[engine rumbling]
- No one's been able to reach them
since they took a direct hit from typhoon number two?
- Yeah, and then they were hit back to back
by typhoons three, four, five, and six.
- Nobody knows
the situation or if
its 6,000 residents
are okay.
News crew were sent in,
but so far, nothing.
- Well, Kurouzu Town
is just beyond this tunnel.
- [yells]
Let's go! Tornado!
[all scream]
Are you all right?
[gasps]
Sakagami. Endo.
What should I do?
I have to get help.
It feels like there's something in the air.
Is it my imagination,
or is my breath actually forming into spirals?
[ominous music]
Where is everyone?
Why is it so quiet around here?
[gasps]
♪ ♪
All this damage...
is from the typhoons?
- [helicopter thrumming] - [gasps]
That's a news chopper!
- [gasps] - [thrumming]
[splash]
[winces]
[gasps]
[water rushing]
A whirlpool?
[siren blaring]
[gasps]
[whispers] You have to hide.
- Slowly.
[man] Yeah!
Kurouzu Elementary ahead!
Prepare to attack at once!
[men] Roger!
- [whooping] - Combine!
[whooping]
[Mitsuo] That looks like fun.
Maybe I'll join the Butterfly Gang, too.
- Don't even think it.
A lot of people died trying to copy those guys.
- "The Butterfly Gang?"
as an excuse to run wild.
- [rubble clatters] - Thank you so much.
I really owe you one.
- Don't mention it.
- Yeah.
- Mitsuo, you have to walk more slowly.
No, I'm a reporter with Toyo TV.
I'm Chie Maruyama.
- Toyo TV?! - Keep your voice down.
- Oh, so that's why you looked familiar.
- I'm Kirie Goshima, and this is my brother, Mitsuo.
We've been out looking for supplies.
The way things work, is if one of us makes a sudden move,
it will instantly trigger a whirlwind out here.
The town believes it could be linked to the energy
of the six typhoons that got sucked into that pond.
- The one with the whirlpool, that's Dragonfly Pond.
- What do you mean?
The pond sucked up the typhoons?
- No one knows what happened for sure.
- That's why we have to creep along as slow as a snail.
- Even breathing too hard can set one off, so speak softly.
- Sounds like the Butterfly Effect,
where the flapping of a butterfly's wings
creates a storm somewhere in the world.
- Well, let's head back to where we've been taking shelter.
We need to treat those cuts.
This is it. Come on in.
- [crowd murmuring] - [coughing]
- Come on. Move over a little. - Quit shoving, damn it.
- Look. It's more people.
- There's no more room. Get out!
- Hey, that's not fair.
We were living in this house before you.
- Welcome back, dear.
- You have a guest?
- It's gone crazy. Spirals have driven the town crazy.
- Huh?
- Crazy.
It's all gone crazy.
- I've had enough!
Get the hell out!
- [wind gusts] - Shuichi!
Are you okay, Shuichi?
- There's a little more elbow room now.
[Mitsuo] So, what do we do now?
[Kirie] We have to look for another shelter.
[Mitsuo] There aren't any more. They're all packed now!
- Then we'll just have to keep looking.
It's too dangerous out here with the whirlwinds.
- What we have to do is get out of this town as fast as we can.
- Yeah, except...
- Everybody says that there's no way out.
- Huh?
- All I want to do is stay here
and get back to my pottery.
[Kirie and Mitsuo sigh]
- I want to rebuild my kiln and perfect my art,
to master the art of the spiral.
And for that, I need clay from Dragonfly Pond.
- That's impossible.
Dragonfly Pond is a huge whirlpool now.
- Crazy. It's all gone crazy.
We're almost near the end.
This town's about to turn into a spiral.
Trust me. It's going to become a spiral.
- [screams]
- [shudders]
What are those things?!
[squelching]
[gasps]
[ominous music]
- They're snail people.
There's been a lot more of them lately.
- [sniffing]
Something smells good,
like meat being grilled.
- Mitsuo.
- [gasps]
- It's that gang from before.
- [gasps] Mitsuo.
[flames crackling]
- [grunts]
[shell cracking]
This one's pretty much done.
- They're eating snail people.
- Shh. - Huh?
