Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom

 Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

"Inferno"

 

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

"Inferno"

To be honest, I was expecting a very different kind of story based on the cover...

The amusement park Illusion Land was all set to make its grand opening in 2001. The theme park was built in the nature-rich mountains of X Prefecture, and was supposed to be the first step in a larger Illusion Resort project: its location in the mountains provided a fantastic view on the stars, hence the galaxy-theme of the amusement park, as well as the name Ganny (Galaxy + Bunny) for its cute mascotte figure. The people living in the small, dying village of Amatsuki Village had ultimately agreed to move away to nearby Y City and other places to make place for the theme park, and that is also why Illusion Land had a special pre-open event inviting the people of the former village to have a look at the park. But the park had only been open for about an hour, when tragedy struck! Someone in the ferris wheel started shooting at people with a rifle, resulting in four deaths, eight people heavily wounded and the shooter himself also committed suicide. The man turned out to be one of the former villagers who had been against moving out of Amatsuki, and one of his victims had indeed been the woman who had been the central figure to convince everyone that they should give up on Amatsuki and find a new place to live.The horrible tragedy naturally made opening Illusion Land, and Illusion Resort impossible. The place was then bought by the wealthy magnate Toshima Iiori, who is also known as a big fan of urban exploration. For twenty years, Illusion Land was left abandoned, allowing nature (flora at least) to take over the park. And in 2021, Toshima made a big announcement: he was going to invite a group of fellow urban explorers to have a look at Illusion Land. While many people applied to the special sign-up site, only nine people were selected to visit, among them Magami Eitarou, a part-time worker in a convenience store who also runs a popular blog on urban exploration, where he uploads photographs which are received very well.

Upon arrival at the abandoned amusement park, Eitarou is all ready to go explore the land of dreams which has been empty for twenty years, but the representative of their host Togami has an interesting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory proposition. Somewhere in the park, a treasure is hidden, and whoever finds it during their three-day stay, will become the new owner of Illusion Land. Sounds like a dream for any urban explorer to own such a unique place, but by then Eitarou has also noticed that not all of the invited people are actually urban explorers like himself. Sure, there's the writer Aizawa Tomoshi, who writes urban exploration themed detective stories, and there's an editor of an urban exploration magazine, but there are also former employees of Illusion Land, from people in management to those working booths, who wanted to have one last look at the park. But these people too seem strangely interested in wanting to obtain this park. The special wristbands that allowed them into the park also check their vitals to make sure they don't leave the park during the set time period: everyone who leaves the park is disqualified. The first night, Eitarou decides to camp outside while the others prefer to sleep in the camp house, but before he dozes off, he vaguely sees the figure of Ganny walking around the park. The next day, when he goes back to the house for breakfast, it turns out one of the others has gone missing. They go looking for Sudou Susumu, a former manager of the park, but the moment they find a figure dressed in a Ganny suit skewered to the high fence surrounding the park, they all knew it was Sudou even before they removed the bunny mask. This is obviously no suicide, but how can you skewer someone on the outer fence of the park, as each post is twelve meters high, and the body of Sudou was pulled all the way down the spiked post to the ground? At first, Eitarou thinks the game is now over and that the police will be informed about the gruesome murder, but to his great surprise everyone seems rather reluctant to stop the game. But why is everyone so intent on finding the treasure and obtaining Illusion Land? And is it wise to stay inside the park knowing there's a murderer somewhere? That's for the reader to find out in Shasendou Yuuki's Haiyuuenchi no Sastsujin (2021), which also has the English title The Murder Case of [sic] Abandoned Amusment Park on the cover.

Oooooh, so it's the bunny who dies? Like I said above, the cover totally made me initially think that the bunny would be the murderer, like in a splatter horror story. 

