Bite the Big Apple

I have a pen

I have a pineapple

Pineapple pen!

 「PPAP(ペンパイナッポーアッポーペン」(ピコ太郎)

 

I have a pen

I have a pineapple

Pineapple pen!

"PPAP (Pen Pineapple Pen Apple Pen)" (Pikatarou)

It's been a while since I discussed a television production... 

Pineapple Murder? was a two-part variety program broadcast on September 20 and 27, starring the idol group Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu. It would have never been appeared on my radar, if not for a tweet that appeared after the first episode was broadcast: it noted that in the credits Shirai Tomoyuki was credited for the mystery plot. I don't know if his announcement had been announced beforehand, due to the interesting set-up of the show. In the program, the six members of Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu are invited to a manor, where they will have a small party to eat a deliciously sweet pineapple, prepared especially by the owner of the manor, who loves the fruit. In fact, his house only has one knife: a pineapple knife, used solely to cut a pineapple. The girls are shown the pineapple, which is kept in a special case. But before they get started on the pineapple, the six get an assignment. At the start of the program, they each were given a special item, like a bluetooth speaker, cat ears and balloons. They now have to go each their own way for ten minutes, making cute selfies and short videos of themselves using those items. Ten minutes later, they all gather on the ground floor and move together to the upstairs sitting room, where the pineapple is waiting for them...

Only they only find the remains of the pineapple scattered on the table: someone has eaten it!

It is then revealed the program up until now was just a ruse to fool five of the six Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu members. One of the girls is the culprit, and while everybody was taking videos and selfies, this culprit ate the pineapple by herself. The television program staff members of course all vouch for each other's alibis, making the six Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu members the only suspects. The girls sit around a table and have to find out who the culprit is, but for some reason, the videos they all took seem to show they all have an alibi for the ten-minute period they were alone. How did the culprit manage to devour the pineapple in the sitting room, while securing an alibi?

 

I have to admit I was kinda surprised at the first episode, as the show started showing floorplans of the mansion and showing where everybody was according to their alibis/videos. It was really set-up as a classic mystery story. But after the second episode was broadcast, I noticed a BlueSky post by Abiko who noted how due to certain limitations like for example budget and the fact it's a variety program starring a idol group, the potential Shirai Tomoyuki holds never comes to fruition, and that is certainly true. The mystery plot we see in Pineapple Murder? is decent at best, following familiar tropes and has the culprit use a trick that is not surprisingly original, but it is properly hinted at with visual clues and things like that.

 Only, you wonder: did you really need Shirai Tomoyuki for that? There is basically nothing here that feels distinct to his work, and that's a shame, for Shirai in particular is an author you'd associate with certain ideas. Okay, I was not expecting anything gross from the solution (again, because we have actual idols as the "characters" here), but still, you do expect something grander from Shirai, and within the show's limitations, it must have been nearly impossible to accomplish something typical of his work.

It is a trick like you often see in the Kindaichi Shounen manga, with a crime having happened while everybody seemingly has an alibi, supported by visual evidence and with people moving around in a building and timestamps and everything, but in a Kindaichi Shounen story, it would only be one element in a larger mystery story. Here it is the main trick, and if you've read a few mystery novels, you'll probably get a pretty good idea of what happened early on. The deduction scene of the Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu members is also relatively short, with most of the second episode being dedicated to the initial examination of all the members' alibis (their videos/selfies), leaving little time for the girls to come up with theories about who the culprit truly is. What we have now feels more like a basis for a larger mystery, and therefore ultimately feels lacking in content.

So I don't think Shirai Tomoyuki fans are missing out on something important if they can't manage to see Pineapple Murder?: it's definitely more something fun for fans of Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu, watching cute girls do cute things. For the die-hard fans: I believe there are two (?) special episodes on Hulu that offer more footage/content beyond the television broadcast. One thing though: the way the girls wrap up their deduction is kinda hilarious and you kinda wonder how it could ever end like that in a real mystery novel. 

Original Japanese title(s): 『ぱいなっぷるまだ？』 

Mr Brain

"Thoroughly respectable and honest. Not, perhaps, remarkable for brains."

"Murder on the Orient Express"

Now I think about it, it's been easily over a decade since I first read about this book...

Magical Zunou Power!! ("Magical Brain Power!!") was a long-running primetime television quiz program presented by Bandou Eiji and featured a mostly fixed pool of participants of television personalities, some of which are nowadays so huge they have their own television programs like Tokoro George. The program consisted of several rounds of various quizzes with which you could earn 'Brain Power' and of course, the one who has accumulated the most BP at the end, wins that week's episode. The show itself ran from 1990 until 1999, but for the mystery fans, the period that is of interest, is the early days of the show, from 1990 until 1992. For it was during this period, the final round was the Magical Mystery Theater: a short 5-10 minute drama show where a mystery would be presented. While the Magical Mystery Theater segments are all very short, there is "continuity" between them: in the 'series', we follow the private detective Nakatani Shouichi and his niece Natsuko, a college student who acts as her uncle's assistant. The difficulty of each 'story' would be indicated with a Brain Power value, which was also the maximum of points you could earn if you got the answer right (you could be rewarded points for getting it partially correct). After watching the video, the participants would have to guess how it was done or who did it, with an explanation of course. Once everybody had presented their answers, a final, one minute video would follow with the solution. As it's just one round in a quiz program and participants need to be able to briefly explain their solutions, most of these stories are fairly simple in set-up and often revolve around just one single idea, but even so, some of the ideas seen in these segments are actually quite interesting. That is easily explained, when you learn that among those who provided the screenplay writers with the core mystery plots, there are mystery writers like Orihara Ichi, Abiko Takemaru and Shinpo Hirohisa. According to Abiko, Magical Mystery Theater was actually the highest-rated part of the program initially, but even after the overall show started to get higher ratings, this segment's ratings didn't really change accordingly, so it was eventually cancelled.

Shinpo Hirohisa, one of the 'mystery plot' writers, would later revisit some of the scenarios he wrote for the show in Satsujin Trick Gekijou - Nandai Mystery 11 Renpatsu ("Murder Trick Theater - 11 Difficult Mysteries", 1996). The concept of this book is quite interesting. On one hand, it is a book for fans of the original Magical Zunou Power!! corner: Shinpo gives us a glimpse behind the scenes of the Magical Mystery Theater segment, describing what they were going for, how ideas would be discarded and how the segment eventually was cancelled. The eleven stories featured in this pocket are also all followed by an essay on the specific story, noting when the corresponding Magical Mystery Theater segment was broadcast, reception on the quiz, the creative process behind the story/trick etc and what authors/works he drew inspiration from for the trick. This makes this book very informative also for mystery authors I think, as you get an idea of how a mystery writer might develop an idea seen in work X into a different idea, but with the same "foundation."

On the other hand, the eleven stories in this volume are also decidedly not Magical Mystery Theater stories... because obviously, Shinpo doesn't own the show and the characters created for that show. Because of that, he has rewritten all these scenarios with new characters, as well as sometimes changing the plot/trick/clues to accomodate for the book format. It's not the detective Nakatani nor his niece Natsuko who stars in these stories, but we mostly follow Yukiko and Fuyumi, two friends who after graduating haven't quite decided what to with their lives, and so Fuyumi suggest they become detectives, much to Yukiko's shock. They apply at the agency of the detective Mei, but while they don't get hired, they remain on friendly terms with him, occasionally getting him involved in the incidents they end up in, or vice-versa. One important thing to note is that this book also features many original illustrations by Noma Miyuki, the creator of the extremely long-running mystery manga Puzzle Game ☆ High School. They really add a lot of character to this book, especially as it's not 'just' character art, but also depictions of scenes from the stories etc.

