Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo

Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo (or Ryoko Yakushiji's Strange Case Files to give it it's full name), is another of those odd shows that I always seem to end up reviewing. The anime is based on a series of manga and light novels written by Tanaka Yoshiki, who also wrote the much acclaimed Legend of Galactic Heroes series. The manga was illustrated by Kakinouchi Narumi, who also created the manga series Vampire Princess Miyu, and has worked as an animator, character designer and director, amongst her other roles, on such notable series as Kimagure Orange Road, Superdimensional Fortress Macross (and the movie "Do You Remember ... Love?"), Urusei Yatsura, and Megazone 23.

The series centres around an elite police officer with the Tokyo Metrolpolitan Police Department named Yakushiji Ryoko, who holds the rank of Superintendent. She is one of the heirs to the powerful JACES security company, a place which employs many retired high ranking police officers and officials. She works together with her immediate subordinate Izumida Junichiro, a non career officer who holds the rank of Assistant Inspector in the police department, and a small team of underappreciated officers who handle the daily running of her department within the police.

The story gets a bit "strange" once it becomes clear that the case dealt with by Ryoko and her department are considered bizarre to the point of being paranormal or supernatural. This is not an original concept for anime and manga, however Ryoko Case Files does suffer because of the inclusion of such a plot device.

The anime begins in an episodic manner, but as it progresses the main story does become apparent (to a certain degree - I'll explain why in a bit). The animation throughout the series is very smooth, and rather stylish at times. The characters are well designed, and the overall feel of the show is very much like that of Baccano!. The sound is nothing overly impressive, with adequate effects used throughout the series. The OP is a nice, jazzy piece that wouldn't be out of place in a Bond or Pink Panther movie, whilst the ED has a very "continental" (think France, Italy, etc), feel to it, and while neither will ever appear on my playlist, they're not bad efforts at all.

The seiyuu do a reasonably good job presenting their respective characters, with the best being the titular character's seiyuu, Nabatame Hitomi. She manages to bring across certain qualities of the petulant, spoiled, and generally arrogant Ryoko's character in a rather nice way.

The characters in the series are generally okay, but they're also quite one-dimensional. The titular character is, as I mentioned, petulant, arrogant, moody, spoiled, etc, etc, which is generally how anime and manga tend to portray the heirs of wealthy or powerful corporations. Junichiro comes across as long-suffering and hard working, but there isn't really anything overtly impressive about him as a character. The rest of the cast all suffer from the same one-dimensional flaw, and there isn't really any sort of development for any of the characters that is noticeable.

Wether you enjoy this show or not will very much depend on how seriously you take it. As a simple "watch then throw away" show it isn't too bad, but it's by no means a classic or original. One of the main problems with the show is the fact that it leaves many unanswered question, and never really makes any attempts at explaining what the hell is going on. Add to this some pseudo-political shenanigans and you have a lopsided storyline which doesn't really give the audience anything to get their teeth into. The show is stylish though, and well animated on the whole. The characters aren't all that annoying (although I do wish that they'd developed the relationship between Ryoko and Junichiro a whole lot more, as that would have added a nice dynamic to the show that may have improved it), and are generally better than quite a few other shows I could name.

This is a decent enough show on the whole, but it's not a show that I would recommend to everyone. Mystery lovers may like it, as well as lovers of sexy female lead characters, or those looking for an odd take on the supernatural.

Overall this show seems to be more of an advert for the manga and light novels than anything else, but it's worth a watch if you've got half an hour to waste.

I think this anime is one of the best anime that I have seen. I thought that Ryoko's case filies was a cliche anime and was a waste of time. From the start of the series, it seems like detective conan turned into a girl but I was wrong. The main character, Ryoko, is one of the most hilarious and coolest character I have ever come across. It wouldn't be a waste of time to watch it. I hope this series will have a second season!!!

A mystery anime starring Yakushiji Ryouko a rich lawyer and her assistant.The two of them face some very mysterious cases on daily basis and with her strong attitude plus her assistant's help also they manage to solve every single one of them.

I like how though the storyline is simple,it manages to keep you watching it through the effort they put to solve these unnatural cases.Lively art plus realistic are some of the great parts of this anime.It also shows you how two totally different characters,a sparkling beautiful and powerful woman and a calm shy but strong man,can understand each and help each other flawlessly.

