The Crooked Hinge

潮風にゆれる髪も大好きだったけど、

ただ何となくそうよ何となく髪を短くしたのよ

あなたのせいじゃないわ

少しだけセシルの気持ちがわかったの

「セシルカット」（戸川純）

I did love how my hair dance in the sea breeze,

But for some reason, just for no reason, I cut my hair short

It isn't because of you

But I think I understand how Cecile must've felt a little

"Cecil Cut" (Togawa Jun)

Trick was a surprise hit TV drama franchise which ran from 2000 until 2014. The quirky show took on the form of a classic mystery show featuring a detecting duo of a magician and a physicist solving impossible crimes and 'supernatural' phenomena in remote villages and communities, but it was in fact a playground for everyone involved: each story was packed full with visual jokes, wordplay, parody references; the characters were all over-the-top with outrageous character tics (it was obvious every actor was just having the time of their lives hamming every line up) and even the camera would go for the weirdest angles just to surprise the viewer. The show started out as a late-night low-key TV drama, but grew out to a major franchise with four theatrical releases, and the two leads, Nakama Yukie and Abe Hiroshi are now two of the biggest acting names in Japan.

A spin-off series starring supporting character Yabe Kenzou was produced in 2010 to coincide with the release of the third theatrical film Trick 3: Psychic Battle Royale. Yabe is an incompetent police detective (wearing a very obvious wig) who'd rather not exert himself protecing the people, and he often spends his time (secretly) looking for ways to grow his hair back. He worked wonderfully as the butt of the jokes in Trick, as the useless cop who sometimes worked against, and sometimes with the two leads while they were trying to solve the case. Even in his own series, Yabe managed to do no detecting himself, as other characters usually solved his problems for him, but through miraculous luck Yabe always got the credit for all those cases, making him one of the more infamous detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department. A second spin-off series was broadcast in 2013, about six months before the final Trick film.

As Trick - Last Stage marked the end of the franchise in 2014, you can imagine how surprised I was to learn that a new Yabe Kenzou spin-off serie would be released in 2017! Keibuho Yabe Kenzou ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~ ("Lieutenant Yabe Kenzou ~ Artificial Brain VS Artificial Hair~") is a mini-series produced for online streaming, and burdens our fake-haired detective with a final assignment. Professor Deep Manabu is the creator of the highly efficient crime-fighting AI "God Eye Joe", which has been able to solve cases even faster than the FBI and Scotland Yard. Deep Manabu and God Eye Joe now intend to show the Japanese police force who is superior, and the case chosen for that end is that of the Dark Gyouji: A mysterious serial killer called the Dark Gyouji (as they're dressed as a sumo referee) is on the loose in the country, but they were last spotted near a secluded hot spring resort. Deep Manabu and God Eye Joe head for the place in order to solve the crime, but the Japanese police force can't just sit and watch, so they send Yabe Kenzou to solve the case for them. A landslide shuts the place off from the outside world, locking everyone in together with the Dark Gyouji. Can Yabe and his artificial hair beat the artificial brain?

So it was over three years since the last Trick production, but on the whole, this mini-series was exactly what'd the viewers have come to expect from the franchise in terms of presention. The familiar musical cues, the quick camera-work is all there, as well as the crazy characters, their snappy dialogue filled with wordplay and of course many references to earlier works. While the two leads of the main Trick series don't appear in person, there are some references to them, enforcing the idea that this is part of the main franchise. The three year blank did not change the feel of the series, luckily.

The main Trick series was always busy parodying the mystery fiction as written by Yokomizo Seishi, with serial murders taking place in secluded communities like cults or out-of-the-way villages. It fitted perfectly with the quirky comedy, as it allowed for characters with weird customs etcetera. The two original Yabe Kenzou series on the other hand were a parody on police series and took place in the metropolis that is Tokyo. Yabe would be facing international terrorists, spies and other big criminals, as opposed to the faux psychics that occupied the main Trick series. Keibuho Yabe Kenzou ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~'s setting of a secluded hot spring inn and a serial killer dressed like a sumo referee therefore fits the main series better than the Yabe Kenzou spin-off series in my mind, but oh well.