Ultimately, these stories were created to be quizzes, so they are by design very straightforward and simple, usually only utilizing one single idea. The book acually retains the "Brain Power" concept of the original show, with each story being worth a number of points, and there's usually also a story section before the solution, that is considered optional: you can skip it to get a high score, or read it to be pushed in the right direction. Note that this optional section isn't just a list of hints, it's a proper part of the story with dialogue and sometimes even story developments.  But because many of them are really just single-idea concepts that you may have seen elsewhere already, I am not going to discuss each story this time.

The first story, Hito wo Kuu Heya ("The Room That Eats People") is the story that first made me aware of this book: it was mentioned in a mook on locked room murder mysteries edited by Arisugawa, being mentioned in a long list of recommended short locked room/impossible crime stories. In this story, we first see Fuyumi and Natsuko visit the detective agency of Mei, who decides to test the two girls with an excercise in a stake-out. He puts his assistant Dan in a room, and tells Yukiko and Fuyumi to keep an eye on the room, making sure his assistant doesn't escape. Fuyuko is told to watch the door from the corridor, while Yukiko is brought outside and told to watch the window from the street. After a hour, the two are to swap places, and after another hour, Yukiko is to enter the room and apprehend Dan. The two girls do as told, and two hours pass by without anything suspicious happening in the room. But when Yukiko enters the room, she finds the room empty. How did Dan escape? The trick behind Dan disappearing from a room under observation is pretty simple and it's likely you will have seen a variation of the same idea before, but Shinpo does a great job at planting the clues that point to that solution, and I would have loved to have seen the Magical Mystery Theater segment. In the essay, Shinpo mentions how Miyabe Miyuki told him how she really liked the tale, only for Shinpo to reveal he actually got the idea from a Miyabe story, transforming it in a way so even she herself didn't recognize it!

In Shide no Tabi ni mo Kinen Satsuei ("Taking Photographs Even When On Your Way to the Afterlife"), the comedian Hashiba Kenzou wants Mei to help him, because he received a letter from an unknown sender, saying "she wants to return her key, but also talk with him on the 7th, when he's filming at a cliff: Hashiba suspects it's one of his three exes with a key to his apartment, but he finds the letter very creepy, especially as she apparently knows his work schedule and wants to meet him at a cliff. Mei declines the job because he is not a bodyguard, nor does he like the playboy comedian, but then Hashiba is indeed murdered, having been pushed off the cliff.  Miraculously, someone managed to take a picture of Hashiba as he was falling, which provides a vital clue to finding out which of three women pushed him, but how? Once again, the solution is very simple, but I love how it does make very good use of the original visual format: while the illustration by Noma does wonders to support this story in the novel format, I imagine it would have felt more intuitive as an acted segment on Magical Mystery Theater.

In Totemo Kimyou na Yuukai ("A Very Curious Abduction"), Mei tells Fuyumi the tale of the abduction of Yuuka, the daughter of a client, with whom he often played shogi. Mei was present when the father received the call, instructing him to go to a coin locker at the station with a stash of money. Mei is sent instead, and in the coin locker, he receives further instructions to make a phone call to a certain number from the public payphone in a nearby park. The number given goes to Osaka, but the man answering the call says that while he does know Yuuka, he doesn't know anything about an abduction. Because of that, the money deal with the kidnapper seems to have failed, and Yuuka is soon found murdered in a nearby park. Police investigation show that the man answering the phone call in fact did have a perfect alibi for killing Yuuka, but how could have kidnapped Yuuka and killed her in Tokyo, if he answered a phone call in Osaka? The trick itself I find remarkable because it is so much a trick that only works in the period this story was created: it wouldn't fly at all now, because society has changed so much and we don't use certain things anymore. But that is why I really liked this story: it is a simple, but clever trick, but it would also be very understandable to people who don't have any interest in mystery fiction, because it used an object people would know in the nineties in an original manner, but also a manner which would make you go "Aha!" because it's actually so simple. There are a few other stories that have a similar vibe, using everyday life objects/customs of the early nineties which feel out-of-date/not obvious anymore, like in Satsujin yo, Kinou ni Kaere ("Murder, Go Back to Yesterday"), where an alibi is shot down by pointing out a certain object isn't where it should be, but which nobody in Japan nowadays would really think of.

Satsujin Trick Gekijou isn't really a must-read for mystery fans, though I would definitely recommend it to those who used to watch Magical Zunou Power!! as the behind-the-scenes essays are really interesting (and I say that as someone who hadn't even seen the show!). And of course, I do have an interest in mystery shows that are formally divided in problem and solution sections, so being able to experience the show in some manner, even if in a different format, is something I appreciate a lot. While most of the stories in this book are very simple, focusing on single-idea tricks that you likely have seen in other mystery-themed quizzes, or other mystery stories already, I find the presentation of this book very consistent: Noma Miyuki's illustrations do some of the lifting, but Shinpo's writing is easy, and while the main tricks are pretty simple overall, he does a very consistent job of properly clewing everything, making these stories a bit more involving than just single-concept mystery quizzes. 

Original Japanese title(s): 新保博久『殺人トリック劇場　難題ミステリー11連発』

Death of an Author

Gimme Love Gimme Love 君は doubt

 酷くチャチなこのトリック

「真っ赤なlip」 (Wands)

 

Gimme love / Gimme love / Doubt about you

What a horribly shoddy trick

"Brightly Red Lips" (Wands)

Back in September, when I discussed volume 102 of Detective Conan and while waiting for the home video release of The Bride of Halloween, I mentioned perhaps discussing a few anime originals again, but for some reasons this took months...

Detective Conan anime original episodes
Scenario by Ochi Hirohito:
21: TV Dorama Roke Satsujin Jiken ("The Murder Case of The Television Drama Filmed on Location
88-89: Dracula-Sou Satsujin Jiken ("The Villa Dracula Murder Case")
184: Noroi no Kamen wa Tsumetaku Warau ("The Cursed Masks Laugh Coldly")
379-380: Hitou Yukiyami Furisode Jiken ("The Case of the Furisode of the Hot Spring Hidden In The Snow Darkness")
596: Tenraku no Alibi ("The Alibi of the Fall")
603-605: Koureikai W Misshitsu Jiken ("The Case of the Séance's Double Locked Room")
905-906: Nananengo no Mokugekishougen ("Eyewitness Testimony, Seven Years Later")

Scenario by Hashiba Chiaki
203-204: Kuroi Ikaros no Tsubasa ("The Black Wings of Icarus")
208: Meikyuu he no Iriguchi - Kyodai Shinzou no Ikari ("The Entrance to the Maze: The Anger of the Giant Statue of the Heavenly Maiden")

Scenario by Mochizuki Takeshi
210-211: Gosai Densetsu no Mizugoten ("The Water Palace of the Legend of the Five Colors"
214: Retro Room no Nazo Jiken ("The Mysterious Case in the Retro Room")

Scenario by Saitou Kenji
159-160: Kaiki Gojuutou Densetsu (The Legend of the Mysterious Five-Storied Pagoda)

Scenario by Mikami Koushirou
730: Kanpekisugita Figure ("The Figure That Was Too Perfect")
753: Share House no Shikaku ("The Blind Spot in the Share House")
859: Kurayami no Sangaku Route ("The Mountain Route in the Darkness")

Scenario by Yamatoya Akatsuki
971: Glamping Kaijiken ("The Curious Glamping Incident")
1050-1051: Morikawa Goten no Inbou ("Intrigue at the Morikawa Manor")

The previous time I discussed episodes that were originally written for the anime adaptation of Detective Conan (so not based on the original comic by Aoyama Goushou), I think I found a format that worked for me: focusing on specific scenario writers and picking a few episodes out that stood out to me for one reason or another. Most of the single episode anime originals are usually a bit too lean on the meat in terms of mystery, simply because they are quite short with about only twenty minutes of runtime. Sometimes they have interesting ideas here and there, but it's just difficult really developing those ideas fully in the runtime, so often I end up watching an anime original thinking it wasn't really all that bad and that there were parts here and there that were promising, but it's only a select few that I think are truly worth a recommendation as a must-see, and most of them I have already discussed here in previous posts. So now I just pick a few of the shorter episodes that might not be really must-sees, but might have interesting points here and there, and worth watching if you've already seen the truly major anime original episodes.

