「人の考えだすことは、所詮、人によって解かれてしまう運命にあるんですよ」

「アリバイを持っていない人間は犯人ではない。これは、推理におけるマーフィーの法則さ」

『軽井沢マジック』

"A person without an alibi can't be the murderer. That's Murphy's Law in mystery"

"Karuizawa Magic"

The start of the academic year is never easy, but I guess the fact that I only had two classes a week last semester did make me kinda... lazy. And with these changes in my spare time, I actually have to find out when to read books between studying (instead of figuring out when to study between reading books). A paradigm shift.

Anyway, today's victim is Nikaidou Reito's Karuizawa Magic. This novel is the first in the Mizuno Satoru series, but like always, I never read things in order, so I've reviewed a couple of the later novels already. But to introduce the series shortly: the Mizuno Satoru series obviously deals with the titular Mizuno Satoru,  a young man who with a shady, yet humorous past, too many friends to count and rather otaku-ish interests. His looks also make him very popular with the opposite gender (until he actually opens his mouth and starts talking, that is). The series is split into two parts, one part dealing with Mizuno's student years, while the second part deals with his years as a working man.

Karuizawa Magic is the first novel in the second part, with Mizuno working at a travel agency. After a business meeting with a hotel for one of their travel packages, Mizuno and his co-worker Yukari (who has a crush on him) end up in Karuizawa. Which might seem nice, but it turns out that a) the deputy-director of the business-partner hotel was killed just as they left the hotel, b) the director himself was killed in the same train Mizuno and Yukari travelled on to Karuizawa and c) they manage to come across a couple of other corpses during their time in Karuizawa. So the police is very, very suspicious of them. And yes, they seem to be justified in that, right? In good old fashioned detective-style, it's up to Mizuno to prove his (and Yukari's) innocence.

I hate to make the awful pun, but Karuizawa Magic is really karui (light). It's clearly a travel mystery like the novels by Nishimura Kyoutarou and Uchida Yasuo. Which can be entertaining themselves, but I was expecting a bit more of Nikaidou Reito. The novel has some neat little premises (a man found dead on top of his cottage's roof, a man whose eyeballs have been scooped out), but the atmosphere surrounding these 'horrible' events is kinda light-hearted, making these incidents seem almost trivial. Had this been a Nikaidou Ranko case, the dark and almost devilish tone of these murders would certainly have been more prominent, I think. Now it's 'oh, we found a man whose eyeballs have been scooped out. Let's have a funny scene with the police and Mizuno arguing').

This overall lightness is made even more apparent because little is done with Mizuno's otaku-tendacies. Some of the later novels do make use of this and they are a lot more entertaining. For example, Collector no Fushigi, as a locked room mystery, was not surprising, but Nikaidou's expert knowledge on Tezuka Osamu and rare book collectors' culture made it a very entertaining novel. The short story collection Mizuno Satoru no Daibouken  also featured some stories that entered into 'otaku' spheres (for example the Yokomizo Seishi fanclub). The character of Mizuno Satoru, who has been all over Asia and with knowledge about all kinds of topics is a great plot-vehicle, allowing the reader to enter the world of 'specialists' on all kinds of fields (from rare collector's figures to stargazing), but sadly enough, none of this is found in Karuizawa Magic.

In fact, I finished the book with a feeling of 'so....this was it?'. I wasn't happy with it, not mad with it, nothing. I just finished it. It's just very.... bland. If I hadn't read other Mizuno Satoru novels before, I think I'd have given up on the series at this point.

Original Japanese title(s): 二階堂黎人　『軽井沢マジック』

「真実の三角関係って一体どういうこと？ 」

「これだけ前半がボリューミーだったんで。ここはスッと行った方が良い・・・」

「いや、いや、今日は常にトップギアで行きましょ」

「後ほどでエエのよ。　ここは前半みんな走った後で中盤から後半で息切れた時にフッとこれが一番良いのよ」

『ヘキサゴンＩＩクイズパレード！！』　（2011.09.07）

"It's kinda busy in the first half of the show. So I think it's better to go lightly now..."

"No, no, let's go full gear the whole day"

"Later is better! After everybody has finished running around and is out of breath in the first half, I'll just pop out, that's the best!"

