One More Time

「どんなに迷ったって見つけてくれるんでしょう・・・新一は名探偵だからね」

『名探偵コナン　絶海の探偵』

"No matter how lost I get, you'll find me, right? Because you're a great detective"

"Detective Conan - Private Eye in the Distant Sea"

Some might wonder why I haven't been doing my Conan manga reviews anymore. It's not because I'm not reading it anymore. But with volume 80 released a while back, I figured it would be easier to just do a ten volumes summary review post in the near future. But I need to reread some volumes, so that might take a while.

Detective Conan manga & movies:
Part 1: 『平成のホームズ』: The Heisei Holmes (volumes 1 ~ 10)
Part 2: 『奇妙な集まり』: A Strange Gathering (volumes 11~20; The Timebombed Skysraper/The Fourteenth Target)
Part 3: 『心強き名探偵達』: The Brave Detectives (volumes 21~30; The Last Wizard of the Century/Captured in Her Eyes) 
Part 4: 『白い影・・・黒い影・・・』: White Shadow... Black Shadow... (volumes 31~40; Countdown to Heaven/The Phantom of Baker Street)
Part 5: 『満月の夜と黒い宴の罠』: A Full Moon's Night and Trap at a Black Banquet (volumes 41~50; Crossroad in the Ancient Capital/Magician of the Silver Sky/Strategy Above the Depths)
Part 6: 『探偵甲子園』: Detective Koushien (volumes 51~60; Private Eyes' Requiem/Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure)
Part 7: 『よくあるパターン』: A Common Pattern (volumes 61~70; Full Score of Fear/The Raven Chaser/Lost Ship in the Sky)
(You will find the links to the reviews of volume 70, 72~76, 78, and the films Quarter of Silence and The Eleventh Striker in the library)

Unlike last year, I wasn't able to see this year's Detective Conan film in the theater, so I had to wait for the home release of the 17th movie, Detective Conan -Private Eye in the Distant Sea. The film starts with Conan and the gang boarding an Aegis vessel for a tour. The vessel makes a small trip across the sea while the visitors have a look around the gigantic ship and at its state of the art technology. During the sea tour however, the severed arm of a member of the Self Defense Force is discovered, and strange objects placed on the sea route of the Aegis vessel leads the ship's crew, the police and of course Conan to suspect the presence of a spy X on board of the ship. The Aegis is one of the most important weapons in Japan's military line of defense and it would be disastrous for the country to have information stolen. Can Conan figure out who X is before it's too late?

You might guess from the summary, but Private Eye in the Distant Sea is a bit different from most Conan films. Which is probably because the script was penned by Sakurai Takeharu, who is best known for his contributions to the TV drama Aibou (he also happened to have penned the script for the Gyakuten Saiban film). One can definitely feel the influence of police procedural Aibou on Private Eye in the Distant Sea: Conan might have done a series of heroic things in the past, but catching a spy to protect Japan's international relations is a whole different scale from his exploits in the past, and feels a bit strange. The story of the police working together with the Self Defense Force (Japan can't have an 'army' formally), i.e. government organizations working together, is what you'll see in every other Aibou episode, and gives Private Eye in the Distant Sea its own distinct face despite being the seventeenth movie in the series.

It reminds me of the sixth Conan film, The Phantom of Baker Street, which was penned by the late Nozawa Hisashi. That movie might be best remembered for Ninja Jack the Ripper (TM), but it also functioned as a critique on Japanese society, which gave the film a very heavy atmosphere. The atmosphere in Private Eye in the Distant Sea never becomes that heavy though and I liked it better as a Conan film than Baker Street actually.

As a spy-movie, it's okay, I guess. It is pretty easy to figure out who X is, and the film seems more focused on presenting a police procedural (again, like Aibou) and the workings of an Aegis vessel. The film was made with cooperation of the maritime SDF, and that results in a lot of (not very good) promotion shots of a CG-built Aegis, as if you're taking a tour on the Aegis yourself too. But instances where Conan has to be careful in using his satellite phone as the crew is detecting his signals and stuff do make it feel like a real spy thriller and there are actually one or two real surprises hidden in the story. Oh, and like the previous couple of movies, Private Eye in the Distant Sea features guest voice-acting, but Shibasaki Kou is actually an actress, so she did a great job. Then again, nothing can be as bad as the guest voice acting in Quarter of Silence (by a cameraman) and The Eleventh Striker (by professional soccer players). 