Episode 21 TV Dorama Roke Satsujin Jiken ("The Murder Case of The Television Drama Filmed on Location") is one of the earliest anime original episodes of the series and originally aired on June 24th, 1996. On its own, it's not a particularly memorable anime original to be very honest, save for the anime of the script writer: Ochi Hirohito, or Ochi Koujin as he is currently called, was already credited in earlier episodes as episode director and storyboarder, but this was the very first episode he wrote a story for. He would move on to write a few of the best anime original episodes for Detective Conan, most notably Noroi no Kamen wa Tsumetaku Warau ("The Cursed Masks Laugh Coldly") and Koureikai W Misshitsu Jiken ("The Case of the Séance's Double Locked Room"), and while episode 21 is nowhere as good as those classics, I thought it'd still be interesting to take a look at his first original Conan story.

The episode opens at Beika Temple, where a television crew is busy filming the mystery drama The Threat Laughing in the Darkness, starring none other than Okino Youko. Mouri Kogorou, Ran and Conan are also present, because Kogorou has been hired as a consultant for the mystery parts of the story, and as a big fan of Youko, he of course wouldn't refuse the job. Some of the crew members include the scripter Taeko, whose family runs Beika Temple, her fiance and assistant director Yuuji and a sleazy camera operator called Anzai. Once the day of filming has ended, Kogorou and the kids are invited to come along to the inn the crew is staying at for dinner, though one of the actors, Nachi Shingo, who is very keen to repeat to you he plays the handsome roles, refuses to stay at the "shabby-looking" inn. Early in the night, Anzai is seen leaving the inn, and after a while Ran, Conan and Youko also go out to visit the convenience store, but as they pass by Beika Temple they see a suspicious figure, and when they enter the temple grounds, they find Anzai lying dead on the ground. There is however one big clue: a dying message left by the victim. But what does the message "komainu" (the lion-dog statues seen at temples) mean?

Funny trivia: this is the first time the character of Takagi Wataru appears in the series. He's still unnamed, but he has the same design and he is voiced by voice actor Takagi Wataru, after whom the character is named because in one of the later episodes, the voice actor had to ad-lib one time as the 'unnamed recurring police detective' and said his own name.

I can almost hear readers lose interest now because I mention it's a dying message... and to be honest, it's not like this episode has a super original angle to the trope of the dying message. While it's almost painfully obvious who the killer is and what has been done in order to evade suspicion, I will give the episode credit for trying to fill the relatively short run time of approximately 20 minutes with a few twists, even if they are telegraphed too clearly. It is not just one single thing that is done here, but it's clear Ochi tried to fit in a few more surprises here and there to flesh out the mystery, and while ultimately, the result is fairly average for an early Detective Conan anime original, it might be worth watching it after viewing the other Ochi episodes, just to see how truly great he can be.

Episodes 203-204 form a two-parter titled Kuroi Ikaros no Tsubasa ("The Black Wings of Icarus") penned by Hashiba Chiaki, who also wrote episode 208 Meikyuu he no Iriguchi - Kyodai Shinzou no Ikari ("The Entrance to the Maze: The Anger of the Giant Statue of the Heavenly Maiden"). To be honest, I thought I had already written about this episode on the blog because I have the feeling it's one of the better known anime originals, but I guess I never got around to it. The story, originally broadcast on August 14th and 21st, 2000, starts with Kogorou, Ran and Conan arriving at a hotel located in the mountains near a lake, as Kogorou was lured by the local beers. Arriving at Hotel Arimori, they are pleasantly surprised to see the twins Minaho and Honami there, whom they previously met in the anime original Noroi no Kamen wa Tsumetaku Warau ("The Cursed Masks Laugh Coldly"): the two are now working at this hotel.  A fellow guest at the hotel is the haughty actress Bizen Chizuru, a demanding woman who is especially good at aiming her inherent anger at the employees of the hotel, while her husband tries to soothe things and apologizes for his wife's behavior. Her husband, Shiromoto Hidehide, is a nice enough businessman, though he has plans to develop the land in this area, despite a nearby mountain plateau being the home to many rare butterflies and plants, so the plans for land development naturally worries the people of the hotel. The list of guests becomes one person longer when the president of a production company begs Chizuru to give up an upcoming major role promised to her and allow a younger (bigger) actress to take the role instead, a plea which doesn't help Chizuru's temper. The following day, the president and Shiromoto go for fishing, while the hotel manager and the cook join Ran and Conan to visit the mountain plateau, while Mouri remains at the hotel watching television, and the twins attend to the hotel. Chizuru herself also stays cooped up in her room as she's still furious about having to let go of the role. Everyone goes around minding their own business that day, but at the end of the day, when everybody returns to the hotel, Shiromoto realizes Chizuru doesn't react at all to him knocking on her room's door. They unlock the door with the master key, but the door-guard blocks the door, so they are forced to break it down, only to find Chizuru dead, hanging from the ceiling. At first this seems to be a suicide, something Chizuru had threatened to do earlier, but a close examination of the scene quickly tells Conan, and the police that this wasn't a suicide, but a murder, committed in a locked room. But while some of the suspects have fairly solid alibis, like being on the mountain plateau the whole day, some others have less clear alibis, so which of them is the murderer?

You know what's funny about these episodes? This story not only references Noroi no Kamen wa Tsumetaku Warau ("The Cursed Masks Laugh Coldly") through its reappearance of Honami and Minaho, it also contains a reference to TV Dorama Roke Satsujin Jiken! In one scene, Kogorou is watching a re-run of a television drama special starring Okino Youko, and it's indeed the one they were filming in TV Dorama Roke Satsujin Jiken. Ochi Hirohito in fact storyboarded the story and directed the first episode of the two-parter, so it's funny how he managed to stuff this episode full with references to his own stories.

Anyway, the fake suicide in a locked room is solved rather quickly, and the trick is rather rudimentary, so that's obviously not the big focus of the episode. It's also painfully easy to guess who the murderer is because there's basically only one person with a really strong alibi at first sight, which of course going by mystery meta logic means they did it. The basic idea of the trick the murderer used is telegraphed too obviously too (like... a major hint is basically spelled out with giant letters in front of you at two seperate times in this two-parter...), but you know, the dynamics and all of that of the trick are actually quite good. In a way, the story slightly reminds of two Agatha Christie stories: the main one is Evil Under the Sun, with the actress being killed, people in a hotel all loafing around somewhere else during the day and the matter of alibis being a focal point of the story, while the main trick of this two-parter vaguely reminds of the main trick of another, less major Christie work, only... better? They're not similar enough to be really 1:1 parallels, but the underlying concepts are fairly similar, though transformed into a different "mode" as it were to suit this particular story, but this story builds more on the same premise, adding more elements to make it a more complex, deceptive mystery and making the whole alibi trick a much stronger one. Small touches like having Kogorou, Ran and Conan pass by a road construction site in the very first scene of the first episode, and having those construction workers also function as witnesses to some of the alibis is also nicely done. Some of the clues that lead Conan to the truth are quite good, like the one regarding the state of the hotel room, though the truly decisive clue pointing to the murderer is of the type I personally don't really like because this type of clue often feels a bit... too much like they are planted by the writer of the story to have a decisive clue. While I don't think this two-parter is as strong as Noroi no Kamen wa Tsumetaku Warau ("The Cursed Masks Laugh Coldly") and Koureikai W Misshitsu Jiken ("The Case of the Séance's Double Locked Room"), it sits comfortably in the category immediately below those masterpieces and is definitely the best anime original to be discussed in today's post.

