Two Points to Murder

「私は、その男の写真を三葉、見たことがある。」

『人間失格』

"I have seen three photographs of that man."

"No Longer Human"

When Yokomizo Seishi's fictional detective Kindaichi Kousuke first appeared in the excellent locked room murder mystery Honjin Satsujin Jiken (1946), we learned that the young man with the chaotic hair and his shabby, hakama appearance had already gone through a lot on his life. He had left Japan for the United States some years ago, where he got addicted to drugs, but eventually got his life back on the rails in San Francisco. There Kindaichi helped a Japanese tourist, who had been a suspect in a murder case, by solving the mystery himself, and so Kindaichi decided to become a private detective when he returned to Japan. After Honjin Satsujin Jiken, which was set in 1937, Kindaichi would get drafted and sent abroad as a private in the Japanese army and he miraculously made it back in one piece, though his friend Chimata didn't make it, setting off the events of Gokumontou (1947). After that, Kindaichi would pick up his work as a private detective again, solving many cases all across the country. Quite a few of these cases involved horrible serial murders involving complex human relations, generations-long family fueds and hate-filled plots for vengeance.

It was in 1953 that Kindaichi's longest case would start, and it would take him twenty years to solve it! Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie ("The House of Hanging on Hospital Hill", 1978) starts with Kindaichi being hired as a private detective in two related cases involving the old Hougen General Hospital and the adjoining Hougen residence on Hospital Hill in Tokyo's Minato-ku. The hospital and Hougen residence were mostly lost during the bomb raids of World War II, leaving only the ruins of the place that gave the hill its name. Kindaichi is hired by Hougen Yayoi, who is the last of the Hougen bloodline together with her granddaughter Yukari. Yukari has been kidnapped by someone who wants to take revenge on the Hougen family, and Yayoi wants Kindaichi to find her granddaughter. Meanwhile, Kindaichi is also hired by Honjou Naokichi, son of Tokubee of the Honjou Photograph Studio. A few days ago, Naokichi was hired to take some wedding pictures, but to his great surprise, he was led to the old abandoned ruins of the Hougen residence. There Naokichi had to take pictures of a suspicious bearded man as the groom and his apparently drugged bride, which made Naokichi feel very uneasy about the whole deal. Naokichi tried to go to the police, but as there was no evidence something had happened, Inspector Todoroki sent Naokichi to his old friend Kindaichi, who he figured would be better suited for this job.

The detective realizes his two cases must be related due to the Hougen connection, but to his great shock, the case seems to run into a stop when one night, the decapitated head of the bearded man is discovered inside the Hougen residence, hanging from the ceiling. While there is a suspect for this murder, Kindaichi does not manage to wrap the case up as all the leads run cold. Twenty years later, in 1973, this case suddenly starts to come back to life after the demise of Honjou Tokubee of the Honjou Photograph Studio. Someone is apparently after the life of Naokichi, who has now taken over the Photograph Studio, so Kindaichi and Todoroki, who has quit the police and is now running his own detective agency, try to protect the man, but fail, and it seems that this new murder is connected to the deheading case twenty years ago. Kindaichi failed to solve this case in 1953, but can he finally put an end to it all?

In 2013, I reviewed the 1979 film adaptation of this book, directed by Ichikawa Kon and starring Ishizaka Kouji as Kindaichi Kousuke. I've actually owned the two volumes of this book for much longer than that: I think I bought my volumes in 2012, but after I saw the film, I didn't really bother to read the book anymore, though I knew that there were quite some differences between the film and the original book. The most important one being that the two-decade time skip doesn't exist in the film. The original book consists of two volumes: the first set in 1953, and the second in 1973, but the film greatly simplifies the events of the second volume to smoothen out the plot of the film, with everything happening in one go. In the timeline of the novels, Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie is the very last case Kindaichi solves (Akuryoutou was published after, but set chronologically before this novel), and the novel actually carries the subtitle "The Final Case of Kindaichi Kousuke". In the film, Kindaichi has already decided he'll go the United States at the beginning of the film, tired of the tragedy he comes across in his line of work, but in the novel, Kindaichi only decides to travel to the United States after he manages to solve the case, and none of his friends would ever hear from him again (it's not like Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo ever really cared about the original Kindaichi Kousuke besides using him as something like brand name, but I don't think they ever explained when Kousuke returned to Japan...)

When you pick up a Yokomizo novel, or specifically a Kindaichi novel, there's a good chance you'll be treated to a complex family tree. Like I mentioned in the introduction, complex family feuds and other interpersonal relations usually lie at the heart of the tragedy in these stories, and often, the plot revolves around insanely complex relations between the various characters, which serve as the motive. Inugamike no Ichizoku for example is all about who will inherit, while Gokumontou, well, you have to read it. Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie is not only the longest novel in the Kindaichi Kousuke series, it also features one of the most complex family trees in the whole series. In fact, the film adaptation greatly simplified it (leaving out an entire generation, making Yayoi Yukari's mother) and it was still difficult to comprehend, which is actually mentioned in the film itself by Kindaichi and his film-original assistant Mokutarou. The first chapter is in fact just a retelling of the family tree of the Hougen (and the in-law Igarashi) clan and this can be a bit tiring, as it does really require the reader to pay attention. For people not into this, I really can't recommend this novel.

The core mystery plot can basically be split in two: the 1953 deheading case and the 1973 murder on Naokichi (and more). The film adaptation focuses mostly on the first case and is relatively faithful to the original novel. It's kinda hard to deduce for yourself why the bearded man was decapitated and then hung from the ceiling, but Yokomizo plays a trick here that I think makes more of a direct impression in the film, but the extended runtime of the novel (especially with the two-decade jump) also gives this idea something really extra. The way it ties back to the family tree is great though, especially as it really motivates why some characters acted the way they did. The events of the second volume are greatly simplified in the film and in fact, the film and the novel feature a different culprit! The basic premise of both versions is similar, but it's obvious that the simplified plot of the film could never have justified the original culprit. I think both versions work in their own way (especially as they place the focus on other aspects of the tale). The novel's second volume is basically a mystery story on its own, that uses the events of the first volume as a motive for the happenings in this volume, and it works reasonably well. Several of the characters who were barely shown in the film get a lot more attention here. The murderer uses a certain alibi trick here for the murder of Naokichi, that Kindaichi reveals as having its origin in one of Yokomizo's other novels, which is pretty funny. Another interesting point is that Kindachi actually manages to protect quite a few potential victims in this second volume. Kindaichi Kousuke, and grandson Hajime, have a pretty spotty record when it comes to saving people, so it was kinda funny to see Kindaichi succeeding mostly in that. Overall though, the focus of the mystery plot does lie on figuring out how each person is really connected to another, so it's a very character-based mystery.

As the final Kindaichi Kousuke story, there are a lot of cameos and references to some of the secondary cast. Several police inspectors who have helped Kindaichi in the past in both the novels and the short stories appear, as well as other minor characters like boss Kazama (Kindaichi's old friend, patron and the one who introduced him to Hougen Yayoi) and the informant-like Tamon Shuu (who in the film is more-or-less replaced by the film-original Mokutarou). Yokomizo Seishi also features greatly in the story, trying to solve the case himself (he also appears in the film adaptation playing himself in the prologue and epilogue). It's obvious that Yokomizo really intended this to be the ultimate story of Kindaichi with both the length and scale of this mystery, as well as with all these references.

I would not rate Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie to be among the best of the Kindaichi Kousuke novels: a lot it does has been done in other Kindaichi novels and while the scale of this story is definitely impressive, the core plot of who is doing what for what reason is surprisingly simple. The core event that ties the 1953 and 1973 events do have a better lasting impression in the novel than in the film, though it does work quite well in the film too, I think. But even if it's not a top grade Kindaichi, I think it's a capably-constructed mystery that works as the very last adventure of Kindaichi Kousuke.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史『病院坂の首縊りの家』

Ladies and Gentlemen

「いや、海外の推理小説のみならず、わたしじしんがそういう事件を扱ったことがありますよ。そのときはその地方に昔からつたわってる、手マリ唄のとおりに殺人が起こったんですがね」

「わっ、スゲエ！そいじゃ、先生、日本の殺人事件もオレが考えてるより案外進歩してんですね」

 『白と黒』

"Oh, that doesn't only happen in foreign mystery novels you know. I myself have handled a case exactly like that. Murders happening precisely according to the lyrics of a handball song that had been passed on for ages in that region."

