Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Specials

I went into this one trying not to expect much, being as I am a huge fan of the manga, yet I was taken aback by this anime. The animation in the begin hits you hard and fast, in other words, it's beautiful. There are scenes that, honestly, took my breath away, such as when Kindaichi finds the Phantom's mask floating in the ocean.
Plot wise, everything is changed around from the manga just enough so you feel as if they are staying true to the source material (with the basic plot), yet you still don't know who the murderer is even ... if you've read the manga. Also, the first murder scene was something I'd be willing to recommend to anyone.
It does have it's fair share of problems though, problems that can all be traced to one source: a forty-eight minute runtime. There was next to no build up, and it didn't even introduce Kindaichi Hajime, Nanase Miyuki, or Detective Kenmochi (our three main characters). I mean, they aren't that important, they're just the hero, his love interest, and his sidekick. Who cares who they are?
Also, we fans of the manga are used to seeing about four or five, possibly six murders per adventure, this one had....two. I was hoping for a least three. The brilliant part of it is though that you don't even get to witness the second one....
Over all though, if you love the manga you'll probably, at least, get a kick out of watching Hajime do his analysis on screen, which I enjoyed. If you haven't read the manga you'll probably enjoy it much more, but you should read the manga anyway....because it's better.
Despite all these problems which could've been fixed with a longer runtime, I enjoyed it. Also, I'm optimistic about further episodes, so we'll see what happens with those. Don't judge a great detective by his first case.



P.S.
The spider scene is absolutely ridiculous. Tarantulas are not poisonous, so there!