Welcome to The Avocado’s weekly discussion of Japanese pop culture! Don’t Call it Mystery is a josei manga by Yumi Tamura that is currently being released in English by Seven Seas in omnibus form. The series started as a one-shot in 2017 and has since grown into 12 volumes (and a live-action adaptation, available to watch on Viki). The story begins when the main character, Totono, is tragically interrupted while making a delicious pot of curry. Okay, that’s not really the issue, but the curry looked so good! The real issue is he is the main suspect in a murder case. The police are certain he is guilty, so he has to work to convince them of his innocence and ends up solving the case along the way. After that, Tontono finds himself caught up various other mysteries. While the mysteries presented in each volume are compelling, as the title suggests, this is not just a mystery series. If I had to describe it, I think I’d call it…conversations with unique individuals about a variety of topics ranging from curry to existential dread? But even that doesn’t really get at what Yumi Tamura is doing, so if you’re at all curious you should really get a copy and read it to experience it for yourself. In addition to the compelling characters and narrative, this is Yumi Tamura, so the art is incredible. So give it a try!

Anyway…

What have you been watching/reading/playing/eating/listening to lately?

Happy Wednesday! 🙂