Going back to an Ochi-written episode brings us to episode 596, Tenraku no Alibi ("The Alibi of the Fall"), originally airing on November 20th, 2010. One evening, Kogorou, Ran and Conan are visiting Orion Planning, a production company specializing in planning and producing television programs, commercials and other events, as the company wants to work with Kogorou on a mystery puzzle book. As arranged, Kogorou calls his contact Higashiyama on his extension upon arrival, as he's located in the annex behind the main Orion Planning building. While Kogorou is on the phone with Higashiyama however and he gazes outside the window towards the annex, he sees a body fall in front of the window. The victim is Takahata, an event planner at Orion, who seemingly committed suicide from the main building, jumping down the window (and passing in front of Kogorou on his way down). A suicide note seems to confirm this was no accident, but a few clues uncovered early on lead to the conclusion this might actually be murder. Suspicion falls on the two Orion employees in the building, but both seem to have iron-clad alibis: Higashiyama was on the phone with Kogorou in his office in the annex building during the fall, and was crossing from the annex to the main building by the planning employee Sunagawa, while Sunagawa herself welcomed Kogorou and the others in the office only moments before the fall, and couldn't have made it up and down the fourth floor from where the victim fell without being seen by the people who were repairing the broken elevator in the main building, and back to be seen by Higashiyama as he crossed the skyway to the main building. But as the episode title suggest: one of them must've have used some kind of alibi trick.

For a single episode, this story is fairly packed, which is perhaps why it starts off fairly quickly. We have the first part of the police and Conan figuring out why it wasn't a suicide, and how the murderer could've rigged things to create a false alibi, but then there's a second part where Conan, and the viewer, has to determine how the culprit actually secured a solid alibi for the moment the fall occured, as the trick Conan figured out still requires the murderer to be relatively close to the victim at the time of the fall. The way the episode seems to focus a lot on a certain prop quickly gives you an idea what was used to accomplish that feat, but I think the trick itself is pretty clever, and has a nice visual clue to it too. The episode has a few smaller details that on their own don't say much, but are clearly also included to facilitate the mystery, so I think it's a pretty solid mystery considering the short run-time, and if you compare it to TV Dorama Roke Satsujin Jiken, you can definitely tell Ochi's plotting developed a lot, even within the single episode format. Note by the way that in the episode itself, Ochi is credited with the name Uonji Chiko. (O-Chi Ko-Ji-N = Ochi Koujin).

The two episodes above where picked because of the writer of the script, but that was not the case when I decided to watch episodes 1050 and 1051, Morikawa Goten no Inbou ("Intrigue at the Morikawa Manor"), originally airing on July 17 and 23, 2022. Kogorou, Ran and Conan are brought to the private island of Morikawa Yuuzan, a man built an empire on soft ice. The island actually has some of its hills shaped like soft ice, and in the private rooms in the manor all have their own soft ice serving machines. Soft ice emperor Morikawa is dying however, and he hopes the famous detective Mouri Kogorou's insights can tell him which of his three sons is best fitted to inherit the company and his fortune, as all of them have some obvious flaws: the oldest son having interest in soft ice and research, but not in actually running a company, while the two younger sons seems a bit too eager to want to become the big boss after their father's death. The three siblings obviously don't get along, to the despair of the head manager of the house, Yuka, who as the daughter of the previous head manager, actually spent most of her childhood growing up with the Morikawa brothers. At dinner, one of the brothers doesn't appear however, and the following day, another one is not seen at the breakfast table, which worries the others. They go to the rooms of the two missing brothers, using the master key to open the door, but they find the youngest brother lying dead inside his own room: his own room key is lying inside the room, and as the master key was kept secured in a special box, it appears this was a locked room murder. Kogorou wants to alert the police immediately, but the family lawyer reminds Kogorou he signed a contract that his duties to his client take priority and that he needs to determine the best heir. Kogorou intends to do that job, but also decides to investigate this curious death, but it doesn't take long for more murders to occur in the Morikawa manor...

This was a surprise in two ways. First of all, the title seemed interesting on its own, combined with the fact it was a two-parter, but I hadn't really expected a Yokomizo Seishi-inspired story. But yeah, a wealthy elderly man on the verge of dying and his will leading to a series of murders happening are obviously taken from Inugamike no Ichizoku (The Inugami Clan), and the way the second murder is discovered is directly inspired by Akuma no Temariuta, but in a slightly more... comical way. And that ties in to the second surprise: after the episode ended, I took a look at the credits to see who penned this episode and it was... Yamatoya Akatsuki. The man (who also works on Gintama) who wrote an excellent Tantei Gakuen Q anime original with a locked room set in a sunken ship... but who also wrote Detective Conan episode 961 Glamping Kaijiken ("The Curious Glamping Incident"), which may be the most insane Conan episode ever. In fact, in retrospect, Yamatoya's hand explained a lot, as the third murder has a rather ridiculous clue which allowed Conan to identify the killer which I initially just let slide, but knowing this was written by Yamatoya now, it suddenly clicked: yes, this was the kind of insane logic that Glamping Kaijiken also had. And the whole focus on soft ice is in hindsight a bit silly too. But I think the episode was pretty interesting as a Yokomizo Seishi-inspired episode, especially as the unique setting is used in a clever way for the first and second murder. Well, in the case of the second murder, it's just that it works really well to sell the discovery of the murder (I'm not talking about a clever murder trick here), but the first murder definitely has interesting ideas to it, even if it's not really realistic. I also think it needed one extra hint to be completely fair, but overall, I think the concept behind how that locked room murder was created was quite interesting, especially as it blended well with the whole design of the Morikawa manor. I wouldn't say this two-parter is a must-see, not even in the insane manner Glamping Kaijiken was, but still, if you have seen most of the must-sees already, this two-parter sits right halfway the utterly crazy Glamping Kaijiken and the very conventional puzzle plot Tantei Gakuen Q episode Suishin 30m - Kaitei Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken.

Anyway, these were another six anime original episodes of Detective Conan. Save for clear exception Kuroi Ikaros no Tsubasa, I wouldn't place them near the must-see category, but as I am now focusing more on specific scenario writers I think these episodes did have their share of interesting elements, which is why I decided to write a bit about them. Any anime originals you want to recommend? There are plenty I have seen, but not discussed here, but obviously, there are many, many more I simply have not seen yet and if there's an anime original you think really deserves watching, please leave a comment!

Original Japanese titles: 『名探偵コナン』21話「TVドラマロケ殺人事件』,203-204話「黒いイカロスの翼」, 596話「転落のアリバイ」, 1050-1051話「森川御殿の陰謀」

The Mystery of the 99 Steps

"You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?"

"Appointment with Death"

Man, I want to read more mysteries set at the Kumano Kodou now, because it's a visually stunning place and would make for a great setting for a mystery revolving around perfect alibis!

