Dream's End

コワレユクようにながい夢みたあとで

「夢みたあとで」 （Garnet Crow）

After a long dream that made me feel like I was breaking apart...

"After the Dream" (Garnet Crow)

It's been years since I was so disappointed by a book...

G series  
1) φ wa Kowareta ne - Path Connected φ Broke
2) θ wa Asonde Kureta yo - Another Playmate θ
3) τ ni Naru Made Matte - Please Stay Until τ 
4) ε Ni Chikatte - Swearing on Solemn ε 
5) λ Ni Ha Ga Nai - λ Has No Teeth
6) η Na No Ni Yume No You - Dreamily in Spite of η.

At first, the dead man hanging from a high tree on the grounds of a shinto shrine appeared to be nothing more than a case of suicide. A strange case of suicide, sure, but still suicide. What was so peculiar about the victim's death was that he was hanging from a tree more then ten meters high. Which meant he must've climbed all the way up there to hang himself. But as there were no clues of a third party being involved, it appears it must be a suicide. The discovery of an ema plaque with the message "Dreamily in spite of η" changes everything though, as the students belonging to Assistant-Professor Kunieda's architecture research lab have been running into several mysterious murder cases that involve Greek letters. With more of these highly suspicious suicides happening one after another, the group tries to figure out why these deaths are happening in Mori Hiroshi's η Na No Ni Yume No You (2007), which also carries the English title Dreamily in Spite of η.

η Na No Ni Yume No You is the sixth novel in Mori's G series, which is named after the G in "Greek" letters that play a big role in each of the books. The series is written as one continous, ongoing storyline: each of the books feature a mystery that is solved over the course of that volume, but many questions, for example involving motives, are left unanswered at the end of each book, as they carry over to the next book. By now, we've learned that some sort of sect that is active on the internet forms the connection to the various books in this series, and that they use Greek letters, but that's basically all we know at this point, and each book provides more questions than answers. That means each individual volume feels incomplete and unsatisfying, I'm afraid, as crucial plot points are left untouched each time, and it's also not adviced to start in the middle of the series, as there are many references to previous cases and characters. η Na No Ni Yume No You is no exception to this.

In fact, I'd say η Na No Ni Yume No You is by far the worst book up until now. For while the previous books at least had fairly interesting core mystery plots that do get solved within the book (even if a lot of the why is left unexplained), this book's core plot can hardly be called a detective story! In the first chapter we're told about the seemingly odd suicide, which still has some alluring points, but this gets pushed back to the background for most of the book, only to be dragged up again for a split second near the end of the book. The proposed truth behind the case is absolutely ridiculous for a detective story, completely devoid of any hinting or build up. Given that previous books at least had a decent, if barren, mystery plot ( λ Ni Ha Ga Nai for example had a good mystery plot), it's inexplicable why η Na No Ni Yume No You's plot is so.... I can't even call it simple, because it's *simple* per se. The problem that this is in no way a plot that could be considered a fair tale of mystery, even if it purports to be so. The so-called mystery plot is nothing more than a device for the characters to have a conversation, and basically forgotten until a "solution" is proposed (not proven) that is basically an insult to the reader's time.

About eighty percent of the book is dedicated to a lot of talking between the various characters, of which there are a lot. Mori writes a lot of different series, but they are all connected, and the G series features characters from all those series. Saikawa and Moe from the S&M/The Perfect Insider series for example are basically still protagonists in the G series, with as much page-time as the three students that are supposed to be the main characters of this series. But we also get several guest characters from the V series. In fact, these cameos have never been as bad as in this novel, with not only references to earlier books in the G series, but also to the S&M and V series, making it very hard to follow for those not familiar with those Mori series. To be honest, I'm not that well-versed in the Mori-world myself, having only read a few of the books or seen some of the TV drama adaptations, and η Na No Ni Yume No You was a pretty vexing reading experience. Instead of focusing on the (meager) mystery plot, η Na No Ni Yume No You was (probably) trying to move the story forward, by connecting all those various series together, but the result was 1) a meager story that can't even be called a mystery story, 2) the protagonists of the G series basically pushed off-screen in favor of the characters from the previous series, 3) a confusing mid-section where the characters are busy talking about various events from other series that may or may not have any connection to the main storyline of the G series. Example: we are told in-depth about the airplane accident that killed Moe's parents again, even though it is an event that is connected to the S&M/The Perfect Insider series (the first book in the S&M series basically starts with a mention of the acccident), with no direct connection to the main case of η Na No Ni Yume No You.

There's actually little I can add to the above. η Na No Ni Yume No You is simply not a genuine mystery novel, and the whole narrative is convoluted because of the many characters from various of Mori's series talking about events that aren't even part of the G series. The result is a book that, in theory, is probably about tying all the series firmly together, but in practice is just a disappointing mess.

