Something Else is Going On: Romance and...Mysteries, Candy Color Paradox

I confess that this "container" for romance--mysteries or puzzles of some kind--is one of my absolute favorites. Bones is in my top 10 ever television shows. 

Candy Color Paradox falls into the "mystery as container" category. Although the mysteries don't involve dead bodies, they still involve an investigation of some kind. 

Oddly enough, I found that my reaction to the live-action Candy Color Paradox was almost exactly the same as my reaction to the manga. The congruity doesn't always hold true. I'm a huge fan of Fumi Yoshinaga's manga series What Did You Eat Yesterday? yet didn't care for the live-action show, which struck me as somewhat humorless (I will post more on this show at a later date). 

With Candy Color Paradox, the live-action embodies a respect for the manga that I admire. And it amuses me because my reaction is, as I stated, the same: "Huh, I don't get why I'm fascinated by this series. I don't think I'll read beyond the next volume. Okay, I totally need to read the next volume. Oh, here it is. Why did I order this? Well, whatever, I'll give it a try. Hey, this is really good stuff."

I have no idea why I react this way every single time. But I do.

The premise and plot of Candy Color Paradox is the investigations of two journalists: one a strong researcher and writer; one an excellent (and disillusioned) photographer. They work together on stories for what, as far I can tell, would fall into People magazine territory. Not National Enquirer but not the Wall Street Journal. Splashy, accurate news. 

The cases involve nasty (sometimes dangerous) events, clues, separate and paired investigative tracks, witnesses, and informants as well as, on occasion, stake-outs and undercover work. That is, each case is a story in its own right. The romance steadily progresses alongside the cases, much like Bones & Booth's romance (though much faster). 

I think my overall reaction to Candy Color Paradox is based in my love of all kinds of mysteries, even when they involve long chapters of the detective questioning people. Frankly, I think those long chapters are kind of boring. I'm much more interested in the detective hanging out with the scooby-gang. My favorite parts of The Fugitive (1993), for instance, are Gerard hanging out with his people.

I'll stick with the pages of questioning, however, because I'm interested enough and there's often a decent pay-off. 

With Candy Color Paradox, the stories are well-written enough and tightly structured enough that the investigations produce strong and plausible pay-offs. And the romance is connected to the investigations, namely the problem of honesty in both: how much does one admit? how much does one keep private?

However, one of my favorite scenes from the live-action series involves the scooby-gang, specifically the two bosses. When Onoe argues that Kaburagi has borderline ethics and will "do anything to get a scoop," the bosses respond, "Yeah! That's awesome!"