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<\/a>It was inevitable that Kowloon Generic Romance<\/em> would go into turbo mystery mode with only one cour to work with. The challenge is, as always in such cases, for the character side of the story to remain vital as that process played out. As is so often the case it\u2019s that side of the story that\u2019s most compelling, but when pressed for time it\u2019s always the one that gets trimmed back. I get that \u2013 you can\u2019t get away with just not doing the plot. It\u2019s a shame, because some of the color and texture of the story is invariably lost when this happens. That\u2019s why rushed adaptations are a shame.<\/p>\n<\/a>All that said, that doesn\u2019t mean a show can\u2019t still work. And this one certainly does, though not as well as it could have. The mystery is certainly interesting and well-constructed. And the character side of things does still progress (and indeed, did so in a big way to say the least this week). Gwen remains an essential component of things, a serious thinker at the center of events. His \u201cexperiment\u201d was certainly a cruel one, but it proves to be essential knowledge gathered. He wrestles with the contradiction of this Kowloon\u00a0 \u2013 he knows the truth intellectually, but emotionally he can\u2019t dismiss what his senses tell him. Otherwise why save Reiko, if she\u2019s just a figment of someone\u2019s imagination? Because he\u2019s \u201cattached\u201d, in his own words.<\/p>\n<\/a>Then we have Xiaohei. And it makes sense that there could be two of them \u2013 the interesting element is that the second Xiaohei<\/a> (<\/em>Saitou<\/em> Souma<\/a>) is male. That\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve seen that \u2013 and the second Xiaohei is some sort of spy<\/a>, posing as a janitor inside Hebinuma Inc.. Who is he working for, and why is this Xiaohei a different gender than \u201cour\u201d Xiaohei? It does fit the idea that the recreations are creatures born out of perception, because perception can be wrong. But whose perception, exactly?<\/p>\n<\/a>Yulong\u2019s research has led him to the fact that Kujirai-B was a patient of Dr. Wong, and being treated for insomnia (which we knew). Once it was revealed that he\u2019d prescribed sleeping pills the method of her suicide seems obvious. Except Miyuki says it wouldn\u2019t have been the sleeping pills that killed her \u2013 she would have had to take \u201ctens of thousands\u201d. So her overdose was some other drug, the identity of which is surely going to prove crucial in answering a lot of questions. That information also calls into the question the idea that this was a suicide at all, and given the fact that the destruction of the second Kowloon was a coverup (of Miyuki\u2019s origins) by Hebinuma Senior, all bets are off in that regard.<\/p>\n<\/a>Yaomay, meanwhile, goes into Meitantei Conan mode to try and disprove what Gwen said about Reiko and Kowloon (which in her heart she knows to be correct). She finds out the hard way that her Kowloon salary disappears when she goes to Hong Kong. With an intriguing aside that his \u201cformer job paid a ridiculous amount\u201d Gwen transfers her some cash<\/a>, and \u2013 after an intriguing encounter with an old-timer who used to live in Kowloon<\/a> \u2013 heads to an internet cafe to research the urban legends about the new Kowloon. Most posts on the subject have been deleted but she does find a user named \u201cWeasel<\/a>\u201d \u2013 actually Yulong \u2013 willing to talk to her.<\/p>\n<\/a>I\u2019m certainly concerned for Yaomay, given the circumstances, though at the moment she\u2019s more useful to Yulong (who can\u2019t see the new Kowloon) as a pawn than she is a danger. Her observation that it\u2019s always midsummer in Kowloon seems to be the vital takeaway from this exchange. After staying overnight in Hong Kong she heads back to Kowloon (which hasn\u2019t disappeared on her, as she feared) and arranges an early morning meeting with Reiko, who\u2019s had an eventful night to say the least.<\/p>\n<\/a>This is that character progress<\/a> addressed earlier, and it\u2019s certainly significant. Hajime has promised Reiko that he\u2019ll \u201calways\u201d stay in Kowloon<\/a> (romantic but ominous). And by embracing her and then a whole lot more, he seems to be accepting the fact that he could love this version of Kujirai Reiko \u2013 though whether he actually does<\/em> (yet) is an open question. Hajime\u2019s role in the story is obviously huge, just at face value. But the vibe I\u2019m getting is that it\u2019s the tip of the iceberg \u2013 he\u2019s even more central to all this than we know. Could this whole Kowloon have come into existence as a product of his imagination \u2013 and of the sheer power of his desire to bring back everything he lost?<\/p>\n