Occultic;Nine

is a Japanese light novel series written by Chiyomaru Shikura, and is a part of the ''Science Adventure'' franchise. It was later adapted into a visual novel and published by Mages in November 2017. The light novel series is licensed in English by J-Novel Club. A manga, illustrated by Ganjii, was serialized in Kodansha's '' good! Afternoon'' from October 2015 to May 2017. An anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired between October and December 2016.

Plot

Yuta Gamon, a self-proclaimed NEET and owner of the paranormal blog ''Kirikiri Basara'', unexpectedly becomes entangled in a supernatural conspiracy tied to the mysterious "256 Incident." This event, involving the mass suicide of 256 people by drowning at Inokashira Park, triggers a series of bizarre occurrences in Kichijoji. Yuta and his eccentric group of acquaintances—including his bubbly friend Ryoka Narusawa, investigative journalist Toko Sumikaze, introverted doujin author Ririka Nishizono, ESP-researcher Sarai Hashigami, high school fortune teller Miyuu Aikawa, medium Aria Kurenaino, and detective Shun Moritsuka—become embroiled in the mystery after encountering strange phenomena and a cryptic coded list tied to the victims. This list was left behind by Sarai's father, Professor Isayuki Hashigami, a physicist investigating the occult and supernatural, who had recently theorized the possibility of ghosts existing. Hashigami’s brutal murder was predicted three days beforehand during a public internet livestream by Miyuu.

As the group investigates these incidents, they uncover ties to a secret organization called the Society of Eight Gods of Fortune. (Hachifuku-shin Circle) This shadowy society has been conducting clandestine experiments blending science and the occult. Using advanced technology, they manipulate electromagnetic frequencies and even use chemical injections of scandium to control people’s perceptions and actions . These methods allowed the Society to orchestrate the mass suicide at Inokashira Park, making ordinary people kill themselves without understanding why. The end goal of the Society’s project is the implementation of a so-called “World System”, a network intended to synchronize the physical world with the spirit realm, effectively erasing the boundary between life and death. In pursuit of what they see as a form of immortality, the Society plans to use this system to freely move souls between planes of existence. The investigation also reveals a critical piece of hardware: “Odd Eye,” a large antenna array in Kichijoji that broadcasts the Society’s mind-control signals. This device is the final linchpin in their plan for world domination via the World System, posing a grave threat to reality if not stopped.

Before long, Yuta and his friends make a chilling discovery: they themselves were victims of the 256 Incident and have been dead without realizing it. Their bodies were among those recovered from the lake, and the group has been operating as astral bodies (ghosts) ever since the mass drowning. Existing in this liminal state of suspended death, they appear alive to each other but cannot be perceived by ordinary people. This explains various phenomena they experienced and why some clues (like the coded victim list) were accessible only to them. They also learn that time flows at a vastly different rate for the astral plane: roughly one day in ghost form equals only one minute in the physical world. This time dilation means that although they have experienced days of activity since the Incident, only minutes have passed in the real world. The realization of their ghostly status tests the resolve of the group. Additionally, Yuta learns that Ryoka Narusawa is not an ordinary girl at all – she is actually Aveline Tesla, a spirit medium (or “spirit guide”) who has been covertly guiding and protecting him. Ryoka/Aveline had been communicating cryptically (under the nickname “Zonko”) and is linked to the Society’s experiments, yet she chooses to help Yuta’s group after growing attached to them. With her insider knowledge and the late Professor Hashigami’s research, the protagonists piece together how the Society’s technology works and how they might reverse its effects.

With the Society of Eight Gods’ plan nearing completion, Yuta and his friends confront the organization at the Odd Eye antenna facility. In a final showdown, they use Tesla-inspired devices – including Yuta’s father’s custom radio (nicknamed the “Skysensor”) and an unlocked form of Yuta’s toy Poya-Gun (revealed to be the potent Wardenclyffe Gun) – to disrupt the Society’s signal. During the battle, Yuta heroically sacrifices himself to destroy the Odd Eye antenna, overloading it with energy from the Wardenclyffe Gun and Skysensor. This blast of energy severs the link between the physical and astral realms. As a result, the souls of Yuta’s friends are forcibly propelled back in time to re-enter their bodies at the moment of the drowning. Thanks to the astral time dilation, only about nine minutes have elapsed in the real world since their deaths. This brief gap means their bodies are not yet beyond saving – the group awakens back in the lake just after the suicide incident, and each person manages to swim ashore or get rescued before permanent death occurs. In effect, they are revived: the 256 Incident is partly undone for them, and they return to life with full memory of the ordeal. This timely resurrection thwarts the Society’s ambitions, dismantling the World System and preventing the collapse of the boundary between life and death. However, Yuta’s fate is bittersweet. Having expended his energy to ensure the others’ revival, he remains behind as an astral being, unable to revive his own body. In the aftermath, Yuta’s friends mourn his loss yet carry on living, thanks to his sacrifice. The ending implies that Yuta finds peace in the spirit realm – he reunites with his late father there – and continues watching over the living world as a guardian spirit. The occult conspiracy is brought to light and halted, and the once disparate group of nine lives on, forever bound by their extraordinary experience of life, death, and second chances.