I have also seldom laughed this much because of a Conan film, though probably for the wrong reasons (though the fact that Conan has to go the toilet every ten minutes (to make phone calls) was probably meant to evoke laughter). When the film first started, I was kinda worried. Every Conan film starts with a short introduction for those who don't know the basic story, but one could easily they reused everything from previous movies. So I was wondering where the budget went. Well, it went into 1) an awesome(ly ridiculous) fight scene where Ran stops being a mere human and defies all laws of gravity, 2) a scene where Conan's soccer ball kicking should have deadly results and 3) a fantastic scene where Conan figures everything out with evidence and memories flying past him. All these scenes were ridiculously exaggerated, but so awesome (note: people who have seen Quarter of Silence and The Eleventh Striker might know that you have to get pretty crazy to get an action scene dubbed 'ridiculous' in comparison).

Overall, I did like Private Eye in the Distant Sea, probably because it was quite different from the other Conan films. I mean, you have to do something different when you're the seventeenth movie in the series. It might not really feel Conan-esque, but Ran's action scene alone makes it worthwhile a watch for fans.

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　絶海の探偵』

Look into my Eyes

Look into my eyes　きっと会える

 探し続けた人も、場所も　求め続けた答えも

"Look into my Eyes" (Fayray)

Look into my eyes You will definitely find

the person you've been looking for, the place, the answer you've been searching for

"Look into my Eyes" (Fayray)

Now that I think about it, this review has been waiting to be written for almost two months now. I should really work a bit faster...

The 2004 TV drama Rampo R is based on the works of Edogawa Rampo, grandfather of the Japanese mystery story, and set in contemporary times. Our protagonist is Akechi Kogorou III, grandson of the original Akechi Kogorou, the greatest detective Japan has ever known. Due to his father's sudden demise, Akechi III has to take over as the field agent of the famous Akechi Kogorou Detective Agency, which in turn brings him in contact with the strangest cases and the most grotesque of murderers. The original Akechi Kogorou is known for having solved countless of crimes featuring the most strange murderers, but can Akechi III live up to his family name, and will he be able to solve the mystery of his grandfather's nemesis the Fiend with Twenty Faces, who is said to be still alive?

Rampo R has long been lauded as one of the best Rampo adaptations available, so I didn't hesitate when I had the chance to finally see it. And it certainly didn't disappoint. I have discussed a great number of adaptations of Edogawa Rampo's works by now (Kyoufu Kikei Ningen, Kurotokage, Rampo, Rampo Noir, Moujuu, Yaneura no Sanposha, Issun Boushi VS Moujuu, Akechi Kogorou VS Kaijin Nijuu Mensou, and those are just the TV/film adaptations...), but I will declare it now, Rampo R is by far the most interesting of them all.

It is also one of the most loose adaptations of Rampo's works, but that doesn't hurt Rampo R a bit. Sure, the main story is pretty generic (grandson of the original Akechi Kogorou following his footsteps), but don't let that fool you. Every episode is based on one story (or more) by Rampo (though not all stories originally featured Akechi), set in contemporary times and often highly rewritten to fit in the time-limit of one episode. What makes this series a bit different from most Rampo adapations, is the fact the creators actually aimed for a fair detecive drama, instead of focusing on the more erotic and grotesque aspects of his works. The first episode is based on the horror short story Ningen Isu ("The Human Chair") for example, but this has been extensively rewritten to be a fair detective story. And it works! In fact, Ningen Isu has often been used as an 'element' within other Rampo film adapations (Kyoufu Kikei Ningen and Yaneura no Sanposha had it, for example), but never has it been 1) used as the main plot and 2) done so well (I will admit that Ningen Isu is one of my favorite stories, so Rampo R gets bonus points for that).

The adaptation of famous Rampo stories as fair play detective stories works mostly well. Most of the stories were written as such anyway, but an episode like Kurotokage is a bit strange; the original was a Great Detective VS Great Criminal story, but turning that into a whodunnit of sorts, doesn't work, because everyone knows who the Black Lizard is. Rampo's works often featured larger-than-life criminals (seriously, have you ever seen the titles of his books? From vampires to clowns from hell and electric men, Rampo has everything), so sometimes it feels a bit strange to have a rookie detective face off against them, but then again, he is the grandson of Akechi Kogorou.

Of course, free adaptations don't always work well. In some eyes, any change from the original might be seen as a bad thing. Some might consider minor changes, but Rampo R's changes are anything but minor. Yet, I don't think it is a bad thing per se, and I actually doubt Rampo himself would have really minded, considering a lot of his works were in fact rewritten versions of / reconfigurations of / inspired by other books / ideas / concepts. I think that Rampo, who was often moved (forced) to writing more mainstream, grotesque horror stories, would have appreciated more 'orthodox detective' versions of his own stories. And more importantly, the stories as presented in Rampo R are fun! The spirit of the original stories are kept intact and one can feel the love for Rampo's work throughout the series. And as long as the end product is good and keeps the spirit of the original intact, you won't see me complaining (and even then, I actually enjoyed the TV adaptations of Christie's The Big Four and The Labours of Hercules quite well, even though they were quite different from the spirit of the original novels).

