CM (novel)

CM (Japanese: シーエム, Hepburn: Shīemu) is a Japanese mystery horror novel by Ryotaro Sekizawa, first published in 2021 and is set in modern-day Japan. the novel tells the story of a Japanese vlogger who recalls a traumatizing ad he saw one time as a child, he then decides to find the mysterious commercial for himself, leading him down a dark rabbit hole with world threatening consiquences.

The story was inspired by the Hitogata phenomenon, where a user on 2chan recalled a PSA about railway safety, depicting two white figures that traumatized him in his youth, the supposed ad has never been found but has inspired an active search effort by the Lost Media community. Sekizawa decided to write this story after hearing about it online.

The book recieved positive reviews, with many complementing it's creepy atmosphere, Hitchcockian suspense and ambiguously dark ending for a Sekizawa work. An anime film adaptation released in 2023.