But despite the classic setting I have to say that story-wise, ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~ was disappointing. While Trick always did take on a parody-form, the titular "tricks" used in the mystery plots were actually always interesting, leading to engaging detective stories. The mystery plot of ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~ on the other hand is almost horribly simple. I'm afraid that this is because of the format. ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~ is a five-part streaming series, with each episode about fifteen minutes long. This means the total series is only slightly longer than any given single episode of the main Trick series or previous Yabe Kenzou spin-off series. Stories in Trick were usually two- or three-parters, so comparing them in terms of complexity might not be fair, but even the episodes in the previous two Yabe Kenzou series had more engaging mystery plots than ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~, and they were shorter! The problem is that because of the five-part set-up, each part needs to have its own mini-storyline that builds up to a climax. But they simply stretched a very basic mystery plot out, adding in uninspired 'cliffhangers' for each part and called it a day. The result: a story that overstays its welcome. The hinting is also quite horrible, and not at all like anything we'd seen earlier in the series.

What made the original Trick franchise so entertaining was that while everything involved was just fooling around in order to make it a great parody, the core was always built around solid mystery plots. If the parody elements had been taken away, you'd still have a solid mystery story. That was also true (up to an extent) for the prevous two Yabe Kenzou spin-off series, even if they focused more on parodying the police procedural. Keibuho Yabe Kenzou ~Jinkou Zunou VS Jinkou Zumou~ however has little to offer besides the comedy-coat, as the mystery plot is probably the worst of the whole series. So while I did laugh while watching the show, I don't know whether it was really worth it to produce such a series three years after the great ending that was Trick - Last Stage. If it had been a companion series to something else, okay, perhaps I could've appreciated it better, but as it is now, we just got a mediocre addition after the fact that adds nothing of unique interest.

Original Japanese title(s): 『警部補 矢部謙三〜人工頭脳VS人工頭毛〜』

The Last Trick

I am GOD'S CHILD
この腐敗した世界に堕とされた
How do I live on such a field?
こんなもののために生まれたんじゃない

「月光」 (鬼束ちひろ）

I am GOD’S CHILD
Put upon this decayed Earth
How do I live on such a field?
This isn’t why I was born...

"Moonlight" (Onitsuka Chihiro)

Full disclosure: I am a Trick fanboy.

Trick was one of the first Japanese TV series I ever watched, but it is still one of my favorite series ever. It started out as a late-night mystery series in 2000 with a distinct sense of bizarre comedy directed by Tsutsumi Yukihiko (also known for the original Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo series, Keizoku and the 20th Century Boys films). Over the course of the first season, the (incompetent) physics professor Ueda Jirou and the unsuccesful magician Yamada Naoko worked together worked against each other somehow managed to unmask fake psychics / supernatural phenomena / strange cults and solve the most bizarre impossible murders. It also drew heavily from the Kindaichi Kousuke series, with many episodes set in remote mountain villages with closed communities, with a bit of Higashino Keigo (scientific mysteries), a bit of Awasaka Tsumao (magic tricks) and John Dickson Carr (the supernatural). But more importantly, this was not a serious show.

Trick has always a playground for everyone involved in the production. From the actors to the people behind the camera, everyone is encouraged to try to make the show as funny and hammy as possible and the result is that Trick, as a series, has developed a very distinct 'grammar' during its run. From intentional overacting to copious amounts of wordplay, pop culture references to non-sequitur jokes, from off-angle camera shots, 'waving' camera shots to abrupt scene cuts, every Trick production is just one gigantic gag for everyone. This was arguably less apparent in the first season, but in the subsequent two TV series, and a series of theatrical releases and TV specials, it had became very clear that Trick was not a mystery show featuring comedy, but a comedy featuring mystery.

Trick series
Trick (TV) [2000]
Trick 2 (TV) [2002]
Trick - The Movie (film) [2002]
Trick ~Troisième partie~ (TV) [2003]
Trick - TV Special (TV) [2005]
Trick - The Movie 2 (film) [2006]
Trick - TV Special 2 (TV) [2010]
Trick -  Youth Chapter (novel) [2010]
Trick DS (game) [2010]
Trick - Psychic Battle Royale (film 3) [2010]
Trick - TV Special 3 (TV) [2014]
Trick - Last Stage (film 4) [2014]

