It is a truth universally acknowledged that a manga will eventually have an anime and live-action adaptation. Some anime adaptations are perfect, while the live-action ones may be a bit disappointing. Some never get their live-action heyday. Don’t Call It Mystery may not have an anime adaptation (yet), but we do have a pearl of a live-action adaptation โ and you can watch this treasure of Japanese television on Viki right now.
According to the Guinness World Records, by 2012, there had been 254 different Sherlock Holmes adaptations on screen alone. Add that to the numerous adaptations in theatre, radio, literature, and even video games, and you’ll get a mind-boggling number that might amaze even the detective sleuth himself. He is, after all, considered to be the most portrayed literary human character in media history.
Japan has produced its fair share of Conan Doyle’s adaptations: Sherlock Hound (1984), Miss Sherlock (2018), Holmes of Kyoto (2018), Sherlock (2019), and Sherlock of Kabukicho (2019) are just some of the most famous ones. You could also say that even Detective Conan draws inspiration from both Poe’s and Conan Doyle’s detective stories. Even Lupin III has crossed paths with the world’s most famous detective!
So would it be that big of a stretch to say that Fuji TV’s Don’t Call It Mystery (2022) carries the soul of Sherlock Holmes? I don’t think so.
This review contains some spoilers. Read it at your own risk. You can also pin our (spoiler-free) summary at the bottom!
The Traces of Other Mysteries
Don’t Call It Mystery is an adaptation of Tamura Yumi’s manga series of the same name (published on Monthly Flowers, 2017-today), starring Suda Masaki in the main role of Kunou Totonou.
Totonou is a university student whose incredibly keen observation and memory skills get him entangled in all sorts of mysteries. Most of them are connected to a real crime, but the charm of the story lies in everyday mysteries, the ones we could find in the little corners of our actions and surroundings if only we paid a bit of attention.
One could say that Totonou is a Sherlock Holmes-esque character who doesn’t want to be one. The writer herself, Yumi Tamura, has mentioned that she named the series “Don’t Call It Mystery” because she, and by default Totonou, didn’t want the story to be considered a mystery.
Sherlock Holmes and Don’t Call It Mystery: The Characters
Don’t Call It Mystery isn’t the same kind of detective story as Sherlock Holmes, but there are, purposefully or not, similarities that bring the two stories together. The role of Moriarty could be assigned to Inudou Garo, a morally grey character who often uses illegitimate and improper methods to decipher the mystery of his sister’s death. To the police, he’s an antagonist: a criminal who needs to be caught. To Totonou, however, he’s a peer, one of the few people who can notice the intrinsic details in other people’s behaviour and in their environment. Two faces of the same perceptive coin: Totonou representing a purer, kinder side of human nature, Garo being the embodiment of the darkness that hides inside all of us.
It goes without saying that the puzzling Raika would be our Irene Adler, the first girl that actually grabs Totonou’s attention and provides him with the riddles and challenges he needs in order to engage in a stronger, more personal bond. Just like Adler’s character, Raika is destined to disappear eventually. She, however, plays a much stronger role here, bringing Totonou’s hidden need for socialisation to the surface and showing him that he actually needs human connection more than he initially thought he did.
Hyouka and Don’t Call It Mystery: Visual Interpretations
The Sherlock Holmes spirit isn’t the only one that lives within Don’t Call It Mystery. Kyoto Animation’s Hyouka (2012) also comes hand-in-hand with Fuji TV’s adaptation: both feature an astute protagonist who gets pulled into a series of mysteries that they, inadvertently, are the only ones capable of solving.
The parallels with Hyouka definitely don’t stop there. Similar to the visuals in Hyouka, Don’t Call It Mystery also makes use of different animated sequences to illustrate the characters’ train of thought. In the manga, Totonou’s examples and beliefs are depicted by silhouettes, with a slightly different trace to the main storyline. Directors Matsuyama Hiroaki, Aizawa Hideyuki, and Shinada Shunsuke do very well to transform the manga’s simple panels into colourful and curious animations that bring the audience closer to the way Totonou visualises his own thoughts.
A Tale About Encounters
Totonou is a direct descendant of all other highly intelligent, incredibly perceptive characters that come before him, but there’s something that sets him apart from his predecessors: he is much more human, and his reasonings are more heartfelt than any other before. Deep down, Totonou’s story is one of encounters: of searching and finding, of noticing and being noticed.
Unwillingly, Totonou stumbles upon people who need answers that only he can provide โ just like they are all giving him answers he didn’t know he was looking for. Both the manga and its TV adaptation illustrate these encounters very well by simply showing the character’s name on a black screen: the person who was truly seen by Totonou and given an answer to their question.
Characterisation also nails the idea of Totonou actively seeking these seemingly “unwanted” connections. He tends to imitate the quirks of the people he’s talking to, something that Garo describes as something that “children usually do when they seek attention” (a line that also hints at Totonou’s background).
The Honesty and Innocence of a Child Through an Adult’s Eyes
Actually, there is something pure and innocent about Totonou’s character. Like a child, he bluntly points out the absurdities and hypocrisies that surround us. The most fascinating examples can be found in episode 1, where he states that “there are as many truths as there are people”, or in episode 2, when he discusses whether it’s wrong or not to kill and his simple but lovely note on wedding traditions in episode 12.
Totonou preserves a childlike curiosity towards the world. Why are people the way they are? Why does society work this way? At the same time, as a young adult, he can’t observe society through rose-tinted glasses. That duality of pure curiosity and cynical maturity leads to the greatest enigma of them all. Who are we as individuals, and who are we as a community? It’s satisfying to see Totonou solving mysteries almost instinctively, but what hooks you in is how cathartic and thought-provoking it can be to see him trying to make sense of the world we live in.
