Hirai Tarō (平井 太郎), better known by the pseudonym Rampo Edogawa ( 江戸川 乱歩), sometimes romanized as "Ranpo Edogawa", was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction.
3 stars. For my beloved author Edogawa Rampo, I want to give Kumo Otoko (translation: Spider Man, not to be confused with The Amazing Spiderman) more stars, but...I can't. Comparing with Rampo's other works, this one is just so-so.
Though Kumo Otoko honestly doesn't fall short in entertainment value and shock value. A lot of beautiful girls were murdered by the madman who called himself Kumo Otoko in many, many gruesome, sickeningly imaginative methods, and the entire story plays out like some Detective Soap Operas. Part of me is satisfied by the boundless cruelty and creative wickedness Rampo had managed to demonstrate in his novel, but I can't ignore this novel isn't half as elegant, dreamy, charming and breathtaking as Rampo's other masterpieces.
If you like dramatic, graphic murder mystery, then Kumo Otoko will suit your taste, but if not...read other books by Edogawa Rampo.
The problem with many writers is that they end repeating themselves. And this kind of happens in this 蜘蛛男 (The Spider-Man) to monsieur Rampo Edogawa. It has to be noted, though, that this one was written when he was starting his ero-grotesque period and leaving behind his more mystery oriented stories.
And this suffers from it.
It all starts quite well,... well, if you are expecting to see a very dark story, with some gruesome situations. You get my point. A very strange man decides to open an art office and asks for secretaries to work there. Many young women go for the interview, but he just decides to contract one of the latest, and then, with some cunning and slyness, gets her to go with him after work. And...
Saying that Edogawa likes gruesome and grotesque situations is an understatement. Here we have fights, blood, craziness, a very surrealistic evil plan and a great fight of wills between the bad guy, known as The Spider-Man (no relation) and professor Kuroyanagi, an expert on serial killers and bad people in general. Edogawa does a good job of pitting these two against each other in very different and exciting situations. But he can't get the story to be original or crazy enough, which works against it. It is not as bloody as it could have been and drags a little in the middle. It has a couple of missteps along the way (and some decisions that I think just were made because the story had to be stretched like gum, being serialized as it was). Edogawa keeps talking to the reader as always, which curiously, I don't think it takes from the story. Luckily enough, it picks up the pace in the last part, and ends in a satisfying way, with a couple of nice twists, that even if expected probably by some, add to the fun.
And a small spoiler, we can enjoy an appearance by the great Akechi Kogorō, which I always enjoy reading about.