"Wow! That means that the murders here in Japan are far more progressive than I thought!"

"White or Black"

When you think of Yokomizo Seishi's detective Kindaichi Kousuke, you think of a man dressed in a traditional hakama who solves the most grotesque serial murders committed in small villages and other closed-off communities, often with a connection to old, local traditions or legends, or long-time feuds between clans. Kindaichi Kousuke's stories stand symbol for the old Japan trying to survive in post-war Japan, for the type of rural community that still holds on to the old beliefs and traditions that is quickly dying out in the face of the post-war Japanese economic miracle. The most famous of Kindaichi's adventures, like The Inugami Clan, Gokumontou and Akuma no Temariuta all deal with settings that feel outdated in the new Japan, but that are also undeniably brimming with what made the Japanese community what it was in the first place.

Yokomizo Seishi's Shiro to Kuro ("White or Black", 1974) is therefore a very strange reading experience for long-time fans, as it has Kindaichi Kousuke tackle the new type of community of Japan, quite unlike the communities of old Japan: apartment complexes. The brand new Hinode Apartment Complex is a fine example of how it's nothing at all like the old villages in Japan: while you still have a large number of people living in close proximity, individualism reigns here: people haven't lived their whole life there, but have moved from all kinds of places from Japan to this apartment complex in Tokyo; everyone has their own apartment which is completely closed off from the other occupants of the building once locked; nobody really "lives" here, as most people don't work inside the complex, but elsewhere in Tokyo and only return to the Hinode Apartment Complex to sleep.

Junko is one of the occupants of Building No. 18 of this twenty-building large apartment complex, and also an old acquaintance of Kindaichi Kousuke, as she used to work in a bar which he and Inspector Todoroki frequented. It's the help of Kindaichi she needs, as of late, poison pen letters that start with "Ladies and Gentlemen" have been going around in the Hinode Apartment Complex, which has already led to an fortunately unsuccesful attempt at suicide. Junko wants Kindaichi to find out who's writing these vile letters, but their talk isn't even over when across the street, in an apartment building that is still under construction, a dead body is found, of which the face is completely covered by tar! Construction workers were busy finishing the roof of the building, when they noticed they were leaking hot tar right into the trash chute of the building, and to their surprise a body of a woman had been dumped at the trash site, who got all the tar over her face. Going off by her clothes, it seems the victim is Katagiri Tsuneko, the proprieter of a tailor's in a shopping arcade next to the apartment complex and actually the person whom Junko suspected to be the writer of the poison pen letters, but a scrap of paper with the mysterious words "White or Black" found in Tsuneko's home shows she too was a recipient of a poison pen letter, and it might actually be the reason she was murdered.

Shiro to Kuro is one of the last Kindaichi Kousuke novels (only followed by Akuryoutou and Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie) and as said, feels very much unlike other entries in this series due to its undeniably modern setting. We do see Kindaichi work often in Tokyo and other urban settings in the short stories, but the default location for the Kindaichi of the novels remains the somewhat outdated rural community, so having Kindaichi work on a murder inside an apartment complex inside Tokyo is fresh, to say the least. Even the way the body was found is surprisingly "modern"! For we've definitely had our share of mutilated bodies in the past stories, like decapitations, burnt faces, bodies thrown upside down into a lake, bodies crushed beneath a shrine bell and more, but to use the tar of a construction site to cover up a face? The "closed community" setting and the horrible state of the discovered body is undeniably Kindaichi Kousuke's territory, but Yokomizo really succeeds in making these familiar tropes feel eerily different by use of the new, modern urban setting instead of the old-fashioned, rural setting. In that sense, I'd say that Shiro to Kuro is an excellent example of "reimagining" or "modernizing" the series.

That said though, I have to admit that the start of this novel was perhaps the best part, with especially the middle part a bit dragging in my opinion. The narrative of the middle part is mostly made up by following several of the inhabitants of the Hinode Apartment Complex, who all suspect each other of being the poison pen writer and/or the murderer of Tsuneko, and while it can be somewhat entertaining reading up on all these characters, it's also a very slow part, with few worthwhile revelations and a lot of repetition. You'll be reading about character A for example, who bumps into B, and then we follow B, but the narrative repeats things about B even though we were already told about that in A's narrative, and then the same with C, etc. Personally, I'd have preferred reading more about Kindaichi's investigation, especially as several matters regarding the investigation are hardly addressed in this middle part, even though you know it's probably going to be important to the solution. For example: the identity of the victim. Not only Kindaichi and the police, but almost everybody involved is funnily enough aware than you should never take a faceless body for granted in a mystery story, so everyone raises the question where the victim is really Tsuneko or not. It's a very important question, as the unrecognizable victim is an often-used trope in Yokomizo's work, and he seems to be aware that the reader is aware of that too. But as the middle part does not focus on Kindaichi or the police, you find out little about their efforts into establishing the identity of the victim then, even though it's a question that keeps nagging you from the very beginning of the book.

The final solution offers an okay, even if not particularly awe-inspiring explanation for the tarred face. The explanation to the murder and the poison pen letters is basically something Yokomizo likes to use a lot in his novels, and it works... well, not incredibly convincing here to be honest. It works, yes, but a bit more tangible clues for the reader, instead of convenient late witnesses who just happen to remember something at arbitrary points would've made for a more satisfying mystery story as one can't deny it feels like a lot of coincidence. Which can work in a mystery novel, but it can be very easy to rely too much on coincidence to construct "mysterious circumstances" to baffle the reader, and Yokomizo is running the borderline here. The mysterious words "White or black" found on the scrap of the torn-up poison pen letter Tsuneko received turns out to be a vital clue to the identity of the murderer by the way, but no way someone from this generation is going to figure that out. It might've been a viable clue for readers back in 1974, but even then it wasn't widespread knowledge I think, and when the contemporary reader arrives at Kindaichi's interpretation of the phrase, they'll not even go "oh yeah, I heard about that", but "yeah, never heard about that".

Shiro to Kuro thus starts off as an interesting, more modern take on the classic Kindaichi Kousuke story structure, set in the new closed community of the post-war economic miracle Japan, but with a mystery plot that is recognizable for long-time Kindaichi fans. The main problem for this novel is that there are plenty of other Kindaichi Kousuke novels that pull off similar ideas much better, so there is little going for this novel besides the, admittedly, inspired setting.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史『白と黒』

The Melody of Death

「悪魔ここに誕生す 」

『悪魔が来りて笛を吹く』

"Here the devil was born."

"The Devil Comes Playing The Flute"

It's really weird to see actors you only know from one, specific role playing someone completely different. The only drama I've seen with Yoshioka was the excellent Dr. Coto's Clinic TV drama series where he played the titular Dr. Coto. I watched those series like ten years ago, so it was weird to see him in a very different role now.

