10. Station Diva

Mika scratched her stomach and yawned. She had put on a bedazzling bikini, its vibrant colors shimmering in the summer sunlight. This was a perfect day for relaxing, but Mika didn’t feel like going to the beach today. Her former, smaller self would have jumped at the chance to skip work and go to the beach, but now she had way more freedom, and that included the freedom to decide where she wanted to hang out. Mika had been walking around the city when she spotted the train station she used to transfer at on her commute. Cheekily, she decided to sunbathe at its entrance, a delightfully banal showing of her absolute authority. She laid on her side, creating a bottleneck whereby the people coming and going had to deftly maneuver through the space between her arm and body. Some people did, while others, descending the station’s escalator seeing her massive form blocking the entrance, chose instead to go to the exit on the other side of the station, though this was time-consuming and inconvenient for transferring.

Despite the obvious irritation Mika was causing, nobody dared to confront her, and very few people so much as scowled at her. They were probably afraid of her. Mika would never intentionally harm someone – she wasn’t a monster – but after she had become big, she remembered the idea from Machiavelli that it is better to be feared than loved. She enlisted the help of one of her old friends – still regular-sized – to create a scene. Mika clutched her friend in one hand (gently, though it wouldn’t have looked like that from the ground) and stormed down a large street, stomping as hard as possible to shake the buildings around her. In the moment she actually hadn’t known what else to do to seem menacing, other than toppling buildings over or kicking the now-abandoned cars in the middle of the street out of the way. She refrained from doing that, but from that moment on, people mostly kept their distance from her.

Testing that idea further now, she laid on her back, now totally blocking the station entrance. Mika noticed a young-looking man in a suit who seemed quite distraught when he saw that it was going to be impossible to get into the station from there. Maybe he was already late for an appointment, she thought. She pretended not to notice him but could see out of the corner of her eye that he was performing some mental calculus. Hesitantly, he began trying to climb up Mika’s side, apparently attempting to scale her body in order to get over to the other side. Mika smirked but still pretended to be lost in her own thoughts; she casually brushed the man off with her hand, as one would if an ant were crawling on them. She glanced over in time to see him lose his balance and fall backward, just narrowly avoiding falling down the stairs in the front of the station. Mika laughed but felt bad for him, so she carefully pinched his suit from the back, lifting him up and over her and into the station. He was noticeably shaken up, even after she blew him a kiss. Mika got up, the ground below her faintly tremoring. Having had her fun, she decided to go to the beach after all.



9. Window Selfie

"Cheese!" The four girls leaned in, throwing up peace signs as the phone produced a deafening shutter click noise. Since it was a nice summer day, Ayaka had suggested hitting the water park. She had produced swimsuits for everyone and told them to go off to their respective "privacy spaces" and change into them. Once they regrouped, she had showered her friends with compliments about how cute they looked, and pulled out her phone for a selfie. Since the glass skyscraper in front of them was effectively a mirror, the girls had no idea most of the office workers inside had instantly noticed them and were now hiding in hallways and bathrooms away from the windows. It had been a year already but people still weren't used to them...

Fumi, now sporting her new modest black and white swimsuit, was also not used to it. She had been on the shorter side of her class in school, sometimes subject to good-natured teasing about her height. Now she was one of the four tallest people on earth, able to lean against buildings and block traffic if she laid down. She had once visited her high school again and the building didn't even come up to her knees. Luckily she and her friends had graduated already before this happened. What exactly, she didn't know; the four of them had simply woken up like this one day, but Fumi always suspected it was somehow Ayaka's doing. In the same unexplainable fashion that they had grown in the first place, Ayaka was always able to "find" large clothes, food, and anything else they may have wanted for. Ayaka, however, had always denied having anything to do with it when Fumi brought it up. "What do you think I did, use magic?" Ayaka said, teasing her friend. When she had said this, the two of them had been sitting on one of the largest train stations in the city. Magic didn't really seem that ridiculous at this point.