After the third season of the TV series, Trick returned several times for TV specials and theatrical releases, but 2014 marks the end of the quirky adventures of Ueda and Yamada. I reviewed the third Trick TV special in January, which served as the companion piece to the final Trick production, the fourth theatrical release aptly titled Trick - Last Stage. Ueda Jirou, well known as a debunker of the occult, is asked to help mediate in a conflict between a trading company and a small village in the Republic of Equatorial Sungai. The company has bought the mining rights for rare earth elements there, but the local villagers, led by a powerful shaman, refuse to move away. Ueda is to show the villagers that the shaman is just a fake and convince the locals to move. His "assistent" Yamada Naoko is dragged along too of course, but this time, Ueda and Yamada seem to be facing someone with true powers. And what about Yamada's dreams of the end of the world she's been having lately?

The last movie is hard to rate. First of all, I have to admit I was quite disappointed by the main mystery plot of the shaman. While Trick has never been about super-hard-to-figure crimes and murders, the ones shown here were very easy, especially considering this is supposed to be the final entry in such a beloved series. Heck, some of the tricks used for the murder were just rehashes of some old episodes! Also, Trick has always been about strange cults and their leaders, but this time the shaman and the local villagers were very... normal, which almost felt unnatural for this series.

The comedy also seemed to be toned down a bit compared to the releases of the last few years. While still a funny movie, Trick - Last Stage never reaches the parody chaos of Trick TV special 3 for example and it sure isn't even close to the outlandish psychic all star cast like the third Trick film had, or there's not even a catchy phrase like the second film (yoroshiku ne!). In a way though, I do have to say I sorta appreciated the fact director Tsutsumi went a different direction than the full-out comedy of those productions, which fits with Last Stage being the last Trick production and the film's tone does kinda resemble the slightly more humble, serious tone the original TV series had. That said, I thought the first fifteen, thirty minutes were great with tons of new visual gags we had not seen earlier in any Trick production. It just lost momentum when focus switched to the mystery plot proper.

Buut the wrap-up of the mystery plot does connect to themes and questions raised in the very first season in a meaningful manner. While Trick always has a dark ending to each case with a bad aftertaste, the overall themes were not as important for the tone of the series in recent productions, so I was glad Last Stage revisited the more 'meaninful' themes of earlier TV series.

As a ending to the complete series, I have to say I was very content with Trick - Last Stage though. There were little references to earlier series and films (and even the spin-off TV series) spread all over the film, which helped construct the idea of this being the last Trick, but like I said, I thought the film was kinda boring as the (disappointing) mystery plot unfolded. But then the last twenty minutes kick in, and wow! This is how you do an ending to a great series. I wonder how much director Tsutsumi had thought about ending this series, but I absolutely loved what he came up with for arguably his most representative work. The ending works so well in the context of the series and it's almost cheating they used Gekkou, the original ending theme, to play with our emotions. My feelings for this movie went [first twenty minutes= ah, this is funny] -> [bulk of the film = it's kinda bland, isn't it？] -> [last twenty minutes = this is the greatest thing ever I think I need to cryyyyyyyy].

But as you can guess, Trick - Last Stage only works if you have invested the time / emotions by watching preferably everything in the franchise, so that is three TV seasons, three TV specials, a novel, a videogame, two spin-off TV series and the four films. Then you'll get a satisfying ending to the series. You won't even get half of the satisfaction out of this movie if this is the first time you watch Trick, as the bulk of the film is really quite bland.

I do recommend Trick - Last Stage to every fan of the franchise, but I guess I wouldn't need to tell them to watch this series finale. It is for a large part slightly disappointing as a mystery-comedy film, but the little references and throwbacks in the film, as well as the last scene really makes this a must-see. For those who want a funny, but more focused mystery plot, you're better off with the companion piece to this film. But I am perhaps finally ready to say goodbye to the wonderful team of Ueda and Yamada and who knows, Trick has always been known for its quirkiness, so maybe, in a future...

And never forget. "Don't fear supernatural phenomena. Don't be afraid! Come on! Supernatural phenomena!"

Original Japanese title(s): 『劇場版トリック　ラストステージ』

File 4: Music to be Murdered By

Let's post this before I forget it: a new Music to be Murdered by post! A corner where I post music from various detective-related media and crappy art drawn in MS Paint to accompany the tune!

