青銅の魔人

少年探偵 #5

by Edogawa Rampo

A thief is on the loose in Tokyo, a smash and grab artist that targets high-end jewelry stores. The identity of this burglar is no mystery. It's a metal robot, dubbed the "Bronze Devil" by the press. Except with its almost magical ability to appear and disappear out of nowhere, the police are powerless to stop one theft after the other. That can only mean it's time to put master sleuth Kogoro Akechi and the Boy Detectives Club on the case.

Genres: Japan, Mystery, Japanese Literature

Tankobon Hardcover

First published July 1, 1964

About the author

Hirai Tarō (平井 太郎), better known by the pseudonym Rampo Edogawa ( 江戸川 乱歩), sometimes romanized as "Ranpo Edogawa", was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction.

Reviews

[Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

人与人的生命是有区别的……不同时代的价值观简直是太可怕了😱

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a couple of books ago, I was complaining about Edogawa's flaws in his literature for younger readers. Well, "青銅の魔人" is here to prove me wrong. By keeping things simple and making for a in-your-face story-line, the Young Detectives Club's novels are in for a very needed breeze of fresh air.

Here we have a bronze 'monster' that goes around stealing clocks (interesting fascination of Edogawa with clock's thieves). But instead of going for big shops and lots of big hits, the books centers on its attempts to steal a particular watch in a house where a young kid and his little sister live. Enter red-cheeks Kobayashi and Akegi Sensei in their fight to stop the thief from getting its objective.

As I said, this one was a surprise. Even if it is the same novel as ever, it is not. It keeps things small, simple, in a small setting (the kids' house) and plays it very tongue-in-cheek (more than ever). The plot, of course, stretches reality, but there are some neat surprises and an amazing and dark atmosphere, Edogawa creating a world in very few pages that will stay with the reader way after they have finished reading the novel.

Really entertaining, and with a small and interesting mystery.

The best: it keeps all simple: simple setting, few characters, not big balloons and things like that...

The worst: deep down, is more of the same

Other options: the first in the series, even if I think I gave it a lower score, is probably the other one that is as good as this one; all the others are quite similar; as with other cases, his books for older readers are more interesting.

7.5/10

(Original Japanese version)

[Qothrunnada · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5⭐️
Took too long to finish this😭
Bagus sih. Awal2 ngira bakalan fantasy mystery, but turns out agak2 sci-fi gitu. Menurutku motif pelakunya kurang kuat sih, lebih ke penjelasan how done it. But pengemasan ceritanya menarik