I'm interested in becoming a mystery writer myself and there are wide variety of different cases in manga available. Although some are worse than others and it's easier to find misses than hits when it comes to memorable and good cases, the effort is still almost always there and if one wants to learn more about the genre, it's possible to find different writing styles for similar cases being used for each of these series.
Katou Motohiro is an artist that's been running the detective fiction business in the shadows as the 3rd biggest on-going detective manga's author in the genre for the past few decades and lately I've come across quite a few fans of both of Motohiro's series. Unlike Kindaichi and Conan that focus on more classical elements of mystery such as locked rooms and complex tricks, C.M.B. and Q.E.D. have heavy focus on math and history. Motohiro is used to creating cases in monthly format so that there is always a new case the next chapter - every chapter contains a standalone story that's, from what I've seen, often not really fair-play mystery but it's more akin to informational writing.
Lately I've heard other reviewers talk about C.M.B. Shinra Hakubutsukan no Jiken Mokuroku The Best Kyouto Daigaku Suiri Shousetsu Kenkyuukai Selection ("C.M.B. The Case Catalog of the Shinra Museum The Best - Kyoto University Mystery Club Selection", 2019) which contains picked-out favourite stories that left an impact to the reader, so I've decided to see if there's anything in this series that could pique my interest.
I've been a detective fiction fan for basically all my life but there hasn't been anything so far in either of Motohiro-sensei's works that have made me want to care about these series in comparison to their rivals Meitantei Conan or Kindaichi Shounen. It's a mix of basically everything from the bit iffy pacing to the character writing and lack of actual fair-play challenge.
I'm not sure how many - if any - cases in teries there are that the reader can actually solve with logical thinking, but there is a flair to the series that makes it stand out and I guess helps it gather fans - fact of the matter is that the series have stood the test of time for the past 15 years. There must be something out there in these series that makes people want to continue reading more stories about our Q.E.D. cast or C.M.B.'s genius protagonist Shinra Sakaki and his tomboyish aide Tatsuki Nanase, right?
The most interesting story I read about in The Case Catalog of the Shinra Museum The Best - Kyoto University Mystery Club Selection is Phra Kruang case which is featured in volume 29's chapter 90 of the series and I thought it'd be best to at least review it a bit.
Phra Kruang begins off with out main characters Shinra and Tatsuki going to the manor of the American oil kingpin Silver Rubin who passed away half a year prior to the start of the story. Shinra has been called to the Silver Residence by Silver's grandchild Priscilla Rubin. The manor is so huge that one needs a car just to move around the building and I must say the setting is pretty beautiful and serene; there are horses, water and just classical constructs to be seen.
Silver Rubin has legacy as one of the greatest oil magnates in the world, but he was also called the Bloody Silver as his attempts to get his hands on riches of the oil caused three wars to happen in the past. Now, due to Silver passing away, the family has started to fight over the inheritance and thus they need help from experts such as Shinra.
Priscilla Rubin and her brothers went over Silver's private bedroom to try to find anything worth turning into money there, but Silver's most precious item was a buddhist pendant that's price is unknown. So, the Rubin family decided to call Shinra, the C.M.B. ring bearer, to appraise it. Shinra makes one conclusion after checking the pendant out: It's known as Phra Kruang, a buddha-shaped talisman used by people that want to protect themselves from evil spirits. Shinra explains that there are some Phra Kruangs worth up to 10 000 dollars, but this one - albeit being over 70 years old talisman - doesn't seem to be worth anything. But that's not enough for Priscilla Rubin as she believes the talisman holds a bigger secret behind it and she asks Shinra to find it out by investigating the mystery further.
The reason for Priscilla's belief of there being something more to the Phra Kruang is that her grandfather said something to her when he was still alive - something about humans needing mirrors to reflect our souls. Silver believed that by helping other people, one could get something like excitement that is lost from aging back. It was very weird for "Monster Silver" who would destroy anyone and anything for his business to say something like that.
