Millionaire Village (TV Drama)

"The true nature of proper manners is having the empathy to keep the other party from feeling uncomfortable."

- Rohan Kishibe

Millionaire Village (富豪村) is the first episode of the TV Drama series Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. It adapts the one-shot Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Episode 5: Millionaire Village.

In this episode, Rohan Kishibe is invited by his editor Kyoka Izumi to assist in the peculiar sale of a mansion in a remote village whose inhabitants have all become rich.

Summary
One night, two burglars sneak into a luxurious house. One of the burglars then discovers drafts for the manga Pink Dark Boy, and understands whose house it is. When his partner asks what is up with him, the younger burglar tries to explain the manga and tells that he used to read it. Suddenly, the eccentric mangaka Rohan Kishibe enters the scene. Rohan acts offended that the burglar "used to" read his manga while it is still being serialized and at "Part 8", and is curious to know why. One of the burglars take out a baton and asks Rohan if he understands the situation he's in, but Rohan prefers to reflect on the exact nature of his situation. He congratulates himself on having managed to bait actual criminals into his house by leaving the door open, revealing that he is actually in search of material for his manga. Rohan uses his special ability, Heaven's Door. By showing his art to the burglars, he turns them into books and proceeds to read the youngest one's biography to know why he's stopped reading his series. When he learns the answer, Rohan madly laughs at the irony.

The next day, a young girl named Kyoka Izumi knocks at Rohan's door while carrying a bag of books. She is Rohan's new editor at "Shumeisha" and has come to greet him and bring him books on crime for his next one-shot. Rohan doesn't answer but the door is unlocked so she can enter. Rohan tells her to go away as he's exercising before working, but Kyoka doesn't listen and insists on giving him the books. Rohan scoffs at the now useless books since he's acquired prime material for his story and intends to make sure the burglar that'll appear in a single panel of his story will say something that perfectly represents burglars, even if he only has a single line, for the sake of the realism. Kyoka then discovers the burglars peacefully tied up and sitting in a corner of Rohan's office. They even tell her that they are willingly cooperating with him. It is revealed that the younger burglar was studying seriously and used to faithfully read Rohan's series, but someone confiscated his "Shonen Jumbo", leading him to become frustrated with school, fail his exams, become a drop-out and turn to crime. He consequently met with Rohan, leading to the manga artist taking inspiration from the actual burglar for his character. In the present, Rohan rudely shoos Kyoka out of his house and hands her the bag of books before shutting the door. Looking at his hostages, Rohan is glad to have written "commands" to make the burglars obedient. Before beginning to draw, Rohan ironically decides that his burglar character will remain silent.

Later Kyoka has a rendezvous with her boyfriend, Taro Hirai. Sitting at a café, Kyoka proceeds to tell him how eccentric Rohan is, although she acknowledges that he's a great creator. Taro asks her if she enjoys her work, to which Kyoka answers that she finds it interesting due to Rohan's quirks but that she doesn't enjoy it that much and would prefer working in a fashion magazine. Kyoka asks if Taro has found anything interesting, but he says no. The conversation turns somewhat awkward as the subject of Taro's mental illnesses resurfaces, and he's seen putting an abnormally high amount of sugar in his drink. However, Taro then says that he's found something interesting and shows it to Kyoka.

Kyoka returns to Rohan, who complains about her barging in when he's about to begin work. They talk about Rohan's next one-shot. Rohan has just read an astronomy book and suggests a story about annular solar eclipses, but Kyoka suggests a story about buying a villa in the mountains. Rohan is frustrated at Kyoka's passive rebuttal of his idea; when he hears that a luxurious villa is for sale in a remote village for only 3 million yen, he claims that it is a scam. However, Kyoka proceeds to explain that it is a village where all of the residents are millionaires and that they all became wealthy shortly after moving there in their twenties. Furthermore, it seems that there are mysterious selection rules that make it hard for the owner to sell the villa to someone. Kyoka wishes to fill a recent vacancy and move in to purchase this lucky villa but also confesses that she's doing it for Taro's sake since this village is the first thing he's taken an interest in since the time he had a car accident. Though interested in the village, Rohan refuses to go, but Kyoka argues that it will be a unique experience that could inspire him and she convinces Rohan to accompany her for research he could put into a new manga story. Rohan accepts and asks if the editorial department has a helicopter.

Before her departure, Kyoka puts her dog Maron in Taro's care. Rohan and Kyoka proceed to make the exhausting trek up the mountains to reach the villa for sale. Unfortunately for them, the rules forbid buyers from coming in with a helicopter. Kyoka is initially very enthusiastic but soon the trek exhausts her and she has to take a break by a river. For his part, Rohan actually exercises so he is less fatigued. Rohan mentions that he's done some research and that the land used to be sacred grounds so people were forbidden to enter. Kyoka dismisses these legends and says that nowadays, anyone can see anything from above with new technology, which frustrates Rohan. As they are about to arrive, Kyoka receives a message from Taro and reveals that the selection rules are based on manners. Thus, she asks Rohan to behave himself, which ticks him off.

When they reach the mansion for sale, they are welcomed by the butler Ikkyu. Despite his young age, the little boy displays impeccable manners and leads his guests to a room where they will be interviewed. Mindful of their manners, Rohan and Izumi try to follow etiquette as best they can. They take off their coat and bow before entering the villa's grounds and place their shoes facing the exit. Inside, they awkwardly sit on the chairs that face the wall. Ikkyu leaves to bring refreshments, allowing Kyoka to break the silence and confess her nervousness. Rohan says that they were being tested ever since they reached the entrance of the mansion. He reassures Kyoka by confirming that they are sitting in the correct seats, as sitting in the seat of honor while being guests would breach etiquette without explicit permission. Ikkyu brings some tea and invites the guests to switch to the other sofa before serving the drinks to them. Seeing Ikkyu observing them, Kyoka realizes that the tea is also a test but has no idea how to handle an English tea set.

Deciding that it is best not to take out their phones to look up how to drink tea, Kyoka lifts her cup and tries to drink properly, but Ikkyu immediately requests that she and Rohan leave and try their luck next time. He explains that Kyoka breached etiquette by putting her finger inside the handle of the teacup. Kyoka asks for another chance, but Ikkyu announces that she is going to pay the price for her breaches of etiquette and lose something dear to her for each mistake. Kyoka accepts her second chance without thinking but the phone rings and she answers it. Kyoka breaks down when she hears Taro informing her that Maron is ill and then she suddenly hears a car crash into Taro. Ikkyu then reveals that answering the phone was her second mistake and for that she lost both her dog and her boyfriend. Panicking, Kyoka rushes out of the room to go back to Taro, but Rohan turns her into a book to prevent her from making any other mistake, writing a command in her book to compel her to stay unconscious for a while. Rohan also turns Ikkyu into a book to read his biography but instead discovers the rules of the gods of the mountains: those who breach etiquette on this tabooed land will lose something dear to them, one by one. By reading someone's thoughts without permission, Rohan also incurs the wrath of the gods in the mountain. His right arm goes limp and he loses his ability to move it, shocking Rohan to the core since it means he cannot draw anymore.

Ikkyu suggests that they both leave but Rohan refuses to back down and requests another test. Rohan is thus served a plate of corn and is tasked with eating it the proper way. Rohan sees several potential utensils and hesitates but is reminded of his boast that he could hold up to the Royal Family as far as etiquette matters. He grabs the corn by its end with his remaining hand and proudly takes a bite. Ikkyu snidely prepares to announce Rohan's loss, but Rohan tells Ikkyu to look down. The boy realizes that he's stepping on the edges of the tatami mats in the room and he panics, retreating out of the room. Ikkyu accuses Rohan of having cheated but Rohan plays dumb. Rohan suddenly regains the use of his right arm and takes the corn with both of his hands. Ikkyu tries to justify that Rohan has breached etiquette since the proper way to eat corn is by grabbing it with both hands, but he initially only used one. Rohan tells the story of how a guest who was invited to the queen's dinner party accidentally drank water meant for handwashing. However, the queen did the same thing so that her guest wouldn't be shamed. Whether or not the story is true, it demonstrates that the nature of good manners is having the empathy to keep the other party from being uncomfortable. With his test set for failure, Ikkyu has breached etiquette and besides, he's stepping on the edges of the tatami mat again. Ikkyu's act of stepping on the tatami mat twice with both feet causes him to pay the price four times. Thus, Taro and Maron are revived whereas Ikkyu's right arm and foot are disabled. As Ikkyu claims that his breach won't be forgiven, nothing happens to Rohan. He tells Ikkyu that immediately pointing out others' bad manners is also a breach of etiquette, which infuriates the butler. Rohan enjoys the sight of Ikkyu losing his cool, who cries and hits the floor in frustration.

Ikkyu desperately asks Rohan if he wishes to be tested again but Rohan refuses and gets out of the room, ostentatiously avoiding stepping on the edges of the tatami. Rohan leaves the mansion with Kyoka. Back at Rohan's house, Rohan reveals that he had rewritten a bit of Kyoka's memory to let her believe that she was simply rejected because of how she held the teacup. Kyoka hopes that the experience was at least a good inspiration for his work but Rohan shoots down the idea before coldly telling her to leave. In private, Rohan doesn't wish to expose his readers to this village and endanger them by giving them ideas of visiting it, claiming that his readers are the only people he respects. It is shown that Rohan has sent the young burglar some of Pink Dark Boy's latest volumes for him to read in jail. While Kyoka meets with Taro again and laments Rohan's eccentricity, Rohan enjoys a warm cup of tea.

Somewhere, a man frantically searches through piles of books for the word "kushagara".

Trivia

 * Takahiro Sakurai, Rohan's seyuu in Part 4's anime, is credited as a policeman in the episode although only his voice is heard.