Undead Murder Farce

Episode 6

You can't accuse Undead Murder Farce of not using its head when it comes to comedy. It adds a tinge of the horror that must come from being nothing but a disembodied noggin, but for the most part, Tsugaru's cage mix-up is played for gruesome goofs. There's just something very funny and relatable about that shot of Aya, hair splayed, staring at the road with grim acquiescence before her skull gets cleaved in twain by a pair of runaway knuckleheads. And I love the way this sequence evolves into a jalopy chase through the streets of London. You can really feel the “farce” portion of the title.

It's so surprising that this episode is so concerned with fun when trickster thief Lupin is at its center. In the two most important scenes, Lupin, ever the gentleman, introduces himself to the two major wings of Fogg's hired security, and we can surely bet that these meetings will have a bearing on how the crime ultimately plays out. His chat with Holmes especially stands out, and I don't mean it in an exclusively narrative sense. When that scene started, I could tell that “Holmes” didn't quite sound like he did in the previous episode, and I genuinely don't know if this was Shin'ichirō Miki adding a Mamoru Miyano-esque lilt to his voice, or if it was Mamoru Miyano doing an uncanny impersonation of Shin'ichirō Miki. I'd believe either! They're both scarily talented actors and whoever is responsible, he added a lot to that conversation.

Back to the plot at hand, though, Lupin claims he shows himself to Sherlock as a gentlemanly gesture, but as he later confides to the Phantom, he planted two “seeds” that surely must be part of his plan. If I had to guess what these were, I would say 1) his proficiency with disguises, and 2) his expert lockpicking. He wanted to ensure that Sherlock would be wary of both these skills, which is why I also believe that he'll steal the diamond without using either of them. It's misdirection. He already got Sherlock to shoot the locks on the chamber door, inadvertently sealing them in a rapidly flooding deathtrap. And I'll bet he also wanted Sherlock to be suspicious of anyone and everyone. On that note, it's probably worth observing that, right now, the only guarantor that the diamond is in the puzzle box is Fogg himself. Presuming that it is indeed Fogg himself.

It's nice to see Holmes on his back foot. Mycroft takes a jab at his advanced age, so time may be catching up to more than just his baritsu. Then again, Lupin makes marbled mincemeat out of Tsugaru's jaw too, so none of our heroes put on a particularly impressive showing this week. Lupin is having a great time, though, and it's hard not to love him and his flamboyant front lock of hair for it. His martial arts marbles created a colorful fight scene that made up for its brevity with its weird ingenuity. The kicker is that Lupin seems to be a genuinely great guy on top of all that. He stops to help Shizuku, a stranger, and even if he were somehow aware that she worked for Aya, I think his sense of honor still would have compelled him to protect his adversary's neck. He wants to outwit them fair and square.

He's certainly outwet them, that's for sure, but there are still plenty of variables we can't be certain of. Holmes could very well be playing dumb to lure Lupin into a false sense of security. Tsugaru could have intentionally thrown that match to keep his true strength hidden. I still think Lupin being a werewolf is going to factor into this too (I don't think a normal guy's fist can pulverize marbles into dust like that). And we have yet to see how Goemon's story is going to help Aya. She doesn't mention him at all this week, but curiously, Tsugaru recites part of a rakugo story dealing with pots and thieves called, appropriately, “The Pot Thief.” In brief, a shop owner tries to catch some thieves by hiding in one of the rice pots they've been targeting. However, he gets drunk and falls asleep, and the thieves make off with his belongings while he's still snoozing in the pot. The shopkeeper's gambit resembles Fogg and the others holing up in the treasure chamber, and it means Aya sussed that Lupin was going to answer by flooding it. Assuming she doesn't intend on boiling the water—that would get pretty messy—I'm interested to see how else she plans to utilize the legend of Goemon.

That was a fun episode! We haven't yet reached the climax of this case, but we're close. And looking at this arc from a craft standpoint, Undead Murder Farce has been quite adept at doling out information in a way that encourages the audience to speculate for themselves. I usually don't bother thinking too hard about solving a mystery—I'm fine waiting for the author to show their hand—but here, I'm engaged.

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Undead Murder Farce is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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