The Time-bombed Skyscraper

「君はぼくが金田一耕助であることを忘れたのかね？」

『三つ首塔』

"Did you forget that I am Kindaichi Kousuke?"

"The Three Head Tower"

Is writing a positive review easier than writing a negative review? Or the other way around? Does it matter at all? After many years of reviewing at several places, I think my answer to the question is that it doesn't matter. What makes it easier is whether I care about the subject matter. If I've read the super-special-awesomest book ever, I'll praise it. If I read an awful book, I'll compare it to better examples in the same field to show how absolutely horrible the book is. But the problem is when I just don't care anymore. Like with this post. With ambiguous feelings about a book, it's hard to predict how this post will turn out, as I always write these things without any planning...

Yokomizo Seishi's Mitsu Kubi Tou ("The Three Head Tower") seemed like a book I should care about though. It was written right after the masterpiece Akuma no Temariuta and took the seventh place in Yokomizo Seishi's personal top ten of his own novels. Anyone would have expectations then, right? Of course, the use of the past tense in these sentences already spoils my feelings about the book. I'm not very positive about it. But Mitsu Kubi Tou does have its merits, so I'm not very negative about it either. But about 100 pages into the novel, I just stopped caring about the story, about what was good and not so good about the book. I just pushed myself through the book. Which makes it sound a lot more boring than it actually is (it's actually quite exciting).

Even for a Yokomizo Seishi novel, Mitsu Kubi Tou seems to feature a rather standard inheritence dispute murder case. Newly graduated Miyamoto Otone is to inherit a fortune from a distant relative on the condition that she marries Takatou Shunsaku, a man she has never heard of. The lawyers haven't located Shunsaku yet, allowing Otone to think about whether she accepts the conditions of the will. One month later after, Takatou Shunsaku is found. Murdered. At the birthday party of Otone's uncle. With Shunsaku dead and thus making it impossible for Otone to marry him, the inheritence is to split amongst all (living) family members. And yes, as always, that means that the potential successors get killed off one by one. 'Cause this is a mystery novel.

Otone is suspected of the murders, but a mysterious man luckily (?) decides to help Otone. After forcing himself on her. Because that is the way to get women to obey you, appearently. After helping her escape from the police, the man tells Otone to look for the titular Three Head Tower, which will somehow help her out of this mess. But Kindaichi Kousuke is on the trail of Otone and her friend...

So apparently forcing yourself on a woman is a sign of affection and makes them trust you unconditionally? I'm pretty sure that is not the way the world works, not even in 1955. The disclaimer does mention does that some of the wording has been changed in my pocket edition from the original script, but even then, this novel is rather very anti-feministic. I'm not interested in gender as a field of research, but I could go on for a day with just this novel.

But setting that topic aside, Mitsu Kubi Tou has some interesing points. The novel is written from Otone's point of view (similar to Yatsu Haka Mura and Yoru Aruku) and is in fact the best compared to an Arsene Lupin novel. A girl, caught up in a mysterious web of murder and deceit, who is helped (and loved) by a mysterious man who seems to have links with the underworld is pretty much Lupin's territory. And yes, like the Lupin novels, Mitsu Kubi Tou is really fun to read, with story development upon development. In fact, the moment you start with the book, it's impossible to place the book away, it's that energetic. Yokomizo Seishi really excels here with his story-telling. And with Otone is on the run from the police, Kindaichi Kousuke is actually described as the antagonist in this novel, which is a fresh way to look at the famous detective.

But the mystery-element really suffers from this approach. Mitsu Kubi Tou was a serialized novel, and it seems like Yokomizo made the story up as he went, without any real planning. When I said that the book was exciting, I mostly meant the enormous amounts of story developments. It's like every five pages something happens. This is why I stopped caring about the novel after a while: I realized it would be almost useless try to deduce anything here, as it was clear that Yokomizo was just improvising the whole story on the go. In fact, the single clue that points to the serial killer is forced upon the reader at the end, just a couple of pages before it is used. Hello, last minute plans. In fact, Yokomizo even threw in a genuine ghost-that-point-to-location-corpses moment near the end of the novel, as he didn't have enough pages left and couldn't think of another way (storywise) to lead the protagonists to the corpses.

Ignoring the fact that I actually wanted a good old fashioned orthodox mystery, Mitsu Kubi Tou is mostly like an exciting adventure of Arsene Lupin, but it also suffers from some bad design problems by Yokomizo Seishi. In the end, this novel was just a zero-sum game for me; it never got really good or bad. Absolutely not recommended as a mystery novel though, 'cause then this novel will be quite depressing.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史　『三つ首塔』

「スベテノナゾハトケタ」

「鵺のなく夜に気をつけろ・・・」

『悪霊島』

"Beware of the nights the Nue cries..."