- Hey, kid. You want some escargot?
- What escargot?
They used to be human beings like us.
- What? Used to be humans?
- Whatever.
How 'bout it, pretty ladies?
Why don't you come join us?
You'll feast like queens.
- We're not interested in joining your Butterfly Gang.
- We stopped being the Butterfly Gang a long time ago.
Flower nectar just doesn't cut it anymore.
We're the carnivorous Dragonfly Gang now.
- We're jumbo dragonflies.
- Not little dragonflies.
- You stay away from them!
- Piss off, old man, if you wanna live.
- I said stay away!
- [grunts] - [screams]
- No! Dad!
- Honey!
- What have you done?
- [laughs]
- [gasps]
- [screams]
- [chuckles] Ditched us.
- Guess we gotta catch up.
- Let's go!
[all scream]
[tense music]
- Kirie!
- Chie!
- Two female targets escaping at 12 o'clock!
- Combine, and pursue!
- Roger! - Roger!
- [laughter] - Yeah!
[both scream]
- Chie! Look where I'm pointing!
The pond! The tornado
is pulling us down towards Dragonfly Pond!
We'll get sucked in!
[both scream]
- [gasps]
- Huh? - Who the hell is that?
Double back! Eh?
[gang screaming]
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- Shuichi.
- [shudders] Crazy.
It's all gone crazy
♪ ♪
[rubble clattering]
- Easy. - Walk slowly!
- A whirlwind. Get down!
- [screaming]
- We lost a few more.
[gasps]
Hey! You all right?
- Oh. Yeah, we're all okay.
I came here five days ago to work as a volunteer.
- I arrived here four days ago
to help search for family that I lost contact with,
but it seems hopeless.
but there doesn't seem to be any way out.
Go in any direction, and you end up back here.
It's like the roads twist back on themselves.
- I walked down the tunnel for ages with no end in sight.
Eventually, the tunnel kept twisting.
It got so bad, I nearly slid down into the darkness below.
I had no choice but to turn back.
- Oh, my gosh.
- We also thought about escaping by sea.
The typhoons had wrecked all the boats,
so we built a makeshift raft.
Soon after, we saw another group
set out on their own improvised raft.
[both gasp]
- [screaming]
- They were swallowed by a whirlpool
that appeared out of nowhere right before our eyes.
Looks like there's no escape.
But who knows? We could be the lucky ones.
- That's right. The trauma some have faced was so severe,
it drove them to madness.
- So tell me, where did you guys come from?
[Kirie] All the row houses are taken,
and a whirlwind injured my mom, so she can't move.
So for now, we're here.
Hi, Mom. Are you still in pain?
- I'm doing fine.
Did you find your father?
- We looked for him everywhere, but still no sign.
- I knew it. He was killed when that whirlwind carried him off!
- Don't worry, Mom! - [crying]
- I'm sure he's okay somewhere!
- It's not really safe here.
Maybe there's a row house with some space.
Let's look around.
I can't figure it out.
Even concrete buildings are near collapse,
so how are these busted row houses standing?
- Yeah. I know what you mean.
And they were built a long time ago.
- How many of 'em are there?
- I've never counted, but there are some in the middle of town
and more along the outskirts.
- Then some of those outlying houses might have room.
But if we keep walking at this pace,
we won't make it there before dark.
Oh, we never introduced ourselves.
My name is Tanizaki.
- And I'm Takemoto.
- Nice to meet you.
- We met everyone back in town a while ago.
We're all pretty exhausted.
- [gasping]
Something's wrong with my back.
Can you take a look for me?
- Your back?
[gasps]
[all gasp]
- Looks like he's already starting to transform.
Probably won't be long until he's a snail person.
- But why are so many more of us
suddenly turning into snail people, Shuichi?
- Maybe it's because we're moving so slowly,
so slowly that the curse of the spiral
can now catch up to us.
We might be its next victims.
- [gasps] - What do you mean?!
- Check me now!
- No, you're fine.
How about me?
- [gasps]
T-Togawa...
there's a spiral mark on you.
- Tell me you're joking!
- Keep your voice down.
- Doesn't matter. We need to hurry and find a row house.
- We don't even know
How can you be sure that it's any safer inside?
