Cuticle Detective Inaba

So there's this werewolf ex-police dog detective with a hair fetish who's fighting an italian mafia-goat and his equally bizzare henchmen and WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH?

Even for Japan this was oddly hyperactive. The gags-per-minute rate was very high. (whether or not they were really all that funny or you just end up overwhelmed after a while is hard to say)

I have no idea what I expected from the previews, but this sure as hell wasn't it.

"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent

Seems to be a largely Love It or Hate It show. People who liked Bobobobo Bobobo will probably like it.

Don't mind me. I'm just a creepy little lurker.

I enjoyed it, but my tastes seem to stretch much further into the odd than most. I do have to say that the concept is really unique.

edited 5th Jan '13 3:32:12 PM by Zendervai

Not Three Laws compliant.

Episode 1: Quirky. Highlights include:

• The crossdresser who hates the police officer; his antics are the best part of the show for me
  • "How dare you have the nerve to come here!" n_n
  • Making the police officer drink tea out of a rice cooker
  • Being aware that they're being spied on and posing at the secret cameras
• The mafia don goat who eats the money he steals and his lackey who despite being Italian wears old-school Japanese clothing and uses a seriously old-school rifle and they use old-school Japanese transportation
  • COMMONER PUNCH! Public Opinion kick!
  • Said lackey conflicted about whether he's the Don's right arm... or left. :|
  • Don playing with the fireworks, and being casual about having his brains blown out. Several times. And his switcheroo with a normal goat
• Inaba's hair-induced superpowers
• Plot thread about Inaba's missing brother
• Interviews with the assassin Gabriella's clients and one victim. As in a ghost.
• The golden ration of tsundere
• Ogino, doting daddy mode
• Killer toddler Azusa

Argh, basically lots of amusing quirky stuff. Nothing laugh-out loud yet, though.

Hmm. Finally watched it. I didn't really like it.

The Tskiomi was rather poor as I had heard.

Switching back to dramatic mode was awkward too.

I don't mind the detective, but he doesn't have a great supporting cast to play off.

I can kinda see what they were going for, but the humour doesn't really work, which is the main problem.

Episode 2: Well then.

First half: Involves a magical board game that takes you through the history of Japan. Average stuff save for Little Mister Spiteful Crossdresser.

Second half: Way better, thanks to one of the most amazing toddlers in media.

Episode 3:

First half: A hilarious Valentines romp that starts with Ogi's high-powered jealousy towards Inaba for having gotten chocolates from his daughter, and ends with Yuuta using his power up technique on himself and then Ogi.

Second half: Introduces a new Secret Doberman. Not notable otherwise.

This series is just strange. It builds up to a huge punchline and then, more often than not, falls flat on its face. It's also kind of weird that the straight man character has a lot of quirks to him too.

Not Three Laws compliant.

Episode 4: Inaba's little brother appears! And yes he's a villain. Though only about as villainous as Don Valentino.

And Shirousagi on top of that!

edited 27th Jan '13 4:45:26 AM by Tenzen12

Episode 6: It's okay. The little sheep is Inaba and Haruka's sort-of father, and he's somehow gotten Inaba's agency to try finding his real body.

Then it shifts to a boring birthday celebration and an omake which admittedly has cute Secret Doberman chibis.

This is, for some reason, the only show I'm consistently watching this season.

I'm posting here to say that I love it very much.

Estimated shipping time: 2-4 weeks.

Episode 7:

• Yuuta still the best character.
• Somehow the Valentino family are actually cool this episode.
• Interesting flashbacks about Inaba and Yataro, involving the same dude.
• And a bartender.

I am on episode 5. With the hot spring.

"TOTAL LETDOWN!"

Most hilarious thing ever.

Ah, I just barely started watching it a day or so ago, and I'm gonna have to agree- it is a "Love It or Hate it" type of show.

At the moment, I'm pretty neutral about it. While I like the absurdity of some things in the series, and some of the moments meant to humor some, well.... there are times where I have to give it a simple "Meh".

Yes, my username is a parody of Junjou Romantica's title. No, I don't associate with Tropicana in any way.

After watching Episode 8, I cannot help thinking that this series would be really good if it took itself more seriously. Soumei's backstory with Ogi's grandfather is done really well.

My slapstick humor, where did it go?

Personally, while I do think the serious parts are good, they don't measure up to the funny stuff— when those are actually funny, anyway. I like my superhuman toddlers and sadistic crossdressing assistants!

I remind tropers for the work article to wick. This article only has 4 wicks, which is pretty much non-existent, provided the wicks are from 2 indices, Winter 2013 Anime, and Jesu Otaku List.

Scientia et Libertas | Per Aspera ad Astra Nova

Episode 9: An example of this show being good when it's being serious.

EDIT: Holy crap, Episode 8.

edited 1st Mar '13 11:11:08 PM by fillerdude

Episode 10: Standout moment: Inaba also reacting to Ogi's "Sit!" command, and trying to excuse it as "admiring the grass".

Episode 11: In which a rice dispenser robot speaks in Stroheim's voice.

There's also the reveal that what I thought was Soumei's original body was in fact Akiyoshi's, his previous vessel. Quite interesting.

Episode 12: And with this, the show draws to a close.

This episode had a lot of first-person segments, which was cool, especially with Inaba acting as the criminal.

---

Overall verdict: I think I previously mentioned that I liked the blend of comedy and serious, so I will now take that back— this show was at its best when dealing with the serious stuff. Episodes 7, 8 and 9 are the standouts in this regard:

• Episode 7 shows us Yataro and Inaba in their younger days, and their relationship with Soumei.
• Episode 8 deals with Soumei's past, his struggles with the corrupted police force he works for. At one point he even has to kill a little cub, because the bastards made the cub take to blood. Very well done.
• Episode 9: Gives a lot of character development for Yataro, Natsuki and Inaba's little bro.

So there. The highs are high. On the other hand, hit-and-miss comedy is what you'll get for the other nine episodes, so tread at your own peril. (I will insist, though, that anything Yuuta does is good for at least a couple of chuckles)

edited 26th Mar '13 6:54:05 PM by fillerdude