"Hexagon II Quiz Parade!!" (2011.09.07)

With the show almost over and mostly mediocre episodes, I don't expect much of the remaining episodes of Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi). When the series first started, I was hoping the series would pick up after the first half, but that didn't really happen. And the preview for this week's episode wasn't really interesting either, so.... wa... wait. Ha...hah? Did my eyes fool me, or was episode 10 actually a good episode?!

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Episode 10 ("The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman") actually features an interesting problem, which is pretty rare in this series (this is indeed the most original story since... episode 3?). A client of Kogorou is attacked by a stalker during her videochat session with Ran. Ran rushes to the apartment, but no sign of the client, just a totally ransacked apartment and signs of violence (blood traces). She calls the police and Shinichi, but even the client isn't found even after a complete search of the apartment block

And here comes the interesting part: the dead body of the client is eventually found, but in a Weekly Mansion in Saitama. Which by car is located about three hours away from the client's apartment. Yet the client was definately killed during the time she was videochatting with Ran. What makes the problem even more interesting is that the police have a suspect (the stalker), but he was seen by Ran at the client's apartment around the time the murder must have happened. So here we have a murderer (stalker), at the crime scene (apartment) as witnessed by Ran, but the body at a place 200 kilometers away from the crime scene! If the client was murdered in her own apartment, how did the murderer move her body to the place where she was discovered? And if the client was murdered at the place where she was discovered, how did the murderer manage to be at the apartment at the same time?

This episode really caught me by surprise. At first I thought it would be like the Murder Collector story of Tantei Gakuen Q ("Detective Academy Q"), as it featured a murder caught on video, but it turned to be quite different. In a positive way. I won't say the story is perfect, but it's a relatively complex story for this series that is also done relatively well. The main trick is pretty cool and the final deduction Shinichi made was actually impressive. There are some points in the story that really need some polishing though (including the final deduction), but I'll just blame at the time-constraints this series has. With a bit more running time / rewriting, this could really have been a very, very good story. But even as it is now, it's pretty good. I don't know where this sudden rise in quality this late in the series comes from, but you won't hear me complaining about it. I actually find it incredible that that the scriptwriter of this episode was also the person who wrote the awful episode 8. He also co-wrote the second episode, which was OK-ish. Meaning he wrote the best, one of the mediocre and the worst episode of the series.

And I certainly didn't expect to mention his name in conjunction with this series, but the episode is a lot like Norizuki Rintarou's stories. The modern urban setting is certainly a trademark of his short stories and the movement of characters in the modern maze of buildings is one of the more interesting parts in his more complex plots. Actually, the main trick itself is also very much like Norizuki's puzzles (even invoking Queen), especially Toshi Densetsu Puzzle.

Oh, and you'll always get my attention with a Yaiba reference!

The next episode is actually the first one to be based on the manga (volume 26; Desperate Revival [The Return of Shinichi & The Promised Place]), which fans should recognize as one of the more interesting episodes in Conan history. I'm a bit disappointed that didn't go with a 'bigger' story, but seeing as this series does feature Shinichi and Ran as a duo, it's an understandable choice. Just wondering how they're going to tie this in with the main series! The live action series has made no mention at all until now about Shinichi turning into Conan in the future, so it'll be interesting to see how they're going to explain that!

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「200キロを瞬間移動した死体の謎! 悪女の完全犯罪計画を暴け」
Date & Password: 2010.07.27; ビデオチャット

Le Piège infernal

「まあお互い母親に頭あがれねぇって事で・・・」

『名探偵コナン』

"It just means we both just can't go against our mothers' wishes..."

"Detective Conan"

While Aoyama Goushou's most popular work is still Detective Conan, his other manga are quite fun too. I for example love Yaiba, which is very much like the earlier volumes of Dragon Ball, with a lot focus on adventures and humor. And evil bunnies from outer space and creatures like PollenMan (I suffer from hay fever)and kendou championships and everything. It's not very popular outside Japan though, I think. Aoyama Goushou's other series however, Magic Kaito, has been receiving quite some attention lately however.

