This month of April sees the conclusion of the series Inspector Kurokôchi, published since 2012 in Japan and since 2015 in France. At the baton, we find a duo of mangaka of high flight. In pencil, Kôji Kono very well known for his series Gewalt of which he was also the scriptwriter. In the pen, Takashi Nagasaki, collaborator emeritus of Usawa on the series Master Keaton, Billy Bat or Pluto. A luxury cast in the service of a dark, corrosive thriller centered on the past and present demons of Japan and the world. After 6 years, the series has a strong ending answering all questions without betraying the tone of the work. 
Inspector Kurokôchi : Tokyo confidential
The series follows the investigations of the worst inspector of the Second Brigade: Keita Kurokōchi. He is indeed corrupt and uses the worst secrets of Japanese politicians and businessmen to blackmail them and be untouchable. An absolute anti-hero sort of synthesis between Jack Vincennes and Bud White, both, policemen with radical methods of the novel L.A confidential by James Ellroy. But the routine of this funny policeman is disrupted by the arrival of a new teammate. Shingo Seike, an idealistic young officer of the national agency, dreams only of confusing agents without morals. Between the two opposing men a real complicity is born when Seike discovers what objectives the corrupt policeman is aiming at. Under his debonair and amoral airs, Inspector Kurokôchi has actually given himself a mission: to dive into the dark affairs of Japan. Only a man like him has the ability to shed light on the country's dark secrets. The series will therefore develop story arcs fitting together like Russian dolls. Our two policemen navigate between petty political arrangements, millenarian sect and unsolved crimes. While in the shadows is an intriguing politician Sawatari.
A perfectly mastered scenario
The series was built on a fine balance where fiction and reality mix. Indeed, this volume first closes the face-to-face between Kurokôchi and Sawatari, a true phoenix of politics. David vs. Goliath. The final opus finally lifts the veil on the last mysteries and brings to the very last box the answer expected since the beginning of the saga. A revelation that makes the plot even stronger. This rivalry, however, is only one aspect of the story. Takashi Nagasaki actually wants to immerse the reader in Japan's present and past history. His scenario is based on real criminal cases often unsolved in Japan (the Aum sect, the Teigin bank, the 300 million yen heist).It adds a current geopolitical dimension (Chinese threat, North Korean nuclear crisis, partnership with the E.U.A). Finally, he enriches it in the last volumes with a reflection on Japanese political life and on the upheavals of Western democracy. His story unfolds in many complex ramifications that remain perfectly understandable thanks to the fine interweaving between fiction and reality.
Inspector Kurokôchi, noir thriller and political satire
This last volume does not betray the spirit of the series. The reader is in front of a black seinen, a raw and uncompromising thriller that tarnishes the image of "cool Japan". Behind the curtain, a scene of arrangements between friends, police wars, collusion between politics, business and mafias is revealed. Tagashi Nagasaki is going to the end of his construction of an anti-heroic world. It is not until the very end that the masks fall and the police discover the true face of Inspector Kurokôchi. But the intelligence of his scenario makes that the police made their choice before this revelation. This gives the saga a beautiful moral: instinct triumphs over interest. This last volume also continues the author's reflection on politics. Indeed, he does not hesitate to scratch the quasi-monopoly of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party renowned in the series liberal-nationalist party on the political life of the archipelago. 70 years of power almost interrupted, a unique case in a democracy. The attentive reader will recognize former Prime Minister Koizumi behind the features of one of the leaders of the liberal-nationalist party. This volume also continues a clinical examination (begun in the 22nd) of the fragility of Western democracy in the face of the power of the image. Good communication will erase the worst acts. The rise of Sawatari is proof of this. To support his point, Tagashi Nagasaki multiplies the winks to recent world political news. A party whose president automatically becomes Prime Minister without going through the election square (allusion to the arrival at 10 downing Street of Boris Johnson). A man with a sordid past escaping an attack in the middle of an electoral campaign and who accedes to the highest office (reference to the election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil).This last volume therefore concludes a strong and universal reflection. 
Inspector Kurôkochi: humor and derision on every floor
However, we must not believe that the series inspector Kurôkochi is to be classified among the seinen "serious". Quite the opposite. The author delivers with this last volume the perfect conclusion of an offbeat work. Indeed, if what is said is sad, disenchanted, sometimes bloody, the tone used takes the paths of derision, cynicism, permanent shift. This final opus is again based on the colorful character of Inspector Kurôkochi with hilarious casualness, on misunderstandings that lighten the tension (the sequence of the stalker, the kindergarten). The quality of the dialogues and their translation further enhance the humour. An example, this exchange worthy of Tarantino "well, for a funeral of prime minister, we saw better ..). The drawing holds a large place in the atmosphere of the manga. Koji Kono takes care of his decorations and insists a lot on the simple, rounded, sometimes grotesque aspect of the faces (especially the mouths). It is a choice that fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the story. Everything seems excessive, over-played. This is reminiscent of kabuki masks with good reason. Because the reader is immersed in a tragicomic play where the absurd rubs shoulders with drama. This very particular trait serves and even reinforces derision and discrepancy. With this23rd volume ends an ambitious, demanding, rich and intelligent series. Takashi Nagasaki and Kôji Kôno sign a thrilling thriller, a satirical fable and an agonizing plunge into the fears and neuroses of our world. A unique work that will be a landmark in the history of manga.
