Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace

Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace follows the tale of Yoshio Kobayashi, the would be assistant of prodigy detective Akechi Kogorou and the various cases they have to solve. Ranpo Kitan has a classic detective style story but places it in the modern age. The original author, Ranpo Edogawa, is cited to be the father of Japanese mystery and he was highly influenced by Sir Arther Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. There are a few interesting characters in the series but they all end up being characters that you can describe in a few or more words like No Personality McFuckFace (Kobayashi), ace detective (Akechi), disguise guy (Shadow Man), or girl in love with detective (Black Lizard.) I think you see what I'm getting at. They all had one defining characteristic but that was it. There's no depth to any of these characters. Hell even the main villain, Twenty Faces, who was supposed to be a foil to Akechi, had a very flimsy motive in that he didn't have any outside of "people treated me bad." It feels like there was a lot of wasted potential here. Like it had the potential to be one of the best anime this season but the execution was just so poorly done with a slow story, flimsy characters, and near the end some of the most contrived bullshit I've seen in an anime. I really wanted to enjoy this, and I did for what it is, but the execution was just so awful and was nothing but detrimental to the show. The art was something. It looked really nice when we weren't getting still frames and outlines of characters that was hard to look at and wasn't pleasing to the eyes at all. It's almost like Lerche blew their entire budget on Assassination Classroom and threw what they had left into this. One thing I can give this anime is the music. The man in charge of music, Yokoyama Masaru, also did the music for Plastic Memories, Rolling Girls, and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. The music in the series was used just to the right effect and some of the songs were truly beautiful. Even the opening and ending songs were, in my opinion, some of the best this season. So all in all would I recommend Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace? Unless you really like detective stories no, not really.

