Work information
Page 1
Panel 1
[Visual]
An elderly professor lies in a hospital bed while a maid weeps at his side. The Professor is on the left of the panel and the Maid is on the right. On the windowsill behind them are a vase of tulips and a framed photograph of the two together.
[Maid]
“Professor—!!”
[Professor]
“It seems this is as far as I go...”
[Additional notes]
The Maid is drawn with chibi-like proportions for a touch of comic exaggeration. Her large tears and wide-open mouth make her emotions immediate and direct. The Professor is sweating, but his expression remains calm.
Panel 2
[Visual]
A close-up of the Maid’s face. Her eyes are squeezed shut, tears stream down both cheeks, and her mouth is open in a square shape as she faces the Professor.
[Maid]
“Professooor...”
[Additional notes]
The page shifts from the pathos of the large opening panel to an exaggerated crying face. The gravity of the moment coexists with an almost childlike reaction.
Panel 3
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
A close-up showing only the Professor’s eyes. His eyelids are heavy, and his gaze is directed toward the Maid. His eyebrows and the wrinkles around his eyes convey physical weakness.
[Additional notes]
A quiet panel showing that the Professor still recognizes and looks at the Maid.
Panel 4
[Visual]
The Professor weakly extends his left hand. His palm faces upward; his fingers are short and softly rounded. Small motion lines around the outline of his hand indicate trembling.
[Professor]
“Would you...”
“hold my hand...?”
Page 2
Panel 1
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
The Professor’s hand reaches in from the lower left while both of the Maid’s hands approach from the right. Their fingertips have not yet touched, leaving a narrow gap between the hands.
[Additional notes]
By isolating the instant before contact, the panel gives the Maid a moment in which to reach out of her own will.
Panel 2
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
The Maid encloses the Professor’s left hand between both of hers, one above and one below. Her hands are slender, while the Professor’s hand is drawn as thick and soft.
Panel 3
[Visual]
The Maid holds the Professor’s hand tightly against her chest. Her eyes remain closed and tears continue down her cheeks. The Professor’s arm extends toward her from the foreground.
[Maid]
“Professor...”
[Sound effect]
“Squeeze...”
[Additional notes]
Her grip is strong, yet she cups his hand carefully enough not to harm it.
Panel 4
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
A close-up of the upper half of the Professor’s face. A small catchlight remains in his half-open eye as he looks at the Maid.
Panel 5
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
The Professor’s face from the same angle. His eyelid closes and the light in his eye disappears.
[Additional notes]
The Professor’s death is conveyed quietly through the smallest possible change from the preceding panel.
Panel 6
[Visual]
The panel is almost entirely white. Only the black silhouettes of the Professor and the Maid appear along the bottom edge. She remains beside the bed, holding his hand.
[Professor]
“Thank you.”
“It truly was a good life...”
[Additional notes]
These are the Professor’s final words. The silhouettes erase the characters’ details, while the large empty space creates the sensation of his voice receding.
Page 3
Panel 1
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
A side table beside the window. A vase of tulips and a framed photograph of the Professor and the Maid stand together. White light enters through the curtains.
Panel 2
[Visual]
A large close-up of the Maid in profile. She faces left, her eyes tightly shut as large tears fall. The background is blank, emphasizing her voice alone.
[Maid]
“PROFESSOR——!!!”
[Additional notes]
Her cry is drawn out at length. It becomes her final call to the Professor, who can no longer answer.
Page 4
Panels 1–6
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
Twelve small panels are arranged in three columns and four rows. The first six repeat nearly the same profile of the crying Maid without visible change.
[Additional notes]
The repeated expression makes it seem both as though time is passing and as though she is unable to move beyond a single emotion.
Panel 7
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
The Maid’s tearful profile continues in the same composition as the preceding panels.
Panel 8
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
In place of the Maid’s face, a single tulip fills the panel. Its petals and stamens are drawn in fine detail as one petal separates from the flower, caught in the instant of falling.
Panels 9–12
[Dialogue]
None
[Visual]
The same tearful profile of the Maid returns for four more panels. Her expression remains unchanged after the flower’s interruption.
[Additional notes]
Even after the flower appears, her crying continues to repeat without change.
Page 5
Panel 1
[Visual]
The page is almost entirely white. At its center, a single vertical system notification floats inside a thin polygonal frame. No character or background is shown.
[System]
“No voice from the registered speaker has been detected for a specified period of time.”
[Additional notes]
No figure is shown; only a notification stating that no voice has been detected for a specified period. The large empty space represents both the unanswered interval and the silence of the hospital room.
Page 6
[Whole page]
Instead of a conventional panel layout, fragments of the body and system messages are placed separately across white space. Processes concerning “default posture,” “joint torque,” “facial-expression control,” and “gaze vector” run in sequence.
Panel 1
[Visual]
Both of the Maid’s hands lift away from where they had enclosed the Professor’s hand, leaving his hand below. Empty space opens between them.
[Sound effect]
“Release”
[System]
“Returning to default posture.”
Panel 2
[Visual]
No character is shown. Only a processing notification appears in the white space.
[System]
“Adjusting joint torque.”
[Sound effect]
“Whirr... whirr...”
[Additional notes]
The body that had been holding the Professor’s hand moments earlier is adjusted joint by joint.
Panel 3
[Visual]
A close-up of the Maid’s eyes and ear. Her eyes, previously closed, are now open, and the tears are gone. Her face remains turned to the side rather than facing forward.
[System]
“Initializing facial-expression control.”
“Initializing gaze vector.”
Panel 4
[Visual]
Only a completion message appears in the white space.
[System]
“Return to default posture complete.”
Page 7
Panel 1
[Visual]
A single overhead view of the entire hospital room. The Professor remains motionless in the bed. The Maid stands near the window with both arms extended horizontally in her default posture. Her eyes are open, but the expression with which she had been crying is gone.
[Background]
Strong white light enters through the window. The vase of tulips and the framed photograph of the two remain on the side table. Two fallen petals lie beside the vase.
[Text]
“The End”