Q.E.D. (manga)

Q.E.D.

Volume 31 of the Japanese tankōbon edition
Q.E.D. 証明終了
(Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou)
Genre Detective fiction, Mystery
Manga
Written by Motohiro Katou
Published by Kodansha
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Magazine GREAT
Magazine E-no
Magazine Plus
Original run July 1997 – ongoing
Volumes 40
Anime and Manga Portal

Q.E.D. (Q.E.D. 証明終了 ,Q.E.D. Shomei Shuuryou?) is a detective manga by Motohiro Katou. The main character Sou Touma encounters a variety of mystery cases. Sou often works in tandem with his friend and potential love interest Kana, with him supplying the brain while she acts as brawn.

In 2009, the manga won the Kodansha Manga Award for the shōnen category, sold over a total of 3 millions copies and adapted as a live-action TV series.

Contents

Development

The manga was first serialised in Magazine GREAT in 1997, and continued on Magazine E-no in 2009 after Magazine GREAT stopped publication. The manga are too collected and published into books or tankōbon. As of June 2011, 39 volumes have been released.

Generally, each volume will have two mysteries cases, both of which are solved at the end. So far there is only one full length case story that had spanned the entire volume, but this was a flashback of Sou's time studying at MIT in the United States.

Characters

Main characters

Sou Touma (燈馬 想 Tōma Sō?)
The main character of the series, and a genius detective. However, Touma is not particularly interested in actively going out and finding wrongs to right. Rather, it is his erstwhile partner Kana who drags him into getting involved. An introvert, he seems to be well known for his intelligence, though he is not a particularly popular person.
Sou is introduced when Kana Mizuhara rescues him from an irate customer at a video arcade. He then assists Kana's father in unmasking a murderer. Following that, he and Kana are often seen together, though she denies they are going out.
Sou's past is a mystery, and he appears to be a sort of Renaissance man in that he possesses a wide range of knowledge. What is known is that he graduated from the famous MIT in the United States and was planning on continuing his study in a graduate school, but then decided to drop out for unknown reasons and came to join Kana's high school. While highly intelligent, Sou is often seen being amused by such simple things as snowflakes, suggesting he did not have an ordinary childhood. During cases, he becomes even more quiet and it is sometimes hinted that he only solves cases for his own reasons (in addition to Kana's prompting).
Sou is also often the unfortunate recipient of Kana's violent tendencies, as he is often bopped on the head for reasons ranging from asking an embarrassing question in public to accidentally looking up her shorts. Despite this, and despite complaining whenever Kana drags him somewhere against his will, he does show concern for her and often takes her along whenever he goes out of town. He also doesn't mind it when people call Kana his girlfriend.
Besides being a genius, Sou is also quite wealthy and can speak in a number of languages including French. He is seen as having interest in archeology and biology. He has a younger sister named Yuu who is a genius with all languages; however she is so spacy that she often forgets what she's supposed to be doing.
Kana Mizuhara (水原 可奈 Mizuhara Kana?)
The second main character of the series, Kana is a spirited, tomboyish girl who excels in virtually every sport she attempts. Brave, athletic and rather pretty, she has also been described as having a heart 'big enough to float a planet'. It is her willingness to help others than draws Sou into cases.
She first encounters Sou when she rescues him from being attacked by a bully at a video arcade. She is warned by her close friend that Sou is mysterious (having apparently come to their high school after leaving MIT) and she should probably leave him be. Shortly thereafter, her friend learns her father was murdered, leading Kana to drag Sou along to support her. Her father, Detective Mizuhara, is the man in charge of the case and with Sou's help arrests the murderer.
Since then, the two have been nearly inseparable, in that Kana drags Sou almost wherever she goes. She categorically denies that the two are dating, but there have been many hints in the manga that she is slowly developing feelings for him (on one occasion, when she learns both of them have no plans for Christmas she attempts to ask him if he'd like to spend it with her, but is interrupted). She later admits to a female sempai [upperclassman] who was interested in Sou that she is counfused about the relationship between herself and Sou because she think they are more than friends yet she still can't give a name the feeling she felt nor can she describe their relation. The fact that she knows so little about his past bothers her greatly, and she often tries to find out more about him (going so far as to secretly follow him after school). What little she learns often either impresses her or makes her unhappy at how much Sou's been through.
Kana is a popular student, and she is often seen in a leadership role. She practices judo and kendo, the former skill often coming in handy when attempting to defend herself or Sou and apprehending suspects. She is also apparently infamous for her violent tendencies, showing no mercy to anyone who dares suggest there is something more to her and Sou than friendship.

