"You will be my assistant."
These small yet insignificant words in the grand scheme of things carry a heavy weight in a series of convalescing events, until eventually they converge on each other. An ever-revolving narrative.
Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru, also known as The Detective is Already Dead. Or more colloquially to its mainstream audience, Tanmoshi, is one of those encounters in the world of light novels you just can't explain.
A hidden gem in the mass stockpile of more relevant material.
A far-fetched duo, paths unlikely to ever cross, scouring the entire globe.
Opposing ideals, confrontations against a worldwide calamity known as SPES.
Solving crimes and battling the underworld, a force so committed to destruction.
Happy and sad times over scant numbers of years. Until out of the blue, with no amount of fanfare at all, Siesta, a much beloved, well-known character unceremoniously dies, vanished from the collective memory from the rest of the world.
Kimitsuka, her assistant, left behind by someone that's meant a great deal to his well-being.The Watson to her Holmes, a year prior to this point in the story.
Now in grief, somewhere between loose ends and coping.
Their three-year long companionship against this supernatural entity that took up most of his adolescent life.
Present for most of his existence.
Listless and wandering a world with no ounce of motivation, a chance confrontation with one who bears a strong resemblance to his teacher.
Uncanny and unsettling, at that.
His destiny irrevocably changed, his fate left up in the air as to what next step in his adventures entail.
Some elaborated realizations over Nagisa's entire being provides a sense of closure for his ample experience with Siesta.
She isn't gone, far be it from that.
She's still with him, however small, reassuring his many doubts were not in vain.
It gives him the bearing to move on.
A fast-paced segue into another sequence of events with an abrupt presence.
Yui Saikawa, one who should not have anything to do with this new partnership.
A popular and well-known personality.
Both coming from different worlds altogether, her intentions hidden but also revealed. Slowly-unfolding backstories, side-by-side with actions that fall in line with Kimi's sense of deduction reveals his complacency for not pursuing loose ends.
Entirely unfounded depths disclose his true nemesis.
Their demise assured, only now come crawling out of the woodwork.
Now a trio, their final destination aboard the cruiser heading to who knows where, finally Kimi is face to face with one who shares a troubled but fractured history with him.
Charlotte and him both, deeply intertwined in their past, chained to the existence known as Siesta. Her shadow lingers over them, a constant that keeps them from moving forward.
Char, who fancied herself an apprentice, a stark contrast to Kimi's designation, consigned to just one mention of her Detective.
Moving onward so as to move gently toward the person she so admired.
Kimi as well, unable to view himself as anything but an assistant, a veil of unwavering doubt that binds him.
Despite the fact he's entirely confident and able to hold his own, he can't shake off the feeling of working as someone's support, or right hand man. Siesta, very obviously at that, taught him just enough to keep himself independent of her, to strike out on his own for no recompense to again making himself inferior.
He's now the protagonist of his own story, rather than the associate that occupied the main portion of her life.
It all comes to a head in a resolution so tantamount to Kimi's progression as a character.
One final goodbye, a parting that feels earned, when his Detective once again comes out of the fray to protect and nurture him and his comrades' future in the present day. That one instant in his ongoing clash with SPES once again gives him and Char their sense of closure, the bearing to move forward, while contending with the fact of what exactly could have erased their time with Siesta, however faint it was.
Questions, more than answers.
Due to the out there nature of its obscure title, one might be aghast in assuming a story such as this to involve a kind of mystery, but it doesn't.
A major positive to its benefit.
I can't really explain without spoiling, and/or divulging certain elements I haven't already. The way the author, Nigozyu-sensei, implements and starts connecting various plot beats across a span of chapters is an impressive job in and of itself.
The many hiking trails make a believable amount of sense, the main impetus to making us care, getting involved with these people.
It's also a major plus to keep Siesta, a character already absent, to drive most of what goes on this volume.
She is entirely present the entire time, even though she's deceased.
She's the one most of, if not all think about and refers to. The memories she's left behind form the main portion of everyone's circumstances.
For Nagisa, a more literal meaning, owing to their shared cognizance with each other.
For Kimi and Char, ones who have already lived in another's chronicle of their life.
It's an incredible experience being relayed to the audience, managing to pull in elements from various works but still carving an identity for itself.
Managing to smartly use humor and serious, dramatic moments together along with changing perspectives and flashbacks does wonders.
Also, it's not a harem, anybody's reservations about that genre notwithstanding.
Each individual only expands the plot and enhances the direction the story's headed to in conjunction with Kimi's overall future path.
Their most important moments drive the next main arc.
It's absolutely worth it to forgo the anime and getting hooked onto the actual source.
Making the novel your first experience with this franchise is the best recommendation.
Compelling characters and enticing worldbuilding only further interests my inquiry to its next destination.
