arthkael

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock - Episode 8b: The Last Case - The Dock

The End, at last. And the answer to the most important question.

Triggers: all the triggers for the previous part apply

SPOILER:

In the last part we had left Sherlock while she emerged from a pit of depression and discouragement with Mrs. Hatano's help. Now we are at the Dock, where Moriwaki keeps spinning her web.

All the people there look very happy and satisfied, they work together and cook together the vegetables they grow inside the facility. Moriwaki has a good word for everyone, even though she probably would sacrifice all of them if the need arises.

But she doesn't want Wato to do menial jobs, she has to prepare herself for a much more important task.

Hmmm. I'm not a nuclear engineer, but if I'm not mistaken it takes months to build an A-bomb, and...isn't it expensive? Unless Moriwaki has contacts in Syria that could build the bomb starting from the materials they already have and Wato has to bring them the specs, I don't think that a volunteer doctor (Moriwaki wants her to go as a medical volunteer like the last time) could board a plane with a bomb in her luggage.

Wato asks if this will help hers and Toru's cause. And...

Ok, we went from arresting Sherlock to killing her. Moriwaki answers "of course" to both her questions and Jesus Christ how I hate this woman when she touches Wato. Always there caressing her hair and face, it's creepy.

Meanwhile Reimon is a man on a mission. He wants to convince Shibata to withdraw his resignation and help him helping Sherlock, so he visits him on his job. He admits that yes, Sherlock is a selfish show-off, but she solves the cases. But all her knowledge and her observation skills are nothing without the legwork and the investigations he and Shibata do. Shibata realizes that his work is invaluable, and after Sherlock's praise this is just the last push he needed.

He's ready to take action.

At the Dock, Wato is training again, visualizing Sherlock in the place of her target.

This time the jar is destroyed. She's ready too.

At the Kanagawa Medical Prison, Sherlock enters using the main door, exhibiting a police badge she probably forged herself, and the guard at the gate doesn't recognize her.

Weird, isn't it? Probably the Commissioner, at Moriwaki's suggestion, ordered the staff to let her enter the building, so they will be able to find that thing that "she needs for her next crime" (my God what a bunch of morons). Probably Moriwaki hopes that the specs are written on paper and they're just well hidden, but the truth is a bit more complicated, as we'll see very soon.

She enters the medical wing and wears a police uniform, completing the disguise with a long-haired wig. Look at how satisfied she is.

She manages to enter Sakakibara's former cell without incidents, and she starts to reflect on where he could hide those damn specs.

She realizes something and, since she always has luminol with her, she starts spraying the wall. Her UV torch reveal that the specs were always hidden in plain sight (and that Moriwaki and her minions, just like the police, are a bunch of morons). Sakakibara wrote them on the wall with his blood, aware that blood would be there even when it had been, apparently, washed away.

But there's movement outside the cell, and she's aware of it. So she focuses all her attention on the wall, memorizing the writing.

Outside of the cell there are armed cops who are waiting for her to come out in order to arrest her. So this was indeed a trap, probably devised by Moriwaki. I still don't understand how she could convince the police that she was telling the truth and that they had to follow her suggestions to trap Sherlock. Also, did she really think that, whatever papers they found on Sherlock, she would have the chance to read them? They would be an evidence, so it's improbable that Moriwaki could put her hands on them.

At the HQ the Commissioner is following the operation, and Moriwaki and Wato are there with him. Moriwaki is particularly attentive, since she knows that Sherlock found those specs.

So Sherlock comes out of the cell sporting all the nonchalance of this world. The cops hold her at gunpoint, and if they were American they would have already shot her, just sayin'...

She waves at them, then she threatens them with a bottle of... something.

What's that? Poison? Nitroglycerine? A smoke bomb? The cops hesitate, she orders them to step back slowly, or else. The Commissioner is more and more nervous so he contacts the leader of the team, why didn't they arrest her already? And Sherlock chooses that moment to throw the bottle on the floor. The cops step back in panic, and Sherlock has all the time she needs to lock them into the Medical Wing and run away.

What was in the bottle? Oh, nothing special: while the Commissioner and Moriwaki listen in disbelief, they learn the true nature of the substance Sherlock unleashed on those poor, unsuspecting cops:

Lavender oil, one of Sherlock's aromatherapy projects.

Fuming, Moriwaki runs to the prison, and I reiterate that I still don't understand why they allow her to enter and to go to Sakakibara's cell like she owns the place. The Commissioner would love to tell her she should know her place because she's a civilian, but apparently he's willing to make an exception for her. And here we have the second prank of the day, even more hilarious than the one with the lavender oil.

When she enters the cell, Moriwaki understands in a few seconds where Sakakibara hid the specs, so she turns the UV flashlight on hoping to find something, but the specs are gone. Sherlock left a message, though:

Lol. I can't blame Sherlock for being petty and childish with this piece of shit.

While Moriwaki is freaking out for the loss of an important piece of her master plan, Sherlock has managed to exit the prison without issues, and finds that the cavalry has just arrived:

Reimon and Shibata are there to help her saving Wato.

Then we can see these delightful scene where Sherlock, in the car with the other two, is trying to find the words to thank them, but comes out empty handed. But friends (yes, Sherlock, friends), sometimes can understand you without words, and Reimon says she's welcome.

And Shibata adds that she doesn't need to thank them so many times. And at that point, for the first time, Sherlock manages awkwardly to say thanks.

After this embarassing moment, Reimon asks what did she find in that prison, and Sherlock tells him about Sakakibara and his specs. Reimon can't help to comment that that is a very disturbing thing, and Sherlock ressures him that those specs are gone...except the copy she keeps in her brain closet. And now she has a last favor to ask them.

Sherlock contacts Moriwaki a few hours later, telling her she has the specs.

She's willing to trade them for Wato. So she will wait for Moriwaki on the roof of the Reichenbach building.

At the Reichenbach we found Shibata in position, even though it appears he's there for his cleaning job. Anyway, Moriwaki doesn't notice him when she enters the building. She doesn't even notice Reimon who silently follows her.

On the roof, Sherlock is waiting, and she's immediately pissed off when she realizes that Moriwaki doesn't want to keep her end of the bargain.

Moriwaki will give Wato back when she'll finish proving her theory. She still wants Wato to go to Sirya and become a terrorist, and why does Sherlock complain so much?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it doesn't matter if their reunion will happen in prison. Moriwaki is really a bastard, teasing Sherlock exploiting the feelings she has for Wato. And in that moment they realize that they aren't alone anymore: Wato followed Moriwaki because she knew the doctor would meet Sherlock, so here she is, ready to kill her.

Moriwaki is delighted: this means that Wato won't become a terrorist, but if she can shoot her friend, then her theory is proved noonetheless; Sherlock will have to admit she's mistaken, if she will be shot by Wato.

Reimon arrives and orders Wato to drop the gun, but she can obey only Moriwaki, so she doesn't listen. Reimon is another factor in the equation that sets the doctor up for failure: a police officer is there and he will see Wato shooting Sherlock while Moriwaki encourages her to do it (as you'll see a couple of paragraphs below): how the fuck does she think she will exit this situation scot-free? Unless she's planning to ask Wato to kill him too, there're no chances for Moriwaki to avoid prison.

Sherlock tries to talk to Wato, saying the leading crime theory is empy and doesn't work, but Moriwaki reiterates that, as long as she's alive, Wato will listen only her. And then Sherlock surrenders, telling Wato to shoot her.

; _ ; (and I have to add this is the first time that Sherlock calls Wato by her name. Without suffixes, too, that's a very intimate thing to do).

And Wato can't shoot her. Moriwaki says she's resisting, and that if she the keeps going on like that, she will develop a split personality, something I found...perplexing? I know that people can disassociate if they are subject to trauma, if I'm not mistaken, but can they really do that in these circumstances?

Moriwaki encourages Wato to shoot and at this point Reimon, pissed off because of the absolute nonsense of this whole thing, shoots in the air and that distracts the group. But not Sherlock.

She uses that moment of distraction to grab Moriwaki and tell Wato she'll be free. And then she jumps off the building taking the doctor with her.

And in that moment Wato comes to her senses and realizes what Sherlock did for her. It's not a good realization.

Reimon has to stop her from looking over the railing, or she will see the absolute mess a fall from the 10th floor can make of a human body. Maybe. Because there's something missing. And that something is Shibata. Do we really believe that Shibata didn't want participate to Wato's rescue and his presence at the Reichenbach was just a coincidence? No, we don't.

In the chaos that follows, we see paramedics load into an ambulance what it seems to be Sherlock's body (but we can't see its face...).

A few days later, Kento is reading a newspaper where an article recounts Moriwaki's crimes. The Dock has been found, and all the brainwashed patients have been saved. He isn't happy, though.

At 221b, things aren't going better. With a shot that parallels the one in the first half of the episode, we see Wato mourning Sherlock while looking at her empty armchair.

All Sherlock's possessions had been packed and put away (except for the infamous Hermes coat, it's Wato's now),and Wato is ready to go, too. Mrs Hatano tries to convince her to stay, but Wato feels she has to leave. One of her regrets is that she never asked her why she was called Sherlock. Mrs Hatano reassures her, saying the the time Wato spent there was precious to Sherlock, and concludes thanking Wato for everything she did for her.

The two embrace and say their farewells.

From the street, Shibata and Reimon observe Wato as she leaves. Shibata asks if they should tell her that Toru died because of the virus, not because of the bullet Sherlock hit him with.

Reimon thinks they should spare her this. She's suffering too much. And besides, he needs Shibata to write a report on the recent happenings: he knows Shibata has been fired from his job because of his inappropriate and unauthorized use of the glass washing lift (Hmmm... I wonder what he used it for...) so, isn't it convenient that he kept Shibata's resignation letter? If he didn't do it, now Shibata would be unemployed.

Wato has arrived on the Reichenback roof to leave a red rose for Sherlock (not pink or white, red).

And after the Reichenbach, she just stops at a bridge, looking at the water and embracing the Hermes coat. I don't know what she was planning to do after this, maybe going back home in Hokkaido?

So Wato is there, mourning her friend and probably contemplating all the decisions that took her at this point in her life, she's to distracted to hear the steps and to realize...

...that somebody is coming close. I recognize that trench and those shoes, and you?

Of course, because everybody and their mom know that Sherlock survives Reichenbach. And that's all, folks. I'll write a couple of posts more about the show and its characters. Thank you for reading.

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock - Episode 8a: The Last Case Part 2 - The Dock

Posted without commentary.

Spoiler free summary: Sherlock's string of bad days keeps going on. Wato takes a side.

Triggers: bl00d, su1c1d3.

SPOILER:

In the first scene we find Wato practicing shooting. He eyes are completely empty, so we can see that Moriwaki's brainwashing is at work. How much time did pass? I think I remember that this episode takes place in the first week of December, but I admit I'm not sure. Anyway Wato has been with Stella Maris at least a couple of days since the events of episode 7.

It seems she has a shitty aim, because the jar she is aiming at is still whole. Not even imagining Sherlock in its place improves the situation. Wato (unconsciously?) keeps missing it.

(This scene is a punch in the gut, not gonna lie.)

I wonder where they filmed this. It's not an urban location, maybe the mountains somewhere out of Tokyo?

Wato is extremely upset by the whole situation, and she keeps shooting and crying until Moriwaki appears, trying to calm her: it's not Wato's fault, after all, but her friend's. Wato remembers what happened to Toru, and this is her answer:

Wato, no! ; _ ;

Moriwaki gently encourages Wato to reveal Sherlock's whereabouts, because the police can't find her and she might get away with her crimes. Wato is still too distraught to answer, and she really doesn't know where Sherlock might be. So she keeps training. But Moriwaki has a few ideas about Sherlock's hiding place.

In the meantime, the police formed a team to catch Sherlock. During the show she doesn't say it openly, but it's evident that Sherlock doesn't trust the police and thinks they are incompetent. She's right, because she's still wanted for the theft of the virus, the murders of Toru, Mitsuki and Tezuka and because she has stolen Shibata's gun. Basically, she saved the city and she risks death penalty, Moriwaki set her up very well.

From the documents in the police possession, we see that Sherlock is 35 (Yuko Takeuchi was 38 when she played Sherlock), but there's no real name or surname (even though we know that her surname is Futaba for sure, like Kento's). Probably her real name would have been the focus of the plot of one of the episodes of season 2, but alas, we will never see that.

Under her name there's also her job: コンサルタント (consultant). We also learn that Toru was 37. Now I wonder how old Wato is, I think she skews younger than them, maybe 30 (Shihori Kanjiya was 33 when she played Wato).

Anyway the Commissioner is pissed off because the team didn't manage to catch a dangerous, probably armed murderer, and tells them off because they're a buch of bumbling morons, not an elite police force.

In that moment Reimon enters the meeting room and tries to explain that Sherlock is innocent, but the Commissioner tells him he won't work at this case anymore. He never liked Sherlock and he had always been against hiring a civilian to help solving crimes.

And the situation is made even more difficult for Sherlock because the Commissioner orders all the participants to shoot her if she doesn't cooperate. Ouch.

Shibata is disappointed because Reimon is still on Sherlock's side. Ashamed and regretful because she managed to steal his gun, Shibata decides that working in the police force is not the kind of career that will give him happiness and satisfaction, so he quits.

That evening, Mrs. Hatano is entertaining a policeman who asked her if Sherlock showed up. Ooooohhhh, of course not, Hatano says, crossing her fingers behind her back. Who's playing the cello, then? the cop asks, and Mrs. Hatano is like "Yoyoma. It's a record". We love you, Mrs. Hatano.

And the fellow leaves without suspecting anything. Probably Sherlock is right about the fact that the police is made by an army of incompetents.

Of course Sherlock is back in her apartment, playing cello as she always does when she needs to reflect on something important. But this time she has an audience, because Akira Moriwaki somehow wormed her way into 221b. The doctor waits for Sherlock to finish the piece before entering, and Sherlock says she played it for her.

Moriwaki says she's glad Sherlock remembers her. They knew eachother? It's not clear. But it's improbable, since Sherlock should have recognized her when she met her at the party in episode 6, probably Moriwaki takes for granted that Sherlock, being a criminal psychologist, knows her work.

Sherlock is all business, and asks her why causing all those crimes. Moriwaki states Sherlock doesn't understand. Proving her theory of leading crime is the most important thing for her. Sherlock is wrong about everything, and she will realize it very soon. Lives aren't more important than proving her theory, doesn't Sherlock agree? And of course she won't reveal her real plan, but when Sherlock asks about Wato, Moriwaki concedes, giving her two hints:

And to keep Sherlock from hurting or manhandling her, she uses a threat that stops her immediately:

HA!

Now try to say you and Wato aren't friends, Sherlock. Well, of course she tries. And Moriwaki of course mocks her. She knows that Wato is important to Sherlock. Then she tries to caress Sherlock's face (ew, creeepy), and Sherlock slaps her hand away. Moriwaki exits the apartment without issues, leaving Sherlock upset and furious.

The next day, I think, a young man is explaining Wato how the Dock, the facility they live in, works, while Wato follows him around like a zombie. The building is full of people, Irikawa's patients who she brainwashed, but the young man insists that people may be "reborn" there. Then he casually mentions Sherlock as the cause of Toru's death, and Moriwaki has to intevene before Wato has a panic attack.

She also insinuates that Sherlock helping the police solving crimes was just a ruse to gain their trust then proceed to with her master plan. Wow, this would really be a sick way to play the long game. Wato of course believes her.

Meanwhile, tired of Moriwaki's taunts, Sherlock is searching her office. Her main worry is to find "The Dock", the facility where Wato is kept, but nothing is coming out and she's more angry and frustrated than ever.

Kento asks, because of course he managed to find her. Sherlock makes a point that emotions hamper intellectual productivity, so Kento is like, "then you are useless right now, sis". Canonically, Mycroft is smarter than Sherlock, and this version of Mycroft has also all the emotional intelligence Sherlock lacks. That's why he shoved her (literally) towards Wato, probably feeling that that young, compassionate doctor would be good for his sister (and also because he was worried for Wato, who was alone and lost at the time).

Sherlock tells him about the Dock and that she needs to find its location. I don't know what Sherlock wanted to do if she found it: storming in and taking Wato away? Bringing her somewhere hoping to undo the brainwash? Well, that would have been very interesting to watch.

Kento reminds her that important data are unhackable and unrestorable, so it's improbable she will find something useful. He also informs her that Reimon is out of the case and Shibata resigned because she stole his gun. Sherlock is not pleased (especially about the Shibata bit)

The gist is, nobody can help her. But Sherlock found something. Between Moriwaki's files she found data about a Kunio Sakakibara, who seems to be connected to Moriwaki's next plan, so she asks Kento to look for informations about him. Kento obliges, even though she tells her he's under surveillance now.

The next day we see Shibata working as a cleaning man for his father's company. Sherlock visits him to give him his gun back, acting surprised because he has changed his job. Shibata is still angry and humiliated, of course he quit the police, doesn't she know what happens to a cop who loses the gun to a civilian? Sherlock knows, and confesses she chose his gun because she trusted him.

She thought Shibata would never quit his job, because he loves it too much to resign. So she gives back his gun and leaves, while Shibata is like, "what the fuck".

Kento learned that Sakakibara was an atomic physicist, and was arrested a few year earlier because he tried to steal nuclear data. He died in the medical prison of Kanagawa of a severe lung disease, apparently he vomited blood. He stole that data because he was working on a project to build a portable atomic bomb. He completed it, but he disposed of the specs. Those projects would have been tempting for terrorists. And Sherlock remember the two hints Moriwaki gave her and realizes something.

Moriwaki is after those specs, they can't fall into her hands. Kento is sure they're gone because Sakakibara died 6 months ago, while Sherlock is sure they exist. Probably they are hidden in that prison, she needs help to enter it. But Kento can't help her, because he's still under surveillance.

