Madness Mocking Reason - The Aesthetics of "Collapse" Projected by Two Geniuses

「人体を組織している細胞の一粒一粒の内容は、その主人公である一個の人間の内容よりも偉大なものである。」
“The content of each and every cell organizing the human body is greater than the content of the single human being who is its protagonist.”
—— Yumeno Kyūsaku, Dogra Magra

【Commentary】
The cells that make up your body may be wiser than you are yourself. In this work, a dream is described not as a mere illusion seen by the brain, but as a playback of the “memory of universal evolution” etched into every single cell. It suggests that compared to cells retaining the memory of billions of years of life history, the consciousness of an individual with a lifespan of merely a few decades is insignificant. This overwhelming reversal of the macro and the micro serves as the first step in dragging the reader into a dazzling world of bewilderment.

---

「胎児は、母の胎内に居る十箇月の間に一つの夢を見ている。」
“The fetus, during the ten months inside the mother’s womb, is dreaming a single dream.”
—— Yumeno Kyūsaku, Dogra Magra

【Commentary】
This is an incredibly famous thesis that shines in the history of Japanese detective fiction. The author interpreted the biological fact that a fetus passes through the forms of fish and reptiles within the womb as “reliving the nightmare of evolution.” It is said that the ferocious speed of racing through billions of years of evolutionary history in ten months causes the fetus to experience a tremendous dream. This single line directly links the mystery of life with terror, symbolizing the theme of “blood karma” that permeates the entire story.

---

「何もかもが胎児の夢なんだ……あの少女の叫び声も……この暗い天井も……あの窓の日の光も……」
“Everything is a fetus’s dream… that girl’s scream… this dark ceiling… the sunlight in that window…”
—— Yumeno Kyūsaku, Dogra Magra [I]

【Commentary】
Here lies the ultimate despair of doubting the world itself. What if the reality you are experiencing right now is nothing more than a nightmare seen by a fetus yet to be born? This terrifying concept shakes the ground beneath the reader’s feet. If this world is entirely an illusion, where are we to flee? The sense of entrapment, as if locked within an infinite nightmare, pushes the madness of the story to its zenith.

---

「夢だったのかしら。でも、夢じゃないわ。あんなにはっきり、声を聞いたのですもの。」
“Was it a dream? But no, it’s not a dream. I heard the voice so clearly.”
—— Edogawa Ranpo, The Magician on the Tower [Yoshiko]

【Commentary】
Is it a dream, reality, or an illusion? Perhaps the moment that boundary becomes blurred is the true thrill of a ghost story. The encounter with a white ghost experienced by a young girl in her bedroom late at night is too vivid to be dismissed as a mere nightmare. Through the pure fear of a child, Ranpo skillfully depicted the texture of the “supernatural” that logic cannot explain. The eerie voice that lingers in the ears no matter how much one tries to deny it will surely leave cold claw marks on the reader’s heart as well.

---

「空も、原っぱも、いちめんに、うすぐらく、なまり色で、夢の中のけしきのようです。」
“The sky, the fields, everything is dim and lead-colored, like scenery within a dream.”
—— Edogawa Ranpo, The Space Alien R

【Commentary】
Have you ever felt the shudder of everyday scenery suddenly being dyed in the colors of another world? The absurd situation of countless giant crabs falling from the sky causes a loss of reality, transforming the entire world into a canvas for a nightmare. Ranpo’s writing brilliantly captures not only the physical fear but also the psychological pressure of the world undergoing a transformation. Under a leaden sky, an inescapable sense of entrapment invites the reader into a fantastical panic.

---

「作者はそれをただ、夢とのみ、或は瑰麗なる悪夢とのみ、形容するの外はありません。」
“The author has no choice but to describe it simply as a dream, or perhaps as a magnificent nightmare.”
—— Edogawa Ranpo, The Panorama Island of Strange Tales [21]

【Commentary】
When witnessing beauty that seems not of this world, what should one call it? The feast of nude women and flowers unfolding on the artificial paradise of Panorama Island is the pinnacle of a mad beauty that transcends the ethics and physical laws of reality. The expression “magnificent nightmare” suggests that the scene is bewitching while simultaneously containing a ruinous poison. The comfort of drowning in a multi-colored illusion coexists with a repulsiveness that crawls up one’s spine.

---

「ハハハハ……、あなた、夢でも見たんでしょう。車の中でうたたねしていたんじゃありませんか。」
“Hahaha… you must have been dreaming. Were you not dozing off in the car?”
—— Edogawa Ranpo, Superhuman Nikola [Dr. Nikola]

【Commentary】
Dismissing inexplicable phenomena with the word “dream” may be a defense instinct of our minds. Despite witnessing the supernatural phenomenon of a human transforming into a tiger, the skeptical gaze of those around switches that fact into a “daydream.” This line highlights not only the horror of the supernatural itself but also the lonely terror of not being believed when speaking the truth. The irrationality that peeks through the cracks of daily life is thus laughed off and buried in the darkness.

---

(Editorial Cooperation: Haruna Ishita, Momona Sassa)