A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
A wave of gruesome murders is sweeping Tokyo. The only connection is a bloody X carved into the neck of each of the victims. In each case, the murderer is found near the victim and remembers nothing of the crime. Detective Takabe and psychologist Sakuma are called in to figure out the connection, but their investigation goes nowhere. An odd young man is arrested near the scene of the latest murder, who has a strange effect on everyone who comes into contact with him. Detective Takabe starts a series of interrogations to determine the man's connection with the killings.—Todd K. Bowman <[email protected]>
The police detective Kenichi Takabe is investigating bizarre murders where the victims are brutally murdered with an X carved on the neck. However, each killer is immediately arrested and confesses to the murder, but cannot explain their motives to kill the victim. Takabe is working with the psychologist Makoto Sakuma and they are intrigued since all of the killers had contact with a stranger immediately before the murder. Takabe is a troubled man since his mentally unstable wife Fumie is a burden in his life. When a physician kills a man in a public restroom, Takabe discloses the identity of the stranger. He is an intern at the hospital where Kunio Mamiya had consultation with the physician. Mamiya is a dazed and confused man with apparent loss of memory, and his behavior affects Takabe. Takabe's further investigation discovers that Mamiya has studied hypnotism and is capable of putting suggestions to kill in the minds of his victims. Takabe becomes obsessed by the case, which affects his personal life and threatens to make him lose his mind.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Kenichi Takabe, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police detective, is involved in the investigation of a bizarre series of violent killings by seemingly random perpetrators. In each case the murderers have been caught close to the scene of the crime. Each one has mutilated his or her victim by carving a large "X" into the neck or chest of the deceased. Although all of the perpetrators readily confess and remember their deeds, none seems to have substantial motives or explanations for their actions. Takabe is at a loss for answers. His private life also seems to falter, as his wife Fumie suffers from phases of schizophrenia and frequently gets lost in the neighborhood. Takabe, together with his friend and colleague, forensic psychologist Shin Sakuma, eventually identifies a common thread connecting the murders. Each killer, shortly before killing, came in contact with a man named Kunio Mamiya. Mamiya appears to have extreme short-term memory loss and claims to recall nothing of his past. In custody, Mamiya constantly evades Takabe's questions by asking about the detective's identity and private life. Sakuma has Mamiya transferred to prison care ward. The pressure of the unsolved cases and his wife deteriorating condition take its toll, causing Takabe to lose his composure. At one point during the questioning, he expresses resentment towards Fumie in front of an amused Mamiya. Searching through Mamiya's belongings, Takabe and Sakuma discover that Mamiya used to study psychology, specifically mesmerism and hypnosis. Takabe suspects that Mamiya has no memory problems at all and is in fact a master of hypnosis capable of planting homicidal suggestions in strangers' minds by exposing them to repetitive sounds, such as the motion of water or the flame of a lighter. Takabe has Mamiya charged with incitement to murder. After experiencing a vision of Fumie's suicide, he commits her to a mental hospital. Sakuma shows Takabe a videotape featuring a mysterious man speculated to be Suejiro Bakuro, the originator of Japanese mesmerism in Mamiya's mesmerism literature. In the video, a female subject was hypnotized by the man, who gestured an "X" in midair. The woman later killed her son in a manner similar to the crimes they are investigating. Sakuma believes the crimes have a connection to the past, and describes Mamiya as a missionary of ceremonial murders. Subsequently, Sakuma unconsciously draws an X in black paint on his wall and starts to experience hallucinations of Takabe menacingly cornering him. Several days later, the police discover Sakuma's body handcuffed to a pipe in his home and conclude that he committed suicide. Mamiya escapes from prison, killing a policeman in the process. Takabe tracks him to a deserted building and shoots him. Before dying, Mamiya draws an X in the air in front of Takabe. Exploring the building, Takabe finds and plays an old phonograph cylinder containing a recording of a male voice, thought to be that of Bakuro, repeating what seem to be hypnotic instructions. Shortly after, Fumie's already decomposed corpse is found by a nurse, with an "X" savagely carved into her throat. In a restaurant, a waitress serves Takabe, walks away, is whispered to by several staff members, and silently draws a knife.
