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

[EchoGirl]

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).

She did mention a “3 strike rule” so i imagine at that point none of the targets she chose would feel as guilty anymore, not sure if the idol did more arson before/after that unless Spica counted the wife and kids as 3 total strikes instead of one but it is pretty extreme

(and I guess for sensei it’d only be that first girl from way back and then the other student he attacked tho I guess the “third” was attempting to poison Spica herself before she switched out the coffee)

 

[hawkflights]

Her motivation was slightly better than the teacher, that murdered his student just because she'd be a slight inconvenience and almost another one. And killed his cat to test out the acid, don't forget his cat.

That silly mopey-looking cat probably had few wants in the world. Unforgivable.

 

[Cloriane]

....Thats it? Stabbing and burning a family with two small children because of noise?

 

[Gustbk]

People seem to be ignoring the fact that she not only killed those kids, but also killed the fully capable mom, in broad daylight, without noise and all while being a 15 year old.

Wheeew suspension of disbelief has its limits especially if the story doesn’t do anything narratively to attempt to justify itself.

This Arc was a total miss, I’ll read the next Arc to see if they can do something interesting or if it’s just a series being carried by a fun initial twist.

 

[Ayumumono]

So yeah, sadly this wasn't a particularly satisfying conclusion. The chekov's gun is the reveal without much in the way of building to it. The reasoning is pretty weak. Motivations come out a bit childish when its not explored beyond the reveal itself.


This is the type of story to get the creative juices flowing, though. Cause there's pieces here to build a compelling narrative. So I start thinking about what kind of tweaks id make to a story. Main thing I think it needed is just to spend more time with the killer. If we actually got to know this idol a bit and learn about their character traits reveals could hit a little. You could even hint subtly towards their dislike of noise.

You can say this isn't a mystery but a fantasy of a girl with psychic powers being a vigilante, but all our time is spent on the mysteries not Spica's characterization or struggles. In fact Spica thus far has acted completely as a force of nature. Infallible and destructive. I think we need a little more spice, either with intrigue or conflict with Spica, or to make more satisfying mysteries. Maybe they could have a rival out to stop Spica or something. At current things are just kinda happening. We got potential but its not currently living up to it.

 

[StormSen]

I hate it that this manga is not giving us "Yes, I did something evil, but I have a sad backstory, so don't kill me!" story #10,459.

And it's awful that the MC, having found out their sociopathic, murderous nature, actually executes the sociopathic murderer! That's just wrong! MC should be showing a little sympathy and compassion!

/sarcasm

New flash: There are horrible, murderous, sociopathic people in the world. They don't give a shit about their victim or about you. They murder, rape, torture people, have fun doing that, and then go to sleep without a care in the world.

It's also true that a lot of people get away with crimes with no one ever being the wiser.

So, I'm going to enjoy a rare story about murderous sociopaths being murderous sociopaths with no "Poor, pitiful me" story, and with those murderous sociopaths getting found out and then executed for their crimes.

 

[AnotherRat]

Spica groping scene where.

 

[weebnumber69]

... Okay, I'm not saying she's right, but I understand

Pardon my hyperfocused induced yapping ahead.

This comment is really intriguing to me because it's the exact point that Spica made but coming from an actual person. Albeit Spica's point was far more hyperbolic, still it happens time and time again where someone takes the life of another with the simple reasoning of "they pissed me off" or even "they were annoying."

You and I both understand but neither of us would ever go that far. Most people who have lived on a floor below others can relate to this. The author tried to make her seem more sympathetic by writing her as someone with "perfect pitch" or "hyper-auditory sensitivity" or whatever the correct term for her condition might be. The reality is still the same though. People can only be so accommodating and eventually the situation becomes "I've done all that I can do. If this isn't enough and you're still suffering, then maybe it's time to re-examine where and what the issue actually is." Obviously the father of the kids was a fair bit more abrasive and with his wording, but he was in the right.

Thank you for taking the time to read my loose thoughts and ramblings from a simple comment.

 

[jump90008]

just wear voice canceling headphones , you dum dum

 

[ryuumajin]

It's... underwhelming actually.
I understand her motive (FER FUCK'S SAKE I HATE NEIGHBOR'S CHILDREN SCREAMING OUT OF THEIR LUNG). I myself won't go that far though.

She has something special with her ears (if not sensitivity), her motive is... not enough to make me feel, "Alright the killer is dead!". Murder is wrong, but her psyche is built around her stress of her ears and her neighbor, like it or not, is a one of the causes and her life is harsh enough.
I reread it again, and I missed the fact that the their family's noise can be a motive for a murder, despite father's effort to make it sound lower.

