In 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Aomame, a fitness instructor and assassin, enters a mysterious parallel world she calls 1Q84 after descending a hidden emergency staircase in Tokyo. In this altered reality, she notices subtle but disturbing differences, including the presence of two moons. Meanwhile, Tengo, a mathematics teacher and aspiring writer, is asked to rewrite a strange manuscript called Air Chrysalis, written by a teenage girl named Fuka-Eri. As Tengo works on the manuscript, he too becomes entangled in the hidden world of 1Q84, encountering a secretive religious cult and supernatural forces.

Aomame and Tengo, once childhood acquaintances, struggle to reconnect amid the surreal and threatening landscape of 1Q84. Their separate journeys intersect as they uncover the dark truths behind the cult, the Little People, and the mysterious forces controlling their world. Murakami explores themes of love, loneliness, fate, and reality versus illusion, weaving a complex narrative that blends psychological tension with fantastical elements, ultimately following the characters’ desperate quest for reunion and understanding¹.