Here for angst

Kind of felt cheated that this didn't have any payoff btw :( cmon he could have been the villain or the villain's lover or involved in the plot somehow ESPECIALLY since he's a treasury officer?? And it seemed to be somewhat foreshadowed with the Apoth girl who Din ended up having to go on a whole mission with complete with unwanted comments about his anatomy

like they were setting up a pattern of "Din making dumb decisions (sleeping with strangers who he will probably have to work with in the future) and it coming to bite him in the ass" like this mysterious grieving man had so much potential for a dramatic villain reveal or a solid B-plot idk if I'm going insane

And the world building is great but also tedious at times. and the one romance plotline, while sweet, was so minor it came out of nowhere and would not have changed anything if it didn't happen. And the main character's inner monologue was charming but also at times insufferable. The world is very rich in the fantastical elements while being grounded in the gritty realities of this world but also there are weird anachronisms and turns of phrase that don't fit the fantasy setting sometimes.

And overall it did strike enough of a balance between the good and the bad with the competent writing that I liked the book as a whole

With Ana, though? This gets elevated to 9/10 to me, no joke. Crazy eccentric genius old lady truly fixes everything I didn't like about it.

Like yeah I pretty much figured out the whole the culprit was a few chapters before the MC finds out but Ana also did and is just choosing to wait for the most chaotic moment to reveal everything! (And ruined everyone's day in the process, what an icon)

Ana literally makes it a hobby to research all the most complicated aspects of the world and enjoys infodumping and making deductions about it and being weird while doing it so it's always fun to learn new things about the world from her

The funniest part of the romantic plotline was when Ana was harassing the poor love interest man while excitedly info-dumping and the MC rescues him from her

The MC is at his funniest when at Ana's side and tbh it turns from a gritty fantasy murder mystery to a buddycop comedy when they're together I love their relationship I love their dynamic I love how he spends the whole book trying to hide his dyslexia from her and she's like "I am literally a detective I knew from the start??" They're so fun!!

and yeah it's kind of anachronistic but it's also very funny when Ana scandalised everyone by saying fuck and having a potty mouth in inappropriate times

i love how Ana is allowed to be weird and creepy and eccentric and also solve the case without ever stepping foot in the crime scene she is truly the character of all time I need to know everything about her now

I have NEVER found a cover of a kaai yuki song that I liked over the og bc it's always missing that hint of flat robotic-childlike-melancholy to the singing that adds so much character to the song.

Just to give an idea of what I mean here's ikanaide sung by Kaai Yuki Vs the project sekai version