Woodpecker Detective's Office

Episode 1 - 2

One of my favorite things about the mystery genre is that there are so many ways to tell the stories. While that's true of all fiction to a degree, mystery prides itself on being divided up not only by type (cozy, hard boiled, locked room, etc.), but also by the specific way in which the mystery is set up and the answers revealed. That's something that Woodpecker Detective's Office seems to be really enjoying in these first two episodes, and the fact that neither are solved yet means that there's a chance that all of the cases will somehow tie in together at the end, like a series of interconnected short stories. That both thus far have had to do with the women of the red light district may be a factor in this – is there a single murderer out there using the “teahouses” as their hunting ground? While the fact that the victims have been both a customer and a sex worker may indicate otherwise, right now I'm thinking that that's more likely to be a red herring.

Whatever the truth, part of what makes these episodes interesting is that they're both told in different ways. Episode one, which serves to introduce the two main characters and the whole detective conceit, is laid out like a traditional whodunit starring an amateur sleuth: Ishikawa and Kyousuke just happen to be at the location of a crime and Ishikawa uses his quick mind and a little sleight-of-hand (or maybe sleight-of-brain) to determine that the man the police suspect isn't the killer. Episode two, however, recounts the crime from two different possible perspectives: Ishikawa's and Kyousuke's as each suspect that the other is the killer, which of course means that neither of them will be. (We can also turn to history for this answer; pretty sure a murder conviction would have shown up.) This requires that we viewers get a partial view of what really happens before Ishikawa accuses Kyousuke; we then get his version of events based on his assumptions followed by a tearful Kyousuke's assumptions based on the facts that he says he didn't do it and feels betrayed by his best friend. That the episode ends without us knowing the answer (but bringing in three more writers whom we saw Ishikawa hanging out with in episode one) is not only a good cliffhanger, but also an interesting indication of how the series may play out, bolstered by the mention of the case from episode one early on.

There are, of course, some clues that we can possibly pick up on, although there's no indication that this is going to be a fair play mystery, meaning that we're given enough information to solve the crime. (Think Ellery Queen and Agatha Christie; Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are the opposite.) I keep going back to the fact that Otaki, the murder victim, is repeatedly shown coughing – could she have consumption? That certainly could account for the blood from her nose and mouth; the knife could have been her attempt to finish herself off given her disease or an afterthought on the part of someone trying to frame our protagonists. Ishikawa's notebook is another piece of the puzzle we've been given – how did it end up in Otaki's room? Wouldn't Kyousuke have noticed if he'd picked it up? Someone should also check Kyousuke's closet for the suitcoat he was wearing, since if it's there, the one at the crime scene can't be his, and it's unlikely that a poor teacher would own more than one.

It is possible that I'm making too much of Otaki's cough, because that particular disease is on my mind with this show – Ishikawa died of it at age twenty-six, in 1912, something we know is going to be kept in because of the “prologue” to episode one. That does give the series a bittersweetness, because we know that Ishikawa's end is coming and he's just so alive here. (Kyousuke lives to the ripe old age of 89, if you're worried.) That makes the imagery in the ending theme and the soft colors used throughout the episodes a little more dreamlike, as if we're truly seeing things through the filter of ten years hence Kyousuke's memories. It's an interesting technique, and it also works with the fact that so many scenes of these episodes seem to take place in the dark or half light.

The only thing I'm really not loving about this show thus far is the emphasis on the fact that Kyousuke is either a virgin or largely unexperienced sexually, but that may just be my issue – I don't feel like it's anybody's business but his own, and it's irritating that Ishikawa keeps pressuring him. I do like that there's fairly frank treatment of sex otherwise, but I hope that Kyousuke's sexual life, or lack thereof, becomes less fodder for “humor” as the series goes on.

Whether or not we find out who the real killer is next week, and if it's linked to the previous case, is up for debate. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

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Woodpecker Detective's Office is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.