Fumi felt a tickle; she looked down and noticed some pedestrians brushing up against her feet as they walked past. She gently shifted her foot, bumping into a few of the people below. Some of them, startled, lost their balance and fell to the ground. The commotion caused nearly everyone to look up, though now none of the girls were looking down at them; they were still focused on taking pictures together. Tomoko was standing next to Fumi; she was almost the same height as Fumi, before and now. Tomoko had never worried about or pondered their situation as much as Fumi. She had been shy and reserved in school, but now that she was as tall as a building, she had become more confident and outgoing. She enjoyed her newfound fame and loved being the center of attention. Adjusting her top, she puckered her lips and posed enthusiastically, contrasting with Fumi's more reserved expression. Tomoko looked down, rubbing her hand on her stomach. Suddenly she crouched down to the street below, startling the pedestrians walking by. "I look cute, don't I?" she said, blowing a kiss. Fumi rolled her eyes as Tomoko stood up again.

Ayaka, satisfied with their selfies, put her phone away and suggested they continue towards the water park. A news crew filming nearby heard this and began frantically reporting on it. By the time the girls had reached the park, it had been closed, scores of disappointed families and friends forced to find another place to stay cool for the day. The girls stepped over the parking lot where dozens of cars were still waiting to get out. They were unaware of the inconvenience they had imposed on these people, or maybe they just didn't care. They had the whole water park to themselves now!



8. CM Behind-The-Scenes

The actress stood over the intersection, trying to memorize her blocking for the scene. She was the new spokeswoman for a line of fragrant antiperspirants, and the campaign was kicking off with a national television commercial. The production company had managed to get the requisite permits to close Shibuya off to outside traffic for the day, and time was limited. The director buzzed near her head in a helicopter, giving her acting notes and instructions through a megaphone. As soon as he yelled “Action!” the helicopter would fly out of frame. The script didn’t have any dialogue, just physical action, so in that sense it was easier for her than her previous acting job as the towering maternal figure in an afternoon drama called “My Little Family”. Many of the scenes in the commercial were simply her walking down streets, gracefully passing buildings with a smile. A few, however, required coordination with normal-sized extras on the ground. The production company had put out a casting call for extras who had experience acting with large talent; they were skilled at interacting with the actress convincingly while also being deft at avoiding her massive shoes, in case she accidentally lost her footing or forgot her mark. This meant less risk for the production.

The previous year’s campaign had featured a similar theme, though the spokeswoman they had used was actually normal-sized, and digitally composited into the cityscape to appear much larger than she actually was. While the effects team won an award for their work, some had decried the artificialness of the commercial. Thus, this year, they decided to go with the real thing, at greater expense. In between takes, extras mulled around the craft services tent. The actress herself began to get hungry, so she used her finger to gently tip the tent over, then grabbed a few of the tables decked with catered food and tipped the contents into her mouth. It wasn’t much for her but it would tide her over for now. For the final scene, the director wanted a helicopter shot of the actress leaning on the building next to her while a mystified crowd of onlookers gathered at her feet. Just as the director was about to yell “Action!”, a loud “bang!” was heard, and the helicopter began to move erratically in the air. The engine began smoking, and the helicopter started to plunge to the ground. The director and pilot braced themselves for impact when suddenly they landed in the actress’ soft hand. She carefully lowered them and the disabled helicopter to the ground. The director, having just escaped a potentially deadly situation with his life, didn’t look relieved, but rather annoyed that they had no way to get that last shot now.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He called for the production assistant over his walkie talkie. “Hai!” a loud voice rang out. The ground shook as a large girl fresh out of college ran to the scene. She was dressed in all black, carrying a bag the size of a small building on her shoulder. It was full of electrical equipment and gaffer’s tape that she often used on other productions. Today, however, the director had just had her managing extras, moving them between scene locations in her hands. Now, the director explained to her that, instead of a crowd of extras, he wanted her to hold him and the camera in her hand while he filmed the scene. The production assistant was both elated and nervous about having such an important task. When they were practicing the shot, the director turned around and motioned for her to bring him close to her face. “I can’t get the shot when your hands are shaking so much,” he gently reprimanded. “Sorry, I’ll do my best,” she said. The production assistant moved to steady herself, in the process accidentally stepping on, and flattening, a police car that was cordoning the street off from traffic. “Sorry!” she said. Finally, the director lined up the shot and yelled “Action!” After a few moments, he yelled “Cut!” and production wrapped.



