Kara no Shojo

March 1956. In a Tokyo that’s slowly returning to its former glory after losing the war ten years prior, Private Detective Reiji Tokisaka takes on the case of a girl he meets in Inokashira Park. “I want you to find something… Me. My true self.” A wave of bizarre and grotesque crimes has been crashing down on the city. The victims, all young women, are being kidnapped and murdered, each corpse only to be discovered with a body part and the uterus removed. Sergeant Uozumi, Tokisaka’s childhood friend and former coworker, asks him to investigate the murders. Meanwhile, sitting off in a corner of the town of Hoya is Oba Girls’ Academy, the school Tokisaka’s younger sister goes to and where two students have recently disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The vice principal of this academy, Tokio Saeki, implores Tokisaka to find them. Having taken on all three of these cases, and with Vice Principal Tokio’s approval, Tokisaka enters Oba Girls’ Academy as a teacher in order to dig up information about the students. It’s there that he meets her again. Toko Kuchiki, the girl who asked him to look for her true self, with a voice as light and as clear as a bell and a casual way of speaking that doesn’t match it. “Heya. Figured I’d be seeing you soon, Detective.” More and more victims turn up as the days pass, and the investigation he thought would be oh-so-easy stalls. For some reason, the number of disappearances and unidentified bodies don’t add up. And the newest victim is— The secrets of a case from six years prior may just be the key to the current unending cycle of tragedy, and the thing that cracks this woeful world’s shell may be one girl’s smile.

March, 1956. Tokyo; a metropolis finally starting to recover ten long years after Japan's defeat in the War. Private eye Tokisaka Reiji accepts a strange request from a girl in Inokashira Park. "I want you to look for something. Me. My true self." Meanwhile, a series of bizarre murders is plaguing the area, one where young women are disappearing, only to turn up dead and maimed with their wombs torn out. Seeking assistance on the case, Detective Uozumi Kyozo called up his old friend and former coworker, Reiji. Ouba Girls Academy; a school on the outskirts of Hoya City. Reiji's little sister attends this school, where two young women have mysteriously vanished. Saeki Tokio, the vice principal, calls in Reiji to investigate their disappearance, giving him his third case. Reiji infiltrates the academy as a substitute teacher to glean information from the students - but that's when he meets her once again. Kuchiki Toko - his first clients, the girl who asked him to search for her true self. Her manner is distinctly boyish as she remarks: "Heya - so we meet again, Mr. Detective." The body count continues to rise. What should be a simple search for some students is staring to grow out of control. For some reason, the number of missing people and unidentified bodies don't match up. Who will be chosen as the next victim? As the endless cycle of tragedy continues, what mysteries lie behind these new cases? Behind a similar series of murders from six years ago? Perhaps one girl's smile might await beneath the shell of tragedy...