Original subtitles

Starring Kenji Sawada

Planned by Koji Tsutsumi

From a book by Daijiro Moroboshi

Produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa

Toshiyasu Nakamura Masamichi Higuchi

Photographed by Masahiro Kishimoto

Music by Tatsushi Umegaki

Lighting by Kenjiro Konaka Art Director: Satoshi Akatsuka

Recording by Osamu Kageyama

Edited by Yoshitami Kurowai Asst. Director: Shigeru Sakurada

Production Manager Masa-aki Kono

Executive Producer Yasuhiro Hasegawa

Producers Sadao Ochi Shin Yoneyama

Written & Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto

I've just had a depressing thought.

What?

Look at that guy.

Does he plan to dig at all the places he marked?

Don't worry. We only have to excavate the things the women find.

He'll dig up everything else by himself.

No matter what he looks like, he's a professional archaeologist.

A professional archaeologist? Him?

Years ago, the media played him up as a rising young archaeologist.

But he ended up like this. Doesn't look much now, does he?

Mr. Hieda!

You're going great!

Is that the new machine you invented? It really works, huh?

Have you got ay more bamboo markers?

Mr. Yabe!

Mr. Yabe!

Reiko! What are you doing here?

Didn't I tell you not to come? It's dangerous.

I wanted to see too. I'll be careful, so let me...

No!

Go back!

It's no use looking at me like that. It's dangerous.

Go back right now!

Please!

Reiko!

Dear Mr. Reizaburo Hieda...

How are you?

I heard you aren't back at college yet.

Why don't you cheer up?

It's for Akane's sake.

By the way, Hieda, this is really big:

It hasn't been officially announced...

but a very strange mound was discovered near where I live.

I'm sure it'll overthrow the established theory on mounds.

Apparently, the mound didn't belong to an ancient overlord.

In my opinion, it was built by the ancients to appease an evil spirit.

Unlike you, Hieda, I don't believe that goblins really existed.

But that controversial theory of yours, the one that got you suspended...

might be proved to be correct by the old mound.

Forget what happened in the past.

Just come as soon as you can.

Signed: Takashi Yabe.

Tsukamoto Junior High School, Haga City.

Mr. Yabe!

Mr. Yabe!

What's up?

Reiko!

Reiko!

Reiko!

THE GOBLIN

So, they eloped after all?

No way! You think they were dating - Mr. Yabe and Reiko?

My dad hasn't got the guts.

Let's get going.

Hey, Masao, is there really an old mound at the school?

Well, dad believed so anyway.

I'm sure they disappeared somewhere around this school.

Ouch!

What's all this?

That why I thought I could smell something nasty and damp.

You aren't an old man yet, huh?

How come you need compresses?

Maybe we should call the cops.

Dad kept talking nonsense about mounds.

Reiko got caught up in archeology as well.

Ouch!

What are you kids up to?

Huh? What are you doing here?

This guy's the janitor, right?

Look...

Kids, have you been anywhere besides this place?

No.

No.

Don't waste your summer vacation...

by coming to school.

Sure.

Okay...

Leave quickly!

Yes, sir!

Do you suppose the janitor did something to dad and Reiko?

It's Reiko!

You come too!

Hurry up!

No 'Shh!' Come quick!

Hey, hey...

It's Kono.

What are you doing here?

I went to see the inside of an old mound... with Mr. Yabe.

Where is he?

He went home.

Strings of gold are swinging gently in the wind...

They play a sweet and tender melody...

At night I walk in the pale moonlight...

Together with a dream, a secret dream...

Hey...

What an idiot!

At least she's all right.

Right?

What's wrong? You all right? Hey, you okay?

What's up?

That hurts!

What's wrong?

Masao!

Masao!

Masao! What's happening?

It happened yesterday too!

YABE

As for Takashi...

He went to school with a girl named Reiko and hasn't returned yet.

But the terrible thing is...

the crown the Yabe's have been preserving as their family treasure...

isn't where it's supposed to be.

Takashi took it.

Without a doubt, the two of them entered a forbidden place.

I don't want to experience the kind of misfortune that Akane suffered.

Grandma!

Something dreadful will happen.

Hiruko...

please forgive us.

Hiruko...

Masao... You sure you're all right?

How come you've got such a big mole?

Shall I cool it?

Hey, Masao, where are you going?

I'll go cool it.

Who are you?

Wait! Hold it. My name is...

Reijiro Hieda.

Oh!

Oh!

Masao! Why are you here?

What in the world are you doing here?

I saw a goblin just now!

Again?

What?

Another goblin?

Your stupid theory already caused my Aunt Akane's death.

And now you're starting it all over again?

What's this junk?

This?