The famous detective Suguro Takeru enjoys a well-deserved holiday in Tengu Village in Wakayama Prefecture, near the Kumano Kodou, a series of ancient pilgrimage routes and sacred sites that cross the Kii Penisula. One of the other guests at the same hotel is Mrs. Hondou, a filthy rich widow who spends her time travelling across Japan with her family. While her (step)children are adult, they have all been terrorized by the commanding and controlling woman since a young age, and they literally can't do anything but follow her around and beckon at her orders, even if it makes them deeply, deeply unhappy. Not only Suguro is greatly disturbed at the sight of the woman intentionally playing her children apart to make them as miserable as possible, but also the young doctor Sara who is also staying at the hotel and who has become attracted to the younger Hondou son. Suguro is also rejoined at the hotel with an old friend, Uesugi Honami, who has become a Dietwoman. Uesugi convinces Suguro to come along on an excursion to explore the pilgrimage routes of the Kumano Kodou (even though Suguro would rather prefer to stay in the comfortable hotel). The Hondou family has the same plan, but after bossing her children around for a while in the bus, Mrs. Hondou insists she wants to be left alone for some time, and sends her children off, while she takes a rest at one of the sacred sites. At the end of the day, when the bus is ready to return back to the hotel however, Sara stumbles upon Mrs. Hondou still sitting there, but then realizes that she's dead. It turns out Hondou had been injected with something to kill her and it's obvious that her whole family has a motive for wanting her dead. But what makes matters even more serious is the fact that Suguro on his first day at the hotel overheard someone of the family saying "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" But which of them did it?

After a capable adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express in 2015 followed by a very impressive adaptation of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, screenwriter and playwright Mitani Kouki returned on March 6, 2021 with his third adaptation of a Hercule Poirot novel for television: Shi to no Yakusoku is a three-hour television special based on Agatha Christie's 1938 novel Appointment with Death. The summary above might make you suspect that this is a very loose adaptation of the Christie novel, but you'd completely wrong. While Mitani's adaptations do take place in a post-war Japan and star the eccentric detective Suguro Takeru, these specials have been very faithful to the source material and an absolute delight for fans of Christie's work. It's strange that even though these specials take place in another time, in another place than the original novels, they manage to capture the spirit of the source material so incredibly well. This respect for the original work can be seen in all the Japanese character names for example, which are clearly derived from the original names: the Boyntons became the Hondous, Doctor Sara King became Sara Kinuko, family friend Jefferson Hope Juumonji Kouta etc. There are some changes here and there that some might find significant, like the absence of the character of Dr. Gerard in this adaptation or for example the fact that Uesugi was made an old friend of Suguro (Poirot), but Mitani always does a good job at justifying each change from the novel, and the script never feels unnatural despite his tinkering. For example Uesugi is used to make Suguro a more involved character in this adaptation, while Poirot doesn't really appear that much in the original novel.

It's funny how the theme color of Shi to no Yakusoku is green by the way. Appointment with Death is set in Jeruzalem and they visit Petra in that book, so I always associated with a more... sandy yellow.

In terms of atmosphere, you can definitely feel Mitani's hand like in the previous adaptations: he is best his comedic storytelling and while lately, he's done a lot of historical drama, he's also quite experienced with mystery productions (like in Furuhata Ninzaburou, the fantastic Japanese Columbo and Ellery Queen-inspired TV show). His cozy, comedic style does fit Christie's stories pretty well, so the comedy never feels weird, and while Suguro is perhaps more of a physically comical character compared to Poirot, these adaptations have also shown a Suguro who's much more human than Poirot is in the original novels. Which is also shown here, as Suguro knows the Hondous are better off without their mother, but his own morals don't allow him to ignore this murder. We had a glimpse of this Suguro in the previous adaptations too, but Suguro is a detective who doesn't always enjoys his calling, but he knows it's the right thing to do, and this focus works very good with Mitani's own style. The setting move to the Kumano Kodou however is amazing. There are some fantastic shots of the party exploring the mountain woods and while in the original novel, several witnesses talk about Mrs. Hondou shooing off an Arab servant while she was alone, in this adaptation, it's changed to a pilgrim wearing a Tengu mask and it looks stunning visually. 

As for the mystery plot itself, it's mostly the same as the original novel and I'll have to be honest and say that Appointment with Death has never been one of my favorite Poirots. A lot of the plot revolves around Suguro having to reconstruct a timeline of who saw Ms. Hondou when while she was alone at the sacred site, but that makes the middle part of this story rather long, while the pay-off is... just a timeline of the events. Sure, Suguro builds on that to eventually identify the killer, but it does make this a rather slow story. What I did like about Appointment with Death was an iconic moment where the motive for the crime suddenly becomes clear: it's hard to explain what this is without spoiling the surprise, but people who know the original story will probably understand what part of the story I mean. It's basically the moment the victim actually makes her own appointment with death, making her own murder inevitable. I'm surprised to say that I actually like the variation in Shi to no Yakusoku even better than the original! It's when the little changes here and there by Mitani really pay off, because while the scene is basically the same as in the original novel, the set-up to have that particular scene play out the way it did is even better in this television special, and feels sooooooo much more satisfying when they talk about it again at the end of the story. 

So yep, Shi to no Yakusoku was yet another highly enjoyable and very well-made Christie adaptation by Mitani. In comparison to the adaptation of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, this televsion special might not be as ambitious, but like the previous two adaptations, Shi to no Yakusoku is a production where the combination of Agatha Christie and Mitani Kouki really feels like a match made in heaven, with the end result is more than the sum of the parts. The core plot by Christie has one very memorable moment in terms of mystery, while the changes made by Mitani to fit "his" version of Appointment with Death aren't made for fun, but often support or even elevate the original story. It's a shame that Suguro doesn't have his own Hastings at the moment, because tone-wise, it'd love to see how Mitani would tackle an adaptation of Curtain!

Original Japanese title(s): 『死との約束』

Musical Clue

 「さぁさ目を閉じて御覧なさい」

『うめいねこのなく頃に　Banquet of the Golden Witch』 

 

"Come, close your eyes and try to remember."

"Umineko: When They Cry - Banquet of the Golden Witch"

I finished Banquet of the Golden Witch earlier this week, so added my new thoughts on what might be happening on Rokkenjima to the Umineko no Naku koro ni playthrough memo. I'll probably finish Alliance of the Golden Witch this month too and do a short post on the Question arc then, before I move on to the latter half of Umineko no Naku Koro ni. And speaking of mystery stories set on an island...

With the year long delay of the theatrical release Detective Conan film The Scarlet Bullet from April 2020 to next month, they also launched a brand new marketing campaign for the film late last year, with "RELOAD" as the campaign's main theme. "RELOAD" is of course a reference to The Scarlet Bullet's renewed release date, but there was another big project for 2021 that fitted perfectly with this theme. For the episode count of the animated television series was also about to hit 1000. The animated series based on Aoyama Goushou's manga featuring the shrunken detective started airing on January 8, 1996 and has since been one of the major animated television shows in Japan, basically running the whole year through (though it also slots in re-airs and occasionally skips a week). Whole generations have grown up watching this television series, and the accompanying annual theatrical films aren even now still breaking records in Japan. To commemorate the broadcast of special episode 1000, it was decided to do a complete remake ("reload") of a twenty-five year old classic and also one of the most beloved episodes of the series: Piano Sonata "Gekkou" Satsujin Jiken ("The Piano Sonata "Moonlight" Murder Case"). While in the manga, this story doesn't appear until volume 7, it was featured much earlier in continuity of the animated series. It originally aired as episode 11, the show's first one-hour special (April 8, 1996). The remake of Piano Sonata "Gekkou" Satsujin Jiken is a two-parter (episodes 1000 and 1001), which were broadcast on March 6 and 13, 2021. And I figured this was the perfect time to revisit the story myself.

