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earth_colorsHere are the drama notes for "Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku" 2018 SP shown on NHK. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!
Btw, this was the 2nd part installment of NHK's Kindaichi Kosuke Mystery Specials, the first one was "Gokumontou" which was shown in 2016. Though at first, I was a bit disappointed when I heard that a different actor was going to play the detective role, I was pleased with this SP nonetheless. Yoshioka Hidetaka's "Kindaichi" version was refreshingly different. His Kindaichi was somewhat like everyone's favorite uncle, a grey-haired, gentle oji-san, played with a hint of bashful boyish charm. Despite some unanswered issues with this story, it went beyond my expectations. I think it was smartly written, and I even enjoyed it much more than the previous "Gokumontou" SP. And it was dark! Like WOWOW dark. Though I haven't seen them, I'm sure the past adaptations watered down the shocking elements of the story, but this one? Oh boy, NHK really went all out and even beyond the normal story line...
The Original Novel. "Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku" by Yokomizu Seishi was first serialized in the detective story magazine, "Hoseki" from 1951 to 1953. It was published as a whole novel in 1973. It featured the famous fictional character detective, Kindaichi Kosuke. According to Yokomizu, he first came up with the story in 1948, after he moved back to Tokyo from Okayama (where he evacuated and lived during the war with his wife). His friend and fellow novelist, Kuzuyama Jiro, told him he felt troubled because Kuzuyama resembled the composite picture of the suspect in the infamous bank heist at that time, the Teigin Incident. Also, there was the news (or rumor?) during that time, that a certain viscount was questioned because he looked similar to the composite picture. This viscount had disappeared, and his body was soon found after an apparent suicide. With regards to the flute playing, Yokomizu was inspired by his neighbor's son Uemura Yasukazu whom he heard practicing his flute at night. Uemura went on to become a famous flute player, and even performed the flute song in the 1979 adaptation of this novel.
(info: ja.wiki)
Based on Historical Facts.
• Tengindo Case. This jewelry store incident in the book was based on the 1948 Teikoku Ginko (Imperial Bank) [帝国銀行] Incident or "TeiGin" incident [帝銀事件] for short. You can read about it here.
• Culprit's Composite Picture. The Teigin Incident was the first time the police used and issued a composite portrait (pic above) of the suspect based on the descriptions by eyewitnesses. In Japan, a composite photo is called a "montage shashin" [モンタージュ写真].
• Electricity blackouts. Tokyo's electrical industry suffered heavy damages during the war, and the people experienced occasional blackouts (due to repairs, rationing, etc) in postwar times.
• Peerage system. I've already discussed this in my Orient Express SP notes.
• Concubine. Having a concubine/s especially among nobility, had long been seen as a symbol of wealth, high status, and power.
• Fledgling Geisha. Kikue said she was a hangyoku [半玉] when she lost her virginity to the Count. It's a geisha term that literally means "half fee" referring to a young, fledgling geisha who only gets half as much gyokudai [玉代] (service fee) as a fully-fledged geisha gets. They start out young 13-14 years old. So basing the age of Kikue in the book (23 years old) and that she said she started 9 years prior, it means she was 14 at that time.
• Geisha's Gift of Her Pinkie. A geisha (the "yuujo" or prostitute kind) is known to get a tattoo of the name of the man she loved, or present him with her nail or pinkie. The latter is said to be the origin of the pinkie swear or "yubukiri genman" [指切りげんまん]. The most famous example of this is Yoha, a famous geisha from Shinbashi, who cut her pinkie for a lover.
What was Actually Said:
• The Gardener Uetatsu. In the novel, the artisan gardener was an "ueki shokunin" [植木職人] or basically a topiarist, who trims trees and shrubs into pleasing shapes. His name was Kawamura Tatsugoro, with trade name "Uetatsu". The "ue" is taken from "ueki" in "ueki shokunin" while "tatsu" was from his given name "Tatsugoro". Likewise, his apprentice (and who took over his business) took on the name "Uematsu" with "matsu" probably derived from his given name as well.
• Chikushodo [畜生道]. It had different meanings, that's why Kindaichi had difficulty understanding what Komako said. In Buddhist religion, (and if you watched "Too Young To Die" which I fansubbed) it is the "animal realm", one of the six paths in the Circle of Transmigration. "Chikushodo" could also mean "unforgivable act" or "incest".
• The Chanting Mantra. The 9 spell chant during the seance is called the "Kuji Goshinbo" [九字護身法], a prayer for protection from disaster and victory in war [臨 兵 闘 者 皆 陣 列 在 前] which basically means "everyone involved in the battle go in front". However, in this seance, the doctor added a tenth spell "sho" [eliminate].