It's a sensor, kind of.

The goblin...

it may have a visible form, but its etheric energy is like electricity.

This sensor will react to the goblin's energy.

And it reacted now, for the first time!

This letter is from your father.

He wrote this to a man who killed his sister?

You and my dad are both alike.

You're supposed to be adults... but you're always playing at make believe.

There's no old mound at this school.

Absolutely!

School? There's an old mound at this school?

I just told you. Absolutely no!

Absolutely?

My mother said she'd absolutely never become like this.

But she's like this now.

I had a friend who was as hairy a bear.

He said he'd never go bald, but he's bald now.

What are you trying to say?

Leave!

My dad already went home.

Went home?

I'm fed up with archeology.

What are you staring at?

Another goblin I suppose?

Watanabe!

Watanabe did it. Absolutely!

Wa-Watanabe? Who's he?

No luck. I couldn't get through.

Anyhow, let's get away from this school and call the police.

This place is spooked.

T-the...

What?

T-the... T-t-two...

Two what?

The two are still in the classroom.

While I was researching the remains I dug up...

I made this to ward off attacks from goblins.

So far I've never used it in actual practice. So I hope it works.

Good.

Stay close to me.

The lights are out, huh?

Aoi!

Katagiri!

If you're here, come out!

I'm not the janitor!

Aoi!

Katagiri!

What's wrong, Masao?

No! Don't touch!

Masao...

You all right, Masao?

Watch your step, Masao.

Are you all right?

What are you doing in there?

Aoi

Masao!

Don't look!

Masao!

Masao!

Don't go on your own. It's dangerous!

It's Watanabe, the janitor!

I'll kill him!

Strings of gold are swinging gently in the wind.

They play a sweet and tender melody.

At night I walk in the pale moonlight,

Together with a dream a secret dream...

Reiko...

Katagiri! Open the door!

Open up!

Katagiri! Open the door!

Open it! Quick!

Katagiri!

Katagiri!

What are you doing?

Open up!

We can't do it. Let's go to the rear.

Hang on to my bag!

Katagiri!

Step aside! Step aside! Out of the way!

Stick close to me!

Watanabe!

Where are you?

Come out!

Think Watanabe did that?

Reiko...

What?

Reiko Tsukishima!

Katagiri...

Aoi...

Kono...

Research on the Legend of Hiruko Old Mound

I decided to examine the patterns found in the stone room...

of the old mound, where legend has it that people sealed evil spirits.

I discovered the spell needed to open the stone room...

In the wood on the hill behind the school...

and the spell to close it before the coke shed.

First of all, where is the mound?

A picture of the stone room!

Look at these consecutive triangles.

There's an old human figure too.

I've seen a figure like this at a Chibusan Old Mound.

But not this one...

This one. It's the goblin we saw!

I'm right! It was Hiruko after all!

Hiruko?

It's a monster that appears in legends preserved in this district.

It's in the Kojiki, the eighth century Japanese chronicle.

So, the monster came from the mound Mr. Yabe discovered.

Jesus!

But why kill Reiko?

What happened?

Look. Someone drew it later.

It represents the key to removing the magical seal.

The sun lights Hiruko...

and...

it releases Hiruko from the world of darkness.

That's the meaning.

We must erase it fast.

But before that, we've got to lock Hiruko in the stone room.

But we don't know where the mound is, let alone the stone room.

Hey, wait!

What are you planning to do?

First, I'll try to find the two places Mr. Yabe wrote about in this book...

using the spell to open the stone room and the spell to close it.

After that, I'll check the stone room.

You can't come. Stay here.

How can you do it by yourself?

It's dangerous.

I don't want a kid with me... absolutely.

If you don't take me, how can you find the places?

Ahh!

There's no 'absolutely', right?

Strings of gold are swinging gently in the wind.

They play a sweet and tender melody.

At night I walk in the pale moonlight,

Together with a dream, a secret dream.

Hurry! What are you doing?

Hang on a minute, okay?

I hope this will help catch the goblin.

If it's here, it must be close.

A rock broken in two... that's all there is here.

What?

A rock broken in two?

What's this?

I found it!

I'm sure it's the spell!

'At the beginning of the sky and land...

there appeared three gods in the Japanese Olympus. First, Ame...'

It's part of the Kojiki.

Write it down! Write it down!

I've no need to.

I've memorized the whole of the Kojiki, Japan's ancient chronicle.

Here we are.

Didn't I tell you to leave?

What are you guys doing here? Damn you!

Watanabe!

Freeze!

Don't move!

Find the spell! Quick!

Another rock! Mr. Yabe broke it too!

Mr. Yabe?

Quick!

You mean Professor Yabe? Did he bring you here?