 "Island of Evil Spirits"

I am always at doubt when reviewing novels of a series. Which is pretty much always if you look at my reading pile, but that's besides the point. The point is that I'm never sure whether I write reviews as seperate bodies of text, or conciously as part of a series of text. Or to be less abstract: should I expect that readers of a review have read some or all of my previous reviews (allowing me to build on that), or should I write them as accessible texts, so one might for example start with the latest review of a entry within a series without feeling overwhelmed? A concrete example would be like whether I should explain who the series detective is, his characteristics etc. in every seperate review of a series entry, or should I just assume that readers will find out by ploughing through old reviews? Should I discuss the basic elements of the Kindaichi Kousuke novels, their impact on the history of Japanese dectective novels and popular culture every time, or just hope that readers will read it in an older review?

In the end I always go for the easy way out though.

Akuryoutou ("Island of Evil Spirits") ranks amongst the more famous works of Yokomizo Seishi, for several reasons. Besides numerous translations to the white and silver screen, the novel is also actually the last novel Yokomizo Seishi wrote. It is therefore also the final Kindaichi Kousuke novel written. Within the chronology of the Kindaichi Kousuke novels, Akuryoutou is also the final novel in the so-called Okayama-cycle, a set of novels in the Kindaichi Kousuke series set in the Okayama prefecture. Other books in the Okayama-cycle include Honjin Satsujin Jiken, Gokumontou, Yoru Aruku, Yatsu Haka Mura and Akuma no Temariuta: indeed, most of the best Kindaichi Kousuke stories are set in Okayama. So yes, that raises expectations for Akuryoutou.

Ochi Ryuuhei grew up on the small Osakabe island in the Seto Inland sea, but left the island to travel to the United States. He made it big there and has now returned to Japan as a wealthy businessman. Hoping to revitalize his old home, he comes up a resort development plan set near Osakabe island. He also plans to move back to Osakabe island, but fearing that not all inhabitants on the island might be happy with his resort, he sents his subordinate Aoki to infiltrate the island as a tourist to see what people think of him. Aoki however disappears during this mission.

Kindaichi Kousuke is hired by Ochi to locate Aoki, and  it doesn't take long for Kindaichi to discover that Aoki was the mysterious man who was found in the sea near Osakabe island, who died shortly after leaving the enigmatic words:

Their bones are stuck together at their waists.... They walk sideways like a crab.... They are crabs... the offspring of crabs.... Evil spirits roam that island... evil spirits... evil spirits... Beware the night the Nue cries...

Partnering up with his old friend inspector Isokawa (who has discovered a link between Osakabe island and a the victim of a murder on the mainland), Kindaichi starts to investigate what has happened to Aoki and what Aoki's final words meant. With the discovery many people have disappeared from the island in the past, it really seems like evil spirits roam Osakabe island...

At over 600 pages, this is one of the longest, if not the longest Kindaichi Kousuke novel, but that's certainly not saying something about the quality of the story. I am not sure about the circumstances in which Yokomizo wrote this book, but it's written... not very well. Similar to some of the later books of Agatha Christie, the writing power of Yokomizo in his last novel is not as strong as in his early novels. In fact, there are dozens of instances in where keeps repeating himself or keeps using the same phrases over and over again, which is really annoying. The repetition might be because this is a serialized novel (so some recapping might be expected across chapters), but his earlier novels (which were also usually serialized) certainly didn't feature such a repetitive tone.

The story itself feels very much like a mish-mash of all the earlier Okayama-cycle novels. We have the island, secluded communities, the role of religious figures in said communities, power struggles between young / old, rich / poor, insiders / outsiders and of course the influence of the war on the everyday life of the common people. The story even features an extensive cave section (Yatsu Haka Mura). The problem is; these elements are all fine and the things I expect in a Kindaichi Kousuke novel, but the detection part of this story is very weak. Kindaichi does little deducing in this story (more like guessing) and while I admit that the atmosphere in Akuryoutou is absolutely creepy and works great as a horror novel, it certainly doesn't succeed as a mystery novel. Which is always a danger with Yokomizo Seishi's novels, as they often walk a thin line between the horror and the mystery genre, but Akuryoutou leans towards the former genre. Not a bad novel on its own, but it's certainly not a Gokumontou.

Funnily enough, this is also one of the few Kindaichi Kousuke books with very few victims, as Kindaichi actually tries to keep the kill count down by acting on his hunches. In other novels he is much more like the great detective (and the story structures are better), but despite that many people die in those books. In fact, Kindaichi is pretty much the last detective you'd want to hire, as more murders are bound to happen if he's on the scene. Something he kinda shares with his (maybe) grandson Hajime. 

