I have long praised Famicom Detective Club for its masterful use of contrast within and between works. But has there ever been a work with such a strong contrast between light and dark?
To be precise, the 'light' in this work is not particularly bright.
It's just that the 'darkness' is too overwhelming compared to the light. The depth of that darkness is almost pitch black.
The main section of this work (hereafter referred to as the 'The Smiling Man section') maintains a somewhat bright tone throughout, including the conclusion. This can be described as lightness.
One example is the presence of comic relief.
In past works, comic relief appeared at key moments as a respite for the audience. For instance, in The Missing Heir, characters spend a relatively long time with Dr. Kumada, who, despite saying the right things in many scenes, has limited moments of humor. In The Girl Who Stands Behind, Hitomi serves as comic relief but only appears in the second part of the story, when the story becomes more intense and eerie, giving her surprisingly few opportunities to make an impression despite her strong presence.
In contrast, Fukuyama in The Smiling Man appears throughout almost the entire story and is an interesting character who is generally annoying in every scene but not a bad person at heart. Kamihara, like Fukuyama, has a personality that can be a bit irritating, but at his core, he is good-natured and outgoing. Towards the end, he shows a more serious side and occasionally reveals genuine anger. Kamata has a minor role, but his sneezing, runny nose, and back pain make him stand out for his comical nature.
Shoko, an important informant, is more straightforward than previous characters but remains a positive presence, having overcome a difficult past to live a cheerful and strong life.
Not only are the characters' personalities and narratives bright, but the screen itself is bright in each scene of The Smiling Man section. The weather is fine throughout the story, with many bright daytime scenes.
Whether it is the scene where Ayumi first talks about the eerie urban legend Emio - The Smiling Man, the scene where Yoshie-san explains the sad misunderstanding between the Kuze siblings, or the scene where we hear about the eerie allegation of 'a man with the face of Kuze Makoto calling himself Tsuzuki Minoru,' the settings are calm, bright, and safe. Even the final abandoned village is still bright, although dusk is approaching. Compared to past titles, the entire screen in The Smiling Man section is always bright, except for two scenes where the 'Laughing Man' appears (the scene where Megumi heads for the pumping station and the scene where the Laughing Man appears to Junko).
The screen is brighter in The Smiling Man section because the whole story is fundamentally brighter. In this section, after one death at the start of the case, no one else dies until the murder of the 'serial killer' at the end. Although the story deals with the serious subject of teenage suicide, Eisuke Sasaki's case is relatively redeeming, leaving some comforting words for Megumi despite the victim's and his family's feelings. Eisuke and his family are treated in a way that perhaps intentionally avoids deepening the story, keeping the overall tone light.
The Kuze siblings, who play a central role in The Smiling Man section, are reunited alive and supported by a new family at the end. The story is one of happiness, truth, and hope, as symbolized by the eggplant in the title logo, which represents these themes in the language of flowers.
This title logo appears reversed in the Minoru epilogue.
In the Minoru epilogue, there are many dark scenes in terms of color tone. The first neighbor's house that Utsugi visits is surrounded by a sunken hearth, and the upper section of the screen is dark. The inside of the Tsuzuki family's house, which appears in recollections, also has a gloomy color tone. The scene of the conversation with the female former neighbor is under sunny skies, but the gruesome recollection told there occurs during pouring rain (Due to what were likely technical limitations in the older games, this is the first time rain is depicted in the Famicom Detective Club series.). The subsequent scene is also dark, taking place in the Tsuzuki family's house, which has lost its color. The scene where Utsugi listens to the story feels darker because of the sunny weather in the 'present' and the brightness of the flowers at Emiko's funeral.
The scenes with Ayaka are all about dusk and night.
From then on, after he becomes the Smiling Man completely, it is no exaggeration to say that all the scenes are at night, except those told from Makoto Kuze's point of view (such as the scene where Makoto is given a meal and the road construction scene).
I mentioned that in the Smiling Man section, the screen is dark in the two scenes where he and the Smiling Man cross paths, but the only somewhat bright scenes in the Minoru epilogue are the retro coffee shop where we hear from the instructor at the boys' reformatory and the scene at Todoroki Motors where he appears in his reminiscences.
The cruelty of the story is also noteworthy. There is no room for sympathy for the murders committed by Tsuzuki. Even if we completely discount the existence of sympathy, there is no redemption for the Tsuzuki siblings. If The Smiling Man is a story of truth, hope, and happiness, the Minoru epilogue, which reverses the story, depicts great misfortune, falsehood, and despair.
"Emiko is no more" is a phrase that appears in Minoru's final moments, as if it appeared in his consciousness. This is a reality, but I do not think, at least in my mind, that facing this reality was Minoru's salvation. For Tsuzuki, it is despair. This is very different from the central characters in the previous two titles, where the resolution of the case provided some relief. Naturally, this is also the case with the Kuze siblings, whose family was reunited and able to start a new life.
As we move to the top after Minoru's epilogue to the end, the background gradates from bright sky blue to a wan, sunny day white. However, the silhouette of the Tsuzuki siblings holding hands is depicted in an incredibly dark shade of purple, almost like the color of an eggplant.
23. Sep. 2024