The Laughing Policeman

"Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"

"Candid Camera"

This summer, Nintendo dropped a super eerie teaser video for a new project, which they would announce later on. Never could I have imagined it would be a brand new Famicom Detective Club title: while 2021 brought us Switch remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club, originally released on the Famicom Disk System, I never expected those remakes to do well enough to warrant a new game, especially relatively so soon. 1997's BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako was the latest title in the series and while Satellaview games are not likely to see any remakes,  I had actually sooner expected a remake of the third game, rather than a completely original game. But here we are in 2024, with a new Famicom Detective Club game, released on the Nintendo Switch.

Famicom Detective Club: Emio starts with a call from the police to the Utsugi Detective Agency, as Inspector Kamada is working on a case that might have ties to an old case he worked on in the past, and one Utsugi too knows about. The crime scene is a pumping station outside the town, where Eisuke, a 14-year old middle school student, was found strangled. However, what made this crime scene bizarre was the fact the boy was found with a paper bag covering his head, with a creepy smiling face drawn on it. The unnamed protagonist learns that 18 years ago, there was a serial murder case that followed the same pattern: all the three girls found murdered had been wearing such a paper bag with a smiling face on it. Because the police had kept this detail of those murders a secret, it is not likely it's a mere copycat who's behind Eisuke's death, and the people at the Utsugi Detective Agency are asked to look into the connection between the two cases. When fellow assistant Ayumi hears about the circumstances of the two cases, she's reminded of the urban legend of Emio, the Smiling Man, who looks for crying girls in the night, strangles them and puts a paper bag with a face over their heads. What is the connection between Eisuke's death, the series of murders 18 years ago and the story of Emio?

It probably helps the remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club are relatively recent, but the moment you start with Emio, it feels exactly like a late 80s/early 90s command-based adventure game. The story itself is also still vaguely set in the late eighties like the original games (though with a few time anomalies), though I don't remember seeing something that put this game firmly before or after BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako. Gameplay-wise, there are no real surprises: you use commands to guide the protagonist to for example talk with someone about certain topics, or to show them evidence you have obtained. Bringing up topic X to witness Y might allow you to move to location A to talk with Z about topic X, which leads to another story development. In the original Famicom games, finding the right commands to proceed in the story could be a bit frustrating because sometimes you have to ask a person the same question multiple times or sometimes a story flag is activated by finishing an action that seems completely unrelated, but fortunately, they introduced a QOL change from the Super Famicom remake of Part II where they highlight newly changed commands in the Switch remakes of Part I and II, and it's back again in Emio. And in order to suit modern gaming conventions even more, this gameplay loop is streamlined a lot more than in previous games, often locking you at a location until you have done everything there. I found this a bit disappointing, as it made the game more on rails than the previous games (and it wasn't like the previous games were offering you that much freedom in the first place), but I guess most modern players would find the old adventure conventions too cumbersome. While the 'detective' gameplay is fairly minimal and there's no real difficulty, as in, you can usually just advance in the story by talking to everyone about everything, the story occasionally asks you questions to check whether you have been paying attention, and at times, you have to manually input answers, so it's not a completely passive experience. But all in all, Emio is very similar to the Famicom Detective Club titles preceding it and in that sense it feels like a familiar place. 

On the audio and visual side of things, Emio is developed by the same team that worked on the Switch remakes of Part I and II, retaining the same art direction and once again, the game is fully voiced, which is a nice touch, with Ogata Megumi (Hinata from the Danganronpa games, Kyuu in the Tantei Gakuen Q anime) returning as the protagonist and Minaguchi Yuuko as Ayumi There's even a rather surprising something awaiting you at the very end of the game, something I honestly hadn't expected and it was a very welcome surprise indeed. The game might play like an old Famicom adventure game (though more streamlined), it certainly doesn't look or sound like one, and I mean that in a good way!

As a mystery story though, I think Emio has some nice moments, but for some reason, it didn't quite manage to capture me as much as previous games. With this being the first brand-new title in 35 years, and with all the developments we've seen in those three decades in game storytelling, especially when it comes to mystery games, and the scale of stories, I found it a bit disappointing the story is actually fairly compact in cast and overall scale. And I understand it's intentional, but I had hoped we'd see a 'bigger' world with a larger mystery, rather than the more human drama-focused approach Emio took. While the game starts out promising enough with the creepy circumstances surrounding Eisuke's mysterious death and the ties it might have with the series of murders committed eighteen years ago, as well as the urban legend of Emio, the first half of the game is very slow, with few story developments going on. There are moments where something interesting seems to come, especially when Ayumi first notices the connection between the urban legend and the murders and Utsugi starts musing about how real-life events could have led to the creation of the urban legend, but then Utsugi disappears to investigate this super fascinating 'reality and folklore' angle of the case, while the player is left to do other things. The game didn't have to go full Hayarigami on me, but it was here where I would have hoped that they'd play up both the horror angle of the urban legend, as well as allow you to dig into the rational background behind the urban legend, in a way for example the first Famicom Detective Club partially did with the curse of the Ayashiros: that game of course had the limitations of the hardware, so I had kinda hoped we'd see that fleshed out more here, but Emio intentionally moves away from that. You are mostly talking to a surprisingly small cast about the same topics for a long time but with little new developments: a lot of the dialogue is there to flesh out the characters, but as someone who's more into these games for the mystery, it feels like a lot of the story just moves around the mystery because there's not enough of that. It's only around 70% of the story, it finally feels like things are moving and a lot of that feels unearned: a few of the most crucial hints are obtained from persons who completely coincidentally happen to be in possession of those hints, and whom the narrator just happens to come across by chance. 

For people who are into the human drama behind a mystery story, or for example Higashino Keigo's work, I do think Emio might be exactly what they are looking for. It's the most dramatic Famicom Detective Club to be released, building on themes of previous games like the importance of friendship and family in the wake of tragic deaths, but in a way you wouldn't immediately expect of a Nintendo-published game. On a sidenote: while they did something different with the culprit this time and I can see why people find this memorable, I do have to admit I like the previous culprits more.

Overall though, I am more than grateful we finally got a new Famicom Detective Club after more than 35 years, and while it isn't my favorite one, it's still a very competently developed game that mostly succeeds in presenting itself as an eighties adventure game, while also being a game created for a 2024 audience. In that sense, I think this is a succesful product. Now I hope we finally get that BS Tantei Club remake...

Original Japanese title(s): 『ファミコン探偵倶楽部　笑み男』

The Devouring

"Foaf is a word I invented to stand for 'friend of a friend,' the person to whom so many of these dreadful things I am about to recount happens." 

