Tantei Gakuen Q first impressions

While the special for this series had me trying to figure out the series the comments left for that review were encouraging that the TV series would be a more fulfilling watch. And so far that is proving to be true.

The one thing the TV series has going for it that the SP lacked was a more focused story. With the SP it was first going through various tests then switching things up to solve a murder mystery with a few side adventures thrown in the whole thing. This episode though mainly just focuses on the murder mystery as the seeds of a larger mystery, that looks like it will last the entire series, are planted.

Being a TV series we get introduced to some new features as this is set in Tokyo this time around. The detective candidates get a headquarters in Akihabara, which it a rather impressive set. In this episode we also get to see more about the different styles of each candidate as they work to solve the mystery, something that was missing from the SP.

Kyu (Kamiki Ryonosuke) and Minami Megumi (Shida Mirai) are the main focus of the episode. Of course it helps that the two seem to naturally band together as they seem to have similar views when it comes to why they want to be detectives. While Kyu seems to be mostly the same from the SP Megu has picked up a habit of cosplaying, and is working in a maid cafe. I would have thought she would be too young to have a job like that, but I can only assume this is carryover from the manga series this is based off of.

I was surprised at just how cold Amakusa Ryu (Yamada Ryosuke) came across in this episode. While he was aloof in the SP he still seemed like he was still a normal kid but in this episode he flat out says that he is okay if more people are murdered if it means he can delve into the mystery deeper. I guess this is to set up a big conflict between him and Kyu during the series and does work much better when there is more than one episode to get into it.


Overall though this episode is strong with a good mystery that has rather high tension in the fact that lives were on the line instead of the usual murder mystery set up where the only death is before the mystery solvers come into play. And like I mentioned before there is a larger mystery that comes into play as well in the episode that thankfully adds to the story instead of distracts.

It is probably good advice that even if you did not like the SP to still give the first episode of this series a try. The TV series looks like it will be much stronger and more enjoyable if you like mystery series.