But aside of that, the killer, without much clue is an idol, is a bit asspull for me. Especially when "she twitted and the unalived herself". If we don't see from protagonist's POV, at least police wouldn't just believe it and still deduce that someone else killed her because the suicide and the crime scene felt so flimsy.

 

[smart_fella255]

I think this seals it. First arc was interesting and made the manga seem like it could be unique and deep but it seems like this is gonna be generic. Uninteresting storyline, uninteresting side character, uninteresting antagonist.

 

[YoJimbo0321]

So, uh, the underwhelming reveal of the actual culprit aside, what was up with the husband walking around town watching arson ASMR videos or whatever with a creepy grin on his face? He clearly didn't really give a shit about his family being slaughtered and incinerated, despite even witnessing their bodies at the crime scene, then he walked out of the police station after the polygraph test and immediately popped in his earphones and booted up those arson videos with a smile (again, shortly after seeing the charred corpses of his wife and kids).

Sure, that's technically not a crime, and sure, he was cheating on his wife anyway so he clearly didn't care that much for his family, but at a minimum, that's still highly sociopathic behavior right? The conclusion of this arc is like "wow haha poor Mr. Detective was chasing a false lead red herring for decades, because there was no way that he could have guessed the true killer and their motive!", but that husband is definitely messed up in the head anyway.

It's presented like the detective wasted his life doing nothing and accusing an innocent, but he was still tailing a legitimately unstable and potentially dangerous individual and making sure that they didn't actually commit some horrible crime. Obviously, the detective would be wrong to punish the husband for a crime he didn't commit, but it's not like it was a complete false lead on a totally innocent guy either.

 

[chilneun]

hope the next villain aint this one-dimensional. also, damn, the dad shouldve died tbh, guy pissed me off

 

[gum_rummy]

So cool how security cameras don't exist in Japan, so she can keep getting away with this.

 

[Tsukikira]

So, uh, the underwhelming reveal of the actual culprit aside, what was up with the husband walking around town watching arson ASMR videos or whatever with a creepy grin on his face? He clearly didn't really give a shit about his family being slaughtered and incinerated, despite even witnessing their bodies at the crime scene, then he walked out of the police station after the polygraph test and immediately popped in his earphones and booted up those arson videos with a smile (again, shortly after seeing the charred corpses of his wife and kids).

Sure, that's technically not a crime, and sure, he was cheating on his wife anyway so he clearly didn't care that much for his family, but at a minimum, that's still highly sociopathic behavior right? The conclusion of this arc is like "wow haha poor Mr. Detective was chasing a false lead red herring for decades, because there was no way that he could have guessed the true killer and their motive!", but that husband is definitely messed up in the head anyway.

It's presented like the detective wasted his life doing nothing and accusing an innocent, but he was still tailing a legitimately unstable and potentially dangerous individual and making sure that they didn't actually commit some horrible crime. Obviously, the detective would be wrong to punish the husband for a crime he didn't commit, but it's not like it was a complete false lead on a totally innocent guy either.

Apparently they were videos of his family before they died, if the end of the next chapter would have you believe it. The reason it's so blurry in the chapter 4 is because the detective can't see it clearly.

His whistling was supposedly because his kids liked it and asked him to do it more. I agree that grief doesn't normally get portrayed like they did here. But at the same time, going to work and watching entertainment is not a crime. Innocent people have been accused of crimes based off bad hunches from police before, and often; Police have bias too, you know?

 

[MiguelH224]

Yeah, because no one has killed anyone for silly reasons like that. Nope, not ever

Right? People have literally been killed for a lot less, some for absolutely no reason, just a "wrong place at the wrong time" type of shit

 

[Ryker]

I wanted to like this one because the first chapters were interesting, but this case's build up to the end was pretty disappointing. I thought there would be more to it.


Idk I just feel like it ends way too quickly. The protag just straight up went to the killer and solved it just like that? Wish future chapters has better build up.

 

[ceoamaterasu]

Ngl, was pretty satisfying to see the source of the noise dead, at least in a perspective this outcome is not real life. But hell I bet this is on most victims of a noisy neighbor head is, and I don't blame them for that. Somewhat I wished the idol just to get away from this crime

 

[poopy420]

Wow i guess murdering innocent kids and their mother is easier than buying a noise cancellation headphones or going to the doctor to get it checked. The desperation reeked from her when spica touched her and we saw the thoughts.
The things she did oof
Rest in flames, i mean burn eternally in flames
Atleast detective can be in peace a little finally

 

[Kcjpunk]

This got to be the dumbest case I seen! legit even Detective Conan filers were much better than this! Also culprit reason is shallow af. she could easily make her room sound proof then none of this happens. I legit blame the author for making this stupid case.