Magic Kaito is actually the very first running series by Aoyama, starring a young magician Kuroba Kaito, who takes over the role of phantom thief Kaitou KID from his father. The series basically starts out as a very light-hearted take on the phantom thief genre as seen in the Arsene Lupin stories, but the formula slowly changes into a more orthodox heist style, with KID pulling of impossible heists. Which is around the time Detective Conan started to get really popular, resulting in the on-hold status of the Magic Kaito series. But KID was never forgotten and because a phantom thief is a natural enemy to a detective, KID was featured in a crossover in the sixteenth volume of the Conan manga. Ever since, KID has been a regular guest in that series, gathering quite some popularity. In fact, many people probably don't even know that KID is technically a crossover character.

Because of the popularity acquired through Conan, Aoyama occasionally draws new Magic Kaito stories. And with occasionally, I mean once in 5 years or something like that. But it's better than nothing. Last year, the first chapter of the Magic Kaito was made into an anime special and I gather that last month, KID had stolen air-time from Conan, resulting in a month of Magic Kaito specials and other KID-related episodes being broadcast instead of regular Conan episodes.

And to top it off this Magic Kaito revival-thingy, Aoyama Goushou wrote a new, two-chapter story of Magic Kaito in August! Phantom Lady no Maki ("The Phantom Lady Chapter") is the first new serialized Magic Kaito story in four years and a fun one too! For people who are sorta up-to-date with the Conan manga, 'Phantom Lady' is a name that should sound familiar, as it was the name of a phantom thief mentioned in the Ryouma story in volume 70. Phantom Lady no Maki is in fact the story that directly precedes the Ryouma story, setting up the events for that story. But I recommend reading the Ryouma story before this Magic Kaito story, as this story kinda spoils some of the mystery and fun in the Ryouma story. 

Phantom Lady no Maki starts with a familiar sight: with people trying to come up with a plan to capture KID. But this time, it's not police inspector Nakamori doing the planning, but something who looks a bit more scary. And probably someone who is not really a friend of the law. Anyway, said person comes up with the wild theory that inspector Nakamori was the first KID and that his daughter Aoko is the second KID and plans to capture both of them to revenge himself for something that happened 18 years ago. Stuff happens, and KID ends up with a knocked-out Aoko with guns pointed at them at the top of the Touto Tower. Cue a flashback that explains what happened between the antagonist, the original KID (Kaito's father) and Phantom Lady, 18 years ago.

Which is awesome. Of course. This story is less of a heist story compared to the previous Magic Kaito stories, but it's still very entertaining as a piece of fanservice, as it ties up some loose threads of plotpoints left in previous (Conan) stories. Phantom Lady no Maki fits in with the other 'fanservice' stories by Aoyama where he shows that everybody in his fictional world is connected one way or another and that parents are awesome (seriously, parents to look up to is something, but it's a bit ridiculous in Conan...), but it feels less... forced here, because of the more light-hearted tone of the Magic Kaito series.

The story does feel a more like a normal Magic Kaito story, with some 'normal' school scenes and over the top, almost slapstick action. Which is what I want in a Magic Kaito story, luckily. The last Magic Kaito story, Dark Night, was horrifyingly dark and didn't fit the the series at all. Even considering the more serious tone of the more recent stories. I'm glad that the more light-hearted tone returned in Phantom Lady no Maki. The only problem these once-in-x-years stories have is that Aoyama doesn't really try to advance the main story of the series (KID trying to find the Pandora Gem, take revenge on his father's killers), resulting in all these side-stories that never really lead anywhere. I understand that Aoyama doesn't want to advance the story with such an irregular schedule, but still, it's sorta because of these stand-alone stories that Magic Kaito stays a series with limited releases, instead of a more regularly serialized series.

Let's just hope that it doesn't take another four years for a new Magic Kaito story. Maybe a year-long hiatus for Conan and Magic Kaito instead of Conan?  Or *gasp* a finale to Conan and then the return of Magic Kaito? Which reminds me, the new Conan is to be released next week...

Original Japanese title(s): 青山剛昌　『まじっく快斗』　「怪盗淑女（ファントムレディ）の巻」　（前編・後編）

「Welcome Trouble」

「にもかかわらず、この薄汚れたアパートの名前は白波荘という。建物は古くなっても名前は古くならないので、このようなアンバランスな現象がおこるわけだ」

『密室の鍵貸します』

"Despite that, this shabby apartment was called the White Wave mansion. These kinds of unbalances happen because even though buildings get older, names don't."

