Yakou (Morimi Tomihiko Novel)

[Cosmic Eagle]

http://www.shogakukan.co.jp/pr/morimi/index.html#story


Author interview

YouTube

https://youtu.be/rMPyQHZjpHo

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Uchouten Kazoku author Morimi Tomihiko's latest work. It has been receiving high praise and has bagged the 7th Hiroshima Book Award. I can say the atmosphere in this book is amazing, although being personally familiar with the places involved as setting admittedly adds a lot to the impact I got from it.

The genre is coming of life drama (seishun) in the form of kaidan (horror/mystery) fantasy.

plot as follows:

Spoiler for plot:

10 years ago, Hasegawa and her friends went to the Fire Festival at Kurama but in the midst of it, she suddenly vanished without trace. Now, the 5 friends left behind prepare once more to return to the Fire Festival. During those 10 years,
the 5 of them had strange encounters involving a mysterious image with the silhouette of a girl title "yakou" that involves Hasegawa herself in certain ways; not one of them could forget her. Now, it seems they may finally meet her again.

[Kunagisa]

I ... do not understand why this is so highly rated. Is it because of the imagery of being familiar with the places? I do enjoy the atmosphere, but the ending is so unsatisfactory to me BECAUSE I saw on the website that there are multiple interpretation. That. And I'm too stupid to figure out how anyone even come to any factual answers in the first place? Are there any hints that I'm missing or are the answers just pure guessing?

How did you answer the questions on the website? I can't even answer a single one of them (maybe except the last one, which to me is just a resounding NO). The entire time is just a whole lot of "wtf did I just read??" It does not help that I thought Oohashi and Hasegawa would get together. This is one of those books that I think the animated form would work better because I would enjoy seeing the scenes in motion. But still ... wtf did I read?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Am on the Tsugaru chapter now so I cannot say definitively but so far I can say the main draw for me besides the atmosphere and familarity of the places is the drama with Hasegawa more than the kaidan aspect. None of the narrators seem reliable in their POVs and thus the whole thing seems like a dream that everyone is stuck in. You are drawn to read on partly because of that and also more and more by the relationship everyone had 10 years ago....if you see it as a Fatal Frame plotline then it's kinda like that I guess.

as for the questions

1) I...actually do not think that's the hotel guy's wife.....until now I think she's actually possessed somehow by Hasegawa (assuming Kurama chapter does not have anything that explicitly negates any supernatural stuff). Why? Because of the way the house is described to be run down and utterly deserted. Where did she disappeare off to the first time we see her?

As for the hotel guy's own story... I get the feeling he was either a possessive guy who ended up murdering her and was lying about the train accident....or his wife was already influenced by Hasegawa/ the "night" etc then.


2)This whole point feels like representative of a turning point in Nakai's character. The way it happens though, makes me feel it can't be anything but supernatural. I mean she could have been lured there by the hotel guy for an affair because she was dissatisfied with Nakai but ended up being abused like the hotel guy's wife but face it.... nothing adds up. Nakai appeared to flat out murder the hotel man and disappear back into the house with his wife. Yet the MC says he's been in contact with them all this while and they were in Tokyo? How did he get away with murder and why did he abandon that house he had a hard on for. Clearly the MC is also dreaming there.


3) IMO, Takeda and Miya. It is those two who were eaten into the "Night".... and again...is that really Miya or Hasegawa....

4) At the tunnel where Takeda saw Not(!) Miya/ Hasegawa. Am quite certain they never made it to Oku Hida


Rest I have not yet covered

[Ii_chan]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Am on the Tsugaru chapter now so I cannot say definitively but so far I can say the main draw for me besides the atmosphere and familarity of the places is the drama with Hasegawa more than the kaidan aspect. None of the narrators seem reliable in their POVs and thus the whole thing seems like a dream that everyone is stuck in. You are drawn to read on partly because of that and also more and more by the relationship everyone had 10 years ago....if you see it as a Fatal Frame plotline then it's kinda like that I guess.

as for the questions

1) I...actually do not think that's the hotel guy's wife.....until now I think she's actually possessed somehow by Hasegawa (assuming Kurama chapter does not have anything that explicitly negates any supernatural stuff). Why? Because of the way the house is described to be run down and utterly deserted. Where did she disappeare off to the first time we see her?

As for the hotel guy's own story... I get the feeling he was either a possessive guy who ended up murdering her and was lying about the train accident....or his wife was already influenced by Hasegawa/ the "night" etc then.


2)This whole point feels like representative of a turning point in Nakai's character. The way it happens though, makes me feel it can't be anything but supernatural. I mean she could have been lured there by the hotel guy for an affair because she was dissatisfied with Nakai but ended up being abused like the hotel guy's wife but face it.... nothing adds up. Nakai appeared to flat out murder the hotel man and disappear back into the house with his wife. Yet the MC says he's been in contact with them all this while and they were in Tokyo? How did he get away with murder and why did he abandon that house he had a hard on for. Clearly the MC is also dreaming there.


