It walks you back into the one place Kindaichi swore he'd never see another body, and then hands you a Phantom in a mask picking off the troupe one rehearsal at a time. That's the flex here: a sequel that trades on your memory of the first Opera House killings, so every corridor already feels haunted before the curtain goes up. Kindaichi plays the slouching goofball right up until the moment the scattered pieces click, and then comes the line every fan waits for, the riddles all solved, sworn on his grandfather's name. Miyuki is the one who keeps him human, Kenmochi is the cop who has learned to just let the kid talk, and the Phantom of the Opera framing turns the trick into theater instead of a puzzle worksheet. Ninety minutes of grim, 1996-thick lines and shadowed backstage stairwells. Watch it for the moment Kindaichi stops joking.

Kindaichi, Miyuki and Inspector Kenmochi go back to the Opera House after being invited to an anniversary celebration. When they arrive, they learn that a production of "The Phantom of the Opera" is in rehearsal once more. Before long, members of the acting company are being killed by someone calling themselves the Phantom. Once again, Kindaichi has to solve a string of murders inside the Opera House in this feature-length mystery.