Characters

;
:
:A high school boy and self-described NEET living in Kichijoji who runs the blog "Kiri Kiri Basara," which aggregates news and discussion of the occult, with hopes of driving enough traffic to his site that he can live off the money from affiliate clickthroughs. He ends up attracting a strange crew of characters around him.
;
:
:An energetic spirit guide with enormous breasts who is Yuta's best friend. Calls herself "Ryo-tas", and Yuta "Gamotan". She wields an electric stun-gun shaped like an old-fashioned raygun which is dubbed the "Poya-gun" according to Yuta.
;
:
:An ultra-realist first-year university student, in contrast to his father who is a widely-known professor who specializes in paranormal phenomena.
;
:
:A popular fortune teller and first-year high school student with her own fanclub at school. She has recently decided to get close to Yuta, joining him and Ryoka to contribute to his blog. They all live in Kichijōji and go to the same school.
;
:
:A reporter for the occult magazine Mumū.
;
:
:A black magic proxy who is said to place curses on others, provided she has a sample of the victim's hair and information. She runs her shop in Hamonika-Yokochō (harmonica alley) near Kichijōji Station.Characters
Occultic Nine Official Site Her real name is Ria Minase. Her brother Takaharu died while donating a kidney for her. She was unable to accept the loss and stole her brother's corpse and lived with it for a year, believing that he was still alive with her.
;
:
:A mysterious individual. Aria thinks he is her ‘devil.’ Claims to have died many times, and appears to be a ghost currently.
;
:
:A dōjin manga creator with the ability to predict the future. She goes to the same university as Sarai's.
;
:
:A cosplayer and otaku detective. He is small and looks like a child, but he is 26 years old.
;
:
:She is an FBI agent who investigates the deaths of case 256. She specializes in psychometry (Touching the dead or the belongings of the dead and seeing their memories). She seems to have an appreciation for Moritsuka, in the anime they do not tell why, but it seems that something has happened between them so that she has so much appreciation for him.

Media

Light novel

The light novels are written by Chiyomaru Shikura and illustrated by Pako. Overlap Bunko published the first volume in August 2014. The series was one of four titles originally offered by J-Novel Club, an online English light novel publisher, when the service first launched.

Three volumes have been released, and there was a planned fourth volume.

Volumes

Video game

A video game adaptation of the novels was announced in March 2015. The game was developed by Mages and originally released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One on 9 November 2017; it had originally been planned for 28 September as a digital-only release, but was delayed due to the addition of a physical release following complaints by fans. The physical PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions were additionally made available in a limited edition that includes a drama CD and a 64-page materials collection. Shikura has said that he is considering releasing the game in the West.

A Nintendo Switch port was announced in September 2018. It was set to include additional story content set after the main story, which would have further connected the entry to the rest of Mages's ''Science Adventure'' series. The story content was also planned to be added to the previously released versions as a free update. However, following an extended period of no additional information, it was confirmed to be cancelled during a livestream in August 2022. Shikura also stated that, if they were to revisit ''Occultic;Nine'' one day, it would be with a remake similar to '' Robotics;Notes Elite''.

Manga

A manga adaptation, illustrated by Ganjii, was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine '' good! Afternoon'' from 7 October 2015 to 6 May 2017. Kodansha collected its chapters in four ''tankōbon'' volumes, released from 7 April 2016 to 7 July 2017.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in March 2016, with the cast from the game reprising their roles for the series. The anime was produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Kyōhei Ishiguro with assistant director Miyuki Kuroki, with To-Jumpei Morita handling series composition, Tomoaki Takase designing the characters, and Masaru Yokoyama composing the music. The opening theme song, titled "Seisū 3 no Nijō", was performed by Kanako Itō, while the ending theme song, titled "Open your eyes", was performed by Asaka. Both theme songs were written by Shikura and were released on 26 October 2016. It premiered on 9 October 2016 on Tokyo MX, ABC, CBC, GTV, GYT and BS11. The series was released across six Blu-ray and DVD home video release volumes containing 2 episodes each, totalling 12 episodes. Aniplex of America has licensed the anime series for North America and released it dubbed in two Blu-ray sets with six episodes each on 26 September and 26 December 2017. The dub was also made available through Crunchyroll on 5 February 2018.

Notes

References

External links

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Occultic Nine
Book series introduced in 2014
2014 Japanese novels
2017 video games
Anime and manga based on light novels
Cancelled Nintendo Switch games
J-Novel Club books
Kodansha manga
Light novels
Overlap Bunko
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation Vita games
Seinen manga
Seven Seas Entertainment titles
Supernatural anime and manga
Suspense anime and manga
Video games based on novels
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Takeshi Abo
Visual novels
Works about the Internet
Xbox One games
Cultural depictions of Nikola Tesla
Fiction about the afterlife
Novels about the afterlife
Television shows about ghosts
Fiction about near-death experiences
Fictional characters with death or rebirth abilities
Fiction about death
Ghosts in popular culture
Ghost narrator
Fiction about spirit possession
Fictional spiritual mediums
Science Adventure
Ghosts in written fiction
Ghost novels
Science fiction
Science fiction anime and manga