E.M.C. 1988.04-1989.04

「英と大学推理小説研究会と僕は、そうやってつながった」

「瑠璃荘事件」

"And that is how the Eito University Mystery Club and I met"

'The Maison Lapis Lazuli Case'

I lived near a lot of bookshops when I was in Kyoto, a great number of them second-hand bookshops. The most pleasant in my opinion was Furuhon Ichiba, which followed the familiar Book Off formula (but had the advantage of not being located uphill, as was the Book Off closest by), with a big assortment of games and books. But the most interesting was Comic Shock, just across the street with Furuhon Ichiba. Comic Shock was definitely the underdog, with slightly higher prices (overall) and being much smaller. But with more rare and older books, the late, yet long opening hours of from noon to midnight, as well as the amazing habit of wrapping each and every single book they had in plastic, made quite an impression. Every time I walked inside, someone was busy wrapping books in plastic.

And usually, I can't remember where I bought what book (though price tags usually help), but the plastic wrapping tells me that today's book was bought at Comic Shock. And that's my amazing deduction for today. Ahem.

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")
Egami Jirou no Dousatsu ("The Insight of Egami Jirou")

April 1988. 18 year old Arisugawa Alice has just entered the Law faculty of Eito University in Kyoto and is still looking for a club to join. After a little accident, a short talk and the words "Wontcha join us?", Alice finds himself as the newest member of the Eito University Mystery Club. The EMC is a very small club, with just three other members: Egami Jirou (president of the club and long overdue for graduation), Mochizuki Shuuhei (Ellery Queen fan) and Oda Koutarou (hardboiled fan). But the four members have great fun writing / talking about detective fiction, and just hanging out together. And the members also have a knack for attracting all kinds of cases. Maybe not all of a criminal kind, but the members of the EMC (and especially their leader Egami) are definitely not going to let any case go unsolved. Arisugawa Alice's Egami Jirou no Dousatsu ("The Insight of Egami Jirou") collects a series of adventures the members of the EMC had in the academic year 1988-1989.

Egami Jirou no Dousatsu is the first short story collection in Arisugawa Alice's Student Alice series and it took a long time for it to be finished. The book was published in 2012, but the stories were written in a period of over twenty years: the earliest story dates from 1986, while the newest dates from 2012. It is also a notable release, because it is quite different from the other books not just in format (short story collection), but also in atmosphere. Up until now, the Student Alice series had always been about murder cases in closed circle situations. Starting with 1989's Gekkou Game, the members of the EMC somehow kept running into murder cases while isolated from the outside world, be it stuck on an active vulcano, or on an island etcetera. The adventures in Egami Jirou no Dousatsu however happen in open circles, mostly around Kyoto (more specifically, around Eito University) and  have a lighthearted feeling to them (the same feeling the other Student Alice stories also have, before they realize they are cooped up somewhere with a murderer). Yet this doesn't mean that that other characteristic of the series, Queenian logical deductions, is gone.

Take Rurisou Jiken ("The Maison Lapis Lazuli Case") for example, where Mochizuki is accused by one of his fellow housemates of stealing a college note (with notes so good, you're guaranteed to pass the class). It seems that at the time of the theft, the only persons present in the building were Mochizuki and the victim himself (their two other housemates had gone to the public bath), and because Mochizuki had a row with the victim a while back, everyone thinks he stole the note out of spite (and to pass the course). Hoping to prove his innocence, Mochizuki asks his fellow EMC members to help prove his innocence. A chain of deductions built around a lightbulb in the washroom, and a neatly hidden hint form a great start of this collection, even though some of the 'conditions' of this crime do feel a bit dated (then again, it is set in 1988). (and bonus points for being set near where I used to live in Kyoto!)

Hard Rock Lovers Only is a very short story, just a couple of pages long and deals with a very small problem: why did that girl ignore Alice when he called for her, even though they had a nice talk in a cafe just earlier? The solution is simple, just like you'd expect from such a small story. Nothing surprising, just a very simple, very short story.

Yaketa Senro no Ue no Shitai ("The Body on the Faded Railway") on the other hand is a pretty complex story. It is also the oldest story of the bunch, published in 1986 and actually Arisugawa's first published story (Gekkou Game being his first published novel). The gang learns of a mysterious death on the railway tracks during a holiday at Mochizuki's maternal home. There are two suspects, but both of them have an alibi for when the body was thrown on the rails. Being an alibi-breaking story with trains, this story feels a bit like an Ayukawa Tetsuya story, who was actually the editor who decided to publish the story. But it is actually a neat, and fairly realistic modernized version of a pretty famous short detective story, but I won't go in details for fear of spoiling the fun. Also points for the little references of the gang preparing for another holiday in the mountains: Gekkou Game shows that that holiday will go horribly wrong.

Sakuragawa no Ophelia ("The Ophelia of the Sakura River") is the other story that features death, though maybe not murder. Egami Jirou introduces the other three (younger) members to Ishiguro, one of the founding members of the club. Ishiguro works as a freelance writer nowadays, but he needs the brain of Egami to solve a problem from his past. When he was a high school student, a classmate drowned in the river in his hometown. Recently, Ishiguro has been helping a friend, also a classmate from that time, who has been hospitalized. While cleaning the friend's room, he discovered photographs of their drowned classmate, but these were surprisingly made before the body was formally discovered. Ishiguro wants Egami to explain why his friend's got these pictures. The solution is simple, as not only Egami, but every EMC member manage to correctly deduce the solution to this problem. Note also the references to a strange new religion which has its homebase near Ishiguro's hometown ...

