Cloverfield/Kishin
From Despoiler - Cloverfield
Beginning on January 16th, a four-part, Japanese-only manga series by Yoshiki Togawa that serves as a prequel to the film. Currently, all installments are available online, Episodes 1, 2, 3, and 4. Episode 1 is rather short and vague, while Episode 2 is very long and in-depth. Episode 3 really thickens the plot, with lots of explanations and backstory to the in-manga events. Episode 4 wraps the story up, and tells much about the nature of the monster.
Contents |
Timeline
- 16Jan08 - Episode 1 released
- 07Mar08 - Episode 2 released
- 03Apr08 - Episode 3 released
- 15May08 - Episode 4 released
Episode 1
The story focuses on a young boy named Kishin Aiba (Or Aiba Kishin in Eastern order). It opens with pictures of something being dragged by chains underwater, which irritates a giant squid. The scene quickly switches focus to Kishin, whose thoughts ponder on why he was born. A scene switch featuers Kishin being bullied at school. The bullies dunk his face into a bucket of water, and beat him relentlessly. Then, they bind his arms with his own belt, remove his trousers, and play keep-away with them, saying terrible things to him all the while. A young girl named Aiko tries to intervene, and return Kishin's pants, but to no avail. An emergency alarm sounds, but it is quickly revealed to be a malfunction that caused it. Aiko wonders why, as there was an emergency alarm just "a little while ago". We then switch to a large Tagruato ship, which is towing something behind it with large, colossal chains. A bleached haired crew member shows off his cellular phone, featuring pictures of his pregnant wife. He speaks proudly of her to his crew mates, much to their chagrin, and of his desire for returning home. As he shouts proudly to the skies of his return to her, the focus pans to the massive chain links beginning to snap.
Back at the school, the bullies appear to have locked Kishin into an emergency storage house. Aiba pulls out a picture of his mother, and we then learn that she is deceased, killed by an unknown ailment. In a series of flashbacks, it is learned that Kishin has been teased and bullied his whole life, for his mother was "wrong in her head", and "weird", probably due to her eccentric nature. His mother reassures him afterwards, that as long as he cares for her, it doesn't matter what anyone else says or thinks. We see a young Kishin standing over his dead mother's body, and back in the present, we learn that Kishin still wishes that he had died along with her. The bullies in the flashback are depicted mocking him. They tease him for crying about his mother, and for being "gross", referring to his relation with her. The final straw is broken when one of the boys shouts "only your parents could commit such a sin as having you". As we see a close-up of Kishin's enraged, teary-eyed face, the large object being towed behind the Tagruato ship begins emerging from the water...
Episode 2
The story opens with a commercial advertisement for Slusho, touting it as an "unknown experience," with a "power overflow". We then go to a different Tagruato ship. Through a window, a massive length of chain is seen rising, just before the ship is violently broken in half. We learn that two separate ships have been destroyed at this point, while the remaining ships communicate via radio, wondering "why is it coming out?" One of the ships launches a missile attack. After a fleeting glimpse of the monster (with the last of its shackles breaking), and the crew wondering if the target was "silenced", we see that ship being destroyed as well. The crew aboard the original Tagruato ship (the one that was towing the monster) boasts that they will surely make it home alive. The monster swims towards the ship, and the crew begins attacking with large caliber gun turrets, and their machine guns. Its hand emerges, and squeezes an on-deck crewman to death in its hand. It rips another crewman in half, and moves in to clutch yet another. The monster is submerged throughout the attack. We are brought back to the bleached haired man (named Kurosaki, as seen in the gflashback) with the cellphone, screaming of "what will happen when the secret gets out". The monster's hand slowly rises from the water again, and crashes down, splitting the vessel in two. We see a short glimpse of a Tagruato regiment being briefed on a "top secret mission". Kurosaki "finally knows," what that secret was, "but too late". He glimpses again at the photo of his pregnant wife, which seems to motivate him to survive a little longer. He mutters that he will survive for the sake of his family, as he tumbles into the monster's gaping mouth.