Support characters

Detective Mizuhara (水原 警部?)
Kana's father. A gruff, unshaven police detective, he is introduced when he turns out to be the chief investigator of the murder of Kana's friend's father. Upon returning home and noticing Sou's shoes, he is initially outraged that a boy was not only visiting, but was in his precious daughter's room unsupervised.
Despite the circumstances of the meeting Sou proved be highly intelligent and managed to impress the Detective with his wide range of knowledge. After Sou unmasked the murderer, the detective developed a healthy respect for his abilities. Since then, he seems to trust Sou a great deal as he often allows Kana to accompany him on trips and occasionally includes him in family events (such as baseball games). He is evidently no longer surprised to see Sou and Kana together most of the time.
Loki (ロキ Roki?)
Real name Sid Green (シド・グリーン Sido Gurīn?). An old friend of Sou from MIT, Loki is like Sou, a highly intelligent (though sometimes crude) individual. He and Sou are like brothers, him often teasing the younger boy. In his first appearance, he and Eva visit Kana and Sou's high school in search of him, getting into a confrontation with school staff eventually defused by Sou's arrival. He, Sou and Kana have since met on many cases where his generally emotional personality acts as a counterpoint to Sou's colder, more logical one. Loki was one of the people Kana contacted for help when Sou went missing in the USA during the Annie Craner murders.
He is nicknamed after Loki, the god of mischief from North mythology. Like his namesake, he enjoys riddles, pranks and games. While he and Kana get along fine, she objects to his smoking habit. In his first appearance, he also reveals he is sometimes frustrated that Sou can solve his riddles so easily.
Eva Sukta (エバ・スクタ?)
Loki's partner and love interest. A dark-skinned Asian girl, she, Loki and Sou were friends at MIT. However when Sou and Loki were in direct competition Eva stole and destroyed Sou's thesis. Years later, Sou revealed he knew about it, but said nothing because he knew she did it because she loved Loki. While Loki was initially outraged, Sou calmed him and said he'd long since forgiven her. She makes occasionally appearances in the manga in a supporting role, most often assisting Loki.
Yuu Touma
Sou's younger sister, Yuu is highly intelligent in her own right. She is a polyglot. She first appeared attempting to visit her big brother, but somehow got lost. Since then, she makes occasional visits but rather than help out her brilliant brother in solving cases she provides insight and backstory to Sou. She and Kana get along well together and Yuu shares some of Sou's history with her, including the story of Annie Craner.
When Sou shortly after goes missing in the USA during the Annie Craner-related murders, she accompanies Kana in search of him. She later acts as a messenger for her and Sou's parents, passing an invitation to Kana to meet them.
Unlike many younger sister characters in manga and anime, she never refers to Sou as Onii-san (literally Big Brother) or any of the common variants Onii-chan or Onii-sama. Instead she merely refers to him by his given name, suggesting she does not see a need to be overly respectful to him.
Sou and Yuu's parents
Sou and Yuu's parents are evidently very wealthy and often travel. They have not made a full appearance in the manga thus far (only being seen from the neck down). In their brief appearance they proved to be rather flighty, going so far as to suddenly organise a trip to another country simply to settle an argument on where the world's largest Buddha statue was. This was despite the fact they had sent Kana an invitation to meet with them. They left Yuu to pass on a letter, where they apologised for not meeting her and asking her to continue to look after Sou.
Annie Craner (アニー・クレイナー?)
A young lawyer Sou befriended during his time in America, she was an important part of his life. She was shot after winning a difficult, emotionally charged case. Sou was a witness, and the event still haunted him when a killer began stalking and eliminating people involved in the case.
It was hinted that Sou had a crush on her, and her shooting affected him badly. It had been Sou who encouraged her to see the case through to the end, and so her fate filled him with guilt.

Live-action

A 10-episode live-action Japanese television drama was aired, based on the manga. It was released in 2009 staring Ai Takahashi as Kana and Aoi Nakamura as Toma.

Relationship with "C.M.B."

Main article: C.M.B._(manga)

C.M.B. ~Shinra Hakubutsukan no Jiken Mokuroku~ is another detective manga by Motohiro Katou starting 2005. Shinra Sakaki, the protagonist of the manga is set to be Sou Touma's cousin. Both story shares the same world, therefore sometime the characters will crossover in each others' story.

External links