Title: Mystic Antique
Composer: Tsujiyou
Album: Trick Original Soundtrack

Trick is a quirky TV series that started out as a detective series with a bizarre sense of humor, and is now more closer to a comedy-series that takes on the form of a detective series. The first season was a bit more serious/dramatic in tone, and while the duo of Yamada and Ueda exposed psychic charlatans for what they were in each episode, there were also hints that the supernatural really did exist. The opening theme of Trick (also used for the movies and the game) is called Mystic Antique and embodies that supernatural, somewhat strange feeling of the series with its organ melody.

And why did I draw an egg to accompany this song? Well, it's the accompanying opening sequence to this song! How can an egg breaking be a proper opening sequence to a TV series? I don't know. The contents of the egg changes per season/production by the way, the TV seasons have shown different kind of colors, while lately, even more surprising things have popped out of the egg. Mystic Antique is also used as the main theme of the series, and you'll occasionally hear it as the background music to the final denouement scene.There is also a slightly arranged version of this song, titled Antique Mystic.

Original Japanese title(s): 「Mystic Antique」（辻陽）　『トリック　オリジナルサウンドトラック』

Trick & Magic

「理由」をもっと喋り続けて

私が眠れるまで

「月光」 （鬼束ちひろ）

Tell me about your reasons

Until I'm able to sleep

"Moonlight" (Onitsuka Chihiro)

To put this review in context immediately, I absolutely worship the TV drama Trick. It is the most awesome series to have graced Japanese TV screens, as well as the silver screen and as such, this review might be slanted a bit towards the very positive.

Trick started as a late-night mystery series in 2000, about a(n incompetent) physics professor Ueda Jirou and an unsuccesful magician Yamada Naoko teaming up debunking supernatural phenomena and solving murders. It drew heavily from the Kindaichi Kousuke series, with many episodes set in remote mountain villages with closed communities, with a bit of Higashino Keigo (scientific mysteries), a bit of Awasaka Tsumao (magic tricks) and John Dickson Carr (the supernatural). But, most importantly, it was conceived as a cartoonish comedy-mystery.

Trick soon grew as a series, as well as a phenomenom, and it soon become a series that certainly took up the appearance of a dark, horror mystery, but was essentially a playground for everyone involved in its production. Actors are encouraged to overact, to overplay their role as characters in a mystery series. You're not the focus of the scene and just standing in the background? Don't worry, you're allowed to do whatever you want there. Heck, even the camerawork is in on it, with enigmatic, yet hypnotic movements during scenes that would normally be taken motionless, and shots purposedly taken off center. Every single scene of every episode, special and film is full with little gags and stuff, but miraculously, it never feels (too) chaotic.

But Trick isn't just a comedy. Because despite all the chaos, despite all the things done for laughs, it's actually a good mystery show! There's always an interesting plot, it's always structured properly and there are the essential hints for the viewer to solve the mystery. One could easily take the same plot and make a super-serious, dark mystery out of it. But, that wouldn't be Trick. Trick is a parody of mystery, of itself and other TV dramas, a playground for the production team, but also a great mystery drama. It is very cartoonish though, so those who prefer serious detective fiction, stay away from Trick, but I myself consider it a masterpiece.

And this year marks the end of Trick. Four years ago, I was lucky enough to be in Japan when they celebrated the series' 10th anniversary with a new movie and other productions, but no such luck this time. The series is to end with the fourth movie, which is running now, but last week a TV special was broadcast set just before the movie, marking Trick's last outing on the TV screen. The head of the Mizugami clan has died, and his three daughters (and their family) all expect a gigantic inheritance. Unbeknownst to them, the Mizugami fortune has shrunk dramatically of late unfortunately and the family is left with very little.

However, the Mizugami inheritance doesn't exist out of just direct financial means. A little box is also left to the family, which is supposed to hold a hint pointing to the whereabouts of a buried treasure. The box is cursed though, so the family decides to ask the famous physics professor Ueda Jirou (and his assistant Yamada Naoko) to help them, knowing that he is an authority on debunking the supernatural (and not knowing that he's actually a fairly incompetent detective and quite scared of the supernatural). But the presence of Ueda isn't enough to prevent a series of murders among the Mizugami clan...

