Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation (櫻子さんの足下には死体が埋まっている) is a 12 episode mystery series based on the novel A Corpse Is Buried Under Sakurako's Feet by Ota Shiori. The anime originally aired in the Fall of 2015.
Tatewaki Shotaro is friends with an eccentric and brash woman named Kujo Sakurako. The unique woman in her 20' is the heiress to a wealthy family and continues her deceased uncles passion for osteology, or the study of bones. Shotaro finds himself her accomplice in all manner of death investigations as Sakurako's skill in deduction and compulsive behavior lead to them discovering corpses. What appear to be a series of unrelated deaths begin to weave a common thread of a person who collects one particular skull fragment. A person who haunted Sakurako's uncle and now shows his existence to her. Shotaro, while unwitting being her accomplice and restraint mechanism, works to come to terms with his feelings for her and her unwillingness to return them.
This is a semi cut and dry episodic mystery series that unravels a common theme over its course, resulting in the final climax in which Sakurako confronts a specter of her past in the bone collector, of which doesn't actually happen. In that regard the entire series seemed like a prequel of sorts but it's hard to tell if there will be any more to this show. It is very much Sherlock and Watson in regards to the characters interactions and adventures. Sakurako is a genius who'se attention to detail is unmatched in the series. She is also callus and speaks her mind with ease. A handful of recouring characters are introduced through out the series including a classmate/friend of Shotaro's, a teacher and an inept police officer. The stories in themselves are interesting and its entertaining to watch the truth be revealed. Yet there is this persistent level of disbelief, particularly in how inept the police are presented and the lack of criminal accountability Sakurako faces for her meddling in apparent murder cases.
The artwork is standard fair, with the exception of a CG sequence they continued to pull out in the first few seasons featuring a parade of animal skeletons as Sakurako was about to do the serious investigative work. Thankfully they stopped repeating the scene as it was farcical at best. Aside from that it was an enjoyable series but really nothing spectacular. It paired with the other investigation drama, The Perfect Insider, made for an interesting dichotomy for the season. On the one hand we have one unfolding mystery in the later and the episodic mystery in Beautiful Bones. They could have really done with out the over arching mystery as there was a mystery unraveling with Sakurako's past that was also highly neglected and her reluctance towards any sort of emotional vestment in the lapdog Shotaro.
On a side note, I feel the best episode was the second on in which the pair found themselves investigating a crime in process. The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and Sentai Filmworks holds the distribution license for it so expect some form of disc release.
Tatewaki Shotaro is friends with an eccentric and brash woman named Kujo Sakurako. The unique woman in her 20' is the heiress to a wealthy family and continues her deceased uncles passion for osteology, or the study of bones. Shotaro finds himself her accomplice in all manner of death investigations as Sakurako's skill in deduction and compulsive behavior lead to them discovering corpses. What appear to be a series of unrelated deaths begin to weave a common thread of a person who collects one particular skull fragment. A person who haunted Sakurako's uncle and now shows his existence to her. Shotaro, while unwitting being her accomplice and restraint mechanism, works to come to terms with his feelings for her and her unwillingness to return them.
This is a semi cut and dry episodic mystery series that unravels a common theme over its course, resulting in the final climax in which Sakurako confronts a specter of her past in the bone collector, of which doesn't actually happen. In that regard the entire series seemed like a prequel of sorts but it's hard to tell if there will be any more to this show. It is very much Sherlock and Watson in regards to the characters interactions and adventures. Sakurako is a genius who'se attention to detail is unmatched in the series. She is also callus and speaks her mind with ease. A handful of recouring characters are introduced through out the series including a classmate/friend of Shotaro's, a teacher and an inept police officer. The stories in themselves are interesting and its entertaining to watch the truth be revealed. Yet there is this persistent level of disbelief, particularly in how inept the police are presented and the lack of criminal accountability Sakurako faces for her meddling in apparent murder cases.
The artwork is standard fair, with the exception of a CG sequence they continued to pull out in the first few seasons featuring a parade of animal skeletons as Sakurako was about to do the serious investigative work. Thankfully they stopped repeating the scene as it was farcical at best. Aside from that it was an enjoyable series but really nothing spectacular. It paired with the other investigation drama, The Perfect Insider, made for an interesting dichotomy for the season. On the one hand we have one unfolding mystery in the later and the episodic mystery in Beautiful Bones. They could have really done with out the over arching mystery as there was a mystery unraveling with Sakurako's past that was also highly neglected and her reluctance towards any sort of emotional vestment in the lapdog Shotaro.
On a side note, I feel the best episode was the second on in which the pair found themselves investigating a crime in process. The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and Sentai Filmworks holds the distribution license for it so expect some form of disc release.
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