Set during an airless, enervating summer, Natsuo Kirino’s novel Real World (2003) concerns a group of upper secondary school girls living in the Tokyo suburbs – Toshi, Terauchi, Yuzan and Kirarin – who become involved in the aftermath of a murder committed by Toshi’s neighbour, nicknamed Worm because of his habitual downcast look. Although they are friends, the four have very different personalities, and each grapples in a different way with the difficulties entailed in coming of age as a female in Japan.
Worm, also a secondary school student, bludgeons his mother and goes on the run (anyone expecting some kind of twist revealing Worm to be innocent will be quickly disabused) while an extensive manhunt develops. He steal’s Toshi’s mobile phone and bicycle, setting off a chain of events as he contacts the friends in turn and draws them into his fantasies.
The novel’s focus is on the emotional and psychological turmoil experienced by the characters as a result of Worm’s act. The narrative is divided into a series of chapters divided among the five, providing their perspectives as the action unfolds at a leisurely pace, but at the same time depicting their characters and concerns. Exploring the psychological impact of the murder, the novel delves into the relationships among the girls, their families, and society at large.
When questioned by the police, Toshi pretends she doesn’t know anything. Later Yuzan gives Worm a bicycle and another phone, and eventually Kirarin hooks up with him. Seeing himself at first in noble military terms but gradually unravelling, Worm pressures Terauchi to write a manifesto for him. Instead, she informs the police of the runaway pair’s whereabouts, leading to a tragic climax. Afterwards, the police speculate the girls in various ways helped Worm, but cannot prove it and drop the investigation.
The five characters allow Natsuo Kirino to explore how Japan fails to nurture its youth. Worm, around whom the plot revolves, feels constantly pushed by his mother, who wants him to be academically successful. He scraped an entrance to a prestigious school, but then to his mother’s dismay proved a mediocre student. It is suggested that this is a common situation, a student making a huge effort to reach the required standard but thereafter unable to maintain it, with a negative effect on their self-esteem. Murdering his mother, and releasing himself from her expectations, comes as a relief. Not only does he feel no remorse, he decides to murder his father as well.
Toshi is at cram school and feels distant from the shallowness of society. She has adopted a pseudonym as armour against the world, and it rather than her real name is used as the heading for her sections. At the novel’s conclusion she resolves to drop it, indicating her experience has given her a degree of confidence she had lacked previously. Terauchi is seen as the cleverest of the group, and is also physically attractive, which has led to her intelligence being underestimated and her being sexually harassed by men, many of whom in Japan harbour a schoolgirl fetish and seemingly little sense of propriety.
Yuzan is gay and tries to hide her orientation because it is not generally acceptable in Japanese society, though it is clear to her friends as she behaves in a masculine manner and uses male pronouns. As a result of the experience with Worm she moves away and becomes less reserved in displaying her sexuality. Kirarin adheres to a more conventional sense of cuteness than the others, but she harbours a double life, going to parties and having casual sex. In this she uses her femininity to her advantage, manipulating men by playing on their expectations of an innocent young girl. Initially impressed by Worm’s decisiveness, she becomes disillusioned as his mental state declines.
In tracing the fallout from the crime, the novel explores themes of urban alienation, having to deal with a dysfunctional family, educational pressures which generate harmful competitiveness, gender roles, and societal expectations in a conformist but sexist society where spiritual and consumerist values are in tension. The result is an ethical vacuum in which small steps can imperceptibly lead to devastating consequences. While Real World does not achieve the depth of Grotesque or Out, it does highlight the damage social structures can inflict on young people.
The Joy of Mere Words 