- Do you think this spiral mark will go away once we're inside?
- How should I know?
But we do know it's definitely the safest place in town.
[crowd murmuring]
- Let us in. - We're strong.
- Please! Let us in!
I heard that you turn into a snail if you stay outside!
- Get lost. We don't have any room!
Try somewhere else.
- [gasps] You can't do this!
I'm begging you, let me in!
I'm already starting to turn into a snail!
- Move along! I couldn't care less what you're turning into!
- [gasps] You're sick.
I'm getting inside one way or another!
- Yeah!
- Us, too!
- All together now! - Ready?
- [grunting] - It opened!
- [gasps]
- [blowing]
- [screaming]
- Those bastards! - Blow!
- Let's go!
- Together! - Together!
- We did it! Get inside!
[both gasp]
[ominous music]
- Wh-What's happening?
- I told you we don't have any room.
We tried to keep watch, but more people snuck in.
And look what happened!
With all the shoving and jostling around,
our bodies got so intertwined
that now we can't untangle ourselves!
- [flesh creaking] - [gasps]
- [moaning]
[wood cracking]
[moaning]
[Kirie] What are they doing over there?
- They're trying to cover their exposed bodies
with that loose scrap wood.
They want to extend the house.
[Takemoto] Huh?
They're extending the row house?
- Yeah. Maybe we could add on to the side of it.
- Hang on, Tanizaki.
Are you actually planning on staying here?
- We should be thinking of ways to escape first.
And even if we got into a row house,
if we turned into one of those monsters,
it would be a living hell.
[all gasp]
- Get down!
- [screaming]
- Look! We're already in hell!
Would you rather die out here or stay alive inside?
- I just want to get out of this place!
- He's right! There has to be a way out of here!
- Look over there!
Rescue ships!
- Finally, they've come to save us!
- Oh, isn't this great, Kirie?
We have to go tell your mother and Mitsuo.
- Uh, but we still don't know where my dad is.
[both gasp]
[ship horns blowing]
[all gasp]
- This is all we have left?
Nowhere near enough to satisfy us.
- Hey! There's some meat over here.
- Hmm?
- Meat?
- It's snail people meat.
The Dragonfly Gang must have left this.
- "Snail people meat."
We're calling them "meat" now?
- [swallows] - [sighs]
[Tanizaki] Still, it's--
it's not like we have a choice, right?
♪ ♪
- They taste good.
- Yeah.
let's cook him right up.
- You'd better eat some, too.
You won't survive if you don't.
- [gasps] - [sighs]
- It's not even human anymore.
Eat!
- [gasps]
Shuichi.
♪ ♪
[Kirie] The shelter is gone.
Wh-What happened?
[Mitsuo] Sis.
- [gasps] Mitsuo!
- I'm over here.
- Were you hit by a whirlwind?
Where is Mom?!
- She got carried off by a whirlwind!
- What did you say?
- Kirie, wait.
Look at Mitsuo's back.
[ominous music]
- If we can get out of town
before he turns into a snail person,
I'm sure he'll return to normal.
Once he's safe, I'll come back
and continue looking for our mom and dad.
- How can you, though?
The tunnel and sea aren't safe.
- The mountains are still an option.
[Shuichi] It's no use.
We've already been marked by the spiral's unyielding curse.
- You're right. It's better than us doing nothing.
- Yeah.
Let's pick a direction.
[wind gusting]
[Shuichi] It's no use.
- Hey, Sis, my back is itching like crazy.
- Hang in there. We're almost out of town.
I'm sure you'll feel better then.
- The row houses are centered around Dragonfly Pond.
[Kirie gasps]
- Look there! - Huh?
- Someone's building onto that row house down there
and setting off whirlwinds.
- Wait, is that...
Isn't that Tanizaki?
- [grunts] Huh?
Hey! Where are you running to?!
I'll have this house extension done by the time you get back!
- [wind gusting] - [all gasp]
[siren blaring]
[blaring continues]
[siren fades]
[Chie] How far does this path go?
[Mitsuo] I'm tired.
[Kirie] It's strange.
Looks like more newcomers have wandered into town.
- [gasps]
Takemoto! How did you get here?
- Huh? What about you?
