Original subtitles

Faceless One

Satsuki Kazuma and his family were murdered.

I will now tell how.

The culprit is the late Kazuma’s wife, Chou.

For her crime, she was incarcerated immediately.

That’s much better.

I accept responsibility for my crime.

Part the First

The blue moon illuminated

your wandering shadow.

I could never tell you all I wanted to say.

It was so very frustrating.

I think about your faked smile,

and forget all the hot tears we shed.

What do these empty husks,

those empty eyes of yours, reflect, my dear?

The transient quarter moon

hides in a rift in the clouds,

as darkness seeps up from the ground.

Tell me the truth, please.

Are you so despondent

that you still sit alone, sighing?

And so, the case is solved!

Just what

did you do?

Who are you?

As you’ve likely surmised, I am a fellow prisoner.

I am a medicine seller by trade.

I had a rather rude customer, you see.

He said that the pills I sold him did nothing for his condition.

He came at me with accusations of fraud and the like.

Personally, the very belief that medicine alone can cure one’s ailments does not sit well with me.

An ineffective medicine is rendered such by one’s own lack of belief.

They are held together by a common thread, like sardines hung out to dry.

When I told him that, though, he screamed at me to return his money.

That’s when the authorities arrived on the scene.

I’m most embarrassed that a customer should put me in such a situation.

Wait, or are sardines dried on sticks?

This is quite odd.

Don’t you think?

After all,

a man and woman should not share the same cell.

Well, well, at any rate

you’re set to die.

So you knew.

Oh,

well yes.

The populace is abuzz with rumors of your crime.

Ochou, the devil-woman who killed a samurai’s entire house, including her own husband and father-in-law.

Is that so?

Is that how they refer to me, then?

Still, it was a rather heinous crime.

Four people hung from a plum tree.

That wasn’t how it happened.

Oh, really?

Well, then.

What a dreadful fate.

That’s wrong, as well.

Is it, now?

Then how did it happen?

Hm?

Is something the matter?

Oh, well, I’ve forgotten.

Oh, forgotten, have you?

Well, rumors develop quickly indeed.

How you did it is irrelevant.

Cooked in miso or cured with salt, a fish is a fish, you see.

You make no sense at all.

I cannot believe a woman could do this alone, is my point.

What is that?

A scale.

A scale?

Pay it no heed.

It is merely a tool for my trade.

There were no witnesses and no physical evidence, just your own admission of guilt.

All the details are quite vague.

Truth be told, Ochou-san,

I do not believe that you acted alone.

I think that it was the work of a Mononoke.

Mononoke?

Does that ring any bells with you?

No, none at all.

No, none at all.

I did it by myself.

I see.

But you know…

Yes?

Well, you understand, people always have a certain air about them.

A certain expression.

Expression.

You do not seem like a woman bound for the gallows in the morning.

That is what I mean.

Well, my white kimono distinguishes me as such.

Your jailor determines how you dress.

Your face is of more concern to me than your garb.

What I’m trying to say is that you seem an entirely different person from the normal Ochou-san.

Whatever do you mean?

You could not possibly know how I act under normal circumstances.

Just who are you?

Who are you?

Answer me.

Who are you?

Just a simple medicine seller.

Actually, I’m a criminal right now.

What are you doing here?

Answer me.

How did you get in here?

Amazing it can speak.

This is the first time I’ve met this sort of Mononoke.

Oh, don’t be stupid.

He isn’t anything strange like that.

You must not leave.

Please move.

You must not leave.

What are you doing?

Let me go!

Please, let me go!

Let me go!

Why are you getting in my way?

You must not leave.

You are safe as long as you stay in here.

What?

You’re most suspicious.

Who are you?

As I thought, she was possessed.

It was my belief, though, that I would have to break those bars to reveal your Form.

I never thought

that you would

come

to me.

Witness the Form.

What?

You aren’t a Mononoke’s true Form?

Whatever do you mean?

Why are you getting in my way?

You must not leave.

You will be safe as long as you stay in here.

If you believe this place holds you, it is a prison.

If you do not wish to leave, it will become a fortress.

What do you mean?

Do you wish to return to that place again?

Return?

I do not mind.

Mankind is far more frightening.

I do not mind.

Surely there must be kind Mononoke.

