Yuureitou ("The Phantom Tower") by Edogawa Rampo.
Art by: Miyazaki Hayao.
This 2015 edition of Rampo's 1937 novel featured gorgeous artwork by Miyazaki Hayao, the legendary Academy Award-winning animator and manga artist of Studio Ghibli fame. Miyazaki himself was a fan of this novel, and he had organized his own exhibition on the book in the Ghibli Museum in 2015, featuring a scale model of the titular tower designed by him, storyboards for if he would ever animate the book and original essay comics. The 2015 edition of the book included this material, and this specially drawn cover in Miyazaki's distinct 'scribbling' style.
Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu ("Alibi Cracking, At Your Service") by Ooyama Seiichirou.
Art by: Yuuko.
Considering this excellent series is about a clockmaker who specializes in cracking perfect alibis, I have to admit the concept behind this cover isn't particularly original, but I do like the warm, almost children's illustration book-esque art style, with the warped clocks and the warm colors. It really fits the atmosphere of the stories, being quite relaxed and laid-back.
Toujou Genya series by Mitsuda Shinzou.
Art by: Murata Osamu.
The Toujou Genya novels are brilliantly complex mystery novels that mix horror, folklore, legend with astonishing tightly-written plots and these covers do a great job at conveying the creepy part of the series. There's something distinctly unsettling about these covers, with these pale women who seem so otherworldly. Are they even alive? Are they ghosts? These covers are not jump scare frightening, but they do manage to feel really unnerving even though the composition is fairly 'normal'. To me, the style has an Edgar Allan Poe-esque touch to it and it really fits the atmosphere of these novels.
Kyoto Nazotoki Shikihou ("The Kyoto Mystery Solving Seasonal Report") series by Van Madoy.
Art by: TOBI
Besides the fact that the art itself is gorgeous here both in style and composition, with warm colors that fit oh-so-well with the bitter-sweet atmosphere of the college romance also depicted in these stories, I also love that you can clearly see that these covers were designed especially for this book, as the artwork incorporates elements from the various short stories in each book. The first volume features the taxi from the first story there for example, while the second one has the titular "Galaxy Railway" in the upper left corner. I love these kind of covers for short story collections, when they draw little elements from each individual story in the cover art (Higashigawa's Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de covers do the same).
Isekai no Meitantei series by Katazato Kamome.
Art by: Munashichi.
Isekai no Meitantei is about a big fan of mystery fiction who is reincarnated into a fantasy world and becomes a detective there, and the art really invokes the fantasy feeling of the series. The Dungeons and Dragons kind of fantasy, with dangerous forests, hidden dungeons and never-ending mazes. It's the type of cover you seldom see with detective novels, which make these books stand out and I think the artwork itself is also quite alluring, invoking that old fantasy vibe.
The Murder of Alice series by Kobayashi Yasumi.
Art by: Youko Tanji.
The Murder of Alice series reimagines famous children's literature featuring girl protagonists as creepy and maddening mystery novels. At the moment, we have Alice in Wonderland, Klara from Heidi and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (the latter isn't in pocket form yet), but I love the artwork for this series. The subject matter may not be very original (obviously, the covers feature the titular characters), but these covers make these famous characters both recognizable, and yet somewhat disquieting, as if there's something wrong (of course there's something wrong). Like the Toujou Genya covers mentioned above, there's just something unsettling about them, which is strenghened by the fact that they do feature characters you know, only you instinctively know there's something not right about them.
Urazome Tenma series by Aosaki Yuugo.
Art by: Tanaka Hirotaka.
Color! I love the bold colorwork in the covers Tanaka made for the Urazome Tenma series. Obviously, these covers are pretty predictable in terms of subject, as they all feature one of the protagonists in the titular location (gymnasium, aquarium and library), but it's the use of colors which really stands out here. Yellow is a theme obviously, which is really eye-catching, but I love how they books all have a different primary color theme (yellow, blue and red) and how the various parts of the illustration flow into each other (like the gymnasium in the umbrellas).
Anyway, these were just the first covers that came to mind. Any covers that you particularly like that deserve a mention?
i have been watching the dorama for alibi cracking clockwork thingy. it's...capable. but i expected much more tbh. i am up to episode 4 but waiting to see how next cases fare. i wonder what the total amount will be. so disappointed kagi no kakatta heya didn't get a second season.
ReplyDeleteI think the drama is still really enjoyable (the lead actress is great in this role!), but I am not that big a fan of the rival character (the younger police detective) they created for the drama. I guess that Kagi no Kakatta Heya did something similar (adding a third primary character in the form of Serizawa), but the character dynamics there were different, and I think that Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu would've worked too w/o the extra, third lead.
DeleteI think the drama is almost ending in Japan? I believe there's also one extra episode available for Hulu or perhaps some other streaming service based on the story about Tokino's grandfather. Has been a trend lately I think, having a streaming-exclusive episode.
same regarding the young twinky lover detective. japanese doramas just love to make cops/detectives over the top and quirky (TM). it adds nothing to the story; not even characterization since they're all pretty flat and one dimensional. it actually detracts from the mystery. i am rewatching jonathan creek right now and it too suffers from dragging the stpry on and on with useless characters and situations. couldn't care less about the magician being a playboy...
Deletealso i agree the exclusive releases are getting tiring. at a certain point we're going to need to shell out more than cable to follow our hobbies. this nickle and diming is dragging piracy up, not to mention ait's not practical for the audience to research and discover releases when they're so spread and exploded all over the place.
by the way do you exclusively read locked room mysteries? or also psychological mystery/thrillers? i am into sebastian fitzek lately and they're good reads. i liked "nightcrawler" and "passenger 23".
I am not against exclusive episodes per se, they're obviously part of the financing of the show and as long as episodes like that are simply 'extra' or gaiden-esque episodes, I don't really have any problem with them. Kinda like OVAs. It'd be different if we'd be talking about the ending of a show or something like that of course :P
DeleteI don't have any particular preference for the locked room mystery sub genre at all (you're looking for TomCat over at Beneath the Stains of Time in that case) and I think I generally like them a lot less than other of the active mystery bloggers, but I do mainly read puzzle plot mysteries. So yeah, psychological mystery/thrillers are seldom part of my diet. Usually when I do come across them, it's more likely in the form of a movie/game etc. Not really familiar with Fitzek, though you did remind me I saw some of his books at the book store a while back.