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Short filmTranscript
00:00This was a murder that took place in a park, committed by several junior high school students.
00:04Late at night, a woman had simply told the teenagers to go home early,
00:07only to be beaten to death on the spot with a baseball bat.
00:09The next afternoon, people discovered her body in the park's bushes.
00:13The victim was a 53-year-old unemployed woman who lived alone.
00:16Her rental apartment was piled high with garbage,
00:18reeking of rot, and the walls were covered with the words,
00:21Born Human.
00:22I'm sorry, Matsuko was born into a middle-class family.
00:25Although she was the eldest daughter, she was treated like an invisible presence at home.
00:29Because her younger sister was born weak and often ill,
00:31their father showered all his love on the younger girl.
00:34Whenever he brought gifts home, he bought them only for her.
00:36Matsuko never received a single gift from him.
00:39Throughout her childhood, her father's attitude toward her was one of constant neglect.
00:43That is, until one day when she and her father went to the circus and she made a clown-like face at him.
00:48For the first time, he smiled at her.
00:49In order to win his attention, Matsuko made that face every day afterward,
00:53and each time her father would laugh.
00:55But as time passed, his laughter became more and more perfunctory.
00:58On the day of Matsuko's coming-of-age ceremony, her father, who was taking photos,
01:02suddenly put the camera down.
01:04He said to her,
01:04I may never get to see your sister in a kimono.
01:07Trying to cheer him up, Matsuko instinctively made that same face again.
01:10But this time, her father's expression turned dark, and he scolded her.
01:14From childhood to adulthood, Matsuko had always tried to please her father.
01:18She obediently went to the university he wanted her to attend and chose the career he wanted for her.
01:22At 23, after graduating, she became a music teacher at a local junior high school.
01:26Young and beautiful, she was very popular with students.
01:29That year was the happiest of her life.
01:31A male teacher at the school was pursuing her.
01:33He was handsome, and after dates, Matsuko would share funny stories with her sister.
01:38But when their father found out, he severely scolded her for not considering her sister's feelings.
01:42This was the first time Matsuko's emotions exploded.
02:03During a school trip, one of her students, Mike, stole $12,000 in cash from the innkeeper.
02:08As homeroom teacher, Matsuko tried to get to the bottom of what happened, but Mike Sirjong
02:12refused to admit he had taken the money.
02:14To resolve the matter quickly, Matsuko decided to cover the loss herself.
02:18She secretly met with the innkeeper, claimed she had stolen the money, and begged for forgiveness.
02:22But the principal eventually found out, and she faced the prospect of being fired.
02:26She then privately asked Mike to admit to the theft.
02:28First, Mike agreed.
02:29But when they stood before the principal, he changed his story and said Matsuko had threatened
02:33him to take the blame.
02:34As a result, Matsuko was dismissed from her job.
02:37Feeling she had lost all face to face her father, she decided to run away from home.
02:41Her sister tried to stop her, but Matsuko angrily shoved her to the ground.
02:45She believed her sister was the root cause of all her misfortunes.
02:48Their mother arrived just in time, but Matsuko left the home where she had lived for 24 years.
02:53Six months after running away from home, Matsuko, who had no job, asked her younger brother
02:57to meet up.
02:58He told her that not long after she left, their younger sister had a mental breakdown.
03:01And just a while back, their dad had died of a brain hemorrhage.
03:05Then he tossed her some money, his face cold and indifferent, and cut off their sibling
03:08relationship for good.
03:10The news of her father's death left Matsuko frozen in place.
03:13The fatherly love she'd spent so long chasing had become a dream she'd never reach.
03:17After meeting her brother, Matsuko went back to her rental apartment.
03:20Her boyfriend, Alan, did what he always did.
03:22He started hitting and kicking her.
03:24Insults and beatings had become almost routine for Matsuko.
03:27Whenever Alan got stuck with his writing, he'd take his frustration out on her.
03:30But Matsuko never thought about breaking up.
03:32She figured Alan loved her, at least.
03:34That night, though, Alan left a note and disappeared without a word.
03:37The note read,
03:38Asterisk, I'm sorry for being born.
03:40Asterisk Matsuko rushed out to find him, and eventually spotted him near the local train
03:44tracks.
03:44Alan had laid down on the tracks and killed himself, a smile on his face.
03:48In that moment, Matsuko fell into utter despair.
03:51Six months later, Matsuko became the kept woman of Bill, Alan's rival.
03:55Bill was also a writer, gentle, and kind to her.
03:57Matsuko thought she'd found someone else who loved her.
04:00One night, she followed Bill to his house.
04:02When she saw his wife was far less attractive than herself, she was convinced Bill must love
04:06her more than his wife.
04:07But when Bill found out about her visit, he flew into a rage, scolding her for going to
04:11his home without permission.