The adventure to get to the truth of the Phra Kruang is entertainingly presented. Shinra and co. travel via airplane and boats through Thailand's Chao Phraya River. The art seems to be sort of rotoscoped from actual photographs. We get to see just the atmosphere of the journey itself as our main characters travel to the place that makes the Phra Kruangs.
At the place which makes the talismans, we get to learn that the leg of the Phra Kruang is so flawed that it must've not been for sale. The father of the current creators says that years ago he gave the Phra Kruang to an orphan named Sida who worked around the fields in the past. Sida was a happy young boy who just lived his life albeit homeless, and one day he asked the Phra Kruang molders to give him one talisman for free as the talismans represented the Goddess of Fortune - if one wants to become rich, he'd of course want to have a talisman like that. Something weird had happened however as five years ago Sida suddenly got a lot of money, became drunk and never worked ever again.
As Shinra, Tatsuki and Priscilla go to the house of Sida, they notice that it's empty. However wait is key and they go to the nearby restaurant to wait for Sida to come back - will he ever, though? In the restaurant the group notices photographs of Silver Rubin the Monster Oil King and the restaurant owner even reveals to the group that Silver actually came to the village every single year. The reason why he did so was to visit the orphan Sida, who according to rumours saved Silver from being drowned. Silver gave Sida a lot of cash while Sida gave Silver the Phra Kruang buddha talisman in exchange. Afterwards Silver kept sending Sida money monthly and visited him once a year to drink with him.
The answer behind the Phra Kruang was thus seemingly quite emotional; that Sida who gave Silver his only treasure, had touched the heart of the person that everyone else called the Monster.
However, the real truth is only revealed once Priscilla moves on with her life as Shinra goes back to the Silver Residence to talk with the Rubin family attorney about the truth of the Phra Kruang - and this is a hella cool part where Shinra says "Let me escort you to the Wunderkammer" as we see a bird flapping its wings on top of the nearby lake.
The real mystery here is why exactly that Phra Kruang was so valuable to Silver Rubin? Why did Silver keep sending money to Sida? And what was the true meaning behind Silver's seemingly emotional words about a mirror reflecting to one's soul? Why did Sida, the happy-go-lucky boy, stop working once the money started coming in; as if the money ruined his life?
And the answer to those questions is what one must read from the story, in volume 29 of the series.
So... This was an interesting story. The Phra Kruang case feels very fresh to read in the midst of everything else out there - it's held at a really high standard by many apparently as it made itself into the Best of C.M.B. selection, but it does feel as if not all of that praise is deserved. As a story, Phra Kruang delves into an interesting territory as it's a journey that investigates the human nature of someone called monster by many, but it's not a real mystery story by any stretch of the imagination. The truth behind the Phra Kruang is thought by many readers to be "absolutely horrific", but I don't think so... It's very interesting as it does show how corrupted Silver had become - but I do believe that what Silver did was actually with good intentions with what he himself believed to be for the best. There's this level of disconnect in the story about why they make Silver seem so much of a bad guy, but it's not properly explained how he supposedly destroyed Sida's life. It's just said but not explained.
Furthermore, there's more disconnect in the story as they all go on this grand adventure for basically no real reason - Priscilla Rubin simply thinks there's something behind the Phra Kruang, but there's no logical foundation for her to think so or connect whatever Silver told her about connecting souls to have anything to do with the talisman. The last problem I have with the case is that the answer is completely unbelievable and unrealistic, but the madness behind it does seem real.
Anyway, even though Phra Kruang is not a story for someone looking for a solid mystery plot, it is a very revitalizing experience due to its amazing presentation as well as the adventure aspect of it. C.M.B. tends to feel very draggy sometimes as it takes ages in the long monthly chapters for anything to happen and the pacing can also be very off, but this time the slow pacing worked for the case's advantage and we got sort of this Professor Layton type of adventure to follow.
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