Don't Call It Mystery Omnibus, Vol. 1-2

Don't Call it Mystery Omnibus #1

by Yumi Tamura

Totonou is a young college student who stands out—both for his bushy hairdo and his finely-honed abilities of observation and deduction. When Totonou is accused of murder, he puts his skills to work and uses his exceptional insights to find the real killer. Later, all Totonou wants to do is return to his own little world, but he can't avoid getting caught up in one mystery after another. In his own blunt yet gentle way, Totonou is a truth seeker who tries to make sense of a chaotic—and often dangerous—world.

Genres: Manga, Mystery, Josei, Graphic Novels, Comics, Contemporary, Crime

388 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2023

About the author

Name (in native language): 田村由美
Birth Date: September 5
Zodiac: Virgo

Tamura is an avid RPG videogamer - Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc. She also loves to read mystery books, and going on the computer to chat with her fans.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

But then what should you call it? Even creator Yumi Tamura thinks this series isn't a mystery, despite all evidence to the contrary. Though if you look at it from the perspective of the protagonist, Totonou, maybe it's less about solving a crime and more about sorting through the various puzzles presented to him. There are definitely Sherlockian trappings here, chief among them Totonou's unique way of looking at the world and his Moriarty-like relationship with Goro, but for him it's really just about explaining things as he sees them. He relies on observation and a deep love of semantics (seriously, he loves semantics), and just maybe his own experiences as a child, more of which are doled out in each chapter. If you've read Basara you already know that Tamura can tell a complicated story. This looks like she'll pull it off again.


Edit: I completely forgot to mention the many times Totonou takes down toxic masculinity and the various ways it hurts fathers and their children.

[tomoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

irytuje mnie główny bohater, ale i tak jest to świetna manga. niby jest to kryminał, a chodzi w nim o wszystko inne XD

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim after hearing so many good things about it, and it was definitely a good choice. This is a compelling, intelligent series about an oddly endearing man who just wants to live his life, but keeps getting caught up in situations where he inadvertently plays both detective and therapist. The conversations are thought provoking without being overbearing, and also deeply empathetic. I'm intrigued to see where this goes.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people are just born unlucky, or at least unable to eat a good curry. Totonou is pulled in by the police for a crime he didn’t commit, but that’s only the start of his journey. One as much marked by his ability to drive others crazy as it is anything else.

If any given mystery story is defined by the quality of its detective, Don’t Say Mystery acquits itself very well. It’s almost ridiculous to call these cases, honestly, but Totonou keeps falling into events and getting involved in strange circumstances.

And he’s so annoying. Amazingly, wonderfully annoying. With his endless platitudes and sharp insight and constant prattle he’s like a self-help guru that you want to punch in the teeth. Columbo with a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

If you don’t like Totonou from the start, just leave the series early and spare yourself the torment. He never changes and watching his strange personality tackle the regular world is most of the fun of this omnibus edition.

I love how he doesn’t need to really investigate to solve crimes. He ends up in situations and with a couple observations starts to get near an approximation of reality, rather than the truth. A very important distinction in his worldview. And he’s very good at his non-job.

The cases are nothing new - false accusations of murder, will reading (this one promises to be amazing), hostage situation, but that’s part of the fun. Totonou seems to pick up an arch-nemesis in the second story arc, but they’re incredibly chummy and Totonou might not even realize the nature of their interactions.

It’s clearly a labour of love, but also a very wordy piece by nature of itself and its lead. The second arc is fairly dynamic, but the first one is almost completely based on chatter during an interrogation. That’s not a bug, just the way things are done here.

The art’s nothing to write home about, in fact I believe I am being incredibly charitable at points by calling it passable. So you’ve got no art, not exactly a mystery, which leaves… as I said… Totonou.

I am almost always here for a likeable oddball wiseass who’s smarter than the room he’s in, however, and watching his logic play out is a hoot. Totonou is as sharp as he thinks he is, but he can’t stop showing it and he derails conversations endlessly.

