Kyokou Suiri – 10

「虚構争奪」 (Kyokou Soudatsu)
“Dueling Fictions”

Kotoko and Rikka engage in a fortuituous battle of fictitious accounts – in attempting to establish the most plausible theory surrounding Steel Lady Nanase, so that they can further their respective goals of weakening or strengthening this urban apparition. And I won’t deny it was really fun to see them go at it – with Kotoko positing two different theories and Rikka seeking ways to shut them down.

1. Nanase Karin’s father committed suicide and framd her for it, and after discovering this fact in the afterlife, she has returned to set the record straight. 2. Nanase Karin’s older sister was complicit in her death and is suffering from the mental burden, with a third party seeking to relieve her by fabricating a ghost.

It’s a testament to Kotoko’s abilities when she begins to believe in the possibility of her own conjectures being true. Throughout this series, she’s definitely strung me along many times. Unfortunately, Rikka tears apart the final theory by correctly pointing out that would likely cause a lot more distress. It seemed quite jarring how poorly constructed that final theory was, compared to every other one that Kotoko came up with. But considering how a new pathway opened up to Kuro, I believe that it’s all part of Kotoko’s plans and that her trap card has been activated. What exactly is this possibility that was conceived, and will this put a nail in Steel Lady Nanase’s coffin once and for all? I guess we’ll only be able to find out next week.

Other than that, for me, Kyokou Suiri has somewhat run its course in terms of how things have been dragged out. As something of a mystery glutton, it feels like a cookie has been dangled in front of me for a while. It’s certainly going to taste great when I get around to eating it. But it’s likely going to be quite stale by that point in time – not to mention we aren’t getting real mystery, so much as who can bullshit the best. Don’t get me wrong – I still reckon this episode and its predecessors were great. That said, I can’t quite shake off my desire for quicker gratification to this lengthy arc – and would rather we be left with more answers, as opposed to even more questions in light of these new facts. But coming from the author behind Zetsuen no Tempest – a series that also had a second half which dragged on past its due date.

Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and catch you next week to find out the fourth solution that Kotoko came up with.

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