Tsumi to Batsu no Spica - Ch. 8 - The Last Job (5)

[Nivek]

Look back at the chapters there may be hints I haven't yet but I believe there are.

I think we thought the idol was to be a future arc, being upfronted did was curveball might feel upsetting for some, especially as the case was very small scale.

 

[Felkin]

This manga had so much potential, but I feel like it really hasn't been living up to it. A lot of this feels like unimaginable cruelty and psychopathy for the sake of it, rather than to reach some interesting situations. The main character repetitively just touches people and then blabbers off their secrets, proceeds to kill them and moves on. The baddies are almost comically evil and have no build up to really make them stand out, specifically this chapter's villain basically had a full character arc told in under 15 pages. I feel like if you gave this manga to a very high class mangaka, we'd been spending 20 chapters per story and the MC's power would already have been put to some test (finding a sneaky way to touch the person, etc). Now it's just rushing through things as if it was a weekly sitcom.

 

[Elki]

I would like it if it was the kind of mysteries you could figure for yourself but the end of each "case" is entertaining enough that I'm okay with it, at least for now.

 

[EchoGirl]

A 15 year old girl successfully murdered via knifing an adult woman and her two kids in broad daylight is less believable than the MC having psychic powers.

it did seem like an empty park but yeah surprised the screams wouldn't attract ppl, let alone the smell of smoke/burning bodies

Less "I hate all loud environments" and "I can't concentrate on writing my music at home because I can hear the footsteps through my headphones". Not justifying it but it's at least a little consistent.

Other than her trying to sleep through it you'd think she'd go to the library or so during the day lol (tho i wonder if her manager/company knew and had to accommodate and such for her issues versus her abusing sleeping drugs to cope)

I'll just adjust expectations from now on, the manga is still alright.

What I want to know is if we're supposed to just assume it was entirely coincidence that Spica started going lengths to get into a handshake event and learned about the whole thing there somehow? If it wasn't then I would like to know how she even came to suspect the idol of doing it in the first place. Either way, this case was rather underwhelming.

Wonder if we'll get an extra chapter with the husband/detective, it would be interesting if she somehow got in touch with the other neighbors and saw Neko's face in their subconscious but other than plastic surgery or normal aging , the husband does know what the idol looks like (though i don't know if he knew that she became a famous performer), but it was lucky that she happened to be famous and performing nearby as well

(i'm just surprised the dad never moved away even if he doesn't live in the exact same apartment as far as we know [tho i wonder if it'll show that he was glad they're dead if not just him watching the stuff b/c of a breakdown or whatever])

If the focus was on Spica extrejudically executing people then we would be told who the culprit is from the get-go and the story would be about her trying to deal with them. Instead it was 4 20-pages chapters of identifying the culprit and one chapter actually focused on murdering her (most of which was devoted to explaining her motive, the murder itself was easy as fuck).

Something like that reminds me of "Brutal" shame that's on hiatus (but i heard the mangaka was sick so yeah)

maybe next arc will be more straightforward with the detective trying to stop her/getting involved

 

[cromat]

Based on the original rules yeah. Some modern writers have pulled off fairplay whodunnits involving supernatural powers so long as the other rules are followed and it doesn't immediately allow the character to bullshit their way to an answer without doing/showing some groundwork first, and up until a couple chapters ago I was still holding out hope that's what this series would be. You can totally do supernatural whodunnits well and it would have been fun to see, but I guess the title should've given away that Spica is more of a Deus Ex Machina style agent of justice.



Less "I hate all loud environments" and "I can't concentrate on writing my music at home because I can hear the footsteps through my headphones". Not justifying it but it's at least a little consistent.

Nah panel shows her ears are super sensitive. She can't even go to sleep at night cuz random noises make her irritated.

 

[EchoGirl]

Also, was spica pressing some kinda emergency button on page 20? (if not some sprinkler system but hopefully a fire wouldn't spread that quickly) because if so that's quite convenient without needing to call a fire truck or so b/c while most ppl in Japan would be respectful i can imagine it being pressed a lot as a prank or just by accident of ppl thinking it's a normal doorbell

 

[Ranzo]

Damn, even the Grinch just decided to steal Christmas and not you know, stab to death and burn a woman and two children

 

[Jatopian]

Yeah...because murdering kids and getting away with it is definitely easier than just buying noise canceling headphones.

Last time I bought "noise canceling" headphones I found they made a noise of their own... Also, noise canceling is better with constant sounds like roar of aircon or plane engine than with intermittent loud sounds from noisy kids.