Because of the bizarre elements in the novel (yes, there is some talking about a Siamese twin, and man-eating dogs and Nue and stuff), Akuryoutou feels very much related to some of the longer mystery novels of Edogawa Rampo. Once again, this is not a bad thing (hey, I love Edogawa Rampo!), but it was not what I had expected when I started reading the novel and I would have prefered a proper mystery.

Finally, as someone interested in sociolinguistics and dialects and speech patterns in fiction, I was really surprised to see how much the dialect of Osakabe island (and of more Okayama prefecture residents) resembles the Kyushu dialects. Geographically, you'd imagine that the accent in Okayama would be closer to the dialects in the Kinki region, but linguistic items like sogena (instead of sonna) and ken (instead of kara) are certainly Kyushu dialect characteristics. And while the auxiliary verb yoru is also used in Kansai dialect, it's certainly not as common as in Kyushu dialect. And apparently Okayama (Osakabe) dialect. I can imagine that the dialect would be quite hard to read for people not familiar with either of these dialects though.

As a swan song, Akuryoutou is a bit disappointing. It reminds of Yatsu Haka Mura, which was also more horror than mystery, but the latter was certainly written better. I have to admit that because of this, I'm afraid to expect too much of Byouinzaka no Kubikukuri no Ie ("The House of Hanging on Hospital Hill"), which features the last adventure of Kindaichi Kousuke.

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史　『悪霊島』

『死ぬほど美味いラーメン』

「ボウズ、推理ドラマの観すぎだぞ！」

「気分は少年探偵の小林少年かい？」

「いや・・・小林少年というより、真相を見抜いた明智小五郎の気分だよ」

『名探偵コナン』　

"Kid, you've been watchin' too many detective shows!"

"Feeling like Kobayashi of the Boys Detective Club?"

"No... rather than Kobayashi, I feel like Akechi Kogorou who has just solved the case"

"Detective Conan"

It'squite surprising how much I love Conan after that many years. Despite medicore live action series. It's pretty amazing to see that the quality of the series doesn't suffer from the length. Even after 73 volumes, the series manages to present me with great stories and there's always something memorable in every volume.Which explains why even reviews of single volumes of Conan work.

The Blade of the Keeper of Time, the opening story of the newest volume, numero 73, is a continuation of the previous volume, but not particularly interesting. The problems of the murder commited in complete darkness, the disappearing murder weapon and the conflicting testimonies of the witnesses are interesting on their own, but I really doubt the trick would work so perfectly in real-life. It's a trick that works on paper (in manga?), but I can hardly see it working in reality. The setting in an Western mansion and the attention paid to the veranda and outer appearence of the mansion remind of some of the earlier Conan stories (Unnatural Deaths in an Illustrious Family Case in volume 15-16; Case of the Locked Room A Night Before the Wedding in volume 21). In fact, I don't think the Western Mansion has appeared in the Conan series for some time now.

The second story is really fun though! Deadly Delicious Ramen is another in a little set of stories within the Conan-canon, all concerning poisoning cases within a restaurant setting. China Town Deja Vu in the Rain (volume 34) and Kaitenzushi Mystery (volume 63) are among the better poisoning stories in the series and Deadly Delicious Ramen certainly does not disappoint with a man being poisoned in a ramen-restaurant. Naturally, as food-related mysteries, these stories also remind of Kuitan, which is never a bad thing. The trick used is brilliant in its simplicity and while I figured it out quickly, I can totally see why some people wouldn't think of it (not because I'm smart, but from own experience).

The third story involves a rather complex impossible crime, but the more interesting point of the story involves the introduction of the new character Sera Masumi, a Jeet Kun Do practicing self-proclaimed girl detective who transfers into Ran and Sonoko's class. It's pretty clear that she is supposed to attract attention and she probably ties in with Scar-Akai and Bourbon introduced in previous volumes, mirroring the Kir/Mizunashi Rena/Eisuke dynamics in volumes 50~57. Sera's introduction continues in the volume's last story, showcasing her martial prowess as well as her deductive skills, with Sera, Ran and Mouri being held hostage and Mouri being forced to solve the murder on the hostage taker's sister, as he wants to kill the murderer himself.

The main storyline of this volume is obviously the introduction of Sera Masumi as a recurring character, but despite that, I think I'll always assiociate this volume with Deadly Delicious Ramen. Combining typical Japanese eating culture and a simple yet smart poisoning trick, it excels in its reality and simplicity. The introduction of Sera does probably mean that Conan won't end in the near future. If we consider her a new Eisuke, her storyline might take up to 10 volumes to end. Hmm....

Original Japanese title(s):  青山剛昌　『名探偵コナン』第７３巻

「さっさと行ってきなさいよ。探偵さん」

がっかりだな、名探偵

現場に大切なものを忘れているぞ

『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』

You disappoint me, great detective

You forgot something important at the crime scene!

"Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"

So in the end I couldn't keep up with weekly reviews of the Detective Conan live action series. Partly  because of university, but also because the quality of the series was very inconsistent. While I admit there were some good episodes too in this 13-episode long series, most of the episodes were either average or actually bad, which kinda sucked away the motivation to watch the series and report on it loyally every week.

Which explains why I am doing the final three episodes of the series in one single post now, two weeks after the series ended. The whole weekly posting thing experiment was fun to try, but I guess I found out the hard way that this only works if a) the series is actually fun to watch every episode and b) if the episode actually allows me to comment on it in a semi-meaningful way. 

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

When the Conan live action drama was first announced, I heard that the series would also include episodes based on the manga, but it was just this one single episode. Episode 11 ("A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi") is based on Desperate Revival [The Return of Shinichi & The Promised Place] (volume 26). Seeing as the live-action series focuses more on the Shinichi - Ran dynamics, the choice seems logical at first sight, as this case features them in a rather unique situation. Shinichi and Ran are having dinner in a restaurant, with Shinich clearly having something on his mind to say to Ran when a murder is discovered in the elevator of the building. Ran allows Shinichi to go see what's happening, not knowing that Shinichi was planning to propose to her.

The big, big, big problem with this story is that it is set chronologically after Shinichi turned in Conan in the manga. While the live action was already taking some liberties with continuity in earlier episodes(see episodes 3 and 9 for example), the contradictions there could be ignored with a bit of imagination. But by setting this case (and the surrounding events) before Shinichi turned into Conan, the live action series is set obviously in another continuity.

The original story is pretty good, resulting in one of the better episodes of the drama series, but the story loses a lot of its meaning because of the changed setting (in the manga, the fact that the case is set after Shinichi turned into Conan is very important for the conclusion of the story). The dramatization does not offer anything interesting new in return for these changes, resulting in a story that is not quite as good as the original manga or the anime episode.

Episode 12 ("I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!") starts out interestingly enough: a bank employee is found dead in the strongbox room of the bank, but the problem is that nobody can enter the room, as the security gate is down. Apparently, the murderer killed the employee, somehow activated the security gate, sealing off the strongbox room and even placed a bomb that goes off if somebody tries to open the gate. Mouri and Shinichi are asked privately to help, but to their big surprise, all three of their suspects confess to the murder, claiming they commited the murder on their own!

The problem of the three suspects confessing to the murder seems a lot like Bertus Aafjes' short story De haan heeft gegaapt of de zaak van de vele moordenaars (The Cock Yawned or the Case of the Multiple Murderers), the difference being that the latter is actually fun and this episode is really, really bad. Not the worst episode of the series, but it comes close. With problems involving illogical actions taken by the actors on stage, the awful (absolutely awful) hinting, and a pathetic attempt to make this case seem like a tragic (thus interesting) case, this episode is nothing more than a half an hour of headache-inducing nonsense. In fact, all of the notes I took while watching this episodes were just the keywords of the episode, all followed by a question mark. Why did (s)he do that? Why wouldn't someone notice that? Why would you leave that there? Why? Why? Why?!

The first episode of this series started with Shinichi, Ran and Mouri being locked inside a white room, being forced to recall cases Shinichi solved in the past in order to move on to other rooms, but in the final episode ("Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room"), Shinichi finally manages to escape from the white room. Or to be more exact: he was knocked out inside the white room and woke up in a harbor, being found by the police. Shinichi has no idea what happened, but the more shocking discovery is that Ran was found dead besides him in the harbor.

The rest of the episode Shinichi tries to figure out what has happened to Ran and who had captured them in the white room, but it takes no genius detective to solve the case. Halfway through the episode, Shinichi suddenly decides to run from the police, mimicking something Kindaichi Hajime has to do rather often in his stories, but with one big difference: there was no reason for Shinichi to run away. In fact, like with the previous episodes, I had to ask the Why question quite often, and I never got any answers.

A different problem I had with the episode is that is hardly a satisfying finale to 13 episode long series. From the beginning of the series, I had one fear: that the main storyline of the gang being locked inside the white rooms was nothing more than just a method to string the seperate stories together. I really hoped that the writers would have planted hints spread across all the episodes, allowing the viewer to construct a case while watching the series. Which is why I paid attention to the dates the cases occured on and to the passwords in every episode. But that was all useless. The final episode is just a cheap way to wrap up the series, delivering not a single grain of satisfaction. No interconnection between the episodes, no carefully planted seeds across the episodes! Despite the fact that it could have been done perfectly considering who the final criminal was! It's the sort of thing that is done expertly in the manga, as evidenced with the Vermouth and Kir/Eisuke storylines there. Carefully plotted hints scattered over a variety of stories that may or may not be directly connected to the overall storyline. Which makes the lousy way it's handled here more obvious.

