Alternative Name: 少年侦探~推理之绊~
(Shào Nián Zhēn Tàn ~Tuī
Lǐ Zhī Bàn~)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crimes, Polices/Detectives, Comedy,
Romance, Tragedy
Description:
Two years ago, Ayumu Narumi's older
brother Kiyotaka, a famous detective and pianist, disappears without a
trace. Ayumu's only clue as to his brother's whereabouts is the phrase
"Blade Children," the only words Ayumu could make out in Kiyotaka's
final phone call. Now in high school, Ayumu becomes involved in solving in a
series of murders and other incidents, all related to the Blade Children.
Together with his school's journalist, Hiyono Yuizaki, and the unwilling
assistance of his sister-in-law, Madoka, Ayumu tries to figure out who the
Blade Children are and what are their goals.
The Blade Children are the central mystery of the series, known
only as cursed children that few know about and are being pursued by so-called
Hunters. They are distinguished by their cat-like eyes (though a few lack this
feature) and by missing the seventh right rib bone. As Ayumu investigates them,
he meets Blade Children Kousuke Asazuki, Rio Takeuchi, Eyes
Rutherford, Ryoko Takamachi, and Kanone Hilbert, and is tested in
various ways by them. Those who meet him eventually conclude, some more
reluctantly than others, that Ayumu does have what it takes to "save"
the Blade Children, as they say Kiyotaka claims.
The anime series, which adapts the story through the sixth volume
of the manga, compares the Blade Children to cuckoo birds, having
been deposited in human "nests" to be raised, and suggesting that
cuckoos go violently crazy toward the end of their lives. The manga continues
the story, depicting Ayumu's discoveries about the origin of the Blade
Children, their relationship with Kiyotaka, and why his older brother thinks
Ayumu might be their savior.
Some thirty years ago, a man called Yaiba Mizushiro was born with
one rib missing from his right ribcage. Like Kiyotaka, he excelled at
everything he chose to put his mind to. When he turned twenty-three, Yaiba
started his own secret society, which swiftly grew powerful enough to
manipulate world events. Citing boredom, Yaiba initiated the "Blade
Children Project": using in vitro techniques and his DNA,
he created eighty children, and had a rib removed from each of them at birth as
a mark of their relationship to Yaiba. These Blade Children were cursed in the
same way Yaiba was: they would grow up as geniuses in their own right, but one
day their blood would awaken murderously and take over their self-will,
becoming Avatars of Yaiba. Yaiba's organization split into three
parties over the Blade Children Project:
·
The Savers supported Yaiba's goals and desire to create
more Blade Children. With Yaiba's death, they sought to protect the fact the
future had not been determined yet.
·
The Watchers were neutral, wanting to observe the first
batch of Children and gather results first.
·
The Hunters were against Yaiba, and tried multiple times
to assassinate him, but repeatedly failed. After Yaiba's death, they
worked to eliminate the Blade Children because of their potentially dangerous
natures.
When Yaiba was thirty-six, a Japanese man came out of nowhere and
easily killed him: Kiyotaka Narumi, Yaiba's counterpart—if Yaiba had been a
destroyer, Kiyotaka was a creator. Yaiba had intended to remake the world
literally in his own image; with his death, the Blade Children project was
halted. Kiyotaka had his hands full trying to stop the Hunters from killing the
Blade Children, while trying to check the Savers at the same time.
Just as Kiyotaka and Yaiba were linked, Ayumu eventually meets his
own counterpart: Hizumi Mizushiro, Yaiba's younger brother, and the one
who will awaken the blood of the remaining Blade Children. As Ayumu comes to
know and becomes friends with Hizumi, he comes to accept his own powers are as
strong as Kiyotaka's and his role as the savior of the Blade Children, leading
to a final confrontation that resolves things once and for all.
Episode: 25
Original Run: October 1, 2002 – March 25, 2003
Studio: J.C.Staff