Sherlock doesn't know that her cellphone is monitored (so much for "untraceable phone") and the Commissioner sends a patrol to the district from where the signal arrives. But she has taken refuge under a bridge with a kind homeless man called Daigoro who is an acquaintance of both Reimon and hers, so the patrol car just crosses the bridge without finding her. Lol, morons.

Sherlock and Daigoro seem to know eachother very well (he makes her choose what kind of prepackaged lunch she wants to eat, the scene is so cute) and I wonder if she used homeless people in Tokyo to gather information or something, like Sherlock Holmes did with the Irregulars. It would have been interesting to have that explored in the second season.

Reimon left a message for her, that Daigoro delivers using his trusty puppet, but Sherlock isn't convinced.

Reimon wants her to know he's on her side, and that she has to come clear about her reasons for shooting Moriya, and that they can find Wato afterwards. Sherlock doesn't want to hear that, of course turning herself to the police and explain the situation would take too much time, Wato is in danger she has to do something ASAP.

Meanwhile, Moriwaki has been informed that Sherlock broke into her office. She isn't worried, she left the clue about Sakakibara because she was sure Sherlock would have noticed it. Her plan is to make Sherlock enter the prison and find those projects for her (because the building has already been searched by her minions without results) then proceed with her master plan. But seriously, I have no idea of how a psychologist, it doesn't matter how smart, cunning and wealthy, could find all the resources she needs to make an atomic bomb.

So the whole thing has been an elaborate plan to trick Sherlock into finding those specs. Moriwaki is certain Sherlock will find them, because

Wato hasn't any opinion about that. She just wants Sherlock in prison.

It's surprising how genuinely cold and evil Moriwaki is. And how her faux sweet facade contrasts with her true personality. All the people that live in that facility are nothing to her: just objects, pawns, baits. She doesn't give a shit about them.

In Daigoro's shack, that has a web connection, Sherlock is trying to hack the database of the Kanagawa Medical Prison, without success. She's becoming more frayed and upset by the moment, and her mood is worsened by a message from Kento:

He's constantly followed even when he has to go to the toilet (literally) so he can't help her.

Moriwaki is at the police station with Wato, and tells the Commissioner Sherlock broke into her office. And then she spins this absurd tale that she put a bait in her computer files to lure her out, because esteemed Doctor Irikawa is a good citizen who wants to help police.

At this moment I would have, like, one thousand questions about her and what exactly there was in her computer and why Sherlock should want the data of an innocent, unassuming therapist, but since they are a bunch of morons, they trust her. She reveals that Sherlock will try to break into the Kanagawa Medical Prison.

That night Sherlock is there to do a bit of surveillance, and after a couple of minutes the Commissioner, the cops, Moriwaki and Wato arrive there. The Commissioner wonders why she should be in that place, and Moriwaki is like: "Here there's something she needs for her next crime", and lol how can they believe this pile of bullshit?

Then Moriwaki reassures Wato about the fact that now they'll be able to catch Sherlock and apparently Sherlock doesn't like the doctor being so touchy-feely with Wato. Or maybe she's enraged by Wato's almost catatonic state, but it's evident she's furious about the whole situation.

(Pain...)

Returned to 221b, Sherlock tries to deduce where Sakakibara hid those specs.

Sakakibara was obssessed by completing that portable atomic bomb, and Sherlock is thinking aloud, a habit she took since Wato moved into the apartment. Sakakibara was dying, so he has left those projects somewhere...

But her musings don't go anywhere, the empty chair in front of her is a harsh reminder that Wato is not with her.

A testament of how much space she made in her life for Wato, the void she left behind leaves her unable to function properly and with her intellectual abilities severely hampered. Frustrated, she begins to tear into another box of chocolates.

Morning comes and Mrs Hatano finds her in this pitiful state

insomniac, still dressed and surrounded by chocolate wraps. Also, her petulance got up a notch, because she kicks the table in frustration when Mrs Hatano tries to clean it. Usually chocolate helps her to focus but this time it didn't work.

Mrs Hatano is wise, so she isn't angry at all, she already knows why Sherlock is behaving like that:

we love you, Mrs. Hatano, but maybe mentioning Wato is not a good idea at the moment. Sherlock says in a scornful tone that it's fine if she doesn't come back, and she takes refuge into her office nook. Bad move, Sherlock, you awakened the Dragon.

Mrs Hatano joins her and forces Sherlock to look at her.

And then she slaps her.

"Do I have to slap you again?"

Sherlock shakes her head no, it seems that that slap pulled her out of her funk. She expects to be slapped again, but Mrs. Hatano hugs her instead.

Mrs. Hatano thinks Sherlock and Wato are family, now, so Sherlock has to focus on how to bring Wato back.

How could you possibly fail at something when you have Kimie Hatano believing in you? Yes, in this house we love Mrs. Hatano.

And we stop here for now, in the next and last part we will go to prison and see an hilarious prank. Oh, and there will also be pain.

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock episode 7-b: The last case part 1 - The Stolen Virus

Spoiler free summary: Sherlock investigation continues, Wato finds herself in a quandary.

Triggers: same triggers for the previous part apply.

SPOILER:

We left Sherlock after she made a disturbing discovery,

Toru is probably involved in the virus case, and Wato spent the night with him two days ago. I can't fathom what Sherlock is thinking now. Does she regret not talking to Wato about Toru's supposed psychopathy? We don't know, but apparently Sherlock has a plan, and orders Ota to turn the car because their destination changed, and she begins to send a message to somebody.

At the same time, Wato is with Moriya and Doctor Irikawa, trying to convince them to leave Tokyo, because the virus will be released that evening.

Sherlock is chased by the police, because they told Wato they have all the evidence they need to put her into jail. Anyway she's still convinced that Sherlock didn't steal the virus or kidnapped Mitsuki killed and her fiancee. She's outraged when Irikawa asks her if she believes Sherlock is a murderer.

And finally we learn who Sherlock was contacting while she was threatening Ota: she sent a message to Wato, telling her she's waiting for her. The two had picked a place to meet in case of an emergency, and that place is the church were Sherlock took refuge in the last two days. I think it's sweet that Sherlock informed Wato about her secret place, even though maybe from her point of view it was just useful. Since apparently only Kento knows about it, it's pretty indicative that Sherlock considers Wato as close to her as her own brother.

Toru offers to go with Wato, and they leave. They didn't realize that Reimon and Shibata were stalking her, so when they set off, the two cops immediately pursue them.

I also think that this isn't the street where Doctor Irikawa's house is? It's completely different, maybe it's Toru's address?

The church is located in a small park, and as soon as they get out of the car a bunch of police cars arrive at the entrance of the garden, and in the span of a few seconds the whole place is full of cops.

Wato is furious with Reimon because she realized he followed her.

Reimon is embarassed and entrusts Wato to another cop.

The rest of the team enters the church, and they find Ota there, bound, gagged and with a time bomb to keep him company.

They free Ota and run away while the commissioner orders to call the bomb squad, but when the timer rings, they discover that it was just a joke: there's no bomb, it's an alarm clock taped to... well, I think it's a piece of cheese?

The commissioner il furious, but the prank worked: firstly, it amused Reimon a lot. With his sense of humor, he's probably the only one who thinks it's funny.

Secondly, it gave Sherlock all the time she needed to steal one of the police cars. Lol, look at her.

All the team runs to try to catch her, but it's too late. She just hops into the car and speeds away, and the last look she exchanges with Wato is... well...

In the next scene we find Wato sitting against the church wall, evidently after what happened she decided she needed to be alone for a while. Her confidence that Sherlock isn't a terrorist or an assassin is beginning to slowly crumble. Toru joins her, telling her he called Doctor Irikawa, and that the therapist is very worried for her.

A cop runs out of the church saying he found a the special box that contained the vials of the virus. But the box is empty, for the police is clear that Sherlock brought the rest of the virus with her. So the Commissioner tells Wato that Sherlock has the virus and killed Mitsuki Kurata (an information that probably still hadn't found a way to her), imploring her to help the police finding Sherlock. The situation is dire and a lot of people will die, so they need her to cooperate, now.

The recovery of the box and Mitsuki's death seems to be the final hit to Wato's disgregating trust in Sherlock. Reimon asks her if she lost her faith in her friend and for the first time Wato doesn't know what to say.

It's late now, and Kento is imploring Kirishima to hold the press conference, at least to buy time. Sherlock is near to solve the case, the press conference would be an invaluable help.

Kirishima refuses, because he insists he has no idea of what this supposed 'terrible crime' is. And anyway, he doesn't want to commit a political suicide.

Kento tells him to do it for the Tokyo citizens, but Kirishima tells him to go out and find the virus, as he was tasked to do.

A few minutes later, Sherlock enters Toru's apartment to search it, but she's interrupted by Kento, who alerts her Kirishima refused to hold the press conference. Sherlock is not surprised. Politicians, am I right?

She informs her brother she is at Toru Moriya's apartment, explaining he's a war photographer and he has the virus. Kento has to help her to find him. He must have picked a place to release the virus and she's looking for clues. Finally she finds them in his camera: it's the Tokyo Station.

And Sherlock, since she cares, runs immediately there. And while she leaves, she notices the same picture Wato saw the previous day, and just like it happened to Wato, it gives her pause. And she draws the right conclusion.

Toru Moriya has the virus, Toru Moriya is in contact with Stella Maris, Wato is in love with somebody who is a terrorist and close to Stella Maris.

Oh no.

It's 6.05 pm, the terrorist in question is in his car, recording a message.

From the way it starts, it's probably the sort of emo whining you'd expect: when you see this I'll be dead and blah, blah, blah. But we'll be able to watch the whole message only at the end of the episode. At the same time, Sherlock is scouring the station looking for him.

It's almost 7.00 pm and Sherlock is exhausted, but she seems to realize something.

So, when Toru tries to cross the street in front of the building to enter the station, he finds behind him a pissed off Sherlock who keeps him at gunpoint.

And she takes her phone to make a call.

At the headquarters the Commissioner and the team have absolutely no idea of what to do. Wato is there (and I don't know what kind of elements she could add to the investigation, firstly because, well, Sherlock is innocent, secondly because Wato is evidently too distraught to function). Reimon answers to his phone and of course it's Sherlock.

Meanwhile, Sherlock brought Toru on the roof of a building, far from the people, her intention is probably to keep him there at gunpoint until the police arrives. To her, the case is closed.

And she berates herself because she didn't realize it sooner. He stole her fingerprints during that damn party. He planted the vials in the church. He conspired with Mitsuki Kurata to steal and spread the virus (and that's why Wato found his book at Tezuka's apartment, I'll add).

All of this in the name of what Mitsuki called justice?

Toru tells her he met Mitsuki in a war zone. It was him the one who discovered Teinichi Chemical misdeeds, and Mitsuki said he would help him. Apparently the village was completely destroyed and the survivors had no homes anymore. The whole tragedy has been covered up without remorse. Somebody had to punish them.

Sherlock logically asks him why million of innocents have to die, especially children. Now, where's the virus?

Well, Toru decided to sacrifice himself, because he' infected. It will be him the one who will punish the culprits, re-enacting that tragedy here in Tokyo.

Ok, he's gone now. Completely lost in his lust for revenge. He will change this hideous world and he will make "that person" happy.

Who, Akira Moriwaki? Sherlock asks, because she already understood what happened to Toru: a man destroyed by trauma who fell in Moriwaki's hands and became a terrorist.

And he tries to leave, even though Sherlock threatens to shoot him. In that moment the police arrives, with Wato in tow, and the scene they see is pretty damning: Sherlock who is keeping Toru at gunpoint, while he is completely unarmed.

Sherlock is distracted for a moment when she sees Wato, but she takes a decision: she can't allow Toru to move closer to Wato and the cops, because they risk to be infected, so she shoots him.

Shibata tries to catch her, or maybe to help Toru, and only Reimon's quick intellect, making him understand that Toru is infected, stops the young cop.

Wato is devastated and Sherlock hasn't the time to stay and explain, so she flees after taking Moriya's cellphone.

When I watch this scene, I can't decide if Wato is in that awful state because of Moriya's death (like I said in the previous recap, they didn't know eachother for long, so it's improbable that very deep feelings were involved), or because she saw a person she knew and trusted, a person who, with all her flaws, always strived for taking culprits to justice (it's exactly what she did, her cinicism notwithstanding), shooting her apparently innocent boyfriend.

Anyway, Wato is so out of her mind that Reimon has to physically stop her from running to Toru.

At the ministry, they're all congratulating themselves because the crisis is averted.

Kirishima is especially smug.

Kento is not happy at all. He swears he will bring Kirishima and Teinichi Chemical to justice, because now it's a personal matter.

Sherlock had to kill the terrorist in order to keep the virus from spreading, to save 13 millions of lives Kirishima didn't care about.

Ah, yes, the killing. How did Sherlock take it? Apparently, not well.

She is hiding under a pedestrian passageway, and it's evident that killing Toru took an enormous toll on her. For the first time in the series, we see her absolutely freaking out.

But she tries to get a hold of herself and check Toru's phone, finding the farewell message he recorded earlier.

The message is for a certain person who showed Moriya who he really was. He will fight for what he believes in (what did I tell you? Emo whining). As his final request, he asks this person to take care of Wato. He's sure that at The Dock they all will welcome her.

And apparently this is particularly scary to Sherlock. Then he concludes:

And Sherlock laughs. Akira Moriwaki is Mariko Irikawa. Who in that exact moment is collecting Wato after her recent trauma completely destroyed her judgement. Wato, who is so in pain and so confused that she will for sure entrust herself to the therapist that helped her in these last months.

And that's exactly what happens.

And while Sherlock desperately tries to call Wato, even though she's aware she won't answer, the episode ends.

In the next episode: the ending, and more pain. Also, they're still not friends (maybe?).

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 7-a: The last case part 1 - The Stolen Virus

"I have a boyfriend now, but I keep running back to you everytime you call, this is annoying him a lot but look at how much I don't fucking care."

Spoiler free summary: Wato doesn't know what to do, and Sherlock begins to have a long, long, long string of bad days. That's it, that's the summary. Also, I broke the recaps for the two last episodes into two parts. There're so many things happening that I thought this is the best solution.

Triggers: su1c1d3, 1lln3ss

SPOILER:

In a place that is probably a lab for microbiological research, a man takes a few vials from a fridge. Spoiler: this event will have disastrous consequences for our heroes, but let's not rush things.

Sherlock is spending her morning studying the infamous thesis on leading crime. Then she proceeds to search the website of UK Homeland Security, trying to find Akira Moriwaki: if they studied in Cambridge, they should have been registered there. Sadly, she comes out empty-handed. It's like Moriwaki never visited UK. This is super strange. Kento calls, and brings bad news.

He used all his connections at the Security Office, but he couldn't find anything about Akira Moriwaki. It's as if they never existed. Ok, this won't do.

Meanwhile, Wato is having a more relaxing morning, because she evidently spent the night at Toru's home. Since the last time we saw them together, their relationship deepened enough that now they are comfortable being intimate.

And it seems that Wato is planning to leave 221b to move in with Toru. Honestly, I admit that their relationship is a head-scratcher.

How much time passed since Wato and Toru met? Well, we see Toru for the first time in episode 4, when Wato attends his exhibit. We know that his exhibit lasted until October 30th, and that in that episode the residents of 221 were ready to celebrate Halloween, so the events of episode 4 happen during the last week of October. I mean, the events of episode 5 take place between October 29th and November 1st: we have clues during the episode that that tell us what day it is, and in the last scenes of the episode we see that all the Halloween decorations have been removed. I don't think they began to prepare for Halloween 10 days in advance, also remember that at the end of the episode Wato had a war flashback and it's probable that she wanted to see Doctor Irikawa ASAP to talk about it (it's her first scene in ep 5), so I think it's safe to say that episode 4 takes place between 25th-28th of October.

A little bit of a spoiler: we'll see that the first part of episode 7 takes place on November 19th. So, at the time of episode 7, Wato and Toru knew eachother for less than a month. Enough to forge a connection, but IMHO not enough to form a full-fledged relationship, considering it's not like they are constantly together.

Anyway, Toru has a present for Wato:

It's his first photography book. It will be in the bookshops in a few days, but he wants Wato to have the first copy.

Sherlock bad day is continuing. Kento didn't just update her about Akira Moriwaki, he also told her that she has been summoned by the Minister of National Policy. The guy, Kirishima, has strong connections with other countries, especially in the Middle East, something that will be important later. So the two siblings go to the Intelligence Service Office, and Sherlock considers this a welcomed distraction from her current woes about Stella Maris. She doesn't know that because of this her week will become exponentially worse.

Yeah, you bet.

They find themselves in a meeting room with a selection of the worst stereotypes politics can offer. They called her specifically because there's an emergency. Mr. Ota, a representative of a company called Teinichi Chemical, explains that yesterday evening a sample of a lethal virus has been stolen from their labs. A very lethal virus.

Sympthoms appear in 24 hours. 1 million people can be infected in a few days, with the number of cases growing exponentially until a city like Tokyo could be wiped out in the span of a week. But why a private company produced this kind of virus? Kirishima insists that is was a byproduct of research to contrast bioterrorism. But that's not important, because they know who stole it:

Akihiko Tezuka, a researcher in their labs, who lives with his fiancee, Mitsuki Kurata. They're both missing, and the Security Office hasn't been able to discover their wereabouts. There's a cure for the virus, if it's administered in 24 hour the patient can recover quicky and completely, but...they have just 18 doses (and Sherlock says the thing the whole audience is thinking)

Look at Kento's super embarassed expression in the background. I can't decide if it's because he's embarassed for Sherlock's comment or the evident incompetence of his superiors. Anyway, they can produce just 100 vials of vaccine a week, so if the virus would be released right now, it would be the end of the world. Or, the end of Tokyo, for sure. While they are reflecting on the severity of the situation, a phone call arrives: Tezuka has been found dead. It's time to move.

In another part of Tokyo, called by Sherlock, Wato is preparing to leave Toru's apartment. Toru can't hide his dissatisfaction seeing his girlfriend leaving immediately when her roommate calls.