This anime is a miracle. It's an absolute phenomenon. Never before has there been such a tonally confused, unlikable, pretentious and yet completely superficial, amalgamation of inappropriate, clashing and frankly bizarre components in any media anywhere. This is a sprawling, choking, frankly apocalyptic, train wreck. I'm talking real Gog and Magog stuff here. Not one single thing works. Not one element is executed with a shred of care or dignity. Never have I felt so personally insignificant to a writing, animating or directing team than upon the completion of this anime. Right, so, story time. Once upon a time, My Anime List had a rating called "unwatchable" that coincided with a numerical value of '1'. I had vowed never to assign a '1' to any anime that I'd watched to completion, because, simply by virtue of watching it, I had proven that it was not unwatchable. But this anime is so pernicious in its execution, so unforgivable in its conception, that it has granted to me an epiphany: something can also be considered unwatchable if you wish you could go back in time and unwatch the entire thing. Where, where, where do I begin? The fact that literally eighty percent of the characters in this anime are not drawn ninety percent of the time? That backgrounds are routinely reused, and sometimes even entire clips deployed, sometimes when they don't even make sense? That there is absolutely no distinction, or care to make any kind of distinction obvious, between what is actually happening and what's just going on in some character's head? That this anime defies all classification? That one second it's Tokyo Ghoul, and the next it's Lucky Star, and other times it's Mekakucity, except in those moments when it's suddenly a fetish film, only those are actually decent expressions of their respective genres? It's as if there were fifteen writers in a room, and they had a dart throwing tournament every day to decide who would write which scene, and another dart throwing session to actually pick what would happen in each scene. I can only presume that once this rabbit from a hat writing sequence was completed that it was passed on to the art team, who proceeded to literally just write 'go fuck yourself' over and over and over again in paint shop pro before handing it off to the animators who desperately tried to at least draw two of the relevant characters in each episode before sheepishly handing it to the dubbing team, who were also, it happens, the editing, aftereffects, and quality control team. That's how I imagine this process went, except that actually, no, all of the teams are literally just one person using multiple voices to make themself feel like they weren't being paid $10/hr over a twelve hour period to do literally everything. No, but, in all seriousness, I would liken this to that group project you got in high school where maybe one person really tried, but everyone else half-assed their portion, and one guy didn't show up at all, before you were forced to nervously present your project without the powerpoint because someone saved it as a word file. Oops. The characters are shallow. The motives make no sense. Plots are picked up and abandoned at a rate that can only be described as emotionally abusive. Nothing connects to anything. People know things they shouldn't, and are good at things just because the writers decided it would squeeze the story along. For instance, changing variables in an abstract mathematical equation allows you to, no joke, have god-like control over reality -- no, seriosuly, I'm not joking, and no, it's not a spoiler. For it to be a spoiler there would have to be some kind of coherent storyline to spoil -- there isn't. I watched this entire anime, maybe because I was so engrossed in the outrageousness of it all, maybe I was in shock, maybe I was hoping it would be comedic. But I watched it. And I have /zero/ clue what the first nine episodes were about. It seems like we /finally/ got to the story in episode 10, only to have it assassinated in the most unbelievably unceremonious way in episode 11. And that's actually the most amazing thing about this anime. It does nothing, and I mean /nothing/ by the book. So please explain to me how this is somehow one of the most cliched, regurgitated, anovel conceptual traffic accident that has ever inserted itself into the confused pile of garbage that is B-rated, effortless anime? Oh, wait -- I know how. It's because this anime is actually an incredibly lazy hodge podge of anime tropes from other /successful/ anime series all smashed together in the hopes of making the most money for the least amount of effort (money.) For chrissakes, they literally leave over three-quarters of the characters depicted in the anime as silhouettes. Or mannequins! When it's trying to be art. I mean, it could not be more obvious how little of a shit these producers gave about the viewer. They sat there, folded their hands over their knee, looked you straight in the eye and said "this is a pile of garbage, and you're going to eat it." Not one ounce of love or, my god, compassion -- mercy even -- was spared for this anime's creation. And here's something else that's bizarre -- because this anime is apparently part of a franchise, the characters all share their names with another series that is coming out right now called Trickster. But the characters have nothing to do with each other. They don't share personality traits, they don't share backstories, they don't share physical features -- nothing. Zilch. Nada. The main characters in the two stories (if I dare even try to parse out who might be a 'main character' in this mess) aren't even the same. There is literally no connection. No similar motifs. No suggestion that it even takes place in the same universe. Someone just decided that they would be connected. For no reason! And if that wasn't bizarre enough, you might recall me mentioning that at times this anime is a fetish film. Yeah. I didn't say that to be flippant. Literally we are treated to not one, not two, but three different scenes where a chained up woman is inexplicably turned on past her tipping point by another character unironically and unemphatically telling her that he doesn't give a shit about her. In what tasteful flavor was this handled? She pissed herself in what can only be described as a hasty, poor, who actually gives a shit, euphemism for a spontaneous orgasm. Am I even allowed to bring up that that actually happened? Because it did. And I'm not sitting here knocking anyone's kink, but it did. not. work. It was out of no where. It had no build up. It had no point. It was as if one of the writers decided that he's into that, and, fuck it, no one gives a shit about this project anyhow, I'm writing it in. Or maybe it was put in out of pure contempt. I can not reconcile the disastrous state of this anime with the idea that any effort was actually, at any point, put into it. And, I know this is nitpicking. I know it is. But they gave one of the main characters lime green highlights in his eyes. It's such a small thing, but it so poignantly demonstrates my point: there is not a pixel in this anime that wasn't in the wrong place. The mood of the scenes was confusing. Colors never worked. Every frame was busy, cluttered and utterly without any sense of balance or framing. CGI was just overlayed over computer animated backgrounds. Backgrounds literally disappeared when we were supposed to be in the character's heads (except that sometimes the things in their head turned out to be what actually happened [?!?]). And, God forgive me for even mentioning the name of this anime in a review for a piece of shit like this, but sometimes it just had that Madoka Magica animation style out of no where. Like, it looks like they literally ripped it out of one of the witch scenes If you're not familiar with the series, and don't mind spoilers, just watch any scene in Madoka Magica where there is …