• Toshihiko's Pun. When son Kazuhiko said he was going out to look for a job, his father made a pun on the word "fui" [吹] or "blow" as in "blow the flute", by saying his son ought to "overcharge the other person" or fukkakeru [吹っ掛ける]. (In the subs, I made a pun on the word "blow": "blow the flute" and "blow smoke up his ass").
• Kikue's Inappropriate Joke.When Kikue laughed at 1:33.31, she said "nariyukide koroshiatta" [成り行きで殺しちゃった], she was mocking Haruo's plan of killing which was supposed to be premeditated, turned out to be "they just happened to be killed along the way" thing.
Timeline of the Events. In case you find some confusing details in the SP, especially the ending part, this time line will clear it up for you. I also did my best to make sense of the questionable issues with this story. To those researching the novel, mind you that this timeline is based on the SP, not the novel. However, the SP did not specify what year this version happened, only the dates revolving the Tengindo Incident that were written on Kindaichi's notebook. So for the rest, I'll base this timeline on the clues, dates, and ages of the characters from the original novel.
August 1923:
It all began in the summer at Count Tamamushi's holiday villa in Kobe. Servant Komako got raped by the Count's nephew Toshihiko, vacationing from Tokyo. She also witnessed Toshihiko having sex with his older sister Akiko. Akiko and Komako both got pregnant by him.
June 1924:
• Akiko gave birth to Haruo and gave him away to Uetatsu, who was Komako's father, and gardener at the villa.
• Komako who was forced to marry her father's apprentice, gave birth to Sayoko.
1925-1943:
• For years, Uetatsu continued to be given hush money by Count Tamamushi to keep Haruo's real parents a secret. As a result, he lived a lazy, decadent lifestyle, and hired a string of concubines.
• Haruo was raised by Uetatsu, and was forced to work for him. He wasn't given an education, and hated Uetatsu. Uetatsu lied and told him he was the son of one of his concubines from some unknown man.
• Komako did not know Haruo's real parents but regards him as a younger brother. After marriage, she probably moved to her husband's hometown. There, Sayoko grew up. When the husband died due to an illness, she and Sayoko moved back to her hometown near Uetatsu's home.
• When Haruo heard it, he decided to move in with his "sister". He and Sayoko met and got along well, and fell in love. Also, it's possible at this time, Komako confided to Haruo the truth regarding Sayoko's real father, and Akiko and Toshihiko's incestual relationship.
• Meanwhile in Tokyo, from 1928-29, Akiko got married to Viscount Tsubaki, and gave birth to Mineko. Her brother Toshihiko also got married to Hanako and had a son named Kazuhiko.
1943-45:
• Haruo got drafted in the war. Before he left, he and Sayoko got married, and consummated their relationship. She became pregnant and never told anyone.
• Four months later, Uetatsu visited Komako probably to borrow money. He told her the truth about Haruo. For some reason, Komako not knowing Sayoko was pregnant, relayed this secret to her. Shocked, Sayoko committed suicide. She was four months pregnant.
• Eventually, Uetatsu also died during an air raid.
1945:
• The war over, Haruo managed to survive but had lost two fingers on his right hand. He came home and found out about Sayoko's pregnancy and death. Komako kicked him out and refused to tell him anything.
• Haruo believed that Sayoko was murdered, and had come to suspect that the Shingu family had a hand in her death. He decided to go to Tokyo to seek revenge.
• Meanwhile in Tokyo, Count Tamamushi's house got burned in the air raids, and moved in with Viscount Tsubaki and Akiko. He brought along his concubine Kikue, who also worked there as a maid.
• Toshihiko's house also got burned and he and his family transferred to the Tsubaki estate.
1946 (Here, the story starts to get muddled, so I've resorted to coming up with my own possible theories about what happened to make sense of later events):
• Seeking revenge, Haruo went to Tokyo to infiltrate the Tsubaki household and find out who had Sayoko killed. He asked Tsubaki to hire him.
• At first, Tsubaki probably refused to hire Haruo. So Haruo resorted to blackmail, threatening to reveal Toshihiko's crime (and maybe his incestual relationship with Akiko). Tsubaki was forced to hire him and gave him an alias, "Mishima Totaro", which was the name of the son of Tsubaki's friend from Okayama Prefecture who died in the war.
• Haruo, now as Mishima Totaro, worked as a servant for the family. He is also probably making Tsubaki more and more depressed. Around this time, my theory is Tsubaki probably managed to see the birthmark on Haruo's back, and made him curious as to Haruo's origins. By now, Tsubaki regards Haruo as the "devil".
January 14, 1947:
• Curious as to why Haruo had a birthmark similar to Toshihiko, Tsubaki decided to investigate Haruo's background. Without telling anyone, he went to Suma, Kobe. He visited the remains of the Tamamushi villa and stood there alone, contemplating.
January 15, 1947:
• The next day, he visited Komako, who by then became a nun named Myokai, living in Akashi, Awaji Island. He probably told her that Haruo is in Tokyo, making his life hell with his threats. It was then that Komako/Myokai told him everything, including about Sayoko and Haruo.
