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By: Vrai Kaiser November 1, 20220 Comments

Favorite Series/Movie: I really have to echo Noise Bandit with Hyouka... for similar reasons, but also because it subverts our expectations. Rather than there being any kind of ongoing arc, it's just short and sweet episodic (or at most a few episodes) mysteries. Rather than tension and high stakes, the mysteries are mostly just to satisfy curiosity about mundane questions. And yet, it still is interesting to watch the process of sleuthing! Which is unusual for me, as I typically don't watch pure mystery-genre shows. My runners-up shows that I still want to recommend would be ACCA-13, Astra: Lost in Space,Baccano!, Case Studies of Jeweler Richard, Eden of the East, Erased, Mo Dao Zu Shi, Mushi-shi, Odd Taxi, Sagrada Reset and Shion no Ou. As for movies, I suppose Paprika is my first choice. Beautifully animated, and psychologically thrilling. Genre Mash-Ups: Based on the above list, I see a consistent trend for science fiction and supernatural blends. I don't really like plain mysteries, and I prefer them blended with genres I enjoy. Hyouka is arguably a blend with Slice of Life. Shion no Ou comes close, but the game element is very strong. I think Odd Taxi might be the only pure mystery, and I only watched it because of how enthusiastic the community was about it. What Makes Them Great: Hmm. I think it's well-written and sympathetic characters first, followed by some kind of plot hook (for example, Astra: Lost in Space is a locked room/spaceship mystery, and both Erased and Sagrada Reset rely heavily on time travel and the ability to use it to avoid the crime/tragedy). I prefer mysteries to not linger, so only 4 of the ones I listed have more than one cour, and of those only 2 have ongoing rather than episodic mysteries.

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