04:13Asterisk, I never loved you.
04:14Asterisk, he told her.
04:16Asterisk, I was only with you because I was jealous of Alan.
04:19Asterisk, he stuffed some money into her hand, turned, and walked away, leaving Matsuko frozen
04:23where she stood.
04:24At 25, pressed by financial stress, Matsuko became a hostess at a cabaret.
04:28With her good looks, she quickly became the most popular girl there.
04:31She even snuck back home once.
04:33There was a photo of her father on the family altar in the living room.
04:36When she flipped through his diary, she was shocked to find he'd cared about her all
04:39along.
04:40After she ran away, he'd written the same line in his diary every day.
04:43Asterisk, no news from Matsuko today.
04:45Asterisk, tears filled Matsuko's eyes as she read.
04:48After all these years, she'd finally felt her father's love.
04:51Just then, her younger sister found her.
04:53But Matsuko didn't want to stay.
05:05She handed her sister a large sum of money and left the house that felt both familiar
05:09and alien.
05:09Once again, at 26, Matsuko got her third boyfriend.
05:13She invested her money to open a cabaret with him as partners.
05:16But he was a man of poor character.
05:17He cheated on her and refused to split the profits with her.
05:20He wanted to break up, but wouldn't return the money she'd invested.
05:23Their argument escalated into a violent fight.
05:25And in a fit of rage, Matsuko grabbed a knife and killed him.
05:28With a murder on her hands, Matsuko wanted to take her own life.
05:32She took a bus to the place where the writer Osamu Desai had killed himself.
05:35She thought if she died there, her soul would be reunited with Alan's.
05:37But when she arrived, she found the once mighty river had shrunk to a small ditch.
05:42Confused and lost, she met a local barber.
05:44He was plain looking but honest.
05:45And the two soon moved in together as a couple.
05:48Matsuko stayed on to help out at the barbershop.
05:51One night not long after, the barber proposed to her.
05:53Matsuko thought this was the start of a happy life.
05:56But the day after the proposal, two police officers showed up at their door.
05:59Matsuko cleaned up the dishes, then followed the officers out.
06:02That morning, her fiancé slept soundly, a smile on his face.
06:06For the murder, Matsuko was sentenced to eight years in prison.
06:09Over those eight years, the barber never once visited her.
06:12But Matsuko clung to the belief that he was waiting for her.
06:14She behaved well in prison, looking forward to reuniting with him after her release.
06:18She even worked hard to learn barbering behind bars and got her cosmetology license.
06:22Her positive attitude caught the attention of a fellow inmate,
06:25Anna, who became her only friend in prison.
06:27Eight years later, 34-year-old Matsuko was released.
06:30She rushed straight to the barbershop, but stopped short at the door.
06:33The barber had long since married and had a child.
06:35Watching the warm little family of three inside, Matsuko thought,
06:38That wife should have been me.
06:40Later, Matsuko got a job as a hairstylist at a beauty salon in Tokyo.
06:43There, she ran into her prison friend, Anna.
06:46They became inseparable best friends, often going shopping together.
06:49This was the second happiest time in Matsuko's life.
06:51Not long after, on her way home from work one night, Matsuko ran into Mike,
06:55a student she'd had years ago.
06:56She asked him to drive her home, and on the way,
06:59told him everything she'd been through over the years.
07:01When they talked about the time the innkeeper's money was stolen,
07:04Mike finally confessed.
07:05He'd been the one who stole it.
07:06Back then, he'd had a crush on Matsuko, so he'd framed her to get her attention.
07:10Even after more than a decade, Mike still liked her as much as he had back then.
07:14The unexpected confession left Matsuko flustered.
07:16She could only escape by getting out of the car and going inside.
07:19Two hours later, she found Mike still waiting downstairs for her answer.
07:23Finally, Matsuko ran out into the heavy rain toward him.
07:26She invited Mike to stay the night, but the next day, Mike showed his true colors.
07:29When Matsuko told him not to go out with the knife he carried,
07:32he punched her straight in the face.
07:33But Matsuko chose to endure it, a smile on her face.
07:36She thought, even being hit is better than being all alone.
07:39Later, Anna went to Matsuko's place and saw her face covered in bruises from Mike's beatings.
07:44She begged Matsuko to break up with him, but Matsuko refused to listen.
07:47In the end, Anna gave up on trying to help her and cut off all contact.
07:50After moving in with Mike, Matsuko quit her job at the beauty salon.
07:54Under Mike's influence, she was drawn into the Yakuza world.
07:56She helped him commit countless crimes and even broke her leg while running from a hit.
08:00Eventually, Mike was sentenced to five years in prison for murder.
08:03Matsuko rented an apartment near the prison, still deeply in love with him,
08:07waiting day after day for his release.