Trick has always borrowed a lot from Yokomizo Seishi's Kindaichi Kousuke series (like in the second season pilot), but this special was the most blatant example, probably, as it parodies his masterpiece Inugamike no Ichizoku. The fight for the inheritance, the three daughters, a masked grandson, murders... heck, there are even (multiple pairs of) legs sticking out of a lake (....you'll have to read the book or watch the movies to get that). And just to make it completely clear, the whole story is set in the village of Okomizo.

And I almost died of laughter as I was watching this.

As a mystery story, this special was actually quite good. Sure, the rough outline is based on Inugamike no Ichizoku (and it has some good, original takes on the tropes from the book too!), but the treasure hunt plot is completely original (and also makes the story even more Trick-like) and actually quite good; the hints are laid done very well. There's also a simple locked room murder which on its own might not be very impressive, but as is often with Trick, it's the sum of the parts, the synergy between the seperate parts that really brings out the magic of its plot. Trick stories often consists of multiple murders / seemingly supernatural crimes, usually with fairly simple magic tricks behind them, but it is the way they are sewn together, i.e. how the story is written, that really matters here. And it usually works really well in Trick.

The third TV special is essentially not very different from any other Trick production though. But is that  a bad thing? It's the first Trick production in four years, and we all expect a certain atmosphere from the series and this special delivers precisely that. Like I said, Trick is a playground, and it doesn't really matter if the rough outlines might seem familiar, because it is the way the playground is used that is important. And it never bores me.

In a way, Trick, as a comedy mystery, is something director Tsutsumi Yukihiko had been working towards for a long time. Some characteristics of Trick can be found in his TV drama adaptation of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (musical cues, enigmatic dynamic camera work, light-hearted tone followed by horror/drama) and Keizoku added in rapid-fire dialogues and non-sequitor humor, but it really came together in Trick and you can just see everyone having a great time here. I have been planning to write something on Tsutsumi's detective drama series here for years now, but maybe I'll actually get around to it this year...

Oh, and this was the first time I actually saw the actress Asakura Aki. I know her voice quite well as Kirigamine Ryou from the Houkago wa Mystery to Tomo ni radio drama, so I was quite surprised when I heard a familar voice in the special (and yes, I had trouble getting the mental image of Kirigamine Ryou out of my head).

All in all, a great special, and I look forward to the last movie!

Original Japanese title(s): 『トリック　新作スペシャル３』

「俺を信じろ。君の百倍も千倍も頭の良い俺が言ってるんだ！」

「きさまらのやっていることは、お見通しだ！」

-- 決まった！わたしは、心の中でガッツポーズ。

これからは、これを決め台詞にしよう。

"I've seen through the things you're trying to do!"

-- Got'em!

I struck a Guts pose. I'll use this as my finishing quote from now on.

It takes some time to appreciate some authors somtimes. I for one didn't really like my first Nishimura Kyoutarou novel and I still can't really understand his popularity that well, but his Meitantei series is a surprisingly fun series, which really made me reconsider him. Hayamine Kaoru's first impression was close to horrible too. The volumes of the manga based on his Meitantei Yumemizu Kiyoshirou Jiken Note ("The Case Files of Great Detective Yumemizu Kiyoshirou") were quite awful. His second chance wouldn't be years later.

This year is the 10th anniversary year of the Trick franchise, with the movie Trick: Psychic Battle Royale being the main course. Of course, a series as big as Trick had to be celebrated cross-medium. So it was not only a new movie, but we also got a (fine!) videogame, a spin-off series and a novel. While there had been novelizations of previous series and movies before, this time an original novel was released. And yes, it was written by Hayamine Kaoru. But as I am a blind fanboy, I still bought the book. And just hoped for the best. I mean, Trick already has a great cast of clearly defined characters, so Hayamine could pour all his energy in creating a suitable story and let the characters do everything for him.

But that turned out to be wishful thinking. And it began sort of interesting too. Kaerisorajou no Nazo - Trick Seishunban ("The Mystery of 'the Castle returning to Heaven' -  Trick Youth Chapter) is a prequel and is the very first adventure of self-proclaimed magician beauty Yamada Naoko. High school student. Along with three classmates she's invited by her teacher to her teacher's hometown to witness an ancient and rare odori. The village, far away in the mountains (of course. This is Trick) also holds a secret: long ago a mysterious clan led by the psychic Reihime were in control of this area, with every in fear of them and their powers. However one day, the clan seemed to have offended the gods, as their 'Castle returning to Heaven' suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, together with their treasures. Yet, the town still fears a return of Reihime. Until now it sounds very Trick-like, so that should be good, right? No.