Lol. But we already know from the last episode that Wato thinks her duty is to rein Sherlock in during the investigations. Nobody asked her to do that, but she feels it's her role nonetheless. And while she recovers her cellphone, for the first time Wato notices something that gives her pause. A photo of the starry sky, maybe shot by Toru, is pinned to one of the walls. It's one of those long-exposure photographies, where the stars seem to form a vortex around the sky center: the North Star.

Of course Wato is understandably disturbed, Toru asks her if there's something wrong, but she just tells him she has to go, so off she goes.

And in the street she stops. And she seems to reflect on something. Come on, Wato. You can do it, listen to your guts, hone your intuition. I think that her inclination to always think the best of everyone and trusting people immediately is her weak spot. Also, she's a doctor, so she should know very well what a psychopath is. Sherlock's line about psychopaths in the previous episodes may have been in jest, but probably Wato should have worried about a man whose first answer to a pretty innocent question has been so creepy.

Tezuka's corpse has been found in an underground parking garage. Wato arrives just the minute Sherlock enters the premises. Sherlock immediately acknowledges that Wato is shaken, but she incorrectly deduces that her roommate is worried because of the virus. Reassurances ensue.

We already saw that Sherlock is able to be kind and considerate, but we never saw her trying to use words to express her kindness, so this is a first. But when Wato tells her she has a boyfriend now, so she can't allow the world to end, Sherlock retorts that she doesn't care if this corrupted world dies. Of course you care. The world ending means no more Kento, no more Mrs Hatano, no more Reimon and Shibata, no more Wato, no more cases and no more chocolate. Of course you care.

So, Tezuka has been shot, and there's no trace of the virus, so probably the murderer stole it. Wato begins examining the body without anybody asking (she really takes seriously her duty as Sherlock's partner/assistant) and she concludes that the man died 10 hours ago.

In that moment a team of the Public Security Bureau arrive and tell Reimon they will take the case. Reimon's division is under their command and all the forensic evidences and tests results will have to be given to them. They also ask the "spectators" (Wato and Sherlock) to leave the crime scene. Sherlock is unfazed, the scene has nothing more to tell her, now she wants to visit Tezuka's apartment. So our heroes have to leave the corpse to the PBS, and Shibata even pats Wato's shoulder in sympathy.

Tezuka lived with his fiancee, but Sherlock notices that the house doesn't seem to be inhabited by two people: apparently Mitsuki Kurata didn't keep many of her belongings in her boyfriend's apartment. Sherlock wonders if she actually lived there and Wato agrees.

And then there's something that gives Wato pause. Again. On the dining table there's a book, a book she has already seen a couple of hours ago, a book of which she should have the first and only copy before it hits the bookshops the next week.

So, there are a few explanations for this:

Tezuka and Mitsuki are somewhat involved with Toru's publisher and that allowed them to have a copy of the book

one of them or both are Toru's friends so he gifted them a copy of the book

For the first one: Tezuka was a researcher and we don't know anything about Mizuki, this occurrence is not impossible, but it's improbable anyway.

For the second one: if they are Toru's friends, enough for him to give them his still unreleased book, giving them the same treatment he reserved to his girlfriend, it's clear that he didn't bother to introduce her to them or viceversa, or even told her about them, in that case Wato would have known them at least by name. What does Wato know about Toru, anyway?

Probably it's this what Wato is thinking about. Or maybe she's just realizing that Toru's gift maybe is not that special, since there are people she doesn't know that already had that book before Toru gave her that copy.

So Toru is a liar at best. Come on, Wato. Discard the impossible, accept the unlikely truth. And just like it happened at the parking garage, Sherlock immediately notices Wato's turmoil, but she decides to not say anything.

At the headquarters they are organizing an investigative team, while Commissioner Takahashi in person is coordinating the work. Shibata is not exactly happy to play second fiddle to the Public Security Bureau and he's there helping to prepare the room when an agent enters with a message: the murderer sent an email, boasting they have the virus, and if the police wants the proof the agents just have to go to a certain old, abandoned arcade.

And above we have the evidence that the date is 19 November 2018.

Half of the police force runs to the arcade, and Sherlock and Reimon go too, followed by a distraught Wato.

At the arcade they find Mitsuki Kurata, infected, shackled to a videogame machine and kept under a medical plastic tent to keep the virus from spreading. The medical unit is called immediately, while the cops try to reassure the woman. In that moment Sherlock arrives and when an inspector asks Mitsuki if she remembers the culprit's face, she accuses Sherlock.

Reasonably, somebody asks her if her kidnapper is a woman, someone who looks like Sherlock, but she insists that Sherlock killed Tezuka, Sherlock kidnapped her, Sherlock infected her, Sherlock left her in that abandoned building. Since the victim seems so sure, the Commissioner decides to take Sherlock in to question her. Wato tries to protect her:

but the cops don't want to listen to her. They have to look into the victim claims, it's the protocol.

And Sherlock, understanding the game the terrorist (this is for sure a terrorist act) is playing with them, does something that will allow her to investigate but also will give her a lot of troubles: she steals Shibata's gun and takes him hostage. Whoever organized this ruse did it to keep Sherlock from helping, stalling the investigations and buying time to continue with their plan, and Sherlock can't allow the police to put her in prison, not even for 24h, not even if they will find her innocent of every accusation.

She reminds them what's at stake, then she manages to flee with Shibata's gun. Now Sherlock is a wanted, alleged terrorist, and the Public Security Bureau activates the emergency protocol.

The next day, after what was probably a sad and worrying night, at 9.02 in the morning, everybody is at the headquarters reading the list of requests the terrorist has made. Well, there's only one request: Minister Kirishima and a representant of Teinichi Chemical have to hold a press conference at 6.00 pm that same day, apologizing to citizens for the crime they committed 2 years ago.

What crime? Well, about that they are at a loss. But a first answer came out from the forensic labs: the gun used to kill Tezuka was in the place Mitsuki was held captive, and it has Sherlock's fingerprints on it. Fingerprints? Don't you think this is starting to seem a bit too convenient?

Wato still thinks Sherlock is innocent, and she doesn't know where Sherlock is. In the next part we'll see she's lying. But they have just 10 hours, says the commissioner, Wato should tell them everything she knows.

Meanwhile, Mrs Hatano is on Wato's same wavelenght, because she gives the same answer to the cops who came to search Sherlock and Wato's apartment. We love you, Mrs. Hatano.

They don't care, and proceed to enter the apartment to do their job.

Sherlock has taken refuge in an abandoned church. The building has a bit of a Phantom-of-the-Opera-esque vibe, with that broken chandelier.

She's there to regroup and eat chocolate, and to take a decision: paying a visit to a certain patient in a certain clinic in Tokyo, for example.

Said patient is Mitsuki Kurata, who now feels better thanks to the vaccine she has been given. She is waiting for Sherlock on the hospital's terrace, and she has even the gall to tell her she's late (it's 10.03 AM). Sherlock answers that her recent difficulties are all because of a certain liar.

She thought about it, and reached these conclusions: Mitsuki approached Tezuka on purpose and entered in a relationship with him only because he had access to the virus. She faked her own kidnapping, she impersonated the kidnapper asking the virus as a ransom. Tezuka stole the virus, and when he went to the appointed location, she killed him. Then she infected herself.

Now, where's the rest of the vials?

Mitsuki answers telling Sherlock a story where a village in Iraq had been decimated by a unknown illness. A virus developed by Teinichi Chemical. Apparently the company sold the virus to a terrorist group to test it. Teinichi is still making business with terrorists and Kirishima knows and covers it because he's getting kickbacks from Teinichi. They just have to hold a press conference to confess. If they don't the virus will be released in Tokyo.

Who cares about the deaths, they're fighting for justice. Sherlock tells her that trying to frame her won't work, lies are exposed sooner or later. Bur Mitsuki believes in her crusade so, after screaming for help, she kills herself jumping from the terrace before Sherlock can stop her. Sherlock runs away from the hospital and a couple of hours later the news reach Inspector Reimon and Shibata.

Shibata is disgusted. He never liked Sherlock because of her tendency to revel in tragedies, he's not surprised about this.

Sherlock has taken refuge into the church again, and she is so tired that she has fallen asleep.

She is woken up by Kento, who asks her what the fuck happened with Mitsuki Kurata. Sherlock explains she has been framed and when Kento asks her if she has proofs, she scoffs and she tells him she has to find the virus, let the police do their damn job and find the proofs. And for the first time we see her upset enough that she begins kicking things to unload her irritation. Kento gives her an untraceable phone and she takes her leave, ready to save Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Wato is unloading all her worries to Doctor Irikawa. While I think that therapy is important for mental health, and that it's good to have a psychologist always so ready to help and support you, maybe this isn't exactly a good idea at the moment.

And it's EVIDENT why it's not a good idea. Miss Sherlock is very rewarding if you are an attentive viewer. Also, if you look at the clock on the wall, this scene happens an hour and half after Sherlock and Kento's meeting.

Okay, let's continue. She has always thought about herself as a good person (especially if compared with her roommate and her antics), but now she's behaving selfishly: she asks Doctor Irikawa, who is important to her, to leave Tokyo because staying is too dangerous. In that moment Toru arrives, probably because of a therapy session, now there are two people that are dear to her in the room with her, and Wato becomes more flustered. So Doctor Irikawa asks her what she's willing to do in order to protect her loved ones. A dangerous question that will be answered in episode 8.

Twenty minutes later Mr. Ota, the rep of Teinichi Chemical, exits the building of the National Security Office, ready to go to lunch.

But lunch will have to wait, because a pissed off consulting detective has a couple of things to ask him.

So, two years ago they made a killer virus and sold it to terrorists. Then, what happened? Ota admits they sold it to a French company but he didn't know that it would be used to commit terrorist attacks. Sherlock orders him to hold that damn press conference with Kirishima, but Ota tells her Kirishima will never apologize. Also, it's six months they receive threats, but they never reported them to the police, probably to avoid scrutiny on their activities. Interesting, who was it? Mitsuki Kurata? No.

Ok. Maybe you shouldn't trust a guy called Moriya Toru. And with Sherlock's realization we end this part. See you soon for the second one.

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 6: Stella Maris

"Let me rummage in your pockets to retrieve my property, instead of asking you to give it back like a normal person would do."

Spoiler free summary: the son of a rich politician is receiving packages with mutilated body parts. Sherlock is called to investigate, while employees of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police die left and right. In the middle of this mess Mrs Hatano throws a party at 221b, and what should be an innocent little game reveals an unsettling detail about one of the guests. Kento brings news about the recent development of the Shina sisters case, and Sherlock makes a connection that unveils a disturbing truth.

Triggers: bl00d, g0r3, su1c1d3

SPOILER:

A package just arrived in the hands of a maid in a big, elegant house.

For a Yuichi, apparently. But when the lady of the house opens it, she finds a nasty surprise: there's an ear inside...

The next scene we can see Wato coming home, where she finds Sherlock playing with a knife. Why? Well...

But when Sherlock starts to pass the blade over the inside of her wrists (like, Jesus Christ, Sherlock!), Wato takes the situation in her hands and confiscates the knife. And since Sherlock doesn't give a shit about personal space, as we learned during all the episodes, she wrestles Wato while she tries to take the knife back.

Yes, Sherlock, but that's not the point. Only the phone ringing distracts her, and it's Reimon who wants to submit her a bizarre case.

Half an hour later, both Wato and Sherlock are at this bizarre forensic lab (where all the technicians seem to be very squeamish and silence-loving) and they can finally see what this case is about: Yuichi Takayama, son of the famous politician Koichi Katayama, received a package with a cut ear. And apparently there's something inside the hearing canal.

That something is a small hearing aid. Shibata wonders if the victim is a woman who suffers from hearing loss, but Sherlock points out that the hearing aid is just too small and doesn't match the hearing canal. The aid was made for a woman, and that's a man's ear. That means that there's a man with a missing ear out there...

Tell them, Sherlock. Keep the hope alive.

The next day Wato and Sherlock go to the Katayama family's house to question the various witnesses, especially Yuichi who was the addressee. There they find Kento, who is there for the same reason: since Yuichi is the son of the ex police chief and current member of the parliament, this case is also investigated by the security office. Koichi Katayama has good chances to become the next First Minister, so the case must be closed quickly and discretely.

The son in question isn't very worried about the macabre package he received and his answers are not useful at all: he's just lounging around on the sofa playing with his cellphone while his mother, far more upset than him, caresses his legs and that's... a very weird scene. Sherlock is not impressed: she understands in a blink what kind of person he is, and tells him that, even though he is an university student, he clearly likes Porsche cars more than studying. And here we have Kento and Wato joining forces to rein Sherlock in.

Lol.

The trio leaves the house without useful informations, the whole situation with that kid was so annoying that even the ever compassionate Wato can't help to express her vexation.

Also, look at Sherlock's intense fascination with that huge bronze vase. We also learn that Yuichi should probaly die a very painful death hopefully in the near future, because he has a history of animal cruelty and bullying, all covered up by his daddy. Kento also updates them about the Shina sisters: Yuma committed suicide, and maybe now Arisa will be more collaborative. Or at least he hopes, Arisa is his only clue.

At home Wato is musing about Koichi Katayama: a father that covers up his son's misdeeds, what kind of First Minister will he be? Sherlock doesn't care, because:

So a First Minister wouldn't change things. Wato is having nothing of that: like, Sherlock, were you like this even when you were a child? Didn't you friends find it strange? Of course not, because

The bonus screencap of this episode is Wato being exasperated by Sherlock's monotonous taste in button-ups:

Well, because she likes them, of course. In that moment Mrs Hatano enters the room with, like, 20 Kg of sweet potatoes: a gift from a friend, but she can't eat all of them by herself. Wato says that maybe they should organize a sweet potato party, that should fix the issue. Mrs Hatano likes the idea, they could invite all their friends. Seriously, Sherlock, is Wato your only friend?

And Sherlock tells Mrs Hatano, for the nth time, that Wato is not her friend. And this time Wato looks genuinely annoyed.

(Please protect her)

But they can't discuss the party further, because Reimon calls with news about the case:

Oh, joy.

The thing is, that the poor victim is a cop. Yuzo Kawasaki, same department of Reimon and Shibata, a good detective with an immaculate service record, who cared a lot about the victims of the crimes he investigated. He also taught the ropes to a lot of newbie cops...Shibata included. He is so upset by Kawasaki's death that Sherlock suggest Reimon, only half-joking, that he should be removed from the case.

Kawasaki died two days earlier. He has been stabbed, bound, gagged then he had his hear removed. Sherlock notices that the cut is very clean, the murderer evidently knew what he was doing.

The next day doctor Mukayama, head of the forensic lab, confirms that the ear belongs to detective Kawasaki. Moreover, the hearing aid has been made five years ago and the detective wasn't hard of hearing. But apparently there aren't links between Kawasaki and Yuichi Katayama.

That evening Mukayama goes home only to find a hooded thug who stabs her. Farewell, competent and eccentric lady.

The next day Mrs Hatano and Wato greet Toru and doctor Irikawa for the party. But Wato doesn't want Sherlock to know Irikawa is her therapist. She'll tell Sherlock that she's a photographer like Toru, usually Sherlock guesses people's jobs right away, so she'll try to trick her. But expectations lose against reality:

Then Sherlock proceeds to list all the clues that told her Irikawa is a psychologist. The doctor is amazed. So the lunch begins, and all of them except Sherlock are interested in Irikawa's job and ask her questions about it. I'm wondering if the characters (or the writers?) forgot that Sherlock graduated in psychology too, with a specialization in Criminal Psychology, like Reimon has been so kind to tell us in the first episode.

A round of those pop-psychology tests follows, were all of them participate save for Sherlock, who took the question at face value. At that point Sherlock has a question too: Santa brings a soccer ball to a boy, but the boy isn't happy, why? Well, maybe because he doesn't like soccer, or he already has a ball? Everybody gives more or less the same answer, except Toru:

That is enough to spoil the mood of the party. But what does this test tell us?

It's clear that Sherlock is suspicious of Toru. It isn't said why, and I would be interested in knowing on what clues Sherlock based her decision to test him (well, test... this is pop psychology too, I bet she could have found a better way to learn if Toru was dangerous or not), and I don't understand if she did it to ruin the party or because she's worried for Wato and the time she spends with somebody who doesn't know very well and is quickly and steadily insinuating himself in her life. Remember that in the timeline of the tv series they met more or less a week ago (maybe ten days ago?).

But the party is interrupted by inspector Reimon: another package arrived, and this time it's a finger. Sherlock gives her goodbyes and runs away. Wato is so distressed seeing her going alone, that Mrs Hatano and even Toru encourage her to follow Sherlock. After they left, Mrs Hatano points out that Wato is becoming a good partner for Sherlock (we know, Mrs H., we know). Then she asks a poignant question:

Oh, my sweet Summer child...

At the forensic lab, Sherlock examines the finger: it sports a fake nail that doesn't match the size of the real nail, also the finger has a familiar freckle... where's the head of the lab? It seems she didn't come to work today. A visit to Mukayama's apartment confirms that the woman has been killed with the same modus operandi used for Kawasaki: stabbed, bound, gagged and mutilated. But this time the murderer took a finger.

The fake nail has a style that was popular five years ago, like the hearing aid has been made five years ago. These are messages. For who, exactly, and why? Luckily, Shibata found the owner of the hearing aid, maybe some light can be shed on this mistery.

The owner is a girl called Yuri Takai, 23 yo, nail artist, deaf, who died in a hit-and-run five years ago. The driver took her body and abandoned it in a forest. It was found two days later. Detective Kawasaki investigated the case, while Mukayama handled the evidences. But even though it was possible to trace the culprit, nobody has been accused or trialed. Sherlock has a theory, as usual.

It's time to know Yuri's family and question them, because this whole affair looks like a revenge.

Sherlock, Wato, Shibata and Reimon arrive at Yuri's home, an apartment above the small restaurant the family owned. It's closed, but Sherlock knows how to enter. Wato, Reimon and Shibata have to cover for her, especially because a neighbour came to see who they are. Even though she's curious, the woman manage to give them a few informations: she hasn't seen Mr Takai, Yuri's father, for six months. She doesn't know where he went, but he voluntereed for a while in a charity that helped the families that lost a loved one in a car accident, maybe they know something.

