Bishounen Tanteidan – 09

「 押絵と旅する美少年 その2」 (Oshie to Tabi Suru Bishounen Sono Ni)
“The Pretty Boy Traveling with the Brocade Portrait (Part 2)”

For the second part of Kodaki’s arc in Bishounen Tanteidan, the resolution isn’t so much how she was able to transport such a large hagoita statue, but how Mayumi unpacks the ordeals that Kodaki has been contending with since her engagement to Nagahiro. As she starts to learn about her and her history, the pieces of the puzzle come together in a way that helps her extend a sturdier olive branch in Kodaki’s direction.

Much of this is thanks to how resilient Mayumi is as a person. The first few episodes delved more into this with how much disdain she initially had for the detectives, but her admission to being scum who is gung-ho with holding Kodaki accountable for acting out makes her far more viable to befriend an abrasive person like Kodaki. If Mayumi has an easier time holding her own against Kodaki than Manabu or Nagahiro, then she wouldn’t be so quick to turn away from her.

And as the end of the episode proved, Mayumi held onto the idea that solving cases for anyone, including scum or abrasive people, has the chance of allowing true beauty to blossom. Her persistence ended up paying off as she was the one to discover that she went underneath the floorboard to construct the hagoita inside of the clubroom. She might be the type of person to treat a 1st place award everyone got as her class’ 1st place award, but that kind of interpretation is the breeding ground for the creativity and ingenuity it would take to be a clear fit for the detective club.

On the opposite end, Kodaki ended up falling into a specific passion that would end up getting stifled because the powers that be hadn’t given her a chance to thrive from the very start. Her family trapping her and Nagahiro into an arranged marriage set back many of her ambitions soon after.

Her unrequited crush on Manabu couldn’t be realized because it clouded her mind from the limitations set by her partnership with Nagahiro, and would end up driving her into a bitter one-track-minded disdain for those around her. In return, her aggressive crush and her inability to hide her passion and anger ended up causing her to be looked over as soon as she asked Manabu. Although Nagahiro was tempted to annul their marriage for both of their sake, the decision not to give up on her would end up being a wake-up call to start considering whether it is worthwhile to keep up appearances with his and Kodaki’s family, or to cast away the relationship in favor of following their own hearts.