Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo

[Andrew Cunningham]

Official Site (http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/yakushijiryouko/)
Old thread (http://www.animeondvd.com/aodvb/showthread.php?p=1172973) - starting a new one to get the title right.

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[Andrew Cunningham]

Definitely liked this. Characters seemed a little stock at first, but fleshed out nicely. Plot definitely got my attention, and developed nicely. Smart, dramatic, aimed at an older audience than most shows.
But I'm not sure why this was an anime. Particularly since the directing is very, very staid - almost dull. This is a show that could have benefit from a good dose of style - off-kilter framing, jazzy editing, slightly less generic sounding voice actors. I kept wishing it was live action, with the cast and crew of Trick or Keizoku involved.
But this was entirely lacking in flair, which may actually be doing the material a disservice.

[muhootsaver]

live action eh? I'm not sure I would enjoy any different look other than the illustration Ryoko. I also think that the director did a good job on this show. Compared to the manga version, this was a lot better adaption of the novel. Also, keep in mind that this was an original story that wasn't included in the manga or novel. Considering that, I think this was an excellent episode. Can't wait for episode 2.

[Lego]

The first thing that greets you with episode one is the highly stylized opening. It reminded me of some of the older cop shows, even "Bond-like". Lots of shots of Ryoko and her wonderfully long legs but then it kind of goes into a standard "cop drama". Izumida keeps having nightmares about Ryoko shooting herself in the head, but thats all the information we get on it. It was nice to see for once that the guy himself is 33 even if the plucky "junior officer" does seem terribly out of place in a department with much older officers. Lots of "interesting" shots of Ryoko, but it isn't in that "ooo panties" way, kind of in that old school "wow, thats a nice looking woman" way.

Izumida is basically Ryoko's dog most of the time, although you do get the feeling that she respects his opinion, and that there could be more between them later on in the series. I did like the dialog flow when Ryoko was trying to find a swimsuit, it was much more interesting then the case itself about "poisoned food". Besides the comically named " Tsukuyomi cult" ;), everything else felt cookie cutter cop drama like. Of course Ryoko has a rival in Muromachi, but Kishimoto's design just seems really out of place compared to everyone else.

The ending was a cliff hanger, so hopefully the second part is a little better. Lots of French mixed throughout in the episode titles and the ending "all characters are fictional".

[Westlo]

Was pretty decent and definitely has potential to be really good, Ryoko is pretty awesome.

[Lego]

Was pretty decent and definitely has potential to be really good, Ryoko is pretty awesome.

Ryoko is definitely the draw, the plot of the first episode was merley a way to show off her awesomeness :P

[muhootsaver]

Second episode was AWESOME. Probably the best series this season unless Natsume Yuuincho top this one. Apparently, all 13 episodes will be original. Kind of like a side story to the manga/novel.

[mrsparklenoodle]

I really enjoyed this, the character designs and animation are excellent and the characters are really engaging, the dialogue is very good, and Ryoko can fling someone over hir head, which is good to know as the lead characters tend to get attacked alot in these kinds of shows. I liked the direction, the whole show feels very... solid, there's that same feel of quality writing that comes through in any project based on the work of Yoshiki Tanaka (with the possible exception of Legend of the Dragon Kings).

[something]

Episode 1:

- Mostly just watching this to kill time while I wait until my Nogizaka Haruka is ready, but here we go.
- And that woman just shot herself in the head! Whee!
- Policewoman is cute!
- Ah, so apparently this won't be a down to earth sorta detective story. The first case is already a bit... weird.
- Oh good she did actually try on the swimsuit. Ryouko is fun.
- Cute policewoman again, but come on, does she have a name?
- "I don't care about the case, I just want to beat people up!" (to paraphrase a bit). Lol Ryouko.
- Then some more stuff happens and it ends. And stuff and things.

Not the most interesting thing I've ever seen but I do sorta like Ryouko. So not bad but not going to be a priority either. I may or may not watch more. It'll be purely a matter of free time.

[Andrew Cunningham]

What. The fuck. Was that.

Definitely the best opening credits this season, but the actual show jumped the fucking shark big time halfway through.
I might have been able to take stupid giant stupid fucking giant snakes if the first episode had even remotely indicated the show was going to go that far over the top, but since the style is relentlessly pedestrian, it just seemed retarded.
Like I said the first time; so many things I like here, but I just keep wanting it to be more over the top. I think the script actually is over the top, but the director seems to think he's making something with a tone of classy intelligence instead of freewheeling nuttiness, and the disconnect is bringing it all down.

[Fluffy]

Episode #13.

And so it ends.