I ended up only liking one of these shows.
The Case Book of Arne
Louis Hartmann is a son of a detective who recently lost his life to a serial killer. The kid takes up his father’s mantle in order to get his revenge. He even turns down help from another detective agency, which… I mean, it’s kinda foolish, if you think about it. If you’re going after a serial killer, the longer you drag out, the higher the body count will be. But I guess it’s somewhat understandable, because that Louis is just a kid. But then we run into another problem: Louis being so immature means he’s reckless. And because he’s reckless, he goes and confront the villain by himself. Bravo on sussing out the killer via a clue that his father had left behind, but now what? It turns out the villain is actually a witch, but even if she had been a normal person, what did Louis expect to do? Apprehend an adult who has killed several burly men? So just like that, Louis bites it. He even gets zombified long enough to get his revenge on the witch. But hold on, back up a bit. All the promo materials for this show feature Louis front and center. Are we spoiling ourselves now? Does he somehow make his way back to the world of the living in order to join the other detective agency? Was I supposed to not look at the key art for this show when I clicked on it on Crunchyroll?
The first case is introduced and solved within a single episode. After all, it’s just a quick introduction to the characters and the world around them — a fantasy setting full of supernatural entities like witches and vampires. As such, the mystery has no meat to it. I like mystery shows, but eh, I need something a little juicier than a witch wanting to paint her flowers red with human blood.
Then we have the juvenile cast of characters. Like I said, Louis is a child. Whether he makes his “triumphant” return or not, he’s still gonna be a child. Lynn also looks like a child. I have no clue how old she actually is, but the way she talks and relates to Louis, it makes me think she’s around the same age as him. Then we have Arne, the eponymous vampire. Because he’s a vampire, his appearance belies his true age. It’s just a vampire thing. Nevertheless, he’s only older-looking when he transform after consuming blood. Otherwise, he’s in his chibi form that is even younger-looking than both Louis and Lynn. Having a cast full of kids isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but for a mystery series full of murderers and monsters, meh… I’ll keep an eye on the show for my weekly “Everything else” series of posts, but I just can’t see myself vibing with this show.
I could go for some goulash, though.
There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero’s Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her
Youki is a reincarnated “mid-tier” demon, so this is yet another isekai. He could’ve defeated the demon lord himself, but had he done so, he would’ve become the next demon lord. In other words, he’s overpowered. And after his crush, the priestess in the hero’s party, convinces him to turn a new leaf, Youki becomes yet another bog standard adventurer. You know the drill: sign up at the guild, take quests, gradually rank up from F to S, so on and so forth. So even though the show’s unwieldy title might catch your eye, this show is as formulaic as they come. Yawn.
There’s another isekai series where the romance is front and center. Something about a bean counter. That will probably end up being better than this one.
The Daughter of the Demon Lord Is Too Kind!
Like most anime series these days, you can get the gist of the show from just the title alone. What I didn’t expect, however, was a musical number in the middle of the first episode when Doux, the precious daughter in question, starts playing hide-and-seek with Jahi, demon lord’s all-too-serious right hand woman. And when Doux was supposed to steal from a wheelchair-bound granny, our little demon child heals the old woman’s legs instead. This show is cute.
Color me even more surprised when the second episode also has a musical number in the snow. Are all the episodes gonna be like this? If so, I’m in. It’s still a little weird, because Doux’s father is sending his army out in order to attack and enslave humans. Hell, one of Doux’s new friends is a slave toiling away in the mines. The guy lost his precious family due to a recent raid, and as a result, has killed several demons with his own bare hands. So how wholesome is this show really? Sure, Doux gave these kids ice pops, but they’re still slaves, aren’t they? Despite this peculiar dissonance, however, this is still the only show today to make me smile. Maybe Doux can eventually reform her father’s kingdom and thus make demons and humans coexist peacefully.
Am I gonna cover this show on the blog? Nah. But I’ll watch it for fun on the side.
