In 1930s pre-war Japan, a renowned mystery writer (Naoto Takenaka) has his newest novel banned from being published by the government because it is deemed too disturbing. He then comes across a newspaper article about a woman (Michiko Hada) accused of murdering her husband under the exact circumstances of his unpublished novel. Fascinated with the woman after meeting her, he uses her as the heroine of his new novel. But is she using him for her own nefarious reasons or is he fantasizing her very existence? But then the characters in his novel take on a life of their own, beyond his control. Kazuyoshi Okuyama's (and an uncredited Yuhei Enoki) startlingly imaginative film combines animation, music, B&W, sound effects to takes us on a surreal journey of the creative mind. It's not a film where trying to analyze what is real and what isn't bears any fruit. When the sexually kinky Duke (Mikijiro Hira) says to Takenaka's writer "I like to control people" (though he finds in the end, he can't), it's not unlike the writer's mind that attempts to "control" his creations only to find that he must go where they take him. A unique vision that really should be better known. The underscore by Akira Senju is a thing of beauty.
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