Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru. (The Detective Is Already Dead)

Kimihiko Kimizuka has found himself inadvertently entangled in various crimes more times than he can remember, referring to himself as a magnet for trouble. One day, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, a group of unknown men kidnaps him, forcing him to board a flight—where he also encounters a hijacking. Amid the resulting chaos, however, Kimizuka meets a stunning silver-haired beauty, going by the codename Siesta, who then saves the day.

Claiming to be a legendary detective, Siesta enlists Kimizuka to be her sidekick. Though Kimizuka refuses at first, with Siesta's insistence, he eventually joins her—marking the start of a grand adventure spanning the entire world, preventing multiple threats that could spell doom for humanity along the way.

Unfortunately, after three years of their unpredictable yet enjoyable time together, Siesta abruptly passes away. Distraught, Kimizuka tries to leave all memories of her behind, but as he begins to meet more people, it seems that Siesta's influence will never truly die.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru.
Other:	Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru. Mini Anime
Sequel:	Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru. Season 2

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Characters & Voice Actors

Siesta

Main

Miyashita, Saki
Japanese

Natsunagi, Nagisa

Main

Taketatsu, Ayana
Japanese

Kimizuka, Kimihiko

Main

Nagai, Arata
Japanese

Saikawa, Yui

Supporting

Takao, Kanon
Japanese

Arisaka Anderson, Charlotte

Supporting

Shirasu, Saho
Japanese

Kase, Fuubi

Supporting

Fuchigami, Mai
Japanese

Koumori

Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu
Japanese

Alicia

Supporting

Naganawa, Maria
Japanese

Hel

Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri
Japanese

Chameleon

Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Tokumura, Kenichi

Producer

Isogai, Noritomo

Producer

Maruyama, Hajime

Producer

Kurihara, Manabu

Director

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Opening Theme

"Koko de Ikiteru. (ここで生きてる。)" by Mary x jon-YAKITORY (めありー×jon-YAKITORY) (eps 2-??)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Koko de Ikiteru. (ここで生きてる。)" by Mary x jon-YAKITORY (めありー×jon-YAKITORY) (eps 1)
	2: "Kodou (鼓動)" by Nana Kagura (カグラナナ) (eps 2-??)

More reviews

Reviews

Sep 19, 2021

SingleH

Not Recommended

*spoilers*

This show is totally fucking with us.
The main girl is named Siesta. “Siesta” is Spanish for “nap.”
And this show does nothing but put you to sleep.

But that’s only if you’re lucky, because staying awake is torture. I know “The Detective is Already Dead” may sound like an enticing title, but don’t be fooled. This is a battle harem. It may not be set in an academy, and there may not be an arena for waifu fights, but the essential elements are there, and the show isn’t ashamed of this at all. In fact, it’s the only selling point. Why is a show about a ...

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Sep 19, 2021

Stark700

Not Recommended

The Detective is Already Dead gives off an ambigious feeling of uncertainity. And by that, I do mean how potential viewers should expect from the show altogether. Let's face it, the English title should also fire some questions into your head. You may be asking yourself why the detective is 'already dead' or who really dies in the show. In what seems like a thematically intriguing premise quickly turns sour when we realize just how mediocre this actually turned out to be.

Taking a step back, I didn't want to be judgmental at first glance. In fact, I was actually impressed by some of the promotional ... material it showed off, especially a gun wielding girl fighting what seemingly taking place on board an aircraft. It's very confrontational from the start and leaves little room to breath for the first episode. To further its experience, the show decided to air the action style pilot at double the standard length, as a way to give us a taste of what to expect. Does the first episode make or break the chance to enjoy the anime? Let's find out.

For starters, we do meet two prominent characters - Siesta and Kimihiko as they get caught in the middle of a plane hijacking. To make matters worse, the hijacker has supernatural abilities that can threaten everyone aboard the plane. Siesta's request to Kimihiko to become her assistant is replied with ambigiouity although he has little choice than to team up if they both want to survive. It sets forth the core of the show as the duo begin their adventures together. Fast forward and later, they are thrown into a high school setting and for some reason, the anime decided to add in a wedding dress for Siesta. I'll leave that to your imagination but let's just say that such a transition is a massive direction in setting. But you may still be asking yourself: just who exactly is Siesta?

