#most of the examples i can think of come from like... detective conan and umineko

[longroadstonowhere]

okay, i finished shiver - rode a little closer to the thriller half of the thriller-mystery spectrum, but a better read than i feared when reading the Painfully Straight earlier portions of the story

really hoping the next story on the list actually has a real locked room mystery, though, like please

[empty-dream]

Suddenly long post about why I love re-watching

One of the most mundanely magical thing ever for me is revisit works I’ve enjoyed in the past. Be it re-watching, re-reading, or re-listening. But I’ll talk more about manga and anime here, bringing up Kara no Kyoukai, Umineko and One Piece.

I literally grew up from toddler with manga and comic books. Had a library of full Naruto, Inuyasha, Detective Conan, and even some copies of obscure old Chinese-originated comic. Watched Cardcaptor Sakura on TV and cried when I couldn’t. I thank my dad for all of these.

Therefore, since I was a kid, I secretly watched animes that I probably should not watch at that age. Something like, uh, When They Cry series and Kara no Kyoukai. I was probably driven to be ‘cool’ for doing that. I don’t think I was wrong, but then again during that age, I missed a lot of things simply because I wasn’t old enough to understand. I mean, dude I watched Apocalypse Now when I was like 9 did I understand anything? Sure as hell not except that it was bloody.

For example, I knew for 8 years that Caren Hortensia wears a blouse and stockings with no skirt or pants. Only recently it hit me that goddamn that is naughty as fuck?

On more serious note, I used to think Murder Speculation 1 was the most boring movie in KnK. I mean, sure Oblivion Recorder wasn’t much about anything but it’s got magic explosions. Years later I re-watched the series, and discovered how excellent of a mystery Murder Speculation 1 is. The way the tension builds up, how actually fucked-up the murder cases are, the clues show up more and more, Shiki becomes even more suspicious, and it all leads into… well you know the truth. All of that is incredible I was actually on the edge during my re-watch. And it put my understanding of Mikiya and Shiki’s relationship into a whole new light. Like, I do think so highly of their relationship since the first time I watched KnK but hell now that I understand the whole deal in Murder Speculation 1, goddamn they did go through a lot. It’d take a new post just to explain why lmao.

I won’t talk much about 5th movie because lots of people have written about it. I knew it was amazing from 1st watch, but just how and why amazing it is, I only got it during re-watch. Aside from the back-and-forth timeline and how everything is tied together in the end, what hits me the most is Enjou’s story. I only understood how fucked up and unfair it was for him when I rewatched, to the point I cried right when he said “My family didn’t deserve any of that!"

This probably had to do with the fact that I don’t play it (and the anime is trash), but I miss a lot in Umineko. By the time the manga comes out, I don’t have so much time to read it from page 1. But after reading it for a couple pages from each chapters, man this story is so META. It hits me in the gut with the line of ���The enjoyment comes from sorting and thinking to reach the truth, not demanding it.’ Like, damn that’s me when reading anything. And also u know how people, including me sometimes, always go for the result and don’t care about the process? Yeah, that too. And best one is when diary concerning Rokkenjima truth is closed for public and the public goes wild and Hachijo just sneers at them, saying they have no right to expose incidents and throw the rumors of the dead for the sake of themselves. Way to go, jabbing at reality.

Side note, thank God I read Higanbana in an appropriate age.

And then One Piece. I don’t think it’s weird for a child to read it, but a lot of the underlying theme are lost for kids. I read up to Enies Lobby arc, then I stopped because I didn’t have the physical copies and actually wasn’t very invested into it as much I was into Naruto. Even when I finally got my hand into online manga sites, I didn’t pick up where I left except for the time Ace dies. Yeah you can guess I got traumatized because I love Ace and I didn’t pick it up again. Only recently I read it again, starting both from Pirate Alliance arc (because, ahem, Law), and from chapter 1.

And man, do I miss really a fuckton lot. I knew Nami’s and Robin's childhood were incredibly screwed up but how everything fucked them up and the true extent of emotional and physical damage done didn’t register to me. The theme of slavery, oppression, and genocide weren’t fully understood by me. Back then, I only knew ‘hey, it’s real bad you shouldn't hurt or kill people.'

Similarly, I thought the Strawhats were brave to fight against Arlong and World Government for each of them. But I didn’t realize what’s the consequences and what’s at stake here, and when I do, I lost any words for the Strawhats. Now that I read it again and keeps up with the new chapters, it just continues to baffle me how one person can be responsible for an utter destruction of a country, or how an entire body of organization could be so manipulative and hiding lots of the truth.

TL,DR: I love re-watching. So many things were lost to me as a kid and I’m glad by picking up again, I learn a lot about them. For what it is worth, I do grow up even if a bit.