Dogra Magra

About Dogra Magra

Introduction

Dogra Magra is a novel released in Showa 10 (that is, the year 1935) by author Yumeno Kyusaku. It's hard to even describe.

Ostensibly, it's a crime mystery novel: in Taisho 15 (1926), a handsome young amnesiac finds himself in an asylum. Nobody will tell him his own name. Two doctors, desperate to prove their theories, assault him with a trail of breadcrubs but no conclusion. They tell him that he murdered his fiance; he doesn't even recognise her. He is the victim of a terrible crime, the culprit of a murder, and the investigator of his own strange situation all at once.

This narrative, presented out of order and in totally confusing ways, is merely a vessel. Kyusaku really wants to write about a whole lot of theories about the human mind. I am a very gullible person, but I was thoroughly convinced of every word I read while I read the (quite awful) translation of the novel.

The brain is no smarter than any other part of the body. The brain is the most arrogant, for it thinks that it is the most important part of the human body; it thinks that it is so important just because it thinks at all. But a brain on its own will not suffice, and the visceral nervous system keeps itself alive just fine without thinking at all, so it can't be true!

The fetus dreams while it develops. In your subconscious, and within your cells, you retain a memory of every life that came before yours, following the chain of evolution: the fetus dreams that it is a fish and takes on an equally primitive form... then it graduates to a three-eyed lizard, envisions escaping a predator... slowly, slowly, it becomes a human being. When it is thrust into the world all its memories are pulled from its brain and into its subconscious, exactly like most dreams had at night by an adult human.

In your genetic code lies the same instincts as your grandfather, the same instincts as a medieval knight, the same instincts as an ape walking upright, the same instincts as a fish stepping on water for the first time. In all the cells of your body, not just the neurons, you have their memories too. Within dreams, while your body sorts out its problems, you can have visions of experiences quite similar to what a relative has experienced in real life. In these dreams, you embody them.

The conclusion to this grand theory, within the narrative, is the idea that if a person was shown something particularly shocking he could revert to and embody one of his ancestors. He might become convinced that he should live exactly as his great-grandfather he has never heard anything about did, or even be compelled to commit murder in the same way that a relative from one thousand years ago did.

In the eyes of his psychologist, our protagonist is Ichiro Kure, a victim of somebody who knew of this and wanted to exploit it. In the eyes of our protagonist, this psychologist is such a crank that they should both be considered the same level of crazy.

Our protagonist's job is to figure out whether any of this crap makes sense, and for now, he isn't entirely convinced of the identity the docs are pushing on him. He outright rejects it in fact. He can't be Ichiro Kure... so he's got to figure out the truth!

Movie adaptation

In 1988, a movie adaptation of Dogra Magra was released, directed by Toshio Matsumoto. It's trippy and confusing and hard to comprehend but overall stunning.

The book makes me feel as if my brain is being taken apart. I am left to let this happen, trying my hardest to compensate with the parts of my mind that are left. The movie is different: it is as if I have become a part of and am stuck inside of Ichiro Kure himself. All I want is to shout and curse at him, but that can't change anything...

Everything about this movie is gorgeous. The score is minimal, the sets are so very limited, the shots are executed wonderfully and the colours are beautiful. The atmosphere, no matter the scene, is entirely dreamlike. I'd complain that it's slow and repetitive, but this does nothing but reinforce Ichiro's plight.

The early and late ends of the Showa era have met each other in such an inspiring way!

Love for Dogra Magra

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