Akita no Akumu

***Akita no Akumu*** (lit. "*Akita's Nightmare*", but can also mean "*Tired of Nightmares*") is a psychological horror drama anime series created by Ryan Nurse and Animatron Studios, currently in the preliminary writing phase. Like *Vanishing Point*, it was initially conceived as a light-hearted homage to anime, but was retooled several times, becoming progressively darker with each iteration; it is now considered by Nurse to be one of his darkest projects.

The series follows Akita Maeda and Daisuke Kimura, two "cursed children" who were cast from their homes due to their power to predict people's deaths. When the pair, now young adults, are joined by a third cursed child, the optimistic Lani Yoshida, their nihilistic outlook slowly begins to change and they decide to set out to prevent the deaths they foresee. *Akita no Akumu* is the oldest of Nurse's anime-inspired projects, and the first to receive a Japanese-language title.

## Synopsis

As a young child, Akita Maeda began suffering terrible nightmares of death and destruction, and soon afterwards, she realized her nightmares were coming true. When the citizens of Niikawa realized this, they blamed Akita for causing the disasters and she was cast out of her home. An American immigrant named Max, living on a house on a hill on the outskirts of the city, took Akita in, and she was soon joined by another "cursed child", Daisuke Kimura, who drew pictures of forthcoming disasters while in a trance-like state.

Ten years later, Akita is approaching her eighteenth birthday, and her and Daisuke's social isolation and constant visions of murder have caused them to grow introverted and nihilistic, with very little social experience. However, this begins to change when a third "cursed child", a teenager named Lani Yoshida, arrives at Max's house. She does not view her powers in the same negative manner as Akita and Daisuke, and manages to convince the pair to use their abilities to prevent the deaths they foresee.

Deciding to believe in the potential of humanity, Akita and Daisuke set foot outside their house for the first time in ten years, in order to save those whose deaths they predict. In order to do so, however, they must battle their crippling lack of experience with others, the near-unanimous distrust of Niikawa's citizens, and ultimately, the reality that not every disaster can be prevented.

## Characters

* Akita Maeda: The title character and main protagonist, with the ability to foresee people's deaths in her dreams. Having only experienced the dark side of humanity, Akita is a depressive, distrustful nihilist. Her favourite possession is an old record player on which she listens to Max's old records.
* Daisuke Kimura: Akita's only friend. A keen artist, Daisuke sometimes goes into trances during which he sketches premonitions of future deaths. Daisuke is quiet, and has no idea how to interact with anyone other than Akita, leading to awkward or difficult situations.
* Lani Yoshida: A teenager from Niikawa who sees the moment of people's deaths when she touches them. Unlike Akita and Daisuke, who believe themselves to be cursed, she believes their powers can be used to save lives. She is cheerful and optimistic, and often called upon to defuse any situations caused by the other duo's lack of social experience.
* Max: An American expatriate who lives on a house on a hill outside the city. A kindly man, he does not believe Akita and Daisuke are at fault for the disasters they foresee, and took them (and later Lani) in when they were forced from their homes.
* Mayor of Niikawa: The city's mayor. He believes Akita and Daisuke are directly responsible for the disasters they foresee and is openly hostile towards them.

## Development

The story began life c.2009 as *Akita's Nightmare*, a light-hearted homage to the anime genre. This draft concerned an American otaku named Jessica (inspired by a girl Nurse knew from school) who was obsessed with the fictional anime *Akita's Dream*, a more light-hearted version of what became *Akita no Akumu*. After wishing she could live in the show's universe, Jessica wakes up the next day to find she is now part of the show. Realizing it is only Episode 1, and that events are playing out as they had in the real series, Jessica is able to use her knowledge of the show's events to assist the heroes, causing them to believe she is also psychic. She also attempts to use her knowledge to alter the show's plotline, such as preventing the deaths of one of the main cast members.

Nurse made almost no progress with this idea, and in c.2010 it was retooled into a psychological horror novel/film entitled *Engine of the Mind*. This version had an Essex girl named Mercedes as the protagonist; one night she began seeing people death's in her dreams, and upon realizing the deaths were happening for real the next day, she set out to stop them. A scene in *Akita no Akumu* in which a young Akita tries to stay awake to stop herself from having premonitions was taken from *Engine of the Mind;* though in the latter, Mercedes would have dreamt of her own death after eventually passing out from exhaustion.

Ultimately, in 2012, Nurse's renewed interest in anime spurred him to return to the original *Akita's Nightmare* idea, but with the "show-within-a-show" now becoming the actual show, and given a far darker, more nihilistic tone. The name was soon "Japanicized" to *Akita no Akumu*, and the central plot began to be developed. According to Nurse, the title's alternate translation - "tired of nightmares" - was a remarkable case of serendipity; he had plucked the name Akita out of thin air without realizing it was an actual Japanese word that meant "tired (of)".

## Content

### Published Content

*Akita no Akumu* has had one post written about it as part of Project 20:15, totalling 653 words.

### Planned Content

*Akita no Akumu* is tentatively scheduled to have 23 or 24 episodes, though this is subject to change. Its theme song is planned to be "They" by Welsh singer Jem, making it one of the few Animatron projects to have a planned theme tune.

In the series itself, Akita owns a record player, gifted to her by Max, on which she regularly listens to music. Nurse intends for a number of '60s-'80s songs to be included in the series, most notably "Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel and "The End of the World" by Skeeter Davis; these are, however, heavily dependent on copyright.