7. Othello

Hiromi cringed at her pale skin as she and her friend Mai stood in Shinjuku, wearing their new swimsuits. Mai had convinced Hiromi to try wearing one in an effort to alleviate Tokyo’s sticky summer heat, but Hiromi was already having second thoughts. Still, the swimsuit was custom-made and tailored for her, as all of her clothes were. Hiromi felt it would be a waste if she didn’t wear it. “You look great!” Mai exclaimed, her compliment echoing over the buildings and into alleyways unseen. Mai was more comfortable showing off her skin, which was already nicely tanned from her daily visits to beaches in Kanagawa and Chiba. She was a regular fixture in magazines and was constantly approached by fashion companies to model their latest styles. Hiromi, on the other hand, while also famous, was mostly so just for how big she was. She often pondered the irony of being unignorable wherever she went while also being incredibly shy.

Though they were too small to see clearly, Hiromi could sense that the people below on the street were all taking pictures of her with their phones. Mai reached for her own phone, which she had left resting on the building next to them. “Cheese!” she said, the phone producing an audible shutter. Mai posted the photo to her Instagram and tagged it with #othello as a joke. Hiromi had heard of this game, with its black and white pieces, but she had never played it. Perhaps if some event promoters endeavored to make a novelty oversized version, she could give it a try. She playfully admonished Mai for the joke with a light shove. Mai lost her balance but managed to catch herself on the building next to her, laughing. “Hey Hiromi, look!” she said, pointing at the screen on the building. It was showing a live variety show with a panel of comedians and other talent in a studio, reviewing various news clips of the day. At that moment, the segment was showing a live feed of Hiromi and Mai. Mai waved at the camera, which was perched atop an adjacent roof.

One of the comedians cracked a joke about Hiromi being big and bright enough to replace the sun. Hiromi felt a pane of self-consciousness at this, and smirked at the thought of ripping the TV studio’s roof off and giving him a piece of her mind, though she would never actually do something like that. As she was beginning to regret anew her decision to don a swimsuit, one of the hosts of the show pointed out that Hiromi was an “inspiration” to girls everywhere; the hashtag #othello was being flooded in solidarity with pictures of friends in swimsuits. Hiromi checked her own phone and saw a cascade of DMs from fans cheering her on. Mai looked at the screen. “See?” she said, “Everyone loves you! Now let’s hit the beach.” Stepping over the railway tracks, the two friends began heading out of the city, Hiromi jokingly sashaying as though she were a runway model. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.



6. The Butterfly Dream (Haeundae Balcony / Rooftop Pool)

Haeun was in her hotel room, having just finished changing into her new swimsuit and getting ready to hit the beach. The room began to shake ever so slightly; not enough to knock Haeun off balance, though she was startled for a moment. She walked out to the balcony just in time to see three large girls walking past the hotel. Noticing her watching them, one of the girls gave Haeun a wink as they passed. Two of the girls walked in the sand, leaving large footprints on the beach. These were deep enough that sometimes kids on the beach would use them as “forts” to play in. The girls conspicuously avoided straying too close to the row of umbrellas where all of the beachgoers were sitting; if they walked in a straight line, they needn’t worry about accidentally hurting anyone. Their friend, however, was brazenly walking on the grass separating the beach from the street. Still, she avoided stepping on any cars in the parking lots, and carefully stepped over the aquarium building. Haeun continued watching as they walked away, and though they were now walking in between the rows of skyscrapers in the distance, their imposing figures became diminutive from her perspective…

...Haeun opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep on the beach, and there were lots of people standing around her. She sat up, yawning and stretching, and feeling quite relaxed from her nap. She started to get up, the ground shaking with her movements. The little people around her apparently hadn’t been expecting her to get up so soon; had she just dozed off for a few minutes? Some people ran away, while others, more used to her presence, casually picked up their belongings and started walking towards the umbrellas stationed near the coast. As she shook off the tons and tons of sand sticking to her, she looked around, observing the dualling landscapes of buildings and sea. She began walking down the beach, then paused, realizing the hotel next to her was the same one in her dream. Nobody was in the room she was peering into. She wedged her fingernail into the frame, trying to gently pry open the sliding door. Unfortunately, although it was locked, it instantly buckled under the force of Haeun’s strength, the glass shattering unceremoniously as the door and frame both ripped out of the wall. Haeun felt embarrassed, though as she looked around it seemed like nobody had noticed. She stuck her index finger inside the room, feeling the soft bedding. She had imagined what it would feel like to sleep on this every night instead of the sand and grass she was used to. She sighed, thinking of the little luxuries she would never know.