Yokomizo Seishi's Kindaichi Kousuke is arguably Japan's greatest fictional detective in literature, and there have been more than a few adaptations of his adventures ever since his debut in 1946's Honjin Satsujin Jiken. Two years ago, NHK (Japan's national public broadcasting station) produced an excellent TV special adaptation of Gokumontou, starring Hasegawa Hiroki as the famous detective dressed in a shabby hakama and a hat. Some months back, it was announced that NHK would produce the follow-up TV special, though interestingly, this second special featured a different lead as Kindaichi Kousuke: apparently the concept is that they will cast a new Kindaichi each time, to fit the atmosphere of the specific work and the script. On July 28th, 2018, Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku ("("The Devil Comes Playing The Flute") was broadcast on NHK Premium, starring Yoshioka Hidetaka as private detective Kindaichi Kousuke. Kindaichi is asked by Tsubaki Mineko to investigate the circumstances of her father's death, Viscount Tsubaki. The viscount was the prime suspect in the so-called Tengin Poisoning Case several months ago (based on the real Teigin Case, also featured in Ellery Queen's International Case Book), but the viscount was able to prove his innocence. However, the viscount decided to commit suicide some months afterwards, leaving a message to his daughter that "the shame is too much for him to bear and warning her for the devil who comes playing the flute." But even after his death, family members claim to have seen him hanging around the house playing his flute music, so it is decided they will hold a seance to see if he's really dead. Kindaichi is invited to watch the seance, which ends abruptly when a mysterious mark dubbed the Mark of the Devil appears on the seance table and the Viscount's flute arrangement "The Devil Comes Playing The Flute" suddenly resounds throughout the mansion. This is just a prologue for the tragedy though, as the following day, former Count Tamamushi (Mineko's great uncle) is found murdered in the seance room, and it appears this was a locked room murder!

The novel of Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku was originally released in 1973, and I have to admit I have a soft spot for it, as it was in fact the very first Kindaichi Kousuke novel I read in Japanese (I had read the English translation of Inugamike no Ichizoku before). The works ranks as one of Yokomizo's better known works and it has been adapted for both the silver and the small screen several times, though the most recent adaptation before this 2018 one dates from eleven years ago already.

I praised 2016's Gokumontou as a faithful adaptation of the source material. To be honest, I am not sure what to think of this adaptation of Akuma ga Kitarie Fue wo Fuku. On one hand, it has incorporated some of the very small details of the original novel, which is something I really appreciate. On the other hand, the ending has some extremely drastic changes that really transform the work into something different, and personally, I didn't like the direction of this final act of the special, so I am quite torn. As a mystery story however, both the special and the original novel focus on the why and who, rather than the how. Most of the murders featured in this novel could've been committed by anyone, and for example the trick behind the locked room murder is not particularly original nor surprising. The emphasis thus lies in the motive behind the murders, and this is tied directly to the insanely complex relations between the various characters in this story. The initial situation within the Tsubaki mansion isn't simple on its own, with Viscount Tsubaki and his family, the family of his wife's brother, as well as her uncle (and lover) all living together, but as Kindaichi starts to dig around to see what Viscount Tsubaki's last words might have meant, he starts to uncover that few of the people in the house are what they seem to be, and what he finds is almost grotesque. The story thus focuses on figuring out the deranged backstories of the various characters, which does lead to a rather slow TV special, as very little happens and it's mostly Kindaichi having a conversation with someone else.

This TV special really went all-out going into the dark aspects of this story though, even changing some story elements in the denouement just to make it even heavier on the heart. As a portrait of how unhinged people can become and how it can lead to murder, Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku does more than a good job, but this focus on human psychology does mean the mystery-solving itself feels less important. While there's an interesting clue that points directly towards the identity of the killer, most of the very long denouement is spent on Kindaichi hesitating whether he should tell everyone his shocking findings, and the reactions of everybody on his revealings. For people into motives, Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku will probably be a very satisfying special, as man, it's unique. This does explain why Yoshioka was cast as Kindaichi for this special. Yoshioka plays a somewhat older Kindaichi than previous ones, as judged from his graying hairs, but the human warmth and gentleness of his Kindaichi is what really saves this special from becoming far too heavy and I couldn't imagine Hasegawa's Kindaichi to have given the proper counterbalance to the atmosphere of this special. I do find it a shame that the original ending was changed quite drastically, as I felt the original novel at least showed some light at the end of the tunnel. I did like how the very final scene in the special manage to salvage one part of the original ending, when Kindaichi realizes that he could've guessed the identity of the murderer right from the start thanks to a clue that has been presented to the viewer right all throughout the special.

Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku is a very atmospheric TV special, resulting in a work that really explores the dark aspects of the original novel. This dark feeling is luckily countered by a new Kindaichi Kousuke who brings something unique, but some of the plot changes were only made to make this a heavier story, despite it already being a dark story from the start, so this special ends on a really depressive note, something I think wasn't necessary per se. At the very least, it is obvious that NHK is willing to approach each of these Kindaichi Kousuke adaptations in completely different manners, so it'll be interesting to see how their next adaptation will turn out (which is heavily hinted to be Yatsu Haka Mura). At any rate, I'll be sure to watch that one too, as despite the story changes, I do think this was an adaptation worth watching.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史（原）『悪魔が来たりて笛を吹く』

Identity Crisis

「このカクテルの名はXYZ―つまりもう後がないということさ」

『シティーハンター』

"The name of this cocktail is XYZ... In other words, the end of the line."

"City Hunter"

I adore the covers for Yokomizo Seishi's novels for publisher Kadokawa. They were all done by Sugimoto Ichibun, and really capture the creepy atmosphere often found in Yokomizo's novels. Though to be honest, today's book wasn't that creepy.

Mikoshiba Susumu might still be young, but he has already made a name for himself as the "Detective Kid", for his help in solving various crimes. When he's not out solving crimes though, our Detective Kid also has earn a living (as he lives alone with his older sister), which he does at a local newspaper as an assistant. However, he often finds himself on the trail of crime while doing his odd jobs for the newspaper, and many of these cases involve Phantom Thief X・Y・Z, a notorious gentleman-thief and expert in disguise whose only virtue is that he has never taken a life during the execution of his crimes. See how the Detective Kid fares against X・Y・Z in the three stories collected in Yokomizo Seishi's Kaitou X・Y・Z ("Phantom Thief X・Y・Z", 1984).

Yokomizo Seishi is of course best known for his Kindaichi Kousuke series, arguably the quintessential fictional Japanese detective, as Kindaichi, who is always dressed in a hakama, goes around solving crimes especially in rural postwar Japan, within small communities where old traditions still reign. Yokomizo started out as an editor for no-one less as Edogawa Rampo before World War II, and he had also written some mystery stories himself, but he really made it big right after the war with the phenomenal Honjin Satsujin Jiken, the first novel starring Kindaichi Kousuke, and he'd mostly stick with writing Kindaichi afterwards, which feature bloody murders and horrifying scenes.

Kaitou X・Y・Z however is interestingly a juvenile mystery. The three stories collected in this volume were originally published in 1960~1961 and are only a small selection from the Mikoshiba Susumu/Detective Kid stories. The comparison with Edogawa Rampo's Shounen Tantei Dan is one which presents itself immediately of course. Rampo's iconic series was also a juvenile mystery novel series, starring a young detective solving cases involving a phantom thief obviously inspired by Arsène Lupin. In reality though, the comparison stops here, as Rampo and Yokomizo do very different things with this premise.

The most important difference is that in Rampo's series, the Fiend with Twenty Faces is really an evil person. Sure, he doesn't like to kill, but he's still a rather dastardly thief who is clearly the nemesis of both young detective Kobayashi and his mentor the great detective Akechi Kogorou. He has to be evil, because we know from other novels that Akechi and Kobayashi are good. Yokomizo's Phantom Thief X・Y・Z on the other hand is very much modeled after Arsène Lupin, the gentleman-thief. In his appearances in the stories featured in this book, X・Y・Z actually does very little crime. The stories are told from the point of view of Mikoshiba Susumu/Detective Kid, so he always looks at X・Y・Z as his enemy, but X・Y・Z actually helps the Detective Kid a lot during his investigations, as X・Y・Z is never the true culprit behind the story. The result is actually very odd. X・Y・Z acts like Arsène Lupin, as a true hero character helping others while doing some light crimes, but as the story is told from the Detective Kid's point, the narrative is always saying what an evil thief he is, even though he just totally saved Detective Kid's life and all. X・Y・Z is a very sympathetic character, but for some reason he's not made the protagonist. And by the way, the Detective Kid is okay, but certainly not a brilliant detective. The true hero of these tales is definitely X・Y・Z. In Rampo's stories, Akechi served as the 'safety net' and responsible adult who would take care of Kobayashi if things got too dangerous, but in these stories, it's actually X・Y・Z himself who plays the same role in regards to the Detective Kid, as they (unknowingly to the Detective Kid) work together to find the real culprits.

