”

“Don’t you think it is wrong? After your memory is erased, it is not something you can get back even if you have second thoughts later on.” Ryoichi said.

“I guess… But if it were me… if I can erase that memory, I will. Not because I find the rejection tough to swallow… it is because I want to be with the person I love, even if this is the only way that will give me a chance.”

Did Maki have these ideas because she was speculating after hearing Misao and Kaname’s story? Or was she already thinking about this sort of thing?  Ryoichi was not sure.

…………

After Maki left, Ryoichi emailed ICO and DD to report back. He didn’t go back to the chat room.

ICO and DD never responded.

Continue to part 4.