Original subtitles

Seeking eternal beauty

She fell into a swamp and lay there, preserved

After a thousand years

She awoke to put her curse on me

A terrifying cure, a curse for all eternity

What's that?

I have no idea, really

It's kind of blackish and muddy

Have you seen a doctor?

Yes

And?

There's nothing wrong with me

But my stomach's a little upset

You've got to take care of yourself

Right

Just write the damned thing

and get a load off

Right

I repeat, you're not writing literature

This will be a popular, readable love story

By Haruna Reiko, the literary-prize winner

That's the pitch

Don't worry

It won't damage your reputation

I know that

Hey, are you Okay?

A hallucination?

Nothing

You must feel awful

It's psychological

Take care, now

Right

Listen

I've been considering moving

What?

It might help my writing

You think?

I want to get out of my place in Koenji

I see

Do you know of anything good?

What are do you have in mind?

Big and quiet

With high ceilings

A nice view and cheap, of course

Impossible?

Can it be far away?

How far?

Pretty far

You know a good place?

I'll find one

The light's back on

Oh

The circuit breaker's over there

Thanks

Um

Yes?

It seems the former tenants

Left a bunch of things

Oh, really?

Shall I get rid of them?

No, just leave them

Yes

Beloved

Hello, Mr. Kijima?

It's me, Reiko

Sorry I've been out of touch

Yes, I'm all settled

It's a fantastic place

Yes, I know

I'll write like my life depends on it

If the lights go out again

This is the problem

Yes

Um...

That vacant building out back...

Vacant?

The one that's locked up and looks empty

What is it, anyway?

I think it's a training center

Part of Sagami University

Sagami University?

Yes

What's it used for?

I wonder

What kind of people use it?

I've never seen anyone in there

But last night...

It's not in even habitable

I see

Thank you

Yeah, I think this is a fine beginning

It's excellent

Your work always is

Now just pick up your pace

Right

So? How's the new space?

Not bad

That's good

No more excuses not to write

That's right

I wonder what that place is

It's to your taste, isn't it?

How did you hear about that property?

Through an acquaintance

An acquaintance?

Is there something wrong?

No

Did you know

There's a University facility out back?

No

It's kind of creepy

It's supposed to be vacant

But it seems like someone's there

And that's no hallucination

Shall I have it looked into?

I can call the cops, if you want

No, that's fine

Just please, don't use it as an excuse not to write

The documents from Sagami University

Oh, thanks

What are they for?

Oh, nothing

How about this one?

Huh

Last year, the archeological group from Sagami University

Discovered a mummy

A mummy?

Yeah, 1,000 years old

In the Midori Swamp

They dragged it out of the muck

It was a woman

" Anthropologist " " Yoshioka Makoto "

What?

That's him

Yoshioka Makoto, Anthropologist

He looks like a guy I saw near my house

Huh

He was carrying something big

Into the place next door

Really?

Wonder what it was

And in the middle of the night

He carried it like a human

Let's do a little more research

I'll handle it

This is Mr. Murakami from Educational Films

Hello

You're really Haruna Reiko

Oh, I'm deeply moved to meet you

We were meeting about something else

When you came up

I hear you're interested in mummies?

Yes, well

We've got documentary footage in storage

The label says Midori Swamp Mummy

I haven't looked at it yet

But the title caught my eye

It's kind of strange

Why was the film shot?

I couldn't tell you

But it was shot before the war

Before the war?

Yes

Sounds interesting, right?

It's not the one they found last year?

No, no, the film is ancient

From the late 1920s

I wonder what it means

Do you want to see it?

" Midori Swamp Mummy "

May 15th

May 16th

May 17th

Um...

What do you think it is?

Well, it's shot in time-lapse

I mean, they've cut frames

Cut frames?

They probably filmed all day long

And cut it down to 30 seconds

It's a technique for observing something over time

And in surveillance, to detect abnormalities

I wonder what they had under surveillance

I don't know

That was a mummy, right?

I wonder why it didn't decompose in the swamp

Apparently, some kinds of mud

Function to preserve organic matter

I see

Yeah, I looked it up a little

A thousand years ago

Women used to swallow

Huge amounts of mud to preserve their beauty

Liter after liter of pitch black mud

Of course it made some of them so sick they died

The things women do for vanity...

Who are you?

What are you doing?

