Q.E.D.

[Melon]

The real mystery is...can Takitty act?



Two episodes are out right now. I'm not as adept in Japanese as the rest of this board so I must wait for subs. I liked N!N's versions better.



Episode 01:

Mysterious Rating - 3/10

It's a lame episode to start a mystery series. No real (tough) mystery to solve, really. Takahashi isn't the best actor, but she's passable. I tend to find Japanese actors a bit stiff. It's your classic vengeful love triangle. I'm doing this one by memory so when I get home I'll add screencaps and fix the names of the minor characters and make the summary nicer. It's nice to have a slow day at work where I can do silly things like this. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' /> [edit] Yeah, I fell asleep. I'll get around to it sometime when I have time again. Ehehe... I'm working on something else right now. Sorry for the vagueness!



I try to make summaries detailed, and the solutions to the mysteries are spoiler marked, but I could make the entire summary spoilered if people want.



The series starts off with a great shot of Kana (Takitty) whacking the shit out of someone with a kendo stick. I hope we get to see her whack more things as the series goes on. Her whacking skills grant her a free skydiving lesson! How daring! Her friends reveal Kana is not a normal girl and refuse her invitation to join her freefalling. But not only is our poor Kana a weird tomboy, she's also airheaded! Poor dear has forgotten her code to her locker (whatever happened to dial locks? I wish I had a digital lock at high school!) and she's stranded in her stinky kendo uniform!



But wait! Her knight in shining armor is just outside the door! Yes, we just watched her beat the tar out of men with a kendo stick but she doesn't have the strength to open the door. She asks for help opening the door by force. The poor guy is confused but fortunately for her, he is smart enough to devise a way to open the door (after doing large multiplications in his head for our awed pleasure). By using a dust (in this case pencil shavings) the particles will stick to the oil residue left by fingerprints, revealing the digits used in the code. She's happy, we're happy, and we go to class.



Like all great manga, video games, and movies, the introduction of a new character is a great start to a new adventure! And like all great manga, video games, and movies the first character we meet is the new stranger in our lives! Our mysterious genius is Touma. And he's actually a genius. In fact, he's already graduated from M.I.T. Why is he at a high school then? A mystery, of course! He takes a seat behind Kana, and she promptly latches onto him. After a show of his genius (which doesn't exactly please his classmates) Kana drags him to the sky diving lesson.



And...it's murder time! WHOOHOO. One of the famed skydivers of a professional group has been killed. But how? They're pros! Something smells nasty... Well, if the murder was really that interesting. At first we are confused because how can someone be stabbed in the back midair without anyone noticing (and is it physically possible?), but thanks to the gossiping teammates, we're able to come up with this as the story - there was a love triangle, and instead of manning up someone pussied out by killing the person of affection. One person found out about the first murder and the killer got rid of him, thus being the murder we saw. What IS interesting is how Kana's father, Kotaro, is utterly useless as a detective. (Enough "is"s for you, Clinton?) Jeez, according to manga, anime, video games, movies, ect. Japan's police force is utterly useless and the only people who can solve things are teenagers (though it always helps if one is a prodigy of some sort). If I'm ever in trouble I'm getting the kids in the school uniforms to help me. In any case, there is a cute exchange between the two due to Kotaro's cluelessness about being a father.



Sometime during the investigation we're treated to Kana complaining Touma is like a computer. All brain, no emotion. Well, how else is a genius with no parental guidance supposed to act? And thus the first arc of their relationship is "Annoying girl who drags me to places I don't want to go, but interesting things happen so I stay anyway".



SOLUTION:

Touma has figured out who the killer is, but in order to prove it, he must put his life in danger. He puts himself on the plane with the killer and explains his view of how things happened.

For the first murder (the woman), her bag was tampered with before they took to the sky.

For the second murder, he stabbed the victim BEFORE taking off. Because the outfits conceal facial features, he simply switched nametags. The killer is normally quiet so no one notices the switch. Again, before jumping off the plane, he switches nametags.



The killer is noticeably upset. He makes a deal because his life is pretty much over at this point. Touma can pick a bag. He has tampered with one. One more murder on his resume won't matter much, and if he dies it's okay. 50/50 chance of survival.

Touma picks...and they jump.

The killer pulls his cord and a parachute shoots up. He smiles as he realizes he won't be the one splattered on the ground. Touma pulls his cord...and a parachute comes up! Yes, our dear genius has thought ahead! He had the other members of the skydiving team check the bags before boarding the plane. The tampered bag is held high by Kana's father. Evidence baby! The assistant holds up handcuffs. Arrest baby! Kana is delighted her new friend hasn't been killed.



MYSTERY SOLVED, BITCHES!



What has everyone thought of the series so far? Episode 2 was waaaaaay better than episode 1. I'll do that one later tonight too. I love mystery dramas, and Takahashi has become my favorite member of the current MM, so I'm enjoying this.

[alita87]

Well I started reading the manga a couple weeks ago, plan to go back to manga cafe tomorrow and read more of it, and the first episode was nothing like the first of the manga. But trust me when I say this skydiving murder was much more interesting, the first case of the manga involved someone at Kana's friend's (not Touma) father's company getting murdered (it might've been the father even but I'm blanking out) and them sneaking around the company to figure the case out.