Visually, the series does suffer a bit from being made on a TV series budget. It sorta adds to the childish atmosphere some of the Rampo stories have (a man hiding in a chair is not that scary if you think about it), but still, some of the sets seem a bit cheap. The music on the other hand is fantastic though.

Rampo R is a very free adaptation of Edogawa Rampo's work, but also one of the best. In fact, I think it's the easiest Rampo adaptation to recommend to people and a great example of how adapatations don't have to follow the original to the letter to be good, and respectful to the original at the same time.

Original Japanese title(s): 『乱歩Ｒ』

Risky Room

番人：「そこまで脱獄を・・・一体何がお前をそうさせる？！」

囚人Ａ：「プリゾン・ブレイク！」

囚人Ｂ：「海外ドラマか！マジかよお前？くだらないって」

番人：「…参ったな。あれ、面白いもんな。」

『レッドシアター』：　ジャングルポケットＸ牢屋

Guard: "Why do you want to escape from this prison that much? What is driving you to do all of this?!"

Prisoner A: ".... Prison Break!"

Prisoner B: "A television series! You serious?! That's just stupid!"

Guard: "...Damn. I have to admit, that is really a cool series!"

"Red Theater" Jungle Pocket X Jail Sketch

I said to myself last month, I have a review backlog of four, five items, so I should post a bit more often in November. And then I noticed we're already about one third into the month with just one review finished. Aaargh. Man, november? It's almost time to start thinking about which pieces of mystery fiction I consumed this year were the best!

The 2013 film Kankin Tantei ("The Confined Detectives") starts with a fateful encounter between Ryouta and Akane. Might sound like the start of a romantic movie, if not for the fact the two are standing in the apartment across Ryouta's one, and that the inhabitant of this apartment, the model Rena, lies dead on the floor. Both claim to have just discovered the body, but seeing the doubtful eyes of Akane (a friend of Rena), he decides to take Akane prisoner in his room, until he can find evidence to clear his own name. Akane, tied to Ryouta's bed, however seems not even fazed by her imprisonment and claims she will be able to solve Rena's murder even from the confines of this room. The time limit is the next morning, when Rena's absence from her work will be noticed. Can Ryouta and Akane solve the murder from within this 'locked room'?

When I first heard about this film, I was really interested. It is based on a comic written by Abiko Takemaru (who seems to dabble a lot in 'modern' media like games and manga) and the concept of basically an armchair detective movie, only with the detectives confined to a room, i.e. a locked room mystery of sorts (if you interpret the words in a different way), seemed awesome.

I used the part tense, because while the concept was fun, the execution was less... intellectually stimulating, as it was basically actress Natsuna in a variety of alluring poses tied to a bed. Which is definitely an effective way of making the detective genre film a lot more atttractive.

As a detective story, Kankin Tantei does a lot wrong, but also a little bit good. The first half hour has a great sense of speed, as Akane and Ryouta slowly learn more about each other through deductions (in a Sherlock Holmes way), and try to find out why both of them were in Rena's room. It never goes really deep, but I guess it works for a film (which just offers less room for really deep, abstract deduction chains). It's also in this first half where Akane and Ryouta slowly find out who might have killed Rena and why.

The fact that they first used 'normal' deductions to figure each other out kinda sets the viewer on the wrong track, because a lot of the inital discoveries surrounding Rena's murder is done by the Wondrous Internet and Magic Applications and Hacking For Dummies. Which... is kinda lame. The truth behind Rena's murder is very disappointing too, and the 'hints' laid down are ridiculous; as if they suddenly remembered they actually needed a murderer, and hints leading to him, and forcefully wrote them in the script. A lot of the happenings in this movie feel like script filler (especially the second half of the film), which is seldom a good thing, and especially not in a detective movie, which ideally is a neatly structured story presenting a good mystery.

There is also the 'problem' of Akane sorta trying to escape from her imprisonment. The first few minutes are quite tenseful, when she's tied to the bed (and Ryouta for no other feasible reason but to live out his fantasies sits on top of her as if that is the most logical way to keep a kidnapped girl quiet), and you're not quite sure what's going to happen and if she's going to escape, but after that first part, you'll see plenty of chances for Akane to get help, but she doesn't. The concept of a confined detective, a detective being forced to solve a crime can be quite exiting (see the last story in volume 38 of Detective Conan for example, but here there never seems to be any real danger. Akane teases Ryouta a lot, even though he is supposed to be her imprisoner. It doesn't help that a lot of the scenes of Akane tied up are obvious fanservice shots with actress Natsuna, so it's kinda hard to take them serious.