"It's True, It Happened to a Friend" (Dale, R. 1984)

Not the last review of the year, but probably the last game review!

Following her involvement in the horrifying incident with the serial killer Blindman from urban myths, police detective Houjou Saki was transferred to the police headquarters of G Prefecture in return for her silence on the case. There she was joined by her new partner Sena, a former biker delinquent with a love for urban legend, and the two of them were put in a special unit under direct control of the station's chief. Their task: to investigate and solve murder cases that are related to the supernatural and urban legends. G Prefecture has become the center for the weird and it requires a dedicated unit, with people with an open mind to handle these cases. After the events in the previous game, Saki and Sena were joined by Koutetsu and Shintarou, two elite homicide detectives who are less prone to believe in the supernatural, but through their encounters with Saki and Sena have learned there's definitely *something* lurking in the shadows sometimes. Shin Hayarigami 3 (2021), released on Switch and PS4, picks up where the previous game left us: Saki, Sena, Koutetsu and Shintarou once again tackle five different, bloody cases of mysterious deaths related to urban legends occuring in G Prefecture, from women being strangled by what appears to be the hands of a baby, creepy French antique dolls appearing in spirit photographs, a woman starving to death, but with strands of hair in her stomach and even... people being turned into human stew after dying in bathtubs with reheaters. The question that Saki, and the player, has to ask themselves always is: should we approach this case from a scientific angle, or an occult angle?

Huh, has it been two years already since I reviewed the first two Shin Hayarigami games and the novel? Hayarigami was originally a horror mystery visual novel series released on PSP and PS2, but after a few years of hiatus, the series returned with the reboot Shin Hayarigami in 2014. While it was enjoyable enough as a horror game with an urban legend theme, it didn't feel at all like the original Hayarigami series though. What made the original three games so fun was each episode you could choose what to believe or what to focus on in your investigation, and based on those choices, you'd end up either finding a scientific answer to the happenings, or an occult one. Both routes were worth exploring, answering elements of the mystery not explored in the other route, and even the supernatural routes did have elements of proper mystery fiction, like figuring out supernatural rules etc. Shin Hayarigami however focused much more on the horror aspect of the story, and even the talk about urban legends wasn't as interesting as the earlier games. Shin Hayarigami 2 (2016) was an improvement, returning mostly to the old formula. The way it tried to ignore the events in the first game was almost comical, but the first half of the game was really good, presenting interesting cases based on well known scary urban legends. The second half however was very occult-focused (even in the "scientific" routes), making it feel like there was no split in the scientific and occult routes at all. So Shin Hayarigami 2 felt like it took two steps in the right direction, but at the same time it put one foot back again, as if it was about to retrace it steps. Shin Hayarigami 3 was released this summer, and for the longest time I was slightly hesitant: would it really be able to take the necessary step forward to make it feel like Hayarigami, and not just any horror mystery game?

Luckily, Shin Hayarigami 3 on the whole does feel like another step in the right direction, and it also has a very interesting story choices that tie the three Shin Hayarigami games together more tightly and at the same time, more closely to the original trilogy, but it's not always succesful. That said, if you liked the original Hayarigami games, or Shin Hayarigami 2, I think you'll find a lot to like in Shin Hayarigami 3. The game features an omnibus format, offering five unrelated episodes (+ one bonus episode) where Saki has to investigate very gruesome deaths that invoke certain famous urban legends. In the first episode for example, Saki and Sena are investigating the death of a woman who was found dead in her apartment, but for some reason every single gap in her apartment had been taped off. She was literally in a locked room, but there are definite signs she didn't die of her own will, and other little weird findings like long strands of hair inside the victim's stomach suggest this is exactly the kind of case for Saki and Sena. Other episodes feature murders apparently committed by killer French antique dolls, while the episode about men being found turned into human stew because they died in their bathtub with the reheat function on (meaning the bath will keep on reheating the water at a set temperature) is a deliciously inspired case based on urban legend! It's here where Shin Hayarigami 3 shines, as it not only takes motifs and themes from familiar urban legends to craft alluring cases, but the game also discusses these urban legends in detail. Sena for example is an urban legend geek, and he often retells the urban legends related to their cases, and the player will probably have heard about a few of them from a friend of a friend. Meanwhile, other characters like Kisaragi, head of the Forensic Research Institute, also analyzes these urban myths from a folklore perspective. If you're familiar with the works of Brunvand on urban legends, you have an idea what you can see in Shin Hayarigami 3: not just the retelling of urban legends, but also analyzing where these myths come from or how new variants are born. The way Shin Hayarigami 3 uses urban legends not just as a graphical skin, but really delves into the topic and shows you research is what makes this game so entertaining. Oh, and talking about graphical skins, the game is definitely gory horror at times. The human stew episode even starts with a warning not to play it right after a meal!

Shin Hayarigami 3 follows the same gameplay flow as we saw in Shin Hayarigami 2 and the old series: as you follow the story, you are occasionally presented with "Self-Question" segments, where you ponder about the direction of your investigation. Eventually, each episode will split in either the scientific route or the occult route. That usually means that Saki will focus on one specific aspect of the case in order to solve it. In the human stew case for example, Saki will focus more on the practical "how was it done" question in the scientific route, while in the occult route, Saki decides to focus on certain foreshadowing dreams all the victims had before they died. Both routes usually lead to different conclusions to the case, but you are always encouraged to play through both sides: both sides usually answer questions not answered/glossed over in the other route. That does mean that even in the "scientific" routes, the supernatural will play some role in the events, and vice-versa. Some might not be a fan of this, but I think it works in the context of this series: the supernatural does exist in this world, but it doesn't mean that Saki and Sena can't investigate these cases and for example figure out logically what the rules are behind a certain curse to prevent new victim to die, or some crimes do involve the supernatural, but still need an acting human to actually commit the murders. It is a shame however that the "scientific" route in Shin Hayarigami 3 is often better described as the "science-fiction" route, with pretty out-of-there events being the "logical" explanation for the events. Sometimes it feels like the difference between the scientific route and the occult route is like "it was a ghost, and the ghost used its supernatural powers to kill someone directly" and "it was a ghost, and the ghost used its supernatural powers in a semi-scifi manner to kill someone". But on the other hand, it does result in a few interesting locked room murder situations in this game that, granted, feature absolutely ridiculous solutions, but they do manage to get that sense of "it's definitely silly, but also slightly convincing" that make urban legends so fun to begin with in general, so it works in that context.

