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TLDR; I’ll make my overall review brief. The story is not complex but it’s not striving to be. It’s a lighthearted and fun crime drama show about a handsome, a-bit-of-an-asshole, rich guy solving cases with the power of money (though it seems like there’s more to come in future episodes). And it’s awesome.

Not sure if this is going to be a BL as many have hinted - but either way, I don’t really care (I’m ok if it’s gonna become BL or stay as a crime drama) as long as future episodes will show more of the two protagonists becoming closer friends and working together ... to solve cases despite their differences. There’s one episode that fans either love or hate because of the lack of a serious case to solve. Though some may call it a filler, I see it as more of a character development episode, which I appreciate. It tells me that there’s more to Daisuke Kambe’s personality than money.

I absolutely enjoyed this not only because of the art style (my personal preference) and stylish character designs (the hair and clothes have such a nice colour palette!) but also because of the awesome op and ed. I don’t tend to give such high ratings to shows that are only full of the “cool” factor without substance but I have to admit, this is the first time I was just stunned by the whole show. Oh, also the voice actor for Daisuke Kambe is soooo suitable for the role. His voice alone is enough for me to give this show an 8+/10.

Don’t get mad at me Bepop fans but I actually feel like comparing the op and ed of Millionaire Detective to Cowboy Bepop’s terrific op isn’t a far stretch. Both employ a catchy melody with very nice graphic elements / colour / silhouettes that are super memorable.

Note: wrote this after having watched 6 episodes

Overall: The story had a lot of potential...but the execution was just...bad. Despite dealing with mature themes of sexual assault and violence, the tone is extremely off-putting because it constantly switches between (trying to be) serious and comedic/childish from one moment to the next. I was hesitant whether I should judge this show as a comedy or serious story but I’m going to go with the latter as that’s how I ultimately view this show’s storyline.

Story: Honestly, they could’ve chosen to either go the realistic route (which is what I would prefer) or the targeted-for-children funny/lighthearted route. Yet they tried to mix both and it ... simply did not work. For example, there were three scenes I could remember where the two protagonists were discussing something in a very serious tone and yet the setting completely did not suit the tone (SPOILER in parantheses: why does the MC have to be dressed in a ridiculous cosplay outfit while talking about sth serious???)

At the start of the show, I was about to cry in a few places but before I got the chance, they did a choppy cut to the next scene (comedic) without a smooth transition.

Art: I generally like this kind of art style of the 90s and early 2000s. While this is my personal preference, I am really tired of the trope of having the more dependent (or submissive) male partner look like a girl/child. Nothing in particular stands out, but I’d have to say that the colours and clothes they wear are really ugly (or ostentatious at best).

The animation itself was choppy but tolerable and they often reused the same animation from when they sang before (although this is quite common so I can overlook that).

Sound: The two main songs (by Ryuichi and by Shindo Shuichi) weren’t bad. The melody was nice but I don’t think it completely suits the tone of the story when it’s trying to be serious. The sound design and the background music were very lacklustre though.

Characters: The characters do not completely fall flat but the dialogue is cheesy in many places. I don’t know why so many shounen-ai or BL have an asshole-ish seme and an annoying and dependent uke. I like Eiri Yuki’s back story but there was only one scene in which he showed some actual emotion. There was not enough of a gradual build up to that scene, and the way he and Shuichi behave is simply not realistic.

Enjoyment: I’m conflicted as I truly saw a lot of potential in this story but I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it. I was hoping for a more heavy, dark, and heartfelt story about falling in love, chasing your dreams, and dealing with reality but yet I was met with a waterfall of terrible textbook jokes that seemed so out of place. If they got rid of all that terrible comedy, I think I could bring my enjoyment from 5 to a 7.

TLDR: I liked the idea of the story and was disappointed by the exaggerated comedy and jarring tone shifts in the story. To put it simply, the story, while somewhat cliche, had a lot of potential to explore noteworthy themes (considering it came out 20 yrs ago) but the show was ill-directed and had mediocre character and sound design.