Rohan au Louvre (Movie Novelization)

Rohan au Louvre (Movie Novelization) (映画ノベライズ 岸辺露伴 ルーヴルへ行く) is a movie novelization of the 2023 Rohan au Louvre film.

It was written by Ballad Kitaguni based on the script by Yasuko Kobayashi and published by Shueisha. It was released alongside the film on May 26, 2023.

Rohan Kishibe, a manga artist with a special ability, once heard a rumor in his youth about a Black Painting from a woman he had a crush on. It was not only the blackest, but the most evil painting in the world. Time passes, and in the process of writing a new work, Rohan learns that the painting is held at the Louvre Museum. He thus visits France for a viewing, and for a faint yearning he once had. However, strangely enough, even the museum staff was unaware of the existence of the Black Painting, and its storage location in the database was Warehouse Z-13, an underground warehouse that should have been empty. There, Rohan comes face-to-face with the horrifying events caused by the Black Painting...

Prologue
Rohan Kishibe sees a woman with jet-black hair and a black parasol, feeling extremely nostalgic. She is someone he had forgotten, but he feels as if the darkness of her hair is engraved in his memory. She asks him whether he knows what the blackest painting in the world is, but Rohan couldn't hear what she said after, feeling the wind suddenly growing stronger and the sunlight scorching his eyelids. He wakes up at his desk once he realizes it was only a dream. It was unusual for him to fall asleep at his desk; his manga, Pink Dark Boy, was currently in its eighth part, and Rohan is always prepared when working. He wasn't sleep-deprived, and also did his daily stretches before sitting down. He wonders whether the comfortable summer weather caused him to take a nap, since his window was open. However, what truly bothers him is his dream, since he couldn't remember the woman and hadn't dreamed about her for many years.

That day, Rohan leaves his office to gain new experiences for his research. He visits a backstreet antique shop that resembles a warehouse filled with goods and junk. A middle-aged clerk with a mustache asks if he needs any help, but Rohan ignores him, instead focused on the chaotic display of products on the shelves. The clerk and his young shop assistant wearing glasses find Rohan suspicious, so Rohan finally answers him, informing him that he's doing research on art for his manga. The clerk asks if he's famous, so Rohan points out an autograph of his that is in the corner of the shop. It was a fake autograph that Rohan hadn't actually drawn himself. The mustached clerk stops pretending to be nice, admitting to Rohan that they sell fake goods and that there's no need for Rohan to buy the real products if he just needs them to draw manga. The young shop assistant tries getting the older clerk to stop talking, but the mustached man underestimated Rohan, who he knew nothing about. Rohan's glare and aura scare the two clerks, overwhelming them once he rants about how an appraiser could tell his drawings were based on fake products if he didn't draw the real thing. Exasperated, the clerks tell Rohan that they have real goods in the back that they'll sell to him, but Rohan reveals his true purpose for coming to the shop. He didn't actually come there to study art, but rather because he knew the store sold fake goods and autographs. He declares that he wants to interview the criminals who would run a shop like that, but the clerk demands that he leaves since they don't allow interviews. In an instant, the two clerks fall unconscious as Rohan uses Heaven's Door in order to "interview" them. The men unfurl into books, allowing Rohan to read their memories.

Rohan has no intention of reporting the criminals since he wasn't a policeman nor someone who cared for justice. However, as a manga artist, he could not overlook them disrespecting art. With Heaven's Door, he writes an order that they treat all works with the utmost respect. Some things he read in their books made him angry, but he feels it was valuable information for drawing a realistic criminal character, as he learned their methods and how they strayed from a proper life. Before going home, Rohan sees a catalog of an auction, realizing that was another way to dispose of stolen goods. Among the auction items is a painting drawn entirely in black. From the photo, it didn't seem like the blackest painting in the world, but Rohan feels as if he was being guided by the woman from his dream.

