Volume 5 (Novel)

is the fifth novel in the Otherside Picnic series. It was released in Japanese on December 17, 2020 and August 18, 2021 in English. The series is written by Iori Miyazawa and illustrated by shirakaba.
== Synopsis ==
Having succeeded in their goal of spending a night on the Otherside, Sorawo and Toriko can now take their expeditions deeper. The two spend their days surrounded by the supernatural, going back and forth between their normal and abnormal daily lives.
A chaotic love hotel girls' party in Shinjuku vanishes from Sorawo's memory. Toriko's university life and inner thoughts become clear. A mysterious lady lives in a mansion in the other world.
As they search for clues as to the whereabouts of the missing man, Abarato, Hasshaku-sama appears before the pair once again.
Otherside Picnic is back for its 5th volume!J-Novel Club Synopsis
== Chapters ==
* File 16: Pontianak Hotel
* File 17: Looking at the Past in the Diagonal Mirror
* File 18: Alone Together in a Mayoiga
* File 19: Hasshaku-sama Revival
== Additional Content ==
* Works Referenced (Vol. 5)
== Summaries ==
====== File 16: Pontianak Hotel ======
Broad Chapter Summary: Sorawo tries to remember a party night that she had forgotten, becomes manager of the Farm, and Runa Urumi returns, confined in DS Labs.
Characters in order of appearance: Sorawo, Migiwa, Toriko, Kozakura, Natsumi, Akari, DS Labs Doctor, Pontianak, Lion Dancer 
Locations: DS Labs, Balinese love hotel
Summary of Parts:
# Sorawo discusses her contract with DS Labs as manager of the Farm, and the restrictions and limitations placed upon her by the contract as a means of oversight. Sorawo suspects she may have done something while drunk...
# Migiwa hints at some of his experience with alcohol. Sorawo explains that she had attended a love hotel girls' party with Toriko, Kozakura, Akari, and Natsumi after Toriko called her bluff, but since then, no one has told her anything. Sorawo is concerned she may have done something with her eye.
# The story flashes back to the group meeting and going to the Balinese love hotel, where nothing out of the ordinary happens.
# An examination of Sorawo's eye reveals nothing wrong with it. Tests disprove that narcotics were involved, and Sorawo digs through her memory again...
# The group orders lots of food.
# Sorawo tells Akari about some of her recent adventurers (in a very abridged way), and Toriko mentions the Christmas Eve Love Hotel Incident. The group considers the relationship pairings between Akari and Natsumi, and Sorawo and Toriko, and Sorawo wonders how she feels about Toriko. Strange phenomena begin to occur, including the appearance of a Hasshaku-esque entity called Pontianak, which targets Akari. Something arrives at the hotel door.
# Sorawo's memory is exhausted, and skips to the next morning, where nothing seems to have happened. Migiwa asks Kozakura what happened, who explains to Sorawo that a "lion dancer"- a literal dancing white lion- appeared, then Sorawo stripped and did some kind of ritual dance, saying strange things. Then everyone else fell into a trance, stripped, and danced around Sorawo and the lion dancer before passing out till the morning. After a lonely bath with Toriko, the other four agreed to just pretend nothing had happened.
# Migiwa tells Sorawo that Runa Urumi has regained consciousness, now sporting wide grin-like scars on her lips.
====== File 17: Looking at the Past in the Diagonal Mirror ======
Broad Chapter Summary: After an upset Toriko pushes Sorawo into interstitial space, Sorawo sees herself from Toriko's perspective, and realizes Toriko's deep love for her.
Characters in order of appearance: Sorawo, Toriko, Doppelganger, Mantis woman 
Locations: Toriko's university, Interstitial space 
Summary of Parts:
# Sorawo goes looking for Toriko, who hasn't been responding to her messages. She confronts Toriko, who seems reserved and upset about events involving the party. Toriko questions Sorawo about if she even wanted to be there or was having fun, then upon recieving a somewhat hesitant answer, walks away. Sorawo follows her, and Toriko accidentally hits her with her left hand, causing Sorawo to apparently turn invisible, and then Toriko vanishes into a gate.
# Sorawo is able to call Toriko, and they figure out that Sorawo got pushed into the interstitial space, but can see Toriko in reflections. They decide to travel together, while on call, in search of a gate.
# Toriko tells Sorawo about her situation at the university, her field of study, and Toriko's shyness. Sorawo realizes that proper mirrors seem to be usable as gates, if the conditions are just right, though Sorawo sees what seems to be her doppelganger in the mirrors. Attempting to use it as a gate, Sorawo gets a vision of Toriko meeting Sorawo from the first time, from Toriko's perspective. Another attempt shows the Pandora mirror's perspective, and the doppelganger's arms become mantis-like and stretched.
# They make their way towards a large and empty mirror in an athletics building, and try again. Sorawo views a lot of scenes of the past from Toriko's perspective- her eyes like a mirror, reflecting the world, and realizes in the process that Toriko *really* loves her, all of her. Sorawo realizes she's treated Toriko poorly in failing to return affection, and in not understanding her. Sorawo does admit that she loves Toriko, though the mantis-woman attacks as the mirror gate opens, and Sorawo is pulled back to the surface. Sorawo apologizes for making Toriko sad.
