meganbmoore: (chun-hyang)

This is one of the-if not the-most meta manga series I have ever read. After the first volume, it’s never really clear how much of the story is reality, and how much is the world Haru and Masato create with their writing, much less how much their writing affects reality. Actually, I suspect Matsuri Akino initially intended to play it straight, and then decided she liked the “fictional detective is real and helps his creators solve mysteries” enough that she just made the intermingling of fiction and reality affect the entire series.

I really don’t think this is a bad thing at all.

Like Petshop of Horrors, this is largely an anthology series with a thin unifying plot throughout, though the unifying plot in this case is Haru and Masato’s growth as writers. Interestingly, some chapters indicate that their creation, Taro Suzuki, knows them-and what they’ll do with their lives-better than they do.

I wouldn’t mind reading more manga along the lines of this one, though I’m not sure this kind of plot could be sustained for more than a few volumes. I don’t know if Matsuri Akino ended the series because she thought it was time or if she was told to wrap it up, but I think this ended up just the right length.
meganbmoore: (Default)
At one point, Haruka was talking about actors who she would play the lead if the book she and Masato wrote was made into a movie. Thanks to jdramas, I recognized every one.

Spoilers aren’t spoilers so much as they’re nonsensical if you haven’t read. )


This started off a mystery manga with ghosts and a ghost detective who may or may not be the character starring in the books of two teen writers. Now I think it’s about fiction taking over your life, especially if you’re a writer. I don’t remember Petshop of Horrors ever being this crazy.
meganbmoore: (once upon a time-misbehaving)

Kamen Tantei is a four volume mystery series by Matsuri Akino, the mangaka of Petshop of Horrors.  In it, Haruka and Masato are high school students who write mysteries under the name of Taro Suzuki, but they don't want that to get out.  They're also the sole members of the school's mystery club.  When a classmate Masato has a crush on commits suicide, Haruka suspects foul play and decides to investigate.  During the investigation, a flamboyant masked detective appears and helps them to solve the case, much to Haruka's consternation.

Like PoH, the stories in KT are set up so that each chapter is an individual story, with the ongoing story lurking a bit in the background.  Each mystery is set up to follow certain mystery plot conventions-the locked room, the hotel where the power is out, the mystery writers' convention, etc.-and has many genre scenes and nods to the conventions, such as a scene where Haruka dramatically points and says "the killer..is you!" and a scene in one story where Haruka and Masato are at a dinner where people want to meet "Taro Suzuki," but they can't announce their identity, and the mystery detective arrives and announces that he is Taro Suzuki, and Haruka, though angry, can't do anything about it without revealing the secret.  All of this and more is done with pure, fangirlish glee, and very tongue-in-cheek.  In addition, (sincethis is a Matsuri Akino manga) ghosts have played into every mystery, and "Taro Suzuki" himself seems to be a ghost.  While Masato can see ghosts, Haruka doesn't believe in them.

So far, Haruka and Masato don't seem to be being set up to be love interests.  They're childhood friends who act more like brother and sister than anything else, though with their insistence that they aren't a couple when asked and Haruka's suspicion to girls liking Masato, that could change.  Though they both claim to be mystery fans, I'm not sure Masato actually is.  While Haruka is a complete mystery fangirl(she literally bounces and gets starry-eyed when there's a mystery afoot, or when she gets to meet a writer) Masato, who has a much less dominant personality, mostly seems to be doing whatever she wants out of habit.  "Taro Suzuki" mostly remains a mysterious figure, and has some similarities to Count D.  I suspect he'll eventually be revealed to have some sort of past connection to Haruka or Masato(as he seems more interested in Haruka than Masato at this point, I'm leaning towards it being her.)

meganbmoore: (Default)

Kamen Tantei is a four volume mystery series by Matsuri Akino, the mangaka of Petshop of Horrors.  In it, Haruka and Masato are high school students who write mysteries under the name of Taro Suzuki, but they don't want that to get out.  They're also the sole members of the school's mystery club.  When a classmate Masato has a crush on commits suicide, Haruka suspects foul play and decides to investigate.  During the investigation, a flamboyant masked detective appears and helps them to solve the case, much to Haruka's consternation.

Like PoH, the stories in KT are set up so that each chapter is an individual story, with the ongoing story lurking a bit in the background.  Each mystery is set up to follow certain mystery plot conventions-the locked room, the hotel where the power is out, the mystery writers' convention, etc.-and has many genre scenes and nods to the conventions, such as a scene where Haruka dramatically points and says "the killer..is you!" and a scene in one story where Haruka and Masato are at a dinner where people want to meet "Taro Suzuki," but they can't announce their identity, and the mystery detective arrives and announces that he is Taro Suzuki, and Haruka, though angry, can't do anything about it without revealing the secret.  All of this and more is done with pure, fangirlish glee, and very tongue-in-cheek.  In addition, (sincethis is a Matsuri Akino manga) ghosts have played into every mystery, and "Taro Suzuki" himself seems to be a ghost.  While Masato can see ghosts, Haruka doesn't believe in them.

So far, Haruka and Masato don't seem to be being set up to be love interests.  They're childhood friends who act more like brother and sister than anything else, though with their insistence that they aren't a couple when asked and Haruka's suspicion to girls liking Masato, that could change.  Though they both claim to be mystery fans, I'm not sure Masato actually is.  While Haruka is a complete mystery fangirl(she literally bounces and gets starry-eyed when there's a mystery afoot, or when she gets to meet a writer) Masato, who has a much less dominant personality, mostly seems to be doing whatever she wants out of habit.  "Taro Suzuki" mostly remains a mysterious figure, and has some similarities to Count D.  I suspect he'll eventually be revealed to have some sort of past connection to Haruka or Masato(as he seems more interested in Haruka than Masato at this point, I'm leaning towards it being her.)

meganbmoore: (xxxholic-?)
Has anyone read these manga?  I just realized this weekend that they're by the same mangaka as Petshop of Horrors.  

If you've read them, are they good?  And how long are they?  (PoH could have been a little shorter, IMO.)

PS-I apologize to anyone who has commented in the book recs post who I haven't replied to.  The comments have reached rather monstrous proportions-which, of course, is a GOOD thing, but also a hard-to-keep-up-with thing.
meganbmoore: (Default)
Has anyone read these manga?  I just realized this weekend that they're by the same mangaka as Petshop of Horrors.  

If you've read them, are they good?  And how long are they?  (PoH could have been a little shorter, IMO.)

PS-I apologize to anyone who has commented in the book recs post who I haven't replied to.  The comments have reached rather monstrous proportions-which, of course, is a GOOD thing, but also a hard-to-keep-up-with thing.

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