I'm not going to discuss the three stories in this volume in detail, as they are quite simple in set-up and execution.  All three stories, Kieta Kaitou ("The Disappearing Phantom Thief"), Nazo no Juuendama ("The Mysterious 10 Yen Coin") and Daikinkai ("Gold Bullions") basically follow the same structure: The Detective Kid is sent on some assignment by his newspaper, he comes across some murder, finds a clue that proves X・Y・Z is involved, X・Y・Z helps the Detective Kid a couple of times on the way with or withous his knowledge, and finally the murderer is caught. I guess some of the premises are interesting, like Nazo no Juuendama starting with a scene with somebody trying very hard to obtain a ten yen coin in the possession of the Detective Kid (something like an everyday life mystery), but even as juvenile mysteries, I'd say these stories are rather simple.

Interesting is the world of the Detective Kid though. The Detective Kid is working at the same newspaper as Mitsugi Shunsuke, a journalist whom I first met as the assistant of Yuri Rintarou, another detective created by Yokomizo Seishi. Mitsugi is featured in all the three stories, helping the Detective Kid in his investigations (and also acts his boss, as the Detective Kid is supposed to be his assistant). Another familiar face who appears in all three stories is Inspector Todoroki, who often cooperates with Kindaichi Kousuke in his investigations. So it's here where we see that there is actually a kind of Yokomizo World, where characters like Kindaichi Kousuke, Yuri Rintarou, Mitsugi Shunsuke, the Detective Kid and X・Y・Z all live together. I hope someday, there'll be a drama not only of Kindaichi Kousuke, but of this whole extended Yokomizo World.

Anyway, as a juvenile mystery, Kaitou X・Y・Z is nothing special, to be honest. The three stories are very simple, and also a bit confusing as the true hero of the stories is portrayed (clumsily) as an antagonist. As a note in Yokomizo Seishi's bibliograpy though, I do find this an interesting read, both as the notion of a juvenile mystery written by someone I really do not associate with the genre, as well as a work that connects the worlds of different series by Yokomizo together. Try it if you're very interested in Yokomizo's work.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史　『怪盗X・Y・Z』:　「消えた怪盗」 / 「なぞの十円玉」 / 「大金塊 」

Deep Blue Island

「備中笠岡から南へ七里、瀬戸内海のほぼなかほど、そこはちょうど岡山県と広島県と香川県の、三つの県の境にあたっているが、そこに周囲二里ばかりの小島があり、その名を獄門島とよぶ」 

『獄門島』

 "Seven ri south of Bicchuu Kasaoka, around the middle of the Seto Inland Sea, about where the three prefectures Okayama, Hiroshima and Kagawa meet, there is a small island barely two ri wide and its name is Prison Gate Island"
"Prison Gate Island" 

I don't think I will write a seperate review for it, but lately, I've been watching the Japanese drama IQ246 (which is running this season). It's a Sherlock Holmes-inspired inverted mystery series starring Oda Yuuji as the highly eccentric, but undeniably genius aristocrat Houmonji Sharaku (Oda is best known on this blog as the actor of Aoshima in classic police procedural drama comedy Odorou Daisousasen/Bayside Shakedown). To be honest, the plots are not especially innovative, and there have been many, many comments on the voice Oda chose for his character, but still, both production values and fairly funny characters make it a pleasant watch each week.But now to today's topic, which is also a television production.

Yokomizo Seishi's detective Kindaichi Kousuke first appeared in 1946's Honjin Satsujin Jiken, one of the classics of locked room murder mysteries in Japanese fiction. The second appearance of the somewhat shy, but brilliant detective who always wears an worn-down hakama is in Gokumontou ("Prison Gate Island"), which was serialized between 1947-1948, and first published as a standalone release in 1971. Gokumontou is the most respected Japanese mystery novel. It ranked first in both the original Tozai Mystery Best 100 of 1985, and the more recent one dating from 2013 (both lists were compiled through votes by mystery writers, critics and other mystery-related persons and institutions). It is a brilliant book with atmosphere that mixes elements of Japanese culture with the 'Western' puzzle plot in a surprising way, that is undoubtely a work of its time, but can be enjoyed even now. There is no English translation of the book available, though I think there's a Spanish one. There have also been several adaptations of this classic: I reviewed the 1977 film in the past already, but there have been more film, and TV adaptations.

It had been a while since the last adaptation though, so NHK broadcast the newest adaptation of Gokumontou on November 19th, 2016. The story itself is set in 1946, right after World War II. Kindaichi Kousuke was a private detective before the war, but like most young men in the country, he was forced to join the army. Kindaichi made it out alive, but Kitou Chimata, a war buddy, sadly enough passed away during his repatriation. Kindaichi travels to Prison Gate Island, the home island of Chimata to inform his family of Chimata's demise. Prison Gate Island, located in the Seto Inland Sea, used to be the final destination for convicted criminals, but is now a small, secluded fishing community led by the Kitou Main Family. Chimata was the heir to the family, so the impact of his death is much more than Kindaichi can imagine. Kindaichi is however not only on the island to recover, as Chimata had suggested to him, but also stop a crime. In his dying breaths, Chimata said his sisters would die if he wouldn't make it back home. Kindaichi tries to figure out what Chimata meant with that, but it doesn't take long for Chimata's words to come true: one by one, Chimata's sisters are killed in the most gruesome manners. Why are the sisters killed? And why did Chimata know this would happen? Kindaichi has seen many deaths in the war, but never ever has he seen something as horrible like this.

I already wrote a bit more on the details of the story, and how it relates to often-used tropes in Yokomizo Seishi's novels in my review of the 1977 film, so I recommend reading that too for more background information (or: I'm not even going to try to come up with something new on the story, because I'm sure I'll just repeat myself).

A while back, I reviewed a drama based on Norizuki Rintarou's Ichi no Higeki ("The Tragedy of One"), starring Hasegawa Hiroki as the mystery writer Rintarou. I think it was announced just before that special aired that Hasegawa would also play Kindaichi Kousuke in NHK's Gokumontou. Obviously, this was quite surprising, as that meant that Hasegawa would play the lead in two mystery novel adaptations in a relatively short period. I myself had never seen something with Hasegawa before, but I really liked his take on Rintarou, so I was looking forward to Gokumontou.

NHK's Gokumontou is a very faithful adaptation of the original novel. And yes, it's not always a given that an adaptation is loyal to the original work (see also: the more recent Tommy & Tuppence adaptations), but there's a bit of a curse on Gokumontou, actually. For example, I reviewed the 1977 film in the past, which was enjoyable, but which featured an original conclusion. Why? A four-part TV adaptation was broadcast earlier the same year, so a new ending was written so even people who had read the original novel, or seen the TV adaptation could go to the theaters without knowing whodunit. The marketing campaign even had writer Yokomizo Seishi saying he confessing he didn't know who the murderer was. Another problem is that a certain, major hint to the solution in the book involves language that is considered inappropriate for TV broadcast, which means a lot of the older adaptations had to rewritten. These issues however do not pop up in NHK's Gokumontou adaptation, and the result is a very faithful adaptation that does its job fairly well in the two-hour runtime (at times, it does feel a bit rushed, but a single two-hour adaptation is of course already quite lengthy). As a mystery story, Gokumontou is still fantastic, and it shows in this special.