"Lending the Key to the Locked Room"

For those interested, the new look is borrowed stolen from Famicom Tantei Club. To be exact, the title screen of the first game. Random info: Sakamoto Yoshio wrote the complete script of the first game in only three days. Why I changed the look? Because I've been paying too much attention to retro games lately. And as university starts again, I'm pretty sure I'll drop back to the more sane posting schedule of once or twice a week. Instead of twenty posts a month. What the... ?!

And now on to the main course, which is Higashigawa Tokuya's Misshitsu no Kagi Kashimasu ("Lending the Key to the Locked Room"). This is Higashigawa's first full-length novel, as well as the first novel in his Ikagawashi series, a set of orthodox detective stories set in the fictional town of Ikagawashi. In fact, the first Higashigawa story I read, the short story A Locked Room at 40 KM/H, is also part of the same Ikagawashi series. There is no real main detective for this series (changing from book to book), though the private detective Ukai Morio and police inspector Sunagawa appear the most prominent in the Ikagawashi novels. The other characteristic of this series is the humorous tone of the stories, with almost slapstick-esque situations and witty conversations. But like Arisugawa Alice says in the commentary to Misshitsu no Kagi Kashimasu: the books are funny, but this humorous tone might also be a trap...

Because beneath the humor and all, there is a 'normal' detective plot. Misshitsu no Kagi Kashimasu starts with an interesting problem for the young student Ryuuhei. Things have not been easy for him, having to give up his dream as a film director and settling with a naitei (a pre-approval for a job) for a company that makes documentaries. Which in turn led into him being dumped by his girlfriend. Which is bad enough, but not as bad as that night. The night his ex-girlfriend was stabbed and pushed from her balcony. Which isn't even the worst part. Not even the fact that some time earlier, Ryuuhei, in a rather drunken state (he doesn't remember anything of it though), had yelled he would kill her in front of a lot of witnesses. No, the worst part is that the only person who can prove Ryuuhei's alibi, his university senior, was also stabbed to death. In his bathroom. In a locked apartment. And the only other person inside the apartment at that time was... Ryuuhei. Because he lost conciousness when he found the dead body of his senior and didn't wake up until the morning, Ryuuhei panicks. No way the police is going to believe he has nothing to do with either case. So Ryuuhei flees the crime scene and asks for help to his ex-brother-in-law, the private detective Ukai Morio. Who is nice enough to help him.

The novel is told from both Ryuuhei's perspective as well as that of the police, which makes for a very entertaining story. Ryuuhei is of course on the run, while the police is looking for him, so the points where these storylines intersect are really funny to read, as you see the same situation from two different perspectives (at one points, Ryuuhei is nearly run over by the police). But that is just one aspect of the humor, as Higashigawa is quite a funny writer, coming up with funny conversations and witty remarks. At times, the novel feels like a parody of the genre, but whatever it is, it's funny.

But like Arisugawa said, don't underestimate the book just because it's funny. For this is a genuine detective and quite an entertaining one too. The problem of the locked room is done quite good, even if the fundamental trick is quite basic. It is however very well adapted for the modern, urban setting of this novel. In fact, the urban setting and the humor reminds me a lot of Arisugawa Alice's Writer Alice series. Which is hardly a bad thing. I like Nikaidou Reito's novels, but his books are so often set in castles and old mansions, which feels a bit artificial. Given the choice, I do prefer the more urban settings found in Arisugawa Alice and Norizuki Rintarou novels.

Misshitsu no Kagi Kashimasu, as a locked room mystery, is not surprising like a Nikaidou Reito mystery, but it is constructed quite well and Higashigawa's writing style really adds something to the story. Misshitsu no Kagi Kashimasu is a detective novel that anyone could enjoy, I think. Like the books by Higashino Keigo, it's one of those books that are a lot easier to recommend to people who usually don't read the genre. A funny novel with a satisfying plot-structure that is sure to entertain the reader.

Original Japanese title(s): 東川篤哉　 『密室の鍵貸します』

「浪速の高校生探偵、お手並み拝見だ 」

「それより、何か分かったの？服部君が先に事件を解決しちゃうかもよ」

「別にそれでもいいさ。探偵が何人いようと、真実はいつもたった一つしかねぇんだから」

『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』

"But have you figured it out yet? At this rate, Heiji might solve the case before you"

"That doesn't bother me. No matter how many detectives there are, there is always only one truth"

"Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"

No, I've not been very enthusiastic about the Conan drama for quite some time now. Most of the episodes feature rather predictable plots (and some are actually awful). In the manga, all the cases Shinichi solved in the past before he turned into Conan featured interesting plots, thus in my mind Shinichi case equals high standard detective stories. So my expectations for a series with only pre-Conan Shinichi stories were pretty high. The gap between my expectations and the actual series is sadly pretty big. And for the last couple of weeks, I was just watching the series out of habit.