3) IMO, Takeda and Miya. It is those two who were eaten into the "Night".... and again...is that really Miya or Hasegawa....

4) At the tunnel where Takeda saw Not(!) Miya/ Hasegawa. Am quite certain they never made it to Oku Hida


Rest I have not yet covered

ch. 2.
from personal interpreted, they actually have crash accident on road and the mc and the woman died. I got hint from the mc's friend who said 'don't sleep or I'll sleep too' dialogue.

and ch 1. I thought the mc killed himself. I don't know, maybe they hallucinating when they watching the wife killed herself when they on that night train and the mc really killed her wife.

So, my current theory maybe in prologue they already died and that was their ghost that visited kurama matsuri like when ghost killers gathering on Halloween night in AHS maybe

Don't really understand the story but I liked the atmosphere and yeah familiarity like when you wakes up on afternoon and seeing no one on the house. some words has nostalgic moments.

anyone recommend me another book like this? I only know the author from uchouten kazoku/tatami or that mijikai, so it is really surprising how this different from those works.


and am I the only one who afraid with 一軒家 after read this novel?

[Cosmic Eagle]

More like weird hotels rather than 一軒家 lol


In the after world....there's only endless night holidays

[Cosmic Eagle]

I'll add another question myself actually....

How much collateral damage (ie, people not part of the original group who went to Kurama Fire Matsuri) occured?

[Ii_chan]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

I'll add another question myself actually....

How much collateral damage (ie, people not part of the original group who went to Kurama Fire Matsuri) occured?

what you mean?

finally finished. I already read some impression about this book on japan blog and ready to not expecting some answers but this

someone please tells me what is going on.

Spoiler:

from what I understand, theres's two world right. like flash univ. earth-1 and earth-2. in here, yakou and shouko.
so, incidentally oohashi teleported from yakou world to shouko world. but, what the answer from the other story?
1. in onomichi, is the man also teleported?
2. in whatever mountain, is the man also teleported?
3. in snow country, is the woman also teleported?
4. and in train.

and Hasegawa disappeared because she teleported to shouko world?
explain please

and is this parallel with Uchouten kazoku because in this week episode, yasaburo also got ended up on hell drawing?

'the world already night'

[Kunagisa]

If you're looking for answers, then whatever you come up with is probably right. Yes, this answer sucks, but since the homepage say there are multiple interpretations so you cannot be wrong. Rather than what is real, I'm more wondering what is the point? How are the people in the group not freaked out by what the others did? Some of the actions are just straight criminal acts. The whole time jump thing does not help one bit.

I think the last case is supposed to give the biggest hint but I need to reread this. If I have to choose, I say the world with the Yakou paintings is the real one.

[Ii_chan]

Originally Posted by Kunagisa

If you're looking for answers, then whatever you come up with is probably right. Yes, this answer sucks, but since the homepage say there are multiple interpretations so you cannot be wrong. Rather than what is real, I'm more wondering what is the point? How are the people in the group not freaked out by what the others did? Some of the actions are just straight criminal acts. The whole time jump thing does not help one bit.

I think the last case is supposed to give the biggest hint but I need to reread this. If I have to choose, I say the world with the Yakou paintings is the real one.

yeah, that. I also pretty confusing how their action is pretty calm even their situation is straight out horror or odd/strange.

even the ending like this, but seems like japanese fans like this book.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Ii_chan

what you mean?

finally finished. I already read some impression about this book on japan blog and ready to not expecting some answers but this

someone please tells me what is going on.

Spoiler:

from what I understand, theres's two world right. like flash univ. earth-1 and earth-2. in here, yakou and shouko.
so, incidentally oohashi teleported from yakou world to shouko world. but, what the answer from the other story?
1. in onomichi, is the man also teleported?
2. in whatever mountain, is the man also teleported?
3. in snow country, is the woman also teleported?
4. and in train.

and Hasegawa disappeared because she teleported to shouko world?
explain please

and is this parallel with Uchouten kazoku because in this week episode, yasaburo also got ended up on hell drawing?

'the world already night'

I mean did all those random people involved in each of the chapters actually die.....did they actually even exist....? Are they still stuck in the Night? Not the main characters but those with them. nobody not part of the main cast ever sees some of them again (as far as you know). Are these people not even missed?

[Ii_chan]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

I mean did all those random people involved in each of the chapters actually die.....did they actually even exist....? Are they still stuck in the Night? Not the main characters but those with them. nobody not part of the main cast ever sees some of them again (as far as you know). Are these people not even missed?

oh that. I don't know too.
from what I understand, the peoples aside MCs is involved because they saw the painting too. Like the hotelman, woman with MC (just these two that saw painting on cafe), the woman and her friend's husband also involved because they saw painting at gallery.

[Cosmic Eagle]

https://twitter.com/comyu_c/status/883160514821476352

Yakou manga released it seems

[Ii_chan]

Penguin Highway already got anime. hope Yakou will be next

[Cosmic Eagle]

Morimi's stuff may have been prime anime bait but I still wouldn't hold my breath lol