Oh, and a random observation: the Beika police station looks awfully like the police station in the Furuhata Ninzaburou episode The Fear of Professor Kuroiwa. Which is really interesting considering the criminal's identity and the overall tone of the episode.

And this finally wraps up my review-series of Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi. And yes, it was quite tedious, as the material was usually not really worth writing about. I love Conan, and the TV-specials were OK, but this series, on the whole, almost feels like a mistake. Episode 3 ("Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder"), episode 9 ("Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West") and episode 10 ("The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman") are worth a look, but the rest can be missed.

I won't say there was nothing positive at all in the Mizobata/Kutsuna era Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi series, but I guess my gut-feeling about the original TV special that preceded this series was right: the current creative team just isn't talented enough to (consistently) come up with stories worthy of the franchise name.

Aaaah, at least the manga is still going strong!

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「キスは殺しの理由、20年後の復讐殺人! 完璧なアリバイの謎 」
Date & Password:　2010.9.17;　エレベーター
『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「私が殺しました! 3人の単独犯? 偽装殺人の謎を暴け!」
Date & Password:　2010.9.24;　タンジョウビ
『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「蘭死す! 真犯人が天才探偵へ最後の挑戦 白い部屋の謎を暴け」
Date & Password:　2009.5.15;　ヒロタハジメ

The Invisible Man

「あなたの本職については、訊かない方がいいんでしょうね？」

「別に、かまいませんよ」

「もし聞かれたら、何で答えるの？」

「現実世界のハッカーとでも」

『硝子のハンマー』

"It's probably best not to ask about your main occupation?"

"I don't really care"

"If asked, what would you answer?"

"A hacker of reality"

"The Glass Hammer"

Oh, that's what they meant with the master's program takes up your time! While I try to read books in the train, I'm usually too tired to read because it's so early on the way to the university, and I'm just tired from class on the way back. So no, that's not working out really good.

Anyway, I've said it before, but I usually have trouble finding new authors to read. Or to be more precise: it's the not the trouble of finding names, just how to select them. There seems to be a trend in the English-language orthodox mystery blogging sphere of having a profound effect on itself: when one author gets a (very) favorable review on one blog, it usually doesn't take long for that author to also appear on other blogs. Being placed in a somewhat more niche area within this sphere though, the authors enjoying a boom usually don't really fit within my own reading-diet. So how do I choose new authors?

I'm not sure actually. For example, I know I had heard the name Kishi Yuusuke from a friend, but to be honest, I can't really remember in what kind of context. A quick search told me that he was primarily a SF-writer, but that he had also written mystery novels. In the end, I just took a gamble with the friend's recommendation without any real research, so I started pretty clueless with my first Kishi Yuusuke novel.

The Glass Hammer is the first novel in the Security Consultant Detective Enomoto series. Protagonist Enomoto Kei reminds of Bernie Rhodenbarr, with both characters having a rather shady past and both actually being active burglars. But while Rhodenbarr runs a bookstore during the day, Enomoto runs the shop Forewarned & Forearmed, selling anything concerning crime prevention, ranging from locks to security cameras. As a burglar, he is obviously quite an expert in this field. And just to make it clear: he runs the shop honestly, making use of his own knowledge to come up with optimal security solutions for his clients (so he is not making flaws in security plans so he can break and enter himself).

In The Glass Hammer, the president of Bayleaf, a company that offers nursing case solutions, ranging from 'normal' nurses to trained monkeys and nursing robots, is found dead in his office, being knocked on his head rather hard . A security check quickly shows that only one person could have commited the murder. Bayleaf's executive offices are all located on the top floor of a skyscraper and one needs to enter a password for the elevator to move to that floor, so no-one outside the company could have commited the murder. And because the corridor was watched by a camera (with nobody suspicious appearing in the footage) and the window of the president's office can't be opened, the crime was only possible for the senior managing director, as the offices of the director and the president are directly connected (thus it is not necessary to go out to the corridor to go from one office to the other). The director's lawyer Aoto Junko believes in her client's innocence though and hires Enomoto as a security consultant, hoping he can prove that someone could have overcome the obstacles of the code-locked elevator, the infra-red camera and the eyes of the guard and secretaries to murder the president!

But I'm not sure what to think about the novel though. Kishi obviously started out with a brilliant idea for a locked room murder (which I really like) and then came up with the rest of the story. The trick is quite original and makes me curious of Kishi's other novels, as it reminds me a bit of Shimada Souji's large scale mechanical tricks, but set more firmly in contemporary times, with more high-tech obstacles like cameras.

