LogFAQs > #979632995

Aw, that's sweet. I still feel bad for them.

The Great Exhibition is upon us! The opening indicates that we're in 1899, oops I had assumed up until this point that we were in the early 1900's. Our mystery this time sets us up for some classic AA shenanigans. We have a pseudoscientific experiment in front of a crowd and a teleporting body, which will surely turn out to have been moved in a very convoluted way. I haven't formed much of an opinion on Professor Harebrayne yet, but Odie Asman is a high tier evil victim name. Gina is an inspector in training now, a development that seems very obvious in retrospect. It works for her character. She mentions looking for Iris's dad, so uh yeah I guess Ryunosuke still hasn't mentioned that to Iris. Thinking about it, I really hope Ryunosuke and Herlock have had a discussion about Wilson's death in the past several months, it would be silly if they haven't.

Ryunosuke decides not to tell Harebrayne his former friend will be prosecuting him tomorrow, and I cannot think of a good reason not to prepare him for this. Maybe he'll do it before the end of day.

I'm only partway through the investigation (just talked to Gina and about to talk to Gregson), but there's three characters that provoke intrigue so far. First is van Zieks, of course. We visit his office after he was attacked, and there's some very funny moments here (Despite me saying earlier that I'm tired of the quirky young girl assistant trope, Iris is fun in that role). I hope we don't wind up being best of friends with this guy after we ultimately learn his racism origin story, but for the time being I like the awkward coworker dynamic between him and Ryunosuke. There's a painting in his office that isn't of him, and he makes an interesting comment when we present him with our armband (yes I present everything to everybody), telling us there's merit in remembering who made you what you are, and to keep that close at all times. He confirms that he's not the alleged Reaper, but doesn't mind the moniker.

Second is Stronghart. We're learning much more about him than we have before. Turns out he's just bad at timekeeping, so there's one mystery off the list. He appears to know of Asogi's true calling, but of course joins the rest of the game in not telling us the answer. He's very eager on having the British justice system catch up to the world, particularly with forensics. I guess he's not all powerful, as whoever's above him is dragging their feet on modernising and he's frustrated with how things currently stand. But van Zieks is at his beck and call, and he even supplied the '#1 prosecutor' (0-4 against us now but who's counting) with this new mysterious apprentice. I think back to Stronghart giving us McGilded's trial in the first game, saying it was very simple. But he assigned his top prosecutor to that case, too? And he's very aware of how exploitable the courts are. I can't pin down what he's going for, but he sure looks like a final boss.

And last up is van Zieks' mysterious new mute, masked, fighting-capable apprentice who Ryunosuke feels he's met before. OK, there's only two people I think this could reasonably be. One is Susato. I believe it's been about two months since her case, so she could have talked to her father and he's put her on some secret plan that involves the grand plot of the series. This'd be an efficient way to tie her back into the game in London, using her knowledge of the law and newfound ability to disguise herself as a man. And we know she's handy with a takedown!

The other option in my mind is... OK, confession time. I looked up Kazuma's theme online a while back, and unintentionally saw an autofill suggestion that I think indicated he returns. I know, I know, don't look up anything on a game until you've beaten it, but I thought with him being dead I was in the clear, and the theme is too good I had to hear it again!! Trust that I'm very annoyed at myself for this. For a while I thought I must have been mistaken but the more this game goes on, and the more that people keep talking about Kazuma and his mission, and the more the game continuously shows us flashbacks of this guy who died 6 cases ago... I'm starting to think it's getting pretty likely.

If this is the case (and I don't know that it is), I feel like I've betrayed not only myself but everyone reading this hoping for a big shocked reaction when he does turn out to be alive. I'm sincerely sorry for my lack of self control! Again, I don't know for sure. It would be a very anime twist, and I can't think of any other recurring character who would be a satisfying fit who shares the apprentice's stature and nondescript chin. And of course there's this case's title... Man, I wish I knew what I'd have thought if I hadn't maybe spoiled myself :(

But for now I'll try to put that out of my mind and focus on the case at hand!