I’ve accepted the fact that anime is largely about high-school aged characters; media is youth-focused in general. Still, it’s nice when we get a show starring a middle-aged character. Ex-ace Detective Nagumo is a forty-something dude with an aching back and no concept of how to deal with modern technology, and as someone in early middle age (early! EARLY middle age!), I can relate to that. The problem is, he’s so unlikable it kills any enjoyment of the show.
(EDIT: Actually I looked it up and it turns out he’s only 35. Only 35, really?)
This one rubbed me the wrong way right from the beginning. The OP features Nagumo struggling with his aging body, but it goes on for too long and just gets tiresome. Also, notice female lead Mashiro isn’t even featured in the OP. Then the show starts, the plucky Mashiro shows up looking for a job, and Nagumo says that she can’t be a detective because she’s a teenaged girl and has visible cleavage. Then he ogles her, then she pulls objects out of her cleavage. She claims that he is gross, to which he says “I’m fine with being gross,” which kind of says it all right there. Later, they tail a woman who is cheating, because of course it’s the woman who is cheating.
Look, I’m usually not that bothered by sexism in anime. I acknowledge that it’s a problem, but I’m simply not as put off by it as some viewers. And this really isn’t even that egregious, considering what goes on in other shows. But the show is trying to charm me with it’s characters and I’m the opposite of charmed. A later scene where Nagumo throws Mashiro out a window is supposed to be zany fun, but their dynamic is so uncomfortable with him openly lusting after her that it just feels creepy.
Mashiro has a cute design, and her Looney Tunes-esque abilities to break the laws of physics will surely win her some fans. But I just didn’t buy into the narrative that these two people were worth watching. Nagumo is sexist and tremendously out of touch, and Mashiro is basically Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony in a skirt. A scene of Mashiro effortlessly defeating a room full of yakuza toughs should have been fun, but the whole thing is so ungodly silly I couldn’t buy into it. I will give it this though, the show moves— one episode in and we already have our detective team, a minion and a mascot character all established. Whatever other problems it may have, it’s not boring.
I’m going to drop this, with the caveat that if I hear that the humor is really delivering later in the series, I might pick it back up. But what can I say, I’m just not feeling it.
EDIT #2: As soon as I posted this, I immediately got the feeling I had been too hard on the show. I’m still not really enthused about it, but if you like screwball comedy it’s probably worth a shot. See, I can admit when I’m (possibly) wrong.
Karen's Anime Blog 
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