The main problem, for me, is how the book is structured. The book is divided in two parts, the first starting with the discovery of the crime and the subsequent investigation by Aoto and Enomoto. This part is really fun, with both Aoto and Enomoto trying to find a solution to the multi-layered locked room.

The second part however is written from the viewpoint of the murderer, explaining everything from the very beginning, from motive to the planning of the crime to the actual execution. The problem I have with this part is that I really don't care about why the murderer commited the murder. It is not that I don't need motives for murder, but I really don't need 100 pages of character building. The rest (the explanation of the murder) might as well have been included in the first part. While the novel runs at a better pace here compared to the first part, I don't really care about the contents of this second part. It's also in this second part that Kishi comes up with plotpoints that are awfully convenient for the murderer, something that could have been avoided if Kishi had continued with the Enomoto narrative.

Both parts are about the same length (300 pages), but they feel rather disjointed. It's like Kishi wrote two stories based on his locked room trick (one written from the viewpoint of the detective, the other from the criminal's point of view), not sure what would be better story-wise and in the end decided to use them both. But it's not like the story gains anything from that: focusing on one single point of view would have been much more effective, I think.

The trick is really good though and I like the characters Enomoto and Aoto, so I think I'll read more in this series, but I hope the other books are structured better. But despite its faults, I do think this novel is worth a read.

Original Japanese title(s): 貴志祐介　『硝子のハンマー』

「パターン入った！パターン入った！」

 「これがクッパの恐ろしい所なんですよ」

「お前クッパの何知ってんねん！」

『ゲームセンターＣＸ』

"That is what makes Bowser so fearsome"

"Whattaheck would you know about Bowser?!"

"Game Center CX"

I don't watch that many TV programs (and the few ones I do watch get cancelled or something like that), but Game Center CX has to be my favorite at the moment. Arino Shinya (of manzai duo Yoiko) here plays the character of the kachou ('section chief') of the fictional company Game Center CX and his task is to play old, retro games and show the ending to the viewers. He usually has a time limit of one day to beat the game and the program tracks his progress throughout the games. Arino is not particularly good in videogames (except for puzzle games) and you'll probably shout countless of times at Arino throughout his challenges, but his sheer tenacity makes the program a delight to watch. Anyone plays one single stage for over 7 hours trying to get to the ending deserves some praise, right? For anyone who likes games, this program is a must-see. It's just inspiring watching Arino taking on games like Ninja Gaiden and Ghost'n Goblins.

And yes, it's a program about games, so it is not weird there is a game based on Game Center CX. Two games actually (only the first one is available in English). Both the Nintendo DS games have the same concept: they are a collection of faux-retro games: games that invoke the old NES/Famicom spirit, in looks, audio and gameplay (but made now). These aren't just mini-games, they are full-fledged games that really feel like they could have been released in the late eighties. The games even come complete with illustrated manuals and there are in-game game magazines with cheats and walkthroughs for these games! And for fans of the show, there are A LOT of inside jokes, including guest appearances by the assistent directors/producers and references to some of Arino's challenges. Who for example is surprised by the appearance of super-fast-and-deadly birds in the Ninja Gaiden inspired Haguruman 3?

So what does this have to do with detective fiction? Well, the second Game Center CX game actually contains a wonderful detective adventure game: Kachou wa Meitantei ("The Section Chief is the Great Detective"). It of course invokes the spirit of games like Famicom Tantei Club, Tantei Jinbuuji Saburou and Sanma no Meitantei, being a command-style adventure. This particular genre never did gain popularity in the West for some reasons or another (with PC adventures going the way of point and click adventures), but practically every Famicom adventure looked like this. Heck, Kachou wa Meitantei, like the first Famicom Tantei Club, is even split over two floppies (yes, despite the game not actually existing outside the DS world and thus not actually needing two floppies).

The protagonist is a new employee at CX Industries, a company that makes the actual game cartridges used in videogame consoles. He is asked by the president to assist section chief Arino in his investigation of the Seven Mysteries of CX Industries, seven 'urban legends' concerning the factory that are making employees feel uneasy. As the factory is busy with the upcoming release of Final Question 3, the president wants the mysteries cleared so everyone can focus on his work. The mysteries start out pretty innocent, ranging from 'The Locked Conference Room", 'the Crying Machines' to the 'Changing Quotum Charts', but as the game progresses Arino discovers a sinister plot of the 'Love and Game' cult which is bent on not only destroying CX Industries, but the whole gaming world! It's up to the section chief to solve the mystery behind the 'Love and Game' cult!

As a detective-adventure, it is a pretty close take on the old Famicom command-style adventures. As a player, you don't have to deduce much (there are only two instances where you actually have to input words yourself instead of just selecting commands) and the story is pretty straight-forward. Kachou wa Meitantei is a really light-hearted take on the genre, so don't expect complex murder plots like the one in Famicom Tantei Club or something like a locked room mystery set in Shinjuku Central Park like in the first Tantei Jinguuji Saburou.