I think one of the more interesting episodes was the one about Ryoumen Sukuna. No, not the character from Jujutsu Kaisen. The mythological person mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, the man with two heads and four arms and legs. It's here where we have a story that isn't just about (modern) urban legend, but also about older mythology and the folklore discussed here is really fascinating, while the case itself is also great: Saki and Sena are asked to investigate a threatening note sent to an archeologist who has recently found he mummy of Ryoumen Sukuna with his team inside a series of abandoned mining tunnels. Saki and Sena, as well as other guests have only just arrived inside the tunnels when the entrance caves-in, trapping all of them inside the mining tunnels. Meanwhile, the mummy of Ryoumen Sukuna disappears, and then people start getting killed... The real-time, closed circle environment of this story is pretty new for this series, but the way this story ties back to the original PSP/PS2 games is also fun. The way it weaves old myths from centuries ago with more modern urban legends is also memorable, making for perhaps the highlight of the game, tied together with the human stew story.

The final episode is where the game trips up, as it tries too much in too little time. Whereas the previous game did its best to pretend the first Shin Hayarigami didn't happen, this episode suddenly tries to make meaningful references to it, while at the same time also telling a story about sightings of the dead rising from their graves and also even making links to the old trilogy, but it falls flat in both routes because everything feels rushed. As a mystery story, the final episode doesn't satisfy at all in both routes, and the things it tries to do hardly succeed. It works, at best, as a sequel hook as we are told a few things that are likely to come back in a potential Shin Hayarigami 4, but at lot of these ideas should've been explored in the direct sequel to the first Shin Hayarigami, not in the third installment! And talking about things I didn't like... the new artstyle doesn't work for me. It's a bit cleaner than the previous games, but it simply doesn't feel as unsettling as the previous style. In the previous two Shin Hayarigami games, the art style and character designs managed to convey a feeling of... oppressing dread, but it's a bit too clean now, and doesn't really support the dark, uncanny atmosphere of the game.

But despite my lukewarm reception of the ending, I still enjoyed playing Shin Hayarigami 3 overall, as up to the last episode, it manages to present entertaining cases. As a pure mystery story, the Hayarigami franchise has never been super impressive perhaps, but the way it delves so deep into the theme of urban legends, even from an academic viewpoint, and uses motifs from well-known stories to present alluring murder cases is quite unique and it serves a type of horror mystery you don't really see elsewhere. Shin Hayarigami 3 has a lot of blatant sequel hooks, so I sure hope Shin Hayarigami 4 will be developed in the future, and I hope they managed to keep up the trend of improving on the previous game. Perhaps the next time, I'll even be satisfied with the final episode!

Original (Japanese) title:『真流行り神3』

Dark Night of the Hunters

This happened to a friend of a friend...

This'll probably be the last normal review post of this year!

Houjou Saki is a new graduate from the police academy and as part of her training period before she's officially assigned to a division, Saki has been stationed at a small police box at the station of K City in S Prefecture. Once a thriving industrial city, K City is now slowly transforming into a bed town for nearby Tokyo. After getting complaints from the neighbors about a horrible smell coming from an empty house, Saki and her two senior police officers at the police box go check the building. Inside, they make a horrible discovery: three mutilated bodies of woman wrapped in blue sheets are scattered across the house. It's at the investigation update meeting that Saki learns for the first time that their discovery was just only one in a series: more bodies of women were found lately in empty buildings in K City, all because neighbors complained about the horrible smell of death lingering in the neighborhood. The fact all the victims were horrible tortured with a whip and cut open while alive and the fact all the women are missing body parts, tells the police they're after one and the same culprit. Because the faces of the victims are completely bashed in, their teeth removed and fingerprints burnt off with acid, it's impossible to determine the identity of these women.

What isn't mentioned at the meeting is the curious thing Saki saw when she found the bodies: Saki swears she saw a ghostly apparition in the house a second before she entered the empty building. The figure she saw was a beautiful woman dressed in a white robe, but who for a moment, also seemed to have a skull for a face. While one can guess why Saki's report was ignored by her direct superiors, one person finds it highly interesting: Lieutenant Takahashi Mayako of the Special Patrol Unit of the S Prefectural Police HQ, which usually handles old unsolved cases. Mayako reveals to Saki that thirty years ago, a serial killer active in K City acted with the exact same modus operandi as the current killer. That killer, dubbed the Parts Collector as each of the victims was robbed of a body part, was never caught, but the files mention witnesses who saw the same ghostly apparition Saki saw at the sites where the bodies were found. Mayako is the only one who is convinced there's a direct link between the two cases and has Saki assigned to her as her partner in order to track down the murderer in the novel Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0 Tokoyami no Maria~ ("Shin Hayarigami ~File 0 Maria of the Eternal Darkness~", 2014) by Sayama Misao (pen name of Kushimachi Minato).

After playing and reviewing the two Shin Hayarigami videogames the last few weeks, I learned there of the existence of a spin-off prequel novel, which was released together with the first Shin Hayarigami in 2014. While the first Shin Hayarigami was more of a horror game than the hybrid horror-mystery game the series usually was, I enjoyed the much improved second one a lot, and as I was already in this Shin Hayarigami mood, I decided to dive right away in this novel too. The novel is set one or two years before the first Shin Hayarigami game: Saki is still a rookie patrol cop in her training period. Her meeting with Mayako of the Special Patrol Unit and her experience with the case in this novel would later result in Saki's first official assignment to the Special Patrol Unit and thus get her involved in the Blindman incident. What's funny is that this novel also provides an explanation for a game mechanic. In the Shin Hayarigami games, Saki is a master of "Liar's Art", where she uses sweet talk, threats and any kinds of lies to lure a witness into giving the answers she needs. As a game mechanic, it's pretty frustrating as often you don't know beforehand how a witness will react to the answers you pick, but it's funny how Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0 at a certain point actually provides an origin story to Saki's Liar's Art. I mean, prequel novels often include origin stories of how the gang first met or something like that, but seldom for game mechanic! It's like having a novel that incidentally also reveals how Mario learned how to jump.

As a horror-mystery novel, Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0 strangely enough feels more like classic Hayarigami than the actual game it accompanied. Most of the scenarios in the first Shin Hayarigami were just gorey horror where Saki would always find herself also becoming a partial victim, while Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0, Saki is investigating a case that has some occult nuances to it, without becoming too much a part of it herself, like in the classic Hayarigami games and Shin Hayarigami 2. While the story of Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0 is not split in a scientific and occult route like in those games, the investigation of Saki and Mayako is definitely focused on both these angles. I do think it's kinda a shame that Saki sees a ghost right at the beginning of the story: in the games, even the scientific routes usually contain some supernatural or unexplained element, but that usually only comes near the end. In Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0, the ghostly sighting is basically presented right at the start and accepted as such by Saki and Mayako, which is the opposite of the games, where the unsettling feeling of the supernatural creeps into the story at the very end. While the ghost has no direct effect on the world and most of the investigation would've occured more or less in the same way without the ghost appearing, it's still a bit distracting to have Saki see the ghost multiple times and accept that it's supernatural.