He’s the antics of Kindaichi, but without the elaborate murders. Don’t come to this expecting anything but the Totonou show and you’ll be a lot happier than if you expect Detective Conan or its ilk. It’s not worse, just different.

There are hints that this could be about something, with his foil/potential ship offering his own insights into Totonou. If that comes to fruition, that’ll be great, but I will happily take more of just this. It’s dense but fun.

4 stars - this took forever to read: it’s wordy and chewy and won’t be for anybody looking for a quick and dirty mystery. But if you want something really interesting that’s whodunnit adjacent rather than strictly of the genre, step inside.

[Cee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had no right being so good. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next to see how this mystery will go. Also, the brief insights into Totonou are like bread crumbs leading us to a potentially bigger story. I. Want. To. Know. But I'm happy to go along the journey to get there ^_^

Don't mind me, I'm off to put a hold on the second book haha yay for libraries.

[Goatllama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling, new-feeling mysteries feel to me difficult to do. Tamura has done it, here (or, more likely, I haven't read enough mystery stories). There is some pontificating from the protagonist, but I don't really have any issue with that, 'cause it's all very interesting stuff, and their stuffy, hoity-toity, and yet oh so likeable voice comes through in these moments. I am intrigued with where the story is going and was pleasantly surprised when the momentum carried all the way through this first omnibus. Here's hoping that continues.

And my God. The bus-jacking resolution. Chills.

Recommended review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the artwork and the sense of humor, but I felt like I'd need to be fluent in Japanese to get enough out of this, since Totonou is so into different interpretations of characters and plays on words. This figures into the story plots, especially the one with the coded letters. His long philosophical speeches were kind of overbearing, and it was weird that the other characters immediately vowed to mend their ways after listening to him. The author's illustrated notes to the reader at the end of each volume were cute. I'm not sure if I'll read more or not. The longer kidnapping arc was the story I was into the most.

[Eyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my Gods people weren't kidding, this is really heckin' good.

[Remxo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a blast. Totonou-kun is a student, whose talent deduction and reasoning is uncanny. He's one of those laid back wise guys who always has something to say and who is right all the time, which makes him super annoying, but I love him. He's the perfect protagonist in a story about a guy who just happens to get caught up in these oddball murder mysteries.

The storytelling is fast-paced, or as Yumi Tamura says, "it's basically all about conversations in closed spaces". I love Tamura's witty dialogues, they carry the story. And Totonou sometimes blew my mind with his bizarre but utterly fascinating philosophical meanderings about the notion of truth and the act of killing.

[Estibaliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty fun.

I have to admit I wasn't entirely convinced at first, since there was a lot of dialogue, and what sometimes felt like a lot of rambling on behalf of our main character, and the story starts in kind of an abrupt way, so it takes a little bit to get used to the tone and characters.

However, with the second chapter/case/adventure, things started to get much more interesting, and the odd ways of Totono Kuno felt familiar in a kind of endearing way. And of course, even though the author states at the end that she is not writing a mystery, there's indeed lots of deductions and brainy talk. (And, also, there's no surprise the back cover compares Totono to Sherlock, particularly if we think of Cumberbatch's depiction of the classic detective).

All in all, a fun read, that it gest better with every chapter, and finishes in this Omnibus volume with quite a cliffhanger that lures you into volume two. Coming soon...

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

quirky light(?) mystery. the art and story has a bit of a 90s manga feeling to it (makes sense b/c the creator has been around for a while). sort of funny? if i were to summarize, "boy with crazy hair who just wants to eat his homemade curry gets into Situations he can't help himself from commenting on. everyone is shocked not necessarily by his deductions but by his Emotional Insights."

something like that. I enjoyed it. this boy talks A TON though. also maybe lightly queer?

bye

[MargReadsManga · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first “mystery!” I feel like the bus one went on a little too long but it was still good! I enjoyed the train lady one too! I’m excited to see what “mysteries” the next omni will bring!

[Adrian Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son got this from the library and my husband recommended it to me. Vol 1 was fun but later volumes weren't as engaging.

[Janae (The Modish Geek) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5

[§ïå ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

How is a police department so incompetent that they're so easily influenced by a college student that sounds like he gets all his information off of wikipedia?

