Introduction to Volume 1: To ask for advice on behalf of a friend who's been entangled in a paranormal incident on campus, Haruka visits the "Film Appreciation Society," where it's said a man with mysterious powers resides. However, the person she meets there is a pretentious young man with tousled hair and drowsy eyes. Haruka boldly asks him for advice, but what happens next? A college girl's isolation and murder, a murder disguised as a suicide... the mysterious incidents are tackled one-by-on...
A Yakumo book... with no Yakumo?
I enjoyed this volume a lot. Due to various plot reasons, Yakumo and Gotou are both absent for a large portion of the book. In their absence, Haruka, Ishii, and Makoto have to step up and try to solve the case on their own! It was great to see these characters get some time in the spotlight. I especially liked spending more time with Haruka, and the way the story flips the script on her and Yakumo's usual relationship, letting her take the lead. Ishii also finally gets some long-awaited character development.
The mystery this time was mostly setting the stage for an overarching conflict with the series villains. I can assume we'll get more of this kind of connected plot in the rest of the series, versus the one-off stories of the first few volumes.