 

[Tcof]

I meant the killing of the mom and kids is inexcusable

Yeah, that why I confusing what you mean by better dad. Her dad never a character in this so why it make sense for her to gone insane ? Why she deserves better dad ?

 

[EchoGirl]

Yeah...because murdering kids and getting away with it is definitely easier than just buying noise canceling headphones.

Well, she was wearing some kinda headphones/playing something while killing them , although imagine if she had killed them only to end up with even /noisier/ neighbors lol

Yeah, that why I confusing what you mean by better dad. Her dad never a character in this so why it make sense for her to gone insane ? Why she deserves better dad ?

Well, he was a cheater but that didn't necessarily mean he was a bad dad otherwise, although it's not like he could've done much to 'protect them' either way versus him feeling guilt that he wasn't with them b/c he was with his partner then
(although i'm surprised the idol didn't kill him as well unless she wanted him to be the fall guy for it)

 

[bondejeger]

Well, she was wearing some kinda headphones/playing something while killing them , although imagine if she had killed them only to end up with even /noisier/ neighbors lol


Well, he was a cheater but that didn't necessarily mean he was a bad dad otherwise, although it's not like he could've done much to 'protect them' either way versus him feeling guilt that he wasn't with them b/c he was with his partner then
(although i'm surprised the idol didn't kill him as well unless she wanted him to be the fall guy for it)

It'd be too easy for a guy to overpower her even if she had a knife unless she surprised him if I had to guess.

 

[XicoYe]

Ryan started the fire

 

[Kushikime]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Saybah]

Now that's a sweet karma

 

[Tcof]

Well, he was a cheater but that didn't necessarily mean he was a bad dad otherwise, although it's not like he could've done much to 'protect them' either way versus him feeling guilt that he wasn't with them b/c he was with his partner then
(although i'm surprised the idol didn't kill him as well unless she wanted him to be the fall guy for it)

wrong context. What i reply for is this

....yeah uh...

No wonder why she was driven insane. Poor kids deserved a better father. Still inexcusable.

this comment make me feel like talking about the idol's father. But who ? her father is never in the manga.

The only father left is the father of the victim ? why it is make sense for her, the murder to driven insane, and still "inexcusable"
that why i thought Rakka may mistake the idol is the daughter in the family, and get mistreat by the father or something, lamao.
it also doesn't make me feel like the kids, the one who die. because all in all he didn't seem to do anything as bad dad

 

[metal4orce]

That was kinda hot ngl

 

[Rial]

Broo it's still continue

 

[papergeneral]

The 5-6 episode of mystery was pretty disconnected in my memory and it's not surprising that the reveal doesn't feel like a suspenseful, mystery reveal that connect the puzzles together. Rather, it's a build-up to see our main character to eventually "take care" of the murderer.
While the execution of the mystery is out of place, the murderer motivation is not just "some sound". I've known people that suffered similarly and it really destroy their life, seriously, it's a downward spiral if the person do not have the financial capability to find a better place to live. You can never expect people to understand their pain, so the father is really just acting as expected.

 

[frubam]

I'mma admit, I wasn't sold on this ending. Not because its a bad "mystery", I just don't like how the culprit falls so easily, and that the two culprits so far are, like, sociopaths. Most people don't think about how they want to kill their murderer in the moment, but more like "I don't want to die" kind of feelings. I think making them to be "savage monsters even in their last moments" weakens the overall narrative; these aren't normal people that made an uncontrollable mistake in the heat of the moment, but evil murderers that have the heart to kill and burn children.

What I want to see is the morality of someone that made such a mistake that doesn't come across as defining their entire character, like the last two culprits have. Like with the Sensei; the story depicted him as someone troubled by the death of his student, and how that affected his decision to lie for Tsumugi. It was interesting all the way up until we "see his true colors". Then it became banal😒. It'd be more interesting if we see Tsumugi bearing the burden of delivering justice to people who are naturally good, but just had a terrible moment, and how that would burden her(if she isn't a sociopath herself) versus someone who is 'unredeemably deserving of death'. I also want to see someone who doesn't fold in the very chapter they are introduced; someone to actually give her a "fight". So I'll keep reading, but I won't be as excited going forward(for now at least =0v).

 

[Insev]

What's even the point of trying to give us hints if the answer is going to be "this rando did it"?

would work good for a plot twist with a mistery she can't solve with her powers, but i doubt the story will go there