That said, Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0 isn't just about ghosts. Saki and Mayako also perform 'normal' investigative work as they try to track down the serial killer, and this novel was fairly entertaining as a perhaps not remarkable, but okay-ish thriller serial killer story. Don't expect a fair play mystery where you can identify the culprit based on clues beforehand (though I do think this story could've been rewritten to be a bit more fair), but it works fine as a work that focuses on the chase, and the idea of the split in scientific/occult routes of the games is actually represented quite well by the two female senior detectives of this story: Mayako (who believes in the witness sightings of the ghosts) and the forensic expert Hiromi who dismisses all supernatural explanations. The Hayarigami games have always been about urban legends: cases were themed after urban legends, or at times, urban legends would actually be the motive or driving force behind a case. This element is done actually quite well in this novel, even more than how the theme of urban legends was handled in the first Shin Hayarigami. I won't reveal who the "Maria of the Eternal Darkness" in the title is, but this is what I want from Hayarigami! References to and reflections on real-life religion, folklore, and urban legends and juuuust a little bit of an original twist all work together to bring an interesting case is exactly what Hayarigami should do and man, the first Shin Hayaragami would've been so much more enjoyable if it was closer in atmosphere to this novel. The first Shin Hayarigami is a perfectly fine horror game, but Hayarigami shouldn't just be a horror game, but also present an interesting mystery story. The only complaint I have about this particular part of the story that it's not a well-known urban legend/folklore story (certainly not in Japan), but having the characters realize the case is patterned after such a story midway, instead of right at the start also works for this series as a change in formula.

Shin Hayarigami ~ File 0 Tokoyami no Maria~ is not a novel I would recommend to those who haven't played any of the games as on its own, it's an unremarkable thriller, but if you did like either of the Shin Hayarigami games, I'd say this is a pretty solid read. It does a good job at invoking the style and atmosphere of the games in terms of set-up and how urban legends link up with the cases and I also like how you can see how the experiences in this story will eventually shape Saki into the Saki we know from the games (though strangely enough, Saki is much stronger in a fight in the novel than in the games). Play the soundtrack in the background while reading, and you're all set. As far as I know, I have now handled all the story-related content of Shin Hayarigami now, so if I'll return to this series, it'll either be because I've returned to the original Hayarigami series, or because a third Shin Hayarigami game is finally released.

Original Japanese title(s): 『真 流行り神 〜ファイル0 常闇のマリア〜』

Stand and Deliver

"Foaf is a word I invented to stand for 'friend of a friend,' the person to whom so many of these dreadful things I am about to recount happens." 

"It's True, It Happened to a Friend" (Dale, R. 1984)

Huh, few game reviews this year. And you could even say I'm cheating now, as I played a version that bundled two games as one, but I still review them as two seperate releases.

Two years after the horrifying incident involving the serial killer Blindman from urban myths in the village of C in S Prefecture, police detective Houjou Saki is promoted and transferred to the police headquarters of G Prefecture in return for her silence on the case. She is teamed up with a new partner Sena, a former biker delinquent, self-proclaimed 'fastest guy in the world' and lover of urban legends. The new duo is put on a curious series of murders and assaults committed by a woman dressed in a trenchcoat: a kid was killed and dragged across the street, a couple was suddenly attacked by a woman hiding beneath a park bench, a high school student had her ear bitten off and another woman had her leg chopped off on the street. Sena believes there is a pattern: all these attacks remind of famous urban legends involving female assailants, like that of Hikiko (who dragged her victims across the road) and that of the murderer hiding beneath the bed. As they investigate the case further, Saki has to decide whether there's a scientific, rational explanation to these events or that she should accept that there are occult powers at play here in the game Shin Hayarigami 2 (2016), released on PS Vita, PS4 and Switch.

Some weeks ago, I reviewed the game Shin Hayarigami (as part of the Shin Hayarigami 1&2 Pack on the Nintendo Switch), noting it departed far from the formula of the original Hayarigami series to focus more on (gorey) horror, rather than striking a balance between scientific and occult mysteries like the first three games. I am happy to say that Shin Hayarigami 2 is muuuuch better in that regard as it goes back to the formula which made the original games so unique, providing an interesting horror mystery adventure game that delves deep in the theme of urban legends. The story is presented in omnibus (short story) format, with Saki and Sena working on a different case each episode, themed after different urban legends. The stories can be pretty gory: the second story for example starts with the discovery of the body of a middle-aged woman who has been halved. As in, she was cut in half across her length. Sena is a geek on urban legends, so each time, he'll basically lecture Saki/the player on all kinds of urban legends that have to do with the case at hand, and like with most urban legends, many of them will sound kinda familiar to you, almost as if you ever heard it from a friend of a friend of a friend...

As you investigate each case, you are presented with "Self-Question" segments, where you ponder on the direction of your investigation. Eventually, each episode will split in two distinctly different routes: the scientific route or the occult route. This was the defining system of the original games, as having two routes allowed the game to present both a "normal" mystery story, as well as a more supernatural horror story based on the same premise, but the truth was always somewhere in the middle: while both routes usually play out drastically differently, both sides usually answer questions not answered in the other route. In the first chapter for example, you eventually have to decide whether you believe the woman in the trenchcoat is a supernatural being or not. If you choose not, you'll go hunt for 'normal' clues like a motive and the missing link between all the victims, while in the occult route, you try to figure out how the woman in the trenchcoat came into existence. While both routes have very different conclusions to the same basic premise, both sides are worth playing through, as for example the motive becomes a bit clearer in the scientific route, while the occult route helps explain how the woman in the trenchcoat managed to be at the same place at the same time. Shin Hayarigami didn't feature this specific mechanic, but it's luckily revived for Shin Hayarigami 2, and it makes this game really a lot more enjoyable and unique, as you get to enjoy the same base story twice! The somewhat mediocre Liar's Art mechanic where you try get answers from someone by lying to them returns from the first Shin Hayarigami game, and it's still quite mediocre in this game.

