The Perfect Insider returns, and this week we finally dive into some actual mystery meat. That was poorly phrased. Not in the cafeteria lunch terms, but in… well, you get it.
Anyway, this was a fine episode all around. Magata’s alleged death kind of throws a wrench in my ideas about where the story was going – I figured it’d end up being more about the dynamic between Moe and Magata, but unless Magata really is performing quite an impressive magic trick here (perhaps involving her “sister”), it’ll likely be more focused on revealing both Moe and Magata’s past. In spite of losing that thread, I enjoyed where this episode went – the dynamic between Moe and Souhei felt more equal this time, and the mystery stuff never overwhelmed either the character material or the atmosphere. The show still feels very confident in what it’s doing.
You can check out my full writeup over at ANN, or my episode notes below!
Magata is dead, and her limbs have been amputated. A locked room mystery with a bit of a scifi/tech twist
Outside communication is cut off
“Part of Deborah must be out of control” aw dang
Moe only perks up when Souhei asks if she was okay. Oh boy
“What made you like Saikawa-sensei?”
“No one went in or out. We’ve been here the whole time, and we checked the logs, too”
Moe suggests they look inside
Moe and Souhei are more compelling as a pair when they’re working on a common objective, as opposed to just hanging out
“I can’t believe I can laugh with Dr. Magata dead”
A nice quiet conversation between the two of them. Souhei’s morbid wit, Moe’s indulgent snark
“Why did he amputate the limbs?” “To put that bridal gown on her” nice that they can talk as equals
It also feels pretty clear in these exchanges that they’ve known each other for a long time
“Red Magic,” the episode name, is their in-house programming environment
Moe blunt as always
Some wacky imagery for Souhei’s detective process
Souhei proposes a theory, Moe shoots it down
More laying out the specifics of the locked room scenario
Moe expresses excitement at the guard’s marimba, but declines to play it. False enthusiasm, appearances
Neither Moe nor Souhei act particularly broken up about this whole murder thing
“Expository dialogue, huh? I don’t like it.”
The arrival of Magata’s sister is great. And again that red-blue contrast as she’s framed against Moe
I like how they separate the director in his helicopter, as well. He just communicates through thumbs-ups – he is outside of their closed space, but Magata is able to enter it
Miki Magata is the sister
“Magata may have looked younger than she really was.” Just as she did when she was a child, metaphorically speaking
“I first met Saikawa-sensei in fifth grade. I was surprised to meet an adult smarter than I was”
Moe initially hated Saikawa for figuring out her magic trick. Is this Magata’s magic trick, and is she looking for someone to impress her by figuring out her magic?
Red Magic is impenetrable. Apparently the killer planned for this from a very long time ago, possibly through the initial programming of the system
The red elevator door
Moe’s thoughts of the Magata conversation turn to her parents, which distract her from Souhei’s thoughts on the mystery. And Souhei has started expositing as well, matching her – perhaps humoring her, or actually enjoying himself
But Souhei ignores her opening up about her parents
And now the director is dead, a literal knife in the back
“It could be that creating your descendants is akin to imagining your own death.”
Another flashback to 13-year-old Magata