The scene switches to the Tagruato Corp.. We see Kishin's father (Dr. Aiba) conversing and pouring over news footage with a female scientist. After being treated to some VERY interesting dialogue ("It appears the experimental object in the cargo begins to rage", "We have no choice but to begin with emergency plan E, and then we'll see what he does", "And then, the transport order of HIM"), the Slusho commercial airs again in the background.
We switch back now to Kishin, who is left alone in the storehouse. Aiko (now fully identified as Aiko Sasahara) opens the storage closet, and Kishin begins to lament about his mother. Aiko tries to relate with Kishin, by speaking of her own deceased father, and mentions her promiscuous mother. Kishin wonders about why he is so miserable and depressed, and expresses his envy of Aiko's strength, and his own feelings of uselessness. Aiko is quite angered by this, and begins to scold Kishin about rising above those feelings. Suddenly Aiko clutches strongly to Kishin, much to his surprise. No, he isn't getting lucky, there is actually a mouse in the room, and Aiko is terrified of mice. She hides, and Kishin can't help but be shocked that with her strength, she would be so afraid of something so small.
Back in school, it appears that the emergency alarm that alerted the students WASN'T a drill, as students are now wondering what is actually happening. We're shown a flashback of Kishin's past, concerning his father. He tries to brag to him about scoring 100 points on a test, but his father is far too cold and busy to care. He tells Kishin to "go away". Back in the present, the bullies find Kishin again in the assembly room. They goad him about not being in the storehouse, and tell him to find shelter from whatever emergency is taking place. They then shove him into the wall. They command that he strip off his clothes, and run around the gymnasium, as "running around will surely make him safe". Mustering his courage after his scolding from Aiko, he reaffirms himself that he CAN do something. And that that something has "already happened". He dashes to the school doors, and runs outside in hopes of avoiding them, only to see fighter planes zooming past. Everyone is wondering what is going on, as other students still inside are watching news video footage on some portable telvision devices. The news broadcast shows the monster rampaging in Japan's oceans and states the government representatives are keeping quiet about "its" origin, and that the footage they are seeing was recorded by a fishing boat. "It" is still 100 km from the coast, and it isn't known whether the mobilization of military forces and emergency alarms are related to "its" presence. Aiko resolves that she must return to her home, and Kishin watches her flee on her bicycle, wondering where she is going, and what is happening. He spots a discarded bicycle near some trash cans outside of the school and rushes to her with haste...
Back to the scene at sea. The pilot in one of the fighter jets states the he can see, and attack "the target". Just then, out of the ocean the monster leaps into the air, swatting down the fighter jet in a violent explosion. It is revealed where the beast is heading, and what "coast" it was that was referred to in the news broadcast: Tokyo.
Aiko is nearing her neighborhood, and it seems that the rest of the people there are evacuating. Suddenly, Kishin comes crashing in on the bicycle he found. He states that he was worried about her, and Aiko looks at him with warm eyes. She speaks of how the school uniform tie she is wearing was a present from her father, originally belonging to her promiscuous mother. She snaps out of it, and asks if he is okay, and if he truly was worried about her. He gets nervous, and says he wasn't thinking anything "bad" happened. She gets a little angry that he wasn't "actually worried", but then insists she was only joking. Kishin decides that he will go with her. They get back on Aiko's bicycle, and start talking about Tagruato. Kishin mentions his father's high position there. He talks about how all sorts of famous people are involved, like the celebrity in the Slusho commercial, a famous pop singer named Yuki. Aiko LOVES Yuki, and Aiba says that his father had brought home autographed pictures of him. A soldier suddenly appears, screaming that the area they are heading to (presumably Aiko's home) is completely blocked, and that they must find shelter. They quickly turn around, with Aiko saying they now have something more important to do (go and find the autographed Yuki photo), while Kishin just laughs. They arrive at Kishin's home, and enter. Aiko is immediately frightened of Kishin's pet hamster, as Kishin goes to fetch the photos, which are in his father's room. Upon reaching the room, Kishin has another childhood flashback. As a young boy, he tried to go into the room out of curiosity, only to be scolded severely at by his father, that "things that aren't for children" were in there. Back in the present, Kishin sees his father's door is open. Upon entering, he sees strange human x-rays, and his own clinical records. He ponders what kind of work his father must have been doing, and feels intensely scared and sorry to even be in there. As he notices things are scattered around, he gets a feeling that someone had rifled through the room. Just then, he hears Aiko's ear-splitting scream.
