I finished reading the novel "The Impulses of Fujiko the Murderer," which has also been adapted into a live-action film and sequels.
I read it because I was intrigued by a review that said the plot twist was amazing.
To put it bluntly, I didn't find the work very interesting.
Below, I will write my thoughts, including spoilers.
Please be aware that this contains spoilers for those who are planning to read the book or who do not want to see any spoilers.
My thoughts on the work as a whole
Rather than a mystery, it felt more like a first-person psychological suspense horror story.
The early parts of the story were still relatable, and I even felt some sympathy for the characters.
The descriptions of the intense power struggles within the girls' community during elementary school, and the abuse from parents whose marriage had fallen apart, were stressful to read.
In terms of its ability to deeply move the reader, this is nothing short of brilliant writing.
Like Natsuo Kirino, I feel that female writers often excel at depicting the messy and nasty aspects of human relationships.
In the latter half of the story, as the protagonist transforms into a murderer, my disgust towards his self-centered personality grew stronger.
Watching someone make clearly bad choices at every turning point in their life and spiral downwards, I feel a sense of relief that it's not me.
The story unfolded exactly as expected, and the impression I had from the first few dozen pages persisted until the very end.
Fujiko's first child, Minami, ultimately dies due to neglect and abuse, and the depiction of that event was unbearable to read.
It's especially sad because at the beginning there are scenes depicting them having fun and being boisterous.
The abuse will escalate as follows:
1. Minami likes the closet, so I'll let her sleep there at night.
2. Because her husband Yuya finds it annoying, she makes him live in the closet (Minami doesn't particularly mind).
3. If you hear sobbing coming from the closet, just leave food and water there.
4. Bugs start to infest Minami's head, causing her to scratch it uncontrollably, but it's so disgusting that you just push her into the closet and leave her there.
5. Since he started crying frequently, I would tape his mouth shut with duct tape, lock him in the closet, and if he tried to get out, I would hit his feet hard to prevent him from getting out.
6. There are descriptions such as "my body feels lighter and my back is starting to rot" and "I can't sit up on my own," so it can be inferred that he is probably dying.
7. The description states that "the sliding door was opened for the first time in a week," so even if the person was in good health, it is likely that they would have died completely.
Since my own child was born, I've become quite empathetic when I hear news about incidents and accidents involving young children.
Therefore, such depictions of children are quite memorable and can cause significant emotional distress.
This might be recommended for people who want to be exposed to this kind of poisonous energy.
My thoughts on the trick (spoiler alert)
This was a trick that took advantage of the fact that the work was presented in the form of a story within a story.
Chapters 1 and 2 are presented as if written from Fujiko's perspective, but they are actually told from the perspective of her daughter, Sakiko.
Indeed, in chapters 1 and 2, the narrator uses "I" (watashi) as their first-person pronoun, and it is not explicitly stated who they are.
The story progresses chronologically as follows: Chapters 3-8 → Chapter 1 → Chapter 2 → Chapter 9 → Chapter 10.
So, while chapters 1 and 2 make you think they're descriptions of Fujiko's home life, it turns out that her parents are actually Fujiko herself.
If you read carefully, you can find inconsistencies in the details, and it seems that the author of chapters 1 and 2 is not Fujiko.
In other words, the trick in this work is to surprise the reader by making the writer misunderstand the situation.
Personally, I believe that "you should be suspicious of the writer of a story-within-a-story," so it's no surprise that a trick utilizing that format appeared.
Reasons why I didn't find it interesting
Now, I've been thinking about why I didn't find this book very interesting.
First, one reason is that the trick itself is difficult to notice.
You can still read chapters 1 and 2 even if you mistakenly believe they are from Fujiko's perspective.
Indeed, in Chapter 9, which is told from Sakiko's perspective, the sudden reappearance of "K-kun" might seem strange to some.
However, this film repeatedly suggests that Fujiko will follow the same path as her mother.
Therefore, we can understand that, just as Fujiko had a similar figure in her life before Sakiko, Fujiko's daughter, there was someone similar to "K-kun" in her life.
Furthermore, at the end of the story, it is revealed that the masterminds behind the murders of Fujiko's family and the murder of her husband were her aunt and Kosaka's mother.
Because of that impact, the impression of the structural trick in the work may be diminished.
And the second reason is that even if you figure out the trick, nothing really changes.
If the meaning of the story changes completely once these narrative tricks are revealed, it will be a huge shock.
For example, in "Initiation Love," the meaning and impression of the work change dramatically once you realize the trick.
However, in this work, whether chapters 1 and 2 featured Fujiko or Sakiko, I wasn't particularly moved.
Actually, I think the fact that my aunt was the mastermind behind it was more surprising than the trick itself.
(Neither of them was particularly shocking to me, but if I had to choose, the fact about my aunt was more significant.)
The third reason is that when comparing the difficulty of reading through the story with the pleasure of being deceived by the trick, the difficulty outweighs the pleasure.
As mentioned earlier, I wasn't particularly impressed by the trick in this film.
However, just reading the main story drains a considerable amount of mental energy.
As a result, after finishing this book, what remains in your mind is not the ingenuity of the trick, but a sickening, oppressive malice.
For these reasons, I didn't find this work very interesting.
summary
For the reasons mentioned above, I didn't find this film very interesting.
If something is simply boring, I usually stop reading it halfway through or just skim through it.
However, I believe the reason I was able to read it straight through to the end without any problems was due to the intense negative energy this work possesses.
Because of the negative energy it emits, I wouldn't recommend this book to others.
Midday Darkness (Free Psycho-Suspense Novel Game) Introduction, Impressions, and Analysis
The works I introduced are here.
Rakuten Market: 殺人鬼フジコの衝動（楽天ブックス）