Earlier this year, I read Houjou Kie's Meitantei ni Kanbi naru Shi wo (2022) and I mentioned how it was initially a bit surprising how that after previous themes of time travel and an unknown creature hunting the human characters, the theme of a VR game sounded rather grounded. Last year, I read Shasendou Yuuki's Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari ("Paradise is the Absence of Detectives", 2020): it was the first time I had read anything by Shasendou, but the book easily became one of my favorite reads of 2021. It was about a world where angels had arrived on Earth and they'd immediately take people away who'd commit a second murder (the first murder is "free"). It had become a law of nature, and yet the story was about a series of murders, something that had become impossible in this world. The unique supernatural setting was used in a brilliant manner and it sure made me interested in more Shasendou's work. So like the aforementioned Meitantei ni Kanbi naru Shi wo, Haiyuuenchi no Sastsujin (2021) is rather "normal and grounded" in comparison (not that these books form a series; it's just that my initial interest in Shasendou's work came from the supernatural element) There's no supernatural element here, just an abandoned theme park. Interestingly enough though, the abandoned theme park isn't that common a location for a closed circle mystery story, I think? It's a place that I associate much more with the horror genre, like an abandoned hotel or hospital, and I have indeed played games in this setting. Mystery stories set in theme parks are rarer, and I don't think I've read one about an abandoned one before.

 

So the setting does feel special in a way, which is emphasized even further when you first open the book, as you'll be presented with a nicely designed "pamplet" of Illusion Land, with a map of the theme park with all the attractions and the prices for the various rides etc. It really helps you get in the mood, and of course, you'll be tracing events and people on the map of the park too while you're reading the story, so it helps with the immersion. And as the book continues, you do realize that Shasendou does make great use of the srtting of the amusement park. To be honest, the first murder is kinda disappointing, as you have a whole amusement park with all kinds of broken attractions and rides, and then they find.... a body skewered to one of the posts of the outer fence. Sure, the victim's dressed in a Ganny suit, resulting in a rather cute-creepy scene of having a pink bunny lying there with a twelve-meter high pole through its torso, but still, the body is physically just barely within the confines of the park itself, so it doesn't feel like it makes good use of the setting. As the story continues however, more people are killed off and these make better use of the attractions and the unique setting. Like, if I mention there's a mirror house too, you can probably imagine all kinds of possibilities now. While most of the events occuring in this book might feel a bit "small in scale" taken on their own and with some adjustments, each of them could perhaps have been used in some other setting, but all taken together they do work best the context of this particular setting. So that does make the whole feel like a true amusement park mystery, even if the individual parts don't always feel as strong as one.

Despite the alluring setting though, the book is a bit slow to start. While it doesn't take long for the first murder to occur, the way the story acts all mysterious about why everyone seems to have their own reasons to not want to inform the police and how they are connected to Illusion Land can be a bit frustrating, as the reader is made aware early on that everyone is hiding something and that therefore everyone is acting in a way that is not particularly helpful to the investigation, but it takes some time for all of this to get worked out, and in the end, it feels like there's just a lot of coincidences going on, with everyone having different reasons to act like they act, with as sole goal simply to make the story seem more complex than it actually is. The story pacing is slowed down a lot by all the "why is X acting like" parts, especially when you realize that ultimately, having these specific characters all together in this party feels pretty arbitrary anyway, and then on top of that come all the other coincidences of the (in)actions of these characters, making the story appear like it's trying to be more complex just for the sake of it.

The story eventually also delves into the past of Illusion Land, into the shooting on the people in the park and the true intentions of the shooter, and this part has pretty cool ideas, but also elements that are handled too swiftly in my opinion. The way the reader is shown that the truth behind that case might have been completely different than initially thought is great: the realization that there's a gigantic contradiction in the official account of the events is hidden fantastically, even if some of the clues are mentioned a bit too easily. But a lot of the following logistics that involve that case seem to be handwaved away rather easily. So I absolutely love the main idea used here, especially as it's one that makes brilliant use of the theme park setting, but the details seem a bit unconvincing. The main idea and the build-up alone however already makes this a worthwile read, I think.

You might think I am a bit vague in explaining what makes this story so "amusement park"-esque, but that's really just me trying to spoil not too much. I can only say that a lot of the props and ideas used here all originate from an amusement park and you'll have to find out the rest for yourself! While this obviously does make it sound this book is very much a howdunnit ("props and stuff"), it's not really. I think its whodunnit aspects are really strong too and it's certainly in this manner that this book reminds me of Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari. Initially you have to wade through a lot of the intersecting coincidences/motivations of the various characters, but there are some neat whodunnit twists to be found here.