Sherlock manages to pick the restaurant lock. Reimon decides that he and Shibata are off duty now, so they won't have to report Sherlock for the crime she just committed. The place is empty, but somebody lived there recently: in one of the apartment rooms they find a disturbing sight:

A hundred of photographs that show that Kawasaki and Mukayama were stalked by Mr. Takai. They also find a knife. Takai was a chef, of course he knew how to use a knife. But why did he kill them? Sherlock is convinced that they both helped to cover the real culprit. Yuri's father learned that and now he's going on a killing spree. This enrages Shibata: Kawasaki was too honest to do something like that! But nobody is 100% free of sin. And they have another problem:

The real culprit, of course.

Wato and Sherlock go to question the president of the charity Takai volunteered at. He tells them that Takai was slowly healing after his daughter's death, and tried to overcome his pain helping others. Then, six months ago, he abruptly stopped volunteering. Then he saw him again two weeks ago, but he was a completely different person. Takai told him that only right thing for the families to do was finding the killers and take revenge.

Meanwhile Shibata and Reimon are talking to Takai's neighbour: she saw inspector Kawasaki more or less six months ago, kneeling in front of Takai and imploring his forgiveness. Takai was furious with him and refused his apology.

At home, Wato and Sherlock discuss the case: why did Takai send those body parts to Yuichi? He can't be him the one who killed Yuri, he was 17 years old five years ago, so he didn't drive yet. Wato offhandedly comments that it must be a lot of pressure to have such a famous and powerful father, even their names are similar. Then Sherlock realizes something, and rewards Wato for her input with the best prize she can think of: chocolate.

Later Koichi Katayama, similarly to his wife at the beginning of the episode, finds a nasty surprise in his car:

a nosy supersmart detective and her shy but ballsy sidekick. Basically the stuff of the nightmares.

So this is the situation: Koichi Katayama killed Yuri in that accident, Kawasaki destroyed the evidences and Mukayama helped too, because Katayama was the National Chief of Police and could do whatever he wanted. Takai learned it from Kawasaki, because the detective was devoured by guilt. Takai decided to kill all of them and started with the detective and the forensic doctor, then mailed their body parts to Koichi to threaten him.

Buuut... the characters for "Ko" and "Yu" are similar, the maid read the name wrong because Takai made a small mistake writing it (he wrote the characters using a ruler to hide his real handwriting) so the first package was given to Yuichi. The second one had the correct name, but nobody bothered to check. It's time to go to the police and confess. Takayama admits his crime, and tells Sherlock and Wato that the car he drew during the accident is hidden in the garage. The two enter the garage and Katayama's assistant locks them in after tying them.

Oooops. Katayama of course doesn't want to confess, and asks his assistant to kill them. The guy is a real psycho, he wants to do the job using a knife, and he wants to torture them a bit first. He decides to start from Sherlock, because she's the insolent one. But Sherlock doesn't want to die at the hands of someone so uncreative, she already freed herself and the two start wrestling. But it's Wato who saves Sherlock, knocking the thug out with a crowbar.

And in that moment Sherlock is furious enough that she almost stabs the guy, and only Wato screaming her to not do that stops her. Anyway, how did she free herself?

With Sherlock's knife, of course.

Sherlock opens her mouth to say something, but Wato prevents her:

Lol. Wato apologizes then she says they have to go and get Takayama. I can't post Sherlock's reaction to Wato's little speech because I'd need a gif, it's a series of expressions that must be seen.

When Katayama sees them emerging, unscathed, from the garage, he immediately understands that it's time to flee, so he gets in his car and drives away. While exiting his driveway he runs over something: horrified, he realizes it's his son Yuichi who has been put, already stabbed and bleeding to death, behind a curve so he couldn't see him.

While he tries to call for help, Takai shows himself, apparently ready to take his revenge over the Takayama family.

Sherlock and Wato arrive and while the latter tries to help Yuichi, the former is more interested in knowing what happened to Takai. He helped the families of the victims, but also helped the drivers who caused deathly accidents, what made him change so much? He doesn't give her a real answer:

The police is arriving, probably called by Sherlock and Wato, and at that point Takai smiles, and just like that... he cuts his own throat. Even the ever composed Sherlock is shocked by this outcome.

Later, at home, the Sherlock and Wato discuss the case again. Takayama confessed the hit and run. But Takai... maybe they could have saved him? Sherlock is convinced that Takai is better off dead. He had lost his purpose in life, and there's no point in living like that. Wato points out that as long as you're alive you can find a new purpose, like she did not so long ago.

Wato surprised Sherlock thrice this episode: the first one with her observation skills, the second one with her resourcefulness, the third one with her strength. Are you starting to admire her, Sherlock?

In that moment Kento enters the apartment bringing news about the Shina sisters. Arisa told him that her sister kept saying "Stella Maris" would show them the way. Sherlock theorizes that maybe it's a person, not an organization. Like the North Star, that guided the sailors...guiding, hhmmm...

Sherlock sits at the computer and contacts one of her professors at Cambridge. Doctor James is surprised to see her.

Firstly, he calls her Sherlock. So that means that she used that nickname for years, even during college, maybe?

Secondly, he seems genuinely happy to hear from her. For a woman who keeps insisting she never had friends, there are several people who respect her and like her a lot, like Reimon, Mrs Hatano and that flamboyant guy in episode 2. And now this Cambridge professor, that when he hears that Sherlocks needs a favor, is immediately willing to help her no questions asked.

So Sherlock asks him if he has access to the thesis on leading crime, a paper written by one of the students at Cambridge, because she needs it right now. Doctor James, after a quick search, tells her that the thesis is blocked, but he'll try to recover it for her. On another note, all the dialogue between the two happens in English, not in Japanese. Wato asks what that thesis was about.

Sherlock tells her that a Psychology student at Cambridge theorized that you could manipulate law-abiding citizens into becoming criminals.

They were convinced that the state of the orbitofrontal cortex could also be changed using dialogue, not just with physical traumas or surgery. It caused quite a stir. Maybe the author is Stella Maris? And then Sherlock realizes something again. She runs away so quickly that Wato has to chase her because she forgot her shoes.

They arrive at Takai's apartment, where Shibata and Reimon are still collecting evidences, and Sherlock tells them that there's a connection to Stella Maris in there. She notices that a few photos, that were pinned with thumbtacks of the same color, have been rearranged.

Well, the Little Dipper form is different, but I suppose that that will do. Anyway, Stella Maris planted their clutches into Takai and changed his personality. At the same moment, Sherlock receives an email by doctor James: he sent her the infamous thesis. It was written by Akira Moriwaki, this person is Stella Maris. Shibata notices that the pictures that form the Little Dipper have letters written on the back.

Sherlock rearranges the letters, and...

It seems that Akira Moriwaki left her a message.

In the next episode... prepare for pain.

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 5: The Missing Bride

"We're not friends so it's absolutely unnecessary for me to sit so close to you, but I'll do it nonetheless."

They're a desperate case.

Spoiler free summary: model Risa Mashima disappeared shortly after the wedding ceremony that married her to a famous jewel designer. Sherlock is called to solve the case and she connects the disappearance with a murder happened a few years earlier. Wato tries to come to terms with her trauma and the fact that she is damaged, doctor Irikawa tries to help her feeling better and Mrs Hatano tries to find a soulmate. In the meantime, it's confirmed that Sherlock sees things that should go unseen and unknown.

Triggers: bl00d, su1c1d3, PTSD

SPOILER

The episode opens with Wato telling doctor Irikawa about her flashback.

She's worried about having those flashbacks for all her life, doctor Irikawa tries to reassure her saying they will become less frequent as time passes.

In the next scene we see a wedding ceremony: a young couple is going down a staircase, while their friends and relatives celebrate them.

Later, the groom is waiting for his wife because they have to join the other guests for the nuptial banquet, but an anxious wedding planner runs to him telling him that the bride disappeared from the waiting room where she was getting ready...

Meanwhile, Wato is still upset about her flashback and the knowledge it will probably happen to her for the rest of her life. But she doesn't want the people she lives with to worry for her, so she tries to put on a happy face.

(Please protect her).

Mrs Hatano is lounging in their living room reading a leaflet about matchmaking parties for seniors: she's trying to decide which one she should go to. Surprisingly, Mrs Hatano hasn't a romantic approach to these things, she thinks a lot of widowed women don't feel alone at all, they hated taking care of their husbands and now they are free to live their lives as they please.

But Wato still believes there are many happily married couples, able to share joys and sorrows. Sherlock, ever cynical, can't help to express her opinion:

For once, Sherlock is not working at a case or making some kind of dangerous chemical experiment. Another of her hobbies is making natural cosmetics and now she's working on a cucumber skin toner for Mrs Hatano.

A toner that apparently is exceptional, very good for revitalizing skin. But the conversation is interrupted by a call from Inspector Reimon. Of course Sherlock is overjoyed: she dealt with a vampire yesterday, but she already began to get bored. A missing bride case is exactly what she needed.

Look at that happy little smile. Wato and Sherlock go to the wedding hall and Shibata updates them about the bride: Risa Mashima, model, she disappeared just before the wedding reception, for now they have no proof that she's been kidnapped. The groom is a famous jewel designer, Kazuma Saeki. All of this is well and good, but Sherlock is perplexed.

Reimon and Shibata investigate murders. Reimon says that 11 years ago he married his wife in this same venue. The place is full of beautiful memories for him and his wife, so he can't leave a case occurred there to be unsolved. Moreover, if Risa will stay missing, the case would be theirs nonetheless. Reimon leaves Sherlock and Wato to investigate, while them will gather all the pictures that have been shot at the wedding.

Wato is interested in the wedding dresses exibit in the room. When she says she would like to wear one one day, Sherlock objects:

Tachikawa the manager and a wedding planner, Mako, take Sherlock and Wato in the waiting room Risa disappeared from. The wedding planner tells them that the bride almost fainted before the reception, so she went to that room to rest for a bit. Mako brought her a glass of juice but Risa accidentally broke it. The wedding planner cleaned the room but, noticing that the wedding dress was stained because of the juice, she ran to take the stain remover, but when she came back Risa had already disappeared.

Nobody saw her leave, and she couldn't use the window because it was locked.

Hmmm.

Sherlock asks if something unusual happened during the preparation of the wedding, and Tachikawa says that during the ceremony rehersal a woman barged into the venue, insulting the groom and screaming he should have married her, not a nobody that he clearly knew just for a few months.

Wato and Sherlock pay a visit to Saeki, who tells them about his and Risa's love story, and that Nanami, the woman who interrupted the rehersal, is just a stalker obsessed with him. Saeki is desperate, so he implores our heroines to find his wife. This episode bonus screencap is Sherlock being so fascinated by Saeki's hair that she begins playing with it.

After that, Wato goes out for drinks with Toru. He is worried for her because of her flashback. He also feels guilty, probably his photographs triggered it. To distract him, Wato asks him what place he visited he liked the most.

What a coincidence! Wato has been there 8 years ago. Toru says that he was there too, same festival, same year. And now they met in Tokyo. Maybe their meeting was meant to be?

Wato is super embarassed and, well... she drinks a bit too much. So we find her, an hour later, at Toru's place trying to sober up enough to walk home. When he tries to kiss her, she just shoves him and runs away. It's not that she didn't want it, but apparently she doesn't want to be touched in a certain way. Hhmmm...

While Sherlock is studying the wedding pictures, Mrs Hatano pesters her to know what she thinks about the picture they shot her for the matchmaking agency. She isn't happy with it and asks Sherlock to find her a better photographer. In that moment Wato comes back home and her subdued mood is noticed even by Mrs Hatano.

The next day Risa's wedding dress is found hanging from a bridge. While the police searches the banks of the river to ensure the woman didn't commit suicide, Reimon updates Wato and Sherlock about the investigation. In one of the dress pockets a grocery store receipt has been found. There's a message written on it, apparently from Nanami, with a phone number and the exortation to call her because she "knows the truth".

Reimon and Shibata go to Nanami's house to interrogate her, and they see her exiting a taxi. Apparently she spent the last four days in the hospital because of a gastroenteritis. Since Nanami was hospitalized, it can't be her the person who wrote the message on the receipt.

In the meantime, Sherlock is bullying one of the cashiers into showing her the previous day surveillance footage (and we have the confirmation that it's October 30th).

Scared by her attitude, he humors her and they see that the client the receipt was issued to the previous day is a young man, not Nanami. A young man that enters the shop in that exact moment, and that runs away when he realizes that Wato recognized him.

Sherlock is furious with Wato for her slip, but she chases the man nonetheless. They lose him, and Sherlock leaves Wato who tries unsuccessfully to apologize. She's also having a flashback, and she's left alone while she tries to find her bearings.

After the unsuccessful chase, Sherlock goes directly to Inspector Reimon, who is surprised because Sherlock didn't bring her friend.

Sherlock no!

Sherlock tells Reimon what she learned, showing him the wedding pictures and pointing out that their suspect was among the guests at the wedding. Reimon recognizes the man: he's Natsuo Koda, an alpine photographer who was accused of the murder of his girlfriend a couple of years earlier. They never managed to arrest him because he fled on the mountains and then apparently died in an avalanche.

His girlfriend, Miku Shino, was stabbed in an apparent robbery, but the murder weapon had been found at his boyfriend's place. Evidently he's still alive, but what's his involvement in Risa's disappearance?

In the meantime Wato is seeking comfort from her therapist. Her issues aren't limited to flashbacks: she thinks she's severely damaged, and she doesn't want people to know, because she doesn't want to be pitied or treated differently. Then she shows Irikata why:

Poor Wato's back is a mess of scars. She was wounded in the last bombardment and probably that's why she had been sent home. That's why she didn't want Toru to touch her. And that's why she wears comfortable clothes disregarding fashion. That long gash seems pretty severe, I wonder how she can carry the bag on her right shoulder. Doctor Irikawa reassures her saying that she's still the same person she has always been.

When she comes home she sees that Sherlock has been waiting for her.

She wants Wato's opinion about why a suspect murderer believed dead was at a wedding... a wedding where the bride disappeared.

Maybe Risa ran away with him? Sherlock answers that he was too suspicious for not being noticed. Also, the wedding dress hanging from the bridge and the receipt were just a mean to interfere with the investigation to buy time.

The next day (Halloween!) they pay Mako a visit at the wedding venue and, as usual, Sherlock has upsetting news:

Mako admits that Risa implored her to help her because her ex boyfriend was at the wedding and asked her to run away with him. So Mako hid the wedding dress in the vacuum, gave a her a change of clothes and, dressed as a employee of the wedding venue, Risa could escape undetected. Then Mako told the groom and the guests about her disappearance. Sherlock shows her a picture of Natsuo and the wedding planner confirms that he's the boyfriend.

But why Risa said she had dated Natsuo? He was Miku's boyfriend...

Sherlock tells Wato that that was a ploy to have Mako's help. They probably have a plan, but Sherlock needs more information to make a hypothesis. So they visit late Miku's mother.

The woman tells them she had been extremely upset when she had learned that Natsuo killed Miku. Honestly, she still thinks it doesn't make sense. They looked so in love, and Natsuo was so kind and protective towards her. When Sherlock shows her a picture of Risa, Miku's mother says her and Miku were best friends. Miku was a jewelry designer, she wanted to make a few jewels for Risa. Sherlock asks to see a few sketches, but Miku's mom says she couldn't find them after her death.

Back at 221b, Sherlock shows Wato the message on the receipt and the signature on the wedding certificate. What does she deduce?

Well, Wato is still learning after all. Sherlock explains that the message was written by Risa, same handwriting of the certificate. She met with Natsuo before the wedding, they planned the disappearence and the diversion. (On another note, I love the Halloween pumpkin full of sweets on the their living room table).

But why? As usual, Sherlock has the answer. Eliminate the impossible...

So now it's time to make Reimon and Shibata work, and they find themselves at a stakeout outside Saeki's house. Their lunch is interrupted when they see him hurrying to his car, so they follow him.

He enters his office and stars rummaging in a flower pot, retrieving a couple of plastic bags. He looks relieved, at least until Risa makes her appearance, with Natsuo in tow. She lured Saeki there sending him a message that said she had found Miku's sketchbooks.

Risa accuses him of Miku's murder, and of planting the knife in Natsuo's apartment to frame him. He denies, of course, but Sherlock, Wato, Reimon and Shibata are there, and this is the time to check the contents of those plastic bags. Shibata opens them and they are full of sketchbooks. Sherlock compliments Risa, who had the bravery to enter a loveless marriage only to find the evidence that he killed Miku.

In the sketchbook there's the design that made him win the Jewelry Awards, and that was one of Miku's original designs.

Risa explains that Miku often showed her her designs, so she immediately notice that Saeki had stolen her ideas. Everything he made were actually Miku's works. Saeki noticed her talent when they were still at college, and offered her a partnership. She didn't accept, so he killed her and stole her sketchbooks, then framed Natsuo. Risa was the only one who believed in his innocence. When Risa saw his award-winning design, she was certain that he had killed Miku. So she approached him and entered a relationship with him, even going so far as marrying him, only to find the evidence of Miku's murder. You have to admire this woman's adamantium ovaries.

She had searched his apartment but didn't find anything, that left his office and his parent's home. But there was always somebody around, so she and Natsuo took advantage of the wedding to keep searching. He went to the office with a key Risa retrieved, while she went to his parent's house. Since both searches were unsuccessful, she decided to lure him with a message.

It's over. Shibata keeps Natsuo from beating the shit out of Saeki, but Risa has her revenge.

Praobably slapping him has been very satisfying. Brava, Risa.

The next day (November 1st...in a couple of episodes you'll see why I'm so obsessed with dates), Wato is musing about the fact that the last case made her more reluctant about marriage. And about marriage, Mrs Hatano bursts into their living room because she still needs a picture taken for that matchmaking meeting. Sherlock tells her that maybe Wato knows the right photographer...