For example: Our "brilliant" mc tells one of the detectives that the reason why his daughter doesn't get along with him is because her biology is telling her not to mate with him...yeah 😐. And if his daughter was getting along with him, then that would mean he failed as a father because that would mean she wanted to MARRY him. What the actual fuck?? Seems like a cope for people who don’t have a good relationship with their father. That's freaking weird.

How any of these adults actually took him seriously is the real mystery to me.

It kinda gets better as it goes on, but I feel like the author was trying to make the mc look smart while not completely pulling it off imo.

That's too bad, I had high expectations for this bc of all the hype it's been getting in manga spaces. It's honestly not that bad; I just wasn't impressed.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cool. Interleaved stories, staged much like plays, full of reflective conversations and developing bonds between secondary characters and our eccentric lead. Fuller review tomorrow, I hope. (Or three days later. It's below.)

***

I've read a couple of Yumi Tamura's manga before Don't Call It Mystery: her short two-volume series Chicago, and her much longer post-apocalyptic epic Basara. I liked Chicago a lot, and kept the English volumes of it, despite their being in "flopped" format. Basara went to the used bookstore not long after I finished reading it. (nothing against it, it was just in a genre that I don't care for.) So I wasn't sure what to expect from this one.

The rating ought to tell you what I thought of it. :) But if you're interested in slightly more detail, read on.

Kunou Totonou is a college student who lives on his own in a small apartment subsized by his parents. There are hints of familial difficulties, but no details yet. He is called in to the local police station suddenly one day on a charge of murder, of an acquaintance who attended the same high school and college as he did/does. He's able to figure out who committed the murder through a series of conversations with various people at the police station.

The second major story in this book starts with a busjacking, and later the reader learns that this is also a case involving a serial killer. As happened in the first story, Totonou uses conversation to ferret out the personality of each of the people on the bus, and finds out the real story behind the busjacking.

In the third story, Totonou is headed to Hiroshima for a vacation, and his attention is drawn to a letter his seatmate is reading, that has a picture cipher on it. That story directly leads to another, where he's drawn into a strange game that will determine who earns an inheritance.

So there's a lot of variety in the scenarios. While each story has a mystery-like arc, I think the series' title is pretty accurate. Each scenario has a solution to it, but the main point of interest is learning about the characters through their conversations. Author Tamura herself compares the stories to stage plays, and I think that's an apt comparison.

Totonou is an interesting character. From early on, it's established that he lives by himself, and has no friends. But he still has a good bead on what makes people tick, and while he maintains an emotional distance from nearly all of the characters, and is prone to delivering pedantic or preachy lines at times, I think his knowledge of human nature comes from a place of genuine interest in, and sympathy for others. But his behavior and mindset are far enough from typical that they make people uncomfortable and frustrated with him until they get to know him a little better.

In the second story, Totonou develops an immediate bond with Shou, one of the other passengers on the bus, and at the end of that story he is genuinely excited about the prospect of Shou coming to visit him. I think Tamura does really well at showing how sometimes even a recluse can find a fast friend. It's happened to me, who has some similar traits to Totonou, only once, and I will treasure that friendship forever.

The art is expressive, but not terribly attractive (aside from Shou, whose character design feels somewhat '90s biseinen to me), and I find the cover art for this series especially unappealing. It was only seeing a video where the YouTuber expressed excitement about seeing Don't Call It Mystery in offical translation that made me decide to pick it up. In the end, I found the dialogue-heavy approach absorbing, I liked Totonou a lot, and I thought it was cool how Tamura interleaved the stories.

It's pretty unconvincing that Totonou should across so many unusual situations all in a row, but otherwise he'd be chilling in his apartment by himself eating curry, so it all works out. :) I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one of these omnibus editions.

[potato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been planning to pick up the vol 3-4 Don't Call It Mystery omnibus specifically for the Kariatsumari Family arc (incredible btw) ever since the official EN release by Seven Seas was announced, but wanted to see how good the translation was in the first one before I committed. This is a series, fortunately or unfortunately, about words and wordplay so a good translation can really make or break the effectiveness of Totonou's and the rest of the cast's likeability and the story delivery. (I speak as someone who's read the fan translations which, imo, did an admirable job dealing with this added layer of complexity too.)

