Story: 7
The story of this show is pretty good. Some might say it's nothing to write home about but I believe that the story was good for the narrative the creators wanted to pull off. The first few episodes are sort of in an episodic nature, with just a case-of-the-day sort of setup, but the actual story picks up after that. As per what you'd expect with a detective show, the story has a good amount of mystery and twists that keep the viewers intrigued from start to finish. The concept of Daisuke's unlimited balance, hence the title, lends itself to very interesting, unique, and fun occurrences. When they're doing detective work, it's interesting to see them uncover clues and put the pieces together. The action is well done, and while some may see it as a tiny bit over-the-top because of Daisuke's James Bond-esque gadgets and obscene amount money, I think it's great in the context of this show.
Art: 10
I absolutely loved the art style of this anime. The best way I'd describe it is quasi-simplistic. Everything in this show is animated with just a little bit less detail than a traditional anime, which gives it a quite unique art style. It really stands out from other shows and just looks really great. As for the characters, they are all animated very smooth and well. There are some instances of CGI in this show, mainly just with vehicles, but it doesn't distract from the show.
Sound: 9
The sound design is well done in this show. All the effects sound like they should. As for the soundtrack, it is sublime. The soundtrack has a soundtrack reminiscent of buddy-cop shows and movies that helps to set this show apart from others like the art style does. It uses more brass-sounding music that just sound really good. This show also has really good opening and ending songs. This is one of the few shows where I never skipped the opening. NAVIGATOR by SixTONES is a very good song that is also quite catchy. It's more clean-sounding to reflect one of the main characters, Daisuke Kambe. The ending, Welcome My Friend by OKOMATO'S, is also quite good, although not as good as the opening. I often found myself staying for this ending, something I usually don't do. This song has more of a rugged-sounding effect to reflect the other main character, Haru Kato. Voice acting is also very good. Daisuke Kambe is voiced by, as far as I know, a newcomer to the voice acting business, Yuusuke Oonuki, as this is his first and only role listed on MAL. He does a fantastic job. The voice fits the character perfectly. That is the only voice acting I felt like specifically mentioning, but the rest of the voice acting is really great.
Character: 8
The characters are done quite well in this show. For starters, the main characters are very likeable. Daisuke and Haru have great chemistry. Even though they often butt heads over conflicting ideals, their reasonings for doing things are perfectly understandable. Also, they are very entertaining together. The development the main characters receive is very good, as well. I won't delve into it to avoid spoilers, though. I won't spoil who the villain is, but I will say that the reveal was initially a little confusing, but once I put more thought into it I understood it fine. The side characters, while they don't add too much to the story, are still quite entertaining. It was always nice when they were featured in an episode.
Enjoyment: 10
I couldn't get enough of this show when it initially aired. It was so much fun watching a new episode and seeing how the intriguing story progresses. It was also fun to see character interactions and how they bounce off each other.
Overall: 9
Despite some minor flaws, The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED takes the detective genre and gives it a fresh twist that manages to stay very entertaining from start to finish. From the characters to the music to the art style, everything in this show is well done one way or another. It really sucks that this show is on the short side, as it only clocks in at 11 episodes, but that just gives you more of a reason to quickly check it out. I'd highly recommend seeing this show for yourselves. It's exclusive to Funimation if you want to go out and see it.