With Kimihiko's rotten luck, you'd expect him to be the last person on Earth to meet a stunning girl like Siesta. Even more so, he becomes her partner after displaying his innate skills in a complicated situation. Watching the two work together at first seemed as mysterious as the main premise itself. They have nothing in common but are seemingly bound by fate. It's not soon after when the story transits into meaning of the anime's title and we find out who the dead detective is. However, it would also appear that Kimihiko isn't fully ready to move on with his life and this draws him to other girls such as Nagisa. From here, his life gets perhaps even more complicated than ever before.

Now I want to be discret and warn that the anime's story can be a bit confusing at times. From what the anime adapted, some novels are out of order and it deepens the confusion. It's not that the anime is difficult to understand but that it doesn't follow a traditional chapter-by-chapter adaptation format. Watching this anime did show me the depth of Kimihiko's personality as he develops peculiar relationships among its cast. Unfortunately, most of these lacks the sort of concrete depth you should be expecting. For instance, Kimihiko's character relationship with Nagisa is bleak at best as the girl practically forces him to help her. Their confrontation can almost be described as brutal and replusive to the point where Kimihiko feels like a victim. That is to say, it's also hard to feel sorry for Kimihiko when we can't get fully invested into his character. We don't know much about his past except for his relationship with Siesta. In respect, I think it's dangerous for the anime to plant the story in this direction. We can only ask ourselves more and more questions about the past while almost being neglected to know about the present. Then again, this is a mystery anime, right?

In some aspects, I do appreciate at how the show handles its mystery in terms of revelations. While some story segments are easily predictable, others can be misguided and with red herrings. However, it's not a complicated storyteller where the show feels like a puzzle. What's unsettling about the storytelling is the way the anime depicts Siesta's overall character role. She goes from alive to dead in different episodes and sometimes, you have to ask yourself what exactly the author wants you to experience. Sorrow? Suspense? Ambiguity? In essence, I ask myself what the purpose of the premise really is. Yes, the detective is already dead but at the same time, she is also alive. I think from the beginning, killing a character like Siesta permantely would set off a massive red flag so the series avoids this by bringing her back in different ways. It's clever on some levels but also disappointing. Why? Let's just say that the more times she is on screen, the less appealing the mystery is. If it can even be called that...because honest to God, the 'mystery' of the show is more of an amateur detective fiction.

Holding the show further back is the reminder of the cast. Among them advertised from the key visuals include Yui, Charlotte, Alicia, and Nagisa. Yes, this anime may not be a harem but having Kimihiko pair up with them gives off a stench. Oh and did I almost forgot to mention the SPES? That's a mysterious organization who is deeply involved with Siesta. Unfortunately, the show does a poor job at making them look like a credible threat or at least one for fans to invest into. The more and I watched the anime, the less appealing it felt with each episode lacking the thrilling suspense I anticipated. The characters are underdeveloped and far too much emphasis is dedicated to Siesta, whether she's dead or alive. If I wanted to see a mystery anime, I could've picked up something more coherent. What we got here is nothing short of a jumble of incoherent mess.

But....I do want to praise the anime's visual quality. While the main story lacked a compelling plot, the artistic visuals speaks another language. The female cast such as Siesta, Charlotte, and Nagisa are characterized with alluring appeals that makes them stand out compared to almost anyone else. Furthermore, the consistency of colorful backgrounds is clear from the very first episode. It also falls no short in showing the action sequence and violence on occasions, when given the opportunity. Elsewhere, there's also some degrees of fan service such as the classy swimsuit episode or when Nagisa ruthlessly bullies Kimihiko with suggestive yet sexy behavior.

Yes, that's it. To call this show a deep complex mystery would be an illusion. What started as an appealing premiere ended up being one of the most underwhelming anime of the Summer 2021 season. That's not an exaggeration because after watching the anime, I felt almost betrayed. If you want better a mystery, watch something with an actual planned out plot and meaningful character cast. This ain't it folks.

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Sep 19, 2021

g1l

Not Recommended

Between the good anime and the enjoyably bad anime sit the ones that are unremarkable in every way, and you can’t help but wish you hadn’t wasted your time watching it. The Detective is Already Dead fits this role perfectly. With one-dimensional characters, an unengaging story, and plain awful visuals, there is next to no praise that can be given for the series. Don’t worry though, as it makes up for this by making sure there’s at least one cute girl in every scene.

