Satoshi Mitsu

Watarai seems like a respectable science teacher at a cram school in a decent apartment complex but he has the hidden habit he dare not reveal. That of peeping in on people’s private lives. This veritable watcher in the attic has a peephole surveillance system set up to watch his downstairs neighbours, Taro and Hanae Magara, a couple who are university lecturers. They appear perfect from the outside but the husband hides a secret that Watarai discovers ahead of Hanae and he finds himself sucked from the role of an observer into that of a participant in the fracturing of their relationship and worse…

I can no longer recall my first love. Yet one thing lingers: I was always chasing the fleeting shadow of his back. In that moment, I longed for 1 PM to never come. The ship sails away, and with it, a farewell—like a dream that never truly existed.

Takumi Amase, an aspiring chef, becomes homeless after his restaurant closes. While job hunting, he reunites with Ryoji Sakiyama, a photographer he once liked, at a coffee shop. Ryoji doesn’t remember him, but Takumi moves in with Ryoji and his friend Daiya, who are seeking a third roommate. As they live together, Takumi grapples with his feelings for Ryoji, who is hesitant about love, while Daiya keeps his own secrets.

Set in 2020 in the Shibuya neighborhood of Tokyo, the story revolves around Hachi, a boy who fled to the Japanese capital from his hometown of Fukushima and now lives away from society as an illegal drug dealer.