But I said the film did some good, right? Well, the puzzle of Rena's murderer was solved kinda badly, there is one aspect of the mystery that was actually done quite well. The hints were nicely spread across the whole movie. During the whole film, I had wondered about little bits and pieces of the plot, thinking they were just signs of bad writing, but all these little things actually came together in a logical way and it was quite well done, I think. If only the whole plot had seen this much care.

While not a great movie by any standard, I am glad I can say Kankin Tantei isn't a total wreck and I did find several aspects quite amusing. Not something to really recommend, but if you have nothing else to do, want to see a bit of mystery, a bit of Natsuna tied to a bed, then it's not that bad a film.

Original Japanese title(s): 『監禁探偵』

Reunion, and Turnabout

「予習してきてるやないか。ふぅん、そうか。代表がその野沢公子に替わってから、入信する若い男が増えたらしいな。ミーハーな奴が多い」

「お前は、ふらっとけえへんのか？」

「ふらっときて入信するほど軽薄やないわ。河原町あたりで野沢公子のポートレート付きパンフレットを配ってたら、手を伸ばすやろうけど。代表やなんて事務的でそっけない肩書は似合わん。からかい半分にせよ、マスコミが〈女王〉と奉るのも道理や」

「充分ミーハーやないか。何が〈女王〉や。俺やったら、同じ奉るにしてもエラリー―」

『女王国の城』

"So you also prepared for this? Hmm. I see. But I heard a lot of young men joined the religion after Nosaka Kimiko took over as the representative. Those guys are just into her."

"No way you're goin' to do the same?"

"I wouldn't just join a religion like that. But if they would hand out pamphlets with Nosaka Kimiko's portret on them near Kawaramachi, yeah, I would take them. A title as stiff as 'representative' doesn't fit her. It might be a joke of sorts, but I see why they worship her as the "queen" in the media"

"You're just into her too. What a joke, a queen! The only Queen I worship is Ellery Qu.."

"The Castle of the Queendom"

Everyone been enjoying the last few episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot? I'll probably write something after the last episode is broadcast, but I have to say that I have been mostly pleased up until now. Just two more weeks!

Student Alice series
Gekkou Game - Y no Higeki '88 ("Moonlight Game - The Tragedy of Y '88")
Kotou Puzzle ("The Island Puzzle")
Soutou no Akuma ("Double-Headed Devil")
Jooukoku no Shiro ("The Castle of the Queendom")

The members of the Eito University Mystery Club (EMC) have been involved in several puzzling murder cases, but they could always rely on their club president Egami Jirou to solve the crime and save them. In Jooukoku no Shiro ("The Castle of the Queendom") however, it's Egami who needs help. Or does he? Egami seems to have suddenly disappeared and the members (Oda, Nobunaga, Maria and Alice) fear something might have happened to him. They find clues that seem to indicate that Egami has gone to the mountain village of Kamikura, the home of the headquarters of the new age religion the Human Species Society. HSS was founded by Nosaka Mikage, who after her encounter with the alien Peripari, started to prepare humankind for the coming of the aliens. The current head of HSS is Nosaka Kimiko, who because of her beauty is refered to as 'the Queen', living in her 'castle' that is HSS HQ. The EMC members eventually find their beloved club president inside the 'castle', but during a tour of HSS headquarters, a guard is found murdered near the 'sacred cave' where Pelipali is to return again. The EMC members naturally want to contact the police, but the brass of the HSS say they want to solve the murder themselves to keep the scandal to a minimum (new religions are always watched with a suspicous eye), and basically hold the EMC members captured inside the 'castle', until the case is solved. Of course, the fact that even more murders happen during their confinement is a bit worrying. It is up to the EMC members to solve the crime and regain their freedom.

Ah, my beloved Student Alice series! Whereas Arisugawa Alice's Writer Alice series can be a hit or a miss series, and is more like his safer, 'steady-income' series, the Student Alice series has always maintained a very high standard as an orthodox detective series. From Gekkou Game on (the first book in the series and also Arisugawa's debut work), the series has been among the best if it comes to being a spiritual successor to the Ellery Queen novels, with beautiful deductive chains leading to the one truth. Jooukoku no Shiro is the last novel of the series for the moment, so I had been kinda 'saving' it, but now I've finally read it. And I was not disappointed.

There are three major characteristics to the novels in Student Alice series; 1) precise deductive reasoning that lead to the identity of the murderer, 2) a closed circle situation and 3) an element of a youth adventure novel brought by the members of the EMC. Let's first look at the mystery of Jooukoku no Shiro. Kotou Puzzle still holds the title of having the most impressive deduction chain of the series (heck, one of the best in the long history of detective fiction, period), but this novel doesn't disappoint either. The process of identifying characteristics of the murderer and see who fits the profile sounds easy, but actually doing it, and doing it in a way that doesn't seem cheap, is another thing and Arisugawa really comes up with a great explanation of how to identify the murderer. It's amazing what one can infer from just one object and it's these kind of novels that really appeal to me in the mystery genre. In Jooukoku no Shiro, the deductions that lead to the murderer are all basically based off one item. This seems similar to Kotou Puzzle, but that had a long, complex single chain of deductions that led to the murderer (X, therefore, Y, therefore Z etc.), while Jooukoku no Shiro has several, shorter deductions that start by looking at the item in question from different angles. Different, but definitely great stuff. And of course, there is a Challenge to the Reader!