The problem is that is too Trick-like. While I of course want a Trick product to be Trick-like, Hayamine is doing this wrong. Why? Absolutely nothing is original in this book. He writes bits and pieces of Trick-like parts together and I can't even see why they would have needed to ask Hayamine to write this. And Hayamine sticks to the model to a ridiculous extent. While Trick indeed needs both self-proclaimed magician beauty Yamada Naoko and self-proclaimed super physics expert Ueda Jirou to be Trick, it is just plain weird to have them meet in this story, as it is set in the past. Hayamine 'solves' this by saying they did their best to forget each other, but it just doesn't work. This is made even more ridiculous by even having detective Yabe make an appearance, still as patrol-man and not bald yet (he's the type who will get bald fast, everyone comments though). Having 'solved' the problem of getting everyone in the story, Hayamine just ticked off a checklist. Village in the mountain? Check? Legend (involving psychics)? Check. Strange villagers? Check. Gags about Yamada being poor and a bad sleeper? Check. Baldy gags about Yabe? Check. Ueda fainting? Check? Yamada's mother saying writing has mysterious powers? Check. Check. Check.

The only thing Hayamine forgot, was that Trick also has interesting detective-plots. Oh, wait, I guess that was the only part he had to do himself. And I guess my first impression was right. He. Is. Awful. At. That.

While the Trick DS game also got everything on the checklist, the developers at least didn't forget to include an interesting detective plot (and accompanying mechanics!) to actually make it fun. Sadly enough, this novel is only the checklist for making something like Trick. It still needs that something extra to actually make it a genuine fun Trick product.

The good part of the book? I did like the art by Tsuruta Kenji... And I really should watch those last few episodes of Keibuho Yabe Kenzou (Police Lieutenant Yabe Kenzou) to finish all the Trick releases of this year.　

Original Japanese title(s): はやみねかおる　『帰天城の謎 TRICK青春版』

『なぜベストを尽くさないのか』

「時が経つことに怯えて泣いてた変わりゆく人の心に」
 Garnet Crow, 『夢みたあとで』

"Scared of the passing of time and of how people's hearts change, I cried"
Garnet Crow, "After seeing my dream"

Ignoring whether the product is good or not, you'll have to admit that Japanese companies are quite good at cross-marketing their products. When the Detective Conan movie was released, some convenience stores had special Detective Conan promotions, while other chains sold exclusive Conan DVD's. The upcoming Odoru Daisousasen movie is accompanied by a videogame and probably more stuff.

And strangely enough, to promote movies based on television drama, they usually broadcast a special episode, which is nearly as long as the movie they're supposed to be promoting. The previous Trick special was as long as the Trick movie it was supposed to promote, and about the same for the Galileo special and movie. They might as well release two movies. Or two specials.

Anyway, I had seen the awesome Trick movie earlier this week, but the Trick week was still not over as the second Trick TV special was broadcast yesterday. Which was OK. It was definitely a Trick story, even more so than the movie, with a more contained story and less big action scenes. But that was the 'problem' maybe, having seen the grander scale story of the movie, I just couldn't help being somewhat underwhelmed by the special. If I'd seen the movie and the special in reverse order, I would've liked it more. I should've watched it in the special-movie order, I gathered from the dialogue, but that's strange as the movie debuted a week before the special was even broadcast.

And then there was the Trick game for the DS. Having played the horrible, horrible DS game of Galileo, I was kinda weary to purchase this game, until I discovered WorkJam had developed the game, the developer responsible for the current Detective Jinguuji Saburou games. Which are awesome.

So with a relieved heart, I purchased my copy of Trick DS and I am glad I did. As it was truly a fun game. Short, very short, but it was like playing an episode of Trick myself. The dialogue and story, while not written by the original writer, feel like they were lifted out of the series. The music is in fact the same as the series and the game even has the same opening animation. The story progress mimics the Trick tradition perfectly, with lots of problems which are solved one after another in relatively short time, but which together make up one big problem.