After receiving a mysterious letter signed by Asou Keiji, Mouri Kogorou, Ran and Conan travel to the small island of Tsukikage, but to their surprise they learn that Asou Keiji, a well-known pianist, has been dead for twelve years, and his death was rather unusual: after a performance at the island's public hall, he had taken his wife and his daughter back home and set fire to his own house. People who tried to save them however saw that he had stabbed his family with a knife, and even as the horrible fire raged around him, they saw Asou frantically playing his beloved Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. While obviously Asou couldn't have sent the letter to Mouri, it appears someone had reason to call Mouri down to the island, and they decide to ask around about Asou. One of the people they should interview is the mayor of Tsukikage Island, whom they learn is going to attend to the funeral service in the public hall of the previous mayor, accompanied by the candidates in the upcoming mayor elections. They wait outside the public hall while the funeral service continues, but suddenly the solemn mood is interrupted by... the Moonlight Sonata! Figuring something is wrong, Conan rushes to the hall where Asou Keiji's piano is kept and finds one of the candidates murdered there! A mysterious music score is also left on the scene, which makes it seem like Asou Keiji might be the one responsible for this murder, but why?

My first remark is that as a remake, these two episodes are quite straightforward. Nothing fancy has been done with the story or the presentation, they basically simply animated the story from the manga the way they always do, with the current, regular animation techniques and storytelling, and while I haven't compared these new episodes with the old special, I wouldn't be surprised if even the storyboards are more or less the same. It's kinda funny, and even odd to see this old story animated in the current style of the animated series though, as so much has changed in these twenty-five years. There's of course the jump from traditional cel animation to digital cel animation, but Mouri Kogorou too has had a completely different voice actor for over ten years now, so it's weird to hear the current voice in this older story. Character designs nowadays are also different from the older stories, so a lot of the character archetypes are not used (often) in the animated series at this point. Also: yep, Conan knows better than to just put unknown substances in his mouth now!

But wow, I have to admit I had forgotten a lot of the details of this story! It's actually a lot simpler, and more straightforward story than I had remembered, though it's still a nice mystery story, that is perhaps a bit more focused on mood than truly mindblowing trickery, but at the same time, it's also plotted better than I had thought. As a Conan story, it's pretty unique as an early story, being set in a small village on a remote island, though subsequent anime original episodes would often visit these smaller communities (not to be confused with the islands of Kindaichi Shounen, that usually don't have whole villages and just one or two manors). But the cramped and slightly outdated island vibe, the backstory of Asou Keiji madly playing the piano in the fires that consumed him and the Moonlight Sonata being played at all the murder scenes (yes, there are multiple murders in this story) make this story a memorable one in terms of atmosphere.

For example, I had completely forgotten that all the major events basically occur within the island's public hall, making it a rather frightful place as people keep on dying in different rooms there. With most of murders are committed in a rather "open" way, meaning anyone on the island might've committed the crime, the focus lies more on the why as the crimes themselves are rather straightforward, and that is what initally disappointed me a bit, as my memories of the tale were more positive. But near the end, I did really like how the story gave a very clear-cut, and good reason for why the murderer acted the way they did, with especially the reason why the first murder was committed there and in that manner being very clever. It's a shame that one major clue seems to point too directly to the murderer then, because the other clue (probably the one most people remember) was much more subtle and surprising. The set-up for the climax is a bit silly (I mean... was everybody staring at the speakers?!!), but by the time the story is over, you'll probably know why this episode is such a long-time favorite of Conan fans. In fact, this is the one story that Conan is reminded of every few years in  the main Detective Conan continuity, even though it's not directly tied to the overall storyline. The events of this episode and the impact it ultimately left on Conan himself are quite significant, so once in a while, you'll find a reference to this case in the manga. So in that regards, it's worth a watch if you started watching Conan in the middle and don't know this story yet.

As a remake, Piano Sonata "Gekkou" Satsujin Jiken, is perhaps not surprising in any manner: it's simply the classic Conan story with a new coat of paint. But I certainly didn't mind revisiting this story again, and if you hadn't seen the original special yet (or read the corresponding manga chapters), you might as well try these two new episodes. It's one of the iconic early Conan stories and also quite enjoyable even if you haven't seen much or anything of the franchise yet. And don't forget, volume 99 of the manga is also going to be released next month (and no, I haven't forgotten about 37 year old Kindaichi either).

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン』1000-1001話「ピアノソナタ『月光』殺人事件」

Lights, Camera...

Memories brought back by hidden records. A Mystery & Suspense story set in Shimane prefecture.

"Root Film"

First game review of the year! I played this one near the end of last year, and it was perhaps the mystery game I played last year that I enjoyed best overall in 2020, but it'll have to wait until December to appear on The List.

After winning an award at the Asia Movie Competition, people in the industry started looking at Yagumo "Max" Rintarou as a rising star in the field of visual media. That's why his small film company (comprised of himself, his assistant/editor Magari and camera operator Kanade) is hired by Shimane TV for a special project: a mystery television drama set in the prefecture of Shimane. Three directors are asked to each film their own feature-length drama, and the idea is to have these three works compete with each other. Yagumo is the youngest of the three directors, but as this is his first big project, he's eager to make a success of the show. Apparently, a detective drama set in Shimane had already been in production ten years ago, but due to unknown reasons the project was put on indefinite hold and there are even some rumors that the whole thing is cursed, making some people nervous about the new project. Yagumo becomes very interested in the project that was cancelled ten years ago and the footage they had already finished by the time filming was stopped, but is also busy with coming up with ideas for his own mystery drama: while he will be working with a scenario writer, he needs to come up with a basic plot himself, so he, his team and the upcoming actress Hitoha who will be starring in Yagumo's film travel to the famous spots in Shimane to scout locations and gain inspiration of the story. But while they're scouting locations across Shimane, the team always seems to get involved with murder mysteries themselves in the 2020 video game Root Film (Switch/PS4).

Four years ago, I reviewed the game √Letter (Root Letter), the first game in the Kadokawa Game Mystery series. The concept behind this new game series was originally that it would highlight the Shimane Prefecture as a touristic spot by showing off real-life locations and culture, and the series would also feature a so-called star system, where characters are treated like "actors" in live-action productions: in √Letter for example, the pivotal character Fumino Aya was "played" by the fictional actress AYA, and the idea was that AYA would also be cast in different roles in subsequent Kadokawa Game Mystery titles. √Letter ultimately ended up as a work that disappointed me as a game, even if there were touching parts to be found there. The game also dropped dramatically in price very quickly after release, even though I bought it on release at full price, so when Root Film was announced as the second game in the Kadokawa Game Mystery series, you can understand I was a bit hesitant. Even when more details of the game were revealed slowly, like that the game would be a 'normal' murder mystery adventure game this time, and that the new director/writer was Kouno Hifumi (best known as the creator of the Clock Tower horror games, but also of the Mikagura Shoujo Tantei Dan mystery series), I still decided to not get this game at release and wait for some kind of discount. So I finally got to play it six months late and... I have to admit, I really wouldn't have minded it if I had bought this game at full price on release, because I thoroughly enjoyed it as a mystery adventure. 

Interestingly, they seemed to have abandoned the idea of using a star system with "actors" for this series, so ultimately, Root Film has next to nothing to do with √Letter save for the setting of the Shimane Prefecture and one re-used BGM track. Heck, this game even abandons the idea of having different story routes with different endings, (which is part of the reason why these games have "Root" (Route) in the title), instead opting for a linear experience. But that did allow Kouno to come up with a completely unrelated mystery plot and brand-new characters, and it's exactly those elements that make Root Film a much better experience than √Letter.

Looking at the game at a mechanical level, there's nothing that stands out in Root Film: you move from one location to another (often real locations in various popular tourist destinations in Shimane), talk with characters, a murder occurs, you go here and there to gain information and clues, and at the end of each episode, there's a confrontation with the culprit, where you show the evidence you gathered. Each episode is fairly linear, and collecting relevant information to solve the mystery is extremely easy: the game will literally pause and highlight the sentence in question and gives you a prompt to memorize it. You can't choose to not memorize the information and the prompt appears automatically, so basically, the game is just making sure you read this sentence, and during the final confrontation, you'll be asked to use these pieces of information in your back-and-forth with the culprit while you solve the mystery. During the confrontations, the game also makes a pre-selection of the available pieces of information, meaning you only have to pick out the right answer from at most four different options.

