Insanity Reasoning is a mystery by Shirodaira Kyo, whose other masterpieces include Zetsuen no Tempest and Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning. As a mystery, it is a very unconventional work, not pursuing the truth by any means necessary, but rather placing more emphasis on how to convince people rather than on the truth itself. The setting itself is unconventional, with few normal people, including the protagonist, but among them, I would like to introduce Miyahara Saki, the ex-girlfriend of the immortal man, Sakuragawa Kuro, and a representative of the ordinary person.
Sakuragawa Kuro's ex-girlfriend, Yumihara Saki, but why did they break up?
A few years before the series began, she was the girlfriend of Kuro Sakuragawa, the man the protagonist, Kotoko Iwanaga, fell in love with at first sight. They were very close, and their relationship was progressing smoothly, with talk of marriage, introductions to their parents, and an engagement ceremony, all of which broke Kotoko's heart. However, they broke up just before the ceremony.
Why did they break up?
On her pre-wedding trip, Saki encounters a kappa, an occult being. Saki, an ordinary person, panics, but it's the kappa, the supposed monster, that runs away. The kappa's reason for running away is because it's faced with a monster far greater than itself. The true identity of her gentle, kind-hearted lover is an extraordinary monster that even monsters flee from. However, Kuro is a good person who isn't hiding his true nature, and was turned into a monster by the delusions of his family. Despite this, Saki fears Kuro, and the relationship ends in a breakup.
What is Saki Yumihara's occupation? How does it connect to the main story?
Saki Yumihara's current occupation is a police officer. She currently serves as a constable in the Makurazaka City Traffic Division and is a well-known beauty within the station. However, she has not gotten over Kuro and regrets dumping him. However, after learning that Kuro is a non-human, Saki's trauma renders her unable to eat meat or fish. While she has recently begun to overcome this trauma, she still experiences episodes of the condition.
He encounters Kotoko Iwanaga during the Steel Man Nanase incident and reunites with Kuro.
He becomes involved with Kotoko Iwanaga during the Steel Man Nanase incident, an urban legend that purports to depict the idol Nanase Karin, who died in an accident, appearing every night wearing a frilly dress and with her face painted over, wielding a steel beam and attacking people. While the police have received eyewitness accounts of Steel Man Nanase, the general conclusion drawn from these accounts is that someone is impersonating Steel Man Nanase for a specific purpose. However, Saki, who is aware of the existence of the supernatural phenomena, realizes that it is a real monster and not an act.
Saki Encounters Steel Man Nanase
Later, Saki encounters Kotoko Iwanaga and Steel Man Nanase, and is saved by Kotoko in the nick of time. As a result, she becomes deeply involved in the affairs of Kotoko, Kuro, and Steel Man Nanase. In the Steel Man Nanase arc, she is the only civilian among the main characters. Despite being a civilian, she solves cases using occult-based solutions that are considered illegal by the police, so she's essentially at the mercy of the police.
For example, this solution
To understand the backstory of Steel Man Nanase, we need to know the truth behind Karin Nanase's death. The police investigation concluded that "Karin Nanase's visit to the scene of the accident was coincidental, but since there were no signs of her having avoided the accident, she had become so desperate that she accepted her own death." And the way she discovered the truth was by actually asking the earthbound spirits who had actually witnessed the incident. The concept of this series is that it doesn't matter what technique is used, even if it's illegal, as long as it uncovers the truth.
Saki Yumihara, the Enemy of Kotoko Iwanaga
Saki ended up interacting with Kotoko through a series of unexpected events, but to her, Saki was her biggest threat, regardless of the fact that she was "Kuro's type of woman." For this reason, she is extremely wary of Saki, repeatedly and cutely flaunting her love for Kuro. However, Saki, who has known Kuro for a long time, quickly overlooks the fact that Kotoko is not Kuro's type and that her affections are one-sided, and puts Kotoko down.
Saki Fights Back Against Kotoko
Kotoko tries her best to keep Saki from getting close to Kuro, but she's basically a weakling when it comes to these sorts of things, and her harassment and schemes generally don't work. On the contrary, she punches Kotoko when she gets all cute and annoying, or even beats her up, making her face turn red. However, after a long relationship with her, Saki realizes that even though she finds her annoying, she doesn't truly hate her.
Saki Treated as the Culprit
Steel Man Nanase's true identity was a physical manifestation of the image of an internet user. Therefore, Kotoko and the others had to fictionally conclude that "Steel Man Nanase doesn't exist." So Kotoko manipulates the perceptions of some internet users by deducing that the murdered police officer was a female colleague whom the police officer had feelings for, but the model for this is undoubtedly Saki. While it's easy to see that Saki isn't the culprit through investigation, the post does cause some negative publicity within the police station.
Will Saki Yumihara, who has gotten over Kuro, be seen again?
After the "Steel Man Nanase" arc ends, Saki gets over Kuro. This was because she was unable to completely shake off the trauma of Kuro being a monster. However, now that we know that the mastermind behind this incident is not the type to give up so easily, we may see her make further appearances and play an active role. Perhaps one day she will be used by Kotoko to cooperate with her police force.
[Instantiation] Saki Yumihara Summary
Although it's a mystery, it's a novel work, with demons and ghosts appearing as a matter of course and the culprit being a real monster. The anime adaptation, Zetsuen no Tempest, was also unconventional, featuring magic as a matter of course, but was very entertaining. Therefore, if you enjoyed Zetsuen no Tempest, I highly recommend this work, so please give it a watch! Instantiation will begin airing in winter 2020.