Story-wise, the first half of Shin Hayarigami 2 is a lot stronger than the second half though. The first half is basically classic Hayarigami, with the focus on well-known urban myths like the slasher beneath the bed and the ghost of a deceased idol artist appearing during a live broadcast. The split between the scientific and occult routes is also done well, with both sides answering questions from their point of view (scientifically or with a supernatural explanation), but always including an element of the opposite side to help explain some parts (i.e. even the scientific route will feature some element of the occult, and vice-versa). The second half on however, the stories tend to lean a bit too much towards the, well, not supernatural perhaps, but the over-the-top unrealistic and sometimes outright weird aspecs of urban legends. I find Hayarigami at its best when it's slightly supernatural, when most of it can be explained except for that one thing, but the second half of Shin Hayarigami 2 goes much further than that. In a way though, the final two chapters feel even a bit more like the first Shin Hayarigami title, which could sometimes diverge veeeery far from the basic setting. I personally who'd have preferred if they had kept to the style of the first three chapters (and up to an agree, the extra bonus chapter).

Speaking of that, they kinda try to forget the first Shin game ever happened. The first chapter has Saki still dealing with the traumatic experience of the Blindman incident, but nothing specific is mentioned and basically all the characters/setting of the first game are ignored and forgotten in this second game. That said, I'd say Shin Hayarigami 2 is pretty good in terms of going back to the series' roots overall: it is muuuuuuch closer to the original series, with more room for lightheartier moments (the banter between Saki and Sena) and outright weird characters (Kisaragi, the head director of the Forensic Reserch Institute who also happens to be a shrine maiden) and a bit more indepth discussion about urban legends. And while Shin Hayarigami was devoid of any references to the original series, we actually have a few meaningful references to familiar names, like the name of a certain reporter on the occult in the magazine Mu and ooooh boy, I totally saw that other character coming as he spoke more and more, but that was a great way to reintroduce a familiar face.

Overall though, I had a great time with Shin Hayarigami 2. It's a good return to the series' roots in terms of atmosphere and gameplay. For lovers of urban myths, this series is still gold, as it's really fun investigating cases that may have to do with famous urban legends. It's obviously not fair play mystery as each story will involve some element of the occult and supernatural that comes out of nowhere, but I kinda like how this series plays with providing both a scientific and occult conclusion to each story, and especially the first half of Shin Hayarigami 2 does a good job at that. The ending seems to suggest Saki and her team will return in the future, though it's been nearly four years now since this game was originally released, so it is kinda overdue. Anyway, Shin Hayarigami has always been seen as the black sheep of the franchise (as it was more 'just' a horrorgame), which may have kept people away from this second game, but I think that fans of the original games will actually find quite a lot to like in Shin Hayarigami 2.

Original Japanese title(s): 『真流行り神2』

Come Undone

"Foaf is a word I invented to stand for 'friend of a friend,' the person to whom so many of these dreadful things I am about to recount happens."

"It's True, It Happened to a Friend" (Dale, R. 1984)

I really got into the subject of urban legends after playing the original Hayarigami some years ago. The books by Brunvand are really interesting stuff to go through, and I really recommend them to anyone interested in the topic.

Sekimoto Soujirou is a professor in folklore who is being tried for the murder on one of his students. During his trial however, he dropped a bombshell when he claimed to hold information on the bizarre murder case that occured in the small mountain village of C in S Prefecture: a man had been found murdered, both his eyes gouged out with a pair of scissors. Not sure whether to trust the man or not, the higher-ups decide to Sekimoto put under the surveillance of the Special Patrol Unit of C Police Station. The Special Patrol Unit was originally conceived as an investigative unit that didn't focus on one particular type of crime (homicide, robbery etc.) like in the traditional unit division, but as a unit that could act from many angles, but in practice, its members were only doing deskwork, supervising old, unsolved case files. Rookie cop Houjou Saki is the newcomer in the three-manned Special Patrol Unit which is now tasked to see what information they can get out of Sekimoto. Misuzu, Saki's friend from police academy and a forensic medical expert at the prefectural police headquarters, is also temporarily transferred to C Police Station to assist with the case. Sekimoto reveals to Saki that the murder that happened in C Village resembles an urban legend that has spread through the internet as netlore: the myth of Blindman, a serial killer who blinds his victims with a enormous pair of scissors. More murders occur however as Saki tries to find and stop the ghostly serial killer Blindman in the 2014 game Shin Hayarigami, available on PS3, Vita, iOS, Android and Switch.

Many years ago, I reviewed the original Hayarigami. It was a unique horror mystery novel game, where you took up the role of a police officer handling criminal cases like stalkers, which were themed after urban legends like chain mails and table-turning. Throughout each episode, you could choose what to believe or what to focus on in your investigation, and based on those choices, you'd end up either finding a scientific answer to the happenings, or a supernatural one. Both routes were worth exploring, answering elements of the mystery not explored in the other route, but even with the supernatural route in each case, it was still quite enjoyable as a proper mystery adventure. The series stopped temporarily after the third game, but returned in 2014 with the reboot Shin Hayarigami, which handles the same themes as the original series, but with a completely new cast and setting. I played the recent Switch port by the way, which was coupled with the sequel in one package.

Shin Hayarigami has been seen as the black sheep of the franchise since its release and.... I'm afraid I'll have to agree with those sentiments. Mind you, it's not a bad game taken on its own, even if it does has some flaws (which I'll turn to later). But it did lose a lot of what made Hayarigami such an interesting franchise in the first place. The game leans further towards horror now, and is barely a mystery game. The two most important changes are that the story isn't presented in an omnibus format with seperate episodes anymore, and that there are no scientific and supernatural routes. About the first change: after you complete the Blindman scenario, you can go back and redo some of the story choices you made. Some of these will then lead into a branched storyline, something like a parallel world with the same basic cast and setting, but a completely different story. For example, at one point the basic Blindman scenario seems to be proceeding as usual when a zombie outbreak occurs, and everything about Blindman is basically ignored, as the story shifts to one of the cast trying survive the zombie attack. Characters can act differently or even have completely different backstories depending on where the story branched. These scenarios are of course all horror stories, with a link with urban legends like zombie pandemics, government conspiracy theories, killer insects and more. The game is also very gory, with horrible murders and other visceral deaths that aren't for the faint of heart. As a horror game, I was quite amused by Shin Hayarigami actually.

