Detective Academy Q - episode 1
Logline: Some time after the 90 minute special, Kyu, Megumi, Kinta, Ryu and Kazuma are now plunged into mysteries assigned to them by the detective academy. Investigating the murder of a high school girl, the five must work together as a team despite their respective rivalries.
Oh dear. This is a very positive entry, because I can't think of anything I particularly disliked!
Kyu: "Even I can do things properly when I need to! Yeah... "
This extended one-hour episode feels like the true beginning of "Detective Academy Q", exhibiting all the strengths of the concept and few, if any, of the weaknesses in the 90 minute special that came before. Episode 1 features strong interplay between the cast and guest-characters, an intriguing murder mystery, a rising sense of tension, and a shocking ending that leaves multiple threads to be followed in future episodes.
With Episode 1, "Detective Academy Q" makes the decision to take Kyu, Megumi, Kinta, Ryu and Kazuma out of the classroom. This episode seems to take place at a point well after the 90 minute special; the kids are actively investigating mysteries, have become used to seeing each other, and only receive the occasional training exercise.
The initial training exercise in tailing suspects splendidly establishes the characters for anyone who hasn't seen the special. Megumi's photographic memory is demonstrated, Kazuma's technological aptitude is shown, and Kinta's bold aggression is showcased. Ryu's detached and methodical approach has DDS teacher Nanami calling him the most effective detective of them all. Interestingly, the episode deliberately leaves leading character Kyu's contribution somewhat ambiguous, until the kids are investigating the murder of a high school girl.
When the kids run into police detective Moroboshi at the scene of the murder and are brought into police headquarters, their status as detectives is established effectively. They have no official status beyond the police grudgingly not arresting them for interfering with investigations. At this point, our five investigators truly feel like kids, even the older Kinta.
It's here that Kyu's role is shown, as he raises his fist in the air and declares the need for teamwork and unity. Hilariously, Megumi, Kinta, Ryu and Kazuma respond with exasperation and irritation, Megumi adding that Kyu is annoying. Clearly, Kyu's role on the team is one that will be accepted with reluctance. Later, Kyu is the one to combine Megumi and Ryu's individual observations and deductions in order to determine who the murderer is, showing that his place as the glue of the team is in solving the mysteries as well as in the realm of their personal relationships.
Strangely, the idea of the five of them competing for the role as the leader of the DDS detective academy is raised to explain their rivalry. This is rarely if ever reiterated in the next ten episodes, left either as a loose end or something for a sequel series.
This nature of this episode as a murder mystery benefits Megumi's character most, lending her new depth while establishing a new tone for the series. Megumi is initially discomfited by the crime scene photos of the murdered high school girl. When faced with a body that's been sliced in half, Megumi collapses screaming. Shida Mirai puts in a strong performance, and her horrified reactions show the strength of the more serious material. The series is now able to convey the repulsive, horrific nature of violence. The grisly nature of the murder is contrasted against the innocence exhibited by Kyu and Megumi, and leads magnificently to the final confrontation where the team faces the murderer.
Perhaps the strongest aspect of the characters is their desire to empathize with others, even the murderers. Kyu's certainty that some good exists in the killer they've caught is genuinely touching, and well-played by Kamiki Ryunosuke, who carefully avoids any notes of sanctimony in his performance. Kyu's constant desire for his classmates to stand together as friends and partners is seen as naive by many of the characters, but this scene portrays his hope to find some decency in everyone as the true strength of his character. Later episodes would challenge this aspect of Kyu's nature.
The cast is uniformly strong in this episode, and continue to be throughout the remainder of the series. The chemistry between the characters is terrific, from Kyu and Kaname Jun's Kinta's friendly rendezvous as they run through the streets of Tokyo to Kinta encouraging a crestfallen Kazuma to join in the chase for the suspect. There's also a nice moment where Kinta whacks Kyu with a fan for checking out a woman in a maid costume. Also charming is how everyone hides behind Kinta when fearing the murderer, which also suggests that combat training has been either neglected or delayed by the detective academy.