Yonpunkan de wa Mijikasugiru ("Four Minutes Is Too Short") is a very fun take on Harry Kemelman's famous short story The Nine Mile Walk. Hanging around in Egami Jirou's room, the EMC members want to play a game. Alice remembers a strange line he overheard at the station's public payphones: "You only have four minutes, so hurry. Don't forget your shoes... No... After A" and the members try to deduce what the meaning is behind this line. Like the original, the deduction session leads to a very surprising conclusion. The story does feel a bit chaotic though, because the deduction session is interrupted by a somewhat long discussion on Matsumoto Seichou's Ten to Sen (with spoilers!), but it does strengthen the feel of just a group of friends hanging together and wasting time by talking about a variety of topics without any direction. Overall, one of the better stories of the collection.

Akazu no Ma no Kai ("The Mystery of the Sealed Room") has the EMC members going on a ghost hunt in a decrepit hospital, which features a 'locked room', i.e a room sealed by supernatural powers. They actually hear a ghost walking around the building, but they quickly figure out it's just a prank of Oda, and the three remaining members chase the 'ghost' down to the little room before the locked room... only to find nobody there. Oda has to have gone inside the locked room, but that door is bolted, and covered up with wooden planks from their side of the door. How did Oda disappear into the locked room? The situation is really fun, with Oda basically challenging the other members to solve his own locked room trick, and the trick is actually pretty neat, though I have seen (a variation of) it before. Most points for this story go to the light-hearted spirit which really fits these characters (too bad they are usually thrown into life-threatening situations).

A cheap painting is stolen from Mochizuki and Oda's professor, and the thief demands a ransom money of no less than a thousand yen (about seven euro, ten dollars) for its safe return. Why steal a worthless painting and ask such a small amount? The professor suspects his brother stole the painting, but he has no idea how his brother could have stolen the painting from his house: his brother left the house completely empty handed yesterday, a fact Mochizuki and Oda (who had been drinking at the professor's house) will also confirm. How did his brother manage to steal the picture (without folding it up or harming it in anyway), is what the professor wants to know in Nijuuseikiteki Yuukai ("A Twentieth Century Abduction"). The solution Egami comes up with is great in its simplicity and it is worked out thematically very well. Not genius maybe, but a really well written story.
 
Joya wo Aruku ("Walking on New Year's Eve")  on the other hand is less well written, in my opinion. Alice hangs out with Egami on New Year's Eve, and what follows is a series of random discussions about mystery fiction and the reading of a guess-the-criminal story written by Mochizuki, which Alice found in Egami's room. So Joya wo Uruku is part random talk, part story-within-a-story, but the guess-the-criminal story is pretty basic (as Egami and Alice both comment) and the random talk is really just random talk. Joya wo Uruku is not a really coherent story, which makes it the most boring to read of the whole collection. Which is a shame, because the guess-the-criminal story-within-a-story format can work, something Maya Yutaka had already shown.

The final story, Toujin ni Kansuru Ichikousatsu ("An Observation Regarding Squandering") is a great Holmesian story, where the members of the EMC want to find out why the old owner of a second-hand bookshop has been so nice to everybody lately: he is known to have been giving away his books for nothing, but also treating people in restaurants. The solution is not really surprising (there's only so much you can do within the length of these stories), but once again, the hints are laid done well and it is a fun story to read. Which is also because this stories features Maria, the EMC's first female member. In this story, the members of the EMC are trying hard to get their first female member and she'll play a crucial part in the (phenomenal) Kotou Puzzle, which is set some months after this story.

What I think of this short story collection in general? Well, it's definitely not as deep as the novels of the same series, that's for sure. Arisugawa touches upon the lenghty deductions chains of the novels in some stories (like Rurisou Jiken and Yonpunkan de wa Mijikasugiru), but for the real deal, you really should read the novels. But Egami Jirou no Dousatsu is definitely 'easier' to read, with a light-hearted touch to everything. Discussions on famous mystery novels are also present in the novels, but these carefree talks between the EMC members definitely work better in their 'home environment' of the university. Egami Jirou no Dousatsu is at its best when it manages to combine the free-style talk of these members and pretty nonsensical problems with deep deduction chains, best done in (once again) Yonpunkan de wa Mijikasugiru.

As an extra, I did like seeing the EMC members actually in Kyoto. The novels always place them in some remote place... Eito University is modeled after Doshisha University and most stories are set in the area around it, and while I myself attended Kyoto University last year (on the other side of the river), I'm also familiar with the neighbourhood there and it's always fun to see a location come to alive like this in my reading materials.

Anyway, Egami Jirou no Dousatsu is an okay short story collection. It's definitely must-read material for those who have been following the series, but I think it also works as a good entry point for the series (despite being quite different from the novels), because the characters come better to life here. The series is planned to fnish with one more novel and one more short story collection, and I am looking forward to more adventures of the EMC members.

Original Japanese title(s): 有栖川有栖 『江神二郎の洞察』: 「瑠璃荘事件」 / 「ハードロック・ラバーズ・オンリー」 / 「やけた線路の上の死体」 / 「桜川のオフィーリア」 / 「四分間では短すぎる」 / 「開かずの間の怪」 / 「二十世紀的誘拐」 / 「除夜を歩く」 / 「蕩尽に関する一考察」

After the Funeral

「お前はもう死んでいる」

『北斗の拳』

"You're already dead"

"Fist of the North Star"

When I left Kyoto about one year ago, I had a huge stack of unread books I sent back home (they arrived quite a bit later though). Some of them, I had bought especially to send back and read here, some books I had bought earlier, but never managed to finish before my return. So some books have waiting to be read for over a year now (going by the picture in this post, I see at least one book has been waiting for about two years now!) The number of unread books is, even after a year of reading, still two digits, but I'm finally starting to see the end of the stack... When I pulled today's book from the bookcase earlier three days ago, I found a bookmark which said I had already read around hundred pages, and I could recall the contents vaguely, but I have no idea at all about when I am supposed to have read those pages. Certainly not the last three months, but a half year ago? A year ago? Even before I left Japan? I have no inkling of when this happened!

