Written by mysterious Japanese YouTube star Uketsu (2022).
Translated into English by Jim Rion (2025).
Sold: ten kajillion copies worldwide.
I do not read Japanese. This review relies upon a translation, which may be inadequate when compared to the original. Likewise, my understanding of how the novel reflects aspects of contemporary Japanese society is limited.
And I am not really certain how to review this book. I read it in a couple of days when I was busy with other things, so it obviously engaged me. However, it lacks many of the elements that I would associate with good writing and a good novel.
Strange Pictures is as much a puzzle as a novel, consisting of a prologue and four chapters.
The prologue introduces an anonymous eleven-year-old girl and her drawings, analyzed by one of the people charged with her care. This psychologist offers one explanation for the drawing. Other interpretations will follow.
I've finally figured out the secret of those three drawings.
I can’t imagine the kind of pain you must have been suffering.
Nor can I understand the depths of whatever sin you have committed.
I cannot forgive you. But even so, I will always love you.
Chapter One concerns two student members of a Paranormal Club who become fascinated with an enigmatic early-2000s blog. The blog—a credible recreation of an online artifact of that earlier e-ra— presents them with a mystery. The clues take the form of the posts themselves, and five mysterious drawings. It's clear that the blog somehow connects to the prologue, but we do not have enough evidence yet to know precisely how. The characters have been thinly-sketched and speak in expository dialogue, but the chapter creates a creepy, creeping sense of foreboding
Chapter Two features a haunted woman, who fears a mysterious pursuer, and her child, who goes missing. It comes the closest of the chapters to resembling a conventional short story. Unsurprisingly, the child leaves behind a cryptic drawing that serves as a clue. Japanese kanji also plays a role in this chapter, illustrating in a small way the difficulties of translating a work from one language and culture into another.
Chapter Three centres on the murders of two people, one of them an art teacher, in the same location. Naturally, art plays a role in the clues. The chapter ends when a third person commits suicide and leaves a message taking responsibility for the killings.
Readers may have their doubts about the authenticity of the note and, at this point, will be checking their notes to see exactly how the chapters connect.
Chapter Four explains the events of the book, a dénouement that proves simultaneously straightforward (essentially, pages of exposition) and convoluted (a consequence of the complex story and problematic motives it has to explain).
The plot and characters are stylized in ways that will challenge some readers. As with many murder mysteries, we have intricately complicated murder plots and equally remarkable detective work. Characters converse in detailed explanations. And, of course, we have the novel's central conceit: that killers and victims alike, often under highly improbable circumstances, will express themselves in cryptic drawings. Readers will vary in their response to such things.
In the end, we have a brilliant concept, executed in a fairly mundane manner, which makes for a quick and intriguing read.