Yamada Ryosuke continues to put in a subtle, underplayed performance as Ryu, hinting at dark undercurrents beneath his precise work as a detective. In the opening tailing exercise, Ryu leaves a trail for his less-capable classmates to follow while expressing no particular fondness for them. He quietly criticizes Megumi's fear of corpses, being cold yet entirely correct. Ryu's presence is felt as a character who is both a valuable ally while being a cold fish with an extremely questionable background.
Notably, there are significant changes from the 90 minute special with regards to Megumi and Kazuma. Megumi is no longer the girl-child of the special; she has matured into a beautiful young woman who teases Kyu gently as her elaborate costumes leave him astonished, and who flirts with police detective Nekota for police records. Her anger with a less-than-attentive teacher is forceful and commanding, and yet the character's vulnerable side is represented when she breaks down at a murder scene.
Kazuma is the most-changed of the characters, likely because he is now played by a new actor in Wakaba Katsumi and characterized differently. The awkwardness and nerdy clothes are gone; this punk-rocker version of Kazuma is a slightly pampered rich kid who dismisses his classmates' stakeout and tailing techniques as "analog", only to have his overconfdience thrown back in his face by DDS teacher Nanami-sensei. Kazuma then takes an interest in the potentially supernatural solution to the mystery after his technology fails him in the training exercise. Whether this is meant to represent his humility or a dropped plot point is unclear; Kazuma never shows any interest in the occult following this episode. It is also unclear whether this version of Kazuma is meant to be what the kid from the 90-minute special grew into after a year passed between episodes, or if it's a flat out reworking.
However, it is clear that some time has passed between the two episodes. While Kyu and Kinta don't seem to have changed too much, Shida Mirai's Megumi and Yamada Ryosuke's Ryu are clearly older than than we last saw them. With the class having received at least initial detective training, there's certainly been time for Kazuma to grow up a little.
The first episode, while establishing present circumstances, also introduces a headquarters for the team. The five are given access to the original office of DDS founder Dan Morihiko. The lushly-decorated, warmly furnished location is a comfortable place for the kids to hang out and also seems to be filled with books, disguises, records, tools, and a projection screen for Dan-sensei to give pre-recorded case-briefings to the kids. The set looks magnificent and provides the detectives with a place that feels like home.
Oddly, although this is a weakness of the kid detective genre, there's really little exploration of our heroes' personal circumstances. While Kazuma is clearly rich and Kinta is a young adult, we're not told how Kyu and Megumi's families feel about them risking their lives and having apparently given up regular school. And one can only assume or hope that being enrolled in the DDS detective academy provides students with some sort of stipend or living expenses, at least for the sake of the less-wealthy characters.
Also of interest is Dan-sensei himself, who is clearly engaged with a game beyond individual murder mysteries. Wisely, Dan-sensei's appearances are scant, allowing the kid detectives to show their genius. Yet, the ongoing arc for the series is established in a conversation between Nanami-sensei and Dan-sensei, where Nanami questions Dan-sensei's decision to embroil the children in a real investigation. Their exchange makes it clear that there is some organizing force behind the murder Class Q spent the episode investigating which the children must be ready to face.
Intriguingly, Ryu is briefly kidnapped by a man with a habit of whistling, an incident Ryu doesn't share with his friends. Later, the usually reserved Ryu shouts angrily that the murderess sold her soul to the devil, implying that Ryu knows the true force behind the killings and has more information than he's sharing.
All of these elements of strong acting and scripting are matched with some fantastic direction and set design. The opening run through Toyko is lively and joyous, the murder scenes are disturbingly uncomfortable. The climactic finish in the parking garage burns with the youthful anger of the children, as the blood of the victim is shown to be pooling on the ground.
No review of the show would be complete without mentioning the beautiful work done on the opening titles and closing credits to all the episodes. The opening titles combine still frames of the characters against an illustrated background of cityscapes and crime scenes, showing the characters standing bold and strong against moody images. The closing credits contain still images of the cast, separated by blurred images of moving people, with the team nevertheless connected and united. Both are visually stunning.
All in all, Episode 1 is an excellent start to the series, showcasing a lively team of detectives, a great mystery, an exciting sense of pacing and drama, a tremendous amount of heart, and an ongoing set of plot elements that would climax well later on. While not flawless, the episode accomplishes everything it sets out to do and does so in spectacular style, earning its perfect score.
10/10