There is an abundance of poorly directed scenes that lack the intended impact that they were going for. The moments that are ... supposed to feel emotional will feel no different from every other scene. This is due to a number of reasons but ultimately comes down to the flat characters and their lackluster responses to anything that happens. The art and animation quality doesn’t help either when every character is awkwardly placed in a scene with a blank expression. As a viewer, you don’t know what you’re supposed to feel at a scene because it never gives you a good reason to feel a certain way. All it does is chuck in a couple of potentially sad scenes without using proper visual techniques to back it up.

You might’ve noticed a certain mystery tag on the show but don’t be fooled, there are essentially no mystery elements to be found. I’m not even sure if Mystery was supposed to be a major aspect of the plot, but when mysteries are present they are handled terribly. In most good mystery anime, you'll find that it engages you with foreshadowing, hints at a greater narrative, and an exciting sense of discovery. The best part of mysteries is when you feel as though you are figuring out the plot right along with the characters. This anime, however, makes no attempt at the aforementioned techniques. Instead of uncovering the plot with the characters, you will be stuck watching as the main character figures things on his own with no explanation to the viewer. Then, once the whole “mystery” is over he will explain it all in one big long scene of boring dialogue. The foreshadowing is atrocious, and the only purpose mystery serves is to make our main character look all clever by the end of it. I’m not kidding when I say one episode of Scooby-Doo would have better mysteries than what this show tries to do.

The characters were particularly frustrating throughout the show, including everyone’s beloved white-haired waifu, Siesta. I felt physical pain every time there was attempted humour in the dialogue. It’s obvious what they were going for with the main character’s deadpan reactions and Siesta’s typical kuudere bluntness, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse attempt at it. The dialogue aims to be clever but never achieves more than being flat and unfunny. While I can at least give credit for the attempts at fun dialogue for the main duo, the rest of the characters are simply boring. It amounts to nothing more than some basic personalities slapped onto a generic character design. I find it amazing that they can describe the main character as ‘forgettable’ throughout the show and not wonder if having a forgettable main character is actually a bad thing.

Of course, these major issues don’t matter when there are some cute girls in the show. While going about defeating the big bad organization the main character manages to get several cute girls on his side to help him fight his battles. In fact, he’s so good at attracting cute girls that there isn’t a single other male character that isn’t on the side of the antagonists. I feel like this would be a given at this point, but don’t expect any sort of character development. Even after a character's death, which is so major that they included it in the title, we don’t get to see any characters attempt to cope with it. Instead they just sort of go on about their lives and all is okay right after a time skip.

There are times where the writing in this series can feel even childish. Take the antagonistic force for example, it’s nothing more than a generic evil organization given the name ‘SPES.’ Things like the motives and ideologies of the organization aren’t clearly explained and the representatives of the organization are your average bad guys. It’s unable to challenge the views of the protagonist, only seeking to end the world. It would’ve been much better if it stuck to one clear villain that can properly conflict with the protagonist’s own motives and world views. The series thinks up one cool scenario, such as a plane hijacking for an opening episode, and never uses it to its advantage.

If you were hoping for visuals to make up for this prepare to be disappointed. Some people may view the quality to be acceptable, especially after an okay first episode, but you can easily see it drop right from the second episode. For starters, I couldn’t help but notice that most scenes would just leave out crowds from backgrounds making the whole show feel isolated. Movement is stiff and the fight scenes avoid movement as much as possible, just throwing in still shots of characters talking rather than fighting. The expressions fail to give a good impression of a character's feelings and are never more detailed than the average wide-eyes shocked face. As far as soundtracks go this one was unimpressive and forgettable. It never quite matched the scene and added little value to the show as a whole. I might just be nitpicking here, but there was a noticeable amount of sound effects missing that the show needed. Scenes felt quiet because of this and were unable to really stick out as something important.

The Detective is Already Dead is awful in every way possible. It calls itself a mystery yet fails to actually provide engaging mysteries. The characters are nothing new, though I can guarantee that people will watch this for the sole purpose of seeing more Siesta. On top of this, it doesn’t even have good visuals or soundtracks to back it up. It’s what happens when a studio has no sense of direction or time management, only seeking to capitalize on a popular light novel, and I would recommend staying clear of it if you value your time.

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Poll: Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru. Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 5, 2021	60 replies	by Naufal-99 »» Jun 1, 12:34 PM
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