It's with a relief that I really like this translation, and find myself completely impressed with the total package. It also may be weird to point out, but I'm obsessed with the sfx lettering in this series. There's so much attention to detail and it really sells this manga's fixation on words. (This is a tangent, but I do wish the train story's wordplay was more localized so that English speaking readers can try solving the clues while following along with the characters, but that's probably above and beyond what the translators were allowed to do.)

The manga's contents are absolutely enjoyable too and found myself picking up the first omni when I was reminded how good Totonou's introduction story is. I do think the name of the manga is apt, however. The mangaka in one of her omake said some of the scenes "feel like a stage play. This story is all about conversations in enclosed spaces," and I think that's a pretty accurate description of this first omnibus. Finding out "whodunit" is directly tied to paying attention to the way characters phrase things, how they interact with others, and little tics in their verbal responses. You're not piecing together a crime scene to figure out the solution to the mystery, you're along for the ride as the story plays out and characters talk.

That being said the clues are there, but they're not physical clues like blood or a missing cellphone, and most of them only become apparent on a second read through if you're not familiar with the mangaka's writing/storytelling style. IMO this is more than fine -- this manga is easily re-readable which is a good thing if you decide to purchase it.*

And best of all -- it's just extremely satisfying. The twists in this manga are amazing and they'll live in your head rent free. For me that sort of makes/breaks a good "mystery" -- if you can still be impressed by a twist months out from when you first read it and still go "wow that was such a solid reveal" then I think it more than deserves to be considered pretty highly.

*I haven't read Basara or 7Seeds, but the Yumi Tamura fans are hustling to get Don't Say Mystery popular enough to 1) get a Basara EN reprint and 2) get 7Seeds localized in English, so lets help them get that bread (while also enjoying a very good series).

[Jennifer]

An interesting book. The MC often has some random facts/observations to throw out there, and I found them thought provoking, if not always entirely logical. It looks at many commonplace things from a novel POV, thus breaking some of the norms that may be unconsciously in place.

I found the bus arc to be the most fascinating in the omnibus, even if there are a few details that don’t add up IMO. Such as why she was unconscious long enough to be put in the grass for an undetermined length of time, then picked up again, a hole dug, then buried…you get the picture. She didn’t wake up until she was already buried?? TBH I’m not even sure why she was unconscious; it alluded to her feeling unwell, but why didn’t she get off the bus? Why are all the victims unconscious? And the perpetrator…it was quite creepy when his motives and thought process were revealed. The problem is…he knew enough to hide what he’d done, but was actually very straightforward and not remorseful when questioned. So why didn’t he tell the truth initially when questioned by the cousins? He is supposedly going to be found criminally insane, but there’s really no evidence of that (ok, he seemed less than sane. I was a little surprised at the drastic step the family took to get revenge, given they didn’t react too much when he was caught. I don’t understand why they sent the arm, since there isn’t much he could do besides call the police… I was also baffled that they wanted to wait to be 100% sure if the police had the right person because they didn’t want to get the wrong guy. He had already confessed at this point and his fingerprints were found all over the bodies. How much more do you need to be?

The art style is mostly good, though I’m not a fan of their mouths when speaking. And I found it difficult at times to determine who was speaking.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
Totonou is an introverted, bushy haired teenager that loves to eat curry. One day, he finds himself at the center of a police investigation when someone is murdered at a park nearby. It is clear he is being framed, but the police don't believe him. Using his persuasion skills, Totonou tries to prove his innocence. This manga is a combination of four different short stories that revolves around Totonou's misfortunes and detective skills, which builds on the first murder.

