2024 March 15


Milk Closet.

I finished reading Milk Closet by Tomizawa Hitoshi a few
days ago. The basic premise is that various universes in the
multiverse are under attack by an insectoid species called
the "ants." Universes are disappearing 1 by 1. In this
universe, elementary aged children start mysteriously
disappearing all around the world. A few of those children
form symobiotic relationships with alien "tail creatures,"
and those kids are recruited by an older girl to be part of
the "Milk Squad." 

The Milk Squad's main goal is to allegedly help retrieve the
missing children and fight the ants. But there is a deeper
plot, and the kids of the Milk Squad are in for a traumatic
ordeal.

Like the other works by Tomizawa I've read, its a bizarre
story and very hard to follow. The focus really is on the
plot, with many of the characters just being along for the
ride. The main appeal of Milk Closet is the horrific things
the main characters face and the anxiety generated while
reading it. Similar to Tomizawa's other works, all the main
characters are young children who view the world in a
simplistic way. Their motivations aren't complex, which
means it's very easy for them to end up in situations where
we know they're going to make the wrong decision, but as
readers we are powerless to stop them. I don't have kids and
even I felt dread reading this story.

The biggest flaw of Milk Closet is that it's occasionally
incomprehensible. This may be due to the translation, but it
seems to be a reucrring problem with Tomizawa's works. With
more straightforward narration and less shallow characters,
Milk Closet could be a fascinating work, but as–is, it's
mostly just a curiosity.