Haeun turned and began walking down the street, passing large buildings on both sides. As she was passing a hotel, she glanced over and noticed a group of girls hanging out at the rooftop pool. They were the same girls from her dream! Though, they were much smaller now. Two of the girls were chatting, but stopped to watch as Haeun passed, briefly enveloping them in her massive shadow. They waved, and Haeun gave them a wink. In that moment, they both wondered what the other’s lives were like.



5. Bus Service

Seoyeon had been enjoying her vacation in Tokyo. Today was particularly hot and humid, though, so she decided to take a break from sightseeing. Ducking behind some tall skyscrapers, she changed into the white swimsuit she had swam over to Japan in. She found a suitably-sized park nearby to lay down on, ready for some midday relaxation and sunbathing. As Seoyeon scrolled through her messages on her phone, she reached for her bottle of sunblock. She pressed her finger down, expecting to feel the spray misting on her stomach, but nothing happened. Seoyeon examined the object in her hand; she had unwittingly grabbed a passing bus instead of her sunscreen! Her finger had pushed the front of the bus inward, engine and all. She could see the small silhouettes of commuters inside and felt bad for inconveniencing them.

Seoyeon decided it was her duty to make sure everyone got where they were going, but she had never been on a bus before. How did they work? She stood up, her massive figure bathing the park in shade. Looking over at the road, she spotted another bus. Maybe they would be going in the same direction. She stepped over the line of trees at the edge of the park and began walking in the middle of the road. Panic ensued as all of the cars on the road began trying to part to the sides to avoid her feet. The bus she was following got caught up in the chaos, swerving to a stop as cars flew past it. It wasn't going to guide her to her destination after all. Seoyeon remembered seeing people waiting for buses next to streets before; if she found one of those places, she could drop the bus off there.

She continued walking down the street, every footstep making the cars on the road bounce up and down. By this point, the center lanes were completely cleared, and Seoyeon soon found a group of people gathered on the sidewalk under a small roof. She reached down and pulled the structure out of the ground, the people under it fleeing in all directions. When she brought it close to her face, she could see numbers written on it, but they were too small to read. She figured that this place was as good as any. She tried to put the bus stop back in the ground, though it would no longer stand up, and fell over onto the sidewalk. Seoyeon gently placed the bus she was holding onto the street. She had almost forgotten that her finger had punctured the engine, and so it probably didn't have any power now. She bent down and pried the front door open with her fingernail. A stream of disoriented passengers disembarked, dizzy but uninjured. Her good deed for the day done, Seoyeon returned down the street to the park, pausing on her way to admire her reflection in the glass windows of a tall office building.



4. Help Me Up

“Just a little more!” Yurika said, almost out of breath, as she tried to get herself onto the top of the apartment building. It looked like it would offer a suitable vantage point to see far across the city. While giving her a push, Shiho cursed her friend’s forgetfulness. “Why do you always have to lose everything?” she admonished. The building, although structurally reinforced for this, groaned as Yurika’s massive hands pushed down on the roof. She placed her foot on one of the hallway balconies, expecting it to feel and hold like a rock-climbing wall - well, what she thought a rock-climbing wall would feel like; she had only gone mountain climbing before, in the most literal sense. Instead, it gave out under her weight, and her foot slid down the building’s side, sending multiple levels of façade crashing to the street below. Shiho instinctively jumped back to save her feet, one of which accidentally pulverized a car below into unrecognizability. Pieces of metal, rubber, and glass stuck to her shoe.