But despite the rather predictable and simple gameplay, I really enjoyed the mysteries presented in Root Film. While it's true that most of the time, the player will probably be able to make a fairly accurate guess as to the identity of the murderer in each episode and how it was done, the mysteries presented to the player in each episode are surprisingly well plotted, with perhaps not utterly baffling, but still clever tricks. What's even better that these stories make very good use of the major themes of this game: film and the Shimane Prefecture. Some of the episodes for example do a great job at incorporating local Shimane culture or unique geography in the murder plots (mythology, customs etc.), resulting in stories that could only have occured here, while all of them make use of the idea that Yagumo and his team are out filming and scouting locations, with for example clues hidden in the footage they film themselves. 

I also liked that the game also managed to fool me a few times with the tricks: usually, the clewing would be a bit crude, so you'd have an idea of how for example a locked room murder was committed, but the exact details would be a bit vague. But then the actual trick is revealed in the climax, and almost always it turns out the trick was far better thought out than I had expected and that this would've been even better if just the clewing in the preceding chapters had also been a bit clearer. I was genuinely pleasantly surprised with the mysteries presented in Root Film, which range from a ghost appearing suddenly on screen in an old film, to a locked room murder in an old Japanese manor, a case of spontanenous combustion inside a temple and a murder in a creepy old mansion, and none of the times, the solutions disappointed me. The connecting storyline about the project that was stopped ten years ago is perhaps more focused on the suspense angle, but on the whole, I'd say Root Film as a package offers an amusing mystery game. 

The journey of Root Film itself is not only enjoyable because of the capable plots, but also because these plots are presented in an entertaining way thanks to the characters: the banter between Yagumo, gyaru assistant Magari, the surprisingly eccentric actrice Hitoha and other recurring characters is funny, reminding of a lot of Japanese mystery dramas (there's also a lot of call-backs to familiar tropes from Japanese mystery dramas/films). The chatter of the team in Root Film make the story much more engaging to follow, as the different characters also allows the story to develop in various ways, compared to the very, very monotoneous √Letter. A few episodes in this game focus not on Yagumo and his team, but the young actress RIHO and her manager who also happen to be roaming Shimane for in preparation for the film project, and they too get involved in all kinds of murders. It's also interesting how the type of mysteries seen here are a bit different from the ones seen in the Yakumo chapters, and that really helps give Root Film some variety.

Root Film has in the end very little to do with the previous title, but that allowed it to be it's own game, and the result is absolutely positive: Root Film is admittedly a fairly short and straightforward mystery adventure game, but it still manages to be a very pleasant game with interesting mystery plots set firmly around the themes of 'film' and 'Shimane'. I was entertained from start to finish and as a a whole, I found Root Film to be far, far more enjoyable than I had initially expected based on the previous game. Looking forward to a third game if this is the trend!

Original Japanese title(s): 『Root Film　ルートフィルム』

An Exercise in Fatality

 かっこいいかはわからないけど

おさえきれない夢をみたんだ

「胸がドキドキ」(The High Lows)

I don't know if it's cool

But I had an uncontrollable dream

"The Pounding of my Heart" (The High Lows)

Given that that only one single new volume of Detective Conan was released this year, and that this year's theatrical release Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet was pushed back to a 2021 release due to the pandemic, it's been a very disappointing year for Detective Conan fans, with nothing new to enjoy. And yes, I know the collected volumes of the spin-off Detective Conan: Wild Police Story are being released in these last two months of the year, but as far as I know, it's not a mystery series, so I'll probably not be discussing them here, even if I'm going to get those volumes.

So the last few months, I've been watching anime original episodes of Detective Conan on and off, i.e. episodes which are not based on the original comic, but which are especially written for the animated series by a varied team of writers: some are specialized screenplay writers for Detective Conan, some are freelance screenplay writers who write for a variety of shows (not just mystery shows) with no fixed attachment to Conan, and sometimes there are special guest writers like mystery author Ookura Takahiro who also wrote the 21st Detective Conan film The Crimson Love-Letter. I started looking for the more interesting anime original episodes about two years ago, and as you may remember, I've come across a few genuine gems.

Detective Conan anime original episodes

 

Scenario by Ochi Hirohito: 

88-89: Dracula-Sou Satsujin Jiken ("The Villa Dracula Murder Case")  

184: Noroi no Kamen wa Tsumetaku Warau ("The Cursed Masks Laugh Coldly") 

379-380: Hitou Yukiyami Furisode Jiken ("The Case of the Furisode of the Hot Spring Hidden In The Snow Darkness")  

603-605: Koureikai W Misshitsu Jiken ("The Case of the Séance's Double Locked Room") 

905-906: Nananengo no Mokugekishougen ("Eyewitness Testimony, Seven Years Later")

 

Scenario by Hashiba Chiaki

208: Meikyuu he no Iriguchi - Kyodai Shinzou no Ikari ("The Entrance to the Maze: The Anger of the Giant Statue of the Heavenly Maiden")

Scenario by Mochizuki Takeshi

210-211: Gosai Densetsu no Mizugoten ("The Water Palace of the Legend of the Five Colors")

214: Retro Room no Nazo Jiken ("The Mysterious Case in the Retro Room")

 

Scenario by Saitou Kenji

159-160: Kaiki Gojuutou Densetsu (The Legend of the Mysterious Five-Storied Pagoda)

 

Scenario by Mikami Koushirou

730: Kanpekisugita Figure ("The Figure That Was Too Perfect")

753: Share House no Shikaku ("The Blind Spot in the Share House")

859: Kurayami no Sangaku Route ("The Mountain Route in the Darkness") 

Obviously, not all anime original episodes are anything near memorable. Most of them are passable, but usually not special enough to make me want to write a review about them. The stand-out episodes I have reviewed until now on the blog do have one major point in common: length. The episodes I've discussed are either two-parters (or even a three-parter) or one hour specials, meaning these episodes have quite some time to set-up a proper mystery and work towards a satisfying conclusion with proper clewing. And it's a lot harder to do that within the confines of one single twenty-minute episode. Most single-part anime originals usually have problems to present a mystery that's deep enough to make an impression in that short period of time, so few of them really make an impression. But as I have the feeling I've already gone through all of the must-see anime original Detective Conan episodes, and there's a Detective Conan shortage this year anyway, I thought I'd discuss a few of these single-part anime original episodes. Most of them have interesting ideas or settings even if sometimes undeveloped or slightly rushed.

Oh, and before I forget this point: I do have to say that Detective Conan is a fantastic fictional world for anime original episodes. There's not only an insanely rich cast of secundary characters but it's also rich in established locations and habits, and any screenwriter can easily fit any idea they have into the world of Detective Conan. Want to write something about a videogame company? Have Dr. Agasa and the Detective Boys visit it. A mystery plot set at a television studio? Have Mouri Kogorou appear in a television show. In a university? Ran visiting someone who graduated from Teitan High. Country house murder? Kogorou, Ran and Conan are out driving and get lost. Seriously, practically any setting will work in Conan and feel completely natural.

