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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:3056#1552] |
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By the looks of it, it seemed Rampo Kitan was trying to be a sort of modern telling of story concepts taken from the mystery novels of famous Japanese writer Ranpo Edogawa. This very story gimmick can possibly prove to be a major barrier for many Western anime fans since not too many of Edogawa's works are accessible in English and this series is dependent on its viewers having knowledge of characters and story elements from the mystery writer's work to understand the symbolic elements of its storytelling. I'll admit even I was a bit lost with many of the Edogawa references as my only exposure to the man's work is the gentleman thief Twenty Faces. But setting this issue aside, Rampo Kitan is focused on teen detective Akechi and two middle school boys who assist him in trying to solve a mysterious string of murders connected to a vigilante named Twenty Faces, this being an obvious nod to the rivalry between detective Akechi and Twenty Faces from Edogawa's works. It looked like the series was attempting to be symbolic with exploring society's ills and the oppressed lashing out against them by tying it in with whatever themes and story elements are within Edogawa's works. The execution of this is a bit hit-or-miss. It does have its moments of effective storytelling such as a rather tragic exploration of the murderer from one case tackled by Akechi in the middle of the series to show how far society's ills could break someone mentally trying to do the right thing for others. The style in which the cases are explored at a number of points is also quite creative as Ranpo Kitan goes for a theatrical-style presentation with showcasing elements of its cases, character back stories, and themes that helps enhance the story mood at key points and also serves as some effective symbolism at points to show the disconnection that Akechi and some other characters can have with perceiving others. Plus, the middle comedy episode in the series serving as a buffer between the show's first and second half was quite humorous for me with its absurdity and is worth a look if you enjoy comedy. Beyond these positives though, Rampo Kitan's very premise carries some major issues outside of the mentioned accessibility of the series. A number of the major characters in the series didn't feel like characters to a good degree as they felt more like shells to carry along the major elements of the series that it attempted to push, this being quite noticeable with the middle school boys that accompany Akechi on his cases. The motives of a number of the criminals and the supposed wrongs that society pushed a number of them into felt either absurd or a bit too nihilistic with pushing the anime's themes or attempting to twist character and story elements from Edogawa's novels. A few of the characters in particular, Black Lizard and Shadow Man, felt a bit out of place with Rampo Kitan's attempts to be a dark and serious look into mystery and elements of the human condition with how over-the-top their characters came across. Overall, I suppose my thoughts on Rampo Kitan are a bit mixed. While I applaud it for trying to be different with its creativity and incorporating elements of Ranpo Edogawa's stories for this mystery series, the execution of this is quite hit-or-miss and there is the obvious issue of many of its story elements flying over the heads of many Western viewers unfamiliar with Edogawa's literary work. I suppose whatever enjoyment you may get out of this series will depend greatly on how read up you are on Edogawa and his novels. Last updated Wednesday, October 03 2018. Created Wednesday, October 03 2018. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:3056#628] | ||||||
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(Six episodes watched): I wasn't in a note-taking mood as I watched episode one of Laplace, but one thing that I remember was that this seemed like a distinctly interesting story that must be going somewhere. Kobayashi is a fairly colorful character who isn't particularly fazed to find himself awakening with a weapon in his hand after a gruesome mutilation-murder, but no memory (he says) of just what happened. Akechi is a 17 year old genius prodigy detective who has a Sherlock Holmes sort of approach to case solving, namely don't assume anything. At the time it was the best new anime of the season that I had watched so far, and I wanted to know what the hell had really happened. I had a feeling that either Kobayashi or Hashiba will turn out to be the killer. I was wrong. But the killer turned out to be a minor character, and I was left thinking, who cares if this person did it? The explanation of how and why the crime was committed was semi-interesting, but also confusing, strange and highly unlikely--it was kind of hard to take it seriously. That wasn't a good sign for the show in general. I get the impression that this anime consists of re-tellings of classic mysteries written by a famous author around 50 years ago, and updated so that they take place in modern-day Japan. Rather than one long story this seems to be a group of short ones. The basic premise seems to be that Kobayashi earns an apprenticeship as Akechi's assistant, and the rest of the series will consist of the two of them solving more bizarre crimes. Unconventional detective Akechi and his kid apprentice Kobayashi (and hanger-around Hashiba) have some personality, and I like them. Largely for that reason, I decided that I'd be watching, at least for now, but I wish the plot would be easier to follow. Episode three involved an ugly, deranged kidnapper and a strange criminal who helps the team catch him. It was a little creepy when just what the kidnapper was up to was revealed; I began to worry that the remainder of the series might be little more than a parade of disgusting, sadistic madmen, who have committed crimes that would be shocking even in the US, being rounded up. The story was OK, but I sort of feel as if Laplace is walking on a tightrope between truly intriguing and just so-so. Episode four was better, except for the WTF surprise revelation of who the mysterious masked criminal was. It was a surprise, but another surprise which didn't make much sense to me; had this guy previously shown any signs that he might be doing something like this? I don't really recall any; maybe he was just not an interesting enough character for me to pay much attention and remember much about him. It wasn't exactly like the pieces of a puzzle falling into place and the viewer saying 'Now I get it'. For some reason the perpetrator's motivations are thoroughly explained in the next episode. And it was pretty obvious what the police were up to when they released the kidnapper from episode three. Maybe when this story was first written 50-odd years ago (if I understand it correctly) something like this would have been novel, but today it is rather predictable. So, this show could be better. In general, if this anime is supposed to be a tribute to a famous mystery writer it isn't doing him justice. Episode five was a sort of depressing explanation of what's wrong with the Japanese justice system (in the 'sixties?) and why dangerous criminals that have been arrested are liable to walk free with little more than a slap on the wrist. My understanding is that the level of violent crime in Japan is remarkably low compared to the US, so there must be a good deal of exaggeration going on here. The Japanese are extremely reluctant to employ deadly force, while in the US it would go without saying that criminals of the sort we see here would often be shot dead while apprehension was being attempted. I wish the show would be more about Akechi and Kobayashi and less about the sordid and despicable criminals they fight. These villains tend to reappear from episode to episode, either through flashbacks or because they have gotten off scot-free. Well, episode six sort of gave me what I wanted, namely a story about Akechi, Kobayashi and Hashiba rather than some sadistic pervert. It was a comedy interlude, with a series of highly unlikely things all happening at once. It was OK, but not brilliant. More fun than the last few episodes, at least. Come to think of it, I don't recall laugh-out-louding at all, but the story was sort of interesting. ...and, the fansubbers stopped releasing new episodes which I could convert and burn onto DVDs. I could still watch Laplace on my computer, but the show had settled into place as being barely on one side of the worth watching/not worth watching line, and this inconvenience was enough to push it to the other one. That tells you a lot about how much enthusiasm I had for this anime. The characters were kind of fun, but the show insisted on mostly focusing on shocking crimes, which didn't make all that much sense and gave the show a helter-skelter feel. Eventually my interest fizzled out. If DVD compatible fansubs turned up tomorrow, I'd probably give the show a second chance, but there's no way it will be brilliant. Last updated Saturday, September 26 2015. Created Monday, July 06 2015. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.rampokitan.com/ |