Yet, the preview for this week's episode did spark my interest. For it was a Hattori Heiji case. Which equals awesome in my mind.

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

I'll just start with saying that episode 9 ("Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West") is pretty much impossible Conan-canon-wise. Hattori and Shinichi actually meet for the first time in volume 10, which is after Shinichi turns into Conan. So the meeting of the high school detectives of the East and West is simply impossible (despite some nice tries of the scriptwriter to save continuity).

Anyway, Hattori and Kazuha are in Tokyo to attend a match and happen to run into a robber. Chasing the robber, Hattori runs into Shinichi and Ran (not knowing who Shinichi is) and Shinichi stops the thief with his football, which ricochets into a house. Cue the sound of glass shattering and the discovery that a woman has died inside the house because she was hit by shattered glass. Was it Shinichi who accidently killed her? Of course not, and the detectives of the East and West join forces to find out what did happen inside the house.

The funny part is that Shinichi doesn't want Hattori to know he is Kudou Shinichi (the high school detective of the East). So he lies to Hattori, saying his name is Doiru (戸伊流（ドイル） - Doyle). Which is actually an awesome reference to the Edogawa Conan name, so yeah, I was quite happy with that. Ok, not much is done with it afterwards, as Shinichi isn't holding back his deductive powers this episode, so Hattori pretty much figures out he is Kudou Shinichi (_thus_ making this episode impossible canon-wise), but still, a nice nod to the main series. And Shinichi should use the Doiru alias more often.

The trick of the dead woman is pretty basic though and it was funny to see that the scriptwriter of this episode also wrote episode 6, as both episodes have a clear Galileo-vibe going on, with a type of trick that seldom appears in the Conan manga. Realistically though, the trick is pretty ridiculous as it might take 100 tries before the trick becomes actually lethal. It's probably one of the most basic tricks in this particular category of tricks and has been parodied quite often actually (one of the best gags in the detective-parody drama Kaette Kosaserareta 33pun Tantei ("The Forced Return of the 33 Minutes Detective"), where detective Rokurou actually confesses he doesn't understand the trick himself, as he only saw it on TV!).

But the appearance of Hattori and Kazuha really saves this episode and actually makes it one of the better, if not best episode of the whole series. With some dialogue lifted from the manga, this 'first contact' story is really amusing. Despite the subtitle of this episodes, Hattori and Shinichi are actually cooperating quite nicely, like the later Conan-Hattori stories in the main series. Having two detectives really makes this episode fun to watch. And the two actors of Hattori and Kazuha fit their roles a lot better than the ones doing Shinichi and Ran.

It also seems like the series slowly enters its final stages. The cast is still captured in the white rooms and they got seperated from Kogorou some episodes earlier already, this time Shinichi and Ran get seperated from each other too. Which is pretty much screaming that the show is almost over. I have no idea what to expect of the series finale though. My expectations were pretty high when the series started, but that has pretty much died out now, so little things like Kogorou pinching a spoon and the fact we have all these dates and keywords might have no relation at all with the series' finale.

Not sure when the finale will be though. Wikipedia says this series will run until the end of September, which would mean another 4 episodes? 13 episodes is a bit on the long side for a normal drama series though...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「服部平次と密室殺人見えない凶器のナゾ! 東西探偵推理バトル」
Date & Password: 2010.09.10; キズナ

「ゲームマスター・・・！ お前の正体はこの俺が必ず暴く！」

学校では教えない ウラワザ
無敵コマンド 復活の呪文のとなえ方
人生で大切な事は
すべてゲ-ムでおそわった

「ラストコンティニュー」 （中山智明）

Things they don't teach at school

cheats, invisibility commands, how to do the revival spell,

all the important things of life,

I learned through games

"Last Continue" (AP Nakayama Tomoaki)

Oh, the summer is almost over. That means it's time for the annual Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo release! I guess it's better than nothing and it's become something like a habit for me too, but it'd be nice of they would do more volumes a year. Like two releases every year or something.