I am not a huge fan of the mystery genre, but what mysteries I have seen, I usually enjoy. Ranp Kitan: Game of Laplace is no different. While everyone seems to be willing to rip this anime to shreds, I believe that it is the type of anime that everyone should at least watch once. You won't come out of it confused or feeling like you wasted time; it's one of those anime that whether you think its lacking or rich, you won't regret watching it. The anime starts off very interestingly, somewhat reminiscent of Psycho-Pass, with unusual murders, missing persons, and abnormal characters such as Shadow Man. I was drawn in within the first 3 episodes with the need to learn more. Kobayashi is our main character, a young, bored little androgynous boy who finds enjoyment out of life in mysteries. I enjoyed watching the mysteries unfold and seeing how the characters figured out the murderers. It's not exactly Sherlock Holmes, but you'll be racking your brain for a bit. The main idea of the anime is to introduce to you several persons who have committed heinous crimes, and then they present the idea that these criminals get off easy due to the insanity plea. Sound familiar, anyone? It reminds me a lot of what is wrong with our own justice system as the story seems to be criticizing the Japanese justice system for making it easy for criminals. After this idea is introduced to the audience, the anime follows other vigilantes until we get to the main part of the plot. The climax of the plot is not all that exciting. They try to put a plot twist inside and then explain the incidents that led up to the present, which adds some depth to the characters, but isn't imperative. The ending isn't all that grand either. It was disappointing to say the least, but I can't deny that I did thoroughly enjoy this anime, which everyone seems to vehemently deny in their reviews. My favorite part of the anime is the overall idea behind it: the justice system is a flawed system, but again, it's nothing new. Even the video game Phoenix Wright toys with this idea. It was just interesting to see everything fall into a state of anarchy similar to Psycho-Pass. My favorite character has to be Kobayashi who really just cracks me up with his silly antics and unusual behavior. Sometimes I find myself wondering if he truly is a boy. I would have liked to learn more about him, truth be told, because while I understand that he's a brilliant young boy who's bored with the world, I'd like to know what exactly caused that. There needs to be more character development!!! Anyway, here's my two cents. Just wanted to say that this anime isn't the worst anime in the world; it's actually worth watching.

Ranpo Kitan Game of Laplace had so much potential. From the get-go, it slams its unique artwork, storytelling style and grasps you with a psychological mystery thriller vibe. As the series goes on, however, the initial chills and salivation for a potentially amazing anime I had was replaced by pure disappointment. If you're thirsting for an anime with a strong plot, I wouldn't recommend Game of Laplace. For general viewing pleasure, go for it. In the beginning, it was awesome. Sure, some of the "mysteries" were simple, but the episodic feel and pacing felt right. Most of all, with rapid-fire dialogue and a tinge of dark humor every other conversation, the show was intriguing. The attempt to explore the extent to which human emotion can become twisted was cheesy, but thrilling enough to keep me wanting for more. The momentum builds up every episode, and I waited for the turning point, slowly reaching the peak of the roller coaster... ... And it somehow stops, and stays stalled. The whole show quickly becomes a mess of plot elements over the last few episodes. Many parts were rushed to the point where it was hurting the story, and the psychological thriller sees a bit of melodramatic teenage angst creeping in. All the elements and potential were there, and it was frustrating to see them thrown in not to make a point, but (my thoughts) just to put it in there before the anime ends. This in itself wasn't too bad, but the problem was in how strong of an impression the first few episodes left me, compared to how mediocre the final 2-3 episodes were. One thing that this anime does well is with its themes within its artwork. The ominous skull, silhouetted people, spotlights showcasing thought processes: all of it contributed to the overall atmosphere of Game of Laplace. It's easy to tell that it was a somewhat budget anime, but akin to Bakemonogatari, uses its constraints to create something a bit different and interesting. The main characters are very unchanging and one-dimensional; by themselves, they're boring as hell. However, most of my enjoyment came in the various interactions between the characters philosophies, rather than the (non-existent) growth of the characters. There's a reason why I would and wouldn't recommend this anime: it totally betrays your expectations and settles for a rushed, over-simplified ending. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED the show. If the plot was done well, I would have it crowned in my top 10 personal anime favorites.

Sensational and improbable events come up a lot in anime, and can be very appealing. When an anime starring Japan's first great detective does not include a single real mystery from ep2 onward, but prefers to spout the most lazy and facile justifications for sensational, improbable and vulgar atrocities, while sentimentalising motives of murderers at whole-episode length, what we have is pap. There is not only no mystery, but no tension or suspense, since these would require convincing situations, and no psychology, just vulgar, cynical shocks. It is a pity; there must have been a good story to get out of the great detective, the phantom thief, and the cute young assistant. I believe the original stories made much of Kobayashi's jail-bait charms, and he is an interesting character here, if only his detachment could be analysed critically, and his growing engagement properly explored. The graphics and music for this series are actually not bad, and the minor characters are rather amusing; only the writing is so awful that I had to put out this review for an old series simply to relieve my feelings.