08:09In prison, Mike began to realize how badly he'd treated Matsuko and how he'd lured her
08:13into a life of crime.
08:14He'd ruined her twice already.
08:16His existence only brought her harm.
08:17So he decided he'd leave her once he got out, figuring that way, Matsuko could have a
08:21better life.
08:22Five years later, 40-year-old Matsuko went to the prison gates with a bouquet of flowers
08:26to meet him.
08:26But Mike picked up a snowball and threw it hard at her.
08:29Even hit by the snowball, Matsuko didn't care.
08:32She walked toward him, a fawning smile on her face.
08:34Matsuko had lost count of how many times she'd been abandoned.
08:37She could only shout into the air, over and over, asterisk why, asterisk.
08:41After Mike left, Matsuko suddenly lost her sense of direction in life.
08:45She went back to her hometown, but her younger brother still refused to welcome her.
08:49His face cold, he said, asterisk, I don't have a sister like you, asterisk to get her
08:53to leave quickly.
08:54He drove her to the train station himself.
08:56He told her their younger sister had died of pneumonia the previous autumn.
08:58The last thing she'd said was, asterisk sister you're back, asterisk.
09:02Tears poured down Matsuko's face, mixing with guilt over her sister and regret over
09:06her own life.
09:07When he dropped her off at the station, her brother said, asterisk, go now.
09:11Don't ever come back, asterisk.
09:12Matsuko walked slowly into the station, her legs still live.
09:16In that moment, she knew there was no place for her in her hometown.
09:19She'd always been the one no one wanted.
09:21Later, Matsuko moved to a new town alone, renting a small room by a river.
09:25She became a recluse, cutting off contact with everyone.
09:27She shut herself up in her tiny room all day, stopped caring about her appearance, and stopped
09:32cleaning.
09:33All she did was eat, watch TV, and sleep, until one day she saw a teen idol group on TV.
09:37Suddenly, she had a new anchor in life.
09:39She became obsessed with the group, buying their albums and merchandise like crazy.
09:43She went to every one of their concerts.
09:44She even wrote long fan letters to the idols, pouring out every detail of her life.
09:49She sent a thick stack of letters, then waited eagerly for a reply.
09:52But days turned into years, and she never heard back.
09:54This routine went on for 13 years.
09:57By 53, Matsuko was suffering from severe mental illness.
10:00She covered the walls of her room with the words,
10:02I'm sorry for being born.
10:03And when she ran into strangers, she'd scream and run away.
10:06One day, Matsuko went to the hospital to pick up her medication, and ran into her old
10:10friend Anna.
10:10She panicked and fled, but Anna chased after her, concern in her voice.
10:14Anna now owned her own company.
10:16She told Matsuko she could come work for her anytime.
10:19She stuffed her business card into Matsuko's hand, but Matsuko still turned and walked away
10:23without looking back.
10:23By the river near her rental apartment, she crumpled the card and threw it into the grass.
10:28She couldn't bring herself to trust anyone anymore.
10:30Late that night, Matsuko lay in bed, unable to sleep.
10:33She thought of her younger sister, and in a hallucination, she saw her sister with long,
10:37messy hair.
10:38Instinctively, she picked up a pair of scissors and began to cut her sister's hair,
10:42her movements smooth and practiced.
10:43Even though she hadn't touched a pair of scissors in over a decade, she was still a skilled hairstylist.
10:48In that moment, Matsuko felt a flicker of hope for a new life.
10:51She hurried out of the apartment to find the crumpled business card.
10:54It was a glimmer of light in her dark life.
10:56She found it by the river, just as she'd hoped.
10:58Nearby, a group of middle schoolers were playing baseball.
11:01Old habits kicked in.
11:02She'd been a teacher once.
11:03It's getting late, she called out to them.
11:05You should go home soon.
11:06But the boys didn't listen.
11:08Instead, they picked up their baseball bats and beat Matsuko to death.
11:11Just as she'd finally felt hope for her life, she lost it forever.
11:14Matsuko's soul turned into a butterfly.
11:16She saw herself living alone, closed off and lost.
11:19She saw herself returning to her hometown, all alone.
11:22She saw her younger self, wronged and hurt after being scolded by her father.
11:26She saw the little girl she'd been passionately in love with music.
11:29Her memories finally drifted back to her childhood home.
11:32Inside, she saw her father, her mother, her younger brother.
11:35And in the end, her memories stopped at the stairs.
11:37At the top, stood her younger sister, waiting for her to come home, just like she'd always done.
11:41She said, I will.
11:42She said, I will.
11:43Okay.
11:43I'm sorry.
11:44Well, I'm sorry.
11:44She said, I will.
11:44Okay.
11:45I will.
11:45Let's see.