Trickster

Episode 4

Rules are important, both in society and storytelling, and structuring an entire episode around a single major theme can work miracles to keep a story from straying from its golden thread.

Free spirit Hanasaki has a deal with Akechi, forcing him to go to school exactly once a month, even if that day happens to be the day a new exciting case falls into the boy detectives' laps. Kobayashi has to accept being assigned this case if he doesn't want to be evicted from his abandoned rooftop dwelling. Detective Nakamura isn't too fazed by the idea of allowing the parent-less minor to remain in his dramatic ruins, respecting the agreement with Akechi not to interfere with internal boy detective affairs. So when Twenty Faces invites Akechi out to play, both are aware of the rules their cat-and-mouse game will follow - even if Twenty Faces' interpretation of his own I-will-not-kill policy is somewhat bonkers and extremely bendable.

Maybe Kobayashi should have interned with him rather than Akechi, as Twenty Faces is not the only one convinced that helping others goes against his principles. Boy, is this immortal teen starting to overstay his welcome at the Boys' Detective Club! Kobayashi's own invulnerability caused him to lose any sense of danger, just as his death wish resulted in a complete inability to value life in general. His self-abandonment has turned him into a selfish, miserable jerk too busy with not caring to register anything happening outside his 30 cm invulnerability radius. I almost wish he would be cured him of his immortality just so that someone could give him a nice, satisfying wake-up call.

But even if placing his trust in this wayward boy detective might end up biting Akechi in his backside, this episode of Trickster finally gives us a glimpse at the nature of the relationship between the individual club members and their master detective. Akechi, though far from a conventional father figure teeming with adult responsibility, has faith in his boys, and he cares about them in his own irresponsible way. It's not his own curiosity, sense of justice, of feud with Twenty Faces that prompts him to take on the case, but seeing Kobayashi's disregard of life triggering an atypical loss of composure in Inoue. While he claims “interest” as his motivation, forcing them to work together might be Akechi's unusual approach of steering both of them into a place where they might be able to help each other.

As fitting this week's theme, this really is Inoue's episode. So far the least annoying of the boy detectives simply for being neither hyper genki nor super emo, Inoue is all about showing proper conduct and doing the right thing. If Akechi orders him to, he will clench his teeth and work with Kobayashi, but there's more to Inoue than being the operation's obedient brains who can decipher Morse code from people's blinking rhythm (from memory no less!). There was a time when he didn't follow the rules, and his reckless righteousness ended up putting him in a wheelchair and losing a friend, who quit the Boys' Detective Club out of guilt.

While Kobayashi adds insult to injury by letting the bad guys beat up his wheelchair-bound ally just three episodes after blowing up a puppy (seriously, someone please cure his immortality already), Hanasaki displays a surprising and welcome ability to read the atmosphere. Taking Hanasaki out of the investigation not only allowed Inoue to step into the spotlight, it also introduced us to the boy detectives' Q and helped flesh out the boys' lives outside the club. Constantly checking his watch conveyed Hanasaki's impatience while reminding us of the ticking clock for the policeman and Inoue. Neither Hanasaki nor Katsuda mention Inoue's accident in their conversation, but when Hanasaki remains at school despite every fiber of his being screaming at him to run out and seek some thrills, we know why following the rules holds a certain meaning for the boys, why Katsuda joins as many clubs as it takes to have less time to think, and why some flowers cannot be preserved against all good intentions.

Trickster still isn't the most subtle show, nor is it particularly well-paced, but episode four managed to address my most pressing complaints in a way that made it easy to overlook this week's drop in animation quality. I'll take characters that - despite their stiffness - start to feel like people over gorgeous backgrounds any day. It's not all disappointment on the visual side, either. The editing is still quite effective, with a particularly painful match cut from Inoue rubbing his now useless leg to Katsuda walking into his hospital room. The series' great choice of sets continues with the Outer Underground Discharge Channel, which is actually a real place that doesn't get its dramatic allure from Twenty Faces' presence and, as a humorous bonus point, pumps its water into a river by the name of Edogawa.

This week's Trickster was easy to like for being very much in on its more campy shenanigans. (The Morse code blinking message became both outrageously silly and utterly brilliant when it turns out Twenty Faces, in true Moriarty fashion, was able to predict Inoue deciphering it.) After things have started coming together on the characters' side, I am now very happy to say I'll be looking forward to next week's showdown.

Maybe Inoue will learn not to bet his life on the accuracy of Google Maps? Whatever happens, we now know that Akechi has very nice shoes. And Kobayashi still won't get any.

Rating: B

Trickster is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.