is a Japanese

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

mystery novel by Hiroshi Mori. It has been adapted into a manga, a

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

, and a live action drama. An anime television series adaptation produced by

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio and production company founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The company was established by SMEJ's animat ...

premiered in Japan on October 8, 2015.

Plot

Sōhei Saikawa, an associate professor of architectural engineering, and Moe Nishinosono, the daughter of his mentor, travel to a remote island. While there, the two work together to solve the murders of a prominent artificial intelligence researcher and the director of the lab located on the island.

Characters

; :, Actor portrayal: Gō Ayano : An associate professor of architecture at National N University. He has gained the admiration of Moe, but doesn't seem to reciprocate her feelings. He is extremely intelligent, he has detached himself from the world, and has no interest in fashion. When something intrigues him, he will spend a lot of time thinking about it and attempt to find out the objective truth. He loves coffee and cigarettes, and hates watermelon, red beans, and soybean flour. ; :, Actor portrayal:

Emi Takei is a Japanese actress and model. Biography Takei was born in Nagoya. Aspiring to become a model, she declared to her parents on her entry to junior high school that she would become a model within three years. In 2006, she entered the 11th Japa ...

, Ai Uchida (young) : The daughter of Sōhei's mentor, and a first year student in the architecture department of N University. She is a beautiful young woman from a high-class family. She has excellent insight, powers of observation, and calculation skills, but sometimes her thoughts jump to extreme conclusions. She loves mystery novels and the sound of car engines. She hates dried shiitake mushrooms, but because she believes they are good for anemia, she enduringly eats them every day. ; :, Actor portrayal: Akari Hayami : A genius programmer who was accused of killing her parents when she was 14, but she was found innocent due to her psychological condition. She lived in isolation at a private research lab on a remote island. Its eventually revealed that she had gotten pregnant by her uncle, giving birth to Miki and had planned to kill herself and Shindō. She intended to force Miki to take her identity but the plan had a toll on Miki; whom eventually killed herself. Shiki assumed her identity and eventually killed Shindō herself. Its never explained if its due to her "multiple" personalities or lack of empathy, but Shiki shows no qualms with killing and has little grievances. Though her new personalities might be her own way of showing the effects of her actions. ; :, Actor portrayal: Norimasa Fuke : The head of the Magata Research Institute. He is Shiki's uncle. His hobby is to fly helicopters. Its later revealed he had an affair with his underage niece and its most likely fueled her to murder her parents. ; :, Actor portrayal: Kumiko Fujiyoshi : Seiji's wife. She knew Shiki in her early childhood. Her speciality is making sweets. ; :, Actor portrayal: Go Riju : The assistant head of the Magata Research Institute. ; :, Actor portrayal: Yasuto Kosuda : The resident doctor at the Magata Research Institute. ; : : An employee at the Magata Research Institute who is one of the few who has been at the institute since its establishment. ; : : An employee at the Magata Research Institute. She is a programmer. ; : : A security guard at the Magata Research Institute. ; : : A security guard at the Magata Research Institute. His hobby is playing the marimba. ; : : Shiki's younger sister. She lives with a relative in America. Near the end its revealed that Miki killed herself due to her "sister"'s plans taking a toll. Furthermore she's revealed to be her daughter as a product of the affair with her uncle Shindō. After her death, Shiki assumed her identity. ; :, Actor portrayal: Erena Mizusawa : An architecture student at N University. She assists Sōhei Saikawa with his accounts. Since she has an androgynous look and also has a very straightforward way of speaking, the other students are afraid of her. ; : : A student at N University who works in Sōhei's lab. He is in charge of planning the seminar trip, and finds himself camping on Himaka island, where the Magata Research Institute is located. ; : : A beautiful fair-skinned woman who is a magazine reporter. She has a close relationship with Sōhei, so she knows about his dislike of red beans and calls him "Sōhei-kun." ; : : A butler who has served the Nishinosono family for many years. He looks after Moe's everyday needs.

Media

Novel

It won the

Mephisto Prize The is a Japanese literary award for unpublished genre fiction novels, mainly for mystery novels. It was established in 1996 by the editors of ''Mephisto'' magazine and is awarded on an irregular basis. The winning work is published by Kodansha a ...

for unpublished

genre fiction In the book-trade, genre fiction, also known as formula fiction, or commercial fiction,Girolimon, Mars"Types of Genres: A Literary Guide" Southern New Hampshire University, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024. encompasses fictional ...

novels and was published by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

. It is the first volume of the ''S&M'' (Professor Saikawa and his student Moe) series. Nine additional volumes were published between 1996 and 1998. There are some short stories belonging to the ''S&M'' series. Two of those, "The Rooftop Ornaments of Stone Ratha" and "Which Is the Witch?", were translated into English and published by the BBB.

Manga

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation drawn by Torao Asada was serialized in

Gentosha is a Japanese publisher, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Gentosha publishes manga magazine '' Comic Birz'', Web comic magazines '' GENZO'', ''SPICA'', '' Comic MAGNA'', literary magazines ''Lynx'', ''papyrus'', as well as business magazine ''GOE ...

's ''

Comic Birz was a Japanese seinen manga magazine published on a monthly basis by Gentosha's imprint Birz Comics from 1986 until 2018. The magazine was called ''Comic Burger'' (コミックバーガー), until it was renamed in 1996. Several manga that were ...

'' magazine in 2001. A

adaptation illustrated by Kairi Shimotsuki was serialized in Kodansha's ''

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

'' magazine from May 28, 2015 to January 28, 2016.

Video game

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

adaptation was developed by KID and released in March 2002.

Live action

A 10-episode drama television series adaptation aired between October and December 2014. The drama series stars Gou Ayano as Sohei Saikawa and

as Moe Nishinosono. Although the series is titled ''The Perfect Insider'', it is a collection of Saikawa and Moe stories.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation, directed by Mamoru Kanbe, written by Toshiya Ono, and produced by

, premiered on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

Noitamina is a Japanese programming block on Fuji Television devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 0:45 to 1:15 JST. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical you ...

programming block on October 9, 2015. The opening theme is "Talking" by

Kana-Boon Kana-Boon (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2008. They made their major debut with Ki/oon Music in 2013. Ever since, they've had four albums reach the top ten on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, with ''Doppel'' being their ...

and the ending theme is by Scenarioart.

References

External links

Official anime website

* {{A-1 Pictures television series 1996 Japanese novels 1996 video games 2015 anime television series debuts 2001 manga A-1 Pictures Anime and manga based on novels Aniplex Dissociative identity disorder in popular culture Dissociative identity disorder in television Gentosha manga Japan-exclusive video games Mystery anime and manga Noitamina PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Psychological anime and manga Psychological novels Sentai Filmworks Seinen manga Video games based on novels Video games developed in Japan Visual novels