When a serial killer strikes in their city again, the rookie police officer, Totomaru Isshiki, is given only one passionate instruction by his boss: “Go home and sleep!”

“Why? I can handle working through two nights in a row,” the baffled officer asks.

“Someone useless hanging around investigators will only make things harder,” the boss responds candidly. Isshiki is crushed by the brutal honesty, while his seniors smirk, grin and laugh around him.

Episode one of the 2023 anime series “Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions” (original title: “Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri”) starts off quite hilariously and begins with Totomaru Isshiki’s attempt to convince a genius detective to join forces with him. The series is based on the manga “Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective” by Akira Amano, which follows the adventures of amateur cop Isshiki and the brilliant but asocial Ron Kamonohashi as they solve crimes together. The first meeting between the two is comical – while the latter takes Isshiki for an idiot, the police officer is immediately impressed by the detective’s incredible deductive skills. Even though they are absolute strangers, Ron is able to tell that Totomaru came to visit him after going to shrine to offer prayers, due to some minute details in his appearance.

The creator of the manga took inspiration from Sherlock Holmes, and Ron is, in fact, supposed to be a sixth-generation descendant of the renowned fictional detective. Once he hears the slightest detail of a criminal case, Ron cannot rest until he solves it. He also is quite the eccentric character and might be considered a sociopath by some. For example, when Isshiki and Ron arrive at a crime scene, Ron immediately lies next to the corpse and begins to make conversation with the body, while others look on stumped. “Corpses want to talk,” he grins and explains.

The animation in the anime series leans towards simplicity, with the creators relying more on the plot and characters to engage viewers. This strategy proves effective. In just 24 minutes, the episode manages to accomplish quite a lot, from introducing the main characters in an entertaining manner to having them successfully solve their first case! Although, the case was quite simple, silly and won’t inspire awe in viewers like the British series “Sherlock”, the anime is a fun take on the detective genre. The contrasting personalities of the mediocre and naive Isshiki against Ron’s impressive intellect and cynicism offer a wealth of comedic potential for future episodes.

Watch the series if you like the idea of a comical detective show on the lines of Sherlock Holmes. It’s also on Netflix.

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