As he bursts into the living room, he finds a strange, ski-mask wearing man has Aiko hostage with an ornament resembling a miniature version of the monster's finger/toenail on his wrist. The man throws Aiko down, and in another reaffirmed rage, Kishin rushes the masked man. Another masked man appears behind Kishin , and clubs him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. They order Aiko to be bound, but she makes a swift and reckless move which allows her to escape. Once outside, she encounters more soldiers. She begs them to come back with her and save her friend, which they agree to do, ONLY if she leaves with the rest of the troops to a nearby shelter. Once she is escorted away, they ignore her pleas, and state that "everyone has been evacuated to the shelters". Aiko's last dialogues imply she will continue her search for Kishin later.
Now in a mysterious, darkened room, Kishin awakens to find himself shackled to a large chair. Two candles ignite behind him, and strange robed-and-masked men appear. As he looks up at them their masks become visible: they are rough, almost statue-like visages of the monster's face. Another, larger man approaches Kishin . When the candlelight makes him visible, we see a man in an elegant robe. He wears a similar mask, though horned and FAR more detailed, surrounded with blazing, wild hair. He places his hands on Kishin 's head and says, "You are welcome. You were sent by our God". The final frame reveals two of the monster-nailed bracelets on the elegant-robed man's wrist.
Episode 3 (Editing pending, linking and clarifications required)
We open with a rather intense scene. Tanks are lined-up all along a harbour in Tokyo, commencing fire on the rapidly approaching monster. As anyone could guess, the monster quickly stomps the tanks into obvlivion. The story cuts back to Tagruato Corp., where a female employee is calling for Dr. Aiba (Kishin's father). We are introduced to an ugly, buck-toothed scientist, feeling obvious digust for Dr. Aiba being the "go-to-guy". He inquires to the female employee of what the trouble is, and she only states that she cannot find Dr. Aiba anywhere. He begins proclaiming that his air of responsibility makes him FAR better suited for Dr. Aiba's position, before being put back on-task by the female employee. They venture into Dr. Aiba's office (we see a brief shot including a framed photo of an infant Kishin with his mother and father), and she begins to show the ugly doctor news footage of the monster's rampage. He grows angry at the state of Dr. Aiba's office, while pondering the monster's unexpected awakening. After he informs the female doctor that data ought be collected on the monster, he lashes out over the cluttered state of the office. He demands that Dr. Aiba's personal belongings be thrown away, and that all of Dr. Aiba's data be transferred to his computer.
Back at the mysterious cult base, Kishin remains shackled in the chair. He is center-stage in some form of ceremony, while robed cultist pray and shout to their "god". The ornately-robed leader shouts that finally, after 1,000 years, mankind's foolishness can be wiped away, and that the day is coming when their deepest wishes shall be fulfilled. After declaring Kishin's presence as being an "answered prayer", the leader announces that a ritual will now begin. The next time the cultists meet they will then "possess god's power". Kishin is in utter disbelief, and cries out to the leader, for he cannot understand what is so important about him. The leader ignores this plea, and continues on with his speech, saying that they will "restore this beautiful world to how it was in the past". Kishin demands to know who these people are, and the leader pauses to respond to him - "We are the repose of the Earth." The leader activates a television screen, which is showing news footage of the monster attacking. He gloats of the "god's" power, and informs Kishin of the sad state of the world and it's inhabitants. The "god" descended to purge the world of these wrongdoings. Kishin, in disbelief, wonders aloud of whether his current situation, and the attack he's witnessing, is truly happening. The cult leader leans in closely with one answer - "This is unmistaken reality." Kishin, still in disbelief, is now floored by the words the cult leader speaks; "We have been waiting a long time for this day. I'm sure Yoko Aiba, who worked so hard, would be pleased." Kishin can't believe it! His mother? Why? The cult leader informs him that his mother also revered the "god", and that his mother and the cult members are "kindred souls." The cult leader begins telling Kishin what an enthusiastic "believer" his mother was, and how hard she worked in her worries to protect all the lands of the Earth. He begins speaking of how the cult lost her to an "event", and how if they had known what would take place sooner, they would have prevented it. Kishin remains in utter shock. The cult leader informs Kishin that his mother was killed by "somebody who was disrupting the cult."
We now switch quickly back to the streets of Tokyo. A young man in a black suit, and a blonde-haired, large-breasted female are walking around. They argue briefly about walking (the blonde girl wanted to walk around, but is now complaining of her feet hurting), and she begins saying that the only reason she preferred to walk was because she thought she would see something interesting. The young man banters back, "isn't it interesting with me?" As the blonde girl makes a snide comment, the young man becomes angry with her, and decides he is leaving. He begins walking away from her, and she quickly changes her mood. She decides that she loves him being angry, and that being alone is "annoying." Just then, a gigantic, clawed hand grips and crushes the top of a nearby building. They both scream to eachother, and begin running away. The scene now switches to multiple city inhabitants, running and screaming as the monster smashes its way through the city. Helicopters suddenly swarm in, and begin pummeling the beast with a flurry of missiles. Ground infantry attempts to surround the monster, and they begin an attack as well, with machine guns and tanks. The commanding officer then tells the troops to quit firing, as "all the shots hit." Nothing can be seen through the massive cloud of smoke from this swift barrage. After a brief moment of silence and relief, the monster's hand shoots out of the smoke cloud, crushing one of the helicopters in mid-air. The soldiers desperately scream to attack, as the monster reduces eveything (including them) in the area to rubble.
Back at the cult ceremony, the cult leader is speaking to Kishin of how his monther died. He tells Kishin to blame it on "them", and that the cult is only trying to reconstitute the world. Kishin's fists clench, and in his rage and confusion, screams at the top of his lungs to his mother. As we witness Kishin's breakdown, we see the monster's face as if something has signaled it. The monster begins scratching off some of the parasites that are attached to it, which plummet to the streets. The creatures begin terrorizing what few citizens are still in the vicinity. We see the monster throw its arms into the air, giving a furious and desperate roar. Now, at the cult base again, we hear the leader's speech continuing. In what appears to be some sort of lobby, a few cult stragglers are trying to get to the ceremony. A mysterious man, leather-clad and wearing a motorcycle helmet walks in. Drawing his handgun, he shoots one of the cultist in the head, informing them that their "devotions can wait." He begins asking for information. Back again to the ceremony, the leader proclaims that the manifested "monsters" will compete with humanity. There will be many of them. Still berating Kishin, he states that to "them", a man's life is meaningless, and that Kishin's mother was trying to protect the "most important thing in the world," regardless of her own life. As he sees Kishin's pain and anger, he begins to draw a sword. He informs Kishin that this "important thing" is, in fact, possessed by Kishin himself - "The God's Vestige". He explains that their "god" is not omnipitent, and cannot control its insane power, but there exists and object for others to control it. "They" know about this object, and the cult must obtain it before "they" do. Kishin's mother tried to circumvent this from happening, so she hid this object in a safe place, where "they" could never find it. The cult leader approaches Kishin with sword in hand, and proclaims "It's inside your body!!" As Kishin begs him to wait, the cult leader swipes the sword at him. Kishin flinches, and jerks to the side, and the chair he is shackled to falls over onto the floor. Kishin has narrowly escaped death, but realizes that the missed blow of the sword ended up cutting loose the very shackles keeping him hostage.
Kishin crawls up from the chair, and bolts to a nearby door, with the leader in tow. Still lecturing Kishin, he explains that though no one is sure where or how his mother was killed, the "God's Vestige" is surely inside of him. As Kishin frantically jiggles the knob of the locked door, the leader reaches around his face with a chloroform-soaked rag. Kishin falls to the floor, unconscious, as the leader proclaims, "god has told us to change the world! My ancestors were gods, and I will become one as well! I will be the chosen one!" The leader once again raises his sword, ready to take another strike at Kishin. Suddenly, the barrel of a gun is put to the leader's head. Before he has time to even think, the gun goes off, and he whirls to the floor. The frame pans out to show the mysterious man wearing the motorcycle helmet from earlier. The mysterious man sees Kishin splayed-out on the ground, and picks him up. He throws Kishin over his shoulder, and begins to run from the cult base, avoiding all of the fallen cultists that we now see he has executed. The remaining cultists run to their collapsed leader, pleading to him, and asking who that "trespasser" was. As his shattered mask falls to the ground (apparently this mask shielded him from what would've been a fatal gunshot), the frantic leader begins to feverishly bite at his fingernails, ignoring the bloody wound on his head. He commands, "DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" He proclaims that the object inside of Kishin must not get away, that it was "them" who came to steal it, and that the "God's Vestige" belongs to him. The remaining cultists try to warn him of something, just as a gigantic hand crashes through the ceiling. He looks upward, to see a massive eye peering at him. He rejoices, as "god" has finally appeared before him. He falls to his knees, humbled, and pleads to the monster to "wait a little bit longer," as he will obtain the "God's Vestige" soon. His eyes widen in terror as the monster simply crushes him beneath its clawed finger.
The Monster is then seen rampaging through the city once more. A parasite is seen killing a man by plunging a leg through his chest. It then chases a group of people. The parasite attacks the group and kills another member by biting her head off. The group rushes into a building. The panicked people come to the decision that a girl amongst them should be a decoy and allow the rest to escape. The girl is pushed outside, and he pleads to be let back in and bangs on the door. Then, the parasite is seen approaching her.
The book then cuts to the presumable past, and we see the discovery of the monster, possibly by Tagruato. The cultists are seen, and they say they found their God. The monster apparently says "Whatever I do, they don't. Let me sleep..." When the monster speaks, or thinks more likely, it has a square shaped bubble. Mr. Aiba says he will transport the monster to Japan. He starts saying his experiment will...but never finishes the sentence. The monster says/thinks "Please...leave me alone...I'm just...here". Another voice says Kishin twice. The scene shows chains in the water.
The book then goes back to Kishin and his father in a laboratory-like room. Kishin is just coming-to, and his father is standing above him. Kishin says "Father?", and asks the person who he is. Kishin looks around, gettin on his feet. Mr. Aiba says it was safe there. Kishin starts asking about his mother. This brings Mr. Aiba to say that his mother was killed, and didn't just die. He starts explaining by saying that for 15 years there was this thing at the bottom of the ocean, and dispite its great size, there was an endless small thing. He says they called it Splinter of Amnion, the religous sect referred to it as God's Vestige, a name Kishin recognizes. Mr. Aiba continues his explanation, saying that as a result of their research, they discovered that the "pod" transmissed electromagnetic waves to a specific THING, like a remote control. That THING is the monster.
When the religous sect found out about the pod, they sent a spy, Kishin's mother. Mr. Aiba was unaware, saying he didn't know that the religous sect was after the pod he was in possession of. Mr. Aiba married Yoko (Kishin's mother). Unaware of the trap, Mr. Aiba worked hard to support his family when Kishin was born. The book then shows that Yoko was well trusted, and allowed in the lab by other employees. Mr. Aiba was worried about the "pod" and the power it had, and realized the danger. But, he also saw that the world could be happy and bliss if it was used the right way. One day, it happened, and Yoko stole the pod. The company could see that it was Yoko. They came to a quick decision. Kishin remembers the cult talking about "them" who killed his mother. At first, Kishin thought Mr. Aiba killed Yoko, but Mr. Aiba says that is false. Mr. Aiba protested, saying it wasn't her, but the company had searched Yoko's personal belongings with no success. So they snatched her away, and in his sadness, Mr. Aiba couldn't work right or treat Kishin the right way. Yoko had paid much more attention to Kishin. One day, Mr. Aiba said, he found Yoko's journal, and it basically said that Kishin had the pod in his body, and he was God's messanger.
Thinking, back, Kishin refuses to believe his mother used him, and proclaims that Mr. Aiba is lying. Mr. Aiba says it isn't and that that as the pod would be taken it, it would not get along with the deep entanglements inside him. However, the cult nor Tagruato knew the pod was inside Kishin. So Mr. Aiba looked for ways to remove the pod, secretly. Leaving the city would not help, as this is why the monster started acting violently. He came to one conclusion. Kishin would have to die to save everyone.
Kishin thinks back to his father during his childhood. Then, we see that Mr. Aiba has a bomb strapped on his chest. He says that he won't let Kishin die alone. Mr. Aiba says his hands could never hug him close for 10 years, and how foolish he ways. He says Kishin shouldn't forgive him, then says "Well, let's go." He thinks about his family, and how when he and Kishin die, they will all be together again. He pushes a small button in his hand and an explosion blasts out of the building.
The book cuts back to the girl confronting the parasite. Apparently, the Parasite jumped and the girl stabbed and killed it with a metal rod. The body falls on her, and she pushes the body off. She looks up at the recently exploded building, and says "Aiba..."
The book then shows that the monster's hands have shielded Kishin from the blast caused by Mr. Aiba. Kishin thinks back to his father's words. He remembers that he said he should die for the sake of the world, and that only the pod inside him is important. Kishin then clenches his fist, proclaiming that nobody needs him. He then cries hysterically and screams to the heavens. After regaining normallity (or something close to it), Kishin stammers and swaggers. He kicks and punches various items around him in his anger.
He walks up to the monster, saying "Do you understand my feelings?" Unresponsive the monster just lowers it head to Kishin. Kishin then says "Oh well...you have heard what I've said, haven't you?" He remembers the bullies in his school, and then says "Exactly!" as he steps onto the monster. He then exclaims from atop the monster "This useless thing can abandon!" At this point, Kishin is presumably insane, by the look in his eyes.
The monster stomps the ground, and the words appear: "Kishin and the monster are starting to move!"
Episode 4
As the manga starts, Kishin says "OK, let's go" to the monster, after it roars. Some Japan military command that "anti-monster ambush attack systems" are to be used, after the monster penetrates their perimeter. The ground then opens up in front of the monster and shoots many missiles toward it. The monster leaps and avoids the attack, which speed that surprises the military officers. The monster then deflects some missiles with its massive arms. It then races towards the building where the military officers reside. The monster apparently punches a large hole through the building.
The group that retreated into a building (the bullies from Kishin's school) now find themselves cornered by parasites. They plead for their lives. Kishin then makes his entrance, to the surprise of the bullies. He then asks them what they are doing, only to then say that they are doing exactly what he wants them to do.
The manga then goes to a news crew in a helicopter notices how the monster has halted its attacks. The news man asks the camera man if he has got his shots, and the camera man replies yes. He also adds that the SDF doesn't know what to do either, since their missiles were useless. The news man then pleads (to himself) for the monster to rage around a little more, for some more footage.
Back to the bullies and Kishin. Kishin got the parasites to beat up the bullies with punches and headbutts. When the sharp-toothed bully begged for him to stop, Kishin points out that they showed no mercy when they were pounding him. He goes on to say that he was only bullying them like they did to him, and asked him if he had confidence in his strength. He asked him if he had any while he was by himself, and said it was the same with himself. Kishin then gets a parasite to punch him into a wall. He rambles on, saying "We don't need people like you, who get power by intimidation. Everyone agrees. I've always thought it seemed that way." The head bully try again to plead, apologizing as this time. Kishin says "Oh, that won't do. It's too late." We see the two other bullies are on the floor and dead, due to the beatings. "I'm not going to let you end up like those two just yet. I'm going to turn you over to my kids (the parasites) to play with. I think you are different...you're the kind that can take some suffering." Kishin says. As he sends a parasite to kill the bully, he says "bye bye."
Suddenly, Aiko appears and hits the parasite with a long metal rod.
IN PROGRESS...
Special Thanks
The Cloverfield/Kishin manga translations have been submitted online by a blogger and Unfiction poster named Kosmopol. None of us would have any idea (beyond the pictures) of what was going on in these mangas if it weren't for him, so THANK YOU Kosmopol. Dennis at CloverfieldClues provides us all with the manga images stockpiled for easy access and translation, and has recently rallied a group together to complete Episode 4. Also, to everyone at unFiction for their support and ideas. Credit must be given where it is due.