The previous couple of years, two volumes were released simultaneously, but this year it's just a single normal-sized volume. Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo - Game no Yakata Satsujin Jiken ("The Case Files of Young Kindaichi -  The Game Mansion Murder Case") starts with Kindaichi, Miyuki and some other friends having fun at an amusement park. Kindaichi and Miyuki get seperated from their friends and with cellphones not working in that area, the two decide to have fun on their own. After a great day, the two discover they don't have enough money left for the bus fare back to their inn, so they decide to walk back, only to get surprised by a huge rainfall halfway. Luckily, a bus passed by them on the road and they are allowed to get on by the driver.

The next moment however, Kindaichi and Miyuki awaken in some kind of a deserted building, together with some other people. It seems all the people here were on the bus and that they were all knocked out by sleeping gas during the bus trip. A man in a cloak tells the confused party that they are in the so-called Game Mansion and that the only way to escape is to play his games. Which include things like quizzes (oh, and if you don't get a right answer in time, you get blown up) and wire puzzles (oh, and if you don't solve your puzzle in time, you might burn to death) and other fun games. Who is the Game Master and why is he forcing the party to play through his sadistic games?

I have actually never seen Saw, but I guess that this is inspired by Saw? The sadistic games that lead to death? While there's often a certain sense of danger in the Kindaichi Shounen stories because the stories are often set in closed circles, it's seldom this intense and it certainly made for a very exciting story. But Kindaichi Shounen wouldn't be Kindaichi Shounen if this wasn't connected with an orthodox mystery plot. Which is where the story both fails and succeeds. The orthodox mystery plot is really neatly integrated into the slash-horror plot, with actual proper clueing to what the Game Master is trying to accomplish. It's actually pretty cool how the hints were hidden in the 'games'. However, the clues pointing to the murderer are few and I was actually suprised when Kindaichi said who the murderer was, as there was pretty much nothing to point to that person. Of course, Kindaichi was told something the reader didn't know late in the story, so this was just unfair clueing.

But if I was asked whether I like this volume or not, I'd still say I like this volume though: the change in pacing because of the Saw-like story does changes things up a bit and like I said, it's actually done in a way to fit into the orthodox mystery genre. Because of this change in pacing, the story feels fresh for a Kindaichi Shounen story. It's a shame though that Kindaichi and Miyuki's friends (like Souta) only appeared at the beginning of the story: I had really hoped they would stick for the rest of the story, as the stories featuring the extended Kindaichi Shounen cast, mostly seen in the short stories, are usually more fun than the more classic stories.

I just wish Amagi/Satou would be a bit more active with the Kindaichi Shounen stories. Yes, I know that Amagi is a pretty busy guy, writing many, many scenarios for manga and drama using like eight different aliases, but it's been a while since he did a regularly running detective manga, right?

Original Japanese title(s): 天樹征丸、さとうふみや 『金田一少年の事件簿　ゲームの館殺人事件』

「えぇ、俺まだ分かってへんで！」

ぼく達は

A) 一旦部屋に戻って着替えると、玄関脇の談話室で落ち合った。

B) 一旦部屋に戻って着替えて、夕食までどちらかの部屋で話でもしようということになった。

『かまいたちの夜』

有野：　いや、でもちょっと、いろんな人がおるところにいって、ぼく結構社交的な面あるんですよって真理にみせる方がいいと思う。ちょっと『ときメモ』風の考えですけど

『ゲームセンターＣＸ』 #113

We...

A) went to back to our rooms to change our clothes and met at the lounge next to the entrance.

B) decided to go back to our rooms to change our clothes and talk in one of our rooms until dinner

("The Night of the Kamaitachi")

Arino: Wait, but, I think it's better to go to a place with all kinds of people, to show to Mari that I'm pretty sociable.  That's kinda more like TokiMemo though...