So yeah, overall, I'd say that Haiyuuenchi no Sastsujin is a fun book! It might not have some supernatural element to it, but Shasendou makes great and full use of the unique location, utilizing a number of ideas that all feel absolutely natural here, but really come together to present a tricky mystery story, The plot's a bit slow at times, but it's definitely worth a read. Now I think about it, I read Haiyuuenchi no Sastsujin almost exactly one year after  Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari, so perhaps I'll read another geeat Shasendou in a year time? I'll sign for that!

 Original Japanese title(s):  斜線堂有紀『廃遊園地の殺人』

Angel Night

Buried and drowned in time

All that’s left are memories

Just as you remember too

We used to be angels then

"We Used To Be Angels" (Kageyama Hironobu)

Finished Alliance of the Golden Witch, so I added my thoughts on the new information/events regarding the Rokkenjima murders shown in that episode to the Umineko no Naku koro ni playthrough memo. Will probably write something up on the Question Arc soon!

A murder of crows and a parliament of rooks sound nice, but I've never been a fan of a host or pinhead of angels. A flock of angels works for this novel, though I also played with "a heaven of angels" and "a salvation of angels" in my head...

Without a warning, they appeared from heaven five years ago. Humanoid, faceless beings with wings on their backs descended from the skies in a ray of light. They flew high above the humans, until they suddenly swooped down and started grabbing certain people. The humans were burned alive and taken away into the darkness. People instinctively understood what these beings were: Angels. With time, human kind learned the one absolute rule: any human who kills more than one person, is taken away by the angels to hell. In the five years since, angels have become part of the 'normal' life of the humans. They learned that the angels usually act very smilar to birds, moving in flocks and not being human-shy at all. In fact, they even have a sweet tooth and are easily lured with sugar. Angels do not harm humans who have not violated the Rule and are very meek. Eventually, scientists even dared to kill an angel and cut it open to examine it, though they learned very few about its anatomy. All they knew for sure was that nobody was allowed to kill two humans or more any more and that hell was waiting for those who dared. This had huge effects on society: the number of serial murders obviously diminished, as people either didn't want to be taken by the angels to hell, or the few people who dared would be visited immediately by angels after their second murder, preventing further murders. Some people didn't care about hell, and decided they might as well try and kill as many as possible in one go, if angels are going to take them anyway. Whether the arrival of angels was for good or not, nobody knows.

Aogishi Kogare once ran a thriving detective agency with a talented team, but after the arrival of the angels, he became what's merely a shadow of the shining figure he once was. Gone are the days that he worked on high profile serial murder cases and he basically only takes just enough minor jobs to earn a living now. After taking care of a case involving a stalker for the wealthy Tsuneki Ougai, Aogishi is invited by this giant in the food industry to his private island Tokoyojima with the enigmatic question "Don't you want to know whether there really is a heaven?".  Tsuneki is a fanatical admirer of the angels and bought Tokoyojima because an unusual large amount of angels that tend to live around here. Other guests to Tokoyojima include Amasawa Tadashi, the leading expert on angel studies and Souba Yukisugi, a former weapon manufacturer who succesfully made transformed his business to not sell a product especially designed to kill people, as demand for weapons plummeted after the descent of the angels. Aogishi soon learns to regret his trip to the island due to Tsuneki's almost maniacal belief in the angels, but the boat to pick them up won't come until a few days. On the morning of the second day of his arrival however, it is discovered that their host Tsuneki has been stabbed to death in his private rooms last night. It seems there are too few clues to determine which of the other guests committed the murder, but the remaining people on the island feel relatively safe, because they know the murderer can not commit a second murder without being taken by the angels. But the following day, another murder occurs, and then another.... Shasendou Yuuki's Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari ("Paradise is the Absence of Detectives", 2020) poses the question: how is a person able to commit a series of murders when even heaven won't allow that?

Sometimes you just know you want to read a book with one quick look at the premise: this is one of them. I honestly had never come across the name of the author Shasendou Yuuki before, but the moment I read about the angelic rule of no more than one murder and that the mystery revolved around a case where the culprit did manage to kill multiple people, the book jumped on top of the to-read list, because come on, it's one of the most exciting story premises I've heard about! It's hardly a secret nowadays that I love mystery stories that have a supernatural/fantasy element to them (as long as it's incorporated in a proper puzzle plot), from time travel to being able to communicate with youkai, but an universal, natural law that has people automatically taken to hell the moment they commit their second murder, is both original and audicious, and I couldn't wait to see what would be done with it.