I was immediately intrigued into the nature of this anime. Sexy girls, guns, supernatural activities?! Who wouldn't be curious?! And i am glad that i gave this anime a shot.

It is extremely well drawn and the plots are second to none. I would place this along the lines of death note (even though i know deep down that it is nowhere that good).

The main person - the seductive detective - is THE person to watch. Sexy, intelligent and very, very naughty, she is truly the perfect main role.

Give this a shot.

I've seen just one episode so far. The opening and ending have jazzy lounge music which sets a mood suitable for a detective story. The opening has some risque silhouettes of a woman's body.

I had been a little disappointed with more youth-oriented detective stories, but I decided to give this a shot and I'm glad I did.

The characters are grown-ups. I.e., they have grown-up personalities, grown-up levels of self-control, grown-up worries. The viewpoint character is a 33-year-old male lieutenant cop. The star of the show is his 27-year-old female boss. She's physically beautiful and very competent, but not a ... superhero or a psychic. She's either genuinely attracted enough to her subordinate to flirt outrageously, or else she's a sadistic tease who enjoys sexually harassing a guy who has no safe way to assert himself. That right there is a perfect example of a grown-up challenge: will the viewpoint character eventually get some respect and affection, or is he going to be a dutiful, beautiful loser for the whole series? I don't know, but I'm motivated to keep watching for developments.

The show does have some supernatural/paranormal story elements, but the bad guys that interest me the most commit some very down-to-earth, hard-boiled crimes, suitable for a gritty detective story. It's set in Japan, so I'm not expecting a lot of guns, Miranda rights, or other American cop show fare. I hope that it maintains the gritty, realistic personalities all the way through, because otherwise I'll lose interest in it as I lost interest in Black Lagoon.

I am a big fan of mystery stories, particularly those with an esoteric or supernatural element. Unfortunately it's not a genre that seem's to produce a particularly large body of material. So when one comes across an enjoyable example of the genre it is cause for celebration. I have to say I really enjoyed this show, the titular character Ryoko Yakushiji is extremely well realised and is certainly one of the main draws for the show as I see it.

As a slight tangent I find that anime and manga adapted from novel's (light or otherwise) is often of superior quality. I imagine this is because ... the pre-existing material makes for an excellent frame around which to construct a suitable representation in another medium. However, wankery aside, this series is well worth a watch if you enjoy mysteries. Most of the cases are presented as one-off encounters. But as the series progresses the over-arching background plot is revealed and most of the plot threads from earlier episodes are fully resolved. The animation quality is also quite nice, perhaps not as stunning as some big budget shows but it’s certainly above the "average" standard of animation one see's. The series is also (regrettably) only thirteen episodes long, so it’s not a huge investment in time to check it out.

Unfortunately for those wanting more Ryoko neither the light novel's or the manga has been translated. It's actually surprising how few light novels’ get translated into English considering how big they appear to be in Japan. And it’s not as if they're something like visual novels (which would appear to be sales kryptonite to the average western consumer). There are some fan translation projects going for the bigger light novel series such as Shakugan no Shana. But to be honest reading said fan translations too often feel's like rubbing sandpaper across one's eyes. I suppose prose is much harder for fan translators than dialogue.

Ryuko is a tall elegant investigator for the Tokyo Police, with no hint of the profession in her demeanor. She has an excessive need to buy the latest clothes and stay one step ahead of her coworker Yukiko Muromachi. Her assistant, Junichiru Izumida is (to my amazement) patient with her impulses but utterly oblivious of her passive love for him. I thought this series could fit into the romantic genre, but then again, maybe not. The plot is slightly repetitive but since there are only 13 episodes it isn't drawn-out, making it a good watch. The comedy surrounding Ryuko and Izumida is catchy and at ... times priceless. Ryuko has two french maids that are cute and very capable of operating modern weaponry. (what more could you ask for?) The opening song Thème Principal by katsu has a jazzy 007 feeling to it that will no doubt have you snapping your fingers to the rhythm. I enjoyed watching this Anime and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a short basic action series, with a touch of comedy and romance.