Overall, I really liked this show and the qualities of it. It was extremely different from the other shows that I had watched so it had an interesting and unique feel. Story:8/10 The story was great except for a few parts. I really liked how complex, crazy, and unique it was. This actually made me pause and try to figure out what was happening. I really like it when the show is extremely complex because it allows me to think and go over what has happened. At certain parts, the story would be very confusing. Without this complexity, I would have saw it as boring. I would also have forgotten what had happened in the show. The unique story also caught my attention. It was very different from the normal and popular shows that I watch (which has started to bore me). The craziness of the story also really intrigued me. The flow of the story was weird but made sense. Moreover, how the story was able to mix weird comedy, suspense, and darkness together is really good and was shown throughout the show. However every story has its flaws. I didn’t really like the ending because it felt like it ended abruptly. The ending also made me feel a need for a season 2 to clear up some things. This show should also be considered to be more of a thriller than a mystery. It lacks the variables that allow it to be considered a mystery. Art:8/10 The art style really fitted with the story. However, I was a little bit annoyed by how the unimportant characters were not really “shown.” I understand that there is a reason for this but I don’t really like it. Sound:8/10 The voices of the characters were really good. The voices of the person “showed” a bit of the person’s character. I also really liked the ending song since it felt calm. However, the opening song didn’t feel correct. Character:10/10 The mishmash of strange characters were really interesting and unique. It felt like that they didn’t belong in the story. However this feel made the story very interesting and made me want to see how things turned out. The main characters were all really well-rounded with unique abilities and differences. Furthermore, the main protagonist was really intriguing in his thoughts and actions. The villains of the story also had a reason to be there. Enjoyment:10/10 I really enjoyed how fast pace and unique this story was and I’m currently rewatching it even though I finished it a day ago. I would remember this anime as one of the best if not the best I had ever watched.

(Spoilers) Overall 5/10- For this anime, I wasn't really impressed as it just felt plain even though it's about detective work and crime, it doesn't really make me feel hyped about it. Story 5/10 and Enjoyment 5/10- I say that the story is connected to the enjoyment of the anime with its genre and that made the anime bland since the story was based on a student named Kobayashi who was framed for murder so he was taken by the police for investigation but the student is not normal as for him he was calm about the situation and that it only interested him which I thought the anime would be all about on how this student was going to find that he was innocent but after that that was taken care of Kobayashi became interesting on investigating crime so with a detective named Kogorou and his best friend Hashiba they basically go through different crimes but most of the crimes they face are linked to another crime named twenty faces and this also links to Kogorou past. So, all in all, I feel that this story was 5 and the enjoyment a 5 because of how boring it can get for most episodes because it was interesting at the start but after that, we get more crimes shown to us and when watching these kinds of crime, horror or detective anime you would want to be shocked on who or what the victim had done in that crime but instead they have basically thrown every information at us which I think just makes it just unfun and even though it was 11 episodes and I sound like they had rushed everything but each episode just felt really long for some reason, maybe with how many backstories we get which I think didn't help improve the story for the suspect for most crime and I rather have a backstory between Kogorou and that crazy lady Kuro instead we get some weird man who loves little girls and disguises himself with a bag which I guess would still be a weird backstory but it would actually link to more about that twenty faces crime than most others than we've seen. Art 6/10 and Sound 6/10- Sound was ok, I watched through the dub and the VA did ok and the opening was ok I liked it. The art was different, background, the scenery was fine but when showing characters it different, I get what they trying to show here and I don't hate as they either have characters that aren't important blurred through some single color or later in the anime we seem most characters in mask skull showing who's side is who and it's different so I guess it was ok. Character 6/10- For the first 4 or 5 episodes, Kobayashi was basically important to the series with how he, and yes I was surprised he was a boy, was framed through murder and luckily due to how he isn't some normal student, he acts fine and goes with the police investigation on helping this investigation on why he is innocent and after that, it only grew his interest in solving crimes because he thinks it is very interesting and fun but then after we see about the twenty faces cases, the anime directs to more on Kogorou who is related to these cases and I think he the only characters that interested me in this anime with his calm, collective personality and I guess his backstory with his school life was ok from the rest but not that many characters I did not care or like about.

Another re-interpretation of Ranpo Edogawa's work goes down to the wayside...though not as bad as it seems. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace is an anime adaptation of Ranpo Edogawa's work and commemorates his 50th anniversary of his death. So LA had some brushes with Ranpo Edogawa in watching anime, from his superpowered human self in Bungou Stray Dogs to another re-interpretation of his works in Trickster: Edogawa Ranpo "Shounen Tanteidan" yori. with hit and miss respectively. What about Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace?..well... Let's start off with the plot itself, the plot follows at first small isolated cases but the plot itself has a larger narrative, mainly of Twenty Faces the main villain of the series, not a person as per say but the concept or deity that protects the weak and kill wrongdoers in society, with Akechi the "genius" detective voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, Kobayashi voiced by Rie Takahashi his assistant and Hashiba voiced by Daiki Yamashita, Kobayashi's best friend in helping Akechi with his cases...that is the bottom line of the anime. Plot wise LA liked many of the isolated cases though brief due to how quickly Kobayashi solves the cases, but it's not until the "true" Twenty Faces gets the spotlight and becomes the main driving force of the anime that LA actually took interest in the anime. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace's pacing to say the least and how LA frames the plot as a whole, is RUSHED to say the least and no just because the anime was 11 episodes wasn't the point, as they just rush cases left right and center, only properly caring for Twenty Faces case as it's the only complex case in the anime. Character wise, LA never really got invested in any character, except maybe Twenty Faces himself, mainly due to how much coverage as a character and concept he gotten is the main draw. The main cast of Akechi, Kobayashi and Hashiba however doesn't help as Akechi is the stoic detective archetype, Kobayashi the genki character obsessed with solving mysteries and Hashiba being Kobayashi's minder and all of them really don't change from most of the cases given, maybe Akechi but that's ONLY due to the Twenty Face case having a VERY strong link towards him. The minor cast might as well be red shirt army or the culprit, though LA was wrong a few times. On speaking of which, since this is a "mystery thriller" anime, it's more of a psychological one than a mystery in all honesty, not only because of the rushed pacing but because most of the isolated cases Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace goes through have the smallest and LA says this very strongly detail becomes the clue to the culprit is. Like a good mystery is one which the audience can project along with the characters to how the culprit is, Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace doesn't give you that opportunity OR it's the most unassuming one that you can't predict at all. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace is NOT a mystery anime to say the least...and doesn't help even further by Laplace which LA will get into later... Animation done by Lerche is an ambitious one, having a tinge of SHAFTiness about itself with giving us wacky transitions even bleeding into the "props" of the backgrounding and characters themselves, like showing background characters as shadows or blank dolls. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace seems rather fascinated with the light switch transition as it's used EXCESSIVELY and likes to play the metaphorical monologues in people's thinking processes (Akechi and Kobayashi using it the most). Though all of this together does make the animation stand out....as much as it started to annoy LA, even though these kind of animation flourishes are meant to draw us in, it oddly did the opposite. Voice acting was good with no real standout and hello Di- Takehito Koyasu your here as well!. Rie Takahashi as Kobayashi was something of a welcome reprieve as her voice acting helped levitate the dullness of the anime, Takahiro Sakurai's Akechi and Daiki Yamashita's Hashiba not helping matters. With the spectrum of either "genki enthusiastic" voice acting to dull and serene voice acting...LA was fine with the voice cast to say the least. In all honesty about Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace, it was the imbalance and disconnect of the plot, mysteries and characters that really did it for LA. Individually all good stories but since the main characters are all geniuses and thus stock bland and never improving or changing, the story gets a little tainted as the mystery hardly grows, this includes Twenty Faces even though THAT got a full backstory! Well for Twenty Faces...the main problem with that one is the anticlimax it gave itself, which in turn LA can say for the ALL the cases. "Laplace" to which the Game the anime has set itself, is one such where a hyper-intelligence can know when, where and why of all particles are in the universe, another words, know what's gonna happen next. Because Akechi and Twenty Faces are highly linked to this, yes makes them utter geniuses, but as a counter, makes things up as it goes along with it's characters which the audience doesn't know with the vaguest of hints as the only through line. It cripples the narrative which not helped by it's bland characters but the mysteries as theatrical and wacky the anime seem to make them it doesn't help when the main characters crushes your rose tinted glasses every single turn. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace is no Trickster: Edogawa Ranpo "Shounen Tanteidan" yori as that anime utterly bored LA by BOTH it's annoying characters and dragged out nonsensically theatrical plot, Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace at the VERY least has it's isolated cases being interesting and Twenty Faces' story with a bit of animation pizzazz to keep LA interested...barely. Maybe having a Laplace demon in the anime itself was the spanner in the works in itself...

By the looks of it, it seemed Rampo Kitan was trying to be a sort of modern telling of story concepts taken from the mystery novels of famous Japanese writer Ranpo Edogawa. This very story gimmick can possibly prove to be a major barrier for many Western anime fans since not too many of Edogawa's works are accessible in English and this series is dependent on its viewers having knowledge of characters and story elements from the mystery writer's work to understand the symbolic elements of its storytelling. I'll admit even I was a bit lost with many of the Edogawa references as my only exposure to the man's work is the gentleman thief Twenty Faces. But setting this issue aside, Rampo Kitan is focused on teen detective Akechi and two middle school boys who assist him in trying to solve a mysterious string of murders connected to a vigilante named Twenty Faces, this being an obvious nod to the rivalry between detective Akechi and Twenty Faces from Edogawa's works. It looked like the series was attempting to be symbolic with exploring society's ills and the oppressed lashing out against them by tying it in with whatever themes and story elements are within Edogawa's works. The execution of this is a bit hit-or-miss. It does have its moments of effective storytelling such as a rather tragic exploration of the murderer from one case tackled by Akechi in the middle of the series to show how far society's ills could break someone mentally trying to do the right thing for others. The style in which the cases are explored at a number of points is also quite creative as Ranpo Kitan goes for a theatrical-style presentation with showcasing elements of its cases, character back stories, and themes that helps enhance the story mood at key points and also serves as some effective symbolism at points to show the disconnection that Akechi and some other characters can have with perceiving others. Plus, the middle comedy episode in the series serving as a buffer between the show's first and second half was quite humorous for me with its absurdity and is worth a look if you enjoy comedy. Beyond these positives though, Rampo Kitan's very premise carries some major issues outside of the mentioned accessibility of the series. A number of the major characters in the series didn't feel like characters to a good degree as they felt more like shells to carry along the major elements of the series that it attempted to push, this being quite noticeable with the middle school boys that accompany Akechi on his cases. The motives of a number of the criminals and the supposed wrongs that society pushed a number of them into felt either absurd or a bit too nihilistic with pushing the anime's themes or attempting to twist character and story elements from Edogawa's novels. A few of the characters in particular, Black Lizard and Shadow Man, felt a bit out of place with Rampo Kitan's attempts to be a dark and serious look into mystery and elements of the human condition with how over-the-top their characters came across. Overall, I suppose my thoughts on Rampo Kitan are a bit mixed. While I applaud it for trying to be different with its creativity and incorporating elements of Ranpo Edogawa's stories for this mystery series, the execution of this is quite hit-or-miss and there is the obvious issue of many of its story elements flying over the heads of many Western viewers unfamiliar with Edogawa's literary work. I suppose whatever enjoyment you may get out of this series will depend greatly on how read up you are on Edogawa and his novels.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile. ------ ✦Story Artistic murder cases being solved by high schoolers. It was unique, but somehow the whole presentation felt so damn boring. As well the cases became eventually quite lame. I'm not sure who to comment story better regarding this anime, all I can say, it was unique, but for some reason really boring. ✦Art&Sound Unique, and quite nice. Artistic murders quite cool, reminded me of hannibal. Music was also quite satisfying. On top of that those "sad, sweet voice" English songs were also a nice touch. ✦Character I really liked them, very eccentric and psychotic. Love those types of characters. Also main guy being labeled as "guy" is moronic. It's literally a female character, but feels like author thought-process went like this, "you know what, right know we have just a bit crazy little girl as a main character, but you know what, let's make a twist, change HER into HIM story-wise". Point being, rather than trap, it simply feels as female character was tagged as male and that's how they rolled. ✦Enjoyment/overall Even though it was unique and odd on quite some elements, it nevertheless felt really boring and lacking..

I am the polar opposite of the community on this one. Ranpo Kitan, in my own opinion, deserves a praise for the work and beauty placed inside of the show. Every episode had so much symbolism, each case showcases the disgusting crimes that we human beings commit on occasion. Ranpo Kitan doesn't make sense because of the simple minded approach that the majority came at it with. The show reflects and mirrors our own, asking our protagonist and antagonist, what is really right? Should we live our lives relying on justice systems incapable of justice, or bring it about through a sense of absolute anarchy? Ranpo Kitan challenges the viewers' attitudes, values, and beliefs with reality and that is why I consider it a masterpiece.

Content Warnings: Severe child abuse; child sex abuse; broken society; serial killers; piss; mannequins; suicide I am giving mixed feelings review in respect to understanding shows flaws and abstractness, and other peoples thoughts. If you have no issue with the introduction of episode 1 and the opening, and like mystery/suspense, (and fine with "R" animes) I think you will like this as I did. In my opinion the show has a lot of 10/10 masterpiece traits with story, characters, et cetera, but clearly I did not rate it that. Content: mash of episodic and main stories. As it is in honor of works made by someone who died 50 years prior, it apparently makes references to that. This does not reduce my own enjoyment, but it may be radically better if familiar. Who the culprit is, after first 2 episodes, is often obvious. Relatable MC who just wants to have fun and be challenged. Style: The 3 people who are neurodivergent to the general populace, will have people not of interest in unique but basic styles. Lots of gruesome/gorry, disturbing or perverted stuff our main characters have to deal with. People talking in stage-like thought bubble things where stuff apparently is also actually going on. Non-plot spoiler: We never get explained why the very clearly female MC, is "seen" as a male. Body, voice, uniform, other things, all female, but MC is male without explanation. Hope this review helps!

One of the few good anime detective mysteries out there. I am not familiar with Ranpo's works, but even without the capacity to detect the reference, this show is still a very enjoyable show to watch. Story: 10/10. Unusual for an anime detective mystery, the show utilizes visual cues to give the watchers the clues to solve the mystery. The pacing of each mystery is also unusually on the fast side for an anime detective mystery, roughly 20 minutes per case, so unobservant watchers or an audience unfamiliar to the mystery genre might find themselves overwhelmed. However, the mysteries are very fair, all of them being solvable by the audience within the first 10 minutes. Also unusual for an anime detective mystery is the show's decision to send a message of revolution and change against injustice rather than the tired old propaganda of conceding and compromising with injustice. God knows anime and manga love their status quo. The story, like its message, challenges the reader to think, to take care of the your loved ones, and to act in a meaningful way against daily life injustice. Art: 10/10. Lerche is great. That is all. Sound: 10/10. The OST is heavily influenced by blues to create the atmosphere of an old style detective mystery. However, the OP and ED are bombastic rock/pop mix to help deliver the message of the story. Amazarashi and Sayuri vocal works are probably the most suitable choices, considering the message of the story. The star-studded VA cast is great as always. Notable for being one of the few series where Fujita Saki isn't pigeon-holed as a moe character or a Hatsune Miku reference but got to use her full vocal range. Character: 10/10. All 4 main characters are built as complex characters, with complex motivations, personal relationships, world views, and character flaws. Also notable for not demonizing any side but takes a fair and objective views of all 4 characters' motivations. The 4 main characters are heavily queer-coded and are the rare positive (and well-written) queer depictions in manga and anime outside of the BL/GL drama romance genre. The side characters are also well-written, with their individual motivations and character flaws. Enjoyment: 10/10. Very enjoyable show for mystery fans and people who want positive but complex queer representation outside of the standard BL/GL drama romance genre. Not recommended for unobservant people, homophobes, and transphobes. Overall: 10/10.

Another show which I cant find much story in it. It takes me more than 1 year to finish the last episodes as I always stop half way along it and the time it comes when I watched the last episodes is already a year later This is what I want to shout when watching! Ahhh!!The Mc is so cute...Ahhh!!but the Mc is a guy...Ahhh!!They solved another case...Ahhh!!! the case is so stupid... No story no art and I guess I really cant find any thing good about this anime. I wonder how it get 6+marks overall...If any of you can tell me please kindly pm me. Thank you. Don't ask how I managed to finish the show...cause the Mc is so cute in dress :3 And that is obviously a lie!