(Game Center CX #113)

It's funny if you think about it, but the only Choose Your Own Adventure books I have are of Super Mario Bros. Why would I need a gamebook of a game?  I had fun with them though, reading the stories, collecting items and going through all the possible endings. So it's not strange I enjoy Chunsoft's sound novels. 'Cause they are basically CYOA-esque games: interactive fiction accompanied by images and audio where you advance in the story by making choices, with as goal finding the best ending. These sound novels are usually a lot more complex than your average CYOA book though, with countless of multiple choice decision points that affect the way the storyline will develop. Especially Chunsoft's 428 ~ Fuusa sareta Shibuya de ("428 ~In a Sealed Shibuya") is amazing, with five seperate storylines that intersect at certain points, with the decisions made in one storyline affecting the other storylines.

Kamaitachi no Yoru ("Night of the Kamaitachi") is one of the more famous sound novels (maybe the most famous?) and the second sound novel Chunsoft made.  It was a big hit when it first hit the Super Famicom and has been ported to other systems like the PlaySation and GameBoy Advance. And the series is still going strong apparently, with even a new entry announced for the PlaySation Vita. At any rate, Kamaitachi no Yoru is considered a pretty important title in the Japanese game world.

And the fact that I discuss the game here pretty much gives it away, but Kamaitachi no Yoru is basically nothing more or less than an orthodox mystery sound novel.  The scenario was penned by Abiko Takemaru, a mystery writer who seems to have a very close connection with Chunsoft (he also contributed to 428 ~ Fuusa sareta Shibuya de and Trick X Logic). The story is a pretty basic one: protagonists Tooru and his sorta girlfriend Mari are on vacation, staying at the ski pension of Mari's uncle. One night, during a snow storm, one of the guests, or to be exact, many pieces of one of the guests are found in his room. A murder! In a secluded ski lodge in a snow storm? Who would have expected that?! But the more important question is: Who did this? Someone from outside? Or one of the people in the pension? Or are the titular kamaitachi to blame?

As this is still considered a game, it is expected that the player solves the mystery himself (taking up the role of Tooru). And it's here where the sound novel feels superior to 'normal' books. As you control Tooru, you get to choose what actions to take. Do you suspect someone in the pension? Do you make your suspicions clear to the other people, or  do you wait until you can get some more information? At certain points in the story you are offered the choice what to do next and this has influence on the rest of the story.

Although the basic premise (people locked up in a snow lodge with a murderer) seems pretty standard and not particularly exciting, it's fun to see how the story changes by the little choices people make.There are literally dozens of decision points in the story and more importantly: one choice can completely change the story. With every decision point, the story changes a little, making it possible to play through the game dozens of times and still experience a totally different story everytime. In fact, there is a flow-chart included in the game to show what choices you have made and how your story is developing.

And it's really needed, as there are many, many endings. One time, my story ended with the death of everyone in the pension (including myself!) except for the killer. Which is not a good ending. In another ending, I ended up outside the pension before any murders happened, only to come back to find everyone killed.Which isn't a good ending either. In another, more light-hearted ending, I ended up as the director of a small firm, apparently having left the ski pension before the murders happened.

In one of my better endings, I did solve the murders (plural), but it was also possible to solve the case earlier in the story, resulting in fewer casualties. So the reader/player has direct influence on the developments in the story. With the changes in the story, the tone of the story also changes in the latter half of the game: the more murders happen. the more the story changes into a horror-flick, with everyone afraid of an unknown assaillant.

It might sound boring having to wade through a load of endings in search of the true ending, but it's actually really fun. Bad endings are just as amusing as the good endings, so coming across a bad ending doesn't really feel bad: it's just another variation on the same basic story. And while you might know the basic story, the changes that lead up to the various endings do prevent the story from becoming boring. In fact, even the bad endings contain little clues to the real murderer, so bad endings really aren't that bad.

As a mystery game, Kamaitachi no Yoru is awesome and the plot penned Abiko Takemaru (including the variation endings) is pretty interesting, even if it's a bit standard. The 'true' ending is not too difficult to deduce for a more experienced reader of the genre (making use of some rather 'standard' tropes), but the whole concept of mystery novel in such a form is really neat. Sound novels combine the ease of a written story with the interactivity found in games (as well as being more attractive audiovisually) in a very effective way IMHO.

And yes, this probably works best in a videogame setting. While I wouldn't mind CYOA mystery novels, the complexity of such a plot is best done in a videogame. I mean, without the big flow-charts to show every decision point and the way the story nodes are connected and instant jump-functions, Kamaitachi no Yoru (and other sound novels) would probably be less appealing

Original Japanese title(s): 『かまいたちの夜』