Though, admittedly, it takes a while to get there. A fair amount of the first half of the novel is used to introduce the reader to the new, angel-filled world and also to explore protagonist Aogishi's past, whose life changed completely due to the descent of the angels. The real-time narrative about the murders on Tokoyojima is often interrupted by flashback segments. These segments are necessary because they help detail how the rule of "no more than one murder" works exactly and what humanity knows about the angels, but taken together, these introductory parts do mean it takes a while for the mystery plot to get rolling properly. The protagonist Aogishi is presented as a character with a trauma, who has become a detective who is actually very reluctant to get involved in this case, and a lot of the novel is also dedicated to portraying him as a figure in pain who doesn't quite know how to deal with the new world. Your mileage may vary on how tolerable you find the story' s focus on Aogishi's attitude of "I don't want to!" and everyone's "But you must!" response. 

The story does do a somewhat lacklustre job at 'proving' to the reader that hell exists: people just instinctively know that the angels take sinners to hell, which is why people become more reluctant in committing murders and as as the reader, you just have to accept that the idea of hell is accepted by everyone involved. But wherever they are taken, it's an undeniable fact that sinners are taken away from this world by the faceless angels. There's an atmosphere of dread throughout the novel: the angels might be taking murderers away, but are other sins "forgiven"? If there's a hell, does that means there's a heaven? And why did the angels suddenly appear five years ago, and does that mean that "a second impact" could also occur in the future, changing the rules again? This new "reality" where people face a certain uncertainty is a vital part of the novel and is integral to the mystery plot.

Once the story really gets going and we are trying to solve the mystery of a series of murders occuring in a world where it's physically impossible to commit multiple murders, we get to the good stuff. While most of the murders are committed in very ordinary manners (stabbings etc.) and they could theoretically could've been committed by most of the persons residing on the island, it's the question of how there could be more than one murder occuring here, without any of the others being taken by the angels. The main problem is that in this world, angels will appear to take you away to hell the moment you have killed your second person, but in Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari, nobody is seen taken by the angels even after the second or third murder. Of course, the possibility is raised that perhaps that everyone on the island just decided to kill exactly one other person because in that way, nobody would be taken by an angel ('the first one is free of charge!'), but it's obviously not very likely that half of the cast just decided to kill the other half of the cast right now right then. So how was it possible for the murderer to commit more than one murder without any consequences? Due the specifics of the rule, it's likely most readers will have some idea of what's going on, but still, Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari is very nicely plotted mystery, with genuinely clever surprises here and there that make the best of the unique world of this novel.

Whenever I read a mystery novel with a supernatural/fantasy theme, the question I always ask myself is whether the supernatural elements are really used to create a situation that couldn't occur in a "realistic" world. 'Graphical swaps' where it turns that something like "magical traces" work functionally exactly the same as fingerprints is of course not satisfying at all. Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari is a example of where the supernatural is used well, as indeed, the whole plot of this novel only works within this unique world, where the knowledge that there are angels flying around everywhere who can come down and get you the moment when "if (kill > 1) go to hell", influences the actions of both the culprit and all the other characters in the story. You might be able to guess who the murderer is fairly early on (the motive isn't really well foreshadowed by the way), but figuring out how the whole plot was carried out is a lot trickier, and I really liked how the murderer succeeded in committing more than one murder without being carried away by the angels. I had some suspicions about how the presence of the angels could be used for these murders, but even I have to admit I hadn't expected some of the clever ways in which the existence of these celestial beings were tied to the main murder plot: this is best seen in one of the later murders, where author Shasendou suddenly uses the concept of the angels in a completely different manner than I had expected, even though it was properly hinted at.  I was completely fooled there.

Rakuen to wa Tantei no Fuzai nari is a novel with a highly original and unique premise and sticks with it until the very last page of the book. It is a mystery that truly could only have occured in a world with angels, and the way it uses one seemingly simple rule to create a captivating series of murders is absolutely great. The book can be slow at times, but it's very atmosheric, and the book does really profit from the detailed look at a world which can now actually see sinners being taken away by heavenly creatures. Another good example of why mystery novels don't need to be "realistic" to be fun, challenging and yet still fair.

Original Japanese title(s):  斜線堂有紀『楽園とは探偵の不在なり』