Kindaichi Shonen no Jikembo III
Kindaichi Shonen no Jikembo III is one of several series based on Kindaichi Case Files. This one stars a very young, amazingly skinny, and lovably dorky Matsumoto Jun as the title character. Kindaichi, a highschooler, is the grandson of a famous detective, and in grand anime/manga/dorama tradition, no one seems to mind that he's a teenager, and that he and his friend/girl-who-he-has-a-mutual-crtush-on-but-is-oblivious-on-both-sides, Miyuki, always come to crime scenes with his uncle Kenmochi(though I'm not sure he's technically Kindaichi'sd uncle.)
The series assumes some familiarity with the characters, but not enough for the uninitiated(like me) to be lost. Unlike every other dorama mystery series I've watched, where the mysteries were more of an afterthought to the relationship between the leads and the issues of the male lead, Kindaichi is a straightout mystery series. As with most anime/manga/doramas, the killer always had some justification, and was doing it to get revenge for the death of a loved one, with at least one victims often deserving death. Apparently, Asia doesn't like their bad guys to be flatout bad, they have to have justifiable reasons. Anyway...
Like any good mystery series, it succeeds based on it's lead. Kindaichi may be a brilliant detective, but he's utterly hopeless in all other areas, and is a complete daydreamer. For example, the first arc is at sea(most of the stories were homages to Grand Mystery Traditions) and every 5 minutes, he'd wander off into a Titanic daydream, complete with rising music. The thing he's the most clueless about, however, is Miyuki's crush on him, no matter how hard he tries to clue her in. He's not COMPLETELY oblivious on his side, however, given the scene where they have adjoining rooms and there's a one-way-mirror with the window part on his side, and he tells her to put her cheek against the window and he kisses it, then walks off, embarassed, while she's asking what he's doing.
One thing I realized here is that, while I'm not a Matsujun fangirl (and certainly not enough for me to be able to watch the excessive fanservice of the end credits without bursting into a fit of giggles) I have a fair bit of respect for him...every role I've seen him in has had almost nothing in common with any other, but he's been comvincing in all of them.
Anyway, good series in general, but especially if you like a good mystery show.