Stop!

Stop!

Please!

Stop!

Hello

Yeah, I know

I'll be right there

I'm closing the deal

With the National Museum for a special exhibit

I'm sure of it

The mummy will obviously be the centerpiece

Get to work on the preservation process

How much longer will it take?

Don't know

A month?

I don't know what I don't know

And the archeologists you mentioned

The ones from 80 years ago

Unfortunately no record of their dig survives

I see

So there's no way to know whether

You've dug up the same mummy

They found 80 years ago

Besides, if it is the same

Why would anyone bury it

Right back where they found it?

I understand

It's less than ideal

I understand

But what can I do?

It's not your problem, it's mine

You just handle the money, as usual

Yoshioka!

I've got qualms about this, too!

Oh, yeah?

It's only a mummy

But...

What?

Last night I was paralyzed

It's happening every night, now

So I've gotten used to it

I can't move at all for awhile

But it doesn't mean anything

I get sleepy right away

But...

Not last night

There was something at the foot of my bed

Like it was...

Just waiting for the moment when I went rigid

Then, finally...

It...

Crawled onto my chest

It was heavy and cold

Almost like rubber

It stayed on me for 3 full hours

When dawn came

It finally went away

It wasn't a dream

The mismatched spatula

Marks on the exterior base

And the grey color of this cross section

Set this apart from others

That's all

Thank you, professor

Next, we'd like to have Dr. Yoshioka

Present his report on the eternal corpse

Right

Slides

Yes

Say, Yoshioka

I heard you've been

Up at the training center in Ibaragi

What are you up to?

Nothing

Same old

Studying mud?

Yeah

Listen, I've got some grad students in training

I'll send them over

Just 3 days, put them to work

I don't need help

It doesn't matter what

It's just training

I'm Yoshioka

Right

I'm Haruna

I need you to keep something for a little while

Keep what?

The mummy

Just for a little while

But...

I'm expecting students this afternoon

I don't want them to see it

Please

Why me?

I was sure you'd keep it for me

Just for a couple of days

Don't bother about it at all

Sure

I'm grateful

It's supposed to be kept in an environmentally

Controlled container in the lab

I see

But it just doesn't feel like

The right place for her

Ouch! It's me!

Ouch

Oh, no!

A little gift

Oh, thank you

How did you get in here?

You gave me a real scare

Sorry

The door wasn't locked

I see

What are you doing here so late?

I drove out

I was worried

How's it going?

How's what going?

The romance novel

Answer me

Are you making progress?

Yes

How much?

Well, I'm writing away

Oh... Mr. Kijima

Please

One more week, that's it

Finally time to jump off that cliff

Have you got problems?

Of course not

Professionals never do

I've known many writers

To get stuck in writers' block and vanish

I don't want that to happen to you

You still haven't unpacked

Want me to send you some help?

No, I'm fine

Don't blame me, Okay?

I'm getting rid of what you couldn't

For a thousand years

Well done

I'll read it later

And tell you what I think

How about a title?

I'll leave that up to you

Okay and email me the file

I'll rush it over to production

Aren't you going to read it first?

No, I'm sure it's a masterpiece

If you don't like it, just kill it

No way

I'm not killing a piece you stayed up

Writing 3 days and nights

I see...

What's wrong?

Nothing

Lose your nerve?

No

What you write gets published

That's the nature of being a pro

You're right

It's in your hands now

Mr. Yoshioka

Miss Reiko

I took the mummy back last night

Oh, I see

Thank you for keeping her

She's almost a thousand years old

Her garments suggest that

Her family was privileged

Approximately 20 years of age

Height, 155 cm

Her bone structure indicates a noble visage

For a woman of her time

The huge deposits of chalky mud

In her stomach and lungs

Prevented decay for over 1,000 years

That's about all we know

Still, the cause of death is unclear

Whether she fell into the swamp by accident

Or was buried there in some sacrificial ritual...

Is it possible she consumed

All that mud intentionally?

A form of suicide?

Yes

It's possible

I see

She would stop at nothing to acquire

An eternally youthful body

That's a natural supposition

But maybe

She regrets it now

Regrets it?

Yes, swallowing all that mud

What are you doing?

Making an incision in the abdomen to remove the mud.

Easy enough

Don't you think it will provoke

Some new terrible misfortune?

I've had enough misfortune