Decapitation: Kubikiri Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense User (2002/2017) by NisiOisiN (translated by Greg Moore)

What is a “genius”?

It’s easy to say that “A genius is a very smart person,” or “a genius is someone who excels in their field.” But then you have to ask how we’re judging “smart” or “excel.” There are a lot of people who know a lot about an arcane topic, but who can’t apply to their everyday life at all. There are a lot of people who are pretty ignorant, but who carry out their day-to-day affairs with undeniable wisdom. So who decides who counts as a “genius”? The geniuses themselves? Non-geniuses?

If I met him in real life, I’d call NisiOisiN a “genius.” After all, most of us couldn’t produce a novel like Decapitation: Kubikiri Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense User (originally published as Zaregoto, Book 1: The Kubikiri Cycle, adapted into the anime Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregoto Tsukai from 2016-2017) at the age of twenty, much less go on to write over one hundred books since then. Maybe he’d agree or laugh it off. Maybe he’d be a bit frustrated. After all, most people know him through the SHAFT adaptation of his urban fantasy Monogatari series, and probably haven’t read a single word he’s written. Or maybe he’d be annoyed, because he sees all the flaws in his first book, the characters he’d define better, the themes he’d make sharper. Or maybe he’d be angry that I’m implicitly dismissing all the thought, time, and effort he put into plotting and then writing this book with, “I’m sure it all came naturally to you.” Which is what I’m saying. He’d probably snap back with, “I just work harder than you.” Which is pretty undeniable.

But that’s just nonsense. In the end, Nisio has no right at all to call himself a genius. That’s something that I think only a critic can say. So I’m labeling him as a “genius” whether he likes it or not. But it’s clear in Zaregoto (literally, “nonsense”) that he’s been thinking about what makes a “genius.” 

The mystery is set on Wet Crow’s Feather Island, home of Iria Akagami, heir to the Akagami Foundation before being suddenly and mysteriously disowned. She amuses herself by gathering geniuses to live at her island mansion. There’s a genius cook, Yayoi Sashirono. But really, she just has naturally strong senses of taste and smell. She just became a cook because she thought that was the best use of her gift; her “genius” is just hard work. There’s Akane Sonoyama, who’s an all-around genius. Well, unless you count her irrational (though she would say otherwise) hatred of artists, including crippled genius painter Kanami Ibuki. And then there’s genius fortune teller Maki Himena. But she’s not really a “genius,” since she “just” has extraordinary ESP abilities that let her tell the future and read minds. So, since it’s all based on a unique skill that most people don’t have and that you can’t practice, can you really call her a “genius”?

I’m sorry, that’s rude of me.

There’s also Tomo Kunagisa, a genius techie who used to perform acts of borderline cyberterrorism as part of “Team.” Now she’s on the island, accompanied by the narrator, Il-chan. He’s certainly not a genius. No, he’s not a genius at all. He was part of the intellectual ER3 System but dropped out. He’s the detective of our tale, though how effective he is is an exercise for the reader. There’s also the island’s staff, including twin maids. That’s quite a cast, and to be honest, I wish Nisio had highlighted them more. They all have illustrations from artist “take” at the beginning of each chapter, but I had trouble telling them apart, especially the staff. Il-chan isn’t always the best at describing people, you see, preferring to talk up, down, and all around in most of his conversations, bulldozed by his conversation partner, who says what they like about him with almost no pushback.

But the murders are distinctive enough. They’re all impossible crimes, but Nisio gives them all a twist beyond the conventional locked door. A decapitated body in an atelier blocked by a river of paint. A decapitated body found in a locked room where the window is ten feet off the ground. Both heads “cut off from the very base of the neck.” A brutal act of sabotage performed when everyone has an alibi. Unconventional mysteries for an unconventional cast. The solutions to the crimes don’t always awe, but they impress. Nisio is smart enough to resolve the “how” of the first murder early on, making the explanation for the rest all the more impactful.

And the solution is really good. I would never come up with it. That’s why I say that the author is a genius, where he would say I just don’t think about things enough. Which is pretty undeniable. After all, I came close to solving the crimes, I just missed some key points. There’s one clever clue that I wish Nisio had described earlier, but he still gives the reader time to chew over the implications. The final explanation is logical and makes “sense.” Well, it makes sense to a genius.

This book is all about being a genius. What it means to be one. What geniuses do. How they act. How they exploit the fact that they’re “a genius.” How they can be kinda pitiable. I’m thinking of Maki here. A terrible person, but the reason she’s terrible makes total sense. I’d act terrible to people if that were true. You get the sense that Nisio really does care about this island of lunatics, even when they perform the unforgivable.

But I don’t like to talk nonsense. I like to get to the point, and I mean everything I say. So let me start by giving my full kudos to the translation. The words flow and feel very natural. And I say this book is Recommended, especially if you’re looking for something familiar yet different in your mystery diet. 

Other Reviews: Beneath the Stains of Time, The Case Files of Ho-Ling, Bad Player's Good Reviews.

Note: This book was originally translated in 2008 by published by Del Ray. I read the 2017 translation by published by Vertical (same translator though), hence the dates in the title.