Directed by Toshiyuki Mizutani, who wrote it with Mugita Kinosita, this takes place after the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, which saw at least 5,000 deaths. Yukari (Yoshino Kimura) has come to the city of Kobe to help with the rescue efforts.

As a psychic, Yukari can feel the thoughts of others. This isn’t always good, as the violent urges of people disturb her. She meets Chiharo (Yû Kurosawa), who has thirteen different personalities, and who is a loner after her classmates bullied her, blaming her for the drowning — in a toilet! — of a fellow student. When a gym teacher throws her down the steps, putting her in the hospital, Chiharo is still to blame when that man kills himself.

Why does Chiharo have these voices fighting inside her? Is it the abuse of her uncle Tatsurô (Kazuhiro Yamaji)? Or is the out of body experiences that she was forced to undertake from scientist Yayoi Takano (Makiko Watanabe)? Maybe both?

There is a thirteenth personality no one has seen yet, one behind the pain that Chiharo unleashes. That is Isola and she is starting to break through. I’ve always wanted to get into a sensory deprivation tank but after this, maybe I should reconsider.

Isola: Multiple Personality Girl is one of the films on Arrow’s new J-Horror Rising set. It has extras including commentary by critics and Japanese cinema experts Jasper Sharp and Amber T., interviews with Yoshino Kimura and Yu Kurosawa, original trailers, TV ads and an image gallery.

You can buy it from MVD.