Ryoichi Kimizuka's riveting exploration of the Japanese media's feeding frenzy focuses on a15-year-old girl forced into police protection to escape from the journalistic hordes after her brother is arrested for murder. It plays out like a propulsive edge-of-your-seat thriller that's sure to leave you breathless.

In a general hospital near bankruptcy, the reduced staff is working under a severe stress. During the emergency attendance to a burned patient with Dr. Uozumi (Masanobu Takashima) and two other nurses, Dr. Akiba (Kôichi Satô) and the nurse commit an error, injecting sodium chlorate and killing him. Dr. Uozumi convinces the team to forge the report to save their careers. Meanwhile, an ambulance leaves a patient in the emergency with a lethal infection. When the muscles and internal organs of the patient liquefy, Dr. Kiyoshi Akai (Shirô Sano) convinces his two colleagues to examine and research the virus, leading the employees of the night shift to a tragic end.

A young Japanese woman goes missing in Rome during the Christmas season.

Its streets overrun with children, the village of Kaname has distinguished itself with the highest birth rate in Japan. Its citizens are excited-tomorrow, the Prime Minister arrives to formally celebrate Kaname's demographic distinction. The spirit is festive, except for one 14-year-old girl. She knows the secret of Kaname's fecundity, and she's typing up a tell-all letter to a prominent journalist, revealing the crazy, complicated tale. It all began 14 years ago... Betrayed and disgraced, big-city reporter Kazuya Mizuno is banished to a desk at Kaname's boring little town newspaper. But Kaname isn't as boring as it seems on the surface. Not with characters around like Shimeko, a girl genius with a childlike lack of propriety, and her ace fisherman/folk-singer dad. Or the overbearing and unpleasant local Shinto priest, a former Christian cultist. Or Endo, Kazuya's new colleague...