Haunted Mystery is a new work by Tamura Yumi of 7SEEDS, and this time it's not science fiction, but a mystery! However, the reading of this work is "Haunted Mystery." In other words, it's a mystery, but it doesn't feel like a mystery. The reason why it's not a mystery is mostly because of the protagonist, detective Kuno Totonou. There's a preconceived notion that detectives in stories are often strange characters, and this protagonist is quite strange as well. I'd like to introduce you to this strange protagonist, Kuno Totonou!
What was the first case that the protagonist, detective Kuno Totonou, got?
One day, the police suddenly arrive at the apartment of college student Osamu Kuno. His classmate Ken Sagae, who attends the same university, is murdered by someone in a nearby park. For some reason, Osamu is suspected of murdering his classmate and is interrogated by police in the police station's interrogation room one after another. In the interrogation room, Osamu starts chatting with the police officers who are interrogating him. However, the small talk is very poignant for the person in question. Osamu's chatter never stops, and even though he goes off on one tangent after another, he is gradually getting closer to the heart of the case.
Kunou Osamu, a university student with naturally curly hair and a sharp mind, is a detective.
Kunou Osamu's name is pronounced "totonou", not "sei" or "hitoshi". He is a university student studying psychology, and is characterized by his naturally curly hair that looks like it has exploded. Although he looks like an unusual student, he has a sharp mind, excellent observation and analytical skills, and is knowledgeable and sharp-eyed, making him comparable to detectives in other works. Above all, he gets involved in cases without doing anything, and his interest leads to cases when he sticks his nose into them, so his rate of encountering cases is comparable to that of detectives in other works.
Kunou Osamu's personality! A talkative perm at his own pace
Even when he is suspected of being a suspect, he is always calm and unfazed, or rather, he is very self-paced. That's why even when an incident is occurring, the conversation often goes off track. At first glance, the content of the conversation may not be related to the incident at all, but the person he's talking to will ask questions that get to the heart of the matter, as if they've seen right through him. This is because Osamu has thoroughly analyzed the other person, and as a result, the conversation will lead to the truth from the digression.
What do you do on your days off, Osamu Kuno, a college student with unusual hobbies?
He has a laid-back personality and likes being alone. He makes curry on his days off, and is particular about how he makes it, so much so that he simmers it for a long time. Another hobby is going to art museums to look at paintings. His hobby is quite unusual for a college student these days, so he doesn't seem to have any close friends at the university. He doesn't go out with friends and is self-sufficient. However, that doesn't mean he's bad at talking to people, and if there's a talking machine, he'll just talk.
A man caught up in an incident
Even though he loves to talk, he doesn't voluntarily get involved with others, but he gets involved in an incident. He has been made a suspect in a murder case despite not having done anything, the bus he hurriedly jumped on was accidentally hijacked, and something he casually poked his nose into out of curiosity turned into a case. Just like the great detectives of the past, incidents come to him, so he seems to have the most important quality of being involved in an incident.
Kunou Osamu, who has a strange habit, is a man who stimulates the criminal more than necessary
He uses various analogies due to his excellent memory and analytical ability, but these analogies and questions can sometimes hit the critical parts of the person, which can stimulate the criminal more than necessary. Moreover, he speaks what he wants to say without hesitation. He also has a habit of imitating other people's habits. However, neither of these are done on purpose, they are done completely unconsciously. In a sense, he may be a man who cannot read the atmosphere.
Is Kuno Osamu calm and collected, and is it hard to see what's going on inside?
He has a sour face and is calm and collected, and he always keeps his own pace, so he asks various questions and touches on the inside and essence of the person. However, Osamu himself does not get emotional, and he talks using analogies and examples, so I think it is sometimes difficult to see Osamu's own thoughts. It's not that he doesn't talk about his own thoughts, but it seems like he doesn't want people to touch on his inner self or his true nature. It may just be that he's extremely self-paced, but I think that's why he doesn't have any friends or a lover.
Did something happen with your family?
Although he asks questions about his family in conversation, it seems like Osamu doesn't want people to talk about his family. There are parts where he seems to resent his father, saying things that seem to blame his father for not caring about his family. However, seeing how eccentric Otoko himself is, and how his name is written as Otoko but pronounced as Totonou, I think his father is probably also eccentric.
Is he bad at socializing? Otoko Kuno, the womanizer
Rather than being bad at socializing, Otoko has a stance that he doesn't need to do it, so he doesn't have anyone he can call a friend, and of course he doesn't have a girlfriend. However, he panics the most when he ends up buying a present for a woman or doing something like a date. Even Otoko, who is intelligent and sees through everything, doesn't seem to know what to do about this. This work is published in a girls' manga magazine, but Sei is not a woman, and there is no heroine-like woman. He goes on a date with Raika, who appeared in volume 4, but so far she does not look like a heroine.
All his acquaintances are involved in the incident
Because of this, all of his acquaintances are people involved in the incident, or people he met as a result of sticking his nose into the mystery. The person he interacts with most is Ikemoto, a slightly frivolous police officer who was in charge of the interrogation in the first incident (he is inevitably involved because he is often involved in incidents), and Inudo Garo, the mastermind behind the second incident, may be his only friend. At the moment, the only person I know who is not involved in the case is Professor Amatatsu, a psychology professor. If I wasn't involved in the case, I wouldn't have been involved with anyone.
【Hyouka: The Mystery of the Night】Summary of the main character, Kuno Sei
As the name suggests, Hyouka: The Mystery of the Night is a bit different from a mystery. The main character, Kuno Sei, has the ability of a great detective in every sense, but unlike ordinary detectives, he doesn't use evidence or testimony to make deductions. He goes off on one tangent after another from his own chatter, and in the process, he does things like counseling and profiling, and somehow he arrives at a conclusion. I think it's a very innovative work! Since 7SEEDS has been made into an anime, it may become an anime someday, but since it's more suited to drama, it might become a drama sooner.
