Detectives These Days Are Crazy!

 Detectives These Days Are Crazy! (まったく最近の探偵ときたら) is a 12 episode comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Igarashi Masakuni.  The anime originally aired during the Summer of 2025.

    Nagumo Keiichi is a middle aged man who achieved fame as a genius detective while in high school.  That propelled him into a successful career as a private detective.  The years have not been kind to Nagumo however, as he struggles to find lucrative work, has fallen out of the limelight and his body is feeling the affects of his age.  One day an enthusiastic high school girl names Nakanishi Mashiro arrives, demanding to be his apprentice.  Not wanting to be bothered with anything, he denies her request.  His opinion changes when she helps him on a case, using inhuman brutality and strength.  Now...firmly set in middle age and suffering from disillusionment, Nagumo has to contend with this eccentric free loader as he struggles to pay his bills.

    As Mashiro helps Nagumo with his cases she begins to see a different world when it comes to the famous teenage detective of yore...and quickly grows to despise him, hoisting all manner of misconceptions about him.  Yet, with a gleeful smile, she continues to work with him, reveling in the experience.  But the city they live in is full of weirdos and scoundrels...and a rival new genius young detective named Asunaro Yuu.  Asunaro and his apprentice Kazamaki Hana become both rivals and co-conspirators, much to Nagumo's frustration.

    This is a crazed and off kilter gag comedy that fits nicely into that genre.  The character archetypes are fun, the gags are familiar but welcomed.  Nagumo is the straight-man to everyone else's absurdity. This series feels a lot like Gintama with the main personality of the main cast and many of their antics.  It also doesn't hurt that Gintoki's voice actor, Sugita Tomokazu, voices a trio of neighborhood weirdos.  There are plenty of homages to pop culture, manga and weirdness in general.  For the majority of the series there is solid pacing and fun turns with the gags.  The 11th episode is a bit of a slow story that didn't hit the mark very well over all.

    I've said it before, I'm a big fan of gag comedy in anime and manga and this series did not fail to deliver.  It's not the best of the genre, but it does a good job of keeping you entertained with its crazy cast of characters and their terrible interactions with each other. I think I like this version of Detective Conan a lot better...especially when it comes to the character design!

The anime is currently available on Crunchyroll.