Chapter Text
Akio
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you suddenly woke up in the world of the magical, mystical anime universe?
Because I have. Multiple times even. When you realise that you’ve only been watching the protagonists the way the animators want you to see them, everything changes. It’s like slipping into the pages of a comic book. There are blank pages, time skips, unfinished drawings, and major character deaths we always seem to find ourselves weeping about. I’m not sure if I have some sort of medical condition or an extreme level of schizophrenia, but these dreams feel so surreal. As an anime watcher and lover, I can’t really escape these dreams as my dreams replay the anime I watched over and put me in one of the character’s shoes. Sometimes I’m the protagonist, antagonist, or an undrawn citizen roaming the streets behind the main characters. Either way, I can’t move the way I want to, and I always have to follow along the script written by the creators. I’ve tried ripping the script but the scene resets itself no matter how hard I try.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned my name anywhere in these paragraphs am I correct? I think this is a good place to introduce myself after all that dramatic writing. Nice to meet you, my name is Akio Hayes . Half Japanese and American, hence the odd sounding name that doesn’t really stick to you. You probably wanted a cool name...like Karma Akabane or something right? No! Who names their kid Karma? I’m sorry but we’re going to have to stick to me having a peculiar name.
My dream is to work as an animator, at a well known anime company. I’d say my drawings and animating skills are up to standards and I’m doing pretty well on my own. But if these dreams keep me from coming back to reality, I wonder if I could ever go back to chasing my dreams again. Sometimes the words, “Never-ending Dreams”, sound amazing. Imagine being THE Todoroki Shouto, half ice and half fire? Plus you’re one handsome guy as well, what more could’ve been asked?
But have you ever woken up in the world of the Junji Ito collection? As much as I adore his works and mind I can’t bring myself to enjoy it. It’s even worse when you wake up as the main character that gets killed off in a brutal way. Classic Junji Ito. I often find myself waking up in the middle of the night covered in puddles of salty sweat whenever I wake up in nightmarish universes. It’s like your own fears consuming you until it waits for your sanity to reach its peak and snap. That’s how I would describe it.
What you’re reading right now is written by me, Akio, to keep track of my dreams and maybe connect them together. I’m not aware of what’s to come but I’m starting to not want to go to sleep. Throughout the day I keep on seeing symbols, letter when I animate. “1-A” it says. Maybe that will be my dream for tonight.