I guess they figured having younger skydivers rather than old businessmen would be a bit more interesting.



One of my wota friends on mixi commented how he didn't think Ai could play a highschooler at her age, as she couldn't do it a couple of years ago when she was just out of high school. And I have to agree. I think her acting is pretty good, but she just doesn't seem to be able to play someone so much younger than her, she doesn't really fit the part.



But so far it's a fun series and once I get around to it I'll watch the third ep tonight, because even though I get the station it's on I'm in class during the broadcast on Thursdays.

[Falcon]

Episode 2 was way better eh? I guess I'll give it a shot.



I wasn't really interested in the show after the first episode but I'll give it another go.



IF YOU ARE WRONG THOUGH! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[Melon]

[quote name='Falcon' post='57458' date='Jan 23 2009, 12:11 AM']Episode 2 was way better eh? I guess I'll give it a shot.



I wasn't really interested in the show after the first episode but I'll give it another go.



IF YOU ARE WRONG THOUGH! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':noway:' />[/quote]



It had a better mystery. Though it's a bit (silly) cheesy mystery. If you don't like cheesy mysteries, steer clear. I'm still trying to finish the summary. (>_>) I fell asleep last night. Who knew I wouldn't be an insomniac the night I wanted to get stuff done?

[moralar]

Yomiuri Shinbun critics apparently aren't fans of Q.E.D.:



http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/tv/20090123et10.htm



Four one-star ratings and two 0-star ratings. Or are those non-ratings?

[Hana]

[quote name='moralar' post='57512' date='Jan 23 2009, 08:35 PM']Yomiuri Shinbun critics apparently aren't fans of Q.E.D.:



http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/tv/20090123et10.htm



Four one-star ratings and two 0-star ratings. Or are those non-ratings?[/quote]

They're ratings. Down below, one of the people that gave it no stars mentioned that the mystery in the first episode was boring and that the drama is aimed toward Takahashi fans. So it got 4, "If you like dramas, you won't regret watching it", and 2, "Sorry!" ratings. For the curious, 3 stars was, "Awesome!", and 2 stars was, "It's pretty good?"

[stoveroad]

Q.E.D. is so-so. Nothing to be excited about, but it has a nice, old-fashioned mystery feel to it and that's charming in it's own right. Still, the show's not not my cup of tea after watching the first two episodes. As far as Ai's acting goes, I always thought she was a good actress. She more of a stage actor in that she projects more than she has to for a camera as opposed to being on a stage and having to worry whether the people are being reached.

[Melon]

[quote name='moralar' post='57512' date='Jan 23 2009, 09:35 PM']Yomiuri Shinbun critics apparently aren't fans of Q.E.D.:



http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/tv/20090123et10.htm



Four one-star ratings and two 0-star ratings. Or are those non-ratings?[/quote]





Ouch. But I thought the same thing (3/10) after the first episode. It was a horrible mystery and a horrible start to the show. The second episode was better because it fleshed out the mystery more, but the ending solution the static electricity ruining the pacemaker was still old fashioned cheese.



It has a very old fashioned cheesy feel to it, kind of like the cheesy mysteries the board game Clue parodied (I'm just waiting for the dramatic organ sound effect). Those sort of mysteries are a love or hate. It's not very dramatic or nail biting like most modern mysteries (thrillers) are. I can see why most people would hate it.



I am a lover of the cheese, so this sort of thing is right up my alley. I may be the only one here that likes it, but I don't care. Bring on the cheese!

[peachgirldb]

It's a cute show. The third episode's mystery is way tame but I still enjoyed it. Maid Cafe Takahashi was pretty cute to see.

[ozu]

I don't suppose there's a streaming option for this show, is there?



I would watch it but I'm fighting a losing battle with my hard drive space.

[Johnson]

Q.E.D.'s fourth episode, "Breakthrough" ｢ブレイク・スルー｣, featured Ogawa Makoto. She looks amazing. Can't wait to see it.

Oh lol. Its TV rating is down to 3.9%. But it's not Mako's fault, okay?



Source: Yahoo! Japan TV G-Guide



[quote name='ozu' post='58204' date='Jan 30 2009, 10:46 AM']I don't suppose there's a streaming option for this show, is there?



I would watch it but I'm fighting a losing battle with my hard drive space. [/quote]

Check Mysoju.com (Q.E.D. videos). It currently has the first three episodes up.

[ozu]

^My hero. Thanks.



Watching Ep. 1 now...

[ozu]

OK, finished the first ep. You guys weren't kidding about the cheese factor. Ai-chan's character was entertaining, though: so grabby and pushy but otherwise helpless.



Here's a key cheese point that Melon didn't mention:



The skydivers all wore clear plastic armbands with their names printed in lowercase English. During the last murder, the killer didn't switch them, he just flipped them over! But how did that work? Easy, his name was "uowaki" and his victim was "nomaki."



Get it?



How's that for a classic cheesy coincidence?