But is that a bad thing? No, 'cause his game is really hilarious! True, most of the comedy relies on inside jokes, but fans of the show should love this. Most of the staff of the show make a guest appearence in the game (including assistant directors/producers's who have left the program already). Inside jokes like AD Sasano's sweaty hands (when playing games) and AD Urakawa's sense of direction (referencing how Urakawa got lost on the way to the studio on his first day on work) are actually integrated in the story pretty well! The writers even included references to some of the more memorable quotations from the show ("That is what makes America so fearsome" - "Whattaheck would you know about America!"). This does make the game a bit harder to 'get' for people who don't know the program, though it seems unlikely one would actually buy this game without knowing Game Center CX.

Arino's character is also used pretty good; his commands include both tsukkomi (retort) and boke (play the fool), referencing his manzai roots. Arino's inventory includes his card and while Jinguuji smokes when he needs to think, Arino slaps one of his hiepita on his head. These commands make the game feel pretty unique, which is pretty interesting, as this is a game that actually tries to copy other adventures. It pretty much shows how strong and unique the character of 'section chief Arino' in the TV program is.

This is a rather narrow recommendation, but if you a) like Game Center CX and b) old command-style detective adventures, then you really need to play this game. If you don't know the program, it's not really worth it. True, Kachou wa Meitantei has some novelty value as it succeeds wonderfully in invoking the feeling of the old games,. As a detective game it's pretty standard-fare (if compared to actual Famicom command style detectives), but it is pretty amazing how a faux-retro game like Kachou wa Meitantei manages to recreate that old nostalgic feeling.

But the game is funny and entertaining and everything positive because it builds on the enormous mythos surrounding the Game Center CX TV show, using the actual persons from the show, using quotes from the show, referencing situations Arino faced in the show. If you are not familiar with that framework, the game is just not nearly as funny or interesting. Of all the games included the Game Center CX games, Kachou wa Meitantei refers to the TV show the most blatantly and that is both its strong and its weak point.

Original Japanese title(s): 『ゲームセンターＣＸ　有野の挑戦状２』　「課長は名探偵　前編・後編」

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders

「黄金聖闘士たちの星座はすべて黄道に位置する。黄道とは太陽が一年かかって動く軌跡のこと。わかるか？太陽が通る道筋に位置する十二の黄金聖衣は神話の時代からまさしく太陽の光をふんだん浴びている！黄金聖衣の肉体には太陽の力が限りなく蓄積されているのじゃ！！いくぞ！！小宇宙を最大に燃やせ！！我等の命を今ひとつに・・・この地獄の奥底に・・・！！光あれ！！」

『聖闘士星矢』

"The constellations of the Gold Saints are located in the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the route the Sun traces in one year. Do you understand? The Gold Cloths that lie on the route of the Sun have bathed in its light since the era of myths! The power of the Sun has been stored within the bodies of our Gold Cloths! So this is it!! Burn our Cosmo to the maximum! Now is the time to concentrate our spirits into one... And in the depths of Hades.... Let there be Light!"

"Saint Seiya"

Funny to see that we're only two weeks in the academic year and I'm already busy with crisis management. Wait, funny is probably not the right word. Something more negative would be better. On one hand, I like to think that many, many years of gaming have made honed my crisis management skills (playing Super Mario Bros. is always crisis management with me, escaping from one peril only to arrive at the next one), on the other hand, I always die. Oh, how many times have I yelled at Takahashi Meijin yesterday? In just one level. Anyway, concerning the Detective Conan drama reviews, I've decided to do one single post next week for the remaining three episodes instead of seperate reviews. Crisis management!

And now the main course. Norizuki Rintarou's Hanzai Horoscope 1 - Rokunin no Joou no Mondai ("Horoscope of Crime 1 - The Problem of the Six Queens") was my train companion for this week and a very pleasant one too. The title might suggest Queen's Calendar of Crime, but this short story collection is much more like Christie's The Labours of Hercules, as the stories are related to Greek mythology.  The cases mystery writer Norizuki Rintarou encounters in Hanzai Horoscope 1 all seem to be connected with the mythology surrounding the twelve constellations of the zodiac in one way or another. The stories all start with a short introduction of the constellation in question and the mythology behind it, which of course usually turns out to be a thematic clue to the story. And like the 'I' in the title suggests, this is actually only the first part of this series, going from Aries to Virgo. I think the second volume isn't finished yet actually...