The closed circle setting employed here is the most captivating of the whole series, I think. Kotou Puzzle and Soutou no Akuma had closed circle situations because of fairly natural circumstances (geography, weather). The vulcano eruption in Gekkou Game is a natural phenomena, I guess, but it felt so artificial I just couldn't take it all too seriously. Jooukoku no Shiro has the protagonists held prisonor in the Human Species Society HQ, which is actually a lot creepier. It brings elements like questioning whether the HSS has a hidden agenda for holding them captured, and also elements of planning a prison escape. Jooukoku no Shiro is the most dynamic of the series, with the protagonists trying to solve the murder, and trying to regain their freedom. The book is also by far the longest of the whole series, but it never drags.

The setting of a small group confined in a small community with a common religion/belief/goal/characteristic/something to hide is not uncommon (in a variety of genres). I mostly associate it with Yokomizo Seishi and Trick (especially Trick), but who can forget Ellery Queen's little adventure in And On the Eight Day? Original, it isn't, but it can definitely add the right amount of suspense (of us against them) to a genre that can occassonally feel a bit slow.

And the youth novel element comes alive quite good. Because of circumstances, the EMC members were often forced to work seperatedly in the previous novels, so this is the first time we see the whole team (including Maria, who joined in the second novel) acting as a team, reacting to each other and also sharing stories about themselves and their lives as students. In English-language orthodox detective fiction, it seems that (university) students aren't that common a protagonist-type. In Japan however, with the New Orthodox (or New Authentic) school basically starting from university mystery clubs, the student-detective was actually relatively common for a time (just take a look at all the debut novels of the New Authentic school for example). The Student Alice series is the only original New Authentic school series that still has students as its protagonists, but I find it an entertaining setting.

Nothing bad? Well, no. It has the most horrible map of a building I've ever seen. Sure, the precise architecture of the 'castle' isn't needed to solve the crime, but even after finishing the book I still don't know how all the towers and 'flying saucer' buildings are connected...

But in conclusion, a very solid detective novel that should appeal to anyone who likes the genre. There is thrill, shock and suspense, but also a great mystery that shows that pure logic is still the best way to solve a crime. Arisugawa Alice's Student Alice series is definitely one any fan of the genre should try.

Original Japanese title(s): 有栖川有栖　『女王国の城』

Halfway House

「 あの翼があるから鳥だといい、牙があるから獣だといった、どっちつかずの話に出てくるあの蝙蝠ですか？」

『女王蜂』

"Do you mean the bat, that animal nobody can decide what it is, as some people call a bird because it has wings, while some people call it a beast because it has fangs?"

"Queen Bee"

I aim at a minimum of four posts a month, but maybe I should also work on spreading the posts a bit, so it at least seems this blog has a regular schedule. Anyway, number four on the last day of the month, so just safe. November should be a bit more active.

Today, Nagai Rouka ga Aru Ie ("The House with the Long Hallway"), another audio drama based on a short story in Arisugawa Alice's Writer Alice series. When criminologist Himura Hideo and writer Arisugawa Alice aren't somewhere (like in Malaysia) solving crimes, they actually have work. Himura teaches as Kyoto's Eito University and it is one of his students, Hibino Hiromitsu, who stumbles into trouble. Wandering in the mountains of Kyoto, examining genkai shuuraku (highly depopulated towns; near ghost towns) for his thesis, Hibino gets lost. As the sun starts to fall, he finally finds a little house with the lights on. Inside, he finds three people from the occult magazine Black & White, who are working on an article about a ghost that appears in the house. Hibino is invited to stay with them for the night and offer to give him a lift back tomorrow. He accepts, and takes an interest in the work of the reporters. The ghost is said to appear in a long, underground hallway which connects the house to another house a bit further away. The hallway is cut in half by a door which can be locked from either side.

No ghost appears that night though, and Miyamatsu Takeyuki, an expert in the occult, who should have come, also fails to appear. Anyway, the reporters, and Hibino, spend the night drinking and talking and when dawn breaks, they take one more look at the hallway. But for some reason, the door in the middle is locked from the other side, and when they enter the hallway from the other house, they discover Miyamatsu, dead, leaning against the door. According to the police, the man must have been killed around the time Hibino and the others had been drinking, but Hibino swears no-one left the small party long enough to have been able to go to the other house, into the hallway, kill and lock the door, and go back all the way over the mountain. But on the other hand, the door was locked from the other side, and it seems there is no way possible of tampering with it from this side. The problem that Himura and Alice has to solve is thus whether this was an alibi trick, or a locked room trick.