Toru arrives with his equipment and takes pictures that make Mrs Hatano very happy. He confesses he feared he would not see Wato anymore. But it seems Wato overcame her distress about herself and her body, so she asks Toru a favor:

In the meantime, Mrs Hatano is relieved. She was worried for Wato because she looked so depressed recently, and she knows Sherlock was worried too. They're really good friends. Sherlock of course answers that they aren't friends, and Hatano asks her the thing all the audience want to ask:

Oh, she will.

That evening, Wato is still happy about the pictures Toru took of her, when Mrs Hatano arrives to give her a bottle of cucumber toner.

It seems that Sherlock made too much, so she asked their landlady to give it to Wato. With the recommendation that it's not only good for skin but also for scars.

Oh no.

But, also, wow.

Of course Sherlock knows. And she never treated her differently or pitied her. Wato is probably torn between happiness for that thoughtful gift and dread and embarassment because Sherlock knows.

At the same moment Kento is having a bad day. He has been called to the prison where the Shima sister are staying at, because Yuma Shima killed herself.

Yes, Kento, we smell trouble.

In the next episode, packages with mutilated body parts start to arrive to son of a rich politician, there will be a party at 221b where we'll learn something unsettling about one of the guests, Sherlock will discover that Wato can be extremely reliable and Wato and Sherlock will risk to be killed for the first time, and there's nothing better to cement a friendship, right? Right?

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 4: The Wakasugi Family Curse

"We aren't friends, but let me hold on to your arm because I'm so damn scared."

Spoiler free summary: Wato meets her childhood friend Ryota Wakasugi. Recently his wife Sakura attacked their daughter and sucked her blood. He thinks it's a curse that his ancestors brought upon themselves and that came back to torment his family. Sherlock, called to solve the case, of course doesn't believe in curses and thinks there must be another reason for Sakura's behavior. Wato meets war photographer Toru Moriya and learns they have something in common, while Kento takes over the Shina sisters' case trying to obtain informations about Stella Maris.

Triggers: bl00d, PTSD

SPOILER

A man hears a scream and when he enters the room where his wife and their daughter sleep in, he finds his wife with her mouth stained with their daughter's blood. Uh-oh...

The next scene shows that Wato left her job at the library, and now is working at a restaurant.

There she meets a childhood friend, Ryota Wakasugi. He remarried recently, but his life right now is far from peaceful...

Meanwhile, Sherlock is solving a case for Mrs Hatano: their landlady has been accused of theft by one of her friends, actress Anna MInato. A precious ring disappeared while Hatano was visiting her, and now she wants Sherlock to help her clear her name.

Sherlock looks at the pictures Mrs. Hatano shot at Anna's house and deduces that the ring her friend showed is fake, and she's accusing her of theft to commit insurance fraud. The real ring will be probably sold, because it's evident from other clues present in the pictures that the actress has no money anymore.

All of this is so damn boring.

Sherlock just wants a more interesting case to sink her teeth into. Well, ask and you shall receive. Wato arrives and implores Sherlock for her help because she has "An impossible case".

It's Wato who invades Sherlock's personal space this time. And it will happen more and more often. I'd also like to point out that, from the room decor, you can deduce the events of the episode are happening around the end of October. There are Halloween pumpkins on that orange shelf/lamp-thingy next to the sofa, and there's an orange spiderweb-shaped recipient full of sweets on the table. A case about a vampire at Halloween, it's appropriate.

Ryota's house is a traditional Japanese house and, like, not only it's huge, but it's also very creepy. Strange voices come from the inside and Sherlock immediately runs to see what's happening.

Finding herself in what I think it's a shinto exorcism ceremony. Since she doesn't believe in supernatural forces, she claps like she's watching some kind of show. Ryota's mother in law is annoyed, the house has to be purified because they ignored the curse, and this angered the evil spirits. And that scares Wato so much that she thinks grabbing Sherlock's arm for comfort it's a good idea.

Ryota introduces them as his childhood buddy and her friend. Of course Sherlock has something to say about that:

Of. Course.

While the ritual continues, Ryota tells Sherlock and Wato that there are 5 people in his family: him, his wife Sakura, his mother-in-law and their two children, Daiki (from his previous marriage) and Wakana, who he had with his current wife.

Three days ago he saw Sakura biting Wakana and sucking her blood. He thinks that it's all because of a curse: their ancestors killed all the bats in the barn a century ago, and now the evil spirits of the bats cursed his wife, making her a vampire. Of course Sherlock doesn't believe this theory at all:

Yes, Sakura bit Wakana, but not because of the curse, there's another reason. Wato goes to examine Sakura, who is bedridden since the incident and apparently doesn't remember what she did. She just wants to see Wakana: the baby has a heart condiiton, she wishes to stay by her side as long as it will be possible.

In the meantime Sherlock has her own investigation to do: she wants to examine Wakana's bite.

The imprints of Sachiko's teeeth are clearly visible, but there's something else at the center of the bite. Hhhmmm...

But her musings are interrupted because somebody's feeling protective.

Two children.

Since she doesn't feel appreciated, Sherlock decides to leave. Wato makes fun of her, then she's not good with kids? It's not that she isn't good with kids, she just hates them. Because...

Well, of course, Wato points out, they're kids. And about kids, they see Daiki leaving the house so Wato decides to follow him. He enters a park and kneels in front of what it seems a small altar.

Maybe he's praying for his mom's health. Sherlock is all business, instead; since Wato wants to solve the case, she has a task for her: she has to find what temple sells a certain brand of incense she found in Sakura's room. Wato manages to find the temple, the priest tells her Sakura comes there often, to pray on the tomb of a young woman who died in a car accident.

That evening she updates Sherlock about her findings: Sakura goes to pray on Misuzu Kariya's tomb. The girl had been Sachiko's best friend when they were in high school, then Misuzu joined a small theatre group, but she died in a car accident 4 years ago. The teachers at the school couldn't tell her anything more specific. Sherlock is impressed.

Wato is clearly learning. Isn't she useful? But for Sherlock it wasn't enough, she should have visited the theatre group too, they will go there together the next day. Wow, Sherlock, so rude.

They talk to the director and they learn that Misuzu died in a car accident, but her friend that was with her survived. But maybe her former fiancee, Kaito Yuuki, can tell them more. He refuses, it was a lot of time ago.

Sherlock notices he works as a part-time gardener... this theatre company is small, after all, and it can't pay enough so the members have to work part-time to get by. This enrages the director, who throws them out.

Maybe because she's too focused on solving cases to care. Ryota called Wato: it happened again. Sakura has been found next to Wakana's bed but her mother stopped her in time. Things are going out of hand, they must solve the case. Now Sakura is bedridden and refuses to answer her mother and her husband's questions. Wato is scared: it's the curse, then? And Sherlock is like:

"Wato, no."

Then she examines the room again and finds something in Sakura's cardigan: a syringe.

Sherlock takes it home to analyze it. Wato keeps making ipothesis about what Sakura was trying to do, but when Sherlock tells her, in no uncertain terms, that she's disturbing her, Wato decides to go to her therapist. There she finds a leaflet about an exhibition. Doctor Irikawa tells her that it's for war photograper, maybe it will be interesting to attend.

By the way, on the leaflet the date is visible (October 30th) so the events of this episode indeed happen around Halloween (I don't speak Japanese and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just supposing that his exibition is open until October 30th, since the Halloween paraphernalia will stay around for a couple of other episodes).

Wato goes to the exhibit and meets the photographer, Toru Morya. He's a patient of doctor Irikawa too, every time he comes back from a warzone he goes to her for therapy. He and Wato go out for a coffe, and find themselves on the same wavelenght.

They also talk about PTSD, he suffers from it, every now and then. Does Wato have problems with it? Not yet, apparently.

When Wato comes home, Sherlock has finished her research: the syringe was full of curare, a poison. Who could put poison in a syringe to kill a baby? Sherlock has an answer, as usual.

...and you're left with the unlikely truth.

The next morning our heroines are camped at Wakasugi family's house and Sherlock explains what happened: somebody injected Wakana with poison, Sakura saw everything and sucked the injection site to extract the curare. The second time she was just trying to recover the syringe that she had hidden under Wakana's mattress to protect the real culprit: her stepson Daiki.

Sakura insists she's the one blame, but Sherlock begins to interrogate Daiki nonetheless. Who did give him the syringe? Daiki said it was Olfam, his favorite superhero. It's Wato the one who manages to encourage Daiki to open up: does he want his little sister to get better?

Sherlock is flummoxed, how does Wato knows that? Well, Wato noticed that Daiki also plays with a girl's toy. She bets he got it for Wakana. Well, now Sherlock is really impressed. But how did Daiki contact Olfam? They communicate through letters, that they leave in that small altar in the park.

Daiki says he met Olfam a month ago, at a hero show at the mall. After that, he got a letter from Olfam.

"Olfam" left the curare at the shrine and convinced Daiki it was a medicine that would cure his sister. It's time to stop this, and Sherlock can be very convincing.

So he has to make it better. He has to write to Olfam again, telling him he needs another dose of the medicine, he will ensure to inject it this time. And when they ambush the culprit that night, with the help of Inspector Reimon, who do they find? Late Misuzu's former fiancee, of course.

Kaito blames Sakura for the accident that killed Misuzu. A month ago, while he was working playing the role of Olfam, he saw her and her family at the show. Seeing her happy and fulfilled filled him with rage, and he decided to seek revenge.

Shibata has checked, it was indeed him playing Olfam at the show. Then he followed the family and begun to write to Daiki, giving him a syringe full of curare, a poison he has access to because of his gardening job. He wanted Sakura to feel the pain of losing a loved one. Daiki injected Wakana, Sakura realized what was happening and sucked the injection point to extract the poison, then hid the syringe to protect her stepson, taking all the blame.

Kaito accuses Sakura of forgetting Misuzu and moving on with her life, but Wato begins this passionate speech saying Sakura never forgot Misuzu, and besides even he moved on with his life, since he never left that theatre company.

He knows how hard it is to go on. Sherlock listens quietly, and decides to support Wato by standing by her side.

It can't be seen here, but Inspector Reimon is both surprised and prideful. All's well that ends well and the Wakasugi family is happy again.

The next day Wato and Sherlock come home to find Kento in their apartment. He took over the Shiina sisters' case, and came to update them. They both refuse to speak about what happened, Kento in person interrogated them about Stella Maris and their link to Akiko Mizuno, but without success.

But the gloomy mood is immediately lightened up when Wato reveals the little gift Ryota gave them as a thank you for solving the case: Kanbey's Terrine au Chocolat, a cake that costs more that 100 $. Kento loves it, he has just the time to have a snack before going back to work. They just need tea.

And here we are treated with the Futaba siblings banding together convince Wato to go out and buy tea, while at the same time they bicker about what kind of tea is the right one to go with the Terrine au Chocolat.

How cute. I don't think I'll ever get tired of their interactions, because it really looks there's a sibling bond between them, in the other adaptations Mycroft never treats Sherlock like they are family, or he's downright horrible (I'm talking about you, Enola Holmes). Kento comments that Sherlock and Wato are behaving like old friends, and Sherlock answers, of course, "Tomodachi janai". It's becoming her catchphrase, like when Kento always says he has just twenty minutes to spend with his sister.

So Wato goes out to buy tea (she chooses Asamiya of course, it's Sherlock's favourite) but while she comes back she suffers from a flashback where she hears screams, explosions and shots. Shocked and overwhelmed, she just falls on her knees in the middle of the road.

Apparently her PTSD is manifesting, as if poor Wato hasn't been traumatized enough.

In the next episode a bride will disappear the day of her nuptials, Wato will start to tackle her PTSD with doctor Irikawa, her relationship with Moriya will become deeper and Sherlock will solve an old murder, confirm she sees things that should go unseen and insist again that no, that useless idiot is not her friend. Possibly. Maybe.

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 3: Lily of the Valley

"Sorry, but it's already 3 minutes since the last time I invaded your personal space."

Spoiler free summary: Sherlock is asked by researcher Reiko Haitani to recover her research data that she gave to a famous pharmaceutical talent hunter, Arisa Shina. Even though Sherlock is successful, she realizes that Reiko's case is tied to the disappearance of doctor Hiroshi Watanuki, a genius chemist who was trying to produce a drug that could cancel fear. When Watanuki is found, severely wounded and completely amnesiac, Sherlock and Wato are involved in a complicate investigation that will put their lives in danger.

Triggers: 70r7ure, gor3, ch1ld abus3 (mentioned)

SPOILER:

This time the episode doesn't open with the two residents of 221b, but we are in a dark, dingy basement where a man tied to a chair is reciting numbers. Numbers that seem to form a password, because an unseen person is typing them into a password box as the man lists them.

But the password doesn't match, and the person who was typing doesn't seem happy about it...

The next scene is far brighter, because it shows Wato at a job interview. She doesn't want to work in the medical field anymore, so now she's trying to figure out if "librarian" is a viable career for her. While she goes back she receives a message from Sherlock that asks her to buy something before coming home:

Lao cilantro is another name for dill, but Wato doesn't know that, so she just buys normal cilantro and Sherlock isn't impressed: Wato has to go back immediately and change it.

One of Sherlock's hobbies is creating essential oils, and she needs Lao cilantro because it has a sedative effect. Sherlock explains a bit the properties of essential oils and says that, in example, ylang ylang is an aphrodisiac. Wato is very interested in this information for reasons that will be evident in a while.

(Sherlock, don't give her ideas. Or maybe it's Sherlock the one who has ideas?)

Mrs. Hatano introduces a new client, her horse riding friend's daughter. I would have like it if in every episode Mrs. Hatano revealed a new hobby, even more bizarre than the previous one and considered unsuitable for a woman of her age, like, I don't know, skydiving. Missed chance.

The client, Reiko Haitani, is a young pharmaceutical researcher. She's quite accomplished for her age, a few of her papers had been published in several scientific journal abroad. Recently she has been contacted by a talent hunter, Arisa Shina, for a job offer from a big pharmaceutical company, Mawson. But after a first contact Arisa Shina disappeared without a trace, taking Reiko's papers and all the data with her. Reiko was worried, but it seems that Arisa is really a talent hunter, since she was interviewed by a famous magazine.

Reiko doesn't know what to think, but she wants Sherlock's help to recover her papers.

Looking at the photographs that illustrate the article of the magazine, Sherlock pinpoints the location of Arisa's apartment. There they find Yuma, Arisa's sister. She says Arisa is abroad and tries, successfully, to contact her.

Arisa immediately apologizes to Reiko, reassuring her she will prepare the contract for her new job as soon as she will be back in Japan, but Reiko decides to not accept Arisa's job offer, she just wants her papers back. They are in Arisa's archive, and Yuma promptly retrieves them and gives them back to her owner.

All's well that ends well? It seems so, but Sherlock, ever observant, notices a series of numbers written on the envelope of Reiko's papers.

The bonus screencap of this episode is Wato's awkward reaction when she realizes that Sherlock is super close to her.

Meanwhile the famous chemist Hiroshi Watanuki has been found wounded and unconscious and immediately taken to the hospital. Reimon and Shibata are talking about the necessity to summon Sherlock to investigate the case. Shibata doesn't like Reimon's attitude, they are cops and investigating is their job, why should they entrust the cases to a civilian? Reimon answers that if they will make a mistake they'll never find the culprit, and Sherlock's methods are the surest way to close the case.

Sherlock and Wato arrive at the hospital and they see for themselves Watanuki's conditions: after he went missing three days earlier he has been tortured with electroshock, his frontal cortex is destroyed and he is completely amnesiac.

He was a researcher at Mawson, incidentally the same company Reiko should have worked for, and he was famous for his work on psychiatric drugs.

A visit to Mawson confirms that Watanuki was one of the top researchers (notice how it's Wato who starts the conversation asking questions about Watanuki's life. She's growing into her role of assistant).

Sherlock redirects the conversation on Watanuki's projects and asks about on what kind of drugs he was working on. His assistant, Sanada, denies Watanuki was planning to produce some kind of top-secret drug, but Sherlock doesn't seems convinced.

While they are leaving, Sherlock notices that there are employees who have a different badge and Sanada explains her that research fellows have a higher security clearance and can access all the labs. Only researchers who published their work on a reputable journal overseas can become reserach fellows and only seven...ooops, six people have those badges, one of them quit recently, Reiko Haitani. Sherlock shows Sanada a picture of Arisa Shina, the man confirms that's Reiko.

Arisa Shina stole Reiko Haitani's identity and used her work and her resume to access a research position at Mawson, probably she wanted access to some kind of database.

Wato begins to work at the library. One of her coworkers is kind, cute and he's writer to boot (we'll see Wato likes artistic types)! She talks to him for five minutes and already develops a crush.

Embarassed, she tries to find a quiet place to try to get herself together, only to find Sherlock, who chose Wato's library to do some research, making a mess of the chemistry section.

Sherlock found a book written by doctor Watanuki: one of his dreams was finding a drug that could erase bad memories. She is almost certain that it was what Arisa was looking for. They have to check.

So Wato and Sherlock crash poor Sanada's lunch and ask him to fess up and tell them what Watanuki was working on. Sanada admits that the doctor wanted to develop that fear-erasing drug to help victims of abuse or people who were traumatized by war. He succeded, but realized that that substance was too strong and could have been used as a weapon. The government helped him, but Sanada doesn't know anything else.

Kento, who was called by Sherlock, gives them a ride and asks them to quit the case. The data of Watanuki's research had been stolen a month ago, but...

Watanuki was probably kidnapped and tortured because the thief wanted the password. They don't know if the kidnapper managed to obtain the complete password, but at the final stage there's a trap that erases all the data if the wrong password is entered. The only hope is that the thief activated the trap and lost all the data. The public security office is on the case, Sherlock and Wato would be in the way, so they have to quit. Of course, Sherlock refuses.

At home, Sherlock and Wato summarize the case: Arisa Shina stole Reiko's identity to steal Watanuki's research, but she hadn't the password, so she kidnapped and tortured the doctor.