• After that, Tsubaki went back again to the remains of the villa, and wrote on the stone lantern, "The devil was born here".
• Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the Tengindo heist happened, with 13 people dead. The culprit took 1.4 million yen worth of jewelery.
January 17, 1947:
• Tsubaki came back to Tokyo. Depression was taking a big toll on him, and he decided he could not live anymore.
• He then began to compose the music for "The Devil Comes Playing the Flute", as his swan song, inserting an important clue in it, that leads to the identity of his tormenter.
January 16 - February 19:
• The police issued to the public, a composite picture of the Tengindo culprit, based on eyewitness accounts, and began questioning suspects. All the names and addresses of those questioned were reported by the newspapers. One of these was Iio Toyosaburo. Though he was the most suspicious (he was indeed the culprit), he was released for some reason.
• Haruo saw the composite picture of the suspect, and noticed that it looked like Tsubaki. Perhaps noticing that Tsubaki was already feeling depressed, and wanted to push him to suicide (to further punish the whole family), Haruo decided to torment him more by sending an anonymous note to the police, implicating Tsubaki as a suspect in the Tengindo Incident. By this time, Haruo also has gotten the name of Iio Toyosaburo from the newspapers, and for some reason, made contact with him.
• Tsubaki has finished his song, and had it recorded. He warned Mineko that "the devil lives in this house". He also has written a farewell letter to Mineko, and inserted it in the book that his daughter was reading.
February 20:
Due to Haruo's anonymous tip, Tsubaki was called in and detained for questioning with regards to the Tengindo incident.
February 26:
After 6 days, police released Tsubaki since his alibi of being in Kobe at the time of the incident had been verified.
March 1 - 14:
This was the time frame of Tsubaki's disappearance, and suicide. This was a mystery, since the SP barely made mention of it. But in Kindaichi's notes, it said that Tsubaki disappeared on March 1, and his body was found on March 14. According to Mineko in this SP, Tsubaki's golden flute and flute case also disappeared (taken by Haruo) at this time, and that a notebook was found in his coat, with the drawing of the "Devil's Emblem". Anyway, in the novel, it said Tsubaki's body was found in Mt. Kirigamine, Nagano Prefecture.
March to June, 1947:
• Sometime after Tsubaki's death, Akiko started having a relationship with Dr. Mega. Dr. Mega, taking advantage of the rich widow's vulnerable state, moved in with her (he's obviously been drugging her to calm her down).
• Haruo has started collaborating with Iio Toyosaburo who by this time had been hiding from the police. This part poses many questions: In the book, it was implied that Haruo seemed to be have the upper hand and was controlling Iio Toyosaburo. But still, why would Iio do what Haruo tells him to do, considering Iio has jewelry worth 1.4 million yen? Were they old acquaintances from the war? Whatever it was, Haruo used/ordered Iio to scare the family by pretending to be Tsubaki holding the golden flute.
• Akiko is the most scared of all, and believed that Tsubaki has come back from the dead to exact revenge on her. She'd hear the song (in the novel, Haruo knew how to play the flute, and would play "The Devil Comes, Playing the Flute" to spook the family members) and began calling Tsubaki, "the devil".
June 1947 (Kindaichi Takes on the Case):
• Mineko finally hired Kindaichi Kosuke to find "the devil" that had tormented her father. She told him of the strange happenings in the house, and sightings of her father.
• Next day, Kindaichi attended the seance. Later that night, Count Tamamushi was inadvertently killed by Haruo.
• Next day, Kindaichi started investigating the Count's murder along with Inspector Todoroki.
• To distract the detectives, Haruo and Iio planted an earring from the Tengindo incident in Tsubaki's flute case, so as to make Tsubaki appear as the culprit.
• Meanwhile, the news of the Count's murder reached Komako/Myokai in Awaji Island. She knew who the culprit was because of what Tsubaki had told her in January about Haruo. She told her past to the chief priest but refused to say who impregnated Sayoko.
• Four to five days after the Count's murder, Todoroki and Kindaichi went to Suma, Kobe. Todoriki was there to dig into the Count's past history while Kindaichi was trying to find out why Tsubaki visited the area in January.
• Haruo (knowing Kindaichi will eventually meet with Komako/Myokai) asked Iio, to follow Kindaichi to Kobe. After Kindaichi read Tsubaki's graffitti on the stone lantern, Iio erased it. Iio then went to Awaji Island to threaten Komako/Myokai but ended up killing her. He returned immediately to Tokyo.
• Kindaichi and Todoroki went to see Komako/Myokai at Awaji Island but they were too late. The chief priest told Kindaichi of Myokai's confession.