====== File 18: Alone Together in a Mayoiga ======
Broad Chapter Summary: Sorawo and Toriko visit a beautiful and mostly-safe mansion in the Otherside, meeting its friendly, elderly resident.
Characters in order of appearance: Toriko, Sorawo, Hana, Migiwa, Torchlight, Sasazuka, Todate 
Locations: Mayohiga region, the Farm, Mayoiga
Summary of Parts:
# Exploring the other world, the Girls spot a dog in the distance. Sorawo remembers how they had remodeled the Farm to allow the AP-1 to cross to the various gates, and considers Toriko's feelings. 
# Exploring and expanding the map, the girls wander some mountains, and hear a gunshot in the distance. They find a road, and along it, a beautiful building- a house blending eastern and western styles. They explore around the outer wall, checking its safety, and head inside.
# The building is beautiful and seems safe and maintained, but is empty. Sorawo suspects it may be a Mayohiga, a luxurious but abandoned mansion from which one should steal a single item for good fortune.
# The girls continue exploring the mansion, and Toriko takes the opportunity to dress Sorawo and herself up. They plan to go dancing, but the dog from before appears, and with it, an old human woman who claims to live there, though it isn't exactly her house.
# The woman identifies herself as Todate and treats the pair to tea, while explaining her story, and how she met and partnered with Hana. Hana senses an animal nearby- though neither Sorawo nor Toriko had ever seen a normal animal on the Otherside- and Todate offers to teach the girls to hunt.
# The four head outside the mansion, eyeing a scary-looking, potentially dangerous path nearby and avoiding it. Todate points out a deer, which can only be seen by unfocusing your eyes, and shoots it. Todate butchers it on the spot. Sorawo wonders about the mutations present on the Otherside's deer- what their mutations might be defending against.
# Todate invites them to stay for dinner, but the girls decide to head home instead. She gives them some meat to take back. Sorawo ponders about how the two aren't intrusive presences on their Otherside, because they're complete on their own.
# After returning to the surface, from time to time, Sorawo would have a frightening dream about the Mayohiga, where Todate and Hana watch something- different every time- climb the scary-looking dark path.
====== File 19: Hasshaku-sama Revival ======
Broad Chapter Summary: Sorawo and Toriko go looking for Abarato, but wind up rescuing a mysterious child on the other side of Hasshaku's gate.
Characters in order of appearance: Sorawo, Toriko, Michiko, Abarato (pictures), Kozakura, Hasshakusama, Mysterious Girl, Doppelganger 
Locations: Cafe, Kozakura's House, Jinbouchou Gate, Glitch Fields, Hasshaku's building, Sunset Town, Deep Otherside, Interstitial Space 
Summary of Parts:
# Toriko and Sorawo meet with Michiko, who was supposed to have vanished, leading Abarato to explore the Otherside and get captured by Hasshakusama. Michiko claims her husband is the one who went missing, contradicting Abarato's story, and asks the two to try to find him.
# The Girls relate the story to Kozakura, who considers the possibility that Abarato was experiencing some kind of dissociation. Sorawo and Toriko announce their intent to accept the request.
# They go through the Jinbouchou gate, and in discussion, Toriko realizes happily that Sorawo got jealous over her, even back during the original encounter with Hasshakusama. They reflect on their encounter with Abarato, and how easily it could've gone poorly, with Toriko and Sorawo teasing each other.
# They arrive at Hasshaku's coral-like building, but don't find a gate where Hasshaku-sama had been "defeated". A twisted, heavily wounded Hasshaku-sama appears, her frame-like form increased in size and depth. Numerous locations appear in the frame, and in them, a young lost girl. Sorawo resolves to try to help her, but gets tricked by Hasshaku again, and Toriko and Sorawo get teleported through her gate.
# They awaken in a town bathed in a deep red sunset. Toriko refuses to hear an apology from Sorawo, kissing her instead. They explore the town, and catch a trace of the child, who they follow through the town and to a mountain of trash. She climbs through a tunnel in the mountain, and Sorawo spots her doppelganger pointing towards the tunnel. Sorawo climbs inside and finds evidence that Abarato may have camped out inside the tunnel, then the girl reveals herself and dashes back out the tunnel. Toriko and Sorawo capture the girl, who calms down, but turns out to speak only in fragments of past conversations. The red sunset turns into the ultrablue, and a vast Hasshaku-like tower appears in the distance. The girl leads Sorawo and Toriko somewhere, and turns out to be able to shift them through the Otherside's aspects. She slowly leads them away from the ultrablue, passing through many different scenes, and then into the Interstitial Space. Sorawo directs the girl towards Kozakura's gate, and has Toriko tear it open, leaving the three of them on a curious Kozakura's doorstep.
# Some days later, Sorawo and Toriko reflect on the prior events. The girl had been washed and brought to DS Labs for care. Sorawo concludes that "Michiko" was probably a sophisticated Otherside phenomenon imitating a human.
== Illustrations ==
Novel Cover 5 Clean.png|Cover — Clean
Volume 5 Insert 1.png|File 16: Pontianak Hotel
Volume 5 Insert 2.png|File 17: Seeing the Past in an Oblique Mirror
Volume 5 Insert 3.png|File 18: Alone in Mayoiga
Volume 5 Insert 4.png|File 19: Hasshaku-sama Revival
== References ==
Category:Novel