*The Kindaichi Case Files: The Undying Butterflies — Recommended

Posted in Manga Reviews on May 18, 2008 by Johanna
story by Yozaburo Kanari; art by Fumiya Sato; adapted by Matt Varosky
published by Tokyopop; $9.99 US

The Undying Butterflies is the latest volume, the seventeenth, in the recommended Kindaichi Case Files mystery manga series. It opens with a day at the beach for Kindaichi, Miyuki, and Reika, a young singer who’s previously appeared in the volumes Death TV and Playing the Fool. The sleuth finds himself juggling time alone with the two young women in a sequence that could have appeared in an Archie comic, in which the authors do a good job combining tenderness and comedy.

The Kindaichi Case Files Book 17 cover
The Kindaichi Case Files Book 17
The Undying Butterflies
Buy this book

That’s just a prologue for the main story, though. And Reika’s not the only returning character: the mystery starts when a magazine photo reveals someone who resembles the suspect from The Legend of Lake Hiren, previously thought dead. He’s associated with a butterfly collector, a family patriarch who’s rediscovered an extinct, luminescent species. The father has three lovely daughters who resent him for unknown reasons and a wife with striking mismatched eyes.

The story starts slowly, with much emphasis on sketching the characters in quick yet understandable ways. The air of subtle creepiness, that something terrible is going to happen but we don’t yet know what, builds masterfully. The art captures the symbolism of change and transformation, but also of the soul and the fragility of life, in the butterfly flights shown.

This volume is less of a mystery and more of a thriller than others in the series. There isn’t so much a puzzle to solve as a slow wait for the killer to either reveal itself or make enough mistakes that Kindaichi can identify the person behind the murders. It’s a substantial read that builds an inexorable feeling of menace. As with most volumes in this series, the eventual motive winds up being an example of how past actions, thought long forgotten, will cause trouble in the present day.

Love is often confused with possession and revenge in these books, providing festering motives for murder. I was pleased to see the other side of love, of its potential for a fresh start, portrayed as well.

Similar Posts: *The Kindaichi Case Files — Recommended Series § Tokyopop Titles Cancelled § Case Closed Book 3 § Manga Page Updates: Hana-Kimi, ES, Kindaichi § Tokyopop News: CSI Interns, Kindaichi, INVU, Company Plans, more

8 Comments

  1. [...] Johanna Draper Carlson gives vol. 17 of Kindaichi Case Files the thumbs-up at Comics Worth Reading, and she also enjoys vol. 9 of Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs. [...]

  2. [...] Tokyopop publication for a while. Not that that’s a terrible hardship — I only read two series from them these days anyway. [...]

  3. Kindaichi Fan
    05/28/2008 at 2:19 PM

    Thanks for another kind review, Johanna. I work on this series and it’s a bit of a labor of love at this point… It’s always nice to see someone enjoying it!

  4. Oh, dear — I’m always scared when I hear someone saying “labor of love”. I worry that that means it’s not selling well. :)

  5. [...] for each, that’d be good. And a lot depends on the quality of what survives. I hope for more Kindaichi; I fear we’ll get more … well, fill in your least favorite generic title here. [...]

  6. [...] the computer shows is actually on the shelf.) It is true that less popular titles, like the new Kindaichi Case Files, appear to be [...]

  7. [...] Kindaichi Case Files series was truncated early with volume 17, The Undying Butterflies, in May, due to publisher [...]

  8. i’am realy like manga that is kindaichi,eyeshield 21,detective conan,naruto,and hunter x hunter.

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