While making a wrong choice during such a scenario can still result in a game over, each story is more-or-less linear, because there's no distinction between a rational and occult explanation to the scenarios anymore. So whereas the original Hayarigami series would always provide a (partial) rational conclusion to the case, as well as a supernatural one, Shin Hayarigami loses this aspect, and the scenarios that feature the occult really are about supernatural beings as ghosts and curses, whereas the original series would at least provide psychological or partially scientific explanations. The stories presented here are mostly just panic horror, and grotesque horror at that too. Only a few of the episodes feature elements closer to the mystery genre, like the serial killer scenario Blindman (which is obviously about an investigation into a series of horrible murders), and two or three other scenarios where there's some kind of puzzle plot element like figuring out how a (real) curse was implemented. But the main focus of the game is definitely visual horror, which makes it quite different from the original series. I was actually not sure whether I would review this game for the blog as it's barely a mystery game, but the second Shin Hayarigami is supposed to be closer to the original series, so I'm now writing this review in anticipation/hopes the sequel is better.

Shin Hayarigami also introduced a new mechanic called Liar's Art, where Saki needs to lie to or sweet-talk her conversation partner to gain information in order to progress the story. This is a pretty horrible new mechanic, because you only have limited time to select one out of four answers, and you never know what the reaction will be to your answer, as there's almost never a clear link between the two. You're always just guessing and hoping that the vague answer you chose will lead to the right reaction. These segments can be pretty long, forcing you to answer like five times though each and every time, you have no idea what your answer is going to lead to. In a mystery game, you want to have a certain logic between action-reaction, or at the very least, a clearly defined question when you're asked to answer, but that's not the case here.

The urban legend aspect of the game is also a bit weaker this time. Blindman of the main scenario isn't a 'real' urban legend anyway, but one created for this game. The other scenarios do involve more familar urban legends like snuff films and the notion of "a lingering smell of death". Like in the original games, these urban legends are also discussed somewhat, though it's done a bit more casually in this game: with a character like Sekimoto, an expert on urban legends, you'd expect a bit more talking about urban legends, but this game seems more focused on making Saki (the player) part of the urban legends.

That last sentence is perhaps what really emphasizes the horror aspect of Shin Hayarigami that sets its apart from the original series. Horrible things will happen to Saki personally and the people around her in each and every scenario, making her experience the horror rather than investigating seemingly ocult cases. In the end, I don't think Shin Hayarigami is a really horrible game despite some design flaws (the visual atmosphere and music are great by the way!), but it's quite different from what we've grown to expect of the series and the result is a horror game that works fine as one, but where the mystery solving aspect of the series has been reduced to almost nothing. As said, the sequel is supposed to be closer to the original series (reintroducing the split in scientific/occult routes) so I hope that one's better.

Original Japanese title(s):『真 流行り神』

Lie, Lie, Lie

"The truth is out there"

"The X-Files"

Hey, have you heard about Steel Lady Nanase? The stories of a ghost who carries a steel beam and attacks people around Makurazaka City? They say she's the ghost of the idol Nanase Karin. Never heard of her? Well, she wasn't a household name yet, but she was getting there. She was smart, calculating and that chest of hers! Anyway, she was doing fine until her father died. The two of them, they didn't get along, and there were even rumors he hadn't fallen off the stairs, but that she pushed him. The press was all over her, so she took a break from work to get away from those pesky journalists. Stayed in one city for a few days, then to another, etcetera. Until she arrived in Makaruzaka. One evening, she had snuck into a construction site, when a pile of steel beams fell on her, crushing her face and killing her instantly! And after a while, people started talking. That her ghost still lingered around to avenge her death. That her death was not natural, as she didn't even try to protect herself from the falling beams. She's supposed to be dressed like in her idol days, wearing a mini skirt and a ribbon in her hair, but also swinging a heavy steel beam around at anyone she sees...

Rookie cop Saki of course didn't really believe the rumors of Steel Lady Nanase, but when she heard from a fellow detective that lately, more and more incidents occured in town where people seem to refer to a being that might be Steel Lady Nanase, her interests were piqued, and she agreed to help him out in his investigation. In most of these incidents, like a horrible car accident, the involved eventually gave other excuses for what happened, but strangely enough, it seems their initial, and perhaps most honest reactions were to say they were attacked by Steel Lady Nanase. One night however, Saki herself is confronted with Steel Lady Nanase, and to her shock, she learns that Steel Lady Nanase is really a ghost. And a terrifyingly strong one too, who is growing more powerful by the night. The only ones who can stop Steel Lady Nanase from causing more destruction and eventually perhaps even kill somebody, turn out to be Saki's ex, Sakuragawa Kurou and Kurou's current girlfriend Iwanaga Kotoko, a young girl with a baret and a walking stick. Both Kurou and Kotoko are more than mere humans, falling right in the gap between normal humans and the supernatural. Despite's Kotoko petty and arrogant attitude at times, she is respected and worshipped as the Diety of Knowledge by the various supernatural beings that exist, who count on her wisdom to help her out. Usually, their requests are pretty minor, but now the local ghosts, monsters and other youkai need Kotoko's help to defeat Steel Lady Nanase, who is completely out of control and attacking everyone, humans and other supernatural beings alike. Saki learns from Kotoko that Steel Lady Nanase is an actual product of people's imagination: it's the belief in the urban legend of Steel Lady Nanase that created her and gave her this tremendous power, so the only way to defeat Steel Lady Nanase is to create an even more elaborate urban legend, an even fancier lie that disproves Steel Lady's Nanase's existence for people to believe in, even if she does really exist now. This seemingly contradictional problem lies at the heart of Shirodaira Kyou's 2011 novel Kyokou Suiri, which also carries the English title Invented Inference.

You ever decide to quickly read something because you knew an adaptation was coming? The original novel first caught my eye when in 2012, I was a member of the Kyoto University Mystery Club and one of the scheduled bookclub sessions was about this book (I didn't participate then). The title seemed so weird, yet alluring. Later I learned there was also a manga adaptation, which is being published in the United States with the title In/Spectre and then I heard last year that in January 2020, an anime series based on this novel would start. So I decided to quickly read the novel before the anime adaptation would start. Shirodaira Kyou, whom I knew from the manga mystery series Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna, was quite busy preparing for the upcoming hype of the anime series it seems, as both a short story collection and a second novel were published late 2018 and 2019.

Anyway, this is obviously a supernatural mystery: both Kotoko and Kurou have extraordinary powers and can even communicate with supernatural beings like the ghost of the dead, and in fact, early on Kotoko reveals to Saki that Nanase Karin really did just die in an accident and that she wasn't murdered or anything like that, and she can prove that because she has an actual witness to Karin's death: a ghost of a construction worker who had died at that site. So much for a mystery story, you might think, if ghosts can tell you who did or did not kill someone, but that's of course a rather small-minded way to think of a mystery story. Invented Inference is really fun to read, because it's built on a supernatural theme, leading to a type of mystery that is actually quite familiar to veteran mystery readers.