Just outside Marbletown, New England, lies the Smile Cemetery. Smiley Barleycorn did not abandon the family business when he left the home country and under his supervision, the Smile Cemetery grew to a highly successful business. But old Smiley is also nearing his own death now, and the whole family is prepared for the worse the following few days. Smiley's grandson, Francis (nicknamed Grin), is not very interested in the whole deal and the quarrels between his uncles and aunts, as his own parents had been estranged from the rest of the Barleycorn family and he himself has only recently arrived at the cemetery, but fate makes Smiley's fate his business. For one night, Grin was murdered. Poisoned. And very likely by mistake, taking the poison instead of old Smiley. But whereas in most stories, death means the end, in Yamaguchi Masaya's Ikeru Shikabane no Shi ("Death of the Living Dead"), it means the start. Lately, the strange phenomena of the dead coming back to life has been witnessed all over the country, and our dead protagonist Grin has also come back to life. Hiding the fact he has died to the rest of the Barleycorns (and his girlfriend Cheshire), Grin tries to figure out who killed him, with the decay of his body as the time limit.

Not the living dead, again, you might think. Indeed, we have seen the living dead in all kinds of media the last few years, but Yamaguchi Masaya's debut novel dates from 1989, so quite a bit before the current zombie boom. It was published as part of the Ayukawa Tetsuya and his 13 Mysteries imprint of publisher Tokyo Sogen, which was mostly famous for translated (non-Japanese) detective novels (and still is! The Sam Hawthorne and Roger Sheringham novels discussed on this blog are also from Tokyo Sogen). Ayukawa Tetsuya and his 13 Mysteries, a series of thirteen novels supervised by Ayukawa Tetsuya, was meant as a breeding ground for new Japanese mystery writers. And it achieved that goal quite good. For not only did we get Yamaguchi Masaya's Death of the Living Dead, but who could forget the fact that the imprint also gave us the formal debut of writers like Arisugawa Alice (Gekkou Game) and Miyabe Miyuki (Perfect Blue)?

But this review is about Yamaguchi. The most important element of Death of the Living Dead is of course the very special circumstances: dead people coming back to life. We first have Grin, a dead detective who has to solve his own murder, but in the second half, after Smiley has died a suspicious death and his son John has been murdered in a locked room situation, things really become awesome, as more and more dead come back to life (including the murder victim himself!) at Smile Cemetery. And unlike zombies, these living death retain their memories and reason, so this is one of the few places where you'll see a murder victim joining the investigation into his own murder. But the fact dead bodies come back to life isn't just a funny gimmick to give you a dead detective, but an intrinsic part of the plot and it allows for some very fantastic and unique deductions, which are only possible because they occur under such distinctive circumstances (and don't forget that most of this happens on a cemetery, again a 'special' environment). There are also some great subversions of familiar tropes of the genre here. Murderers often hide the bodies of the victims to hide their crimes, but have you ever seen a murder victim get up and drive a car away himself?

Yamaguchi is also heavily influenced by Ellery Queen, which is never a bad thing in my opinion. Death of the Living Dead is a pretty long novel, and especially the first half might bore a bit because so little happens (though the writing style is quite pleasant), but it's quite surprising how the whole novel comes together in the end, when you realize the whole book has been brimming with hints and other elements needed for the long and complex chain of deductions presented at the conclusion. Keeping track of who knew what when so they could perform what action might not be the favorite style for everything, but these Queenian deductions are definitely what I prefer in my detective novels and Yamaguchi does a great job.

I have mentioned often that I love these kind of detective novels with special circumstances. From the robot laws in The Caves of Steel to the rules of magic in Professor Layton vs Gyakuten Saiban and Morikawa Tomoki's Sanzunokawa Kotowari series, I've always felt that these world-changing characteristics and circumstances can really add something refreshing to a story. Death of the Living Dead's unique story and deductions impress, because they make optimal use of their setting, you can't look at them seperately. I also mentioned in earlier reviews that these stories with 'special rules' do need to have clear rules, or else the mystery wouldn't be fair to readers, but Death of the Living Dead does this wonderfully, using Grin to demonstrate what's possible to the living dead (similar to how Morikawa Tomoki usually demonstrates the possibilities of his special circumstances in his novels).

And as for the dead detective and testifying murder victim thing, I was strongly reminded of videogame director Takumi Shuu's work. There's of course the spirit medium theme that runs throughout his whole Gyakuten Saiban series (where his assistant can summon the spirit of the dead), but that only becomes an important point in the trials in very few, and very specific points in the story. But I refer more specifically to the phenomenal Ghost Trick, where you play a dead spirit trying to solve his own murder by.... possessing random objects. And I also recently (well, some months ago), saw Mitani Kouki's Sutekina Kanashibari (also known as Once in a Blue Moon and A Ghost of a Chance), a 2011 movie in which a rookie attorney tries to prove her client's innocence by summoning a ghost as her witness. It's mainly a comedy movie (like most of Mitani's work), but there's the whole mystery plot of who the real murderer is, and there are actually rules to how ghosts work in the movie.

But back to Yamaguchi Masaya's Death of the Living Dead. It ranked quite high in the Tozai Mystery Best 100, at place 15, and it's a place well deserved. It is a great mystery novel, that impresses by its complex story and its unique setting. And considering this was just Yamaguchi's debut novel, I can't wait to read more of his work!

Original Japanese title(s): 山口雅也 『生ける屍の死』

The Fall of the House of Usher

Erst zu begegnen dem Tiere,

Brauch ich den Spruch der Viere:

Salamander soll glühen,

Undene sich winden,

Sylphe verschwinden,

Kobold sich mühen

"Faust. Der Tragödie erster Teil"

And it's finally done. With this review, I've finally covered the Three Great Occult Books (sandaikisho) of Japanese detective fiction on this blog. These three mystery novels are considered classics of anti-mystery in the world of Japanese fiction, written in a time before we got lost in the woods of Post-Modernism, and before we actually used terms as anti-mystery, meta-physical mystery or whatever word is hip nowadays. But even as anti-mysteries, Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken, Dogura Magura and Kyomu he no Kumotsu had immense influence on Japanese detective fiction in general, and specifically the New Orthodox movement, so it is also considered must-read material for those who really want to get into Japanese detective fiction. And yes, I was quite late with reading them. Fearsome reputation was fearsome, is my excuse.

The Three Great Occult Books
Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken (The Black Death Mansion Murder Case) (1934)
Dogura Magura (1935)
Kyomu he no Kumotsu (Offerings to Nothingness) (1964)

Somewhere in the Shinagawa prefecture stands the Black Death Mansion. Its previous owner, Furukiya Santetsu, commited suicide under very suspicious circumstances, and his dark chateau, which is an exact of a mansion once inhabitated by people suffering from the Black Plague, is now the home, nay, prison of Santetsu's son Hatatarou and four foreign people from Europe Santetsu adopted as his own children. Santetsu's children are gifted musicians, but none of them have ever left the Black Death Mansion during their lifetime. When Norimizu Rintarou, ex-police attorney and detective extraordinaire, is told that Grete, one of Santetsu's adopted children, was killed, he is not at the least surprised, stating that a house as dark as the Black Death Mansion, inhabited a family with a history as strange as the Furukiya family, is bound to be the home of tragedy. Together with the district attorney, Norimizu enters the Black Death Mansion, which is filled with ancient weapons, moving dolls, armors, art and other secrets, intent on solving the Goethe-inspired murders in Oguri Mushitarou's Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken ("The Black Death Mansion Murder Case").

I will say this first: THIS IS THE MOST UNREADABLE NOVEL I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED. Yes, a reading of Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken provides important insights in Japanese detective fiction. BUT THAT READING WILL KILL THE UNPREPARED! THIS NOVEL WILL STRUGGLE, IT WILL FIGHT, IT WILL DO ANYTHING BUT GIVE IN TO THE READER'S WILL.

Ahem. Let's elaborate on this point.

Dogura Magura was about piecing together a story through a selection of memories, documents and conversations which might all have been nothing more than the imagination of a madman. Kyomu he no Kumotsu in turn was about deduction battles about a series of deaths, even though it wan't even sure whether there had been foul play (and the detectives even deduce possible solutions to possible murders). Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken seems the most normal of the three, right? A murder in a mansion, a secret in the family, references to Goethe's Faust. Heck, writer Oguri Mushitarou was obviously inspired by S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance series, and series detective Norimizu Rintarou (not to be confused with Norizuki Rintarou) was also modeled after Vance. So what could go wrong, we have all the makings of an orthodox mystery story, right?  Well, wrong. We all know that little rhyme of Philo Vance Needs a Kick in the Pance, right? Because Vance is obnoxiousy flaunthing his knowledge and all? Well, there are a lot of pances to be kicked here, because Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is the ultimate pedantic novel. 

Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken takes on the form of a standard detective story, but it is never really about the murders. It is just a set-up for Norimizu Rintarou (and author Oguri Mushitarou) to hold page-long expositions and discussions about pretty much any topic, but mostly occultism, mysticism, criminology, religions, astrology, astronomy psychology, heraldry, medicine and cryptography. Mostly. Anytime Norimizu sees anything, he starts rattling about how this relates to a certain book, or a certain writer, or an experiment conducted somewhere, which in turns is related to another topic and so on. The number of works referenced in Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is easily more than two hundred, with a majority of them being obscure books on occultism. Heck, probably about 70, 80% of this book consists of just pedantic talk. It makes this novel practically unreadable, because you are confronted with a master course Occultism every two pages.

And what's even more vexing is that these tangents about how heraldry showed that something was going to happen in the Black Death House or after giving a lecture on the historic and socio-economical significance of a picture on the wall and how it relates to occultism, are often used as a base for complex, highly convoluted, off-the-wall crazy deductions about the case. To give an example: it is not often you'll need to plough through a lecture on astronomy to get to a possible solution for a locked room murder. But the link between the topic-in-discussion and the murder is always bizarre, almost grotesque and never natural. The pedantic attitude of Philo Vance in Van Dine's novels might be irritating, but his knowledge is often needed to solve the case. Indeed, you'll often see references to non-common knowledge in detective fiction to explain how something happened in a story. Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken however doesn't use pedantry to explain its mystery plot, it is a pedantry plot in the form of a mystery. It really doesn't matter who the murderer is, or how it was all done. It's just about flaunting knowledge. 

Add in the fact that the flow of Oguri Mushitarou's prose isn't really natural (even considering it is an old text) and you see why it's impossible to read. I had initially planned to write this review in the same style as the book (similar to what I did with Dogura Magura), to convey the effect of the book, but that would definitely mean that nobody would bother to read it.

But because all the flaunting, Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken might also be considered the ultimate otaku novel. This is all about flaunting one's knowledge about specific fields of interests. This is about bombarding you with trivia. Novels like Mori Hiroshi's Subete ga F ni Naru or Kyougoku Natsuhiko's Ubume no Natsu are representative for mystery novels that refer deeply to very specific fields of interests for example (technology and the human consciousness in Subete ga F ni Naru and youkai in Ubume no Natsu), they indulge in them and many discussions on these topics have no direct relation to the mystery plot. Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is an extreme example of this and thus an important point when one wishes to map out otaku culture and detective fiction.

I mentioned in my double review of S.S. Van Dine's The Greene Murder Case and The Bishop Murder Case that these books were very influential on the Japanese detective model because of two characteristics: the Western mansion (yakata) as a setting and the mitate satsujin (a resembling murder, or a 'nursery rhyme murder' in a more broad sense of the term). However, this infuence was achieved also partly through Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken, which not only had a Vance-esque protagonist, but also combined the setting of a family cooped up in a dark, sinister Western mansion (The Greene Murder Case) with a 'nursery rhyme' (The Bishop Murder Case), here based on a magic spell used in Goethe's Faust. The Black Death Mansion of Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is brimming with secrets, its presence is almost evil and it would serve to be an example to many writers after its publication. And the mitate satsujin ('nursery rhyme murders'), well, they're still a very popular trope in Japanese detective fiction (also thanks to Yokomizo Seishi, of course). One can easily see how important Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is.

Take Ayatsuji Yukito's Yakata series for example. A whole series based on the concept of spooky mansions with secret passages! The first novel in the series, Jukkakukan no Satsujin (1987), marked the beginning of the New Orthodox movement in Japanese detective fiction, but consider this: murders in a creepy house and a cast of detective fans, who flaunt their knowledge of the genre. Similarly, the history and architects behinds both houses (a man called Dicksby in Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken, and the infamous Nakamura Seiji in Jukkakukan no Satsujin) are of vital importance to the plot in Kokushikan Satusjin Jiken and Jukkakukan no Satsujin. Another example would be Maya Yutaka's Tsubasa aru Yami, which is styled after Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken in both atmosphere and setting.

It's no denying that Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is an important novel in the history of Japanese detective fiction. Its influences, derived from its atmosphere, its setting, yes, even the pedantry, can still be found in modern day detective novels. And yet Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is definitely an anti-mystery. The mystery plot takes a back seat to was never allowed to get into the car of the main course, the (mainly occult) pedantry of protagonist Norimizu Rintarou. And yet the book is considered one of the Giants of Japanese detective fiction and it has almost a mythical status among those interested in the New Orthodox movement. Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken might be neigh impossible to read, but those who have bested its challenge wear that fact as a badge of honour and are considered among the most fanatical of detective fans. And this strange position is why Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken is considered one of the three great occult books of Japanese detective fiction.

Original Japanese title(s):　小栗虫太郎　『黒死館殺人事件』

The Red Pavilion

「教えて下さい・・・運命とは定められたものでは・・・」

『幻想水滸伝』 

"Tell me... Is fate unchangeable?"

"Suikoden"

Shui Hu Zhuan (The Water Margin) is one of the classics of Chinese literature and chronicles the adventures of 108 men and women who band together against a corrupt government in the 12th century. The story is a romanticized version version of real events and these outlaws of the marsh have been a major part of Chinese literature for many centuries, and the tale of the 108 Stars of Destiny have also been a source of inspiration for many, many other works of fiction (for people who play videogames, the Suikoden series will probably sound familiar).

It's also a lengthy work, with many, many characters, so naturally, some episodes are better known that others. Two of the fan favorites star Wu Song: one in which he famously kills a tiger with his bare hands and another one, where he avenges the death of his brother Wu Dalang, who had been poisoned by Pan Jinlian so she could be together with her lover Ximen Qing. Both Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing are brutally killed by Wu Song in Shui Hu Zhuan, teaching readers everywhere it's not smart to cheat on, and poison the brother of a man who slayed a tiger barehanded.

However, there exists a spin-off-esque naturalistic novel called Jin Ping Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase), which provides an alternate version of the above events: here Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing manage to escape the wrath of Wu Song and they live happily ever after. Sorta. Jin Ping Mei describes the sexual escapades of Ximen Qing, wealthy merchant, and his many, many wifes and lovers and the quarrels and domestic problems that arise from having like seven or eight wives in your home.

By now you'll be thinking, what does this have to do with detective fiction? Well, one day, Yamada Fuutarou was given a copy of Jin Ping Mei for his work as an editor, and he drew inspiration from this Chinese classic to write his own, classic of Japanese detective fiction. Like the original story, Yamada Fuutarou's Youi Kinpeibai ("The Bewitching Plum in the Golden Vase") follows the sexual adventures of Ximen Qing (Japanese reading: Seimon Kei) and his many wives, seen from the eyes of Ximen's friend (and financial leech/suck-up/etc) Ying Bojue (Ou Hakushaku). As a wealthy merchant, Ximen Qing is able to support his gigantic harem, but ever since Pan Jinlian (Han Kinren) has joined as his fifth wife, things have been a bit strange in the Ximen mansion. Sure, there were also domestic struggles, as all of his wives were jealous of the others, but before Pan Jinlian's arrival, these troubles never ended in... death. Starting with the double murder of two of Ximen's wives (whose legs are cut off), tragedy relentlessly strikes the Ximen household. Is it Pan Jinlian's presence that makes everybody crazy?

I raved about Yamada Fuutarou's Meiji Dantoudai in December, so I was eager to read more by him. Youi Kinpeibai ranked 30th in the Touzai Mystery Best 100 (highest of Yamada's entries in the list), and boy oh boy, does it deserve it's place in the ranking! Like Meiji Dantoudai, this is a masterpiece and even this early in the year, I reckon this will end up among the best reads I had this year.

Youi Kinpeibai is in essence a short story collection, and while I usually discuss short shories seperately, discussing fifteen stories would make this review a bit too long, I think. Also, the short stories of Youi Kinpeibai do form one coherent narrative and can just as easily be read as 'one' story with many episodes (like many of the old, Chinese classics), so one could also argue this approach might work better for this work.

Starting with a grotesque double murder, Youi Kinpeibai consists of a series of murders and other horrible events surrounding the people in Ximen Qing's harem. Sometimes it's an impossible crime, sometimes it's only revealed at the end of a story that a crime had been commited. With fifteen stories, you can be sure there's a lot of variety in the stories and despite the fact all events of Youi Kinpeibai happen within one household, things don't become boring nor does the cast becomes too small because everybody is killed off, because Ximen Qing's sexual adventures ensure there's no shortage of new characters (and wives) popping up.

Yamada Fuutarou makes optimal use of the limited spatial setting, as well as the psychological closed setting of a harem in Youi Kinpeibai. Indeed, one of the joys of reading this novel is seeing how the women in Ximen Qing's harem, especially Pan Janlian, are going to react on a new fling or whimsical game Ximen Qing comes up with and the usually mortal tragedy that arises from that. There are several stories that depend on the layout of Ximen Qing's love nest, while another set of stories are more styled as whydunnits, and depend on the unique psychology of the women in Ximen Qing's harem. Multiple wives vying for the attention of their husband is a setting not commonly seen, so the motives that you'll see in Youi Kinpeibai are among the likes you've never encountered before.

Which is also true for some of the tricks behind the mysteries. Youi Kinpeibai features some of the most original murder scenes, and solutions I've seen, but also some of the more grotesque and shocking ones I've ever seen. One could say that it makes great use of the fact Youi Kinpeibai is based on a graphically sexual novel, with the situations presented here quite unique in the annals of detective fiction. But a lot of the solutions only work within the 'literary world' of Youi Kinpeibai. The world in Youi Kinpeibai is not quite our reality, but a romanticized version of twelfth century bourgeois life in China. Compare it to the 'reality' of Homer's Illiad and Homer, where it's infinitely easier to fool people with disguises for example. A lot of the tricks only work in a very special setting, in special world and while the tricks work perfectly in the world of Youi Kinpeibai, one has to note that they would only work there. In my opinion, this works out fantastically for Youi Kinpeibai though, as it is really a unique story with settings and tricks that only work here, creating a distinct atmosphere that one might call Youi Kinpeibai-esque.

But, there is of course a difference with other 'special' settings for detective novels like historical novels or science fiction/fantasy novels. Science fiction/fantasy detective novels work best in my opinion when the rules/possibilities of the world are clear (c.f. Professor Layton vs Gyakuten Saiban, Snow White and The Caves of Steel). A historical novel like Meiji Dantoudai was clearly set in a historically realistic Meiji period Japan. Youi Kinpeibai on the other hand is admittedly a historical novel (so the tricks make use of contemporary mechanics and technology), but the way people behave, the way they act do feel a bit more artificial, indeed, because these are characters that live in a highly artificial literary world. The rules of what's possible and what's not are less clear here than in Meiji Dantoudai, or even the science fiction/fantasy detective novels I named, so some might find the world a bit difficult to get into.

I have not read the original Jin Ping Mei, though I have read Shui Hu Zhuan, but I don't think it's necessary for the reader to have knowledge of the original stories to enjoy Yamada Fuutarou's play with Jin Ping Mei: while the latter half of the story does feature some characters from Shui Hu Zhuan, the episode surrounding Wu Song, Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing is explained here anyway, and that's all you'll need to know to enjoy Youi Kinpeibai.

Oh, and before I forget: medieval China + detective stories = Judge Dee for most people, I think? The basic setting might be different (the stories of Youi Kinpeibai are definitely not about detecting and punishing crimes), but it's probably quite easy for readers of Judge Dee to get into the world of Youi Kinpeibai. Not only do they share a historical setting, but crimes in Judge Dee also have a tendency to be a bit nasty and despite all the historical correctness of the Judge Dee series, it similarly has an unique worldview that allows the tricks to work in these novels.

I would say that like Meiji Dantoudai, Youi Kinpeibai is a masterpiece. It makes perfect use of its setting (both as a historical setting, as well as the 'literary world' of the original Jin Ping Mei). The stories and characters are memorable and it also makes great use of its format as a connected short story collection. Once again, I conclude a Yamada Fuutarou review stating I need to read more Yamada Fuutarou.

Original Japanese title(s): 山田風太郎 『妖異金瓶梅』

Feet of Clay

探せ 追え 謎を解け

BD7 BD7 BD7 は 少年探偵団

『いくぞ！BD7』

Search! Chase! Solve the mystery!

BD7 BD7 BD7 are the Boy Detectives!

"Let's Go! BD7

About a year ago, I raved about Morikawa Tomoki's Snow White, as an excellent example of how to implement fantasy elements like magic in an orthodox detective novel. The magic mirror that told the detective-character everything was a wonderful plot element, and the story's sense of speed and thrill was fantastic. Indeed, it's not strange Snow White was nominated for the Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize last week. And since reading Snow White, I have also been going through Morikawa's other works, like Cat Food and the non-series Two Detectives and One Watson, but we'll go back to Morikawa's main series for this review.

Great Detective Sanzunokawa Kotowari series

Cat Food

Snow White

Odoru Ningyou ("The Dancing Dollls")

Odoru Ningyou - Meitantei Sanzunokawa Kotowari to Golem no E wa Shinjutsu no E ("The Dancing Dolls - Great Detective Sanzunokawa Kotowari and the E of Golem is the E of Truth") is a mouthful, so let's just call it Odoru Ningyou. Elementary school student Fumiko gets acquainted with professor Minami, who is working on the creation of a real-life Golem. The second time they meet, the professor tells Fumiko that she has succeeded in the experiment, but is now forced by the powerful, immortal Golem to create more of these beings. The professor had just managed to escape, but the Golem quickly manages to locate her, and takes her (and Fumiko) back to his lair. Furusawa, Fumiko's classmate and proud member of the Boy Detectives, enlists the help of the group leader Shima to help and stop the Golem from executing his evil plans. If only the Boy Detective's boss, the great detective Sanzunokawa Kotowari were here to help them...

Oh, and for those who haven't read the reviews of the other books in the series yet: Sanzunokawa Kotowari is an utterly evil detective who always ends up as the antagonist of the story.

Odoru Ningyou is obviously inspired by Edogawa Rampo's Shounen Tantei Dan series, with a team of child detectives trying to stop a thief/murderer/Golem-intent-on-outliving-humans. It feels particular similar to the first book in the Shounen Tantei Dan series, Kaijin Nijuu Mensou, following a similar two-part structure of the Boy Detectives being forced to cope with the enemy themselves in the first half, before their boss (Akechi Kogorou, and in the case of Odoru Ningyou, Sanzunokawa) appears to finish the job off in the second half. The energy of the young detectives is felt throughout the story, and Odoru Ningyou is a light-hearted, fast-paced mystery that keeps your eyes glued to the pages from start to finish.

The main flow of the novel is what you'd expect from the Great Detective Sanzunokawa Kotowari series: the Boy Detectives and the Golem have several skirmishes over the course of the story, with each side outsmarting the other side several times. The situation keeps changing, and you, as the reader, have to guess which side will pull one over the other, and more importantly how. In Snow White, this battle of the wits was based on creative use of the magic mirrors and this time the outcome of the battles hinge on the special powers and characteristics of the Golem (who split up his clay body and control each part). Because the story is based on clear rules (the extent of the Golem's powers are explained), Odoru Ningyou is a fair detective story, despite featuring magical elements (see also the other books in the series, but also i.e. something like Professor Layton vs Gyakuten Saiban).

But the elements that make Odoru Ningyou fun, are also those elements we've been familiar with since the first entry in the series, and in that sense, Odoru Ningyou is also a bit too predictable. All three books are structured around a magical plot-device with certain rules (transforming cats, a magic mirror and now a Golem) and rapid-fire, fast-paced battle of wits. There's a bit of been-there, done-that feeling here, and while the theme of the Boy Detectives is done well here, I have to admit I prefer the magical whodunnit of the magical cats in Cat Food, and the more Death Note-like approach of Snow White to Odoru Ningyou's boy adventure. A personal preference of course, but it's difficult to deny these books are all quite alike (even if they're fun).

Sanzunokawa Kotowari is still an interesting plot device and character. Even though it's called the Great Detective Sanzunokawa Kotowari series, one has to keep in mind that there is no series continuity whatsoever: what happens in one book, has absolutely nothing to do with another, and they are all set in seperate worlds. One can see it as the 'actor' Sanzunokawa being (type)cast in different stories each time, so while he appears each time as the same person (himself), events and background settings of one story do no apply to another, even if it's one series. Of course, by now the reader knows Sanzunokawa is not a very nice guy, so even though he is set up as the boss of the Boy Detectives in Odoru Ningyou, everyone knows not to trust him by now. This kind of character typecasting across stories is of course famously done by Tezuka Osamu (his Star System), but not a practice you come across very often.

I'd say that Odoru Ningyou is a somewhat predictable entry in the series, but not bad per se. Personally, I prefer the previous two novels but it's an enjoyable series no matter the entry. And because there's no series continuity, it really doesn't matter where you start. If you're a big fan of Rampo's Shounen Tantei Dan, Odoru Ningyou is very solid choice.

Original Japanese title(s): 森川智喜 『踊る人形　名探偵三途川理とゴーレムのEは真実のE』

File 3: Music to be Murdered by

And once again a musical post, with the third post in my Music to be Murdered by series, where I talk about music from a variety of detective-related media! It's an irregular corner (I post whenever I feel like it), but I think I'll try to get at least one post a month out in this corner. And now, to a track I have probably mentioned several times on this blog already.

Title: Silent Shadow II
Composer: GAMADELIC
Album: Tantei Jinguuji Saburou - Yume no Owari ni 10th Anniversary Special Album

Silent Shadow II is one of the best tracks of the videogame Tantei Jinguuji Saburou - Yume no Owari ni and one of the tracks you will hear most often. Like all of soundtracks in the hardboiled detective series Tantei Jinguuji Saburou (probably the only game series to feature a dedicated 'smoking' button), Silent Shadow II is a fantastic jazzy track. It is used relatively early in the game, as background music to a section where you are investigating a disappearance. In this section, you move between locations like an university and the immense area around Shinjuku Station looking for clues and questioning people, and Silent Shadow II is an excellent musical partner to your investigations.
 

Game music is different from a lot of other kinds of music in the sense that many tracks are composed and meant to loop infinitely. It's the player who decides the pace of the game, and this particular section can take as long as you want, as you have the freedom to move around and to question the people as you see fit. You will therefore hear Silent Shadow II loop many times, but it is such a great track, I really don't mind. Wander around urban Shinjuku and enjoy the music.

There are actually three seperate Silent Shadow tracks in the game, each different but used in similar situations. I might introduce the other two tracks in the future.

Original Japanese title(s):  「Silent Shadow II」（GAMADELIC) 『探偵神宮寺三郎　夢の終わりに 10th ANNIVERSARY スペシャルアルバム』

The Cat's Eye

妖しく　Cat's Eye

magic play is dancing

 月明かり浴びて

we get you… mysterious girl

"Cat's Eye" (杏里)

Bewitching Cat's Eye

magic play is dancing

Bask in the moonlight

we get you... mysterious girl

"Cat's Eye" (Anri)

I had already played often on a borrowed SEGA Dreamcast before, but I bought my own Dreamcast in 2009, when I had just arrived in Fukuoka. It provided me (and other people) with many, many hours of entertainment and I still play regularly on it. A used Dreamcast isn't expensive at all, and the games go for pretty low too. Sometimes too low. When I first bought the machine, I bought some obvious choices like Crazy Taxi and Shenmue with it, but also a game I had never heard of. It was very cheap. And it appeared to be a detective game. Now, in 2014, I've finally played that game.

Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko ("Web Mystery - The Cat With Foretelling Dreams") is an adventure game released very early in the life cycle of the Dreamcast. You follow Tsuda Keisuke, a programmer/designer, who is supposed to meet with a client at a net cafe. His client doesn't show up, and after becoming friendly with Mio, the girl behind the bar, Keisuke tries the computers out in the cafe (it's 1999, so internet is still relatively new). He is led to a mysterious website called Cat's Eyes, which shows him images of a man being killed. Keisuke and Mio are both surprised, but think little of it until they discover the following day that the man in the images had really been killed. And what's more, they saw the website even before the murder had happened. More and more images are sent through the site, and Keisuke and Mio try to stop the murders, find out who it is, and figure out what the secret is behind Cat's Eyes in an international adventure that will also bring them to South-Korea and Hong Kong.

Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko is also the worst game I've ever played. Heck, the words 'game' and 'play' don't even really apply to this! And the story being completely crazy doesn't help either.

Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko tells its story through FMV (full motion videos), sound novel parts (where dialogue is 'written' out on the screen accompanied by still pictures) and through a virtual desktop environment, where Keisuke (= the player) can check his e-mail and surf on the web. The problem is, the player has practically nothing to do in this game. 99% of the story is told by the FMV and sound novel combination. So most of the time, you are either watching barely acceptable acting or just reading little bits of dialogue (and for some sinister reason, they only show about three lines per screen, so it takes ages to read something). Unlike a game like Kamaitachi no Yoru, you're not allowed to make decisions in these parts, so you can only passively 'enjoy' the story, rather than deciding your own destiny.

The only time you can do anything is when Keisuke does something on the computer. You enter a virtual desktop environment and can now read e-mail or browse some websites (there's a large amount of 'webpages' about a variety of topics you can access through a portal). Problem though: the websites don't matter at all (you only have to read three websites or so over the course of the game, and they tell you when). The only thing you have to do to progress is to read an e-mail. Sure, there are lots of e-mails sent to you each time, but there's always just one important one, and the story continues if you read that one. So the only, the one and only thing you can decide in this game is the order in which you read e-mails. Making use of all the possibilities of games as a medium.

Let me repeat that: the story is set, consists mostly of FMV and clicking through dialogues and the only time you get to do anything is when you read e-mails. Walkthroughs of this game just consists of 'read mail 1' -> (exit desktop) [Watch FMV] -> 'read mail 2 -> (exit desktop) [Watch FMV] ->  etcetera etcetera.

With the title Web Mystery and a collection of faux webpages, I had actually hoped this would be something like Flower, Sun and Rain. That was admittedly a flawed game, but the way the hints to all puzzles were hidden within the pages of an island tourist guide was fantastic: I had hoped that Web Mystery would also have me digging through seemingly unrelated webpages to discover clues to continue. But no.

And just when you think Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko can't get worse, you realize the story is just crazy. Protagonist Keisuke has everything you'd expect from a chuunibyou-esque character (dark coat? Check. Traumatic past? Check. Nemesis? Check. Irresistable to the ladies, including a popular idol? Check. Genius programmer? Check), the whole plot about the images from the future makes no sense (you know your story is bad when even after saying 'it's magic', it still makes no sense) and as a detective story.... I guess Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko kinda feels like on of those two-hour mystery dramas, with Keisuke accidently getting involved in a case and him traveling to South Korea and Hong Kong, but considering there are practically no hints for the player and the story has a chaotic structure with different kinds of plots running through each other (some of them supernatural), it never feels like the player is given a fair chance.

I've played many games for as long as I can remember, and I usually try to find something good even in a bad game, but I really have nothing for Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko. The webpages are a fun idea, but none of them are really interesting (save for creating a world setting for the game). Not even the music is particularly good (which is also why I am surprised they released a soundtrack...). You can get Web Mystery - Yochimu wo Miru Neko for almost nothing now, and it's one of the Dreamcast's few mystery games, but please, stay away from it. Please.

Original Japanese title(s): 『ウェブミステリー予知夢ヲ見ル猫』