And the sleuth system... is actually quite interesting. In my years of gaming, I have seen my share of translating detectives to games. Games like Detective Jinguuji Saburou hardly let you think, but focus on telling a story. A game like Detective Conan - The Mirapolis Investigation tries letting the player deduce the culprit, but fails horribly by being so easy. The Keyword system in Detective Conan & Kindachi Shounen no Jikenbo was OK, but the story progression was not always as good (as well as the Conan-part being longer, but more tedious). The system Trick uses is somewhat similar to the system of the latter game, but a lot more fun.

It works by offering a problem that needs to be solved ("How did the killer get away?"), which can be solved by a combination of key elements (Items, circumstances, location, persons). The cool part is that every time you combine elements, a hypothesis is made. While most hypotheses are just unbelievable, others are at least plausible and thus make you think. You then bring your hypothesis to the confrontation scenes, where you'll have to defend your hypothesis; this being different from the system in Detectve Conan & Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, as you have no idea whether your ideas are correct until you've actually tested them in the confrontations. In terms of difficulty, the system is somewhere near the Gyakuten Saiban system, the latter being more difficult as it does not offer hypotheses, but it's still an interesting system.

Translating detectives to games is not always easy and while I think the Gyakuten Saiban series does it excellently, I'm very content with this system of WorkJam and I really hope to see it more often in their games. I'm also very surprised to see such a fun system in a game based on a drama, but as I'm a big fanboy, I'm just very pleasantly surprised.

Now make me my Furuhata Ninzaburou game, WorkJam. Do it.　

Original Japanese title(s):　『TRICK 新作スペシャル2』、 『TRICK DS版 ～隠し神の棲む館～』、『名探偵コナンと金田一少年の事件簿　めぐり合う二人の名探偵』、『逆転裁判』

「お前のやったことは、ぜんぶ全てスリッとお見通しだ！」

「通信教育で空手を学んでいたんだ」
『トリック』

"I learned karate through correspondence courses."
"Trick"

Having deleted several drafts of this post in a row, I give up on trying to write a comprehensible summary of the Trick franchise. What started out like a comedic detective series is nowadays more a bizarre comedy with detective-elements, but it's still, together with Furuhata Ninzaburou, my favorite Japanese drama. As a detective drama, it's somewhat like Jonathan Creek as it features a magician solving crimes, but that's as far as the comparison goes. Trick is all about comedy, with just a bit left for mystery. You shouldn't even think too much about the mysteries.

What's so difficult to explain about Trick is in fact the bizarre comedy. Besides the 'normal' comedy derived from text and story, the screen is so much an element of Trick's distinctive flavor, with crazy angles, cuts to other scenes and running jokes in the background, it's something you have to see to understand. And this year is the 10th anniversary of the Trick franchise and a new movie was released some days ago. Which I had been looking forward to ever since I saw the trailer.

So using my Ueda-like powers of persuasion, I dragged my own self-proclaimed beautiful and talented magician with me to the theater to see Trick: Psychic Battle Royale. Like the title subtly implies, the story revolves around several (self-proclaimed) psychics who fight for the title of the shaman kamihaeri. Among them are psychics who can not die, psychics who can read the future and psychics who can cast curses. And self-proclaimed magician Yamada, who once again tries to get her hands on money by pretending to be a psychic and as a magician herself, is capable of seeing through the tricks of the other fakes. And the scientist Ueda is of course there to... do stuff. Nothing new here.

Which is good. Trick has never been about doing something completely new, it's about strange people interacting with each other, with a mystery-subplot beneath. And this movie did it the best of all the Trick movies. The mystery subplot was not very impressive and some other stuff have been left unexplained, but that doesn't really matter. Even if you solved the mystery the moment it's shown on screen, you'll still get goosebumps when Yamada points her finger at the culprit to proclaim she has seen through all. Trick is just that awesome.

It is in fact quite amazing the bizarre comedy saves this from being just a casual detective with no redeeming qualities whatsover (yes, I am looking at you, Yonshimai Tanteidan) and actually transforms it in a fantastic series.

Oh, and the tie-in at the end to first episode of the first season? What. Was. That?　

Original Japanese title(s): 『劇場版TRICK 霊能力者バトルロイヤル』