Hasegawa Hiroki as Kindaichi Kousuke was, in a word, interesting. I think the first thing that caught my attention was his relatively high voice, compared to other major Kindaichi Kousuke actors. Ishizaka Kouji (of the Ichikawa Kon films) and Furuya Ikkou (actor who played Kindaichi Kousuke for severa decades on TV) both had relatively low voices, as did voice-actor Kamiya Akira (the original Mouri Kogorou of Detective Conan) in the cassette tape dramas. Hasegawa's Kindaichi is quite open, like Furuya's Kindaichi, but can act fairly frustrated at times: I think this is the first Kindaichi Kousuke adaptation I've seen where you can actually see that Kindaichi Kousuke fought in the war. You don't see this aspect of his life appear prominently, like with Lord Peter's trauma, but especially near the ending, you see a side to the character no other actor has really shown before in adaptations, so I think Hasegawa's was quite memorable.

The choice of music however was horrible. Modern rock music as the theme song? For a story set in 1946 just after the war in a rural, closed community?

But in short: Gokumontou was a good, faithful adaptation of one of Japan's most beloved mystery novels that still managed to be surprising at times in regards to the acting. The special ends with a direct reference to Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku ("The Devil Comes, Playing the Flute"), which is actually the first Yokomizo I read in Japanese, so let's hope more of these specials starring Hasegawa will follow!

Original Japanese title(s):横溝正史（原）　『獄門島』

I Am Misanthropos

孤独や弱気だとか押し寄せる夜に忘れ咲き

 『忘れ咲き』 (Garnet Crow)

On nights when loneliness and weakness advance on me, these feelings bloom again

"Wasurezaki" (Garnet Crow)

A True Story: most of the reviews posted between the first of April and... July were written in the two last days of March. I have written and squeezed in a few reviews in the schedule after my sudden writing binge back then, but most of the reviews had to wait a long time, or still have to wait for publication. Today's review in particular has had it rough: I have delayed this post at least three times! I have also rewritten this introduction at least four times!

Otsukotsu Sanshirou invites his fellow university professor Shiina Hajime for a short trip to Shinshuu, seeing the latter seems a bit on edge lately. They have a pleasant stay at a small inn run by Yumi and her uncle. But all the pleasantness might just be an illusion, because Shiina suspects the people of the inn are desperately trying to conceal the fact one more person is present at the inn. And there's more: Otsukotsu and Shiina also see a mysterious, yet beautiful young man standing near the inn, with frightening, deadly eyes. The one comfort Shiina has is that his old friend Kindaichi Kousuke, the famous private detective, also happens to be staying in the neighbourhood. And then one night, Otsukotsu and Shiina are awakened by Yumi's scream, who was attacked by the mysterious young man Otsukotsu and Shiina had seen; her uncle didn't survive the attack. She reveals a shocking truth about Shinjurou, the young man, who had been brought up by her twisted, revenge-filled uncle as a cruel murderer. Shinjurou however has escaped and gone wild, and thirsty for more blood in the TV adaptation of Yokomizo Seishi's Shinjurou.

Shinjurou is a four part serial in the TV series Yokomizo Seishi II, which was based on the Kindaichi Kousuke novels. It starred Furuya Ikkou as the shoddy detective, giving his own unique interpretation of the character: Ishizaka Kouji may have given the definitive version of Kindaichi Kousuke in the Ichikawa Kon directed movies, but Furuya Ikkou's Kindaichi was also highly enjoyable, and Furuya is also the actor who has played Kindaichi most often, and over the longest time of period (first with the two original Yokomizo Seishi series in 1977-78, and then irregularly in the Great Detective Kindaichi Kousuke series from 1983-2005).

 

As a story, Shinjurou is what you'd expect from a Yokomizo Seishi. It's a parade of familiar tropes, from creepy old women to murders commited in caves, from the decapitations to dark, twisted family secrets and relations, from the setting in a small village somewhere (though the story does move to Tokyo) to pretty much every woman appearing in the story being beautiful, there's little surprising here if you have read more Yokomizo Seishi. But the story-elements are strung together nicely and I actually quite enjoyed the show, even if I had a sense of deja vu.

The story does feel a bit different from other Kindaichi Kousuke stories, in the sense we're following the mad murderer Shinjurou, instead of doing a 'normal' murder investigation. In that sense, this story is a bit closer to Edogawa Rampo stories, which often featured highly 'visible' murderers who carried whole novels on their own through their heineous crimes, like the Black Lizard, the Blind Beast, the Golden Mask, the Human Panther, the Space Monster (another reason why I think Rampo's Shounen Tantei Dan should do a crossover with Scooby-Doo!).

The funny thing though, the original novel of Shinjurou does not actually feature Kindaichi Kousuke. Shinjurou was published originally in 1936-1937, ten years before Kindaichi Kousuke would make his first appearance in Honjin Satsujin Jiken. Instead, he novel starred the amateur detective Yuri Rintarou, whom I have previously met in the excellent Chouchou Satsujin Jiken: Yuri however has disappeared from the minds of most readers, as Yokomizo Seishi's later novels, starring Kindaichi Kousuke, were much more popular, and now poor Yuri's even written out of his own adventures!　(I am still waiting for that story where Kindaichi Kousuke is killed and the murderer is revealed to be the jealous and revenge-filled Yuri Rintarou. Both played by Ishizaka Kouji). A bit of the opposite of what's happening with Miss Marple lately, who is showing up in stories that really shouldn't be her business.

I am not sure how much the TV adaptation differs from the original, but I suspect it's fairly faithful, which means that the character of Yuri Rintarou already appeared in what I consider Kindaichi Kousuke-esque stories: why didn't Yuri turn out to be a national symbol of detective fiction instead of his little brother?

In short, an okay Yokomizo Seishi story, no matter who the detective is. It does feel a bit like a lot of other Yokomizo later works, but it's actually one of his earlier stories and not bad at all.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史 (原)　　『横溝正史シリーズII：　真珠郎』

Butterfly in Shades of Grey

ゴキゲンな蝶になってきらめく風に乗って

今すぐ　キミに会いに行こう

Butter-Fly (和田光司）

I want to become a happy butterfly, and ride on the glittering wind

I am coming to see you now

"Butter-Fly" (Wada Kouji)

When in doubt of what to read, I usually go for something written by Edogawa Rampo or Yokomizo Seishi. Partly because I always have something unread of them lying here, partly because they're easy to get into. And yet that Edogawa Rampo pile never seems to shrink. The Yokomizo Seishi pile however is finally done for the moment; I still have two or three unread novels somewhere, but I have seen adaptations of them so I am not in a hurry to read them.

Yokomizo Seishi was one of most famous Japanese detective writers, and his creation Kindaichi Kousuke is basically the quintessential Japanese private detective. A great number of Kindaichi Kousuke novels are still considered to be among the best of Japanese mystery novels (including Gokumontou, Honjin Satsujin Jiken and Inugamike no Ichizoku). And then there are the lesser known Kindaichi Kousuke novels. Mitsu Kubi Tou? Yoru Aruku? People might know them by name, but fewer have actually read them. Fushichou ("The Immortal Butterfly") is also one of the lesser known stories. There were once two wealthy, rival families in the town of Imizu, the Yabe family and the Tamatsukuri family. And like a Romeo and Juliet story, Shinichirou, the eldest son of the Yabe family, fell in love with Tomoko, daughter of the Tamatsukuri family. They even made plans to elope, hoping to escape through the set of caves that connects their houses, but their plans failed. Horribly. Shinichirou was held captured by his father, his younger brother was found stabbed to death in the caves and no sign of Tomoko: it was thought she must have killed the brother and then commited suicide by jumping in a deep crevice in the cave.

Twenty-three year later, the Tamatsukuri family plays host to three Japanese Brazilians visiting the home country: the wealthy heiress Mari, her mother Kimie and the companion Asako. The head of the Yabe family however swears he recognizes Kimie as Tomoko, and suspects she must have fled to Brazil all those years ago, only to come back to her family now. Private detective Kindaichi Kousuke is hired to investigate the case, but little did he know that the caves were to be the stage for a new murder.

Well, actually, by now he should know, because it more often than not that people start to die after Kindaichi Kousuke's arrival on the scene, a trait he shares with his grandson.