She leaned against the office building next to her to lift her foot and them scrap off, her jeans brushing against the glass windows and shattering a great deal of them. She turned around and, now being able to see directly into the office, noticed a lot of salarymen and OLs looking up at her. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly, though from this height she couldn’t make out the emotions on their little faces. By this time, Yurika was sitting triumphantly on top of the apartment, though it was clearly worse for wear. She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sunshine, looking around. “I don’t see it anywhere!” she exclaimed. “Can you try calling it?” Shiho rolled her eyes and took her phone out of her back pocket, dialing the number.

Miles away, the police had just finished loading the giant smartphone left in the middle of the intersection onto a small flatbed truck using some forklifts commandeered from a local warehouse. One of the police officers overseeing the effort wiped the sweat from his brow and rubbed his hands together triumphantly. Suddenly, a Hoshino Gen song rang out at deafening volume, rattling windows for blocks. The truck began shaking back and forth violently as the phone on top of it vibrated intensely. The momentum lifted the truck onto two wheels, and suddenly the phone fell over, landing face down on the pavement, with the truck now upside down on top of it.

Yurika and Shiho could hear the echoes of Yurika’s ringtone in the distance. “It’s over there!” Yurika screamed, jumping off of the building and causing an earthquake in one fell swoop. Shiho watched as her friend excitedly ran off towards the noise, every step shaking the earth. The street was narrow and, in her carelessness, Yurika had flattened nearly every tree lining the avenue. When Shiho finally caught up to her, Yurika was crouched over, looking intensely at the ground. She stood up and turned to Shiho, holding a small white truck in one hand and her phone in the other. “What’s this doing here?” she said, shrugging as she let go of the truck. Onlookers gasped as the truck smashed into the ground, pieces flying everywhere. The girls towering over the intersection appeared unconcerned, and they began to walk away. “Now, where did I leave my purse?” Yurika said.



3. Naptime

Tomoko slowly turned the corner, deliberately stomping in dramatic fashion as she walked down the street. She had seen scenes like this in monster movies before. She tried to let out a deep, growling roar, but started to laugh halfway through, her loud voice reverberating for all to hear. Although people in the movies always ran away in a panic from the monster, hardly anyone down below was paying much attention to Tomoko. She let out a sigh as she resumed her normal gait. Now that school was finished for the day, what to do? Her mother always pushed her to “make some friends her own size.” She could picture her mom now, washing clothes in the river near the suburbs and hanging them to dry on the adjacent bridge. Her dad was still on a business trip abroad overseeing the construction of a new skyscraper designed by his architectural firm. He always took his “lucky” magnifying glass with him, famously getting down on his hands and knees to closely inspect the builders’ work.

Tomoko stopped next to a building with a karaoke place inside. She peered into the window that was at eye level, noticing a group of girls her age, laughing and singing the latest pop songs together. One girl looked over and scowled at the sight of Tomoko’s large face practically pressed against the glass. She leaned over and swiftly closed the curtains. Tomoko felt annoyed at this slight. She espied an electric cable connected to the building; to her it was no bigger than a hair. Practically making a show of the lack of effort involved, Tomoko extended her index finger, lethargically swatting at the cable and severing it. As expected, she suddenly heard a tiny chorus of disappointed “aww”s from the karaoke room. Slyly smiling, she continued on her way.

Cars the size of her shoes deftly navigated to avoid her steps as she walked. One time her mom mentioned that this was part of the test people had to pass in order to get their driver’s license. At the time Tomoko wondered if she could get a part-time job just walking around the driving course, but now as she recalled that thought, it sounded pretty boring. At that moment, Tomoko came upon a little parking lot next to the street. It was full, but everyone had parked completely randomly, and the lot was a sea of different colors. Tomoko dropped her bag on the street, causing a minor tremor, and got down on her knees. Meticulously, she picked up and rearranged all of the cars so that they were all organized by color. She loved to bring order to chaos. But speaking of chaos…

Tomoko closed her eyes and pointed randomly at the sea of cars. When she opened her eyes, she plucked the one she was pointing at out of the parking lot. Getting up, she walked a little further and then rounded another corner. She gently placed the car on the roof next to her. Wouldn’t the owner be so surprised when they couldn’t find their car! Tomoko chuckled, and then yawned. She sat down, stretched out, and laid her head on the building next to her. She just wanted a quick nap before continuing her walk home…



