Artifacts—magical tools with abilities that surpass human understanding. After dozens of these powerful items are stolen, supernatural crimes begin happening all over Tengu City. Luckily, one girl can solve them all: magic detective Kurumi Tokisaki. Along with her companion Matsurika, Kurumi attempts to unmask the dastardly thief, and in the process, retrieve the Artifacts. However, as each incident is resolved, the identity of their mysterious perp only becomes less and less clear. How will the ace detective close her biggest case yet?

The Casebook of Kurumi Tokisaki, Magic Detective has a story by Koushi Tachibana and art by Tsunako. English translation is done by Jocelyne Allen. Published by YenOn (March 10, 2026).

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Spun off from Date A Live, The Casebook of Kurumi Tokisaki, Magic Detective can't seem to decide if it wants to be an actual piece of the greater Date A Live franchise or its own thing. Kurumi's true status as a Spirit is hinted at, although never fully delved into, and she seems to be much more human in both actions and appearance (no clock-eye, basically). Other characters from the source novels are present at least in that they exist and are college students alongside Kurumi, but the book itself takes on the mantle of being a pretty basic collection of mysteries with a supernatural bent.

That would be the presence of Artifacts, items that blend science fiction and fantasy in their ability to influence or tamper with human lives. Kurumi, who knows about them, is roped into investigating the theft of a huge amount of Artifacts by Matsurika, who claims they were taken from a burned storehouse on her family's property. Matsurika starts a detective agency for Kurumi to head, and together the two investigate five separate Artifacts. The mysteries are a blend of fair play (meaning you have enough clues to solve the case alongside the detective) and not, since readers don't know as much about Artifacts as Kurumi and Matsurika. They're decently presented, and while they aren't the best mysteries around, they do offer some fun mental exercise.

The greatest issue with the book is Matsurika. She's one of those characters who's loud even in the silent medium of a novel, and she seems to go out of her way to be obnoxious. That's deliberate – Kurumi can't stand her either – but it's also not as funny as Koushi Tachibana clearly wants it to be. She's meant to be a stereotype of the ojou-sama character, with her frilly dresses, drill curls, and over-the-top mannerisms, but the problem is that she's not a parody if she's just exactly like every ojou-sama character ever, minus the distinctive “oh-ho-ho-ho” laugh. She made me want to put down the book every time she showed up.

You'll probably enjoy this more if you don't find her as obnoxious as I did, and even more if you're a fan of the Date A Live franchise. Some familiarity with it is recommended before picking this up because there are enough references to it that parts of the book will be confusing otherwise, but overall, this is one of those books that's decent, but not much more than that.