Acting
#26 in the series, following "Trans Woman Blues."
Akira is haunted by a "bouncing ball" song that he remembers his mother singing when he was a small child, and now on the verge of a sexually active adulthood, he wants to find the origins of the song. The young man ostensibly wanders into a time-warp in which aspects from his childhood and adulthood mix together. In this never-never land he comes across a beautiful woman/witch who is lost inside the labyrinth of her mansion, just as the young man is lost in the labyrinth of time — and on some levels, perhaps the labyrinth of his subconscious.
Samon, who had left his position as a police constable, embarks on a journey. During his travel, he is attacked by a group of masked bandits and sufferes a deep wound on his way back to Edo at the request of Magistrate Toyama. Saved by Dr. Kazumichi, Samon is asked by Toyama to identify an informant among the members of the lightning gang, a group of cruel thieves wreaking havoc throughout Edo. Samon then becomes an assistant to the firefighter squad led by Naito Hayato-masamune. One night, while rushing to the oil merchant Tambaya, who is attacked by the robbers, Samon and his group discovered a trembling young girl Oso who is the only survivor of the massacre and has lost her voice due to terror.
In Meiji-era Japan, a village of witches and wizards is slaughtered. Years later, an archaeologist discovers a mummy from the village, which reanimates, murders, then possesses his assistant. This evil spirit is now searching for Misa, who is protected by a survivor of the original massacre, known only as Saiga.
