Kōtarō Isaka > Quotes

“Often the case with people who don't read fiction. Hollow inside, monochrome, so they can switch gears no problem. They swallow something and forget about it as soon as it goes down their throat. Constitutionally incapable of empathy. These are people who most need to read, but in most cases it's already too late.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Life has nothing to do with right and wrong. The
people with the power make the rules. So if they’re on your side, you have nothing to worry about.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Three Assassins

“Leave something where it is for too long and it starts to go bad, you ever heard that? If the same
people hold power forever, they get corrupt, every time.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Three Assassins

“It's a line from one of the characters in the novel. It means that everyone dies, and they're alone when they do.'
Lemon sneers. 'I'm not gonna die.'
'You'll die, and you'll die alone.'
'Even if I do die, I'll come back.'
'Yeah, it's like you to be so stubborn. But I'm going to die someday. Alone.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“My buddy Thomas helped me survive.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Nanao can’t escape this thought: if it happened once it can happen again, and if it happened twice it can happen three times, and if three times then four, so we might as well say that if something happens once it’ll keep happening forever.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“That’s tough,’ Kabuto says politely. It doesn’t especially matter what makes it tough. Everyone in the world has something tough to deal with, so it’s always a safe bet to make people feel like their struggle is noticed and appreciated.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, The Mantis

“KIMURA Tokyo Station is packed. It’s been a while since Yuichi Kimura was here last, so he isn’t sure if it’s always this crowded. He’d believe it if someone told him there was a special event going on. The throngs of people coming and going press in on him, reminding him of the TV show he and Wataru had watched together, the one about penguins, all jammed in tight together. At least the penguins have an excuse, thinks Kimura. It’s freezing where they live. He waits for an opening in the stream of people, cuts between the souvenir shops and kiosks, quickening his pace. Up a short flight of stairs to the turnstile for the Shinkansen high-speed bullet train. As he passes through the automated ticketing gate”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“地下鉄に乗っている。最終電車近くの下り線は空いていた。両脇に妻と娘が同じような顔で眠っている。妻が握っている切符が落ちないだろうか、”
― Kotaro Isaka, フィッシュストーリー

“All the knowledge and science that human beings have, it only helps humans. Get it? No living thing in the world besides humans is happy that humans exist.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Three Assassins

“When you have a chance, you should always take it.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Three Assassins

“Lemon knows all too well how dangerous Tangerine can be when he's angry. Usually Tangerine is content to read his novels and keep violence to an absolute minimum. But once he loses his temper he becomes ruthless and nearly unstoppable. It's impossible to tell from his demeanour whether he's angry or not, which makes him even more dangerous. He erupts all at once, without any warning, terrible to behold. But Lemon knows that when Tangerine starts quoting books and movies it's time to be wary. It's as if in his frenzied state the box of memories inside his head gets tipped over and the contents spill out, making him start quoting his favourite likes. It's the surest sign he's about to get violent.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Tangerine feels his chest split open and shatter into small pieces. A cold wind gusts into the hole in his heart. He realizes he's never felt this before, which leaves him even more shaken.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Probably nothing going on inside, thinks Tangerine. Often the case with people who don’t read fiction. Hollow inside, monochrome, so they can switch gears no problem. They swallow something and forget about it as soon as it goes down their throat. Constitutionally incapable of empathy. These are the people who most need to read, but in most cases it’s already too late.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Who the hell are you talking about? The God of the Shinkansen? Did he stand in front of you and say Thou shalt not disembark?”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Probably nothing going on inside', thinks Tangerine. Often the case with people who don’t read fiction. Hollow inside, monochrome, so they can switch gears no problem. They swallow something and forget about it as soon as it good down their throats. Constitutionally incapable of empathy. These are the people who most need to read, but in most cases it’s too late.”
― Kotaro Isaka, Bullet Train

“People act based on the influence of those around them. Human beings aren’t primarily motivated by reason but by instinct. So even when it looks like someone is acting up their own individual will , they’re always taking input from other people. They might think they have an independent, original existence, but once you put them on a graph they’re just another data point . - The Prince”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Well, dying like this doesn't help the people trying to solve the case at all. Just for future reference, Tangerine, if you think someone's about to kill you, make sure you leave behind some useful clues." -Lemon”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“People need to find a way to justify themselves. A person can’t live without being able to tell themselves that they’re right, that they’re strong, that they have value. So when their words and actions diverge from their view of themselves, they start looking for excuses, to help reconcile the contradiction.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“We spent so much time together. But at the end, we’re all alone.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Tangerine can't quite place how he felt about insects when he was younger. He has memories of killing them wholesale, but also remembers crying over dead ones and giving them miniature funerals”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“Then he (Tangerine) reaches into a pocket and pulls out a different gun. "I do have this," he says somewhat sheepishly.
"Where'd you get that?"
"One of those guys holding the kid had it. I thought it was cute so I took it."
"Cute? Guns aren't cute. It's not like they have Thomas stickers on them. Thomas and Friends is for kids. Cute stuff and gun stuff are totally separate.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“あの日、時期は十月くらいだったのではなかろうか、河原崎さんと一緒に夜の動物園にいた。河原崎さんは大学の先輩で、五歳の年の差があったものの、留年や浪人の関係もあり、在学中に”
― Kotaro Isaka, フィッシュストーリー

“Cool down your head and think.
Just for a moment, forget your fanatism, anger, respect, everything.
Forget everything and ponder.
Use your own mind. Think carefully and make your own choice.”
― Kotaro Isaka, 魔王

“Then he (Lemon) leans in to Little Minegishi's corpse and takes hold of the back of the head, nodding it up and down like he's operating a puppet. "Lemon, you are a useful train," he says, doing his best ventriloquist act.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“So many of the troubles of the world happen because people don’t take them seriously.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Three Assassins

“People are easy if they can be motivated with money .”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train

“The thing about danger is that even if people understand it intellectually, it never quite feels real to them.’ ‘What do you mean?’ The short-haired man turns toward her. ‘They still think they’ll be fine.’ Hiyoko laughs again. ‘No matter how dangerous the situation, they assume they’ll be okay. When there’s a box that says Danger, they figure it can’t be that dangerous, right until the moment they open it. It’s why a wanted criminal will go to a pachinko parlor. It’ll be fine, they think. Nothing’s going to go so badly so quickly. They’re convinced that trouble comes gradually. That’s why people keep smoking even though they know it could lead to lung cancer.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Three Assassins

“I think it's true — unhappiness begins the moment you start comparing yourself to others.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Hotel Lucky Seven

“Being forced to submit to someone else’s will is the same. It makes people try to justify themselves. In order to avoid acknowledging one’s impotence, one’s abject weakness, people try to find some reason. They think, this person must be something really special to beat me so thoroughly. Or, anyone would be
powerless in this situation. This gives some small satisfaction. The more confidence and self-regard someone has, the more they need to tell themselves something like this. And once they do, the power relations are set in stone.
Then all you have to do is say two or three things that stroke the person’s ego and they’ll do whatever you tell them.”
― Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train