Episode 214 Retro Room no Nazo Jiken ("The Mysterious Case in the Retro Room") was originally broadcast on November 20th, 2000 and written by Mochizuki Takeshi, who also wrote the enjoyable two-parter Gosai Densetsu no Mizugoten ("The Water Palace of the Legend of the Five Colors"). Mouri, Ran and Conan are on their way to Dolphin Land, when they become acquainted with a group of three women at the station. The women are old college classmates who are going to have a nice day together. A fourth member of the group is staying at the renewed Dolphin Hotel and the plan is for the three to pick this Naomi up and go enjoy Dolphin Land. Naomi has a room on the Retro Floor, where everything is decorated in a retro Japanese inn style. When they arrive at Naomi's room, they find a Do No Disturb sign hanging from the door, but Naomi does not answer her friends' calls and when they try the door, it's not locked. Inside they find the corpse of Naomi, who has been stabbed. Her hotel room is decorated in a retro style complete with traditional furniture, old-fashioned snacks, and a coin-operated television and it's the latter which is important: the television switched off right as they discovered the body, and the television runs for exactly one hour on one 100 yen coin, and you can only insert one coin at a time. The police suspects therefore Naomi was killed soon after she started watching television, but Conan soon realizes that the murderer could've faked this alibi. While it's fairly easy to guess who the killer is, I have to say I really like the retro room setting, as well as the trick used by the killer to fabricate an alibi for the time of the murder, as it makes optimal use of the prepared props, leading to an original color variation on a trick that's otherwise very familiar. Funny thing is how the incriminating piece of evidence is actually also becoming a bit retro nowadays. Things changed a lot in the twenty years since this episode first aired!

Episode 730 Kanpekisugita Figure ("The Figure That Was Too Perfect") first aired on February 22, 2014 and was written by Mikami Koushirou, a screenplay writer who also works on television dramas. Dr. Agasa and the Detective Boys are visiting a figurine/diarama exposition. Mitsuhiko is in particular impressed by the work of Kitajima Masahiro, a professional modeller. It's Kitajima's body which is found in one of the backstage rooms, and with some help of the Detective Boys, the police soon find three suspects in Kitajima's girlfriend, a rival modeller and a sleazy magazine writer, who were all three present at the event. The police however can't find the murder weapon with which the victim was stabbed, and none of the suspect should've been able to get rid of a weapon that size without anyone noticing. The solution to the hidden weapon is really original and works fantastic in this setting. It's a bit of a shame the episode didn't have a few more minutes to present this more as a Queenian problem, with a grand search of the whole complex to emphasize the impossibility of the murder weapon disappearing. I really like the trick, but the episode kinda undersells the problem, which makes it not as memorable as it could've been.

Mikami Koushirou was also responsible for episode 753 Share House no Shikaku ("The Blind Spot in the Share House"), originally broadcast on October 4th, 2014. Ran's visiting Yayoi, a former student of Teitan High who's graduated and now living in a share house while going to college. Ran likes the idea of living in a share house, but also learns it's not all sunshine. During her stay, she's witness to a fight between two of the other residents: Katsuko has telling lies to their landlord, accusing Suzuki of peeping in order to get him (the only man in the house) out, figuring it would be more convenient if there were only women here. Katsuko and Suzuki both go upstairs to their own rooms, while Yayoi and the other resident Yasuko take turns in taking a shower and keeping Ran company in the kitchen/dining room until her father picks her up. A cry by Suzuki has everyone running upstairs, where they discover that Katsuko's been murdered in her room. Because Katsuko and Suzuki were the only one upstairs, and Ran had clear sight on the hallway in front of the staircase from the kitchen, Suzuki becomes the only suspect, but as the title of the episode spoils, there's a blind spot. This is an episode with a lot of potential, but which sadly doesn't work quite as well as it could've. The trick used to create the blind spot is good, but the presentation is done in a way so it's not exactly clear what's going on until it's revealed in the conclusion, and it's not completely fair to the viewer. In hindsight, you could probably guess how everything fitted together, but considering this is a twenty-minute show, the presentation could've been a bit more generous towards the viewer, while in return one other clue could have been less obvious. A weird episode, as it's a story that really works well in the short runtime, it's just that the presention is intentionally not showing something that they could've shown without attracting to much attention in the first place.

By now you'll have noticed I was specifically watching episodes written by Mikami. Episode 859 Kurayami no Sangaku Route ("The Mountain Route in the Darkness") aired on May 13th, 2017. Dr. Agasa has taken the Detective Boys out on camping on a mountain. At the mountain lodge, they become acquainted with another group staying there. The group of four used to be one of five, but one of them died three years ago, falling off a mountain and since that accident, the remaining four have been climbing mountains together on this day to commemorate their deceased friend. Takemi is the odd on out in the group: the egoistic woman had gone out climbing alone at night three years ago, and their friend only died because he went after her. Takemi's attitude has not changed since however, and after another fight with the other three, she decides to go down the mountain and camp near the river on her own, while the other three sleep in the lodge together with Dr. Agasa and the Detective Boys. The next morning, Genta decides to check up on Takemi all the way down with his binoculars, only to find that she's been stabbed to death. They run down the mountain path to make their way to Takemi, who's beyond rescue. Her backpack is found a bit further down in the forest, suggesting someone killed her and then took her backpack as they fled. During the police investigation, the three friends are also investigated just to be sure, but it becomes clear none of the three friends could've killed Takemi: Conan saw them late at night when they held a small service for their deceased friend, and after that time, it would've take ntoo much time to go down the mountain path, kill Takemi, take the backpack to the forest and climb the mountain again before the others would start on breakfast at the lodge. Even the weather balloons one of the friends brought with him wouldn't be any help, as they can't lift a person and there are too many left anyway. Conan however soon figures out what the secret route is the murderer must've taken to kill Takemi and make it back in time. The trick is pretty simple to guess, especially once the props of the story are introduced, but I think the scriptwriter did a good job at introducing several false solutions to distract the viewer within the twenty minute limit and the trick used by the murderer itself is also pretty original. It's a story that works really well within the time limit, as I couldn't even imagine how you'd want to expand on this in a meaningful manner. One thing this episode shares with the other Mikami episodes I discussed however is that Mikami does like to leave certain clues (especially objects) very clearly for Conan and the viewer to find, and often you wonder why the murderer didn't think of cleaning up better, because sometimes it's like they're literally lying everywhere. I guess that's a problem of the runtime, but some clues are just left on the crime scene as is for no apparent reason save for the twenty minute limit.

One final episode I want to highlight was written by Yamatoya Akatsuki, best known for his work on Gintama. Episode 961 Glamping Kaijiken ("The Curious Glamping Incident") was broadcast a year ago on November 30, 2019 and is about Ran, her friend Sonoko and Conan going out glamping. They have a fun time at the camp, but at night, they hear a cry from the group of four next door, and when the three come and check, they find a dead cross-dressed man with awful make-up on his face, a piece of crab in his mouth and a piece of paper in his hand. What happened here? I should probably warn you that I'm not writing about this episode because it's a good mystery story. It's not. It's just the craziest anime original episode I have ever seen. It doesn't even try to make any sense. The writer probably just came up with the wackiest murder scene he could think of and then tried to make something out of it, but it doesn't even remotely hold together and when the episode is over, you'll realize the writer has forgotten to address a lot of story details that really beg for explanation. But this episode is absolutely HILARIOUS because it's unapologetically nuts and the characters are all acting like complete psychos.

Anyway, I hope this post will be helpful to the people who want to try out some Detective Conan anime original episodes and don't know where to start. I'd definitely recommend trying the specials/multi-parters by Ochi first, but after that it can be a bit trickier and it really depends on what kind of stories you like. For I will say this, the anime original episodes can be very varied, in terms of setting but also of atmosphere. I'll probably do these anime original episode write-ups once in a while, but I do hope I'll be able to write about some new Detective Conan releases soon...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン』214話「レトロルームの謎事件」 / 730話「完璧すぎたフィギュア」/ 753話「シェアハウスの死角」/ 859話「暗闇の山岳ルート」/ 961話「グランピング怪事件」