A Falsified Romance

Tachi Miroku, a gifted young Japanese writer, struggles to find his place in Tokyo after winning recognition in a major literary competition. The pressure to become the powerful man his family expects him to be has left him overwhelmed: he has dropped out of college, has not worked for four months, and feels alone and directionless. As he wrestles with his identity and the contradictions of life in the metropolis, success proves harder to reach than his promise suggests. His dreams are troubled by abuse, taunting, and the smell of blood, while his past and his conscience make life feel like a constant battle. Inspired by Dostoevsky’s *Crime and Punishment*, the story retells that drama through Tachi’s modern struggles.