The number on the envelope was probably the password. Is it possible that Arisa managed to put her hands on those data?

The next day, at her counseling session, Wato has a pleasant chat with doctor Irikawa about her new job and the fact that she made a new friend. Also, that her deepest wish is to have a love potion that works instantly on a man. For the end of the season, because of the things she witnessed, Wato will completely change her mind about relationships and marriage (and she will admit it). For now, keep dreaming, Wato.

Meanwhile, Sherlock visits Yuma at her workplace. They go to the roof to talk (and the company installed there a target for employees to play with), and Sherlock tells Yuma what her sister did.

Yuma is not surprised. When they were children, their parents divorced and Arisa went to live with their father, who was a violent man. He died in what looked like an accident, but Yuma is sure it had been Arisa who killed him. Also, her sister hates society because it failed to protect her. Sherlock recommends Yuma to call her the moment Arisa will be back.

The next day Wato is preparing to go to work, and has the inspiration to rummage between Sherlock's collection of essential oils to take a bit of that ylang ylang essence. Maybe it will help her enticing the cute writer who works with her? In this scene we also learn that every now and then Sherlock sleeps on the couch, and talks about cryptography in her sleep.

But Arisa is back in Japan, it's time to go to work, for both of them. Wato almost succedes in slipping away with the oil, but Sherlock noticed what she did and tells her that she didn't take ylang ylang, but a remedy against athlete's foot. Sherlock put the essence Wato needs in a very convenient and comfortable adhesive patch. Does Wato want it? Of course she does, so Sherlock attaches a patch on her nape.

It's the first personal space invasion of the day, and Sherlock didn't even have breakfast. Also in these few scenes Shihori Kanjiya makes a ton of hilarious facial expressions that sadly I can't post here without breaking the 30 images limit, so please watch the episode.

At the library, Cute Writer doesn't even talk to Wato before inviting her for lunch. Wato can't help but marveling at the efficiency of Sherlock's essential oils.

At the same time, Sherlock is at the sisters' apartment. Arisa came back and left a mess, broken glass and a word written on the window.

Sherlock believes the word is a hint. Adamas also means diamond, diamonds are made of carbon, whose atomic number is 12. Dividing the string of numbers on the envelope by 12 you have a 16 digit number. Grouping the numbers by four, you have the atomic weight of 4 elements: Lithium, Oxigen, Flourine, Vanadium and Aluminium.

Li O F V Al - Li of val

Lily of the Valley, a flower that blooms in spring. That's the real password. Sherlock also realizes that a listening device was hidden in plain sight in the room: Arisa listened to her explanation, so now she has the password.

Wato is having lunch with Cute Writer. Everything seems to go swimmingly but, unbelievably, Sherlock found the restaurant Wato and her date are having lunch at, and of course she sits on Wato's chair, asking her to ditch her wannabe boyfriend because she has to go with her to chase Arisa. As you can see from the screencap below, Wato is overjoyed.

Why is Sherlock so adamant about having Wato with her? Well, probably because Sherlock is perfectly aware she's socially inept. In the first episode, when they went to Kuuya's apartment, she rang the bell then she shoved Inspector Reimon ahead so he could interact with Kuuya's girlfriend. Now this buffer role belongs to Wato, who in the last two episodes showed a certain capability when it comes to interact with people and to rein Sherlock in (something that Kento, who is as smart as Sherlock, noticed immediately).

Sherlock explains it's an emergency because Arisa found a way to extort her the password, but even though Wato is worried about the data ending in the wrong hands, she has a date and she doesn't want to waste it.

At that point Sherlock proceeds to list all the reasons why Wato shouldn't bother with him, because he's just a narcissist loser looking for an easy prey, and invited Wato out for lunch just because she's a doctor. But Wato doesn't want to listen to her.

Ouch.

Unfazed, Sherlock goes to find Arisa alone, but Cute Narcissistic Poser, terrorized by Sherlock, decides to ditch the date leaving Wato to pay the bill. Poor Wato, what became bad day is going ot become a lot worse.

Meanwhile Sherlock is contacted by Yuma: Arisa asked her to join her for lunch in a hotel. Sherlock bursts into Arisa suite only to receive bad news:

Yuna kidnapped Wato. She's the psychopath, not Arisa, it was her who killed their father, she hatched the plan and she tortured Watanuki. The password is multilayered just like Kento said, Lily of the Valley just gave access to a second password box and an hour time limit. It had been a nasty surprise for the Shina sisters, that forced them to kidnap Wato in order to blackmail Sherlock.

These are the conditions: Sherlock will crack the password. Every time she will fail, Yuma will shock Wato upping the voltage a notch. If she won't succede at the third try, Wato will die. The original time limit, an hour, now is reduced to just a few minutes, so she has to hurry.

For the first time we are showed Sherlock's reasoning process, and it's a pity it hadn't been used in all the episodes, because I liked the way the images materialized onscreen following Sherlock's explanations. But the first attempt is wrong, so Wato receives a first shock.

Sherlock can't focus, she needs to eat, so she begins to tear into her omnipresent chocolate box.

The second try is wrong too, and Yuma is ready to give Wato a second shock.

Wato asks Yuma why is she doing this, the girl answers that she wants that drug to help children, so they will forget their suffering at the hands of their parents and will be able to confront the society that allowed them to be targets of violence.

Sherlock immediately calls out Yuma's hypocrisy: she doesn't want to help children, but to forget her own suffering.

Yuma shocks Wato a second time and threatens to kill her. Sherlock encourages her to go on, because she had always wondered what 1000 volt can do to a human brain. But not cracking the password would be a pity, so che goes for the last try: flowers of may were born from the Virgin Mary's tears, so the password is formed by the atomic numbers of Te (tellurium) and Ar (Argon). Arisa tries immediately and at last the molecule of the drug is visible. Sadly, Sherlock got the password wrong, and the data are cancelled before Arisa's eyes, just like Kento said.

Inspector Reimon enters the room, saying that he listened everything they said: Sherlock's chocolate box hid a small transceiver (a bit of a revenge on Sherlock's part), and the police has enough evidence to arrest both Shina sisters.

At the same moment, Shibata with a squad of cops prevents Yuma to kill Wato and takes the woman into custody.

The next morning finds Sherlock and Wato sharing sleeping quarters. I don't think I need to point out how cute Sherlock is, asleep with her head on Wato's legs.

For whoever might be wondering, of course Wato has been brought to the hospital after Shibata found her, she spent the night there and the next day, after the doctors completed all the necessary check ups, she was transferred to 221b where she just fell asleep on the couch, with Sherlock staying by her side until she woke up. It's not mentioned in the show, but this explanation can be found in the novelization.

After encouraging Sherlock to get up or her back will hurt, Wato asks her if she is upset because she couldn't solve doctor Watanuki's enigma. She will never know the password. Ah, the password?

And Sherlock proceeds to explain, with some sort of manic glee, that March winds and April showers bring May flowers, as they say in England, so you need Winds-W like Tungsten, and Showers- S like Sulphur to make the flower bloom, their atomic numbers form the last password. So Sherlock gave Arisa the wrong password on purpose.

What?

That crazy woman almost killed her! Also, how did the police find her in time? And at last we know how Sherlock (and consequently Shibata) was able to find Wato at the restaurant: the patch Sherlock gave her wasn't an aphrodisiac, but a GPS.

This woman is unbelievable. Reimon arrives to ask about Wato's health and to show Sherlock a notebook that belongs to Yuma: the words Stella Maris are repeated thousands of times on all its pages, and there are other notebooks full of this stuff.

Stella Maris was one of the epithets of the Virgin Mary, and also one of the names of the North Star, one of the stars of the Little Dipper, because sailors used it to find the way when sailing.

Sherlock remembers Akiko's phone case had the Little Dipper on it, and thinks that Stella Maris might be some kind of group, that helped Akiko with the bombs and probably helped the Shina sisters too. Now the game is afoot.

In the next episode Sherlock and Wato will meet a vampire, Sherlock will explain why she doesn't like children and Wato will manage to win Sherlock's respect showing that emotional intelligence can be pivotal to solve a case. And no, they still aren't friends.

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 2: Sachiko's Mustache

"Oooookay. Stay still and let me analyze you..."

Spoiler free summary: Wato and Sherlock now are living together and they have a rocky start. Mrs Maibara, a friend of Mrs Hatano, asks Sherlock to solve the mystery of the defacing of a beloved painting she lent to a museum, an apparenty senseless vandalistic act that Sherlock thinks has been done for a specific purpose. That intertwines with the murder of a famous art dealer, an unlucky artist's hopes and a rich collector's obsession. Sherlock reveals to Wato her addiction and Wato starts her therapy sessions with doctor Irikawa.

Triggers: su1c1de.

Episode 1 recap here.

SPOILER

It's morning at 221b and Sherlock, in an almost meditative state, is playing cello while reflecting on the last case she investigated on. She's still sure somebody helped Akiko with her gruesome plan.

The scenes of her playing (Yuko Takeuchi took cello lessons for a few months showing to be quite talented and she's really her who plays in this scene) are intercut with scenes of Wato and Mrs Hatano cooking a traditional Japanese breakfast. The whole moment has the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No.1 as background music, the piece Sherlock is currently playing, and that creates a very peaceful ambiance. A peace that, sadly, won't last.

Before going on I'd like to point out the excellent work the production did with the set of Sherlock's apartment. Or, well, the set of Sherlock's living room, because it's there that 99% of the scenes at 221 take place. I mean, look at it.

We were talking about a peace that doesn't last, and it's what Wato learns at her own expense when Sherlock tells her she doesn't want the Thank You Breakfast she slaved over since 5.00 am that day.

But Sherlock just wants a coffee and Wato shouldn't prepare breakfast when she hasn't been asked to. And about the things Wato should or shouldn't do, Sherlock has made a list of rules that Wato has to follow if she wants to keep living at 221b.

If she doesn't like them, she's free to go. What does the list say? If you are curious, and want to learn more about Sherlock (it's never said in the show but she's almost certainly autistic) and her sense of humor (a couple of the points of this list seem to have the specific purpose to rile Wato up) click on this link where the excellent legacy-of-the-westside-prince, with the help of other users, translated Sherlock's demands for all of us to enjoy.

So Sherlock has the coffee she wanted while Wato decides to eat by herself all the food she cooked. In that moment Mrs Hatano enters the living room telling Sherlock her new client has arrived, something Wato had to inform her about, but... ooops, apparently after the discussion about breakfast it slipped off her mind. Pity. It's interesting to see that Wato can be petty and she's not above getting revenge on Sherlock when she annoys her too much.

The client, Mrs Maibara, is the wife of a late antique dealer. Recently she lent to an art museum a beloved painting by Saneatsu Kishida that had been gifted to her by her husband. The painting, titled Sachiko (a portrait of Kishida's wife) has been defaced by an unknow vandal. Unknown because the man, after ruining the painting, had an accident while he ran away and now he's in coma at the hospital, and he hadn't with him an ID or other things that could help to determine his identity.

In Sherlock's opinion this isn't a case of casual vandalism: the man hadn't anything that could identify him because the painting has been ruined on somebody's request and this somebody didn't want to be linked to the vandal.

Wato and Sherlock go with Mrs Maibara to the art gallery where they are greeted by a mortified director, who immediately brings them to see the defaced painting. It's cute see that even the ever compassionate Wato can't help smiling when she sees the state "Sachiko" is in.

Sherlock asks Mrs Maibara if something unusual happened to her recently, and she says that an art dealer, Mr. Yanagisawa, tried to buy "Sachiko" offering her whatever amount of money she asked. She refused because the painting is too important to her. Sherlocks mulls over this and in that moment the restorer, Mr. Kuwabata, arrives with his assistants to take "Sachiko" away in order for it to be cleaned.

There's not much to do at the museum anymore, so Sherlock and Wato go to visit the vandal at the hospital. He's still in coma, but Sherlock seems to notice a few things about him.

After the hospital the two stop for a snack. Or, Wato stops for a snack, Sherlock's looks more like a lunch, with this luscious spread of traditional Japanese pastries.

That's Sherlock's addiction: sweets. Of course, because the brain can't work without sugar. During the series we'll often see her eating chocolate when she needs the energy to focus. While they eat (with Sherlock's selection of pastries not keeping her from stealing Wato's)

Sherlock explains that the vandal went to the museum with the intent of defacing "Sachiko". At the hospital she noticed he had the numbers 5-3 on the back of his hand, that concides with the number of the room and the number assigned to the painting, as written on a document Sherlock has 'accidentally' taken from the museum. He wrote a memo to be sure he would target "Sachiko" and not another painting. This is evidence he was ordered to deface "Sachiko" by the real culprit.

Also, Yanagisawa the art dealer must be interrogated, they'll go to him as soon as they'll finish eating. Wato declines, she states she has therapy, the medical corps recommend it to doctors who come back from a warzone. Sherlock scoffs and says therapy won't solve her problems. Is she speaking from experience? Anyway Sherlock's words will be prophetic, as we'll learn in the next episodes.

At Yanagisawa's gallery, Sherlock finds Reimon and Shibata. Apparently Yanagisawa killed himself the previous evening, jumping from the window of his office. It's almost certain it's a suicide because his employees say he had so many debts that he had take sleeping pills to fall asleep, and the man who witnessed his death didn't see anyone exiting the building while he was waiting for the police to to come. Also the whole building has been searched and the cops didn't find anybody, moreover Yanagisawa's office was locked from the inside.

Sherlock searches Yanagisawa's office and deduces he had been killed. The office key is not the right one, and when Sherlock inspects the roof she finds something: some kind of resin next to the railing. The killer left a decoy key to misled the investigation, he locked the office with the real key then he threw Yanagisawa from the roof.

Shibata is outraged: nobody else was in the building when Yanagisawa fell! But Sherlock doesn't want to listen to Shibata's complaints: she needs a few cops to search the street in front of the museum, where the vandal had the accident. She noticed he had a missing piercing, maybe if it's found they could have something to trace his identity. She believes that the defaced painting case and Yanagisawa's death are linked. Shibata is chosen as the errand boy.

Meanwhile Wato is at her therapy session, with a sweet-looking therapist called Mariko Irikawa. Irikawa recommends Wato to tell her whatever it's in her mind, without thinking about it too much. She's also available to just chat with her, whatever Wato needs.

Later in the afternoon Wato and Sherlock are following another lead: Yanagisawa had been tasked by a rich art collector, Mr. Takakura, to buy "Sachiko" from Mrs. Maibara. The two visit Takakura, who is surprised by Yanagisawa's suicide.

Takakura admits he's disappointed by Maibara's refusal to sell the painting, but also believes that art should stay with people who appreciate it, and clearly Mrs Maibara loves that painting more that he does. Just like he loves the portrait of the ballerina he keeps in his office.

He also has an alibi for Yanagisawa's death: he was at a party that celebrated his company, there are hundreds of witnesses.

Later, at 221b, Sherlock keeps working on the case while Wato reads a biography of Saneatsu Kishida, and says that Mr. Maibara gifted "Sachiko" to his wife because he knew that Kishida showed his love for his wife painting her portrait. Basically Maibara expressed his appreciation for his own wife giving her that painting. Sherlock has a more cynical point of view, probably Maibara chose that painting out of guilt because he cheated on her, or because her tried to tell his wife to be more devoted and to support him like Kishida's wife did with her husband.

Wato isn't having anything of that, and asks Sherlock if she ever fell in love, receiving a predictable answer:

(What did I say about Shihori Kanjiya faces? lol)

At that point, Sherlock focuses all the power of her deductive abilities on her roommate, entering her personal space and being... physical with her: the whole ordeal is extremely embarassing for poor Wato (making her gay panicking, of course).

The novelization is written from Wato's point of view, and in this scene of the book she informs the readers that having Sherlock's full attention focused on you is like being stripped naked. So Wato's reaction might seem exaggerated, but it's actually quite understandable. There are things about her she doesn't want Sherlock to know (they'll be revealed in a few episodes) but when you live with a crime-solving genius it's physically impossible to keep your life private. Because oh, yes, Sherlock knows.

When Mrs Hatano arrives with a cake, she finds them in this position and comments they're becoming good friends (Mrs Hatano. That's gay). Again, their answers are predictable: they're not friends, not even a bit.

Anyway Sherlock spent the evening analyzing the resin she found, and determined that it's Manila coppal, that it's used as a varnish in painting. And who could use it if not a restorer?

The next day Sherlock and Wato visit Kuwabata who is slowly but surely bringing back "Sachiko" to its former glory. They chose him to do the job because he contacted the musem right after the defacing incident, but Kuwabata points out he regularly contacts museums stating his availability. They learn that Kuwabata is also an artist, even though he hadn't much luck. Not coincidentally, Sherlock finds he uses Manila coppal for his work.

But it seems he didn't kill Yanagisawa because he was at a convenience store while the art dealer fell on the sidewalk, he still has the receipt. Apparently the investigation is at a standstill, both the suspects have a solid alibi.

But Sherlock says their alibis don't count, because Yanagisawa had been killed by a timing device. The killer visited Yanagisawa hours before he fell, and spiked his drink with his own sleeping pills. When the man fell asleep they brought him on the roof and put him on the ledge. Hours later Yanagisawa woke up and, disoriented and confused, fell from the ledge. The evidence he fell from there is the dust he has on his back, the same that Sherlock found on the ledge when she inspected the roof.

Also, it seems that Shibata found the vandal's piercing, and made some friends in the process.

With the picture of the piercing Sherlock and Wato investigate a few tattoo parlors until they find the right one: the owner says that piercing was made for a guy called Kijima, who worked recently for an art gallery in Ginza. So the vandal's name is Kijima and he was tasked to vandalize Sachiko by Yanagisawa.

That evening finds the two roommates enjoying a relaxed dinner at 221b, but it's more a banquet than a dinner, since Sherlock couldn't decide what to order and now they have food for at least 10 people.

