Full-time comic artist

"Never mind, I'll watch Paprika instead."

After watching it for the first time, she never watched Paprika again.

The inexplicable plot forced her to back down.

Starting from the middle now, you definitely won't understand it.

"I'll probably just glance at it and put it down," she thought.

……

In a dream, Detective Konakawa shoots and kills Oyamachi, who dies, and the dream begins to invade reality.

On the rooftop, middle-aged men in suits cheered and jumped for joy.

"The show has begun!"

Starting with him, office workers began jumping off buildings to commit suicide with smiles on their faces.

"Huh?" Xia Nai's eyes widened. "Why would you commit suicide?"

The procession from the dream appeared on the streets of reality, still filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, creating a lively and festive atmosphere.

People watched excitedly, some taking out their phones to take pictures.

Several men joined the group, playing guitar, bass, and keyboard drums.

Housewives have been transformed into golden lucky cats and lucky Buddha statues.

The faces of the high school girls were transformed into selfies on the phone screens. They lifted their skirts, and another group of lewd middle-aged men transformed into phones to take pictures under the high school girls' skirts.

Someone turned into a house.

The politicians who used to give speeches to garner votes have been replaced by Dharma statues used to pray for good things to happen.

More politicians, disregarding everything to seize high positions in the political system, are also frantically climbing towards the throne of the parade.

……

"What...what are these?" Xia Nai was dumbfounded.

She felt as if she were witnessing a carnival, with many things about to emerge, yet she couldn't understand them.

Her mind was filled with images of employees jumping off buildings to commit suicide, people turning into all sorts of different things, chaos, noise, and allusions.

Dreams and reality intertwine, appearing chaotic, but what is the reality?

Perhaps people are showing their true selves.

The hidden truth.

"I don't understand..." Xia Nai muttered.

Not only this scene, but also the scene where Atsuko Chiba confesses her feelings to Kosaku Tokita later on.

She admitted that she liked Shi Tian, ​​"He's fat, slow, and sloppy. Although you can't judge a book by its cover, there are limits. He's a glutton like a rice bucket, but he's actually a genius of the century."

"Really...you're hopelessly funny."

An icy beauty confesses her love to a large, fat otaku.

“Chiba, whom both Funakawa and Oyamachi like, actually likes Tokita,” Natsuna shook her head. “It’s unbelievable.”

The difference between these two people is too great, like reality and a dream at opposite ends.

The chairman is the main villain; he controls the dream world. Paprika and Atsuko Chiba combine their powers and, together with Tokita, save everything.

In the end, Atsuko Chiba and Tokita got together, and Detective Funakawa also made peace with himself.

She actually read the entire 30-page short comic strip.

"It feels like I've seen everything, but also like I haven't seen anything..."

"Oh no, this is so interesting!"

Xia Nai blinked excitedly.

The visuals in Paprika are unlike anything else in other comics. The bizarre and fantastical comics feature many overlapping elements, creating a strong visual impact.

The school bell rang.

Xia Nai looked up and sighed, "It's time for class."

She turned and walked into the classroom. But she heard the teacher say, "get out of class dismissed."

"Eh!" Xia Nai exclaimed.

Keiko belatedly realized that she always felt something was missing, and that it was because Natsumi wasn't around to bother her.

……

After returning home, Xia Nai was completely absent-minded.

She had no appetite for the food her sister made and only ate a couple of bites.

Her younger sister snatched her dessert pudding, and she let it go.

The mischievous child of the past has now transformed into an artistic young woman.

"What's wrong, Xia Nai?" Her sister touched her forehead and compared the temperature with her own. "You don't have a fever."

“I was just wondering,” Shana said, “what exactly is Professor Toriakino talking about?”

"Teacher Tori Akino?" the older sister asked, puzzled. "Are there any teachers with the surname Tori Akino at our school?"

Xia Nai ignored her. "What exactly are those images trying to tell us? They seem very meaningful."

……

Higashino Ichiro is fishing by the Arakawa River.

His homeless fishing buddy, Mr. Yoshino, wasn't focused on his fishing rod this time; instead, he kept looking at the jumper.

