Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Episode 5 (TV Drama)
From Behind (背中の正面, Senaka no Shōmen, lit. The Front of the Back) is the fifth episode of NHK's Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan TV drama series, released on December 28, 2021. It adapts the "Cheap Trick" story arc from Diamond is Unbreakable.
Rohan Kishibe meets Masazo Kinoto, a businessman who constantly hides his back from sight. Curious, Rohan commits the mistake of looking at Kinoto's back and is assailed by a strange phenomenon.
Summary
In an effort to research yokais and other supernatural phenomena, Kyoka Izumi heads towards an isolated alley bearing the sign Hirasaka (平坂, lit. "Flat Hill"). She is disappointed to see that the alley isn't a hill and therefore seemingly doesn't qualify as a boundary with the supernatural as Rohan Kishibe described it. She takes out her tablet and reads on a blog that one mustn't "look back" in this alley when hearing the Kagome Kagome song or else be unable to ever leave. Kyoka is startled when she hears the Toryanse tune play at the crosswalk nearby and turns back, but nothing happens. Frustrated at this seemingly false lead, Kyoka walks forwards until she notices that the tune has changed. Several hands appear behind Kyoka, ready to grab her, but though she notices that something's behind her and almost looks back, she's distracted by a call from the editor-in-chief asking for a meeting report due tomorrow and she rushes back to work.
Later, Kyoka goes to Rohan's house. Seeing Rohan packing his bag, she assumes that he is getting ready to move out and declares that she'll help him keep his house. Rohan responds with sarcasm about Kyoka's concern over his home. When Kyoka says that she loves the house and its calm atmosphere, Rohan irritatedly tells her to stop treating his home like a cafe. Rohan tells her he's only leaving to gather references and will be back in a few days. He is due to give his next chapter in two days but Rohan is confident he can quickly complete by the next day. Kyoka asks him if he'll be going to Mutsu-kabe Hill Village, surprising Rohan. She mentions her extensive research on sloped places rumored to be haunted, and Rohan offhandedly compliments her intuition.
When Kyoka mentions that she's found next to nothing about Mutsu-kabe Hill, Rohan retorts that it makes the location more credible because it indicates that there is a taboo to write or even talk about the place. Kyoka shows Rohan her list of urban legends and other stories involving hills, commenting that she had just visited a place that was all flat even though it had "hill" in its name. Rohan explains that the "hill" (坂) is a wordplay on the word "boundary" (境目), with occult rules such as "Don't look back" being tied to the locations. Kyoka enthusiastically mentions a cursed hill where if one trips, then they will die in ten years. Exasperated, Rohan throws Kyoka out of the house to be able to draw and give his draft tomorrow. He angrily refuses Kyoka's list of supernatural places, puts her handbag on her arm, and closes the door shut. Frustrated, Kyoka goes down the hill and passes by a peculiar man with his back to a wall. She glances at the man several times but quickly forgets about him, instead remembering the alley she's just investigated.
Meanwhile, Rohan is drawing his chapter. He suddenly hears a man knocking at his door. Rohan ignores the visitor until he hears that the visitor wants to talk about Mutsu-kabe Hill. Rohan thus deigns opening the door and nearly immediately turns him into a book with Heaven's Door. Reading his bio, Rohan learns that the visitor is Masazo Kinoto, an employee of the M.S. Resort company who has genuinely come to him to try to persuade him to resell the mountain range he's bought. Just to be safe, Rohan writes on Kinoto and commands him to be unable to harm Rohan. He also learns that Kinoto hates showing his back. Cancelling his power, Rohan invites Kinoto inside but Kinoto constantly sticks his back to the walls, unwilling to show it to Rohan. Even when Rohan gives him a cup of tea and puts it on the table, Kinoto merely slides over to take the cup. Rohan finally dares to ask what is wrong with Kinoto's back and the man answers that nobody has ever seen it. The manga artist's curiosity is piqued and he plans to see Kinoto's back. He takes a while to return and then pretends that he's lost the deed for the land but that it may be in the study on the second floor. On the way up, Rohan drops the key to the study and rushes to take it so he could position himself behind Kinoto but the man bends backwards to pick up the key and offer it to a flabbergasted Rohan. As he is about to enter the study, Rohan pretends that his back itches and asks Kinoto to scratch him. Kinoto reluctantly scratches Rohan, which allows Rohan to uncover a mirror on the wall and see the reflection of Kinoto's back. Rohan is initially disappointed but then Kinoto panics and something seems to burst out of his back, hidden by his suit. Kinoto dies on the spot and has to be evacuated by paramedics.
It is evening and Rohan is perplexed by what has just happened. He suddenly hears someone telling him to give Mutsu-kabe Hill back. Rohan is horrified to see Kinoto hanging on his back, repeating in a flat tone to give back the mountain. Even Heaven's Door cannot affect the thing on Rohan's back. Quickly understanding that the thing on his back is a yokai that possessed him the moment he saw Kinoto's back and also killed Kinoto, Rohan firstly closes the shutter on his windows so that nobody can see his back. He tries to dissuade the yokai from possessing him but the latter doesn't listen. Startled by the sound of the rattling shutters, Rohan is forced to draw his chapter with a makeshift desk and with his back stuck on his bookshelves. Even then, the yokai manages to scare him by pretending that someone is watching his back and Rohan is considerably disturbed to the point he ruins a whole page. It eventually takes him the whole night to complete the chapter.
The next day, Kyoka arrives at Rohan's house to collect his manuscript. Rohan is only willing to slightly open the door and quickly hands the manuscript before shutting the door. However, Kyoka notices that Rohan looks tired and guesses that he's pulled an all-nighter. Rohan fears that he could have made Kyoka suffer his fate. Frustrated, Rohan has to exert his will to keep calm and he tries to analyze what happened to Kinoto. As Rohan returns to his office, a deliveryman opens the door to deliver his package. Rohan has to bend backwards and do an arch to hide his back. Incidentally, the deliveryman found a page in front of the door from Kyoka containing information about the alley and delivered it on top of the package as well. Rohan is inspired to fight back against the yokai and decides to go outside.
Outside, Rohan has to stick to the wall, to the surprise and amusement of passersby. When he reaches the streets, Rohan tries to call a taxi so that nobody will see his back but the yokai shows that the roads are too large for him to cross safely. Rohan has to do with walking on the sidewalk until he reaches a pedestrian bridge. There, the yokai says that Rohan is now stuck, but Rohan points out that Kinoto managed to make it to his house. He decides to stick his back to another tall thug-like man, walking backwards at the same pace. Amused, the yokai says that while Kinoto could reach Rohan's house, Kinoto wasn't bothered by the yokai. It then manifests itself to the tall man and insults him. The man turns and almost sees Rohan's back but Rohan uses Heaven's Door to force the man to walk forward and ignore him.
Exhausted, Rohan finally collapses in an alley. Kyoka suddenly appears and asks Rohan what is wrong and Rohan has to shout to dissuade her from coming close. The yokai tells Rohan that he's at his limit and that he might as well show his back to Kyoka. Rohan suddenly laughs and reminds Kyoka about the rule "Dont look back". He shows Kyoka's paper with the rules of the place she's found, and explains that the alley they are in is actually connected to the "other world". He also reveals that he sneakily messaged Kyoka to have her meet him in the same alley. As the Toryanse tune plays and changes to Kagome Kagome, Rohan shows his back to Kyoka. Smiling, the yokai turns back to possess Kyoka but then Kyoka is turned into a book. The alley suddenly turns dark and the yokai thus sees a mob of spirits coming for him. Panicking, the spirit curses Rohan who regrets that he is unable to see the look on the yokai's face and mentions that he had other plans in mind. The spirits take the yokai away, freeing Rohan. The alley then returns back to normal. Kyoka wakes up and asks about the Kagome Kagome tune she's heard but Rohan pretends that nothing supernatural happened and tells Kyoka that they have to go back to work.