• During his stay in Kobe, Kindaichi also noticed something strange that made him curious about Haruo, alias Mishima Totaro, so he sent a telegram to Inspector Isokawa of Okayama Prefecture, to verify Mishima Totaro's background.
• Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Haruo made phoney telegram and phone call to lure Kikue and Mega out of the house (this one doesn't make sense as to why but in the novel, it was said that Toshihiko was the one who did it in order to pester Akiko for money - which still didn't make sense).
• Akiko and Toshihiko, who were the only ones (supposedly?) left alone in the mansion, spent the day having sex. Akiko gave Toshihiko her ring.
• The other household members came home in the afternoon.
• At 7:30, maybe sensing the police might catch up on him sooner or later, Haruo decided to finish his revenge by killing Toshihiko.
• Back in Kobe, Kindaichi and Todoroki heard the news of Toshihiko's death the next day, and rushed back to Tokyo.
• Some time later, Haruo killed Iio too, probably as revenge for killing Komako. Iio's body was discovered later on.
• Kindaichi received a reply from his telegram to Isokawa, and confirmed the theory that has been forming in his head.
• Akiko tried to commit suicide (by overdosing on drugs?) but was saved by Mega.
• Kindaichi later revealed his deductions to the Tsubaki household, and correctly pinpointed Haruo as the culprit.
• Haruo confessed his motive. He said he did not get real evidence that someone in the family had Sayoko killed but was convinced anyway of their guilt.
• But Kindaichi said, in Haruo's "quest to know everything, he lost sight of the truth". He finally told Haruo the shocking truth about Sayoko, and his true lineage.
• Blinded with rage, Haruo killed Akiko, and in turn got shot and killed by Todoroki.
July, 1947 (Aftermath):
• The Tsubaki estate is sold. The members of the household are going their separate ways.
• Kindaichi went to say goodbye to Mineko and Kazuhiko. Kazuhiko played for him "The Devil Comes, Playing the Flute" as a farewell gift. Kindaichi noticed that the song can be played without using the middle and ring finger of one's right hand, which were the same missing fingers on Haruo's right hand. Kindaichi then, realized to his regret, that an important clue was right under his very nose: Tsubaki had all along, inserted into his song, the hint as to the identity of the "devil".
• In the end, Kindaichi repeated the line, "In a person's quest to know everything, he tends to lose sight of the truth", but this time, he was referring to himself.
Changes between the SP and the book:
• In the book, Akiko was younger than her brother. She and Komako were 16 when they got pregnant. Maybe Toshihiko was 17-18. In the SP, my guess was Akiko was 18, Toshihiko was 17, and Komako was 16.
• After his lover died, the culprit Haruo in the book found out the whole truth. He knew how to play the flute. After confessing his motive, he played "Devil Comes Playing the Flute" using Tsubaki's flute, and said Tsubaki composed the song for him. After playing, he swallowed the cyanide that was embedded in the flute and died. He left a note to the rest of the family, wishing his half siblings, Mineko and Kazuhiko, and to Hanako "to live strongly". In the SP, Haruo did not know who his real parents are. He didn't know how to play the flute, and didn't know the hidden meaning behind Tsubaki's song. He was shot dead by Inspector Todoriki. And it was Kazuhiko who played the song in the end.
• Unlike in the SP, Kindaichi in the book was only able to find out who the culprit was but not the motive. Haruo was the one who told about it.
• Haruo's love was Sayo. In the SP, it was changed to Sayoko.
• In the book, after her brother's death, Akiko tried to run away. She was able to arrive in Kamakura but Haruo didn't let her escape from his revenge. He switched her medicine with cyanide pills, which Akiko took, and died as a result. In the SP, Akiko tried to commit suicide but was saved. In the end Haruo stabbed her to death.
• In the book, the birthmark was visible at all times. In the SP, it only shows up if the person is drunk.
• There was one more clue that Tsubaki left behind that wasn't included in the SP. In Goethe's book "Willhem Meister's Apprenticeship", Tsubaki underlined (?) the line, "Do not marry anyone in the mansion".
• There were other servants in the house that weren't anymore included in the SP.
The Next Case. In case you missed it, at the end of the SP (after the end credits), it showed that Kindaichi's next case is "Yatsuhaka Mura (The Village of the Eight Gravestones)", based on the Okayama Massacre (which I mentioned in my Yami no Bansosha 2 notes).
Filming Locations.
• Tsubaki Mansion. If you watched "Kuroido Goroshi" and were curious as to what the inside of the Rokka-en mansion looked like (since the interiors were filmed in a studio), well this SP not only showed the inside but also the sprawling garden and pond behind it.
• "Out of Tokyo" Location Shoot. The scenes in what was supposed to be Kobe where Kindaichi and Todoriki went were mostly filmed in Shiga Prefecture. The inn where they stayed was the Gokasho Omi Merchant Mansion of Kondo-cho, Gokasho, Higashiomi, Shiga Prefecture (pic above).