The genius angle with which this novel is written is that Steel Lady Nanase is a ghost that is powered by the belief in her urban legend: because of the internet, modern urban myths can spread with abnormal speed, diffusing a consistent image across the country shared by all readers. This has made Steel Lady Nanase a very powerful ghost in a short time, while in the old days, this process would've taken decades, and it was likely the urban myth would already be forgotten in the meantime. One way to defeat Steel Lady Nanase would be to disprove the urban legend, but as we all know, people like to believe in ghost stories, urban muths and conspiracy theories. Thus Kotoko explains the only way to defeat Steel Lady Nanase, to weaken the belief in her, is to create a new story, which proves there's no such thing as Steel Lady Nanase. But it has to be a story that people want to believe over the story of Steel Lady Nanase, it has to be wackier, more alluring, more worthwhile believing, while at the same time this new story has to be believable and logical. Coming up with a story based completely on lies is easy, but if holes are poked in your new story, then nobody is going to believe it, so it has to be a plausible story too. And thus we have the title: Kotoko has to come up with a completely fictional deduction, an invented inference, that will explain all the incidents that happened across Makurazaka City the last few weeks, including the sightings of Steel Lady Nanase and the enigmatic death of the idol Nanase Karin, an explanation is not only plausible and based on the real facts of the case, but also one that will not create an even worse monster.

The concept of having to come up with what is basically an elaborate lie is really fantastic and touches upon the fundamentals of mystery fiction. For do we really read mystery fiction to find out the truth? No, we read mystery fiction because we like fiction, because we want to hear a story that is plausible and logically based on the facts presented, but also a story that is entertaining, a story you want to believe in, something to amuse you. That is exactly what Kotoko has to do here, and the way she builds up her fake, but plausible deduction is really a sight to see as she skilfully mixes up all kinds of small elements from the urban myth to create her own new (completely fabricated) urban myth. The device of fake solutions of course reminds of writers like Christianna Brand and Anthony Berkeley, who often had the characters in their novels propose false solutions. But the difference is that in Invented Inference, the false solution is not a concept meant to divert you from the truth: the false solution is the goal. In this story, you already have the story of a poor idol who died tragically and is now haunting the city as a ghost swinging a steel beam around, and now the reader and Kotoko have to think of an explanation that is acceptable, based on the facts as far as they are publicly known and most importantly, one that is more entertaining than an actual vengeful ghost story. It's the last condition which makes Invented Inference so original because it's easy coming up with evidence or explanations that there are no ghosts, but people are more willing to believe the more interesting story. Truth is sometimes weirder than fiction, but in this novel, fiction needs to be more entertaining than the truth. The existence of supernatural beings in the world of the novel also doesn't interfere with the fair play element of the mystery, as the story's about creating a new urban myth based on the facts: people's beliefs in Steel Lady Nanase are strengthened by the real incidents she causes, but talking about other supernatural beings in a potential new urban myth is less likely to be accepted unless it has facts to back it up.

I already mentioned this first novel already saw two sequels this last year or so. It was no surprise sequels would follow, as these first novel is also clearly set in a much larger world, with more characters that will be explored more indepth in other stories. Invented Inference is a standalone story, but there's still plenty of questions left unanswered about the characters at the end of the tale.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Kyokou Suiri/Invented Inference, as it took a very original, and seemingly contradictionary approach to telling a mystery plot. The unconventional story setting and disinterest in truth makes this an entertaining read, while at the same time it does make you think, what is it really that makes you want to read a mystery novel. It's pretty light-hearted novel actually, and with the comedic bickering between the characters, surprisingly action-packed narrative and all the supernatural themes going, one might be inclined to think this is also a very light mystery, but at the core it actually addresses a core theme of the whole mystery genre in a way few dare. I might try the anime in January too.

Original Japanese title(s):  城平京『虚構推理』

Friend of a Friend (FOAF)

永遠なんて言葉は苦しくて

明日を謳うことが出来ないよ

静かに眠れるその日が来たのなら

遠い過去ともサヨナラ出来る…でしょう?

「Phantom」 (村田あゆみ)

The word forever is too painful

I can't even talk about tomorrow

But when the day I can sleep silently comes

I will also be able to say goodbye to the faraway past.... right?

"Phantom" (Murata Ayumi)

And as I was writing this post, I wondered, what are some of the better known urban legends in mystery fiction? I don't mean urban legends in mystery fiction, but urban legends about novels / writers et cetera. I have to be honest and I can't think of any at the moment, though I am pretty sure they exists... (and if I am told one now, I'd probably go "oh yeah, I heard that one...")

I heard this from a friend of a friend... you know the Metropolitan Police Department? That building in Tokyo? Well, I was told that there is a secret fifth basement floor. Oh you have heard about that? So you know about the rumors, about dead people having appeared there, and about the voices coming from the rooms? But I bet ya you hadn't heard that on the fifth basement floor, in the Police Historical Archives room, there is a secret police unit working! Well, working isn't the right word, maybe. I heard the higher-ups assigned two policemen to the Police Historical Archives, who have no idea about the truth behind their unit, but they are assigned to cases that seem to be connected to urban legends, supernatural powers and all that is occult. What, there is no thing as the occult? Maybe you're right. Maybe there's a logical explanation for the strange cases in Hayarigami Keishichou Kaii Jiken File ("Hayarigami - MPD's Occult Case Files").

Hayarigami is a sound novel game series, like Kamaitachi no Yoru and 428. For those not familiar with the concept; the story is presented to the player through plain text (accompanied with background images and music), and the player is occasionally forced to make choices, that influence the flow of the story. In short, choose-your-own-adventure books, but in game form. In Hayarigami, you take the role of Lieutenant Kazami of the Police Historical Archives, making the correct decisions in order to unreveal the truth behind the seemingly occult cases. Make the wrong decisions, and the case might go unsolved forever. There are three Hayarigami games, with the first being available on PS2, PSP, DS and even iOS. 

The interesting thing to Hayarigami is that you have two distinct ways of tackling the case; scientific or supernatural. As every case is connected to urban legends and other occult phenomena, one can choose to actually believe in the supernatural (i.e. make choices that show you're open to supernatural explanations), and the case will unfold in a way that poses that occult powers were responsible for the incident. Choose the scientific route, and the case will unfold in a way that poses a rational explanation to the events. And so every story basically gives you two solutions, one that fits a classic, rational detective model, one that fits ghost stories. But they're actually both interesting to go through, and it actually pays to go through both the scientific and supernatural routes, because the routes complement each other, each filling in the little gaps of the other route.