2. Car Park

With some trepidation I approached the parking lot. It had been empty when I had left my car there this morning, but now I could hear laughter from around the block. As I suspected, two girls had wedged themselves in-between the rows of cars, chatting and drinking idly. It didn’t look particularly comfortable, but most of the major parks in the city were probably already crowded at this hour. Parking lots were something of a hangout spot for girls like them; after school, it was common to see students lounging around these lots after sticking their hand in a convenience store and pilfering a shelf or two of sweets to enjoy. As I got closer, one of the girls lifted her hand, revealing a vending machine she had evidently grabbed from some nearby street. She tilted her head back, shaking the machine and dumping its contents into her mouth. After a loud “gulp,” she crushed the machine and tossed it aside as one would with a normal aluminum can.

I was anxious enough talking to people my size, let alone someone the height of a building. “Excuse me,” I intoned meekly, “Do you mind if I get my car?” As soon as the words left my mouth, old TV news clips flashed through my mind of cars that had been tripped and stepped on, the aftermath not resembling a vehicle so much as a metallic pancake. What if, as a joke, they threw my car into the air as far as they could? I felt a pang of regret for even having spoken up. One of the girls leaned in, eclipsing the fence below, her face nearly the same size as my entire body. “Sure, but can you help us take a picture?” she asked. I sighed in relief. “Of course!” I pointed to my car. Both of the girls carefully stood up, then crouched, lifting the car gently over the fence and onto the street. With their sheer strength, I was sure one of them alone could have grabbed it, so I appreciated this gesture of goodwill to make sure the car was unscathed.

As they returned to the lot, an errant foot clipped the side of a van; it tilted to the left, hitting the car next to it, like a heavy domino. “Oops!” the girl said, with a degree of what seemed like genuine remorse. As the van fell back onto all four wheels, the side of the car came back into view, revealing a large dent. Her friend winced. After looking around, she reached over to a nearby bike rack, pinching a single bicycle and placing it next to the car. Though rather inconsequential, I realized I was witnessing the staging of a crime scene. “Now then,” she said, lifting her massive smartphone towards me, as if to hand it to me. Instead, she reached over and placed it against my car. “How does the shot look?” she said. I looked at the screen in front of me. “Uh, looks good,” I shouted. Both girls struck a pose, puckering their lips. I reached down and pressed the massive “shutter” button on the screen, but nothing happened. I realized that my “tiny” hand probably wasn’t exerting enough force to register, so I slapped the screen with both hands. The phone made a loud and satisfying click. After a few more shots, the girl grabbed her phone, and I went on my way.



1. Surprise!

“Finally, some peace and quiet,” Erina thought as she delicately entered the river. She had been carefully avoiding Haruka all day. Although they were friends, Haruka could be a bit too clingy sometimes. Erina wanted to tell her to get some more friends, but, well, they were the only two women of their size in Tokyo...Needing some “alone time,” Erina quietly (well, as “quietly” as someone her height could) tiptoed around the city, hiding behind buildings and cautiously looking around for any sign of her friend. She realized that this probably looked pretty silly to the people below, since she still dwarfed her surroundings. Now, sensing the coast was clear, she looked forward to soaking in the water and checking her news feed. The canal was a bit narrow for her, but if she went out to the bay, she would be easily spotted.

Just as she was starting to relax, Erina heard stomping in the distance. “Hey, Erina!” Haruka’s voice rang out. Erina groaned. “You didn’t respond to my texts! Quick, move over!” Haruka said, removing her shirt and pants and tossing them on a nearby rooftop. All that work for nothing. Haruka impatiently slipped into the water beside Erina, even though it would have barely have been comfortable for just one of them. “Kind of tight in here!” Haruka said. Suddenly, she grabbed Erina’s chest. “Hey!” Erina yelped.

“Aww, are you embarrassed?” Haruka teased. “I’m sure none of these people mind.” Haruka reached over and plucked a taxi from the street with her fingertips. With a mischievous grin, she dropped it straight into Erina’s cleavage. Although the vehicle wasn’t that big, it felt cold against her skin, and Erina shivered. She dropped her phone on the bridge in front of her, the noise startling pedestrians nearby. Erina tried to fish the taxi out while Haruka looked on, laughing. This was not the day Erina was expecting.