Btw, this was the 2nd part installment of NHK's Kindaichi Kosuke Mystery Specials, the first one was "Gokumontou" which was shown in 2016. Though at first, I was a bit disappointed when I heard that a different actor was going to play the detective role, I was pleased with this SP nonetheless. Yoshioka Hidetaka's "Kindaichi" version was refreshingly different. His Kindaichi was somewhat like everyone's favorite uncle, a grey-haired, gentle oji-san, played with a hint of bashful boyish charm. Despite some unanswered issues with this story, it went beyond my expectations. I think it was smartly written, and I even enjoyed it much more than the previous "Gokumontou" SP. And it was dark! Like WOWOW dark. Though I haven't seen them, I'm sure the past adaptations watered down the shocking elements of the story, but this one? Oh boy, NHK really went all out and even beyond the normal story line...
The Original Novel. "Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku" by Yokomizu Seishi was first serialized in the detective story magazine, "Hoseki" from 1951 to 1953. It was published as a whole novel in 1973. It featured the famous fictional character detective, Kindaichi Kosuke. According to Yokomizu, he first came up with the story in 1948, after he moved back to Tokyo from Okayama (where he evacuated and lived during the war with his wife). His friend and fellow novelist, Kuzuyama Jiro, told him he felt troubled because Kuzuyama resembled the composite picture of the suspect in the infamous bank heist at that time, the Teigin Incident. Also, there was the news (or rumor?) during that time, that a certain viscount was questioned because he looked similar to the composite picture. This viscount had disappeared, and his body was soon found after an apparent suicide. With regards to the flute playing, Yokomizu was inspired by his neighbor's son Uemura Yasukazu whom he heard practicing his flute at night. Uemura went on to become a famous flute player, and even performed the flute song in the 1979 adaptation of this novel.
(info: ja.wiki)
Based on Historical Facts.
• Tengindo Case. This jewelry store incident in the book was based on the 1948 Teikoku Ginko (Imperial Bank) [帝国銀行] Incident or "TeiGin" incident [帝銀事件] for short. You can read about it here.
• Culprit's Composite Picture. The Teigin Incident was the first time the police used and issued a composite portrait (pic above) of the suspect based on the descriptions by eyewitnesses. In Japan, a composite photo is called a "montage shashin" [モンタージュ写真].
• Electricity blackouts. Tokyo's electrical industry suffered heavy damages during the war, and the people experienced occasional blackouts (due to repairs, rationing, etc) in postwar times.
• Peerage system. I've already discussed this in my Orient Express SP notes.
• Concubine. Having a concubine/s especially among nobility, had long been seen as a symbol of wealth, high status, and power.
• Fledgling Geisha. Kikue said she was a hangyoku [半玉] when she lost her virginity to the Count. It's a geisha term that literally means "half fee" referring to a young, fledgling geisha who only gets half as much gyokudai [玉代] (service fee) as a fully-fledged geisha gets. They start out young 13-14 years old. So basing the age of Kikue in the book (23 years old) and that she said she started 9 years prior, it means she was 14 at that time.
• Geisha's Gift of Her Pinkie. A geisha (the "yuujo" or prostitute kind) is known to get a tattoo of the name of the man she loved, or present him with her nail or pinkie. The latter is said to be the origin of the pinkie swear or "yubukiri genman" [指切りげんまん]. The most famous example of this is Yoha, a famous geisha from Shinbashi, who cut her pinkie for a lover.
What was Actually Said:
• The Gardener Uetatsu. In the novel, the artisan gardener was an "ueki shokunin" [植木職人] or basically a topiarist, who trims trees and shrubs into pleasing shapes. His name was Kawamura Tatsugoro, with trade name "Uetatsu". The "ue" is taken from "ueki" in "ueki shokunin" while "tatsu" was from his given name "Tatsugoro". Likewise, his apprentice (and who took over his business) took on the name "Uematsu" with "matsu" probably derived from his given name as well.
• Chikushodo [畜生道]. It had different meanings, that's why Kindaichi had difficulty understanding what Komako said. In Buddhist religion, (and if you watched "Too Young To Die" which I fansubbed) it is the "animal realm", one of the six paths in the Circle of Transmigration. "Chikushodo" could also mean "unforgivable act" or "incest".
• The Chanting Mantra. The 9 spell chant during the seance is called the "Kuji Goshinbo" [九字護身法], a prayer for protection from disaster and victory in war [臨 兵 闘 者 皆 陣 列 在 前] which basically means "everyone involved in the battle go in front". However, in this seance, the doctor added a tenth spell "sho" [eliminate].
• Toshihiko's Pun. When son Kazuhiko said he was going out to look for a job, his father made a pun on the word "fui" [吹] or "blow" as in "blow the flute", by saying his son ought to "overcharge the other person" or fukkakeru [吹っ掛ける]. (In the subs, I made a pun on the word "blow": "blow the flute" and "blow smoke up his ass").
