First, I'd like to discuss its similarities and differences with the prequel. Just like it, the movie starts off with the mysteries right away wherein cases of different origins actually intertwine with one another. This time, however, everything is a tad more complicated than before. We weren't just touching the cases themselves, but even tackling a diverse number of topics ranging from historical events to personal past grudges and more. It was also amusing seeing Mitarai outside nearly the whole time in this film, although all things considered, the cases here did not happen around his place after all [and since Ishioka isn't around for this one, he doesn't have anyone to push on his work to]. The movie also had a much more serious tone than that of the prequel.
Tamaki Hiroshi's Mitarai still remains as charismatic and wise as before, albeit due to the change in the cast and character relationships, it's a bit lonely this time around. I have to admit, the surrounding characters were pretty much just prop, only following Mitarai's lead, as opposed to his conversations with i.e. Ishioka in the prequel that sure added amusement. What interests me as well is that Ishioka's character seems to be presented somewhat differently here. Domoto Koichi's Ishioka was refined yet curious and engaging at the same time. Ishioka in this (although we only get to hear him during a phone call) was much "louder"; Ogawa (Hirose Alice) also shares this very trait which can be annoying and noisy to perceive. We also get to see more faces this time around, so the jump to each of them can be a little overwhelming to follow.
While it is a fun thriller, I would have to admit that a number of things were happening at once and the diversity of subjects we're exposed to do not add up much to the mystery; they turned into rather extensive backstories that complicated things further. Knowing them *did* help in revealing the answers of the cases, but in my opinion, we ended up spending too much time unpacking those that we didn't really focus on the cases themselves.
I wouldn't go out to recommend this, but nonetheless, I enjoyed the journey towards the end.
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