Shinzanmono (新参者)

Grandma!

Ouch, ouch!

Grandma!

Grandma!

You don't need to come!

No, I'm going with you!

You wait at home!

Ningyo Town, Nihonbashi

Just like humans have unique genes,

a town might have them as well.

Walking around this town it quickly becomes clear...

that there is something different about this place.

Should a detective set foot here,

only the sins of the residents would catch his eye.

People lie...

to escape from their sins,

and to continue living their lives.

A lie is a shadow of the truth.

Come to think about it, I might have foreseen...

that you were coming to this town.

DollTown¹ Magazine Editorial Office

Ningyo means Doll.

Reporter Aoyama Ami

You are best at gracefully drinking tea.

Is that it?

Well, maybe that's true.

You should already know...

there is a predator among the residents of this town.

Welcome!

Try Ningyo Town's famous Taiyaki!

Thank you!

Welcome, welcome!

Try our Ningyo Town's famous Taiyaki!

Thank you!

It's good!

She's not moving, is she?

Oh, man, this is awful.

The following day

What a strange coincidence.

Your mother survives a big car crash,

but her cat dies on the very same day.

We think Tama took her place in death.

Where is the cat?

Buried in the yard.

Hey, what are you doing?

Your name is...Kaga, right?

This is not bad.

"It's not bad"? It's cat food.

My name is Kaga Kyoichiro and recently transfered to the Nihonbashi Police department.

Nihonbashi Police Kaga Kyoichiro

Been in business for 150 years, huh.

Keeping the tradition alive must be difficult in this bad economy.

Yeah, it is.

Did your mother feed the cat?

Yes.

-Even on the day of accident? -I think so.

Have you ever fed the cat, ma'am?

Never. Why?

Just asking.

Let's talk about the accident instead of the cat.

No skid marks were found at the scene, and it appears she was asleep at the wheel.

As if she was under the influence of a sleeping pill.

I heard she had a strange habit when she fed the cat.

-Strange habit? -Yes.

It's open.

Actually, more like an obsession.

She would steal a bite of the cat food.

Eh?!

-But you knew that, right? -No.

She told me you would look at it with disgust.

What...I had no idea.

He is a bit...eccentric.

You could say that.

Then you also don't know what this is?

I found it over there.

This is the brand she buys at the drugstore, right?

The lid is on the bottom and a price sticker is on the top, like this.

I found a tiny hole under the sticker.

Is this...?

Could it be...

It put a human to sleep.

It was strong enough to kill the cat.

The cat's body buried in the yard will prove it.

What's going on?!

I heard from your neighbors...

that there are plans to knock down this shop and build an apartment.

But your mother was against it, saying it will never happen while she's alive.

Takako...

Don't tell me...

You were...

also saying last night...

that you wish she would pass away.

That's totally different!

It's the same! You also said you don't want the kids to have to take over this shop!

You even said you'd sell this shop even she was against it!

But detective, you are wrong.

I wanted to kill that old cat because it didn't like me!

I didn't know about her habit.

I really didn't know! I had no idea!

If that's the truth,

your mother will be relieved.

She has a keen instinct.

Since I kept asking about the cat's food, she sensed something.

Suddenly she changed her story saying she didn't feed the cat yesterday.

She is perpetuating the lie.

If she hadn't realized your true intentions, she wouldn't have needed to lie.

Say it in front of her, the one who is trying to protect you and this shop.

That you just wanted to kill the cat, not her.

Good job on your first case.

When did you figure out?

When I heard the cat was found dead out in the open.

Cats usually choose a hidden place to die.

Could I stop by somewhere?

You still have something on your mind?

Sort of.

What is it?

There was a long line in front of a taiyaki ¹ restaurant in Ningyo Town.

Taiyaki: A fish-shaped cake. The common filling is red bean paste.

I want to know why it's so popular.

You've never had it before?

No.

I'm a Shinzanmono.

Shinzanmono: A newcomer

Not for sale or stream.

First Episode

Daughter Of A Rice Cracker Shop

I'll show Parisienne...Japanese spirit!

I'll do my best!

Welcome back, Naho.

Thank you.

-You're leaving soon for the training in Paris, right? -Yeah, I gotta hurry up and pack.

Get me a souvenir, okay?

Souvenir?

Then give me money first.

Like I will.

-Excuse me. -Yes.

-This one, please. -Thank you.

Limited

Ah, excuse me!

Excuse me.

Is it all right?

Yes.

Good.

-This one, please. -Thank you.

What are you doing!

Welcome back.

Amakara, Amazake-yokocho

I told you not to work since you just got out of the hospital.

I'm not sick anymore.

But still you collapsed the other day!

-Just listen to me! -I'm the pretty girl who attracts customers!

-How long have you been a girl? -45 years.

Just get in the shop!

Go, go, go!

Please take it easy.

Otherwise I can't go to Paris.

Paris, huh.

It just looks like a bird's nest.

That bird nest earned me training in Paris.

I doubt you could make it in Paris.

-You only know about rice crackers. -Yes, I sell rice crackers. What's wrong with that?

Paris doesn't suit somebody like you who was raised in an old town!

I didn't choose to be raised here.

Fighting again.

I hate rice crackers!

Your bad mouth proves you are a country girl!

-Shut up, you hag! -How dare you!

Hello.

What's good?

Amakara¹.

Amakara=Ama(sweet)+kara(spicy)

Sold out

-It's sold out. -Oops!

Try Kyusuke.

Kyusuke?

The damaged rice crackers, like broken ones.

Damaged ones?

So you mean,

the beneficiary cannot be my blood relative?

Correct.

As long as you have legitimate reason and it meets the conditions.

Now...

my death will complete it.

Metropolitan Police Department First Investigation Division Matsumiya Syuhei

Go ahead, sir.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief of First Investigation Division Kojima Kazumichi

Who found her?

The victim's friend.

Uesugi is interviewing her in the squad car.

I...let it happen.

I let Mineko die.

Metropolitan Police Department First Investigation Division Uesugi Hirofumi

What do you mean?

If only...

I hadn't betrayed her...

Betrayed?

What do you mean?

Cause of death?

Strangled from behind with something thin.

No sign of robbery.