The Girl Who Disappeared

Frontispiece featuring Eriko.

**The Girl Who Disappeared** (消えた少女) is the fifth original kashihon story by Fujio Akatsuka for Akebono Publishing, released on August 20, 1957.

## Overview

This story revolves around the abduction of a young woman named Eriko (also seen as the protagonist of Akatsuka's *A Dove Beyond the Storm*), and the subsequent attempts and pursuit by a young man named Yuji to make sure that she's rescued.

While earliest novels done for Akebono had more of a focus on the female character, this can be said to be a shojo work with a male protagonist in the foreground, though this is also played with as the story goes along. Aside from Akatsuka himself, other artists he had known through Tokiwa-so at the time receive cameos in the plot.

## Characters

### Eriko Unno

(海野エリ子)

A young woman who attends a Giants baseball game with her elder brother Daizou. She is abducted by a strange man after having accidentally bumped into him and having had his wallet get mixed up in her possession. Though the wallet is returned by her brother in hopes of her being let go, the situation becomes more complicated.

She and Yuji both wind up hostages of the duo at one point, but while Eriko manages to escape and winds up in the mountains, she is still a target of the men. In the end, after the situation is resolved, Eriko and Daizou attend another baseball game.

### Daizou

(海野大三)

Eriko's older brother, notably given a design patterned after the manga-ka Hiroo Terada. Other Tokiwa-so associates and their caricatures also appear through the story as detectives or criminals that he encounters.

He later disguises himself as another criminal to go undercover and get close to the duo, revealing himself in the climax where he and Yuji take on the remaining man.

### Yuji Yamada

(山田勇二)

Eriko's best friend who lives next door. He knows the hideout where she was detained but quickly gets caught, leading to a chase against time for him to catch up with Eriko's changing location and the goons who try to stop him.

He winds up being more of the hostage than Eriko later in the story, but still shows himself to be strong and capable to fight.

### Detective

A Shotaro Ishimori-faced detective who's on the case to find Eriko. His associate officer resembles Akatsuka's early caricature, but with a mustache.

He is a fiercely determined detective who convenes with both the Unno family and Yuji to figure out the best plan of rescue. In the climax, he leads a troop of policemen to shoot at the remaining criminal.

### Papa

A short old man that's the father of Eriko and Daizou. He is outraged to hear his daughter has been abducted, and orders Daizou to find a solution fast. He winds up in phone contact with the taller kidnapper to discuss details of the ransom, and he and the detective plan for an attempt to intercept the criminals but fail.

### Mama

A tall woman, seen within scenes of the family reacting to the abduction.

### Bad Guys

A dastardly duo of criminals, one tall and one short, who are responsible for the hostage situation. The taller of the two is the more serious character, while his shorter partner is a bit more foolhardy. Even so, it is the short one that is willing to supply Eriko with food and act nicer to her, and he also later shows Yuji more courtesy.

The shorter man is eventually beaten to death by his superior, causing Yuji much grief, but he takes up the man's gun to threaten the taller one.

### Yuji's Parents

A glasses-wearing couple, seen briefly wondering of the whereabouts of their son.

## Chapters

1. "**Eriko Disappeared**" (きえたエリ子)
2. "**Ransom**" (みのしろきん)
3. "**A Brilliant Mistake!**" (みごと失敗!)
4. "**Discovery at the Hideout House**" (かくれ家発見)
5. "**Escape**" (脱出)
6. "**Entirely Empty**" (もぬけのから)
7. "**Danger for Yuji**!" ( 勇二危うし!)
8. "**New Friends**" (新しい仲間)
9. "**Dangerous Ransom**" (危険な身代金)
10. "**Showdown!**" (対決!)