If I were to explain Fushichou in short, I would just say it reminds me of that one Kindaichi Kousuke classic, Yatsu Haka Mura. We have the two rivaling families, the backstory with murder and of course, the caves. Much of both stories happen within the caves (heck, half of the Yatsu Haka Mura game was just cave exploration...). Add in a bit of Yoru Aruku (sleepwalking) and Inugamike no Ichizoku (uncertainty about the identity of a person) and there we have Fushichou.

As a puzzle plot, it's decent and unlike Yatsu Haka Mura, actually done carefully with proper foreshadowing and hints. A bit too neatly maybe, as it's pretty easy to arrive at the solution of the puzzle. Also, the murder happens quite late in this novelette, with subsequent events following each other in rapid succession, making the first half a bit slow, and the second half a bit too fast. It's all in all a decent Kindaichi Kousuke story, with all the right elements you'd expect from such a story, but definitely not near the level of Yokomizo's best.

Fushichou is a novelette, and my copy also includes the short story Jinmensou ("The Face Sore") to fill up the pages of the volume. Kindaichi Kousuke is on a resting holiday together with his old friend inspector Isokawa, and one night, Matsuyo, one of the maids makes a suicide attempt, saying she has killed her little sister again during one of her sleepwalks. Her sister is indeed found dead later, but it seems Matsuyo she had an alibi for the time of her sister's death. The following day, Kindaichi and Isokawa start to investigate the history behind the sister, Matsuyo and the strange swelling on her body that resembles the sister's face.

A jinmensou is a swelling of the flesh that resembles a face. I first came across the phenomena in a famous chapter of the medical science fiction series Black Jack, but the Jinmensou is also known as a youkai, being a creature that manifests itself as face on someone's body. And it's creepy. In fact, most of Yokomizo's short stories don't do too well in the atmosphere department compared to his novels, but Jinmensou does it very well, with the creepy face, the suicide attempt and the sleepwalking (again!). The way Matsuyo's jinmensou is explained and how it ties up to the main plot is also surprisingly good.

As a puzzle plot, Jinmensou is not very special though. Actually, most of the story is spent on the explanation of Matsuyo and her sister's relation, and then the solution basically just presents itself. It is thus more a story where you just enjoy the atmosphere, rather than actively try to solve the crime. It's not a bad story by any means, but again not one of the classics.

Fushichou is an okay volume, but definitely not required reading material. It has the usual Yokomizo Seishi elements, but it misses that extra little bit that make it classic material. If you have already gone through all the major Kindaichi Kousuke novels and you want to start with the rest, then Fushichou is a decent candidate.

Oh, and I quite like the cover, actually. There are no transforming butterfly-humans in the story though...

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史 『不死蝶』: 「不死蝶」 / 「人面瘡」

His Last Bow

ひとりどこにいても　そこに見える優しい

あなたの名前呼んで　あすを待つでしょう

『愛のバラード』（金子由香利）

Wherever I am, even if alone, I'll look at the gentle you,

I will call out your name and wait for you

"Ballad of Love" (Kaneko Yukari)

And of course, still a backlog on posts. The problem with writing reviews focusing on the use of tropes, is that you'll quickly start to repeat yourself, as you compare the book in discussion to other works with the same trope.  Which is neither fun for readers of the blog, nor for me. Right, now, I am stuck with a bunch of books with topics I already discussed relatively recently, so just waiting for a good moment to write them. So, meanwhile, some other reviews...

Slightly disillusioned by the tragedies he came across in his work, private detective Kindaichi Kousuke decides to go to the United States. However, he gets involved with a strange incident on Hospital Hill. The hill used to house the Hougen Hospital and the mansion of the Hougen family, but World War II had forced a move of both buildings. The ruins are still on Hospital Hill though, and the people of a local photo studio were thus very surprised when they were asked to take a wedding picture in the old Hougen mansion. The bride seemed drugged and thinking there was something fishy going on, the photo studio hires Kindaichi Kousuke (who had come to have his passport photo taken) to solve the mystery. When they visit the old Hougen mansion again to look for clues however, they discover not a happy wedded couple, but the decapitated head of the groom hanging from the ceiling! The mystery behind this strange murder, and its connection to the Hougen family, is what drives the movie Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie ("The House of Hanging on Hospital Hill").

I have already written extensively about Ichikawa Kon's Kindaichi Kousuke movie series in earlier reviews (of Inugamike no Ichizoku (1976), Akuma no Temaru Uta (1977) and Gokomontou (1977); I refer to those reviews in case you want to know a bit more about the history behind the famous movie series of the equally famous Japanese detective novel series. Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie (1979) is in two ways the ending to the Kindaichi Kousuke series: it was the last movie of golden trio Yokomizo Seishi (writer), Ichikawa Kon (director) and Ishizaka Kouji (actor of Kindaichi) (until the 2002 Inugamike no Ichizoku remake), but the original novel is also chronologically the last case Kindaichi Kousuke solved (Akuryoutou however is the last Kindaichi story written). The movie does differ from the original substantially though: the original novel has Kindaichi initially failing to solve the case, and it would take him twenty years to finally find out the truth; this case was the last, and longest case Kindaichi had ever taken. In the movie, the timeline has been smoothed out to for a 'normal' case, and I gather that Ichikawa rewrote quite some characters, including the identity of the murderer.

But as I haven't read the original novel yet, let's just look at this movie as is. The first thing that caught my eye was definitely the more urban, modern setting of this movie compared to the earlier movies. Islands, mountain villages? Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie is set in a normal town and with the movie opening with a jazz band performing for the US occupation troops, you immediately know this is a slightly different movie compared to the previous ones. The original novel apparently made this change more obvious, as it was about a story spanning twenty years, but you'll get the same feeling by watching the Ichikawa Kon movies in a row (even though they were shot really close to each other).

The story is classic Yokomizo material: bloody, grizzly murders, plots of revenge, overly complex family trees and horrible human tragedy. Yes, it's basically more of the same, but this is precisely what Yokomizo does best, and it works here too, but compared to Inugamike no Ichizoku and Akuma no Temari Uta, I have to admit that Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie is a little weaker. The raw elements are alike, but the finish is different. For me, this is most obvious in the fact the earlier two movies were more 'structured' because of the nursery rhyme trope employed there. Such a trope at least makes it feel the story is going somewhere (someone is trying to complete a certain pattern), whereas Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie, you're just confronted with a 'normal' murder, which might have been commited for a lot of reasons. As a movie-viewer, I just find a more obvious structure a bit more pleasant. Though I can't say I was bored with this movie: heck, you'll often hear me question the necessity of more than two hours for a movie, but I enjoyed this 140 minute movie from start to finish.

Not that this is a perfect movie. For example. like I said, Yokomizo likes to use overly complex family trees in his stories, and this is probably the most complex of them all. It is even addressed in the dialogue, with Kindaichi himself saying he doesn't get it, but despite that Ichikawa Kon didn't seem to have thought it necessary to make it a bit more clearer. It is quite important to the plot, so it seems strange to have Kindaichi address the topic, and then ignore it.
  

As movies, all the Ichikawa Kon movies still beautiful productions. Grand shots are followed by playful cut-aways, music is great and of course the acting. Ishikawa Kouji is still the best Kindaichi Kousuke around, and other veterans of the series like Katou Takeshi, who plays a different leading police inspector in every movie (thus meeting Kindaichi 'for the first time' every time) and Ootaki Hideji (who always plays a person with a connection to the past) always make this a series worth watching. But the biggest surprise is in the movie's prologue and epilogue. Writer Yokomizo Seishi had already made a small cameo in Inugamike no Ichizoku, but he actually plays an extended cameo in Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie as himself! Or rather, he 'plays' a writer of detective stories who is friends with Kindaichi Kousuke (loosely basing his stories on Kindaichi). It's a bit of a self-parody maybe, but the scene where Kindaichi is drinking tea with his creator is just fantastic. One should watch the movie if only just for these scenes.