In [Aries] Girisha Hitsuji no Himitsu ("The Secret of the Greek Ram"), Norizuki is asked by a somewhat down-the-gutter reporter-acquaintance to solve the murder of a homeless man. The reporter had been undercover for some time, pretending to be homeless and had become friends with the victim. One night, he found the victim being attacked by what seemed to be hobo-hunters. His friend eventually died, but some enigmatic words spoken by the assailants the reporter overheard make him think these attackers weren't 'just' hobo-hunters. And why did the assailants steal the reporter's Golden Fleece jacket? The mystery behind why the homeless man was killed is decent, but the logic behind the stolen Golden Fleece is a bit far-fetched

In [Tauros] Rokunin no Joou no Mondai ("The Problem of the Six Queens"), Norizuki is asked by his editor at the magazine Aleph to solve the mystery of the death of writer Abuhara Satoru. The man had fallen to his death at an apartment building. In Abuhara's last column, he hinted at his life might end soon and included a mysterious haiku that referenced an old play he wrote and the troupe he worked with at that time. Not a really good story (why is this the subtitle for this collection?), as the true intentions behind the code are very unrealistic, while the code itself is kinda spoiled by the title of the story and not particular surprising.

I've actually already discussed [Gemini] Zeus no Musukotachi ("The Sons of Zeus") in my review of Anata ga Meitantei, so I'll refer to that post. My only remark here is that Norizuki Rintarou being a writer is actually most prominent in this collection, as he gets involved with most of the cases here through his occupation as a mystery writer. Especially whole kantsume-thing in this story is very writer-ish. Not sure whether it's also done outside Japan.

[Cancer] Hydra Daijuu no Kubi ("The Tenth Head of the Hydra") is the most Queenish of the stories, as it features a very enigmatic scene: the apartment of a murder victim has been ransacked in a very curious way. The intruder apparently used five gloves (not pairs) while searching through the apartment and for some reason, only took two of those with him or her, leaving the other three in the apartment. Why go through all this trouble? What makes this story also very Queenish are the three suspects: one of the suspects is responsible for the suicide of the victim's suicide and apparently the victim was killed by the one responsible to protect himself. The best story in the collection, an original idea that develops in a very logical way.

In [Leo] Kagami no Naka no Lion ("The Lion in the Mirror"), inspector Kunou (the Velie to Norizuki's Queen)'s investigation into the murder of an actress is not going good. They have a suspect, a young and upcoming scriptwriter, and found pretty damning evidence in his apartment, but apparently the apartment building of the scriptwriter had been the target of a stake-out by the drugs department and the cops there say the scriptwriter never left his building. Making it kinda hard to actually kill the actress, put her in the back of her car and driving it to the underground garage of her apartment building. In fact, that makes it so impossible that people even start to say that inspector Kunou planted the evidence himself! A story with psychological clues rather than physical ones and not one of my favorites because of that.

A friend of a friend told me this..... a young student, A, receives a mail by a friend, B, asking if she could water her plants as B was on vacation. A didn't had the time and mailed by to B, but B never replied back. A called B several times, but she never answered. One week later, A heard that B had been in a coma for over a month now because of overhydration...  [Virgo] Meifu ni Torawareta Musume  ("The Girl Imprisoned in Hades") starts off like that Norizuki's masterpiece Toshi Densetsu Puzzle, as Norizuki hears about this new urban legend. A reporter friend (the same from the first story) actually traced the urban legend to the original source and actually found the persons A and B! Norizuki is surprised to hear that the urban legend, including the mail that was sent after B had gone into a vegatative state, was pretty close to actual circumstances and Norizuki decides to investigate what is going on. Not as strong as Toshi Densetsu Puzzle, but still a relatively strong story that once again relies on the interpretation of circumstances and looking at things from a different angle (which is pretty common in Norizuki's stories).

Like always, Norizuki's short stories are usually at least entertaining to read, with Queen-ish stories in modern settings. Norizuki's strength lies in his writing stories that rely on the interpretation of situations that are strongly related with logical deductions. His stories with locked rooms and strange codes therefore usually don't feel as strong or unique like the 'interpretation' stories. It does make his style of stories perfect for this time and age, as they don't feel as forced or aged in modern settings. This sentence makes the jump to mythology rather strange, but the Greek mythology symbolism is done decently for most stories and pretty darn well for stories like Zeus no Musukotachi and Hydra Daijuu no Kubi. Anyway, for someone interested in Greek mythology and detective stories, this is a very amusing short story collection.

Original Japanese title(s): 法月綸太郎　『犯罪ホロスコープ１　六人の女王の問題』: 「«牡羊座»　ギリシャ羊の秘密」 / 「«牡牛座»　六人の女王の問題」 / 「«双子座»　ゼウスの息子たち」 / 「«蟹座»　ヒュドラ第十の首」 / 「«獅子座»　鏡の中のライオン」 / 「«乙女座»　冥府に囚われた娘」