tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post2613990811819869704..comments2024-03-27T06:07:20.345+01:00Comments on ボクの事件簿: Who's afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf?Ho-Linghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-82431156624900374532023-05-06T11:28:43.349+02:002023-05-06T11:28:43.349+02:00To be honest, the exact details have escaped my me...To be honest, the exact details have escaped my memories, but the gist was that rot13 fbzrbar'f urnq orvat chyyrq bss jvgu n pebffobj naq fubg evtug bhg bs gur ebbz guebhtu gur jvaqbj jvguva yvxr frpbaqfHo-Linghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-16793400967529087892023-05-01T04:48:14.198+02:002023-05-01T04:48:14.198+02:00"I personally liked the Madame Charisse locke..."I personally liked the Madame Charisse locked room the best (also selected by Arisugawa Alice for his illustrated guide to locked room mysteries), truly a trick worthy for a book called The Terror of Werewolf Castle."<br /><br />Since I'll probably never be able to read this book, can you give a ROT13 of the trick and its solution please? <br /><br />(unless there's an online summary I can read somewhere T^T)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-398331904291576282022-05-19T11:22:09.073+02:002022-05-19T11:22:09.073+02:00Yeah, he has not really written much in general th...Yeah, he has not really written much in general the last few years, but it'd be nice if he could write one last classic-style Ranko epic...Ho-Linghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-16820358950898902962022-05-19T09:34:13.264+02:002022-05-19T09:34:13.264+02:00That's awesome xD
I hope future books return ...That's awesome xD<br /><br />I hope future books return to focusing on the mystery plot. Nikaido has two afterwords to the Terror of Werewolf Castle, one taken from the novel release (1998) and a new one for the bunko (2001). He writes that he's planning the Ranko series to be 10 books with Werewolf being "book" #5. The last book will supposedly feature "the ultimate locked room trick". He announced in the bunko afterword that he was working on stories #6 and #7, the Labyrinth and Phantom Mammoth stories, 16 years before the latter is released! Idk if his plan for 10 books has changed or not by now. I didn't see any announcements regarding the series since Phantom Mammoth. Who knows when we'll see the next book, let alone the final one... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-73798034358187505602022-05-18T18:43:08.271+02:002022-05-18T18:43:08.271+02:00While the books were out of print, they weren'...While the books were out of print, they weren't expensive, you just had to have luck finding them. I think I bought all four volumes at four different Book Offs in Japan, and what I remember best was me going on a trip, and buying one volume at the Book Off at the station because we still had time until the night bus would come, and then coming across another volume at a Book Off at my destination XDHo-Linghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-75651400871573522652022-05-18T12:41:30.777+02:002022-05-18T12:41:30.777+02:00Oh, I did enjoy that element (I like my anime and ...Oh, I did enjoy that element (I like my anime and VNs). I was just surprised to see it here. Like you say in the review, it does link together many pieces to create an interesting plot twist (and also strenghthens the books by giving these disparate elements a coherent theme). I've been pandering the locked rooms, and I like them the more I think about them. Even disregarding the solutions, those hellish setups are some of my favorite in the entire genre<br /><br />Oh wow, quite a quest to physically collect the four OOP volumes. That must've given more weight to the experience. I was fortunate to buy the Kindle edition released in 2017Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-80986647543820531602022-05-17T11:43:48.231+02:002022-05-17T11:43:48.231+02:00While I have received many comments on this blog a...While I have received many comments on this blog about people wanting to read this story the last ten years, I think you're the first one to tell me they actually read the book XD Glad you liked it too, and congrutulations on finishing what is really a milestone of mystery fiction. It had been such a long journey for me too, not just reading, but also finding the books (they had been out of print at the time/not available digitally), so when it was finally over, I really felt like this was a reading moment I was going to remember the rest of my life.