The Main Difference Between Totonou and Other Sherlock Holmes-esque Characters
Totonou also tends not to let people’s flaws completely obscure their positive traits (“You were trying to protect the innocents from the criminal, weren’t you?“, he asks Garo after the busjacking incident), and he provides solace, unwittingly, to several characters that he crosses paths with.
He never belittles emotion or purposely tries to be cold, distant, and mysterious (just like many other similar characters end up being portrayed in the media). He’s just different from what is deemed “normal” โ and you see how this difference pains him by observing his reaction when some characters point out that he “has a terrible personality” or how he finds it unbelievable that Garo thinks that he’s “interesting”.
His boyish naivety also shows when he is forced to face danger or violence. Even though he “thinks a lot” about all sorts of societal dilemmas and even discusses crimes with confidence, the severed hand sent by Garo sends him into a panic, and he really believes that something bad could happen during the “mystery society retreat”.
Totonou is still a kid who grew up scarred, and these scars are as physical as they are psychological โ and his decision to become a teacher, the speech to Yabu Kanzo in which he says, “what I say now is from the perspective of a child”, and his last conversation with Raika all show that he’s painfully aware of these traumas. The show, however, never exploits his background to create a soapy backstory. Even after 12 episodes, you still don’t know exactly what Totonou went through during his childhood. You’re offered glimpses throughout, and they are more than enough to establish who he is and why he behaves in such a way.
The Performances in Don’t Call It Mystery
The beauty of Totonou’s character shines through Suda Masaki’s masterful portrayal, which shows both independence and need, maturity and youth, the will to connect but the inability to fall into what society regards as “sociable”.
In an interview with Fuji TV, Suda mentions that he thought Totonou shouldn’t be seen as perfect, even though the way he speaks can be “guru-like”. He tried to deliver Totonou’s lines in a way that would help the viewers reason alongside him. He also took the liberty of “imitating” the way that the mangaka speaks to create a performance that would honour the original character. I can happily say that Suda successfully reached his goal: Totonou never comes across as perfect. His flaws and traumas are there, and his weaknesses and doubts are embedded naturally in the story and his portrayal. At the same time, he’s wonderfully charismatic and captivating.
Suda’s presence on screen draws you in. The way he interacts with others carries a charm that makes the audience enjoy the process rather than look forward to the denouement. It’s so fascinating to watch this character react to his environment and the people around him that the end isn’t as important as that very second you’re a witness to.
A Protagonist-Focused Show
You might have noticed that much of this review is centred around Totonou’s character. Don’t Call It Mystery isn’t an “ensemble” show in any way. The show falls on Suda’s shoulders as this is mostly a protagonist-focused script. The character arc is clear when it comes to Totonou, but it’s thin once you discuss supporting characters.
But that’s the point. The show never fools you into thinking that you’re about to see five different characters go through some sort of hero’s journey, though. The spotlight is on Totonou throughout, and the supporting roles are there for one (obvious) reason: to support the change and development of the protagonist.
That being said, Suda’s performance is well-supported by Ito Sairi’s shy Furomitsu Seiko, Onoe Matsuya’s energetic and funny Ikemoto Yuto, and Kadowaki Mugi’s mysterious Raika. Kadowaki does a great job at mirroring Suda’s performance whilst still giving her character a very particular personality.
Succeeding as an Adaptation
It’s awfully difficult to adapt a literary work to film and TV and keep the essence of the original, but Aizawa Tomoko deserves a lot of praise for her effort. Totonou’s most important lines come straight from Tamura’s pages. Of course, certain characters have been eliminated, and certain storylines have been slightly changed (or omitted), but that’s to be expected. What matters most is that the heart of the manga is definitely there.
One of the “biggest” changes worth noting is the heavier participation of Ito Sairi’s Furomitsu in most of the stories. One could say that her role was only enlarged to create a sort of second-lead subplot, but Furomitsu’s growth and presence in the story agree with Totonou’s advice in the very first episode: she’s a police officer to keep an eye on “these old men” โ the ones that are corrupt and prejudiced. She takes this advice to heart, and through her participation in the following episodes, we can witness her attempt to become a more confident and respected member of the police station.
The Final Touches: Direction and Music
As for Matsuyama, Shinada, and Aizawa’s directing, they manage to provide a solid mix between the classic Japanese TV format (known for the simple cinematography and muted colours) and composition choices straight from the source material. This story’s unique visual touch comes from, as mentioned before, the animations that support the camera work and help soften Totonou’s “sermons,” as Suda calls them.
The show also uses music very, very well: Ken Arai composed the original score but chose to accompany it with well-known classical pieces, another decision that brings Don’t Call It Mystery closer to its detective tale ancestors. These pieces give a scholastic, simple tone to the story, reflecting much of Totonou’s personality. The show also makes very good use of silence throughout, guiding characters to their own realisations or confrontations with the protagonist.
King Gnu’s theme song, “Chameleon“, also sets a marvellous background to more emotional scenes, but its most fascinating aspect is the lyrics, which can only be truly understood once the viewer reaches the end of Totonou’s 12-episode journey. A song already meaningful on its own fits the show like a glove.
[By the way, have you watched the MV for King Gnu’s “Chameleon”? A masterpiece on its own.]
Don’t Call It Mystery is human: earnest, flawed, charming, and endlessly intriguing. Whether you find it fits the mystery or the drama category, it’s almost impossible not to let Totonou permeate our lives and perspective with his candid approach and extraordinary quirks.
You can watch Don’t Call It Mystery on:
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And now what?
Following the show’s massive success, Fuji TV has decided to release an extra episode as well as a feature film that hit Japanese theatres last September. Since we’re still waiting to have the film released internationally, you can check the movie trailer right here and share in the comments what you think of Totonou’s tale!
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