He would occasionally utter a meaningful sigh, "Nothing has changed over the years."

"What?" Higashino Ichiro pulled up his fishing rod, finding the hook empty. He baited the hook again and cast it out. "You like watching Jump too?"

“Because it’s very interesting,” Mr. Yoshino said, closing the jump with a complicated expression. “Your child is really amazing to be able to draw such a work.”

“Of course,” Higashino Ichiro said matter-of-factly. “Are you reading Hibiki Ga's manga?”

“Hmm.” Yoshida nodded. “It’s a manga called ‘Paprika,’ and the content is really spicy.”

Higashino Ichiro paused for a moment, then said, "Ha."

He didn't see it, so he doesn't know.

Yoshida's gaze drifted into the distance, returning to the past.

"People's attention is focused on houses, and they have become mortgage slaves."

"After the economic bubble burst, many office workers committed suicide by jumping off buildings due to unbearable pressure."

"Houses have become worthless, and a lifetime of hard work is not worth mentioning."

"This happened after the 1990s, and I never expected to be able to feel it in comics."

He used to be a very hardworking person, but he forgot how to enjoy life, and all he cared about was making money!

As a result of an economic crisis, all the sacrifices he made in his life yielded nothing but laughable outcomes.

Yoshino thus gained a new perspective, began to enjoy life, and devoted his time to himself.

When he saw "Paprika," he was reminded of his past self and was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

“That period was indeed very difficult.” Higashino Ichiro nodded in agreement; he almost couldn’t afford to send his two children to school.

Money had to be spent sparingly, and his wife started working part-time.

They finally got through that difficult period.

Higashino Ichiro asked, "Did Hibiki draw this content?"

"Paprika is a work from the 90s that satirizes various aspects of Japanese society at the time," Yoshino replied. "Paprika, which is an adaptation of Paprika, naturally includes these themes."

Ichiro Higashino: "Adapted from a work from the 90s? Well, it's better now, isn't it?"

Yoshino looked at him speechlessly. "Paprika is still satirical, so what do you think?"

Higashino Ichiro became less perceptive because his son was famous and wealthy, and he didn't have to worry about making a living.

"In 2002, the content of 'Inception' was still relevant. 'Paprika's' naked depiction exposed the unbearable reality of Japan."

……

“In the dream, the procession was full of things that people had abandoned. When they came into reality, they were influenced by them, and what people had been hiding was revealed.”

"Housewife who worries about daily necessities has become a lucky charm, because all that's left in her heart is money."

"High school girls sell their bodies for money, showing no regard for their self-respect or self-love."

On Wednesday, in the classroom, during a class meeting, Keiko shared her thoughts after reading the book. As she spoke, she blushed and recalled the scene in "Paprika" where a high school girl lifted her skirt to let a middle-aged man take a picture.

"Politicians only talk big for votes, but they are essentially like Bodhidharma, incapable of fulfilling the people's wishes. They make promises to voters for the sake of elections, but fail to deliver. Japan's economy remains stagnant."

"They use any means necessary to climb to high positions, all for their own benefit."

"These are all kinds of social realities. In reality, people deliberately avoid certain topics or bury their ugly inner selves. These are all reflected in dreams."

Keiko spoke eloquently, saying, "Paprika exposes people's hidden desires and satirizes the chaos in today's society."

She finished her speech and bent down to sit.

Applause erupted in the classroom.

Someone tugged at her skirt, and Keiko looked over to see Natsuna with shining eyes.

"Keiko, you explained it so well!"

"Huh? Natsumi, are you listening?" Keiko asked in surprise, as Natsumi usually daydreamed.

"Yes!" Xia Nai nodded, "Because I'm very curious!"

Next, it was her turn. Xia Nai stood up and shared her thoughts on the book from a different perspective.

"Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita are very different; one is slender, and the other is plump. Atsuko Chiba also struggled with this, which led to the creation of the unrestrained red pepper."

"However, in the end, the two of them got together. Chiba Atsuko did not choose the handsome Koyamachi, but Tokita. This shows that one cannot only focus on appearance; inner and soulful beauty is the most important."