Chapter 1
Rohan and his editor Kyoka Izumi are at a first-rate hotel. Kyoka thanks the receptionist for allowing them to conduct research for Rohan's manga. She tells Rohan that she was successfully able to register them for an auction because she mentioned Pink Dark Boy, bribing the staff by offering autographs from Rohan. Kyoka hands Rohan the paddle she got from the receptionist and wonders what Rohan is planning to buy at the auction. He is interested in the painting he saw in the catalog, "Noire", by a French painter named Maurice Legrand.

While the pair head into the auction room, Kyoka thinks Rohan looks like the Mona Lisa, leading to Rohan telling her to go home. However, Kyoka wants to stay so she can write Rohan's research journal for their website. She takes photos of Rohan before the auction begins. Eventually, Noire is brought up on stage with a minimum bid of 200,000 yen. Rohan raises his paddle with the number 17 but is caught in a bidding war with a man behind him with the paddle number 9. Rohan notices his competitor consulting with another man next to him. Eventually, his competitor raises the bid to 320,000 yen. Annoyed by his persistence, Kyoka raises Rohan's paddle herself to raise the price, as she was caught in the moment. Suddenly, the man raises the price to 500,000 yen, instead of going by 10,000 yen increments. Rohan doubles that to 1 million yen, but his competitor raises it to 1.1 million. Finally, Rohan ends up winning the auction with a final bid of 1.5 million yen.

On their way back to Rohan's home, Kyoka worries about Rohan's purchase since the cost increased by 1.3 million yen. The painting had no historical value and the artist wasn't a famous person, even though the painting's value slightly increased after the artist passed away. Kyoka asks Rohan why he wanted it, to which he says he was attracted to its jet black color. Upon entering Rohan's house, Kyoka is shocked at the mess of wood, jars, and paint trays scattered around. Rohan tells her that they're all old pigments which he is researching. He demonstrates various usages of them, which fascinates Kyoka. She starts taking pictures of Rohan's room for their research journal. Rohan asks Kyoka if she has seen the blackest color in the world. She initially doesn't understand what he was implying, but he shows her a page from a book depicting an extremely black bird, so dark as if it looked like there was a hole on the page. It was a species, whose feathers absorb almost 100% of light. However, even this wasn't the blackest color in the world. Rohan begins telling her about a black painting drawn by Nizaemon Yamamura, but is interrupted by black hair he saw moving outside his window.

Kyoka tries searching for Nizaemon on her phone but can't find anything, since his name and paintings were not recorded anywhere. Certain that someone is spying on him, Rohan quickly rushes out of his house and spots the man. It was the man with paddle number 9 at the auction. The man attempts to flee, but Rohan uses Heaven's Door to incapacitate him. As he begins to read the man's pages, he hears Kyoka scream inside the house. Worried, he bursts into his study and finds Kyoka on the ground, though she isn't visibly injured. She quickly informs him that a man suddenly came in and stole his Noire painting. Rohan rushes out the back door and chases the man, whose name is revealed as Kawai. Kawai flips over Noire and peels off the oil paper covering the back. However, whatever he was looking for wasn't actually there. Anxiousness takes over him, as he and his partner Watabe just invaded a house and stole this painting for no reason now. Kawai notices a black mass resembling tar on the corner of the frame. Suddenly, a swarm of tiny spiders covers his hand. A classic car then mysteriously appears behind him and chases Kawai, who abandons the painting and desperately runs away. By the time Rohan finds the abandoned painting, Kawai and the black mass had disappeared. Kyoka notices text written on the back in French, which she translates. It mentions that it is the black color the artist saw at the Louvre and also has the word "regret".

Rohan prevents Kyoka from calling the police since he doesn't want to deal with the hassle. He studies the Noire painting, wondering what the text means. Kyoka puts Rohan's thoughts into words first, believing it's related to the black painting Rohan mentioned to her earlier. Thus, Rohan concludes that their next destination for research must be the Louvre Museum. Meanwhile, Watabe runs away from Rohan's house, telling a person on the phone that he's backing out since something is off about Rohan. Kawai was not at the arranged escape route and all Watabe saw was Rohan and Kyoka picking up the discarded painting. Believing the job wasn't legitimate, Watabe quickly ends the call after telling the person that there was nothing on the back of the painting.

Kyoka returns to Shumeisha and prepares for their trip to Paris. A voice of the woman from Rohan's dream echoes in his head. He takes out black paint and nostalgically draws her black hair.

Chapter 2
In the past, Rohan's maternal grandmother ran an inn in Morioh, but closed it down after her husband passed away. Before Rohan made his professional debut as a manga artist, he was staying there for several months since he wanted to concentrate and felt it suited his writing environment. His grandmother sold most of her possessions when she went out of business, leaving plenty of empty rooms. One day, Rohan went out for a stroll around the neighborhood, sketching to take a break from his manuscript work since he had a creative slump. After returning home, he decided to take a bath before having dinner. He casually opened the door to the bath, but was shocked to see a woman already in there, who was only in her underwear. The woman quickly covered herself while Rohan apologized and left. He realized he accidentally entered the women's bath because the signs in the inn were confusing; the women's bath sign showed a woman's hair tied in a ponytail, whereas the men's bath sign showed a man with a topknot. Rohan later learned that the woman's name was Nanase.

While sitting in the garden one morning, Rohan was sketching birds when he saw Nanase doing her laundry. Captivated by her beauty, Rohan started to draw her. Nanase noticed him and took his sketchbook, causing Rohan to feel embarrassed. Rohan complained to her about how an editor told him that the girls he drew weren't cute, so he was drawing Nanase for practice. Before leaving the garden, Nanase told Rohan she would like to read his work sometime. A few days later in the evening, Nanase brought Rohan to her room to read his manuscript. She told him the story about the "blackest painting in the world", which was painted about 250 years prior by Nizaemon Yamamura before he died. The painting was sold to the Louvre, but Nanase warned that Rohan should never look at it or touch it. Rohan spotted a black spider on the ground, and then Nanase suddenly suggested that he should leave. He obliged, but noticed that she was crying. When he headed back to his room, he heard the footsteps of Nanase leaving the inn. He didn't see her again for several days. Rohan tried going to Nanase's room one day, but there were no signs of her living there. While he drew Nanase with heavy shading for her black hair, he was making progress on his manuscript but still felt empty. Suddenly, he heard the noise of wooden sandals and thought it might be her, but it was just his grandmother. His grandma informed him that she was in trouble because Yoshio Kawatori, who she had asked to organize her storeroom, had gone missing.

About a week later, Rohan heard footsteps again amidst the sound of rain. As soon as he opened the door of Nanase's room, she tearfully jumped into his arms. Rohan was about to use Heaven's Door to find out what was troubling her, but decided not to intrude on her privacy. Seeing that Rohan created a character in his manga based on her likeness, Nanase quickly destroyed the drafts and apologized to Rohan before once again disappearing from his life. Rohan tried asking his grandmother about Nanase, but she didn't remember if a person like that even stayed with them. She then informed Rohan that a foreign buyer was coming for some paintings in her storehouse, so she needed Rohan to handle the exchange. As Rohan left, the radio his grandmother was listening to stated that Yoshio Kawatori's body was found in a junkyard in Kotodai on the previous night. The cause of death was drowning, despite there being no water sources around. A French man named Gaucher bought the paintings from Rohan after a brief greeting. Eventually, that summer ended and Rohan accepted the reality that Nanase had left. Rohan too eventually left from his grandmother's inn as he began his journey as a manga artist.

Rohan kept those memories stored away, so he wonders why he suddenly remembers Nanase now. He understands that all he could do now is head to the Louvre, where he heard the black painting should be.

Quotes
Each chapter begins with a quote from various painters, aside from the epilogue which instead ends with a quote from Rohan.