James Nicoll Reviews

2017’s Usotoki Rhetoric Volume 8 is the eighth tankōbon in Ritsu Miyako’s historical¹ mystery manga series. Usotoki Rhetoric was published in Bessatsu Hana to Yume from June 26, 2012, to March 26, 2018. The English translation of Volume 8 was published in 2024.

Living lie detector Kanako Urabe and her mentor, indolent detective Iwai Soma, have been trying to discover who framed Soma. So far their investigation has led the pair to Soma’s estranged half-brother Atsushi. Rather than the answers they sought, the pair became entangled with a different puzzle: who wants to break up Atsushi’s marriage?

Atsushi’s wife Sumiko is tremendously kind and spectacularly ugly. Neither issue matters to Atsushi, who married Sumiko purely because she comes from a particularly lofty lineage. Sumiko is far too conscious of her looks to fall for a stranger’s attempt to seduce her. She would like to know who orchestrated the attempt and why.

The obvious suspects are the other women Atsushi considered marrying. Revealing the culprit is as easy as arranging for Soma and Urabe to attend a party along with the rivals. A few leading questions combined with Urabe’s knack for spotting lies and the guilty party is exposed.

At this point, the pair discover they forgot to ask an important question. Having discovered who targeted her, what will Sumiko do with the knowledge?

Another puzzle the pair encounters involves their houseguest, a mysterious stranger using the false name Reiko. Reiko is foisted upon them by the landlady to whom Urabe and Soma owe several months rent. As soon as they discover their landlady will forgive their arrears in exchange for hosting Reiko, the detective and the assistant enthusiastically agree to offer Reiko a place to stay.

Urabe’s gifts make it impossible to overlook the fact that almost every detail Reiko shares about herself is a lie. In fact, Reiko lies almost as frequently as she breathes. What is her true past and why is she determined to keep it a secret?

Not too surprising that Urabe and Soma are able to discover Reiko’s secret. What does come as surprise is what the case reveals about Urabe.

~oOo~

Lack of progress warning: who framed Soma and why is still largely a mystery, almost as though the author wanted to provide readers with a reason to pick up subsequent volumes.

Who is more dangerous? The miscreant who pursues malice using cold logic and methodical preparation or the miscreant who acts impulsively, without any thought to consequences? This volume offers evidence for both. One could argue that the second is more dangerous. It’s possible to predict the player on the other side’s next move if you know what they want. OTOH, the impulsive enemy might simply bludgeon you to death without considering that the police are in the next room.

Not that any such things happen in this volume.

Urabe is a pariah in her hometown because it took her a surprising amount of time to stop telling people that they were lying whenever she noticed it. No surprise. Imagine if someone muttered ​“bullshit!” every time they heard the smallest white lie. No surprise that Urabe has had to develop a poker face. It just shows that Urabe can learn… so I should not have been surprised that she discovers a brand-new application of her lie detection abilities. But I was.

Another enjoyable volume, except for something I’ve mentioned in every Usotoki Rhetoric review: Usotoki Rhetoric was published in Bessatsu Hana to Yume from June 26, 2012, to March 26, 2018. To put it another way, there are only ten tankōbon and I’ve read eight of them. On the plus side, the manga is clearly going somewhere. On the minus, it will soon reach that destination. With what shall I replace Usotoki Rhetoric?

Usotoki Rhetoric, Volume Eight is available here (Barnes & Noble), here (Bookshop US), here (Bookshop UK), here (Chapters-Indigo), and here (Words Worth Books)

Usotoki Rhetoric, Volume Eight is listed by the publisher, One Peace Books, but they do not sell copies directly.

1: Historical = early Showa Era, which means Japan is heading down much the same path as 21^st century USA (USA delenda est). However, as they are too busy evading homelessness and starvation, neither Urabe nor Soma pay attention to national politics.