Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace
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Nazca Lily #837256
 Posts: 30 |
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Haven't watched the anime yet and have not read any of Edogawa Rampo's works yet. I've borrowed the Strange Tale of Panorama Island from my library and need to sit down and read it.
I do know that only one of his stories had any BL-theme and it was more suggested (I believe). That one is titled 'Koto no Oni' - recently Libré Publishing just put out 3 of his novels with new covers for Edogawa's anniversary. The covers are very lovely and are creepy at the same time. The other titles are The Human Chair (metamorphosis?) and The Caterpillar (something about necrophilia?/blood) Using the translation function on Twitter when seeing ads, from bookstores promoting the 3 titles, made for some interesting word choices. |
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bobob101
 Posts: 201 |
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I said this before, but the human chair is about a woman who gets a letter from a man claiming to live inside of her chair, the man then goes on to explain how he derives pleasure from being sat on. The caterpillar is actually weirder and actually historically significant. It is the tale of a wife who has to take care of her quadriplegic war veteran husband. Before he became crippled, the husband treated her poorly. Now with his utter helplessness and the woman's new found control over her husband, it only gets worse and worse. Historically this story is interesting because it is the only work of Ranpo's to have ever been censored during WWII. |
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sunflower
 Posts: 1080 |
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I've read some of the original stories and liked them for their psychological weirdness and sense of the macabre. Sadly this anime doesn't capture any of this for me. I've only watched the first two episodes mind you, so perhaps it will improve. But don't anime series start with one of their stronger hitters to pulling viewers? I'll try the third, but if that doesn't do it I'll be dropping this.
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bobob101
Posts: 201 |
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Don't let any of the fan service or tits fool you: the Black Lizard is a dude. Played by the lover of famed wannabe revolutionary Yukio Mischima, the black lizard of the movie of the same name was a famous their obsessed with jewels and mummifying beautiful people. He/she also falls fatally in love with Akechi. The relationship in this episode basically takes place after everything I just said.
This episode was good at hinting at a greater story. I thought Watanuki was a one off guy, but clearly he has more use to the story. I'm convinced that this isn't really a mystery show because the focus isn't on figuring out who the Fiend is and more on understanding him. Also, novel Fiend was a gentleman their who didn't murder and was Akechi's main rival. It seems his character has been swapped with the Fiend of 20 faces. |
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chex mix
 Posts: 415 |
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Seeing as that some of us have not read these books, is it possible to stop spoiling the crap out of all the character backgrounds and stories? If this were based off a manga fully half these posts would need spoiler tags.
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Rederoin
 Posts: 1427 Location: Europa |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2652 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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^True, it is an adaptation, but I think ChexMix has a point. I'll ask a mod, but I think spoiler tags would be a good idea.
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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Hi guys,
The spoiler tag guidelines as outlined here still apply to this thread. In which case if we observe Rule #2, any source material should be behind a spoiler tag. The anime may only be inspired by the books, but we aren't certain at this point if the stories will be adapted for the anime or if the characters will follow their previous counterparts. Use spoiler tags if you're going to mention specific details about the original novels, and be certain to mention outside of the spoiler tags that you're talking about the novels. Also, please edit your previous posts with spoiler tags if need be for novel spoilers. I haven't read the novels and I'm not currently watching the show so I wouldn't know for certain what to spoiler tag. Thank you. |
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bobob101
Posts: 201 |
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Now that you are putting details of the original novels into your posts there is nothing I can do
It's interesting how Kagami is the metaphorical caterpillar of the story while Sunaga is the literal one. I knew this story couldn't possibly have a happy end, but this episode was great at making me emphasize with Kagami. I have a theory about where the show is headed based on past readings of Edogawa's novels, but I bet it'll take three or more episodes to figure it all out. Can't wait for more though. I won't be taking bathes any time soon |
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BinBouGami1234
 Posts: 117 |
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One thing that ruined the 4th episode for me is the fact that I seriously doubt insane people are simply allowed back into normal society after they have murdered someone. Even if you want to argue that they can't be blamed for their actions, they are still a danger and would be kept in hospitals or something similiar so that they don't go around killing more people. I just couldn't take this episode seriously because of that, which is kinda dissapointing because I thought everything else was very well done.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2652 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I tried not to put too many details about the original story in the review, but I was really impressed with how the show managed to keep part of the spirit of the story while still changing it. spoiler[Substituting the bathtub for the well was a great way to update, and using a different kind of war to cause the disfigurement was also an excellent touch.]
But yeah, showers from now on... EDIT: I agree, BinBouGami, though I decided to look at it as less a literal statement about how the system gets played rather than an actual thing that happens as depicted. I've certainly known a few people who eluded the justice system repeatedly (um, yay small towns?), and this seemed to work for that metaphor. |
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Hellsoldier
 Posts: 815 Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol |
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At least in the country I live in (Portugal), such nonsense has happened tens of times, specially these last years. I know Japan is more strict, but I wouldn't be too sure if I were you. Incidently, I'm loving Ranpo/Rampo Kitan. But then again, I usually love noitamina shows. |
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DRosencraft
Posts: 671 |
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I'm in the same boat as you. I feel like they took the easy road out by hopping on the old bandwagon of controversy/fear regarding criminals and mental health. The mental health "exclusion" in the penal code has always, always, been used as a wedge issue in the exact mode presented in episode 4. More often than not it's not the way they've presented. The scene, for example, where you've got guys explicitly confessing and saying they wouldn't be penalized because they'll fake insanity would have been recorded as part of the interrogation in a place like Japan. It's as if they wanted really hard to make you feel bad for Kagami and didn't put as much effort in crafting the surrounding story. Even if they wanted to go with the tact of a criminal who used mental health as a way to skirt justice, inflating it to a condemnation of the entire legal system in such an exaggerated way was an extreme they didn't need to do. Overall the show is decent, but that part of ep. 4 was just not as strong as I would've hoped. |
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HelloBucket
 Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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I am mad at myself for putting this so low on my list that I only picked it up thanks to dropping 3 other shows. It's fantastic. I wish the medical examiner would get her own show.
I think not being familiar with the works its based on nor having any expectations on how the mystery element plays out has been in my favor though. The show seems to suffer the burden of expectations poorly as they seem to clash with what it actually is. I guess this is fitting in its own way, considering the show's subject matter.
This element of the show is part of what I like about it. It's easy for a show or movie that handles dark subjects to spend excessive amounts of its runtime with dialogue that amounts to "OMG, that's so sick", which is neither insightful nor interesting. I do now wonder what the show would be like with the addition of Ice-T, though. "You mean this guy gets off turning women in to chairs?" |
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Suncraft
Posts: 44 |
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I've got it. This is an awareness campaign for state of the Japanese police. Damn. (Not literal 1:1, but this stuff does happen.)
And the way it was told was wonderful. Obviously we saw the outcome in episode 4, we know what Kagami is. We know something happened to make him this way. It was obvious, it stared you in the face since episode 1. He wanted justice, he had a little sister who was innocent. He was justice like any generic vigilante story. And it still hit with certainty in its aim, the sureness that you'll feel something about his story. And then it paraded a cake in front of you with CONGRATULATIONS as the literal icing on the cake. Insert song plays. Then the stunning credits roll. I for one am satisfied with Ranpo Kitan. Hope we get a few more hard hitting episodes with some pressure releasing trap comedy in between. I guess I could relate this experience to Death Parade where most episodes were just the usual case, but episodes 4, the one-two punch of episodes 9/10, and the last episode surpassed expectations. Maybe this will accomplish something similar. |
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