Up in the mountains is a house. Blood is briefly shown dripping before the episode ends.
Cast
Credits
Keisuke Dobashi
Daisuke Hiraga
Manga/Drama Differences
- Ghost Girl's Alley is called Hirasaka.
- Added scene of Kyoka visiting Hirasaka and being disappointed that it's an alley instead of a hill.
- Changed the rules of the alley to make it so that you must never look back when you hear the Kagome Kagome song playing.
- Removed Rohan investigating photos of Yoshikage Kira suspects.
- Added Kyoka visiting Rohan worried that he's getting ready to move out because he's bankrupt.
- Changed Masazo Kinoto to be an employee of the M.S. Resort company instead of an architect appraising damages to Rohan's house.
- Changed Kinoto's birth year from 1970 to 1980.
- Added extra details about Kinoto. He's now a project leader and was annoyed that the landowner of Mutsu-kabe Hill sold the land to Rohan so he took back an expensive melon that he brought the landowner as a gift. He then got lost on the way back and threw the melon away. In the manga, Kinoto's pages said he's planning to highball the estimates during his appraisal so he could scam Rohan.
- Added scene of Kyoka finishing a document of Hirasaka.
- Added Rohan bringing black tea to Kinoto.
- Changed Rohan and Kinoto's conversation to be about Mutsu-kabe Hill.
- Rearranged scene of Rohan dropping his pen to happen later when he's on the stairs, instead of dropping his eraser. The scene where he drops the pen in the manga is changed to Kinoto sliding off his chair to grab the tea.
- Changed Rohan luring Kinoto to a hole in the floor to him uncovering a mirror on the wall instead, allowing him to see Kinoto's back.
- Added Kinoto saying that he never should have gotten involved with Mutsu-kabe Hill.
- Removed Kinoto's corpse drying up and shrinking and added a scene of paramedics carrying his body out of the house.
- Changed Cheap Trick from being a Stand to a yokai, who wants Rohan to give Mutsu-kabe Hill back instead of burning his photos of the Kira suspects.
- Removed Rohan seeing a guy on the bicycle outside telling him he reads his manga every week.
- Removed Rohan trying to call for help and Koichi's appearance.
- Added Rohan drawing Pink Dark Boy while the yokai watches him.
- Added scene of Kyoka visiting to give Rohan his manuscript and attempt to give her document to him, but Rohan tells her to leave and not return for some time. She leaves the document at the door.
- Added scene of the yokai telling Rohan that he should have showed his back to Kyoka, and Rohan imagining Kyoka carrying him as a yokai.
- Changed the multiple food deliverymen that Cheap Trick called to just one deliveryman who came to deliver a package.
- Added scene of some kids and civilians staring at Rohan walking strangely.
- Added scene of Rohan trying to call a taxi.
- Added a short struggle between Rohan and the man he was walking behind before Rohan finally uses Heaven's Door on him. Rohan writes an additional order on the man saying he will not look down at his phone while walking.
- Removed the wild animals that Cheap Trick called over to attack Rohan.
- Instead of Koichi, Kyoka appears at the Hirasaka alley since Rohan texted her saying he wants to show the alley in his manga.
- Rohan uses Heaven's Door on Kyoka after showing his back to her so that she would go unconscious and the yokai would turn around.
- Added Rohan mentioning that he thought of other methods to get rid of the yokai like using Heaven's Door to write on himself that he would forget about it since some legends disappear when they're forgotten.
Gallery
Masazo Kinoto
Rohan and Masazo
Trivia
- Takahiro Sakurai and Fairouz Ai, Rohan and Jolyne's voice actors in the Part 4 and Part 6 anime adaptations, can be heard as the paramedics.
