A Pool Without Water (1982) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A frustrated railway worker transforms an initial act of protection into a pattern of chemical subjugation and moral collapse.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A Life Under Pressure

The Man is introduced as a frustrated railway ticket puncher facing a dead-end job and pressure at home. His dissatisfaction establishes the psychological background for later actions.

Key Events

• Railway Ticket Puncher — The Man works as a railway ticket puncher in a dead-end job. Characters: Man Location: Railway workplace
• Domestic Pressure — The Man returns to a home life dominated by pressure from his wife. Characters: Man Location: Home
• Frustration Builds — His dead-end work and domestic burden establish his growing frustration. Characters: Man Location: Unspecified
• Jun Faces Assault — The Man encounters Jun during an attempted rape. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Unspecified
• Rescue of Jun — The Man saves Jun from the attempted rape. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Unspecified

Protection Becomes Intrusion

The Man saves Jun from an attempted rape, but his later secret entry into her house is discovered. The apparent protective impulse turns into disturbing trespass.

Key Events

• Aftermath of Rescue — The rescue creates the Man's first significant connection with Jun. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Unspecified
• Return to Jun's House — Several days later, the Man secretly enters Jun's house. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Jun's house
• Intrusion Discovered — Jun discovers the Man inside her home. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Jun's house
• Watching the Insect — The Man watches his son subdue an insect using a chemical. Characters: Man Location: Home

The Chemical Idea

After watching his son subdue an insect with a chemical, the Man develops a method for subduing sleeping women. He buys chloroform and prepares protective gear.

Key Events

• A Dangerous Idea — The insect incident gives the Man an idea for subduing sleeping women. Characters: Man Location: Home
• Buying Chloroform — The Man goes out and buys chloroform for his plan. Characters: Man Location: Unspecified shop
• Preparing Protective Gear — He assembles equipment intended to prevent the chloroform from affecting himself. Characters: Man Location: Unspecified

Jun Becomes a Victim

The Man uses chloroform on Jun while she sleeps. This act marks a decisive moral break from his earlier role as her rescuer.

Key Events

• First Chloroform Attack — The Man uses chloroform on Jun while she is sleeping. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Jun's house
• Crossing the Moral Line — The Man's earlier rescue of Jun is replaced by direct coercive violence. Characters: Man, Jun Location: Jun's house

Nerika and the Spiral

Nerika becomes the Man's romantic interest and another target of his chloroform abuse. His frustration and violence drive his life into a further downward spiral.

Key Events

• Nerika Enters His Focus — Nerika becomes the Man's romantic interest and central female focus. Characters: Man, Nerika Location: Unspecified
• Fixation on Nerika — The Man's interest in Nerika becomes part of his escalating psychological frustration. Characters: Man, Nerika Location: Unspecified
• Second Chloroform Attack — The Man uses chloroform on Nerika to relieve his frustration. Characters: Man, Nerika Location: Unspecified
• Romance Turns Violent — The Man's romantic interest in Nerika becomes inseparable from abuse. Characters: Man, Nerika Location: Unspecified
• Downward Spiral — The Man's actions push his already troubled life into a deeper downward spiral. Characters: Man, Jun, Nerika Location: Unspecified
• Psychological Collapse — The described arc ends with the Man's continued moral and psychological deterioration. Characters: Man, Jun, Nerika Location: Unspecified

Story Breakdown

• Dead-End Routine — The Man's railway job and pressured home life establish his frustration.
  • Railway Work — The Man works as a railway ticket puncher.
  • Home Pressure — His wife hounds him when he returns home.
• Jun Rescue — The Man initially intervenes when Jun faces an attempted rape.
  • Attempted Rape — Jun is threatened by an attempted rape.
  • Protective Intervention — The Man saves Jun from the attack.
• Forbidden Intrusion — The Man's connection with Jun becomes invasive after the rescue.
  • Secret Entry — The Man later sneaks into Jun's house.
  • Discovery — Jun discovers him inside her home.
• Chemical Inspiration — An observation involving an insect gives the Man a coercive method.
  • Subdued Insect — The Man watches his son subdue an insect with chemical.
  • Dangerous Concept — He applies the idea to sleeping women.
• Chloroform Preparation — The Man turns his idea into a planned method of abuse.
  • Purchase Chloroform — He goes out and buys chloroform.
  • Protective Equipment — He assembles gear to avoid being affected.
• Jun's Victimization — The Man uses his new method against the woman he once rescued.
  • Sleeping Target — Jun is attacked while she sleeps.
  • Moral Reversal — The rescuer becomes Jun's perpetrator.
• Nerika Obsession — Nerika becomes both the Man's romantic interest and a focal point of his decline.
  • Romantic Interest — Nerika is identified as the Man's romantic focus.
  • Psychological Fixation — His attraction becomes linked to frustration and abuse.
• Further Downward Spiral — The abuse of Jun and Nerika drives the Man toward deeper moral deterioration.
  • Nerika Subdued — The Man uses chloroform on Nerika.
  • Moral Collapse — His life moves into a further downward spiral.

Directed by

Kōji Wakamatsu

Key Cast

• Yuya Uchida — Man
• Mie — Jun
• Yumiko Fujita — Sumie
• Reiko Nakamura — Nerika
• Akemi Shima — Miku