Like I mentioned in the review of the audio drama of 46 Banme no Misshitsu, some types of stories are better suited for an audio adaptation than others. Locked rooms, especially those that rely on some mechanical trick, are a hard one to pull off effectively in an audio drama for example (which is why the audio drama of Carr's The Hollow Man doesn't really work...). And I still have to have the pleasure of hearing one, but I would love to hear an audio drama with an audible clue. But taking this thought of locked rooms back to Nagai Rouka ga Aru Ie, do I think the story works?

Yes, oh, yes! Because the main problem of Nagai Rouka ga Aru Ie isn't about solving a locked room. it's about figuring out what kind of trick was used in the first place. Was it an alibi trick, or a locked room trick? Figuring out what happened in the first place is actually something I enjoy very much, and while the set-up was different, a highly popular novel by Higashino Keigo basically also plays with this kind of trope expectation. I think I mentioned in the review of Higashigawa Tokuya's Koukan Satsujin ni Mukanai Yoru that knowing the type of trick in advance can ruin a story, but Nagai Rouka ga Aru Ie is more like a meta-story, since it plays one level above where most detective stories are. The double layered story ( 1. What is the problem? 2. How to solve the problem?) works pretty good as an audio drama, and is a solid story (regardless of medium) overall.

Nagai Rouka ga Aru Ie also has a distinct yakata-mono flavor, something I hadn't seen in Arisugawa's works since 46 Banme no Misshitsu (though that may be because of my choice of reading). The two houses connected by a creepy hallway, somewhere deep in the mountains, a ghost haunting the place (the majority of ghosts in Japan are actually female, by the way). You'd almost think you'd walked into one of Ayatsuji Yukuto's novels. Which is seldom a bad thing.

In short, a fun story which works quite well as an audio drama. It's actually a pretty deep story because it is basically playing around with genre tropes, making you guess (deduce) what kind of story it is, making it a good, slightly meta-mystery.

Arisugawa Alice's audio dramas:
46 Banme no Misshitsu
Swissdokei no Nazo
Yaneura no Sanposha
Zekkyoujou Satsujin Jiken 
Nagai Rouka ga Aru Ie
 
Original Japanese title(s): 有栖川有栖 『長い廊下がある家』

A Faraway Journey

「大龍は蛍なんですか？」

淳子の言葉の意味が判らない。

「ほら、都々逸にもあるじゃありませんか。〈恋に焦がれて鳴く蝉よりも、鳴かぬ蛍が身を焦がすって。彼は、忍ぶ恋をしてしまう人です」

『マレー鉄道の謎』

"Tairon's a firefly?" I did't get what Atsuko was trying to say.

"You know, like the dodoitsu poem. A firefly who doesn't cry, burns more fierce than a cicada who burns and cries out of love. Tairon, he hides his feelings."

"The Malay Railway Mystery"

I've been going through the Gyakuten Saiban / Ace Attorney videogame series again lately, and once again lament the fact that many mystery readers will never set eyes on the fantastic writing and plotting power of Takumi Shuu, just because he creates videogames and not novels. The medium might be different, but Takumi makes great use of the possibility and freedom of the medium to bring some of the most effective and memorable detective stories to the reader and his dialogues and play with Japanese scripts are also fantastic. Actually, the Ace Attorney games are probably one of the biggest and most important exports of Japanese mystery fiction in the last ten years in the English-speaking world, together with Detective Conan, but most readers (who actually do want to read Japanese mystery fiction) seem to ignore them, just because they are in a slightly unfamiliar medium.

Anyway, enough about that...

Criminologist Himura Hideo and detective writer Arisugawa Alice visit their old friend Tairon who runs a guest house in Malaysia in Maree Tetsudou no Nazo ("The Malay Railway Mystery"). Himura and Alice have a great time, traveling across the beautiful country by train. Their friend's guest house is also a fantastic place, and time flies by. And then, just a few days before Himura and Alice are about to leave, the dead body of another Japanese traveller is discovered. The victim was found inside a trailer house, which was locked and taped from the inside. And yet there is no doubt it was a murder. Suspicion falls on Tairon, and Himura and Alice must clear their friend's name and find the real murderer before they leave for Japan.

It's been over two years ago since I last read a novel in Arisugawa Alice's Writer Alice series. While the adventures of Himura and Alice started out very good, each new entry in the series became less and less interesting.  Since then, I have been enjoying Arisugawa Alice's Student Alice series thoroughly (and occasionally audio dramas of the Writer Alice series), but as I could get Maree Tetsudou no Nazo for cheap, and it featured a locked room mystery, I figured why not (for those confused about the difference and relations between the two series, see this review of Arisugawa's Soutou no Akuma).

And... Maree Tetsudou no Nazo isn't a bad novel, but nothing special either. At first I felt deceived, because despite the title The Malay Railway Mystery, the body isn't found inside a train, but in a trailer house. Which isn't even attached to a car or anything. It's still a locked room, but let's be honest, if you can choose between 'locked room in a trailer house' and 'locked room in a train', the latter trope is more exciting, right? I am pretty sure I've seen the solution behind the locked room somewhere before (though I can't remember where, so I don't know which was earlier), and it is a pragmatic and sorta realistic solution, but nothing particularly memorable.

In fact, the most memorable part of the whole novel is Alice trying out his pigeon samurai English on the unsuspecting local population (which is admittedly really funny Japanese-translated-straight-to-English). But I guess that this is the way Arisugawa wants to go with his two main series. The Student Alice series is his serious series, mostly aimed at the hardcore fans of the genre who seek Queenian logic in their plots (like in Kotou Puzzle), whereas the Writer Alice series is more easy to pick up, and slightly aimed at fangirls with the relation between Himura and Alice (see also the audio dramas, which are produced by a company that also seems to aim at a certain female fan population). Not a bad thing per se (see also Higashigawa Tokuya's humorous novels), but I am definitely more a fan of the Student Alice series.

Also, why set the book in Malaysia, when half of the cast is Japanese anyway? Like I said, the way Alice struggles to communicate with the non-Japanese local population is fun, but if most of the people he interacts with is Japanese anyway, and the murder took place in a location that isn't even really related to the Malay Railway, why bother with the whole Malaysia idea (except for keeping the Queenian title tradition)?

Maree Tetsudou no Nazo as a locked room mystery is not bad, but not particularly exciting either. It's a decent mystery, but considering Arisugawa Alice is also capable of writing absolute masterpieces (in the other series), I can't help but feel a bit disappointed.

Original Japanese title(s): 有栖川有栖 『マレー鉄道の謎』

Summer Time Gone

「この世には、不思議なことなど何もないのだよ、関口君」

『姑獲鳥の夏』

"Nothing strange occurs in this world, Sekiguchi"

"The Summer of the Ubume"

Still alive, still alive. Just really slow at both reading and writing (reviews) lately...

1952. Japan is recuperating from World War II and started its first steps in what would be called the post-war economic miracle. All look towards the future. Or do they? One day, the writer Sekiguchi visits his old friend Chuuzenji Akihiko, also known as Kyougokudou, the name of his bookstore, to ask him the question, "Is it possible to be pregnant for 20 months?". The question refers to the unlikely, but very real ordeal that seems to be laid upon Kuonji Kyouko. With rumors of disappearing babies surrounding the Kuonji Clinic, Kyouko's husband having disappeared from a locked and observed room just before the pregnancy and other strange events, one is tempted to believe in a curse by an ubume (a youkai /Japanese ghost/demon born from the regret of a mother dying in childbirth). Kyougokudou, who also works as an exorcist, however answers that there is nothing strange in this world and proceeds to remove the mysterious veil that seems to cover this case in Kyougoku Natsuhihiko's Ubume no Natsu ("The Summer of the Ubume").

Oh, and let me make it clear at the start of this review: The Summer of the Ubume is available in English, so no "but it's in Japanese, so I can't read it anyway"!

A long time ago, I reviewed the audio dramas of Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro - Ame and Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro - Kaze, which were about the (mis)adventures of private detective Enokizu Reijirou (who has the power to read people's memories). Both dramas were based on two short story collections that are part of Kyougoku Natsuhiko's Hyakki Yakou ("Night Parade of a Hundred Demons") series. Ubume no Satsu is the first novel in the series (and Kyougoku's debut novel), introducing all the main characters and elements of the series. Not only do we meet bookshop-owner/exorcist/detective Kyougokudou and private detective Enokizu for the first time, but also other series regulars like narrator Sekiguchi, the policeman Kiba and Kyougokudou's sister Atsuko. And more importantly, we are shown our first glimpse of the wonderful world of youkai ('ghosts', 'demons').

The use of youkai in this series might be a bit different from what you'd expect if I said this was a detective series about ghosts/demons. Unlike series like Scooby-Doo! or novels with impossible murders that seemingly only could have been commited with help of supernatural powers, youkai are treated as a highly scientific and rational device. By which I don't mean that youkai actually exist as supernatural beings, but that the cultural construct of youkai is actually real. Youkai are treated as a cultural and social construct, a device invented by the people of yore to explain certain circumstances and happenings. The existence of a youkai itself might be irrational (is it?), but the ideas, the background of a youkai can all be examined rationally. In Ubume no Natsu, Kyougokudou explains a lot about the history of youkai (and in particular the ubume) from sociological and folkloric points of view and this is absolutely a treat for those into Japanese folklore. For those into mythology and urban legends, this is fantastic stuff and I enjoyed these parts enormously. The way Ubume no Natsu connects to youkai folklore isn't really by suggesting an ubume did it, but by mirroring the history and cultural functions of the ubume to the events in the story. And this is done really well.

I personally love detective stories where you learn more about the history of 'supernatural' beings / urban legends and where the folkloric/sociological functions are actually of importance to the plot. Gyakuten Saiban 5 / Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies has an interesting story for example, and the game Hayarigami - Keishichou Kaii Jiken Files ("Hayarigami - The Metropolitan Police Department's Strange Case Files") also features scenarios where you learn more about urban legends themselves (the contents), as well as the folkloric functions they have in society.

But writer Kyougoku obviously really, really likes writing about these kind of things and even more fields of science, like philosophy and it can be hard for those who 1) just want to read a mystery and 2) aren't interested in folklore. The first 100 pages of the story for example consist of a long discussion between narrator Sekiguchi and Kyougokudou about conciousness, the mind and perception, and while the topic does relate back to the main story, one can't deny that 100 pages is a bit long. This isn't a short story, and it's also not always a focused story and the somewhat pedantric tone of the story (mostly Kyougokudou who acts as a surrogate for writer Kyougoku) isn't for everybody.

The main problem of the story, the disappearance of Kyouko's husband from an observed locked room twenty months ago is... not really fair, though it does fit the atmosphere of the story, as well as the hints laid out throughout the narrative. There are also some more twists and turns to baffle the reader besides the locked room (though to be honest, I got most of the story except for the locked room). I am definitely not fan of the trick as is, but it does work in conjunction with the themes of the story and while I might really hate if it had been done by another writer, I'd say that Kyougoku does pull it off (the trick in the sequel, Mouryou no Hako ("Box of Mouryou") is similarly a bit disappointing as is, but great as a thematic device).

Ubume no Natsu, together with Mori Hiroshi's Subete ga F ni Naru - The Perfect Insider, forms the start of the so-called second wave of the Japanese New Orthodox/Authentic detective novel school by the way (Note: I normally use the term "orthodox" here, but because I mainly used "authentic" in my MA thesis, I might use both terms here at times). The New Orthodox school is both a revival, and reconstruction of the classic detective novel. Ayatsuji Yukito's debut work Jukkakukan no Satsujin is seen as the start of the New Orthodox movement and novels of the early writers in the movement like Abiko Takemaru, Norizuki Rintarou and Arisugawa Alice all showed strong influences from classic novels, but also deconstructive and reconstructive elements to the genre (thus making it "New" Orthodox, as opposed to just a copy). The second stage of this movement however, as envisioned by genre critic/scholar Kasai Kiyoshi, represented by novels like Ubume no Natsu and Subete ga F ni Naru - The Perfect Insider on the other hand, while still more-or-less classic puzzle plots, tend to be 1) very long novels and 2) 'a bit' more pedantric, which explains the different fields of sciences and more information being jammed between the pages.

The New Orthodox school is by the way most often seen in terms of the history of the Japanese detective novel. Kasai Kiyoshi for example looks strongly at it as a development stage for the detective novel, while writer/critic Shimada Souji also looks at it as a culturally specific movement in the history of the genre. Actually, in general, most of the genre critics/scholars (including bloggers) seem to be very focused on genre history (if it isn't that, than it's using detective novels as an object to discuss other discourses, like gender studies / political /religious fields etc.). Personally, I am not that interested in genre history an sich. Longtime readers will have noticed that I often write about the use of tropes in novels, so it shouldn't be surprising when I say that when I wrote my MA thesis on the Japanese New Orthodox school, I focused on the tropes that made up the school, rather than placing it in a genre history / comparing it to English genre history. Anyway, this is the reason you'll seldom see 1) publishing years in my reviews, 2) the term 'Golden Age' (as it historizes things) and discussions when/if it died/revived/etcetera here. I have considered writing a short history of Japanese detective fiction for this blog several times actually (to help contextualize things for readers), but as I am not a fan of that, and as I figured that as long as I focus more on tropes, a history isn't really needed...

Ah. I got distracted. Ubume no Natsu. Yes. A wordy mystery, with deep conversations on a wide variety of topics and a somewhat strange locked room mystery. If you're into Japanese folklore, go for it. If not... go read it anway because it's one of those rare cases that it's actually available in English. 

Original Japanese title(s): 京極夏彦　『姑獲鳥の夏』