• Kikue's Inappropriate Joke.When Kikue laughed at 1:33.31, she said "nariyukide koroshiatta" [成り行きで殺しちゃった], she was mocking Haruo's plan of killing which was supposed to be premeditated, turned out to be "they just happened to be killed along the way" thing.
Timeline of the Events. In case you find some confusing details in the SP, especially the ending part, this time line will clear it up for you. I also did my best to make sense of the questionable issues with this story. To those researching the novel, mind you that this timeline is based on the SP, not the novel. However, the SP did not specify what year this version happened, only the dates revolving the Tengindo Incident that were written on Kindaichi's notebook. So for the rest, I'll base this timeline on the clues, dates, and ages of the characters from the original novel.
August 1923:
It all began in the summer at Count Tamamushi's holiday villa in Kobe. Servant Komako got raped by the Count's nephew Toshihiko, vacationing from Tokyo. She also witnessed Toshihiko having sex with his older sister Akiko. Akiko and Komako both got pregnant by him.
June 1924:
• Akiko gave birth to Haruo and gave him away to Uetatsu, who was Komako's father, and gardener at the villa.
• Komako who was forced to marry her father's apprentice, gave birth to Sayoko.
1925-1943:
• For years, Uetatsu continued to be given hush money by Count Tamamushi to keep Haruo's real parents a secret. As a result, he lived a lazy, decadent lifestyle, and hired a string of concubines.
• Haruo was raised by Uetatsu, and was forced to work for him. He wasn't given an education, and hated Uetatsu. Uetatsu lied and told him he was the son of one of his concubines from some unknown man.
• Komako did not know Haruo's real parents but regards him as a younger brother. After marriage, she probably moved to her husband's hometown. There, Sayoko grew up. When the husband died due to an illness, she and Sayoko moved back to her hometown near Uetatsu's home.
• When Haruo heard it, he decided to move in with his "sister". He and Sayoko met and got along well, and fell in love. Also, it's possible at this time, Komako confided to Haruo the truth regarding Sayoko's real father, and Akiko and Toshihiko's incestual relationship.
• Meanwhile in Tokyo, from 1928-29, Akiko got married to Viscount Tsubaki, and gave birth to Mineko. Her brother Toshihiko also got married to Hanako and had a son named Kazuhiko.
1943-45:
• Haruo got drafted in the war. Before he left, he and Sayoko got married, and consummated their relationship. She became pregnant and never told anyone.
• Four months later, Uetatsu visited Komako probably to borrow money. He told her the truth about Haruo. For some reason, Komako not knowing Sayoko was pregnant, relayed this secret to her. Shocked, Sayoko committed suicide. She was four months pregnant.
• Eventually, Uetatsu also died during an air raid.
1945:
• The war over, Haruo managed to survive but had lost two fingers on his right hand. He came home and found out about Sayoko's pregnancy and death. Komako kicked him out and refused to tell him anything.
• Haruo believed that Sayoko was murdered, and had come to suspect that the Shingu family had a hand in her death. He decided to go to Tokyo to seek revenge.
• Meanwhile in Tokyo, Count Tamamushi's house got burned in the air raids, and moved in with Viscount Tsubaki and Akiko. He brought along his concubine Kikue, who also worked there as a maid.
• Toshihiko's house also got burned and he and his family transferred to the Tsubaki estate.
1946 (Here, the story starts to get muddled, so I've resorted to coming up with my own possible theories about what happened to make sense of later events):
• Seeking revenge, Haruo went to Tokyo to infiltrate the Tsubaki household and find out who had Sayoko killed. He asked Tsubaki to hire him.
• At first, Tsubaki probably refused to hire Haruo. So Haruo resorted to blackmail, threatening to reveal Toshihiko's crime (and maybe his incestual relationship with Akiko). Tsubaki was forced to hire him and gave him an alias, "Mishima Totaro", which was the name of the son of Tsubaki's friend from Okayama Prefecture who died in the war.
• Haruo, now as Mishima Totaro, worked as a servant for the family. He is also probably making Tsubaki more and more depressed. Around this time, my theory is Tsubaki probably managed to see the birthmark on Haruo's back, and made him curious as to Haruo's origins. By now, Tsubaki regards Haruo as the "devil".
January 14, 1947:
• Curious as to why Haruo had a birthmark similar to Toshihiko, Tsubaki decided to investigate Haruo's background. Without telling anyone, he went to Suma, Kobe. He visited the remains of the Tamamushi villa and stood there alone, contemplating.
January 15, 1947:
• The next day, he visited Komako, who by then became a nun named Myokai, living in Akashi, Awaji Island. He probably told her that Haruo is in Tokyo, making his life hell with his threats. It was then that Komako/Myokai told him everything, including about Sayoko and Haruo.
