The Life of Budori Gusuko

The sudden shift in weather blankets Ihatov in cold and storm, sparking famine and drought. This catastrophic change forces Budori's family to leave their home and sets the entire story in motion. The weather disaster is presented as a natural phenomenon that devastates the entire region.

Budori's father wanders off into the woods during the winter storm and never returns. His mother then leaves to search for him, abandoning Budori and his sister Neri to fend for themselves. Their fate remains ambiguous, neither returns, leaving Budori orphaned and desperate.

The opening scene shows Budori's peaceful family life before the storm shatters it completely.

The kidnapper is a mysterious figure who seizes Neri while Budori and Neri are alone and starving. He forces Budori to work on a silkworm net in exchange for food. Interestingly, the same figure later appears as the judge in Budori's dream courtroom and ultimately becomes his ally, helping him reach the volcano. His true identity and motives remain ambiguous, he seems to operate between worlds.

The kidnapper's surreal appearances in both the real world and dream sequences hint at his supernatural or liminal nature.

In the dream world, Budori stands trial before the kidnapper-turned-judge, who accuses him of trespassing and jumping between worlds. Budori explains his actions were driven by love for his sister. The judge counters that Neri was welcomed into the world and wanted to come. This surreal sequence represents Budori's inner conflict about whether his quest is justified or if he is transgressing natural boundaries.

This dream sequence foreshadows the resolution, Neri's abduction was not truly kidnapping in the conventional sense.

The kidnapper transforms from antagonist to ally in the final act, helping Budori reach the volcano to trigger the eruption. This reversal aligns with the courtroom revelation that Neri "wanted to come", suggesting the kidnapper was testing Budori's resolve or guiding him toward the ultimate solution. His true motive seems connected to restoring balance to Ihatov.

Budori proposes triggering a volcanic eruption to release carbon gases that could warm the air and halt the freezing cold spell afflicting Ihatov. Although his proposal is rejected by the scientific community, he proceeds anyway with the kidnapper's help. The eruption succeeds in warming the climate, and Ihatov returns to its natural beauty as the weather shifts back to balance.

Professor Kubo's scientific background and work studying volcanoes set up this solution.

After being seized by the nameless kidnapper, Neri is never seen in the real world again. Budori finds a poster of her wearing a ballerina outfit at the top of the surreal tower, suggesting she may have been taken to some kind of performing position. The courtroom dream hints that Neri "wanted to come" and was "welcomed into the world," implying she found a different life rather than being held captive.

The poster of Neri as a ballerina appears at the tower's peak, foreshadowing her mysterious but seemingly safe fate.

After learning from Professor Kubo about volcanic science and witnessing the ongoing suffering caused by the climate disaster, Budori resolves to end the misery in Ihatov. He conceives a plan to trigger a volcanic eruption to release carbon gases that could warm the frozen air. Despite rejection from the scientific community, his personal loss and determination drive him to act unilaterally.

His journey from personal survival to scientific rescue begins when Professor Kubo recommends him to the volcano department.

Professor Kubo is a scientist whose books Budori studied while working on the farm with Redbeard. After Budori approaches him following a lecture in the city, Kubo makes a good impression and recommends that Budori work with scientists studying volcanoes. Kubo appears to see potential in the young man and gives him a path toward meaningful work that could address the environmental disaster affecting Ihatov.

Budori's earlier farm education and his books provide the foundation for this scientific connection.

During a train ride, Budori awakens in a strange world filled with odd creatures and encounters the kidnapper again. He chases him up a tall tower filled with surreal scenes, eventually reaching the top where he finds a poster of his sister wearing a ballerina outfit. This sequence represents Budori's psychological journey and his search for Neri in a dream-like space between reality and the subconscious.

The poster foreshadows that Neri's fate, while mysterious, may not be tragic.

After being kidnapped, Budori wakes in an unfamiliar place where a towering stranger forces him to work on a net used to raise silkworms in exchange for food. This task serves as the kidnapper's means of exploiting Budori's labor. Completing this work leads to Budori being returned to the spot outside his family home, where he then begins his descent down the mountain to find his sister.

Budori stays with Redbeard and his wife for about a year, learning farming techniques. When another drought strikes their village, Redbeard releases Budori to continue his quest. The drought demonstrates that the climate disaster continues to devastate all of Ihatov, and Redbeard recognizes that Budori's personal mission is as important as staying to farm, the suffering can only end if the root cause is addressed.

The recurring drought reinforces that Budori must find a solution beyond simple survival.