Kyokou Suiri is a mystery novel by Kyo Shirodaira, the author of Zetsuen no Tempest and Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning. As the name suggests, it's a fictional mystery with an interesting concept: a liar who knows the truth and then solves a case. Today, I'd like to introduce the protagonist, detective Kotoko Iwanaga, who acts as a consultant for supernatural phenomena.
Introducing the protagonist, Kotoko Iwanaga!
The protagonist of this work, Kotoko Iwanaga, is currently a university student attending the same university as her boyfriend, Kuro Sakuragawa. Although she could be described as a beautiful girl, she doesn't look like a college student at all, and is often mistaken for a middle school student. Born into a world-renowned family, she made a pact as a child to become a god of wisdom (a sort of advisor) to monsters and spiritual beings, losing an eye and a leg in the process.
This is a world where the occult exists as a matter of course.
Despite being a mystery novel, monsters and spiritual beings appear regularly. Naturally, the general public believes that ghosts and other spiritual beings are impossible. However, to Kotoko, who has become the god of wisdom for the supernatural, they are completely normal and communicate with her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The supernatural beings rely on Kotoko to solve their problems, and conversely, she sometimes obtains information from the supernatural beings to solve cases.
Are Iwanaga Kotoko and Sakuragawa Kuro lovers? But it might be a bit one-sided.
Two years ago, while visiting the hospital, Iwanaga Kotoko fell in love at first sight with Sakuragawa Kuro. However, she soon discovered that he was in love with a beautiful woman, and her heart instantly broke. Kotoko still refuses to give up, but her relationship with the beautiful woman, Saki Miyahara, progresses smoothly, further accelerating her heartbreak. Furthermore, Kotoko was originally outside of Kuro's strike zone, so her life was already at an end.
Kuro Sakuragawa and Saki Miyahara Breakup
However, just before their wedding was set to take place, Kuro and Saki broke up. Kotoko seized this opportunity to volunteer to be Kuro's girlfriend. It was Saki who initiated the breakup, but the reason was an encounter with a non-human being. The non-human creatures that Kuro should have feared ran away like rabbits when they saw Kuro. In other words, Kuro was someone who even feared the existence of non-human creatures.
Somehow, they ended up dating
Kotoko and Kuro then become romantically involved, but her affections are one-sided, and Kuro naturally neglects her and treats her relentlessly for physical contact. Kuro insists that marrying Kotoko will bring him status and inheritance, but he's not impressed. In photos of them together, they have dead eyes and don't look particularly happy. Still, it doesn't seem like Kuro dislikes Kotoko.
Is Saki his current enemy? The jealous and envious Kotoko Iwanaga.
After the incident with Steel Man Nanase, Kotoko reunites with Saki Miyahara, who has become a police officer. They end up working together to eliminate Steel Man Nanase, but Saki remains Kuro's ideal woman, and even after their breakup, she has become even more like the type of woman Kuro likes, which makes Kotoko feel even more threatened. Kotoko does her best to keep Saki and Kuro away from each other, but despite her exceptional insight and powers of deduction as the God of Wisdom, she often fails when it comes to Saki and Kuro.
Annoyingly Cute Iwanaga Kotoko
If I had to sum up Kotoko's cuteness in one word, I think the word "annoyingly cute" would be the perfect word. He shows incredible insight when it comes to deductions, but outside of that he clings to Kuro and gets brushed off, and he provokes Kuro's ex-girlfriend, Yumihara Saki, by using her status as his current girlfriend, or tries to protect himself, but he usually acts childish and ends up getting taunted back or punched in the face. Annoying and cute.
Iwanaga Kotoko, the God of Wisdom, possesses exceptional powers of deduction, insight, and logic.
Iwanaga Kotoko is an annoyingly cute character who generally only reacts when provoked, but she is also the protagonist and the God of Wisdom for supernatural beings, and her powers of deduction and insight are truly superhuman. As a child, she lost one eye and one leg when she was transformed into the hair of wisdom. Since then, she has served as a consultant to monsters and spiritual beings, relied on day and night, resolving numerous problems. She also has a wealth of knowledge about supernatural beings.
Overwhelming Logical Construction Skills
In addition to her deductive reasoning and insight, Kotoko excels in logical construction and persuasiveness, skills not typically required of the protagonist in a mystery novel. In a typical mystery, everything the detective says is assumed to be true, but to make their deductions convincing requires logic and persuasiveness, similar to that of a Werewolf game. In this work, she must convince an unspecified number of people by forcing her way with lies, not truth. The theme of the work is not to uncover the truth, but to convince people in a convenient direction, and naturally, she excels in this area.
Iwanaga Kotoko: A Mystery Story's Forbidden Trick
This work uses fiction to convince readers, but it also requires uncovering the truth as a prerequisite. While the standard approach would be to build a logical conclusion from simple evidence, Kotoko, who can communicate with supernatural beings, is able to arrive at the truth through a unique and bold move: listening to the eyewitness testimony of a ghost who actually witnessed the crime scene. It's a bold move that makes you wonder: Is there really any way to prove something like this in a mystery?
This work is "Kyokou Suiri"
However, the truth testified by a ghost that you have actually seen may not be convenient, and above all, no one will believe it, whether it's true or a lie. That's why "Kyokou Suiri" emphasizes how to convince people, whether it's truth or fiction.
【Kyokou Suiri】Iwanaga Kotoko Summary
Kyokou Suiri is not a work that focuses on how to uncover the truth, but rather a mystery that requires you to convince everyone. However, the characters that add color to the mystery are also very unique, and the protagonist, Iwanaga Kotoko, is both annoyingly cute and likable. Both the characters and the story are worth watching, so be sure to check it out!