Original Japanese title(s):　森博嗣　『ηなのに夢のよう』

Le Triangle d'or

さよならさえ伝えられなくて

それでも僕は今日此処を出てゆくよ

また素敵な誰かに会えるかな

気まぐれで自由な暮らし僕は野良猫

「Nora」（Garnet Crow）

We haven't said goodbye,

But still I will leave here today

Maybe I will come across a wonderful person again one day

I live on a whim and in freedom, I am a stray cat

"Nora" (Garnet Crow)

I usually try to post reviews of TV productions soon after their broadcast and often have to shuffle with my posting schedule because of that. I make an exception for this review though: this particular special was broadcast early this year, but as I only watched some months after that, and because it was related to some other reviews that were already scheduled, I decided to just put this review at the end of the queue, rather than shuffling and puzzling with the schedule.

The first murder happened three years ago. A young girl of eleven was strangled with a tie wrap on June 6th. Exactly one year later, a woman of twenty-two was murdered under the same circumstances. And last year, a female policewoman was too strangled on June 6th. She was thirty-three when she died. 11. 22. 33. All on 6/6. The police still has no clue who is behind the "doubles murders", but the wealthy Odawara Shizue has a suspicion she is going to be next: not ony is she going to turn 44 on June 6th, she also got a threatening letters accompanied with newspaper articles on the "doubles murders". She hires the private detective Horokusa Junpei, one of the tenants in an apartment building she owns, who is to protect her during her birthday party. The operation goes wrong though, and Shizue is found strangled with tie wrap in her study. The problem however is that she was the only person seen to have gone inside the room, which was locked from the inside. Helping Horokusa investigate the case is Cezaimaru Venico, an impoverished heiress of one of the most important families of the past and previous inhabitant of Odawara Shizue's mansion. And so begins her first adventure as a detective in the TV drama Cezaimaru Venico no Jikenbo ~Kureneko no Sankaku~ ("The Case Book of Cezaimaru Venico ~The Triangle on the Black Cat~").

Cezaimaru Venico no Jikenbo ~Kureneko no Sankaku~ is a TV special broadcast in February, 2015, based on Mori Hiroshi's 1999 novel Kuroneko no Sankaku (The Triangle of the Black Cat"), which also bears the English subtitle Delta in the Darkness. The book is also the first novel in his ten-volume V series, starring Cezaimaru Venico. Note that Sezaimaru Beniko would be a more usual spelling of her name: she however prefers the Cezaimaru Venico spelling and it is the V of her name that titled her series the V series.

It might also be interesting to note that the V series is connected to Mori Hiroshi's S&M series (review of the TV drama is here), even though the V series is set probably about a decade (or two) before the S&M series. In fact, most of Mori Hiroshi's series are connected, some more obvious than others. Even the 100 Years series, which is a science-fiction mystery in a future with androids, is set in the same world as the S&M and V series. I've been delving a bit into the S&M series and the sequel G series of late, so I figured I might as well take a look at this special.

And I was quite disappointed. The premise of a The ABC Murders-esque serial murderer, coupled with a locked room, sounds interesting, right? Well, the locked room murder is of the kind that may only be used if the author has thought of a very original and radical variation, because it is one of the most well-known, simple and first things you'd come up with when the words "locked room" are mentioned. It is Locked Room 101 material and no, Mori Hiroshi did not manage to breath new life into it. It's still the same old thing and anyone will probably recognize it for what it is right away (and immediately guess who the murderer is, by the way). The story continues with more death, but again it's the kind of murders we've seen for more than a century.

More emphasis is laid on the describing the motive behind the murder. It is the kind of some-what philosophical talk we also know of the S&M series, which can be quite an opinion-divider. On one hand, it is more interesting than "I needed the money!", but on the other hand, when people start to talk about the beauty of death and murder and stuff, or what it means to be human or start monologues on other philosophical motives for murders, I feel these scenes (and motives) don't always feel as convincing as the author thinks they do.

Also, I find the characters of this story a bit predictable. A large cast of various characters, including scientists, a well-connected heiress and students that work together and all contribute a little to solving the mystery? Yeah, we already saw that in the S&M series. The V series predates the G series, but the G series also features a private detective in an apartment building who hires students as his assistants. Like I mentioned, I've been reading the G series lately, so I had an enormeous feeling of deja vu as I watched this TV special.

Though I have to say: I've seldom seen a middle-aged, divorced woman with a child as a detective protagonist before.

Though still, I wouldn't recommend Cezaimaru Venico no Jikenbo ~Kureneko no Sankaku~. It's a predicatable detective TV special like you can see practically everyday in the afternoon on Japanese TV (based on own experience, I'd say that's not even that big an exaggeration). If you want to see Mori Hiroshi's work on TV, you might as well watch Subete ga F ni Naru.

Original Japanese title(s): 森博嗣（原）『瀬在丸紅子の事件簿～黒猫の三角～』