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准教授・高槻彰良の推察 #6
准教授・高槻彰良の推察６ 鏡がうつす影
怪異大好き准教授・高槻の元に「遊園地のお化け屋敷の鏡に幽霊が映る」という調査依頼が。長野での記憶を失って以来元気がない高槻を心配した尚哉は、彼を外に連れ出そうと依頼を受けることを勧めるが――。
261 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 25, 2025
Yikes, one of the cases really freaked me out unexpectedly - I actually jumped and nearly dropped the book! 😂 Love how this series is progressing, can't wait for the next volume!
August 13, 2025
Previous book marked a turn in the story: Naoya and the professor visited the festival of the dead where Naoya had been to as a child and which had led to him starting to hear lies. This book, subtitled Dark Reflections, starts a week after those events. Back at the university, Naoya tries to come to terms with their visit to the underworld, and wonders if it was worth it. He can still hear the lies, so nothing’s changed.
But Professor Takatsuki is so upset he falls ill. The entity inside him made him forget the entire journey, because he’d learned what happened when he was abducted, and he can’t accept it. Naoya tries to cheer him up and ends up promising he’ll be Takatsuki’s memory from now on.
In an effort to cheer up the professor, Naoya makes him take a case of a haunted house in an amusement park, where people have started to see an actual ghost. He thinks Takatsuki’s reluctance is caused by his upset, but turns out it’s because the professor has already figured out what’s going on and it’s not supernatural. But Naoya gets a fun day at an amusement park with Takatsuki, Kenji, and Ruiko.
In the second story, Takatsuki’s cousin Yuuko contacts him for the first time in twenty years. (Takatsuki isn’t allowed to contact his family except his uncle who raised him.) His fiancé insists she needs supernatural help for a growth on her shoulder and wants him to call Takatsuki. Turns out, she had attended as a child the tea parties Takatsuki’s mother held where she showed him around as a tengu, and had become obsessed with him. This story took an unexpected turn, but it wasn’t supernatural either.
But it did give Naoya a deeper understanding of Takatsuki’s family situation. He even gets to meet his mother briefly and learns she’s still in denial about Takatsuki and insists her son didn’t return, after Takatsuki didn’t let her show him around as a tengu anymore. The whole situation is upsetting for Takatsuki too, but at least he got to connect with his cousin again.
In the third story, a girl contacts them about a mirror that disappeared her mother. Her father insists she left with her lover, but when Takatsuki and Naoya investigate, the truth turns out to be something supernatural—for the first time. It triggers the entity inside Takatsuki to intervene even. Naoya has a chance to communicate with it, but it leaves him with more questions than answers. But he’s now sure the entity is causing Takatsuki’s memory losses.
This was an excellent volume in many ways. The narrative felt more mature, Naoya’s inner monologue was deeper and we get better insights into him and Takatsuki both; their friendship changes quite a lot (no romance), and there was an actual supernatural case. The theme of the book was mirror and it offered some good insights into Japanese folklore and human psyche. I’m a bit annoyed that the aftermath of Kenji seeing a real ghost was skipped, but perhaps we get a bonus story about that later. There was no cliffhanger ending or extra stories. There are three more books to come and I can’t wait to read them. Though I’ll probably gobble them down in one sitting like this one too.
But Professor Takatsuki is so upset he falls ill. The entity inside him made him forget the entire journey, because he’d learned what happened when he was abducted, and he can’t accept it. Naoya tries to cheer him up and ends up promising he’ll be Takatsuki’s memory from now on.
In an effort to cheer up the professor, Naoya makes him take a case of a haunted house in an amusement park, where people have started to see an actual ghost. He thinks Takatsuki’s reluctance is caused by his upset, but turns out it’s because the professor has already figured out what’s going on and it’s not supernatural. But Naoya gets a fun day at an amusement park with Takatsuki, Kenji, and Ruiko.
