It’s not like I’m shocked that Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei is being so abstruse about a certain plot element.  It’s pretty much standard procedure in any anime that isn’t specifically marketed otherwise, and this series isn’t.  Nevertheless it’s a bit irritating that the series won’t just come right and say what now seems inarguable and obvious.  How hard would that be, really – and why do we have to play this silly game instead?

Things continue to advance, at least that can’t be argued either.  After focusing largely on Seigi in the first few episodes and leaving Richard a man of mystery, the worm has turned now.  It was quite cleverly done, really, and since Seigi is rather transparent and Richard decidedly opaque, a very logical way for the show to proceed.  The gemstone of the week is jade – specifically a 200 year-old piece of jade from China which resembles a Buddha’s Hand Citrus (delicious, by the way) – but in truth these last couple of episodes have been about Richard’s past, not the episodic stone story.

That jade is special for any number of reasons (I quite enjoyed the paternal smile on Richard’s face when he realized Seigi had figured that out), and it’s tagged with an expected price tag of ¥30000000 at an upcoming auction.  A wealthy collector’s lifetime of work is being auctioned off by his greedy family after his death, and Richard has been hired to try and procure the Buddha’s Hand jade.  But at the preview he runs into an old rival in town to bid, and he drops all kinds of interesting tidbits about Richard’s – or should I say Lord Claremont’s – past.

The story is taking its time filling in the spaces around the margins with Richard.  We still don’t know how much of what he’s told Seigi previously is a lie, but we do know that his name is taken from that of his mentor in Sri Lanka.  We also know that he has things in his past he’s not proud of (the charges levied against him in this episode may not be totally baseless) , and that he seems to have a history of romantic relationships with males that don’t end well for the other party.

As these two men grow inexorably closer and Richard’s secrets are revealed one by one, their relationship seems to have an air of inevitability about it.  But this is anime, and it’s probably perceived as safer to focus on the episodic plots than on the romance element.  It’s an interesting blend irrespective of that, and I continue to be struck by how unconventional this series is in most respects (though not the one I mentioned at the beginning).