But it doesn't matter, because discussing the case it's far more interesting than figuring out how they will manage to put all that stuff in their fridge. It's clear that the restorer, the art dealer and the collector are all involved in the case of the defaced painting. Buy why was Yanagisawa killed? Sherlock says they have to solve the Stradivarius mystery first. On the art dealer's desk there was a book about the famous Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari. And since Yanagisawa didn't deal in instruments and evidently he wasn't interested in music, it's probable that the book is linked to the case.

The chat is interrupted by some flamboyant guy, a Sherlock's acquaintance, who works for a museum and that lent his expertise to Sherlock in a case involving a fake Matisse. He visited to say hi, and he proceeds to tell about the case and the fact that fake paintings are really common. The man arrested for forgery had been a very capable restorer. At that point, Wato is certain she connected the dots.

We'll see she didn't connect shit. Bonus screencap for the absolutely dismayed face the guy made when he learned Sherlock and Wato aren't friends. I wonder why he was so scandalized.

The next day Sherlock and Wato burst in Kuwabata's laboratory, flamboyant guy in tow, while "Sachiko" is going to be given back to the museum director. Wato accuses Kuwabata of conspiring with Yanagisawa: the painting has been defaced so it could end in Kuwabata's hands and he could make a fake to return to Mrs. Maibara. Flamboyant guy examines "Sachiko" on Wato's request, but he says he's certain the painting is a Kishida original. But Sherlock noticed something: "Sachiko" and the beloved painting Takakura keeps in his office are exactly the same size. Wato doesn't understand, so Sherlock explains it in her inimitable way:

...and you're left with the unlikely truth. It's time to visit Mrs. Maibara and take a look at her husband's ledgers.

Hours later, Kuwabata brings Takakura a parcel of the exact size of "Sachiko". The restorer ask the collector to keep his promise to help him to become a famous artist and Takakura promises, but their meeting is crashed by Wato and Sherlock, who proceeds to explain what happened: Takakura is involved in the "Sachiko" scam, but he didn't want the painting, because he was interested in the frame. And the frame was made by...

The frame had been originally made by Stradivari for the ballerina painting Takakura keeps in his office. They had been separated for centuries and Takakura wanted nothing more than seeing them reunited.

But Mrs. Maibara didn't want to sell, so Yanagisawa used Kuwabata's skills to forge a new frame and get the original one for Takakura. Kuwabata killed Yanagisawa because the art dealer didn't want to keep his promise to help him becoming a real artist. Just like Takakura, who promised him a one-man exibition, but of course he lied.

Both Kuwabata and Takakura are arrested, and the frame is given back to its owner. A couple of days later, Mrs. Hatano brings Sherlock Mrs. Maibara's thanks and announces a surprising development:

But the painting won't be vandalized this time, because Mrs. Maibara decided to guard it herself, allowing herself to abandon the reclusive life she lead in the last years after her husband's death.

Meanwhile, Wato decided to visit doctor Irikawa to tell her about the mystery of Sachiko's mustache.

In the next episode Wato finds a job and somebody deceives her, Sherlock shows her disgust for loser men and somebody blackmails her, a genius doctor is kidnapped because somebody wants the data of his research, and evidence emerge that Sherlock mayyyyybeeee is beginning to care about Wato. Not much, just a little bit.

Episode 3 recap here

[arthkael]

Miss Sherlock Episode 1: The First case

"You smell like gunpowder, baby."

Spoiler free summary: In "The First Case", doctor Wato Tachibana (Shihori Kanjiya) is coming back to Tokyo from Syria, where she served as a volunteer in a hospital. Immediately after the landing, she witnesses the gruesome death of her mentor, doctor Mizuno, and meets Inspector Reimon and Sergeant Shibata, the two cops who will investigate Mizuno's death. At the police station she will also meet an enigmatic and eccentric woman nicknamed "Sherlock" (Yuko Takeuchi), an independent consultant detective who helps the Tokyo Metropolitan Police in difficult cases like this. Even though the two can barely stand each other, they will investigate together what seems to be the beginning of a series of killings.

Now let's go to the juicy bits.

SPOILER

Triggers: su1c1d3, gor3, drugs

When doctor Wato Tachibana comes back after her volunteer period in Syria, her family is not there to greet her. In fact, only doctor Mizuno, who she worked with in a hospital in Tokyo, came to see her at the airport.

Even though he is not a relative, the man seems genuinely happy to see she's safe. And apparently the letters he wrote her during her stay in Syria had helped her a lot. But Wato's joy at seeing a familiar face doesn't last long, because... a flash, a bang, and Mizuno falls like a puppet whose strings have been cut. I'm sparing you the screencap, the only thing you have to know is that poor Wato tries desperately to save Mizuno, applying pressure on a wound that can't be closed through pressure.

A bit later Inspector Reimon and Sergeant Shibata are on the crime scene and while the Inspector tries to understand what happened (I seriously love this man, for his humor and his endless collection of fancy neckties),

Shibata is dismayed to learn he has to take pictures of the body and send them to a certain "weirdo".

Wato can't be of help because she's still in shock and anyway the victim's wife is already at the police station, so all the conversations will be held there.

At the police station Wato proceeds immediately to apologize to Akiko, Mizuno's wife. Wato, honey. Seriously, why are you apologizing? You did nothing, literally. The next step is confirming the victim's identity, but when they enter the room the body is kept in, they find a woman rummaging into the corpse because she couldn't allow "a rookie forensic doctor to ruin the autopsy":

Read the novelization if you can. In this scene Wato gay panics and literally describes her as perfection made woman. But let's go on. Even though Reimon reprimands her the woman, who he called Sherlock, keeps examining the wound until she finds...something. The probable cause of Mizuno's death. But the wife is there, so Sherlock should be a little more considerate. Completely ignoring Reimon's advice, Sherlock proceeds to show how smart she is immediately identifying without doubt who's the wife and who's the doctor who just came back from Syria after her volunteering period.

Also, it's interrogation time and that can't wait. Sherlock's investigation has been fruitful,

poor doctor Mizuno had a small bomb inside his stomach, full of a liquid explosive called "the devil's foot". Sherlock found some kind of chip that probably had been used to detonate it remotely. From there, Sherlock proceeds to ask Akiko a series of embarassing and very personal questions,

that make the woman have a panic attack. Oh, enjoy the screencap below of the face Sherlock makes when Akiko starts hyperventilating because it's just..."I have an investigation going on and she has the gall of interrupting it with a panic attack". This woman, I swear.

Seeing that Akiko is useless for the time being, Sherlock tries to leave the premises asking Reimon to call her when the victim's wife will be ready to answer her questions.

Wato isn't having anything of that and follows Sherlock to give her an earful about how you should behave with a person that just lost their spouse, especially when you are a cop. But, to Wato's surprise, Sherlock doesn't feel guilty or embarassed for what she said, and tells Wato she's not a cop, but a consultant, something that Reimon confirms right away. But Wato is upset because Sherlock was able to guess she's a doctor from Syria, how did she know?

An explanation follows, then Sherlock, not satisfied of giving such a mundane list of evidences (thread for suturing on her suitcase, her watch is six hours late, recently a hospital in Syria has been destroyed and the Japanese medical team came back today), shows her total disregard for personal space smelling Wato and whispering "I can smell gunpowder on you, a mix of RDX and aluminium".

Of course, Wato gay panics. Sherlock leaves and Reimon gives Wato his business card, telling her to call him if she remembers something. The next day, after a sleepless night caused by jet-lag and probably trauma too, Wato finds herself at Sherlock's door. She called Reimon to have Sherlock's address, she wants the truth about Mizuno's death and she will have it, even though she will have to collaborate with such a difficult woman. She learns it's not Sherlock's door, but Mrs Hatano's, who rents her an apartment.

And said apartment has, of course, a very familiar number...

Wato's meeting with Sherlock doesn't go well. First Sherlock mocks Wato's clothes, then she throws her a Hermès coat to wear because she can't think if her aesthetic sense is disturbed (I feel you, Sherlock). Pity that said coat had been used in an...unorthodox way.

But Sherlock should forget about the clothes, because Wato wants to know who killed Mizuno. He had written her 19 letters during her stay in Syria, those letters helped when she was living in an unfamiliar place, why did he die like that, and... Sherlock is not even listening, dammit!

In fact Sherlock isn't listening to Wato's tirade because she had already figured out the mechanics of the homicide. Apparently Poldhu, a medical startup, made a pill with a microchip that could monitor health sending data to cellphones. It's very likely that the killer tampered with one of those pills to make it into a bomb. But Sherlock hasn't time to explain, because they found another body, and that makes her insanely happy...

Apparently the unfortunate victim died like poor doctor Mizuno. Hearing that, Wato insists to follow Sherlock, that decides that Wato can go with her if she's willing to put her medical experience at her service.

So off they go, and Mrs Hatano is super happy to see Sherlock go out with somebody, she already ships them. The victim is Ryuichi Kurimoto who, say a few witnesses, died blabbering something about a devil. Sherlock asks Wato to examine his corpse and it's clear that nobody forced the victims to swallow the bombs, all of them did it willingly, maybe believing they were medicines...or something else.

Sherlock gives spectacle of herself making her own examination, that includes smelling the body and deducing that the last place where the dead man spent his time was a club, deduction confirmed by the re-entry stamp on the back of his hand.

He had also a keychain with the kind of tags rehab facilities give you for every month of sobriety. Is it possible he was involved in drug trafficking? The only thing to do is to check the club he visited the last night, The Criterion.

Cranky and overstimulated, Sherlock wants answers and she wants them now. The owner, who is clearly a criminal, tries to deflect telling her it's the first time she brings a friend with her.

She answers saying 友達 じゃない (tomodachi janai), "(this person is) not my friend". Remember this line because you will hear it in every. Single. Episode. Bonus for Wato's scared face because she understood in what kind of place Sherlock brought her. Shihori Kanjiya is an endless source of funny faces, especially when Sherlock does something weird or inappropriate. The owner of the Criterion club vaguely threatens her about the danger of sticking her nose in other people's business, so she effectively threatens him about the illegal business that go on in his estabilishment.

One of the employees of the club confirms that Kurimoto was an addict, and he was friends with the club's DJ, Kuuya. The latter one sold him drugs, and had a circle of rich doctors who bought this kind of substances from him. Wato's hackles are immediately raised when Sherlock insinuates that maybe doctor Mizuno was an addict.

The next day Wato visits Akiko, and this allows us to learn something about Wato: after she completed her medical training she wanted to work in her father's hospital in Sapporo, but then the 2011 earthquake happened (remember the series takes place in 2018) and she went to Syria instead. In an enviroment of constant emergency she learned that she would never be a real doctor, because she panicked and froze when it came to act quicky (I don't understand why, she reacted very quickly when she tried to help Mizuno)...

So she doesn't want to be a doctor anymore. Since her family didn't want her to volunteer they shunned her, and now she can't go home. She and Akiko go to a walk, where Wato sees her mentor's wife quickly fixing a little girl's hair, acting like she did it a lot of times. But Mizuno and Akiko haven't children, because Akiko didn't want to... Wato hasn't time to wonder about this because Sherlock sends her a message: she waits for her at Poldhu heaquarters, and she's not alone.

The man with her is her brother, Kento Futaba, who works for the Intelligence Service and of course an electronic pill that can be made into a bomb falls into his professional interest. I'll say that I like this incarnation of Mycroft a lot. He and Sherlock seem to genuinely like eachother, they often engage in friendly banter. They also try to take care of eachother, and Kento especially is very protective of Sherlock.

The three are greeted by the Poldhu management and Sherlock, ignoring Kento's recommendations, decides to conduct the interrogation herself, forcing them to relinquish the list of the contributors who financed their electronic pill. One of the contributors is Kuuya, who received four samples of the pill. That means that he is the killer and there could be other two victims. Inspector Reimon calls, alerting Sherlock that a young woman called the police saying her boyfriend, Kuuya, had a nervous breakdown and ran away screaming something about a devil.

While Sherlock and co. search Kuuya's apartment, learning that he was in Kurimoto's same rehab clinic, Kuuya goes to the rehab facility to kill Yohei Makishima, a drug addict that keeps entering and exiting rehab. Scared out of his mind, Kuuya is obeying the orders of a mysterious person who will kill him if he doesn't terminate Makishima.

Sherlock, Wato, Reimon and other cops arrive on time and stop him. Apparently Makishima is not just a drug addict, but also a murderer, ten years ago he killed a child, and somebody used Kuuya to try to make him pay for what he did. Sherlock and Wato talk to the director of the clinic and learn that he received a threatening letter a few months earlier.

Looking at the letter Sherlock understands something and asks Reimon to find the parents of the child Makishima killed. That evening, Akiko receives a visit that brings her upsetting news:

Akiko is the killer...what happened? Well, Akiko was a single mother whose daughter, Airi, had been killed by Makishima. She tried to move on and married Mizuno, but when she learned that her daughter's murderer was out of prison, she decided to kill him using one of his addict friends. She made a donation to Poldhu in Kuuya's name in order to receive the pills that she made into bombs. Being a pharmacist, she had the equipment she needed.

But Mizuno discovered the flow of money, so she killed him. Then she proceeded to deliver the pills to Kuuya who in turn gave one to Kurimoto. Kurimoto refused to collaborate so she killed him. Then she revealed to Kuuya the true nature of the pill he had just taken in order to force him to kill Makishima.

The evidence? Well, the police found the money she gave to Poldhu. And there's the stamps.

Those special stamps formed an image. Mizuno used 19 of them to send his letters to Wato, and Akiko used one for the threatening letter she sent to the rehab clinic. Akiko confesses, but decides that all this pain stops here. She takes her cellphone and a detonation can be heard. Sherlock tries to stop her but sadly Akiko dies like every other victim of this episode, the last pill was for her. But there's more:

Sherlock is somewhat convinced that the woman couldn't hatch that kind of plan all alone, so she tries to make her talk. Too late, Akiko is already dead.

Reimon is satisfied of the outcome of Sherlock's investigation, but Sherlock insists that somebody helped Akiko. Even though she was a pharmacist, it's impossible she had the knowledge to make those bombs all by herself.

Meanwhile Kento is arrived on the crime scene and the first thing he does is worrying for Wato (let's all Stan Kento because he's one of the good ones): he apologizes because she was involved in the case, moreover she hasn't a home or a job, what will she do now? She answers that she doesn't know, that she will think about it when she'll go back to her hotel.

Wato is understandbly sad and exhausted, she saw too many deaths in the few days after she came back, and two of them were people she cared about. Of course she has a lot of feelings to process, but before leaving she has just one last question: why Sherlock is called Sherlock? She wants to know. Sherlock's only answer is this enigmatic stare that can only mean a Tragic Backstory (TM).

Seeing the two interacting (and seeing that Wato is probably the only person that from what he knows genuinely showed interest in Sherlock) Kento has an idea: she should go live with Sherlock!

Sherlock is outraged, she doesn't need a babysitter! But Kento would feel better if he knew she lives with a friend. And, of course:

But fate lends a hand: Shibata arrives to alert Inspector Reimon that the have to go to Hotel New Kamata, the building is burning, it's a disaster. Conveniently, it's the hotel Wato is currently staying in. So Kento takes to most logical (and reassuring for him) decision:

Sherlock acquiesces, but she isn't happy.

Well, that was ominous. The next time we'll see slice-of-life antics happening at 221b, a mystery about a pair of mustaches, Sherlock revealing her addiction, Wato going to therapy and the nth confirmation that Wato and Sherlock aren't friends. Nope. Not even a bit.

[arthkael]

About rediscovering old dramas, discovering new ones and learning you missed something.

So. In the last couple of months I went through my DVD collection because of personal reasons, and I exumated from the pile a Japanese drama called "Pride", a TV series about a hockey team and their hotheaded captain Halu Satonaka. Actually, "Pride" is also about Halu's non-girlfriend, Aki, and the progression of their love story. Watch it if you can.

While I was rewatching it, I wondered what the actors are doing right now. Not Takuya Kimura (Halu), because that man is a famous actor and singer and last time I checked he was basically a national treasure. I was interested in Yuko Takeuchi (Aki), the female protagonist, who I had seen just in another production, the movie "The Glorious Team Batista", playing a cute but spacey medical detective.

I checked her Wikipedia page and I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that she had played a female version of Sherlock Holmes in the HBO Asia drama "Miss Sherlock". Since in "Pride" her role is "girl-next-door-frail-but-with-a-lot-of-inner-strength-and-a-strong-moral-compass", I couldn't wait to see her playing the part of the "Shut up fives a ten is speaking" kind of character. Also:

Well. Uhm. Let's go on.

Sadly, I didn't realize I missed something and I learned this when I checked Takeuchi's Wikipedia page again a few hours later.

Miss Sherlock S1 aired in Spring 2018. HBO Asia teased the fans about a S2 for a good part of 2019. But during that year Takeuchi spent several months on matern!ty leave, I suppose (she gave b!rth in January 2020), so I don't think they could have filmed even though they had a script. Then the pand3mic hit. Then, sadly, in September 2020 Yuko Takeuchi t0ok her own life. She was 40. I'll spare you the details, I don't want to upset my 25 readers, apparently a post-p@rtum d3pression that had been overlooked has to be blamed for this.

I was shocked, and I admit I felt like crying. I began watching Miss Sherlock, and I was amazed at all the talent that had been lost. So, as a tribute, and as a way to share my new fixation, in the next days I'll recap all the 8 episodes of this show. I'm not deep enough to make a thorough analysis, but I hope that the followers who didn't know this series will be intrigued enough to watch it. With all its flaws, it's still a good piece of television.

[arthkael]

About the importance of research in translation

The other day I was leafing through my copy of The Amber Spyglass. It's the first Italian edition, now this was corrected in later editions, but mine has an absolutely appalling description of the Mulefa.

Basically the guy who translated the book didn't understand much about how the Mulefa looked like. He made a decent job with their skeleton shape, but when it came about their trunk, well... Now I know that Mulefa have a trunk a bit like elephants, but years ago the Italian translator decided that "trunk" meant "busto" the world we use to name the upper body, the part where arms and head are attached.

