Can you reach the truth with just one final photo in the story? -- Shusuke Michio's 'Ikenai Series' (No Spoilers)

If you were handed 'one photograph' at the end of a novel and told, 'Please find the truth yourself,' could you solve it?

That is the groundbreaking reading experience offered by Shusuke Michio's Ikenai Series.

In a mystery novel, the detective usually reveals their deduction, and the story concludes by uncovering the truth. In a police procedural, the officers stack up evidence and corner the culprit at the end.

I believe authors use trial and error to depict mysteries in their own unique styles.

However, Shusuke Michio's 'Ikenai Series' brilliantly betrays that common sense.

What is inserted at the end of the story is just one photograph. Through that single image, the reader must unravel the truth.

Have you ever encountered a novel like this?

This time, I would like to think about this series and its new style.

1. The Appeal of Shusuke Michio

It seems Michio-sensei was writing novels since his university days.

But he wasn't in the literature department. When I looked it up, it said 'Faculty of Agriculture.' Keigo Higashino, whom I love, was in the Faculty of Engineering, and Kotaro Isaka was in the Faculty of Law.

And both of them first found employment at private companies and wrote novels while working.

I always think it's amazing to take on the challenge of 'writing' while working a job.

Even now, Mikito Chinen, Sosuke Natsukawa, and Yujiro Nakayama are writing novels while working as active doctors.

As I wrote in other articles, I truly respect them.

Michio-sensei is no exception. He once worked at a private company while writing novels on the side.

Then he entered a contest and was published in a magazine. Perhaps that sparked the fire.

He made his debut as an author in 2004.

<Awards History>
2004 Horror Suspense Award Special Prize for 'Sen no Me'
2007 Honkaku Mystery Award for 'Shadow'
2009 Mystery Writers of Japan Award for 'Karasu no Oyayubi'
2010 Oya Shinichi Award for 'Ryujin no Ame'
2010 Yamamoto Shugoro Award for 'Kobai no Hana'
2011 Naoki Prize for 'Tsuki to Kani'

Isn't this amazing?

To think that he would go on to win the Naoki Prize in just seven years...

Since 2014, he has also served as a selection committee member for the Yokomizo Seishi Mystery Award.

I wonder if he himself ever imagined that he would become a selection committee member just ten years after his debut.

2. Innovative Works

The 'Ikenai' series is not included in the list of award-winning works I wrote about earlier. However, I really wanted to write this article.

In novels, it is rare for 'visual information' to determine the story. We use text as a clue to freely draw images in our minds.

However, in 'Ikenai,' that imagination is challenged by 'a single photograph.' It asks, 'Can you understand the truth by looking at this photo?'

I also like Keigo Higashino's works, and I was reminded of his challenging works where the culprit is never revealed until the end, leaving it to the reader's imagination.

'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' (Wait, no, that's Christie) — works like 'Which One of Them Killed Her?' and 'I Killed Him' fall into that category.

I have had the experience of not understanding the truth, even after reading the 'sealed pages' in the book, and eventually learning a plausible truth through information on the internet.

'I see...' I felt like I had been scolded for cheating. Perhaps those with precise logical thinking skills can figure it out right away.

This work was a shock on par with that experience. I wondered if such a work could exist. It was the talk of the town on social media at the time. It still is, actually...

Interpretations that you thought might be one way based on the text can crumble the moment you see the photo. Or, a sense of unease you noticed from the text can be confirmed by the photo.

This gap might create a shock that is greater than a 'plot twist'.

3. The Reader Becomes a Detective

Those who have read it will understand, but the tension of the moment you look at the page with the 'single photograph' at the end is indescribable.

It's a thrill I've never experienced in any novel I've read before.

'Huh? What on earth does this photo mean?'

It is here that you first realize you were trapped by 'preconceptions.' From there, the reader's deduction begins. Hints are scattered throughout the story you have read up to that point.

I think anyone who can solve this immediately is amazing. Perhaps because I read through things roughly, I freeze for a moment the instant I see the final photo. And then, I flip back through the pages I have already read.

"There was a hint somewhere in this," I thought.

Moreover, it's written so casually that you don't even realize its importance while you're reading.

Even with the previous work, I still didn't get it and ended up searching for information online.

"Ah, so that's what it meant... I see..."

I guess I wouldn't make a very good detective, would I? 😅

But when you finally figure out the truth, a certain sense of exhilaration washes over you.

4. Being trapped by preconceptions

The experience of this series goes beyond mere reading or deduction. Just as the impression you get from reading the text differs from the impression you get when looking at the photos, we live our daily lives swayed by our own assumptions.

We might interpret someone's words in a way that suits us, or make judgments based on preconceived notions of a situation. Even in the real world, we often misjudge the "truth."

What "Ikenai" teaches us is that "even if there is only one truth, the way it is perceived varies from person to person."

And that sometimes it is important to doubt your own perspective. This, I believe, is the true essence of Michio's work.

5. Conclusion

The "Ikenai" series doesn't end just by turning the page. The moment you see that final photo, the story continues within the reader.

I feel that Shusuke Michio is showing us a new possibility with this work: that "a novel is not something you just read, but an experience of searching for the truth."

The mechanism that tests the reader's imagination and powers of observation is truly a major innovation in modern mystery, isn't it?

Those who have read it will likely understand what this article means.

To those who haven't read it yet:
Why not read this series and experience something you've never tasted before?