Oh, and the role of Mokutarou, an apprentice at the photo studio, is quite interesting by the way. He quickly becomes Kindaichi's assistant and confidante, and his slouchy dress and manner almost makes it seem like he was set up to be a 'new' Kindaichi Kousuke, in a Batman-esque way. I am pretty sure they didn't make a spin-off with him, but the importance of his role to the story, is almost a mystery on its own.

All in all, Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie is definitely worth watching. Like all the Ichikawa Kon directed Kindaichi Kousuke movies, this movie is a great mystery with fantastic production values which will keep you hooked for the whole runtime. The story is 'standard' Yokomizo Seishi, but very captivating nonetheless, and while Inugamike no Ichizoku and Akuma no Temura Uta are definitely the best of the series, Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie shouldn't be missed.

Original Japanese title(s):『病院坂の首縊りの家』

The Moving Finger

「では、本題に入る前に予備知識として、推理小説における首切り殺人の歴史についてー」

「それは省略だ」警視が意義を唱えた。「後でおまえが本を書く時に、適当に挿入しろ。俺はそんなものに興味はない。すぐ本題に入るんだ」

『誰彼』

"Well, before we move on to the main topic, let's review the history of decapitation murders in detective novels..."

"Let's skip that," the commisioner said. "Just insert one when you write a novel about this case, 'cause I'm not interested. Let's start"

"Twilight"

So there's a new detective drama running in Japan, Otenki Oneesan ("Weather Girl"). The series itself seems to be a scientific detective series in the spirit of Higashino Keigo's Galileo (of which the second season also started recently!), but I was initially drawn to the somewhat vague marketing copy "I've seen through your weather trick" What is a weather trick? My first thought: "And then you lured the victim into a grassy field full flowers and trees, knowing it would become dry and sunny in the afternoon, which would effectively kill the victim because of his hay fever!" (this would definitely work with me as a victim).

It's been just over two years since my review of Yokomizo Seishi's Kindaichi Kousuke no Shinbouken, an underwhelming collection of stories which were all expanded upon / rewritten to novelletes / novels later. At the end of the review I also mentioned I already had the sequel, Kindaichi Kousuke no Kikan ("The Return of Kindaichi Kousuke"), in my possession. So a very late review (and to be honest: I only reached out to the book because I have nothing else to read at the moment). The set-up is the same: all stories feature the famous private detective Kindaichi Kousuke, with his trademark messy hair and knack for never really preventing people from dying around him (something he shares with his grandson). Different from Yokomizo's more famous works however, almost all of these stories are set in the city, rather than in secluded communities (there are also no legends / curses / etc.). Also, all stories in this volume have been rewritten at one stage or another in Yokomizo's career, either using exactly the same title, or a slightly revised title.

A letter delivered at the wrong address is the cue for Kindaichi Kousuke to step in on a poison pen letter case in Doku no Ya ("The Poison Arrow"). The letters, signed by someone called the Golden Arrow, aren't just slander though; whether true or not (mostly not), the Golden Arrow wants money for his silence. One of the victims is Matoba Natsuko, who came back from the United States with her disabled daughter recently. But the investigation of Kindaichi couldn't prevent from Natsuko being murdered, being stabbed in her back, right through the tattoo of playing cards she had on her back. Is it related to the poison pen letter case? Of course, because this is a short story and we can't have too much subplots here. A rather hasty story, and its greatest weakness is that it a) 'borrows' a famous trick from a Christie novel, b) without hiding that properly, so anyone familiar with that particular Christie novel (and there is a big chance you'll have read it), will know what happened.

The main problem of Trumpdaijou no Kubi ("The Head on the Card Table") is deftly described in its title at. A cut off head. On a table. Oh, and the body is gone. The victim is a stripper called Akemi, who had been playing bridge the previous night and the guests all swear she still had her head on her body when they left her in her room. As a problem, it is interesting what Yokomizo tries here, as we all know what to expect when we find a body without a head, but we don't encounter heads without a body that often, but the short story format binds Yokomizo to a more compact, focused set-up of his tale (which doesn't work out for him well usually, in my opinion), the reader won't have that much trouble figuring out what happened, though I have to admit that this was an okay story, definitely among the better of this collection.

Kashi Boat 13 Gou ("Rental Boat 13") has the titular boat floating, with two dead bodies in it. For some reason, a woman has first been strangled, then stabbed in her heart, after which her head was cut off mostly from her neck. Next to her, a man has been stabbed in his heart, then strangled and his head cutt off slightly from her neck. It doesn't take long to identify the victims, but why did the murderer act in such a strange way? What starts out as a problem which seems fit for an excellent Queenian deduction chain, is solved rather easily because one of the victims overheard something which explains everything in an instant. And I don't mean that it was something vague that suddenly set off the thinking machine in Kindaichi's head, what was overheard explained the murders, practically as is. Which is a shame, because the premise is fun and while actually most of  the mystery inYokomizo's short stories can be explained by reexamining the human relations / the relations between characters, this has been one where the trope worked really well.

If Doku no Ya breathed Christie, then Shina Ougi no Onna ("The Woman with the Chinese Fan") can only be described as Carr. The titular 'woman with a Chinese fan' refers to a painting of a woman who famously poisoned her husband in the Meiji period. Fastforward many years ahead, where Minako, a relative of the infamous poisoner, wakes up from sleepwalking, only to find her mother-in-law and maid in a quite dead and murdered situation. Believing she has the same evil blood in her veins as her famous aunt and killed them during her sleep, she tries to commit suicide, but is luckily saved by the police. Kindaichi suspects there is more to it though, and while the solution works, it's very simple (but does require knowledge of a certain historical event).

By now it shouldn't be a surprise, but Tsubo no Naka no Onna ("The Woman in the Urn") indeed features a woman in an urn. When a collector of urns is murdered, his assistent witness the murderer, a woman, trying to escape by getting inside an urn. Noticing the assistent outside the window, the murderer decides to flee on foot, but what kind of murderer was she? This is definitely my favorite story in the collection, as it features a great hidden hint and the use of very commonly used trope in detective fiction, but one which I hadn't foreseen at all, so executed very well. It does ask for a bit of suspension of disbelief though.

More poison pen letters in Uzu no Naka no Onna ("The Woman In the Whirlpool") and once again it led to the murder of a woman. Because in Yokomizo Seishi's stories, women are always beautiful, but they also have a tendency to get murdered. The story feels like a mish-mash of all kind of tropes we have seen in the previous stories in this collection already, which makes it hard to judge. Heck, even names are reused in this story (for different people), making it a very confusing story to read, because memories get mixed. A whirlpool, indeed.

Tobira no Naka no Onna ("The Woman in the Door") is just... underwhelming. With cut-off heads, nearly cut-off heads, women in urns and women with tattoos, a story with a dead body discovered by a girl who happened to have reason to kill the victim and a note with a mysterious message is just not that impressive. Yokomizo's trick once again lies in his less-than-pretty human relations and resulting actions, but it's just too little, too late in this collection.

Meirosou no Kaijin ("The Monster of the Maze Mansion") is the most famous of this collection, as this short story was rewritten as a proper novel under the name Meirosou no Sangeki ("The Tragedy of the Maze Mansion"). Which was probably better, because Yokomizo comes with a great history for the titular mansion, which was built with countless of hidden passageways and trap doors, but practically nobody knows where they are anymore. A murder happens in the mansion, but the hidden passageways and such are... almost of no consequence to the actual mystery. Which is a missed opportunity, because this was the one story in the collection where the creepy atmosphere of Yokomizo really started to come alive, only for it to retreat almos immediately. It's a decent mystery, but the disappointment is larger than the satisfaction you'll derive from reading it.

Overall not as disappointing as Kindaichi Kousuke no Shinbouken, but still not a collection I would recommend to the reader. I am not a big fan of Yokomizo's short stories anyway, but if you really want to read them, the rewritten versions are probably better than these original versions. But this volume is really something you should read if you have nothing else to read: it may be /the original version/, but that doesn't always means better.