This was a unique read that I have mixed thoughts about. Totonou reminded me of Detective Galileo from Keigo Higashino's detective novels. There were four different stories, which take place one after the other. I enjoyed two of them, but the third story just completely lost me and was full of stupid twists and turns with so many characters. In addition, it was so philosophical and meta that it was cheesy sometimes. For example, "There are as many truths as people." , "A flaw and a weakness are actually two very different things." Totonou also had a pompous attitude sometimes too. With that said, I enjoyed a few (but not all) of the twists. I think I'd enjoy the series more without these constant deep, philosophical musings that just seem kinda lame and cringy, lol!

[Felipe P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although manga has always caught my attention, I don't find myself finishing many of them. This one, fortunately, was a pleasant exception. While the plot is not entirely original, it is excellently executed. The protagonist reminds me of characters like Sherlock Holmes, brilliant yet solitary, stoic, and sometimes unexpressive. But Totonoue is quite empathetic. Often, he perceives how those around him feel and is quite perceptive when it comes to finding solutions or giving advice to others' problems.

The story revolves around mysteries and crimes, but ultimately, it is about the personal lives of its characters, about the world and those who inhabit it. It is not a manga filled with action, but one with excellent dialogues and well-defined characters, each with a rich and often profound story.

[Hazel Jamieson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The world view to construct this manga is just irrittatingly cishet and neurotypical. Having this be your idea of an autistic person (even if you do not thing you are creating an autistic person this character feels like every sherlock holmes so they are an autistic person) and having him making deductions, correct deductions, about broad swathes of people, that rely on those people being cis and het is just completely frustrating and horrible. I cannot live in the world that the writer lives in and i cannot keep reading this manga as well wrtiten as the mysteries are. Bought the omnibus and could only read 2 chapters before having to put it down. Really wish Witch Hat Atelier was my first Josei

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this series is super dialog heavy, I think the fact that I didn't even realize an hour had gone by while I was reading it says enough. I'm hoping we can learn some more about the past of our two male leads in the next volume, but I understand if that's some the author is also hoping to leave until later. I didn't realize that this was the same author behind 7 Seeds! I think that does make me a little disappointed with how some of the art in this volume looked though, but I'm assuming this is her first digital project, so I think the quality will just go up from here.

[mako · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first manga I've read. I'm not really hooked on either genre, but this story is interesting enough that I'll seek out the next installment.

The dialogue often centers around the Japanese language so I think that knowledge of Japanese writing systems (basic knowledge of kanji, kana, naming conventions for people, etc, although not fluency) would be very helpful to really engage with this. I don't think it's important to know Japanese, but it probably is helpful to know how the language and writing system works.

[Meredith Hecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is such an interesting manga. Our main character, Totonou, is an interesting guy who sees the world in an interesting way. This ends up with him accidentally getting involved with (and solving) many mysteries that come his way.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t love the art style 🤣🤣 it’s not pretty and sometimes even messy. But the story is so dang good!!! My favorite mystery manga hands down is Usotoki Rhetoric but this is a VERY VERY close second!!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the author writes, it's a conversational manga. Totonou likes to talk through scenarios and it allows him to observe others, so even though he's not a detective he's able to solve them! Absolutely love the J-drama and when I saw this on the shelf, I instantly bought it! Pre-ordered the others ones too!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whil I wish some of the backgrounds and background characters were drawn in more detail, especially when our MC infers or observes his surroundings and makes Sherlock-ian discoveries, this was an engaging and interesting mix of tales. I appreciated how the mysteries were laid out and how clues slowly unravelled. Might read more, although I wasn't completely hooked on the inheritance case.

[Kiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a brilliant smart and engaging read. Just the main character and his thoughts, him breaking down toxic masculinity, and his observations are a delight to read I literally couldn’t put this down.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically just some solid 'weird guy solves murder mysteries purely by virtue of being a weird guy' fodder to pass the time. Reminded me of the comfort of watching Columbo at 2 PM on a weekday. This is a manga I would like to read while eating soup.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love following a character like Totonou that observes the world in such a fascinating, reflective way. Each mystery he found himself in had reveals I didn't see coming, and they were a lot of fun to read! I'm excited to read on in the series.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I've seen the drama for this and it follows the manga pretty closely. I enjoyed the vibe.