Hurry!

Yeah, it's okay.

Hey!

Now what?

There's a relief on it.

What?

Hurry! Quick!

Stay put!

Hurry! Make it fast!

That was Watanabe, the janitor.

He was just an ordinary old man when we met him the other day.

I'd say he's crazy.

Dammit! I hope my back gets his face quick!

Now I know the spell to seal the stone room.

It's another passage from the Kojiki.

As long as my sensor shows no reaction, we're going to have to search for the old mound.

Reiko!

Let's go up!

Masao!

Masao!

Strings of gold are swinging gently in the wind.

They play a sweet and tender melody.

At night I walk in the pale moonlight,

Together with a dream, a secret dream.

Reiko!

Do you know me?

I'm Masao Yabe, your classmate.

It's all right.

Don't worry anymore.

I'll... save you.

Masao!

So... that's the way it is!

You aren't Reiko!

It's Kono. Kono. What's he doing here?

Do you know the spell to open the stone room?

Then who does know it?

Mr. Hieda memorized it.

Then you're finished.

Kill yourself by slitting your throat.

Watch out!

Masao!

Mr. Hieda...

Let's find the old mound first!

A dead end!

Let's do as before!

Oops!

Tell me the spell!

I got it!

No! Don't Shoot!

Get out!

Stop! Don't shoot!

Don't try to stop me!

Step aside!

Don't!

Shut up!

Hiruko wants to use the spell to open the stone room.

So all the goblins in it can rush out?

That'll be terrible.

Does it hurt?

Sixty years ago...

a fire struck this school. The cause remained a mystery.

At that time...

I saw the same thing as you have.

I was just a five year old kid then.

And I was wandering near the fire.

Then... I saw something terrible.

In the fire I saw a strange boy with three horns standing there.

He was yelling, but I couldn't catch what he was saying.

Then I saw his back.

Filled with smiling faces.

The fire went out, as if to grant the boy's wish.

But... the awful thing was,

the piled burned corpses had no heads.

Decades later, the man -the boy- died.

Before he died, he asked me to guard two places in this school.

'Never let such a horrible incident occur again...

Let us erase it from everyone's memory.'

That was his wish. He was crying at the time.

You sure look like him...

the late Tatsuhiko Yabe.

You're a dead ringer.

And Professor Yabe, his own son...

didn't know anything about it and opened the door.

What a dreadful fate!

I'm sure the crown Yabe took...

was the one your grandfather was wearing.

If Yabe was attacked in the stone room...

the crown may still be there.

You... you have to protect Masao, all right?

The faces in the moles on his back may be a good omen.

It's dangerous.

Better stay put.

I'd like to do one of two things.

Either...

I'd like to shoot you guys in the head.

Or...

myself.

Which is better?

I was only kidding.

I'll go and take a leak.

But it's risky!

I have this.

Mr. Watanabe!

Mr. Hieda...

Mr. Hieda, did you like my Aunt Akane when she was smiling?

Of course.

I know what she did:

Actually she followed you to the excavation site on her own, yes?

I can imagine how happy she was.

She probably thought she was on a picnic.

She was stupid.

If only I had another chance...

I never would have let her come.

I doubt it. You would have taken her

if you saw her smiling prettily.

Akane smiled for me again just before she died in hospital.

She said for me to continue doing what I liked.

She looked so pretty.

Really, I wish I could have died in her place.

I envy you, Mr. Hieda.

At least you were able to live with her...

As for me...

I couldn't even talk to Reiko though I loved her.

What's wrong?

What's wrong?

Come here! Hey, come! Come here!

The school is standing on the old mound.

And we've been chattering away...

right on top of the entombed Hirukos!

But... it's so big...

we'll never live long enough to find the stone room.

We'll find it.

That phoenix is called Sujaku.

It's a deity to guard the south side of the old mound.

It's standing at this spot under the rhombus.

And your house is... here.

You have a strange stone image in your garden, right?

It's called Genbu.

It's a deity to protect the north.

Taking into consideration the long line connecting the deities...

I can pretty well judge the size of the old mound.

The place Mr. Watanabe was guarding... is...

here.

And the second place... is here.

The inscriptions on the rock which we could barely see...

were Seiryu and Byakko...

deities to guard the east and west.

The line between them...

and the one I just mentioned...

intersect at the concentric circles.

Masao, where does the point at which they cross fall?

The tool shed in the back garden!

A tunnel, huh?

This tunnel will lead us to the stone room.

Ah ha! So this is the stone room.

We've found it at last!

There's no coffin.

So it's obviously not a tomb.

They're alike. There's no mistake.

What's up?

This is my dad's!

That means Mr. Yabe's behind that door.

Well then, why don't we just go through the door?

But what if Hiruko comes again?

My guess is that Mr. Yabe took the crown inside.

Without the crown, it'll be rather hard to shut in Hiruko.

So, we're in the same boat, eh?

I'll use this.

'At the beginning of the sky and land...

there appeared three gods in the Japanese Olympus.

First, Ame-no-minaka-nushi.

Then, Takami-musubi.

Next, Kami-musubi...'

'All three gods were bachelors...

and they soon disappeared...'

Mr. Hieda!

'Next, when the nation was still young...

and floating like a jellyfish...'

'More gods appeared...

Their names were Kuni-no-tokotachi...

and Toyokumo-no...'

'The next one died when...

he was still very young...

Then Izangi appeared...

followed by his wife Izanami...'

It opened.

What is this place?

Switch off the light.

Hirukos!

Many of them!

That's the pond at the school!

That's the one!

Maybe that Hiruko's been looking...

up at the pond for a long time.

It's the Kojiki.

It's the part that forms the spell to close the stone room door.

This is the crown your father brought.

But... it doesn't have any horns.

Oh, it's not the one Watanabe talked about.

Masao...

Dad...

Dad...

Mr. Yabe!

Oh... Hieda?

Tsukishima...

Reiko -what happened to her?

I see.

I thought that at least she'd make it.

What a thing I've done!

I'm finished.

Everything's getting fuzzy.

I feel comfortable.

Leave quickly!

It's dangerous here.

Or... don't blame me...

for whatever happens to you.

Masao, let's go.

Dad...

Goodbye, Mr. Yabe.

Hurry! Leave!

Masao!

Dad!

Dad...

Hurry! Move!

Don't make light of Akane!

Masao!

Masao! Hurry! Quick!

Hurry!

Masao!

Run!

Kono!

'When the god Izanagi fled...

from the land of the dead...'

Run! Quick!

Scram!

'... his wife Izanami...'

Thanks, everyone!

'... sent infernal witches to pursue him...'

'The god took three peaches growing on a nearby slope...

and tossed them so to send the witches away.'

Everyone!

Let's erase the concentric circles quickly.

Stay put!

Mr. Hieda!

Hey, don't move.

Please don't move.

Don't move. Keep perfectly still.

Let me die in her place! Please!

Open the door!

Kill all who oppose us!

'At the beginning of the sky and land...

there appeared three gods in the Japanese Olympus.

First, Ame-no-minaka-nushi...'

'... Then, Takami-musubi. Next, Kami-musubi...'

He was yelling, but I could catch what he was saying.

'When the god Izanagi fled from the land of the dead...'

'... his wife Izanami sent infernal witches...'

'... to pursue him.'

'When he reached the Sakamoto Hell Slope...

The god took three peaches and tossed them so as...

...to send...

...the witches away.'

'Then he blocked the Hell Slope...

with a huge rock...

and he and his wife conversed...

with the huge rock between them.'

Reiko...

I'm confident my theory was right.

But I can't submit Hiruko to the academy as evidence.

That place is forbidden.

We must never open it again.

From now on, I'll guard the old mound.

Bye.

Bye.

Next time I think I'll look for a good goblin.

I'll use some nice music for the sensor.

If you try, you'll find one...

absolutely.

'Absolutely', huh?

The players...

Kenji Sawada

Masaki Kudo

Tomoh Sano Yasuaki Tsukahara Daisuke Yamashita

Ken Mitsuishi

Hogo Cho

Kimiko Amari

Ryosuke Otani Masato Inose Yasumasa Hayashi

Imari Tsuji Yumi Mitsutani

Fujie Yamaguchi Nakoko Shimizu Kiyoko Shigenaga Fusako Tsunoda

Atsuko Sato Taeko Tanaka Shin Yoshimura Midori Kano

Mitsue Midorikawa Fumie Wada Masako Noguchi

Gashin Nagata Motohrio Ito Tadasu Kogure Takeshi Ito

Masanori Inoue Yoshihrio Ogino Kenji Hoashi Kazuo Tanaka

Chika Asamoto

Naoto Takenaka

Hideo Murota

Planned by Koji Tsutsumi

Produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa

Toshiyasu Nakamura Masamichi Higuchi

Executive Producer Yasuhiro Hasegawa

Producers Sadao Ochi Shin Yoneyama

From a book by Daijiro Moroboshi

Music by Tatsushi Umegaki

Lighting by Kenjiro Konaka

Art Director Satoshi Akatsuka

Recording by Osamu Kageyama

Edited by Yoshitami Kuroiwa

Script Girl Naoko Tozaki

Assistant Director Shigeru Sakurada

Written and Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto