What a spectacular episode. This show always seems to do what I least expect.
Surprise, Surprise
We begin this mystery with no idea what’s going on. Strange messages in a strange book belonging to a guy we don’t know? Huh?
Shinjiro immediately becomes suspicious of Kaishou: he’s the first suspect. Is he having an affair? Rie doesn’t seem to trust him much, and all the effort she spent getting angry and searching through his books made the father’s guilt all the more believable. The wife is a suspect as well, but for murder, not just adultery. She almost gets murdered herself, too.
Then in the end, the kids jump out of the car. Kaishou had actually rescued them, and the notes were written by the children. Everything is turned on its head. Kaishou is the good guy. And Shinjiro just can’t believe it.
This is the second week in a row his hunch has been wrong. Which makes him much more interesting as a detective. The audience can’t just assume he’s always right, but has to think for itself.
Darkness Brooding on the Horizon
Now this show even has a villain! Unlike Shinjiro who resolves mysteries, this novelist creates them. Shinjiro has a mysterious little boy with purple hair as his sidekick; the novelist has a mysterious little girl with purple hair as his. I’m guessing she transforms into a grown man. And maybe instead of making a person tell the truth once, he can make them lie once? Should be interesting.
It’s pretty impressive that the novelist can make someone nearly murder his own wife by forging a single stamp, without even leaving prison. The thing that makes me the most enthusiastic about our new villain, though, is that he wasn’t introduced in the second to last episode like Dantalian’s. He’ll actually have some time to let loose.
Private Prisons
They mentioned briefly at the beginning of the episode that the prison was privately owned, which contributes to the dystopian feel of the story. Private prisons are becoming more and more common worldwide, and are a terrible idea.
Why? Well, think about it. Why do private prisons exist? To make a profit. And how do they make more profit? If there are more prisoners. So the idea of private prisons is that we place prisoners in the care of those who have a material interest in them committing more crimes and returning to prison. Brilliant.
Not to mention that the very idea is sickening. Prisoners are the responsibility of the community. And we sell them off to companies to turn a profit, like cattle.
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I was rather interested what Kaishou said to Shinjirou:Is there only one truth? To think of it. People tend to see only one truth and leave the rest behind. This makes persumtions and false judgements, because they fail to see things in different prespective. I’m not sure if people can undsertand this question, but at what point can truth be more than one? does it have to be parallel to the other? or is it the child of the base fact?
I have no idea, but it’s a good question.
“I’m guessing she transforms into a grown man. And maybe instead of making a person tell the truth once, he can make them lie once? Should be interesting.” Excellent – the last time I’ve laughed so hard about an anime blog post was your Raziel poem!
This was another episode presenting Rie in goergeous costumes (in particular your second picture). It was also cute when she somewhat enviously inquired about “that Inga woman”. The scene with the maid combing her hair illustrates Rie’s position as a protected daughter from which she did not yet break free.
The episode also continued another undercurrent when the critic asked Shinjiro if he was sleeping with Kazamori. Inga also states that Kazamori was human. I wonder if this just relates to the fact that Kazamori seems to have a human-like personality. Hopefully this will be explored further!
Rie is adorable. She has an impeccable fashion sense, both human and equine.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of Kazamori as well. She and Inga make a good pair. The part I found most amusing was that (if I remember correctly?) Shinjiro didn’t actually answer the question about whether he sleeps with Kazamori.