Original Japanese title(s):  横溝正史 『金田一耕助の帰還』　「毒の矢」「トランプ台上の首」「貸しボート１３号」「支那扇の女」「壺の中の女」「渦の中の女」「扉の中の女」「迷路荘の怪人」

One Ahead System

「事件の真相を暴くのは法廷の仕事。私達の仕事はね、推理じゃない。見てきたことを、お金を貰って喋るだけ」

『時給探偵～１７時までの名探偵』

"Finding out the truth is the job of the law. Deductions, that's not our job. We just talk about what we saw for money"

"Detective Paid By The Hour ~A Great Detective Until 17:00"

And another Short Shorts, that limbo-like place where I write about detective fiction-related things that couldn't fill a proper post on their own. So I just stick them together to make it seem less awkward. Or is forcefully putting unrelated items together more awkward?

Today's topics: a short story by Yokomizo Seishi, the theater-play-turned-into-an-app Jikyuu Tantei and the PlaySation videogame THE Sound Novel. Like I said, they are pretty much unrelated. Heck, I don't even bother to write connecting sentences/bridges between the different parts.

Jokai ("Female Monster") is a Kindaichi Kousuke short story by Yokomizo Seishi, collected in Akuma no Koutansai ("The Devil's Christmas"). Normally, I would do a review of the complete collection, but it only consists of three stories and the other two stories (Akuma no Koutansai and Kiri no Sansou) are rewritten versions of stories I have reviewed in the past already (in The Return of Kindaichi Kousuke; Kiri no Sansou was originally Kiri no Bessou). As those two stories weren't very interesting, I decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to see if the rewritten versions were any better. So back to Jokai. After the events in Yoru Aruku and Yatsu Haka Mura, Kindaichi Kousuke decides to take a little break together with his writer friend Yokomizo Seishi (also the narrator of the story). They arrive at a little town, where the two see how a strange monk steals away the skull of a buried man. The man turns out to be the dead husband of Nijoko, the owner of a bar in Ginza and also the woman whom Kindaichi Kousuke is harboring romantic feelings for. Wanting to help his love, Kindaichi starts investigating the strange theft. But let's be honest, it is not hard to guess how this story will develop, considering the title of female monster and the fact that the detective is in love with the widow. There is nothing surprising to be found in this story (except maybe for the fact that Kindaichi actually harbors feelings for someone else than that girl from Gokumontou). This story is thus another of many, many disappointing Kindaichi Kousuke short stories.

Jikyuu Tantei ~17 Ji Made no Meitantei ("Detective Paid By the Hour ~  A Great Detective Until 17:00") was originally a small-scale comedy play by the Suzuki-ku Theater Group. I haven't seen it live, but Suzuki-ku did something awesome with the play: they made a free Itunes app of the play, allowing people to read the script accompanied by photos and music of the play itself. In short, they made a sound novel of their own play. I have to admit that the idea itself is much more brilliant than the play itself, though it is entertaining if you have some free time. It seems that there are two Jikyu Tantei plays (the other with the subtitle Kieta Tantei Joshu / The Lost Detective Assistant), but that play has no app.

The protagonist Karasawagi Kokogorou is a private detective, assisted by the young Komakomai Tomato. An usual day for them consists of looking for lost pets and such (even though that is hampered by Tomato's allergy for animals) and as they are not particularly succesful detectives, they have trouble keeping up with their rent payments. One day, Kokogorou discovers a corpse when he enters his office. A corpse with a knife stuck in his head. Very probably murder. What's a body doing in his office? Normal people would panic, but as Kokogorou is a financial pinch, he delays reporting the body to the police, hoping that someone will come to him with a request for an investigation into this body. Two little problems: people from the apartment building keep coming in and out of office. Two: Tomato only works until five, so they have to receive a request and solve the case by then.

Jikyuu Tantei is a really light-hearted slapstick comedy, with some really weird characters running on and off the stage. It has some funny scenes and I was quite surprised to see that there was actually a bit of clueing and an actual denouement scene in the play, though the investigation into the mysteriously dumped corpse is definitely not the real driving force behind the story developments. I doubt I would have gone to the play had I even known about it, but the idea of turning these plays into sound novel apps is just awesome. There is also a short digest recording of the play available.

And having gone in a sound novel mood, I tried out THE Sound Novel for the PlayStation. Gamers who don't know Japanese might not know about D3's THE SIMPLE series: a budget game series published by D3, that basically copies popular game themes. SIMPLE titles include generic games like THE Mahjong and THE Chess, but also 'copies' of more popular games like THE My Taxi (of Crazy Taxi). There are also some surprisingly good games that have gone on to spawn their own series, like THE Oneechanbara (bikini-clad zombie slaying game) and THE Chikyuu Boueigun (apocalyptic monster-swarm shooter) (especially the latter was an awesome game).

THE Sound Novel　(volume 31 of THE SIMPLE series) actually has a proper title, Kuraki Mori no Hate ni ("Beyond the Dark Forest"), but that title is only seen during the opening credits. The story starts with Takahashi Seiichi, a young man on his way to the Genjou mansion to pick up his not-girlfriend-so-why-did-she-ask-me-friend Yui, who works there as a private tutor. On his way, Seiichi picks up some other people on their way to the mansion. When they finally arrive at the mansion, Yui comes out of the house, hoping to leave with Seiichi when a stray bullet fired by a maid, meant for the rats, hits the tire of Seiichi's car, forcing Seiichi and Yui to stay one night extra in the mansion, which has some strange inhabitants. The hellish stay at the Genjou mansion doesn't really start until that Seiichi's car is blown up though...

THE Sound Novel is basically a 'copy' of Chunsoft's sound novels and most specifically, Kamaitachi no Yoru. Graphically, this is very clear from the use of blue (male) and red (female) silhouettes in the background images, but also the font used is eerily similar to Chunsoft's games. From a game-design point of view, it mirrors the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-esque story-telling, with choices made by the player having profound influence on how the story develops. There are about ten different endings in THE Sound Novel, most of them branched storylines that end up as bad endings, which is a bit few, but considering that this is a budget title, acceptable. The problem is that the game does not include a flowchart (the one thing they didn't copy from Kamaitachi no Yoru!), which makes it very frustrating and difficult to see how the player-choices influence the story developments. I first got the very first bad ending possible in the game, but I had really no idea which choice I made earlier got me into this path. For these games, a flowchart is simply a must, as there are just too many nodes to keep in my head.

The story is also very standard, I mean, a boy and a girl locked inside a Western mansion where stuff happens? So the game is not getting points for originality, but then again, that is seldom the case with THE SIMPLE games. As a 'cheap copy' I would say that THE Sound Novel works relatively well. There is a proper mystery plot here going on and while not mind-blowing, I would say that the story is written nicely and includes at least one (and maybe two) tricks that I really found interesting. It was a bit disappointing though that the player, unlike in Kamaitachi no Yoru, doesn't have to deduce much himself. As long as you make the right choices and get into the right storyline branch, Seiichi will solve the case for you. Which takes away part of the fun.

The graphics and the writing managed to evoke the horror-like closed circle atmosphere of the mansion fantastically, but the game is hampered by the fact that it has very few characters (one of them almost a carbon copy of a Kamaitachi no Yoru character) and that there is almost no music present during the game. Especially the latter is very disappointing. There were maybe three or four music tracks in the whole game, only used at select scenes, but total silence for the rest of the game (save some 'incident' sounds like screams). Sound novels works so well because there is music, so this was a really weird design choice. I mean, would Kamaitachi no Yoru have been as scary without music like Gishinanki?

Yes, the only reason I would want a PlayStation Vita at the moment, is the new Kamaitachi no Yoru.

Original Japanese title(s):　横溝正史　「女怪」 / 劇団東京都鈴木区　『時給探偵～１７時までの名探偵』 / 『ＴＨＥサウンドノベル』