Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei – 09

It was surely for situations just such as this that the expression “the plot thickens” was coined.  I think Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei deserves a lot of credit for admirably balancing episodic storytelling with larger plot development.  For an ongoing (as far as I know) source adaptation especially, things have built in a quite realistic and natural manner towards looking like a definitive conclusion (to the story the anime is telling, anyway).

At long last we formally meet Saul Ranhashinha Ali (Shiga Madoka) – a man important enough that the title character took his name as his own.  He’s not the face Seigi is hoping to see when he knocks on the door of the now-occupied Etranger, but Ranhashinha is a friendly face both literally and figuratively.  He’s not volunteering any information about where Richard is – it’s clear he’s been instructed not to – but he’s likewise open-minded about what this Japanese youth has to say.  Eventually he spins the tale of Richard’s past – the essence of which is the self-inflicted isolation through which Richard defines himself.

We know Seigi well enough to know that he’s not going to be denied.  Ranhashinha sees that quickly enough, and he doesn’t seem all that keen to deny him anyway.  Even if he’s been tasked with protecting Seigi, he can decide for himself just what that means.  More than anything he seems to want to ascertain how serious Seigi is about Richard – though as ever with this show, just exactly what that means is open to debate.

I knew as soon as Seigi wound up in the airport lounge that something was up, because he certainly couldn’t afford that on his own.  Turns out his upgrade to London (from Hanoi I believe) was taken care of by Richard’s cousin Jeffrey Claremont (Matsukaze Masaya).  The family’s interest in Seigi is perfectly selfish – it’s Richard they’re really interested in and want to use Seigi to get to him – but Jeffrey is pretty honest about that from the beginning.  There are obviously feelings between he and Richard too – though again, much is frustratingly left to interpretation, as each man asks the other whether their relationship with Richard is more intimate than they’ve let on.

With a £300 million diamond at stake, I can’t honestly say I blame Jeffrey for being greedy here.  Richard’s estrangement from his family is perfectly understandable, thanks to the perverse will their grandfather left behind.  But I get where Jeffrey is coming from too – that’s a lot of money to leave on the table in the name of principle.  This story also explains a lot about the strongly-held views about gemstones and people that Richard brings to the table.  There’s a lot of nuance and shading to all this – Housekishou is good at that.  And as for affairs of the heart, I suspect that’s never going to move beyond the inferential stage.

 

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2 comments

  1. e

    *cackling (with aplomb) as the rainbow popcorn bowl keeps popping* ah, the old man would be such a raving Brexiter I suspect. Booo. Hisss.
    —–
    Mentor-san dresses like a late Victorian/black tie pre-WW2 event gent. Ah. The STYLISH FOREIGNER trope. Bonus points for chai. Once in a while it’s a really pleasant indulgence on cold days ^3^ .
    —-
    That said going by what we are told later by Pragmatic Yet Ambiguously Supportive Noble CousinBrotha about their family tree entanglements… I’m really trying to resist the Graduate mental images ahah. But would the series embrace that outlandish ending *tone-delivery-wise* too? Not sure yet.

    Anyway, just for my tally on the ‘which flavour of queer is this’
    – pining while loyally watering his plant
    – pining while wandering
    – pining at the cafeteria with a dash of despairing thinker pose
    – the supposed (alt) love interest response to his woes is tl;dr you are suffering ’cause you daisuki him. She had to spell it out :°D. But hey it’s out. ohohohoh.
    – the tears of heartbroken manpain(TM) at such supplied enlightenment
    – after the daisuki on he Richard-Seigi front a ‘suki’ follows for the Shouko-Seigi team XDDD. Well… I’d say it’s still love but not quite the same on her part…
    – it’s Spandau Ballet time folks. I’ll Fly For Youuuuuu *I’m waving the figurative concert glowstick and the pudding flag*
    – so, recap. Naive Bi Romeo is travelling on his hard-earned money. Outside of Japan (first time ever to boot?). Ready to go on little more than luck and pluck and the power of his queerdar vs the world’s haystack. To the rescue of ‘you daisuki him’ Richard. With his it-has-layer-significant family token – which ah! By oh-so-chance is an engagement ring – in his pocket. A good luck charm engagement ring. Ah this is precious. *chomps more popcorn*
    – Noble CousinBrother is dropping Gay to Bi entendres to spare.
    – Thanks to Mystery Airplane Sickness Seigi spots Richard’s clues trail popping out just at the right time and place in the whole vast city. Ahhhh. This is entertaining. The power of their queerdars combining must be strong here I tell ya.
    ——
    —–
    Alexandrites are beautiful. Anime artistic license notwithstanding that degree of colour intensity and color shift means it’s top quality especially for non-lab-created gems… most natural alexandrites allegedly tend to be paler and display a milder (as in LESS DRAMATIC) color shift :D. Even among lab created stones CousinBrother’s would still be a yummy specimen though :D.
    —-
    —-
    I wonder if the Buddha Hand jade story will also come into play as foreshadowing about dealing with the diamond of doom. Anyway attitude-wise crappy dead gramps’s will and related family backstory ring rather true to the spirit of those times, alas.

  2. S

    Let me say that this kind of comments make this series yummy to me, like the time it was said that Homura-san should leave whenever he spots Seiji-kun, since Seigi-kun would ruin his sentimental life again for sure.
    And now I am wondering: is there a way Seigi could be adopted in a English household? Asdfasdfasdf!

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