• After that, Tsubaki went back again to the remains of the villa, and wrote on the stone lantern, "The devil was born here".
• Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the Tengindo heist happened, with 13 people dead. The culprit took 1.4 million yen worth of jewelery.
January 17, 1947:
• Tsubaki came back to Tokyo. Depression was taking a big toll on him, and he decided he could not live anymore.
• He then began to compose the music for "The Devil Comes Playing the Flute", as his swan song, inserting an important clue in it, that leads to the identity of his tormenter.
January 16 - February 19:
• The police issued to the public, a composite picture of the Tengindo culprit, based on eyewitness accounts, and began questioning suspects. All the names and addresses of those questioned were reported by the newspapers. One of these was Iio Toyosaburo. Though he was the most suspicious (he was indeed the culprit), he was released for some reason.
• Haruo saw the composite picture of the suspect, and noticed that it looked like Tsubaki. Perhaps noticing that Tsubaki was already feeling depressed, and wanted to push him to suicide (to further punish the whole family), Haruo decided to torment him more by sending an anonymous note to the police, implicating Tsubaki as a suspect in the Tengindo Incident. By this time, Haruo also has gotten the name of Iio Toyosaburo from the newspapers, and for some reason, made contact with him.
• Tsubaki has finished his song, and had it recorded. He warned Mineko that "the devil lives in this house". He also has written a farewell letter to Mineko, and inserted it in the book that his daughter was reading.
February 20:
Due to Haruo's anonymous tip, Tsubaki was called in and detained for questioning with regards to the Tengindo incident.
February 26:
After 6 days, police released Tsubaki since his alibi of being in Kobe at the time of the incident had been verified.
March 1 - 14:
This was the time frame of Tsubaki's disappearance, and suicide. This was a mystery, since the SP barely made mention of it. But in Kindaichi's notes, it said that Tsubaki disappeared on March 1, and his body was found on March 14. According to Mineko in this SP, Tsubaki's golden flute and flute case also disappeared (taken by Haruo) at this time, and that a notebook was found in his coat, with the drawing of the "Devil's Emblem". Anyway, in the novel, it said Tsubaki's body was found in Mt. Kirigamine, Nagano Prefecture.
March to June, 1947:
• Sometime after Tsubaki's death, Akiko started having a relationship with Dr. Mega. Dr. Mega, taking advantage of the rich widow's vulnerable state, moved in with her (he's obviously been drugging her to calm her down).
• Haruo has started collaborating with Iio Toyosaburo who by this time had been hiding from the police. This part poses many questions: In the book, it was implied that Haruo seemed to be have the upper hand and was controlling Iio Toyosaburo. But still, why would Iio do what Haruo tells him to do, considering Iio has jewelry worth 1.4 million yen? Were they old acquaintances from the war? Whatever it was, Haruo used/ordered Iio to scare the family by pretending to be Tsubaki holding the golden flute.
• Akiko is the most scared of all, and believed that Tsubaki has come back from the dead to exact revenge on her. She'd hear the song (in the novel, Haruo knew how to play the flute, and would play "The Devil Comes, Playing the Flute" to spook the family members) and began calling Tsubaki, "the devil".
June 1947 (Kindaichi Takes on the Case):
• Mineko finally hired Kindaichi Kosuke to find "the devil" that had tormented her father. She told him of the strange happenings in the house, and sightings of her father.
• Next day, Kindaichi attended the seance. Later that night, Count Tamamushi was inadvertently killed by Haruo.
• Next day, Kindaichi started investigating the Count's murder along with Inspector Todoroki.
• To distract the detectives, Haruo and Iio planted an earring from the Tengindo incident in Tsubaki's flute case, so as to make Tsubaki appear as the culprit.
• Meanwhile, the news of the Count's murder reached Komako/Myokai in Awaji Island. She knew who the culprit was because of what Tsubaki had told her in January about Haruo. She told her past to the chief priest but refused to say who impregnated Sayoko.
• Four to five days after the Count's murder, Todoroki and Kindaichi went to Suma, Kobe. Todoriki was there to dig into the Count's past history while Kindaichi was trying to find out why Tsubaki visited the area in January.
• Haruo (knowing Kindaichi will eventually meet with Komako/Myokai) asked Iio, to follow Kindaichi to Kobe. After Kindaichi read Tsubaki's graffitti on the stone lantern, Iio erased it. Iio then went to Awaji Island to threaten Komako/Myokai but ended up killing her. He returned immediately to Tokyo.
• Kindaichi and Todoroki went to see Komako/Myokai at Awaji Island but they were too late. The chief priest told Kindaichi of Myokai's confession.
• During his stay in Kobe, Kindaichi also noticed something strange that made him curious about Haruo, alias Mishima Totaro, so he sent a telegram to Inspector Isokawa of Okayama Prefecture, to verify Mishima Totaro's background.
• Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Haruo made phoney telegram and phone call to lure Kikue and Mega out of the house (this one doesn't make sense as to why but in the novel, it was said that Toshihiko was the one who did it in order to pester Akiko for money - which still didn't make sense).
• Akiko and Toshihiko, who were the only ones (supposedly?) left alone in the mansion, spent the day having sex. Akiko gave Toshihiko her ring.
• The other household members came home in the afternoon.
• At 7:30, maybe sensing the police might catch up on him sooner or later, Haruo decided to finish his revenge by killing Toshihiko.
• Back in Kobe, Kindaichi and Todoroki heard the news of Toshihiko's death the next day, and rushed back to Tokyo.
• Some time later, Haruo killed Iio too, probably as revenge for killing Komako. Iio's body was discovered later on.
• Kindaichi received a reply from his telegram to Isokawa, and confirmed the theory that has been forming in his head.
• Akiko tried to commit suicide (by overdosing on drugs?) but was saved by Mega.
• Kindaichi later revealed his deductions to the Tsubaki household, and correctly pinpointed Haruo as the culprit.
• Haruo confessed his motive. He said he did not get real evidence that someone in the family had Sayoko killed but was convinced anyway of their guilt.
• But Kindaichi said, in Haruo's "quest to know everything, he lost sight of the truth". He finally told Haruo the shocking truth about Sayoko, and his true lineage.
• Blinded with rage, Haruo killed Akiko, and in turn got shot and killed by Todoroki.
July, 1947 (Aftermath):
• The Tsubaki estate is sold. The members of the household are going their separate ways.
• Kindaichi went to say goodbye to Mineko and Kazuhiko. Kazuhiko played for him "The Devil Comes, Playing the Flute" as a farewell gift. Kindaichi noticed that the song can be played without using the middle and ring finger of one's right hand, which were the same missing fingers on Haruo's right hand. Kindaichi then, realized to his regret, that an important clue was right under his very nose: Tsubaki had all along, inserted into his song, the hint as to the identity of the "devil".
• In the end, Kindaichi repeated the line, "In a person's quest to know everything, he tends to lose sight of the truth", but this time, he was referring to himself.
Changes between the SP and the book:
• In the book, Akiko was younger than her brother. She and Komako were 16 when they got pregnant. Maybe Toshihiko was 17-18. In the SP, my guess was Akiko was 18, Toshihiko was 17, and Komako was 16.
• After his lover died, the culprit Haruo in the book found out the whole truth. He knew how to play the flute. After confessing his motive, he played "Devil Comes Playing the Flute" using Tsubaki's flute, and said Tsubaki composed the song for him. After playing, he swallowed the cyanide that was embedded in the flute and died. He left a note to the rest of the family, wishing his half siblings, Mineko and Kazuhiko, and to Hanako "to live strongly". In the SP, Haruo did not know who his real parents are. He didn't know how to play the flute, and didn't know the hidden meaning behind Tsubaki's song. He was shot dead by Inspector Todoriki. And it was Kazuhiko who played the song in the end.
• Unlike in the SP, Kindaichi in the book was only able to find out who the culprit was but not the motive. Haruo was the one who told about it.
• Haruo's love was Sayo. In the SP, it was changed to Sayoko.
• In the book, after her brother's death, Akiko tried to run away. She was able to arrive in Kamakura but Haruo didn't let her escape from his revenge. He switched her medicine with cyanide pills, which Akiko took, and died as a result. In the SP, Akiko tried to commit suicide but was saved. In the end Haruo stabbed her to death.
• In the book, the birthmark was visible at all times. In the SP, it only shows up if the person is drunk.
• There was one more clue that Tsubaki left behind that wasn't included in the SP. In Goethe's book "Willhem Meister's Apprenticeship", Tsubaki underlined (?) the line, "Do not marry anyone in the mansion".
• There were other servants in the house that weren't anymore included in the SP.
The Next Case. In case you missed it, at the end of the SP (after the end credits), it showed that Kindaichi's next case is "Yatsuhaka Mura (The Village of the Eight Gravestones)", based on the Okayama Massacre (which I mentioned in my Yami no Bansosha 2 notes).
Filming Locations.
• Tsubaki Mansion. If you watched "Kuroido Goroshi" and were curious as to what the inside of the Rokka-en mansion looked like (since the interiors were filmed in a studio), well this SP not only showed the inside but also the sprawling garden and pond behind it.
• "Out of Tokyo" Location Shoot. The scenes in what was supposed to be Kobe where Kindaichi and Todoriki went were mostly filmed in Shiga Prefecture. The inn where they stayed was the Gokasho Omi Merchant Mansion of Kondo-cho, Gokasho, Higashiomi, Shiga Prefecture (pic above).
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