"Trunk" has the same meaning in English too, but there are also several others (like "part of the tree") and one of the most used ones is, well, "sort of a prehensile nose".

So I spent the whole book imagining the Mulefa picking stuff up lodging it between their neck and their upper body (I refused to think their chest was somewhat concave and muscled enough to hold things, that would have made them eldritch beings), and I kept thinking "this is so impractical, how did they manage farming and all the rest? How did they survive?"

So, a small detail partially ruined my experience of the book.

If you have to translate something, please pay attention to the words you choose and make sure to analyze the original text in order to avoid this kind of mistake.

[arthkael]

Elianto

“A great battle of ideas was fought, and at the end there were no victors, no losers and no ideas anymore.”

I thought to write a few posts about Italian novels I enjoy. Even though the state of our literature is abismal (the last candidates to the Strega Prize were basically all about wars, family tragedies, rediscovering bonds with dead parents and so on, except Romana Petri and her biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), there are few authors who, thank god, can write something different than sad slice-of-life stories. I’ll start with Stefano Benni.

Elianto is one of Benni’s novels which setting is a dystopian world. I always enjoyed his dystopian stories and Elianto is the first I’ve read (and my favorite, since it has a coherent ending).

In Elianto Benni tells the story of three groups of characters who, everyone in their own way, fight against a dictatorship. These characters’ destiny is tied to Elianto, a child h0sp1tal1z3d in a clinic because of a severe 1lln3ss. Unbeknownst to them, Elianto is the key to defeat the corrupted government once for all.

From the summary:

“Leave Villa Bacilla, flying away with a sexy devil,

Fly over Tristalia, and the sad Party of the Twenty Presidents,

Visit Protoplas, Hermes Trismegistus' boiling, primordial world,

Visit Poseidon, its enchanted seas and Captain Guepiere's incredible galleon,

Visit Bludus, its fifty casinos, the Levantine District, and spend a dangerous evening at the Kisaseneshi,

Visit Mnemonia, talk to its will-o'-the-wisps, stroll through its Memories Fields, while avoiding to catch the embamboly,

Visit Medium and enjoy its Days of Goodevident Charity, but try to not die of boredom,

Visit Neikos and meet the wise and handsome Siperquater, and the noble Triperott, Paladin of the Right Cause,

Visit the Cold Desert of Yamserius, fight its Cannibal Angels and stop at Rangoutan's restaurant for a snack...

And try to come back in time to answer to the Last Fated Question...if you can, there's still hope."

In the state of Tristalia (”Saditaly”) life is regulated by the Zentrum, a supercomputer that is housed in a huge skyscraper called “The Nail”. The Zentrum controls the citizens by checking their level of fear through sensors implanted into a group of volunteers (and into a group of unaware people). Media controlled by the Zentrum help the government to mantain a certain level of fear so the Tristalians can’t rebel against the absurd conditions they are kept in.

To have water, heat and electricity people have to take a survey every day, through a dedicated governative channel on their interactive tv: if their answer falls into the majority they can have all the services they need, if it doesn’t, well...that day life will be difficult for them.

There are no elections. There are 20 political parties and there’s a candidate to presidency for every one of them. When it’s time to have a new president, the 20 candidates have to kill eachother by any means, and the last one standing can act as a dictator for a year, then the cycle starts again.

Tristalia is divided into 20 counties, The counties are usually independent, but every five years their independence is challenged by the government, so every county has to choose a champion who will have to compete with a governative champion in whatever competition the government chose. Losing the competition means to be “governatized to death”.

County no. 8 has been challenged to a very difficult trivia game for children. The governative champion is Baby Esatto, a 10-year-old genius pumped with IQ enhancing drugs. The county has its champion, the main character, Elianto. He’s a genius child who suffers from a debilitating illness called “the sweet disease”. There’s no cure for it and Elianto is becoming weaker with every passing day. He is currently hospitalized at Villa Bacilla, a clinic run by good doctor Satagius. Sadly, the government wants to close Villa Bacilla and transform it into a hospital for plastic surgery. The only way to prevent it is winning the competition  and retain the independence, but with Elianto out of commission the fate of County Number 8 looks grim.

One night, because of a series of cosmic incidents, a nootic map materializes on the wall of Elianto’s room. The map allows to travel to the Altereal Worlds, sort of parallel universes that can be reached only in an altered mental state. Elianto can’t leave his bed, but the map can show him the people whose intentions are more or less linked to him.

The story follows mainly three groups of people:

1. The devils: Satan sends his special agents Ebenezer, Carmilla and Brot on a mission to destroy the Zentrum. Satan thinks that the sinners who come from Tristalia are “extremely disappointing” because they completely lost “That audacity and thirst for knowledge that make transgression a noble act”. He believes that destroying the computer that controls them will make them more spirited. And the only way to destroy it is to find a Kofs, a creature that registers everything that happens in the multiverse, so to overload the Zentrum memory. The group takes its leave, using a nootic map stolen from the Heaven library to teleport to one of the Altereal worlds, where the kofs supposedly lives.

2. The suburban kids: Honeymouth, Iri and Rangio are Elianto’s friends. Honey is their leader and the stealth/hand-to-hand combat expert, Iri documents their adventures with her trusted camera, while Rangio knows “The Devil’s Twelve Chords”, a guitar technique that allows guitarists to manipulate the minds of people who hear their music. They decide to travel through the seven Altereal Worlds to find a cure for Elianto’s illness and allow him to compete against Baby Esatto at the Independence Games.

3. The Cloud Warrior and the yogis: Fuku Tiger-Eye lives in the Mountain County, home of the Cloud Warriors. To retain their independence, one of them has to win a fight against Rollo Napalm, governative wrestling champion. The only one who can beat him is the celebrated warrior Sad Tiger, who abandoned the county to move to one of the seven Altereal Worlds. So, with yogi Visamarachanda and yogi Patachamadanda, the only ones who can read the nootic map, Fuku starts his travels to find Sad Tiger.

The book also gives us perspective about Elianto’s family, the staff at Villa Bacilla and the government minions. The latter do their best to play dirty so their most prized champions (Rollo and Baby) can win the competition.

The Main Characters

Elianto Eliantemo: “Elianto is 13, and until two years ago he was the most lively child of County no. 8. Then came the dizziness, the grogginess, the cramps. ‘The Sweet Dis3@se’ or ‘The Solitary Dis3@ase’, as medical books named it”. Elianto is a kind, funny, incredibly smart boy (during a flashback we see him playing mental chess with another boy), and interested in every sort of discipline, especially astronomy (apparently his grandad encouraged him in his love for stars). His 1lln3ss paralyzed his legs and he can’t move from his bed. The author never describes him in detail, but we know his personality, his thoughts and his wishes.

Honeymouth (AKA Bouche, or Marten): “She was a girl with black hair in a bob, oriental eyes, a beautiful poppy-colored mouth and a creaky leather jacket. With her knife she could do anything, from opening a car to closing an argument. Se was as beautiful as a ray of sunlight on the suburb buildings, as a drop of blood, as a leaping cat”. Honeymouth is the leader of the suburban kids and she is a practical, non-nonsense person. She and Rangio have something going on, but she refuses to indulge in sappiness until their mission will be completed, because saving Elianto comes first. The author hints that she’s Asian.

Rangio (aka Butt-t0uch3r, or Swifty): “He was a skinny 15yo, with Viking hair, a checkered shirt and naked legs where, every now and then, you could see a scrap of denim. His tennis shoes were so worn that they looked like they had belonged to Rod Laver when he was a child”.  Rangio can manipulate people’s feelings and minds with the Devil’s Twelve Chords technique, taught to him by the ghost of the legendary guitarist Snailhand Slim, but he doesn’t like to use it because it’s implied that it has ill effects on his mental h3@lth. He is a shy, easily scared boy, not very bright but ready to fight for his friends. He’s in love with Honeymouth.

Iri (AKA the Shocked): “She had turquoise hair with blood red highlights, wore a Cossak jacket, silver leggings, and her boots were made of a brilliant green material, similar to a chewed gumdrop”. Iri is the youngest of the group, and dreams to become a famous movie director. That’s why she decided to document the group’s travels, making a movie titled “The Fearless Kids”. She is as brave and determined as Honeymouth, and sometimes she makes fun of Rangio’s fear and lack of intelligence.

Carmilla Drosera Lautrelia Pinguicola: she belongs to the tenth legion of the High Demon Zepar, and she’s a member of Squad number Seven with Ebenezer and Brot. She has bright yellow eyes, small horns that quiver like cat whiskers, she flies with the grace of a hawk, she is beautiful and, like every demon, has an allure that has an unhealthy effect on creatures that don’t belong to Hell. She is the strategic mind of the group and she is always very professional during missions. She can be very sarcastic but she cares a lot about Brot and Ebenezer, who considers her dear friends, not just coworkers. She is 26 (in human years).

Ebenezer Sinferru Petronius Snoberus: “He was a tall, noble-looking devil, with antelope horns and long black mustaches. He was wrapped in his charcoal grey wings like in a cape, and his tail was tipped by a silver pommel”. Ebenezer is the oldest, the strongest and most experienced member of Squad number Seven. He is always very serious and dignified, and doesn’t like Brot’s antics and childishness. He likes reading (apparently he appreciates Emily Bronte and Majakovski) and he isn’t ashamed to cry openly when he is moved by what he reads. Being the leader, he believes it’s his responsibility to protect his two teammates (in an occasion he shields Carmilla and Brot from a swarm of poisoned arrows). He is 30 (in human years).

Brot Caolila Aldamara Daiquirius: “He was an obese giant, with a belly like a boiler, and hairy like a boar. He had buffalo horns, kind beady eyes, and two fangs that, protruding from his lower lip, touched his sunglasses (he was photophobic)”.  The youngest member of the team, Brot loves eating and having fun. He literally eats his problems (he has also the habit to eat his own tail), EG when the group is harassed by a few thugs, he just tears an arm off their boss and eats it to intimidate the others. He has a nootic map tattoed on his ass, courtesy of Ebenezer. Sometimes he bickers with Ebenezer, but the two are good friends, and he looks up to Carmilla. He is 23 (in human years).

Fuku Tiger-Eye: member of the Cloud Warriors, a monastic order that has its headquarters in a Temple in the Mountain County. His master considers him the smartest and the most reliable of his disciples, that’s why he was sent on a mission to find Sad Tiger. Fuku is always calm and collected, and when he speaks he uses a poetic, sometimes exceedingly flowery language that people can find a bit boring. He has black hair that he keeps in a long braid and a tattoo of a red tiger on his right forearm. His mastery of the Seven Styles of the Cloud Kung-Fu is almost perfect, he is so strong that he can take down warriors in a full suit of armor. He’s also a master of disguise.

Yogi Visamarachanda and Yogi Patachamadanda: two yogis who lived at the Cloud Warriors temple to teach yoga to the students. Fuku remembers them as “Very nice men, and they grew those extraordinary bonsais”. When he meets them again, he discovers that they interiorized so much the spirit of the bonsais that they shrinked, becoming so small that they can fit comfortably in Fuku’s pockets. They are in perpetual conflict, and apparently their constant bickering represents the iteration of Yin and Yang. They are the only ones who can read the Temple nootic map, because the map itself is microscopic, drawn on rice paper made out of one rice grain.

Talete Fuschini: Talete is a nurse and works at Villa Bacilla. He likes his job, and thinks that alleviating other people’s suffering is the best thing a human being can do. He has extravagant theories about life, universe and all the rest. Thanks to his knowledge of the supernatural, he is the only nurse that realized that a nootic map materialized on the wall of Elianto’s room. Elianto is his favorite patient, and he does his best to distract and entertain him (since the Sweet Disease is a t3rm1n@l 1lln3ss). He can also see supernatural creatures that are invisible to the other people. When he was young he robb3d a bank.

Secondary Characters

Doctor Satagius: “Doctor Satagius is tall, shaky, bald, with a neck like a turtle and huge, cold hands that give him a lot of problems when he has to touch his patients. He has on his forehead a cross-shaped wrinkle, that becomes deeper when he has a professional doubt, and that means always.” Satagius is the director of Villa Bacilla, and keeps fighting the government to keep his clinic from becoming a SPA/center for plastic surgery. He believes Elianto can get better.

Doctor Siliconi: Satagius’ colleague, a plastic surgeon who is supportive of the government policies, he hopes that County 8 will lose the Independence Games, so he will transform Villa Bacilla in a beauty center. He complains about Satagius’ tendency to fill the clinic with t3rm1nal patients (who don’t bring money) and in his opinion all of them should be treated with Letex, a drug that reduces the recipient to a v3g3tative state.

Baby Esatto: “...a bespectacled, macrocephalic kid, with a complexion as white as margarine”. Elianto’s opponent in the Independence Games. His knowledge and his intelligence make him more mature that the other kids his age but, being 10, he throws temper tantrums when things don’t go his way. He hates losing.

Fido PassPass: journalist who works for the government and helps with the propaganda. He’s modelled on Italian journalist Emilio Fede.

Rollo Napalm: governative wrestling champion, he is scheduled to fight the champion from the Mountain County. His intelligence is not on par with his strength (apparently he isn’t capable to lace his shoes). It’s hinted he is bisexual.

Sad Tiger: designated champion of the mountain county and the strongest Cloud Warrior of all time. Apparently he abandoned the Cloud Temple because he was struck by a tragedy.

The Tango Dancer: the personification of d3@th. Only Talete, with his sensitivity for the supernatural, can see him and talk to him, even though every now and then a few people in Villa Bacilla caught a glimpse of him.

Alert:

Despite the themes, Elianto is not a book for children. It's a fun, good urban fantasy for 4dults, and there are a lot of s3xu@l innuendos, mostly in the parts of the text that recount the devils' adventures. I think it's suited for 16+ readers.

Quotes:

"What kind of country is this, where the only ones who still have hope are considered desperate?" (From the intro)

"You can't understand what an extraordinary medicine is the Letex, as known as Letheomniparesine," doctor Siliconi said in a dreamy tone […] "It's anestetic, anodine, analgesic, anti-spastic, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antipiretic, it flows in the suffering body like a comforting honey, no more pain, no more angst, no more tears, the patient relaxes, as if they're cradled by a big, benevolent hand."

"But they become like a vegetable," doctor Satagius protested, while reordering his old medicines, "No, less than a vegetable. They can't even squeak or piss sawdust in protest, like those trees they're cutting in our park." (Siliconi and Satagius)

"What kind of music is danced to during infernal sabbas? A few scholars say it's the "gringle", some kind of flamenco played by grinding teeth and wings flapping. For Reverend Orobas Paymon it's the trill of a violin. Reverend Carrol maintains that it's I am The Walrus by the beatles. For the anabaptists it's the 'cor de cul' a canon of farts executed with ignoble instruments but with a heavenly harmonic outcome. Mr Athanase Ledoux, famous case of apparent death, told he spent a few hours in hell, and he saw a sabba where they danced to Je Ne Regrette Rien played by an orchestra of harps. The demonologist Paganelli affirms they constantly play Jimi Hendrix at 78 rpm. In M.C. Noon opinion, infernal and heavenly music are both contained in the tango, because from rancor it becomes meditation and because, born in brothels, elevated itself to an unattainable purity." (intro to chapter 6)

Even though the three devils had already met [Lucipher], being in the presence of him was always thrilling. The CEO of hell was almost four meters tall, had a jovial face and a hooked nose, on his head there was an imponent rack of antlers, on the tips of which were attached post-its, cigarette butts, greeting cards, scarves, and even a Christmas ornament. His tail was hairy, purplish, tipped with a series of optionals like scissors, corkscrews, files and other tools, even a tow hook. (Chapter 7)

"Rebelling to the system? I wish they could! They think mediocre nastiness is a daring transgression, and they call 'gentless' their submission to arrogance." (Lucipher)

"Sometimes to have to eat a bit of shit if you want to reach your goal." (Sibilla, diviner eel)

"Talete Fuschini woke up from his refreshing, 5-minutes sleep, looked out of the window and saw that one of the firs he liked to decorate for Christmas wasn't there anymore. The chainsaw ate it, and now it was attacking the second one. A homeless blackbird was pecking on the windowsill. Talete, sighing, opened a can of fishing worms. He was feeding every bird with post lost tree tr@umatic d1sorder in the neighborhood." (chapter 10)

"Now every medicine goes through IV. We can't taste those horrible flavours anymore, like in the old times." (Talete)

"The Fear level is 216," Abakuk said, "and keeps increasing." "This is not good," president Previtali said, "a low level of Fear is damaging, but too much Fear makes a mess. People become nervous, they don't consume anymore, they fall s1ck, they don't want to work and become willing to listen every third rate peddler. And you can see the outcome in today survey: a 10% of 'I don't know'!" (Abakuk and Previtali)

[arthkael]

[arthkael]

Resident Evil village cross stitch patterns. All the five crests in one package: Umbrella crest, Dimitrescu crest, Heisenberg crest, Beneviento crest, Moreau crest.

Buy here.

[arthkael]

here have 10 pieces of writing advice that have stuck with me over the years

every character’s first line should be an introduction to who they are as a person

even if you only wrote one sentence on a really bad day, that’s still one sentence more than you had yesterday

exercise restraint when using swear words and extra punctuation in order for them to pack a punch when you do use them

if your characters have to kiss to show they’re in love, then they’re not in love

make every scene interesting (or make every scene your favorite scene), otherwise your readers will be just as bored as you

if you’re stuck on a scene, delete the last line you wrote and go in a different direction, or leave in brackets as placeholders

don’t compare your first draft to published books that could be anywhere from 3rd to 103rd drafts

i promise you the story you want to tell can fit into 100k words or less

sometimes the book isn’t working because it’s not ready to be written or you’re not ready to write it yet; let it marinate for a bit so the idea can develop as you become a better writer

a story written in chronological order takes a lot more discipline and is usually easier to understand than a story written with flashbacks

[arthkael]

Tran Hung ‘Children’s Book’ Haute Couture 2017 Collection