Tantei ha Mou, Shinde iru Vol 12 - Kimihiko finally declared?! Noches!?

Volume 12 of Tantei ha Mou, Shinde iru / The Detective Is Already Dead (探偵はもう、死んでいる) continues from the previous installment. Siesta and Kimihiko regain their memories of what happened to the world after stopping Abel and restoring the Akashic Record. The world remains unstable, and the various Tuners are working hard to find solutions.

We discover (or at least I don’t recall it being explained before) that, in a pivotal moment, Kimihiko chose Nagisa over Siesta. He refrained from restoring Siesta as the Great Detective to prevent Nagisa from being erased. He found an alternative solution, however, and Siesta now serves as the Vampire Tuner.

Siesta is tasked with fighting the "doppelganger" threat, which involves entities taking the form of various Tuners and acting in their stead. This is seen firsthand at a Tuner meeting when Assassin Fuubi is revealed to be a doppelganger and is easily dispatched by Siesta.

Meanwhile, Nagisa, in her role as the Great Detective, is investigating why various Tuners are being neutralized by a mysterious assailant who does not kill them outright. Evidence suggests that an adult Alice (the childhood friend of both Siesta and Nagisa) is the culprit, which should be impossible since she died long ago.

The group suspects she is an Alice from a parallel world where she survived and became the Inventor. This is the parallel world that Icedoll called "Another Eden", which was intended as a failsafe should the world crumble after Abel took the Akashic Record. However, this world appears hostile to our protagonists.

Adding to the complexity, reports surface of Danny Bryant appearing out of nowhere. As Kimihiko’s foster father and the former Great Detective who died eight years ago, his sudden appearance puts Kimihiko in a bind. He wants to investigate but does not want to complicate matters for the others.

Ultimately, the group splits into three teams to address these targets simultaneously. Charlotte and Siesta handle the doppelganger situation; Nagisa and Noches (the robot Siesta) follow Alice’s trail; and Kimihiko and Saikawa pursue the Danny Bryant lead.

Problems arise almost immediately. Siesta is kidnapped by Bryant, who easily breaks Charlotte’s arm. Kimihiko, Nagisa, Noches, and Ogami attempt a rescue but are forced to split up again, leaving Kimihiko and Noches to face Bryant alone. He quickly binds Kimihiko to a special device and proposes a game.

Each participant asks one question at a time, and the other must respond truthfully or face a lethal electric shock. Bryant repeats a question from eight years ago: "Do you have a girl you love?" Kimihiko cleverly answers, "I love the Great Detective", an answer that applies to both Nagisa and Siesta. Bryant merely shrugs, calling it a boring response.

The match continues until Noches is badly damaged while saving Kimihiko, forcing her to be deactivated in an emotional scene. Kimihiko promises to awaken the Inventor of his world to ensure she is repaired soon. I hope he succeeds, as I really like Noches as a character.

Elsewhere, Nagisa reveals she knows Ogami is working for Alice. He initially tries to deflect, but once cornered, he confirms he is a human from Another Eden and asks her to join him in the other world. Fortunately, Siesta and Kimihiko arrive in the nick of time to save her, forcing Alice and Ogami to escape through a portal.

Through all of this, Bryant reveals that Alice is trying to create an "Artificial Evil" to balance the world. Tuners exist as the force of good, but they are constantly matched by new threats in a continuous struggle. Alice wants to fix this cycle by creating a fake evil that can be easily defeated, tricking the world into believing it is balanced.

We also learn that Ogami is the "Singularity" of Another Eden and can use his power freely, signaled by his eyes turning golden. Kimihiko will need to hone his skills to match him, as a showdown between the two seems inevitable. At the moment Kimihiko doesn't seem to have much control over his "singularity" powers.

There is also interesting progress on the romance side. Kimihiko reveals to Siesta that he plans to live together with both her and Nagisa. Siesta is unimpressed and responds that this was already her plan. The multiple-wife theory seems nearly certain at this point.

Overall, this was an exciting volume that reaffirmed my previous remarks about content density. A single volume contains so many developments and new elements that it is difficult to summarize them all. Siesta and Nagisa continue to outshine one another with their great personalities, and I appreciate not having to decide which one I want to win the romantic race.

I am still uncertain about the world they live in. The fact that its survival depends entirely on the Akashic Record makes me wonder if they are in a virtual reality, but the series has been tight-lipped about the details. Perhaps the parallel world arc will shed more light on the system.

I will read the 13th volume in the coming weeks and hopefully post about it then. I am curious to see what happens, especially since the cover features a child Nagisa. Is it our Nagisa or the one from Another Eden?