- What about us? We're trying to get out of Kurouzu Town.
This path should lead through the mountains
to the next town over.
We saw you going up the mountain,
and that's why we followed you.
- [gasps] - All the roads in this town
loop back on themselves!
We'll never get out of here!
- You have to calm down.
Let's just keep going and see what's up ahead.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[Takemoto] Damn it.
It's like we're going around in an endless circle.
- [groaning]
- [chuckles]
[squelching]
- Let's eat.
- I wonder what they're like raw.
- Sounds delicious.
He hid in his shell!
- You're too slow.
- Let's crack him open! - Hold it.
Did you know that there are bugs that eat snails like this?
[chomping]
[gobbling]
- [gasps]
- Hey, that's enough!
- Don't eat it all!
- Kirie, let's get out of here.
- Yeah.
- [gobbling]
- The spiral has them.
- Got any clue where we are or how much farther?
- I have no idea.
- I told you there's no escaping here.
We've been marked by the curse.
- A tree stump can tell you which way is north.
Hmm.
- [chuckles]
Shuichi... come back to us.
- D-Dad!
It's-- It's my dad!
- You have to calm down. He's not real.
[eerie music]
- It almost feels like time is slipping through our fingers,
as if we're moving in slow motion.
[gasps]
[both gasp]
♪ ♪
- Why are you running away from us?
- W-We're not running away. We--
- You wanna tell me why that kid's back looks so swollen?
- Um...
- Th-That's just his backpack.
- He looks so tired. I'll carry him.
[Kirie gasps]
- Let me.
- Sure. Thanks.
[footsteps rustling]
- I'm so hungry.
- Are there snails out here?
- Of course not. Why would they be in the mountains?
[squelching]
- [groaning] - [gasps]
[Shuichi winces]
- I knew it.
- How should we eat him?
[Kirie] Run for it!
[rustling]
[waves crashing]
- Mitsuo, think you can crawl down this cliff?
- [groans]
- You can do it.
Come on! Just go!
- [groans]
- You have to go!
Go, or I'll smack you!
Just go!
You have to hurry!
- [groaning]
- I'll come back for you. I promise.
- Trying to ditch us again?
- Better hand that snail over to us.
- You wanna eat this one raw, too?
- Of course we do.
You remember how good it was when we ate Okamoto?
When we squeezed into his shell
and ate his soft cheeks and sweet face?
It was delicious.
- [laughing] - [moans]
- The spiral's cursed them.
- Let's go back to town for now.
- [gurgling]
- [gasps] - This can't be Kurouzu Town.
We must have stumbled on another city the spiral's cursed.
- No, look. This is Kurouzu Town.
- Row houses? - Row houses?
- They extended the row houses,
building outwards from both ends.
[Chie] How is that even possible?
They only started expanding when we left.
[Shuichi] You said it earlier.
Time was slipping through our fingers
while we were wandering in the mountains.
[all gasp]
[ominous music]
[Kirie] How do they fit together so well?
It's like they were made to be connected in a spiral shape.
- Maybe it's actually the opposite.
Maybe long ago, there was just one spiral structure,
and over the years, it slowly decayed and crumbled,
leaving only a handful of scattered remnants behind.
And now what we see here is the town in its original form.
- This is it. I have to go inside
and look for my mother and father.
You two should go and find a way out.
I'll catch up with you later.
- [sighs]
- Don't be ridiculous, Kirie.
We'll help you find them.
- The heart of the spiral.
I want to solve the mystery of the spiral myself.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[residents murmuring]
[murmuring continues]
[creaking]
[all gasp]
- [grunting]
Huh?
- [gasps] Tanizaki!
- Oh, it's you kids, huh.
How long has it been?
You haven't aged a bit.
- Uh... - Wait, how long has it been?
- Years. There's still some gaps here and there,
an alley blocked with concrete, remains of old walls.
It's turned this place into a real maze.
The expansion should be done soon, though.
The residents have been working
on extending the row houses from the inside.
Hard workers. I'll give them that.
- Uh, would you possibly know where my parents are?
My mom and dad were both carried off by whirlwinds.
My father is a potter.
- Your dad's a potter, huh?
I heard about a couple
- Wait, are you serious?!
- Yeah. I've never met him myself,
but I hear he keeps going on
about how pottery's the art of the spiral.
- I knew it! They're alive!
- Oh, Kirie! That's great!
- Thank you so much, Tanizaki!
I'm heading there now.
- Good luck.
I'd be surprised if you're able
to get anywhere near there, though.
Hell, even I've never been to Dragonfly Pond.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
- [hammers pounding] - [saws scraping]
[residents murmuring]
[Chie] I wonder if the entire spiral
is packed full of people like that.
♪ ♪
- If this is Kurouzu Town in its original form,
why would the people back then have built something like this?
- It's possible...
that this has happened over and over again since then.
- Yeah.
- Maybe every century or few centuries,
the spiral's curse descends on its domain,
and each time, the inhabitants revert it to its original state.
- But if that's true, wouldn't there have to be
a record of it or something?
- Maybe something happened
to break the line of tradition at some point.
Maybe everyone who could have passed down those memories
were erased along with them.
- [panting]
- That's it. - Where are we?
- I can't keep walking anymore.
- Look there.
- [gasps]
- Somebody's being cremated over there.
♪ ♪
We can use it as a guide!
We have to hurry, before it fades!
- [panting]
- Look! There's an opening over there!
Hurry, before it closes up!
- [murmuring] - [groaning]
- [gasps]
[hammers pounding]
- No, Chie! Chie!
- Kirie.
- Chie!
[resident] It connected!
[distant resident] It connected!
- Connected here, too!
- It's all connected now!
[voices rising]
[rumbling]
[voices fade]
[rumbling continues]
[rumbling fades]
[creaks]
[footsteps creaking]
[wind blowing]
[Shuichi, echoing] This was under Dragonfly Pond.
- I'm going in.
My mom and dad are down there. I know it.
[shudders]
- We'll both go.
- Okay.
[footsteps echoing]
[Kirie gasps]
- Come on.
- [fingers scrape] - [gasps]
- Take me with you.
- [gasps] Let go of me!
- Take me with you!
- [screams]
- Get off her!
- [gasps] - [both scream]
- Shuichi!
[panting]
[wind blowing]
[shudders]
[yelps]
Can't... hold on.
[wind gusting]
[wind fades]
[sighs]
Huh?
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[gasps]
It was a huge ruin like nothing I'd ever seen before.
There was this blinding light.
I had seen it in the spiral stairway.
It was being produced by these spirals.
All around me was a vast sea of people.
They must have come from the row house above.
And now they were all staring,
transfixed at the spirals.
Shuichi.
[echoing] Shuichi! Are you here?!
It's almost like they're becoming one with the ruins.
[gasps]
♪ ♪
Mom. Dad.
I was hoping I'd find you down here.
[crying]
[Shuichi] Kirie.
- [gasps]
- Kirie.
- Shuichi!
- Kirie...
look around.
All these ruins.
It was this all along.
This was the truth behind the curse.
- It almost seems like it's alive.
- Yes. And I think it has a will of its own.
The spirals draw the gaze of whoever sees them
towards its center.
Whatever the ancient builders intended for this structure,
these ruins are now acting on pure instinct,
luring in the unsuspecting living above,
as it hungers every set number of years.
- Shuichi. If that's the case, what's gonna happen to us now?
- I don't think I can fight the spiral curse anymore.
Kirie, do whatever you have to do to get out of this place.
Something tells me...
that the curse has almost run its course.
- I don't have any energy left to fight it, either.
I want to stay here with you.
[vibrations rumble]
[silence]
[rumbling]
[rumbling fades]
[Kirie] Just like that...
the spiral curse that plagued our town
came to an end.
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
[Kirie] This small, eerie town of ours
turned to dust as time marched on...
- and was reborn as a new city. - ...as a new city.
[doors hiss]
- And maybe... - And maybe...
- this time around... - this time around...
[Eri] ...its people will live peacefully.
Eri!
Welcome back.
[birds twittering]
- Hey, Satoshi.
- Hmm?
- Would you ever consider leaving this town together?
[whirlpools gurgle]
[siren blaring]
[Eri] At least...
until those ruins...
stir from their slumber once more.
[siren blaring]
[siren fading]
[singing in Japanese]
[singing ends]