Forum - View topic(The) Dinner Table Detective (TV).
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Edjwald
 Posts: 3507 |
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(The) Dinner Table Detective (TV) Source: Novel (completed @ 5 volumes, written by Tokuya Higashigawa, illustrated by Yūsuke Nakamura) Demographic: Josei Animation Studio: Madhouse Genres: comedy, mystery Themes: adult cast, crime, detective, police Plot Summary: Reiko Hōshō, daughter of the owner of the world-famous Hōshō Group, has become a rookie detective. Her boss is Inspector Kazamatsuri, the son of the owner of Kazamatsuri Motors. The two work to solve difficult cases. When tackling her cases, Reiko always consults her butler and driver, Kageyama, who spouts harsh language insulting Reiko but always brilliantly manages to solve the case. Air Date & Platform: April 04, 2025 (Friday) Available on: Amazon Prime Episode Count / Runtime: 12 episodes [EDIT: Fancy opener stuff edited. -TK] Last edited by Edjwald on Fri Apr 04, 2025 4:20 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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The mystery anime that I have become obsessively invested in tend to have a not so brilliant but diligent protagonist who reluctantly gets pulled into an over arcing mystery way over his or her head. They're not detective anime and maybe have a sci-fi or fantasy or horror element, like Erased or Paranoia Agent or Serial Experiments Lain or Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Sempai for example.
I don't know that there's ever been a detective anime with a mystery of the week (or 2 week arc) format that I've loved. ::::::::::::::::sips coffee::::::::::::::::::: Nope. I've got nothing. But I am a bit less demanding of this type than I am other genres because they are a pleasant enough diversion when done competently. Mystery of the week anime usually have an eccentric, brilliant lead character who's socially clueless and a fairly bland sidekick who is either a very subdued romantic interest or a straight laced muddler who's constantly frustrated by the lead's antics to provide some comedic tension. The tension between these Sherlock and Watson rip-off (koff) I mean, riffs....usually goes through the same cycle and recycle and the anime usually start off strong and become formulaic pretty quickly. The episodes are like dinner theater mysteries which can be fun but don't have much build up and impact. This anime has a few things going for it that make me hopeful it might be more than that. For one thing, the MC isn't a loli. Usually when the lead is female in mystery of the week type shows, she has to wear high heels to reach 5 feet tall and looks like a little kid, even looking oddly young if the show is set in a high school as so many anime are. I'm not saying there aren't exceptions, but for every Lovely (koff) I mean, Beautiful Bones, there's a Gosick, Ameku MD, Hyouko, In/Spectre etc. And I liked some of those shows, but having an adult lead who looks like an adult is a nice change of pace. For another thing, even though I haven't seen an English subtitled trailer yet, the show is obviously pushing the comedic element a little heavier, which is fresh. For another, other thing, the dynamic between the MC and the sidekick (I think it's a Butler?) seems a little different. More like a Wooster and Jeeves dynamic (the butler is the smart one if you haven't read P.G. Wodehouse). So...yeah. We'll see. Edited to correct a dumb anime title mistake before anyone caught it, hopefully 
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Damn, that main cast is stacked: Kana Hanazawa, Mamoru Miyano, and Yuuki Kaji.
And of course, it's Madhouse, so it'll look great. I'm getting a "less macabre and more modernized version of Undead Murder Farce" vibe based on the key art and plot summary, which is also ironically based on a novel series. Very much looking forward to this one. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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I liked the first episode. The vibrant look, the quirky characters and the utter chaos of the detective work make for a rather fresh feeling show. It seems like the butler will have his work cut out for him since nobody else is all that great at being a detective, that goes particularly for all flash and no substance Kyouichirou.
I should also add that the show and many of its characters are loud, people not wanting screams and a more subdued vibe will not be happy. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Episode 1
I got some chuckles out of it. Reiko has to go through slightly more effort than Clark Kent to disguise herself in that she has to put on a pair of glasses AND pull her hair back in a pony tail to create a look that nobody can possibly see through. I think her relationship with her butler will be fairly amusing. I suspect Mr. Flashy is going to wear on me pretty quick, but we'll see. Anyway, worth checking out more, imo. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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Dammit Blood, *I* was going to make a Claire Kent comment.
And yeah, this anime has some stuff going for it. The production values are pretty high, for one thing, and the story is delivered in style. I'm guessing the butler was hired by the MC's family to be her shadow based on the way he was chiming in from the sidelines from the very beginning like somebody used to stealth operations. Either that or he's just a sardonic stalker (what a twist that would make for the final mystery arc - Hannibal Detector). The pace was pretty frantic, almost as if it were an American screwball comedy from the black and white or Panavision days. I thought it kept things lively, but I could see that getting wearing after a few episodes if the anime doesn't find some places to catch a breath. And I was a little surprised the MC didn't have a bit more going on upstairs, but maybe we'll see more of her non-ditz traits in the episodes to come. I thought she was likable. Like Smurky, I'm a little clueless (no pun intended) as to the point of her male senior on the police force. It feels more like this is going to be about her coming to terms with her new Butler. I wonder if the title indicates that most of these mysteries will be taking place in socialite circles? Anyhow, I liked it. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15851 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I am not sure how serious it is taking itself, but I thought there were some strange things.
The victim wasn't actually murdered despite everything else acting like she was. The detective should be among the suspects so her being on the case would hurt it. The suspects being interviewed together, not getting into that I would think considering their class would be told to say nothing. Wouldn't it just be a case of taking statements and then waiting for the victim to recover? |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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I thought they said the victim died after those last words?
I also wondered about the legality and feasibility of excluding the detective from the group. Feels like there would be all kinds of conflicts there, some of them legal as well as ethical. But it's a comedy, and the lead detective is apparently an idiot. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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Episode two revealed that the victim survived and that the injury looked worse than it actually was. Kageyama is indeed quite the detective/butler and gave a succinct explanation as to why Mori was the culprit. The end of the case was a positive one in that Mori will most likely be forgiven and has the opportunity to rekindle her bond with Mai (which honestly means a net positive for her and thus kind of like a reward).
The second case makes me think a lot of Detective Conan with a rich and unpleasant family head being killed while the whole family could care less and are accusing each other of the act. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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I'm not sure what to make of the butler, which is going to wind up being crucial since he's apparently the real detective in this mystery series. I have a feeling that he's either someone who's been in love with the MC for a long time, or else he's (like I said last week) , some ultra professional spy type paid by the MC's rich family to be her watchdog. I hope the show gradually clears some of that up. Right now, he's coming across a bit smug and maybe creepy to me
I like the MC fine, but if this show is going to be about watching her flail around week after week getting nowhere just to have the butler come in and solve the mystery, it's going to be a bit of a tough sell, especially if they're all mysteries like this week's. I don't necessarily like easy mysteries, but I'm going to stop looking for clues if they're basically unsolvable. Like this week, the main giveaway was that a pendant changes color in certain types of light? And the only way to figure that out is to have noticed the difference while the owner was standing in a group photo? It also doesn't help that this show is on a Saturday with ::::::::::::::stopping to count:::::::::::::::: 8 other shows that I'm currently watching. And Captain Hapless looks like he's going to be a regular participant, and he's just annoying to me. Okay, that was a lot of venting. What I do like about the show is the MC, mostly, and the show's look and music are great. The pacing keeps me from getting bored even if the show isn't engaging me as much as if probably should. But this one's walking a bit of a fine line with me. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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The next case was starting to feel like a Knives Out mystery, albeit with way less characters in the overall roster. Should be interesting to see how that develops.
So far, Inspector Kazamatsuri just feels like he's just there for comedy relief and to make all their actions seem "legal," with Reiko being the rookie-in-training, and Kageyama the butler being her actual instructor. It's a weird dynamic to have 3 very different people be one detective unit, but I guess it makes for more diverse characters/quirks. Although, that formula worked out really well for Undead Murder Farce, so we'll see if this can pull off the same balancing act. |
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WatcherZer
Posts: 521 |
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We have had series where theres an idiot detective and their genius assistant, Detective Conan obviously but this new series feels very close to the dynamic in Ron Kamonohashi.
Im not sure how long I will bear there being not just one but two idiot detectives with a know it all assistant though. At least in Detective Conan the police are actually competent but here they had sealed off the scene, put down evidence markers and begun a crime scene investigation while the victim was still alive. 
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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Episode 3 has me feeling mixed. The case itself was a solid one with enough shown evidence to figure it out, red herrings were thrown in to confuse and there was a dramatic conclusion with a lingering feeling of sadness. Again, a solid case yet the manner in which it was solved left me feeling unsatisfied. Reiko found some bits of evidence but was not able to connect them and Kazamatsuri was his usual self. It was entirely up to Kageyama to hear the details and barf out the solution. What followed was a dramatic conclusion but it just did not feel as fulfilling to me as other detective shows manage to achieve.
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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I get the feeling that every time the Butler talks about other people's motivation in the limo rides at the end of the episodes, he's really talking about himself. So when he was talking about admiring someone from afar in the second episode, he might have been talking about knowing the MC for some time before introducing himself. And when he was talking about locking emotions away in this episode, ditto. But I may just be assuming that because the car ride conversations are the only ones where he seems to be speaking seriously.
That's about the only real traces of deep emotion I find in this anime, even when people are killing each other from misguided passion. The resolving of the case should have had more impact, some kind of O Henry twist but geared toward tragedy instead of a happy ending, but I was just kind of like, "Oh.". For me, it's a clear case of production values carrying an anime while the writing is mediocre. I like looking at it and I like listening to the background music while the characters act as if they're in some screwball comedy, but at the end of the day I haven't made much of an emotional investment. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4286 |
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The first murder was a let down as it didn't even bother with a murder so the stakes were as low as they could possibly be. What I did love was Kageyama in the background trying to get the attention of Reiko. Servers on the floor level mingle, they don't ZOOM. He could have tried to blend in a little. I got the suspect right, the motive right but not the exact clue... it was an assault, just ask her if she did it, there was no use for a "J'ACCUSE" moment.
The second murder had a lot more to chew on, with an actual interesting group... butler did it. Funny that the matter of which one murdered the matriarch was so meaningless they got away with a "butler did it". I still think it was the oldest son. |
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