A review by mugadum
The Fiend with Twenty Faces by Edogawa Ranpo
3.0
Written in 3rd person narrative voice in 1936.....Considering the author's cemented position in the founding of Japanese mystery fiction (and also b/c this book was written for kids), it comes as no surprise that elements within the plot are predictable and seem cliched. Despite this, it was fun to see the elements Ranpo took from a famous sleuth (Sherlock cough), and with these borrowed/stolen/whatever elements had influenced many popular Japanese mystery franchises today (e.g. Hanshew's Man of Forty Faces clearly influenced Ranpo's Fiend of Twenty Faces who in turn influenced Aoyama's Magic Kaito).
The author broke the 4th wall constantly, which may come as irritating to some, but personally had a nostalgic storyteller feel to me. Ranpo's writing style is one that lulls the reader sweetly into a journey of uncertainty, which doesn't disappoint the adult reader either.
Although it wasn't the intention of the author, the story offered interesting glimpses into the lives of Tokyo people right before WWII. The well-off enjoyed free labor basically from students who performed housework etc in exchange for meals &/lodging. Kids knew of a military base that eventually turned into the center area of Shinjuku. Voila:
「東京の読者諸君は、戸山ヶ原にある、陸軍の射撃場を御存じでしょう。」
Obviously the rich and privileged were the only ones who gave a shit about the artifact stealing thief, and the cat and mouse game were played by the elite, those who had government/military positions lel. And ofc women were just decorations in the book. Welp. What can you expect? 20th-century popular author? Ya gonna follow the status quo of that time. Not that it has changed much cough.
Long story short, as original of a plot as you can get. I mean that with the utmost sarcasm. You got the stereotype genius Gary Stu detective with quirks. You've got the villain, who's only purpose in life is to enjoy the police trying to chase him everywhere, and also has a masochistic tendency for the main dude. You've got a cute 10 person kid detective group, and only 2 of them exist for the reader. Kobayashi, the kid Watson to the Sherlock gets a chapter. Souji, the son of one of those wealthy men who got fucked over and then unfucked, gets a few lines. Cool. The strength's in the writing style though.
For fans of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown and all those youth mystery series, I suggest you give this a try.
The author broke the 4th wall constantly, which may come as irritating to some, but personally had a nostalgic storyteller feel to me. Ranpo's writing style is one that lulls the reader sweetly into a journey of uncertainty, which doesn't disappoint the adult reader either.
Although it wasn't the intention of the author, the story offered interesting glimpses into the lives of Tokyo people right before WWII. The well-off enjoyed free labor basically from students who performed housework etc in exchange for meals &/lodging. Kids knew of a military base that eventually turned into the center area of Shinjuku. Voila:
「東京の読者諸君は、戸山ヶ原にある、陸軍の射撃場を御存じでしょう。」
Obviously the rich and privileged were the only ones who gave a shit about the artifact stealing thief, and the cat and mouse game were played by the elite, those who had government/military positions lel. And ofc women were just decorations in the book. Welp. What can you expect? 20th-century popular author? Ya gonna follow the status quo of that time. Not that it has changed much cough.
Long story short, as original of a plot as you can get. I mean that with the utmost sarcasm. You got the stereotype genius Gary Stu detective with quirks. You've got the villain, who's only purpose in life is to enjoy the police trying to chase him everywhere, and also has a masochistic tendency for the main dude. You've got a cute 10 person kid detective group, and only 2 of them exist for the reader. Kobayashi, the kid Watson to the Sherlock gets a chapter. Souji, the son of one of those wealthy men who got fucked over and then unfucked, gets a few lines. Cool. The strength's in the writing style though.
For fans of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown and all those youth mystery series, I suggest you give this a try.