Did you hear what she said?

Infinite providence lies with me!

Wander now, in search of your Form.

We should be safe here.

They won’t follow us for a while.

Who are you?

All the ridiculous rumors must have shocked you.

As that man said, I am a Mononoke.

Mononoke?

I was born to free you from prison.

Prison?

Prison?

Sake! Sake!

I need more sake!

I told you to bring me more sake! What are you doing?

I—I’m sorry!

Ochou-san, just get us some more sake!

What a worthless wife you have.

A lazy girl, indeed.

Brother, whyever did you take her in?

Her mother begged me to.

If your first wife hadn’t hung herself, would you ever have accepted her into your home?

Well, she’s a pretty good cook,

and good in bed, too!

Oh stop, you’re just terrible!

Your heart

wished to purge itself of the rage that was building up like a poison.

Poison?

Perhaps you thing it strange to hear a Mononoke speak of poison.

Not at all.

That sensation…

Thanks to that sensation, I was able to stand it.

Over and over and over again, you saved me.

Must we return?

Indeed, we must.

My power is limited.

We will soon be pursued.

Come.

No.

I do not want to go back there.

You are set to be hung.

Your appeals are exhausted. You are truly on the brink of death.

If I go back there…

It’s all the same, whether I stay or go.

If you do not return, you will be running from your crime all your life.

So be it.

If you are found, you will be executed on the spot.

That would be easier, I’m sure.

The man in the prison?

Was it that man who put such thoughts in your head?

I simply do not wish to return.

Ochou-san.

Yes?

Will you marry me?

But you’re…

Indeed, I am not human.

However, I do hold Shape and Form similar to that of a man.

I cannot remove my mask,

but I can sing and dance and do everything necessary to provide for you.

Please, be my wife!

Are you certain you want me?

You want a convicted criminal as a wife?

I want you.

Does that mean you accept?

Yes! Yes!

Yes!

Oh, yes!

Yes.

Let us be wed immediately!

Ochou, today we start our new lives.

Yes.

Everyone, look! This is my bride!

Look at my beautiful Ochou-san!

I’m astounded that Ochou-san agreed to marry you.

I’m so jealous! So jealous!

Congratulations! Congratulations!

Congratulations! Congratulations!

Oh my, they’re such a rowdy bunch.

They’re all so nice.

They’ve always been around you.

Really?

You simply did not notice them.

So jealous! So jealous!

They have all protected you.

Congratulations! Congratulations!

People tend to forget how many people they have met,

and how many of them have helped them.

From now on, though, it will be different.

From now on, I will be your reason for living!

Yes.

Our vows are completed.

We two are now as one.

Yes.

I hid myself, so as not to interrupt your taking of vows.

I merely wish to express my gratitude and extend my best wishes.

Who are you?

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Mother?

What?

Mother?

What? What is this?

It is changing for me.

What?

Now I can finally hold my head high as I visit the graves of my ancestors, the Umezawake clan.

Yes, you two.

should really pay your respects.

You were born exceptionally beautiful.

Mind your appearance carefully,

and you will be able to marry into a wealthy family, in spite of your humble upbringing.

Yes, Mother!

Good girl. Good girl.

Stop it! You must not show me that!

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Congratulations! Congratulations!

That was quite a wonderful play.

I enjoyed it very much.

What happened to your face?

My face?

The character for “face” can also be read as “exterior.”

The human face is nothing more than its exterior appearance.

If I accept this face, it is quite easy to make it my own.

Oh my, I see your mask has changed yet again.

But where is your real face?

Where did that come from?

Darling!

It’s collapsing.

This new life I’d finally gained…

It’s collapsing.

This is a fake.

It was all a play the Mononoke created to deceive you.

Why?

I thought he saved me.

He must be hiding something. Something he needed you not to notice.

He wears a mask to hide his face.

What is he hiding from you, that he required such a play?

No…

You who have forgotten your face,

Mononoke,

show me your Form.

show me your Form.

To be continued

Without you, I just can’t smile.

I walk this banal town,

feeling such intense emotions.

I know that if I could treasure them and live on,

I would need nothing else.

The summer flowers that bloomed in the sky

Come falling down, dancing in the wind.

I can barely recall the night sky

where they all came tumbling down,

so what I can still recall is all the more precious.