Shinrei Tantei Yakumo and Stuffs

Ok, so just briefly starting off with some world news, Apparently Obama as been re-elected as the President of the United States, so congrats America. Just to clarify I have as much fun about politics as I do watching grass grow, so I really am indifferent to this, but according to my newsfeed it was kind of important, and I live in Australia. Also, congrats to all the people who won the ozlotto the other night, 4 people won $27million plus, I would not mind that.

Anyways, moving on as usual, I have read Shinrei Tantei Yakumo. This one is a bit confusing to explain, it started as a novel series by Manabu Kaminaga, but the version I read is the second manga adaptation (I really want to read the books, but they aren't available in English). This version of the manga is currently ongoing with about 35 chapters, with scanlations being quite regular, so far up to chapter 26.

So the story is about Yakumo, I college student who was born with the ability to see the 'souls of the dead' (ghosts). He helps his police acquaintance Gotou solve cases which involve the paranormal. One day, Haruka, a student from the same college as Yakumo requires his help when her friend is possessed in the first arc. These three characters, along with others along the way, help solve these mysteries.

So the first arc is about Haruka's friend who is possessed by a ghost when she attempts to go into a haunted house. Enlisting the help of Yakumo and Gotou, the three of them try to unlock the mystery. Yakumo informs them that Miki (Haruka's friend) is possessed by a female ghost. Out and about, there are delays at the train station because there has been an accident. It is then known that Miki's boyfriend has been hit by a train and died. The police don't know if it was an accident, suicide or murder, but an encounter with her teacher informs Haruka that it was suicide. Meanwhile, Haruka and Yakumo go to the haunted house, only to find that the 'unlockable room' in the haunted house is unlocked. Haruka and Yakumo are attacked, but manage to escape. Yakumo goes back again as while searching, he found a hidden floor trap which turned out to be the real unlockable room. Yakumo notes the walls have scratch marks. Haruka and a classmate begin to suspect their teacher as being to culprit, but once left alone, the friend admits that it is his doing, he got in an argument with the person who is now possessing Miki, and 'killed her'. In his frustration he attempts to kill Haruka, but Yakumo and Gatou arrive just in time. It is revealed that the man didn't kill the girl at first, but knocked her out. Once she regained conciousness, she tried to escape the room, but eventually died. In an attempt to move the body, the man is photographed by Miki's boyfriend, which is why the man killed the boyfriend by pushing him in front of the train. He incidently saw his teacher at the station, and said it was suicide. In the end, the culprit turns himself in. This arc ends with Haruka commente clinic, Yakumo and Gatou visit the same clinic, as the doctor's daughter was the first of the murdered giing that she thinks Yakumo's red eye is pretty.

The second act starts with the murder of two girls and the disappearance of a third. Again Yakumo is informed in order to attempt to unsolve this mystery. Along the way, Haruka gets involved along with Gatou and Ishi. Haruka comes across a phone charm with the name Ayaka on it (the same name as her dead sister) and goes down to the river where it was found. Haruka is pulled into the river by Ayaka, the first girl who was murdered. Their main suspect was killed in a car accident a few days prior, and are now trying too find the third girl. Meanwhile, Haruka is saved by a levy worker and doctor. While Haruka recovers at th

rls. A key is found on the body of the dead suspect, but no-one knows what it could be for. After some searching and some clues being answered, it is discovered that the key is for a storehouse on the river bank. After entering the store house, the third missing girl is found alive. They believe that the case is solved with the main suspect dead. However a forth girl shows up dead, in a similar fashion to the second one. After some research, Yakumo makes the link that the man who kidnapped the first and third girls (the dead man) is different from the method used to kill the second and forth girls, meaning that there are two killers. Yakumo gets a tip that 'that man' has been telling the doctor/ayaka's father that there is a way to bring he back from the dead. It is discovered that the doctor is in fact murdering girls in order to try and revive his daughter. His next daughter is Haruka, who is pushed into the river with a stone chained to weigh her down, but Yakumo saves her. It is then discovered that the man who told the doctor is Yakumo's father. With the mystery solved that is the end of the second arc.

The third arc is about a girl who's soul repeatedly jumps of a building in order to end her life. At the same time, a group of friends are catching up in a bar for the first time since graduation. One of the girls sees a reflection of a ghost in the mirror. Yakumo and Haruka visit the appartment complex in question and encounter another man who claims to be able to see ghosts, kagisama. The girl from the bar calls her friend and alarms Yakumo that something is about to happen. Yakumo and Gotou run into Kagisama at the hotel, and all three rush to the appartment to save the girl. By the time they get there, she is gone without a trace. Gotou discovers that the ghost of the girl is that a victem of a rape case from 5 years ago who killed herself, however, he was removed and the case given to others. after disappearence of the girl, one of the boys from the reunion is attacked. It is later discovered that the man attacked was convicted of assaulting the first girl who committed suicide, only with a different name and look (plastic surgery). Kagisama says that the ghost will keep attacking. It is later found out that a video of the incident from 5 years ago is on the internet, and that the cops involved in the case also 'coerced' (forced with brutality) the girl withdraw her claim. This leads Yakumo to believe that the man who was attacked by the ghost is actually innocent, which is later found to be correct. After some more clues are found, Yakumo reveals that the girls disappearence from the apartment was a set up, and she is actually found at Kagisama's place. It is revealed that Kagisama was the boyfriend of the girl who committed suicide 5 years earlier, and felt guilty since. The group discover that the bartender of the bar was the culprit of the rape incident 5 years ago, but he sets the bar on fire. He, along with Kagisama, who chooses to die in the fire, die, Kagisama and his girlfriend re-uniting in the afterlife.

Well, that's pretty much all for Shinrei Tantei Yakumo as only 1 chapter of the forth arc is released. I really like how this series focuses more on the mystery of the actual cases rather than the development of character relationships, it's quite refreshing. Although, I don't talk about it much, there does seem to be hints of a romantic relationship between Yakumo and Haruka, but even in the novels it is so far pretty ambiguous.

Anyways, next time I will talk about Kuragehime, I thought it was quite interesting, so look forward to that one, as well as Persopolis, a french animated film which was rather amazing. That's about it for now, until next time :)