<br /><br />Yeah, the thing you mentioned about the last book does kinda feel like that, though I think I gave it a pass as the story was already so long anyway, I just thought that part was probably just still "in scale" in terms of page count if this had been a "normal-length" story :P<br />Ho-Linghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-40357898375885478072022-05-16T20:28:50.641+02:002022-05-16T20:28:50.641+02:00I first heard of Werewolf Castle a few years ago v...I first heard of Werewolf Castle a few years ago via a guest post you wrote on Tomcat's blog. This is the work that made me start learning Japanese. Skip to now, and I finished it half an hour ago<br /><br />It's very rich in background (history, folklore), scary at places, and as you say, the scale is truly unbelievable. Book 3 really makes it feel like the crime of the century, not only in terms of the body count and the sheer violence, but also in how nobody even knows it took place.<br /><br />(rot 13 spoilers)<br />V jnf fhecevfrq ng gur yratgul cuvyfbcuvpny qvfphffvba jvgu gur znfgrezvaq ng gur raq. Vg sryg yvxr gur ynfg puncgre bs n ivfhny abiry :c<br /><br />Gur Znqnzr Punevffr ybpxrq ebbz jnf rkpryyrag. Vg'f whfg gung V jnfa'g trahvaryl onssyrq ol vg orpnhfr V'ir frra gur fnzr cevapvcyr hfrq va bar bs gur irel svefg qrgrpgvir pbana fgbevrf, fb V svtherq vg bhg urer bapr V fnj gur xrl cebc. Vg sryg yvxr orvat fcbvyrq ol nffbpvngvba /: gur ybpxrq ebbz jvgu gur obql cnegf va gur cynggre jnf qrivbhfyl pyrire nf jryy. Birenyy, V yvxrq gur gevpxf, ohg V whfg ubcrq gurer jnf zber flaretl orgjrra gur vaqvivqhny zheqref naq gur ovt eriryngvba bs gur gjb pnfgyrf, xvaqn yvxr ubj gur zheqref ner vagregjvarq va Gur Ubyybj Zna be ubj va Ananzr Lnfuvxv znal bs gur gevpxf pna or genprq gb gur nepuvgrpgher. <br /><br /><br />I prefer it to Umineko as an epic locked room mystery, admitting their priorities are different. I wasn't blown away by it as I'd hoped when I started learning Japanese, but reading it has been one of my biggest entertainment related goals for the past few years. It's so cathartic that I finally (finally!) finished it. Thanks for introducing us to this wonderful book ^_^<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-43915531246425048332019-04-17T11:06:55.451+02:002019-04-17T11:06:55.451+02:00I really don't recall the details as it's ...I really don't recall the details as it's been so long ago now, and I don't feel like going through the books again, but in very broad lines:<br /><br />ROT13 cipher: Vg unq gb qb jvgu "fhcreuhznaf" orvat perngrq guebhtu uhzna rkcrevzragf va gur cnfg, naq gurz abj arrqvat arj fhccyvrf bs uhzna gvffhr naq nyfb gurz jnagvat gb uvqr gur gehgu oruvaq gurve yvarntr naq fbzrguvat jvgu eriratr ba gur ybpny crbcyr be fb. Vg jnf jrveq.Ho-Linghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-16417318531407127822019-04-17T07:00:09.584+02:002019-04-17T07:00:09.584+02:00If you don't mind me asking, what IS this moti...If you don't mind me asking, what IS this motive that makes no sense? I'd like to know why two huge groups of people who are seemingly unrelated had to die in order to advance this cause. Seeing as this book will never be translated, I don't mind spoilers.BenFowlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08767265385309740539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-36095621992370443932016-12-29T16:07:02.186+01:002016-12-29T16:07:02.186+01:00A good year to you too.A good year to you too.Ho-Linghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673330638260132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-84528251961328282542016-12-29T14:17:22.723+01:002016-12-29T14:17:22.723+01:00i wish we could see a translation of this series s...i wish we could see a translation of this series soon. i was learning japanese but had to stop due to being broke and search for something stable. books and mostly locked rooms are what i enjoy.<br />i am following your blog closely now. please have lots of good things in store for us in 2017 mister ho-ling. and please keep in mind this series if you can acquire the rights for a translation. have a good year 2017.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-64853624502049844892016-12-24T19:56:31.565+01:002016-12-24T19:56:31.565+01:00I don't suppose you'd be up for translatin...I don't suppose you'd be up for translating this if the demand is there? ;)BenFowlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08767265385309740539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031063966272508587.post-24821572455504907742011-05-16T22:14:33.586+02:002011-05-16T22:14:33.586+02:00The only problem I have with most of your reviews ...The only problem I have with most of your reviews is that I never have anything substantial to throw at you in the comment section. :/ <br /><br />Oh well, I can always do my routinely wailing on how unfair everything is and continue laboring on my blackmail scheme.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.com