The cases are fun, though a bit short. They all deal with (Japanese) urban legends like Kokkuri-san and cursed chain mails and through the dialogues and such, you actually learn a lot not just about their contents, but also about urban legends as a field in folklore and social studies. I've already mentioned in the reviews of Norizuki Rintarou's Toshi Densetsu Puzzle and Kyougoku Natsuhiko's Hyakki Yakou series (amongst others), I'd always had an interest in urban legends, but playing Hayarigami has really made more interested in the material, and I have found myself going through Brunvand's books on the topic for example.

Of course, myths/(urban) legends and ghost stories have always been a part of mystery fiction, but most of them use and refer to them as simply a background story ("the man was killed in an impossible way, just like in that ghost story I just told you"). Hayarigami (but also Kyougoku's novels on youkai for example) does that too, but also discusses these constructs in the context of folklore and other social studies, how urban legends come to existence, how they evolve and how they are used in a wide variety of ways. It's also why Hayarigami as a game, promoting both a supernatural and a scientific mode at the same time, works without feeling too shizophrenic or contradictory: for a supernatural object, can be used in a rational way. It shows that communication, thoughts and memes can be used in mystery fiction, which is something I'd like to see much more.

As a game, Hayarigami is sadly enough not nearly as long as something like Kamaitachi no Yoru (which has an amazing number of bonus scenarios). Yes, you can basically go through each scenario twice (and there are two bonus scenarios), but it's still a relatively short game. The sound and art direction are top notch though; especially the art is doing a great job in conveying a slightly unsettling atmoshere.

For those interested in (Japanese) urban legends, Hayarigami Keishichou Kaii Jiken File is a great way to start. It is a bit short and might only present a small selection of urban legends, but the way the material is handled is great and bound to pique your interest in the study of urban legends. As mystery fiction, Hayarigami is also fun, providing slightly creepy stories that may or may not have a supernatural tone to them. It all depends on what you choose to believe.

Original Japanese title(s): 『流行り神 PORTABLE　警視庁怪異事件ファイル』

「結」の章

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around.", G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy"

Norizuki Rintarou is an author who has been discussed quite often by now, so I won't bother to introduce him. Even people who can't read Japanese have had a chance to read his work, as his price-winning Toshi Densetsu Puzzle has been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine as An Urban Legend Puzzle in the Passport to Crime series. An Urban Legend Puzzle was also my first experience with Norizuki and I have been a great fan of his work ever since. Ellery Queen readers really should at least try this Japanese Queen, as the Norizuki Rintarou stories parallel the Queen stories quite closely.

I especially like Norizuki Rintarou's short story collections, where many of the best short stories of the new orthodox school can be found. I've discussed the first collection, Norizuki Rintarou no Bouken ("The Adventures of Norizuki Rintarou") before, and I might re-read Norizuki Rintarou no Shinbouken ("The New Adventures of Ellery Queen") for a review in the future, but the topic for today the third short story collection, Norizuki Rintarou no Kouseki ("The Exploits of Norizuki Rintarou"). Yes, that title not based on an Ellery Queen novel, but on the Conan Doyle/Carr Holmes pastiche.

And I've actually already discussed two of the five stories in this collection already. Equal Y no Higeki ("Equal Tragedy of Y") was originally written for the anthology Y no Higeki ("The Tragedy of Y"), while ABCD Houimou ("The ABCD Line") was an original story for the anthology ABC Satsujin Jiken ("The ABC Murders"). So I refer to those reviews for more about those two stories.

And while those two stories were obviously written with a certain theme in mind, it seems Chuugoku Kagyuu no Nazo ("The Chinese Snail Mystery") wasn't, according to the afterword. Even if the reader would think otherwise. Anyway, the Queenish title is no coincidence, because what did Norizuki Rintarou discover when they finally broke open the office room of the famous detective writer Kanuma? A room where everything was upside down. Chairs, the desk, the computer, all upside down. And a piece of rope attached to the floor with a loose in it. Kanuma, who should have been in the office, is found hanging from the ceiling in the room beneath the office. Yes, it's Norizuki's take on Queen's locked room The Chinese Orange Mystery. But with a definite snail theme. I've learned more about snails and how they reproduce and stuff than I would ever want to know. In Japanese. But as Norizuki says himself in the afterword, locked rooms are not his forte and while Chuugoku Kagyuu no Nazo isn't really a bad story, it certainly isn't a very strong story either.

Both Toshi Densetsu Puzzle (An Urban Legend Puzzle) and Ishindenshin ("Tacit Understanding and Hanging") follow the same set-up, which is a parallel of how Ellery and Inspector Queen work. In both stories Chief Inspector Norizuki asks his son to help him with some case he is working on and by analyzing the facts and discussing the case, Rintarou arrives at the truth. This armchair/consulting detective model is one I especially like (c.f. the Puzzle Club stories by Ellery Queen) and actually one of the reasons why I prefer short stories (this model doesn't work really well in long stories).

Toshi Densetsu Puzzle is a story, that in my eyes, does almost everything great. The theme of the story, urban legends is a very interesting one and just like with Chuugoku Kagyuu no Nazo, Norizuki gives quite a bit of interesting background information on the theme. The story also proceeds at a nice pace and is just done almost perfect. The one negative point is that the trick of the story can be seen through almost immediately if you are not taken in by the blind spot Norizuki is trying to create. The writer himself confesses it's a rather easy story, but this is overall a great story.

The setup of Ishindenshin is the same, but the story itself is not as interesting. Chief Inspector Norizuki has trouble figuring out a murder on a young woman, who had been hanged in her room in order to make it look like suicide. Working through the many strange points of the case, father and son finally arrive at the truth, but is it a good one? The motive (in particular, the way the motive was set up) was one I hadn't seen before and it was distinctly modern, so I wasn't really prepared for it. A certain leap of thought had to be made if you're not familiar with a certain field, which I didn't really like. I think the main problem was a very sound and interesting one, so maybe I would've liked this story if I actually knew *that* existed.

But Norizuki Rintarou's exploits were overall quite interesting. I am a little disappointed with the lack of bibliophilia this time and most stories seem too strongly connected to other, major works, so it lacks a bit of its own identity compared to the previous collections, but still a solid work that shows that orthodox detectives are still very much alive in this world.　

Original Japanes title(s): 法月綸太郎　『法月綸太郎の功績』/「イコールYの悲劇」/「中国蝸牛の謎」/「都市伝説パズル」/「ABCD包囲網」//「縊心伝心」