Kitsutsuki Tanteidokoro

*May contain spoilers*

Okay, first of all, I have been watching anime for about 2 and a half years and have used MAL as my reference for which ones I should be watching and usually it hasn't let me down, but the score for this one really did not sit right with me. I'm honestly surprised it's so low. I guess to each their own and that it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I still don't understand why it only has 6 stars. I took a dive into this anime because my favourite seiyuus play the main roles and I honestly couldn't understand the ... 6-star score from just the PV.

To start off, the story having been set in the Meiji period was something new and exciting to me. I haven't read the original manga and neither do I have enough knowledge about the early 1900s in Japan, but it seemed like a well-handled setting with characters that fit said setting. The story itself is not just a detective mystery drama but also a slice-of-life chapter in the characters' lives. It has been created with these specific characters set in mind and that's the beauty of it. The way that poetry was set to be the tying ribbon in the story is also beautiful in its own way.

Moving onto the characters, they're all named after and inspired by famous Japanese poets and authors of the time. Each character has a personality of their own; a way they communicate and a way they fit in with the story. The friendship between the characters, especially the main characters, is gently crafted too with various layers to it. There are people that are always looking for concrete reasons for certain people's behaviours or personalities and relationships, but there is no way to fully understand something as deep as emotions. Trying to overanalyse the friendships in this or most any other animes of the same type is not something I understand. Unlike other animes, we don't really learn a lot about the past of the characters but we are given a front-row seat to their current selves and their growth in the short period that we are with them.
The added fact that Asanuma-san and Sakurai-san play the main roles really did the best for me. Their voice acting was amazing, as usual.

The art is probably one of the biggest points of this anime. Its use of colours that are pleasing to the eyes, the simple feel it gives in some scenes while in others it shows raw emotion and life, is definitely something to keep in mind.

The only places that found me just a little less interested were how some of the cases were just a little bit on the cliche spectrum, not that it matters at all in the big picture, and how the dialogues seemed fairly scripted but then again, set in a whole different era, I'm no one to say what is right as I know nothing of how people used to speak at the time.

While I say that it is a good anime, I cannot say that it is to everyone's taste. To some that come looking for complicated detective stories or thriller mysteries, this might fall short of their expectation but I suggest that anyone that is wishing to watch this, watches it with no prior assumptions.

Happy watching! :)

I really wanted to like this, truly. I love poetry, I enjoy slower paced shows, and the concept of adding a detective/mystery element sounded intriguing.

However, I really just do not care. The animation is beautiful, subdued but as is the tone of the show. The actual poetry that is read is quite pretty, probably because the main character is based off of a real poet. But every other character doesn't really have much to add.

The sound design is fine, nothing incredibly special, but not bad either.

The story just meanders and goes nowhere until it wraps up. Similar to how the main character behaves. I ... guess theres some poetic understanding of the story in there somewhere. But regardless its a shame it had to be so bland.

I'll just cut to the chase here: if you're looking for a good historical mystery show, this isn't it. In the same season where Yesterday wo Utatte airs to old nostalgia (and immediately getting a bad rap for its obscene adaptation), this series created in the late 90s (1999 to be exact) and falling into obscurity is honestly not a surprise.

Fast forward 20 years later, and Liden Films' anime adaptation...will quickly fall into obscurity as well (not to mention the obviously low amount of people watching this).

Think with me like this: We have seen detective shows and played detective games before, but historical ones are ... rife with accuracy, and as much as "fiction" allows the brazen content to skirt around its intended "plot", sadly what we have here in the Woodpecker's Detective Office, is nothing but merely a Shakespeare-ish kind of mediocre play that wears on its audience. (Don't fault me on the adaptation though, I know next to nothing about it.}

Cases to solve a crime. There are many ways to go around this, especially in historical context (19th Century Japan, or the Edo Period), where works of art come around to play a part in solving crimes...that is: the art of poetry.

Characters are somewhat wishy-washy for the most part. The main leads Kyousuke Kindaichi (I'd swear that surname is to cash in on the late 90s craze of "Kindaichi's Case Files" from the novelist) and Takuboku Ishikawa. One full fledged detective, the other a poet. I'll admit that solving crimes through poetry is kinda of an art in itself, and it's interesting to see how it connects to the sole purpose of giving justice a name, but the story itself, feels like unconnected chapters of a novel, just there to give the book a name and "exposition" for the many "case files" to be tackled. Both of their relationship with each other is mutual, but a constantly fractured one as one acts insane, the other tries to quell his insanity, and it feels very forced for the most part. Not to mention the calefare "detectives" who are there to always give the main characters some pep talk about the cases and their narration, it just feels RPG-ish and something that's definitely not from a novel (that is, story content).

For the most part, getting subpar studio Liden Films to do this production just feels like it's the studio's bread-and-butter whilst awaiting for high-profile jobs (I'm looking at you, Cells at Work: Black) to produce with ease. Not saying that it looks bad, but the world around it just looks boring, even for shows that try to portray the historical theme to decent fluidity. Not to mention that studios like this are floating by just to get noticed, it just feels like wasted effort (and proven for the last year as well). Music really is so-so.

Not really memorable though, I feel like you could pass this show by and have better shows to watch instead of this. But if this ever tickles your fancy, try the 3-episode rule on this if there's anything to recommend by.