In the second story, Takatsuki’s cousin Yuuko contacts him for the first time in twenty years. (Takatsuki isn’t allowed to contact his family except his uncle who raised him.) His fiancé insists she needs supernatural help for a growth on her shoulder and wants him to call Takatsuki. Turns out, she had attended as a child the tea parties Takatsuki’s mother held where she showed him around as a tengu, and had become obsessed with him. This story took an unexpected turn, but it wasn’t supernatural either.
But it did give Naoya a deeper understanding of Takatsuki’s family situation. He even gets to meet his mother briefly and learns she’s still in denial about Takatsuki and insists her son didn’t return, after Takatsuki didn’t let her show him around as a tengu anymore. The whole situation is upsetting for Takatsuki too, but at least he got to connect with his cousin again.
In the third story, a girl contacts them about a mirror that disappeared her mother. Her father insists she left with her lover, but when Takatsuki and Naoya investigate, the truth turns out to be something supernatural—for the first time. It triggers the entity inside Takatsuki to intervene even. Naoya has a chance to communicate with it, but it leaves him with more questions than answers. But he’s now sure the entity is causing Takatsuki’s memory losses.
This was an excellent volume in many ways. The narrative felt more mature, Naoya’s inner monologue was deeper and we get better insights into him and Takatsuki both; their friendship changes quite a lot (no romance), and there was an actual supernatural case. The theme of the book was mirror and it offered some good insights into Japanese folklore and human psyche. I’m a bit annoyed that the aftermath of Kenji seeing a real ghost was skipped, but perhaps we get a bonus story about that later. There was no cliffhanger ending or extra stories. There are three more books to come and I can’t wait to read them. Though I’ll probably gobble them down in one sitting like this one too.
September 8, 2025
Another good volume! I really love the Takatsuki series in how it discusses various supernatural phenomena or urban legends; in this volume, the professor talks about, among others, Turbo Granny. It's fascinating to think about how many female ghosts are the results of patriarchal way of looking at things!
This volume is interesting as it lets us see more of Takatsuki's family, including his mother. However, the last chapter left the strongest impression on me, exactly because it seemed to be another mundane, predictable case at first... but as it turned out, it's not!
This volume is interesting as it lets us see more of Takatsuki's family, including his mother. However, the last chapter left the strongest impression on me, exactly because it seemed to be another mundane, predictable case at first... but as it turned out, it's not!
October 5, 2025
My reviews are my own. If you liked this book, I’m glad you enjoyed it. If not, I respect your opinion.
I wish someone had killed the professor's family, and the company had gone completely under! What a trashy, worthless family. They can't even be called human. If they don't pay greatly by the end of the series, I'm going to personally slap the author until they come to their senses!!!!! I don't get Naoya letting himself be dragged by everyone either. If I were him, I would be carrying pepper spray to attack people who easily touch me.
On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
I wish someone had killed the professor's family, and the company had gone completely under! What a trashy, worthless family. They can't even be called human. If they don't pay greatly by the end of the series, I'm going to personally slap the author until they come to their senses!!!!! I don't get Naoya letting himself be dragged by everyone either. If I were him, I would be carrying pepper spray to attack people who easily touch me.
On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
August 29, 2025
4.5. I just love this series. I love that both Naoya and KenKen have taken up the task of protecting Akira, especially since there are still people trying to track him down as 'Tengu-sama.' I wish there had been more Sasakura in this one but having him and Ruiko and Naoya and Akira all at an amusement park was a great time - more of that, please!
January 4, 2026
The plot thickens... of course, there had to be some filler chapters before we got to the most interesting part. But what I love about this series is that both the main story as well as "side quests" are very interesting!
I'm really curious what the author will cook next. It's such a nice novel; that's a shame it's so hard to get.
I'm really curious what the author will cook next. It's such a nice novel; that's a shame it's so hard to get.
January 18, 2022
It’s getting really good with proper ghost stories and creepy mystery. I thought this was the last book in the series but the mystery about Takatsuki remains unsolved. I need to know!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews