Suteki Tantei Labyrinth Episode 1 – 旧都な名探偵 (Detective of the Old City)

Screenshots

Summary

The episode starts with a rather random battle sequence between three women fighters, which seem to be this anime’s way of conveying the message “This is not a kiddie show, as some of you might have expected”

The young detective Mayuki then narrates how Tokyo, which was once the capital city 30 years back, became devastated by a violent earthquake leading to what was known as the “Great Collapse”. Now it became desolate, but Mayuki still remains in this city. “Inseparable”, as he finds it, because of some unseen forces as well as something far more valuable which binds him to this place.

The police officers Miyako and Ryuusuke head to the Hyouga mansion to find out about this mysterious caller as well as the truth behind the case, believing there’s no such a thing as a “phantasm murder incident.” They arrive in the place, only to find the butler instead of the mysterious caller, which Miyako finds even more suspicious.

Minori together with the twins Rakuta and Kouta, also head to the same mansion to find out the truth behind the rumors of the ghost of a young boy (who looks like a doll) haunting the place. They infiltrate into the mansion and sense something going on upstairs, that is, the battle which was also shown at the start of the episode. The difference now is that we find out that the butler Seiran is like the “master” of these two women fighters Souka and Yuuhi who are now fighting against Byakko, a spy who seems to be looking for the path to the “Holy Land”

Amidst all this commotion, the three students continue to wander around the house and gets to have a scary close encounter with a mysterious white dog, which Minori and Kouta thought to be some monster. Their screaming alarms the policemen visitors in the house, who thought the butler Seiran must be up to no good, something involving children at that. Having discovered the kids who simply came for some ghost hunting proved all these claims wrong.

Most of the mysteries and false rumors involving the Hyouga house were given light, figuratively and literally, by the appearance of Mayuki Hyouga, the young genius detective who’s also the head of the Hyouga household. Seiran who has somewhat finished his “other tasks” joins Mayuki to balance out much of the radiant glow. He calls on his attendant Hatsumi, the clumsy girl whose voice was the one Minori, and the Koga twins heard screaming earlier.

With the policemen still puzzled by how Mayuki was able to solve the case they had, Mayuki explains how he himself couldn’t understand how he was able to do it, he just sensed all of it. So it’s like he’s… omniscient, in a way. Despite all the questions surrounding this supernatural glow powers of the young detective, all the females in the house including the police officer Miyako, were left stunned and mesmerized, and was somewhat quick to accept his being genius.

Mayuki goes into cheesy-dialogue mode with how he seemed to be one with nature, who makes him sense everything that’s happening, specifically the mysterious incidents in the place… and well, continues to shine brighter than ever as the episode ends.

Thoughts

The first thing I noticed when I watched this was the crisp and stunning animation, especially the detailed landscapes. I was thinking the animation will be pastel-like and soft, similar to the “feel” of the pictures shown in the site. There are also the action scenes I wasn’t quite expecting, which turned out to be a nice surprise, as it contributes to the overall mystery and intrigue aspects of the show.

As for the music, I found the BGM rather cheesy, and whose upbeat tempo somewhat reminds me of FLOW’s Days, ending song from Eureka Seven. I appreciate the shift from the “normal scenes”, and the “extraordinary / mystery scenes” with the butler and his two fighters, but the music is rather distracting and is not quite smooth in showing that transition. It’s like, it breaks the supposedly subtleness of the mysteries shown in the series, just the “feel” of it. But well, it could be just me.

As for the characters, they are quite an interesting bunch of people. We have Mayuki Hyouga, the star of the show, voiced by the esteemed Miyuki Sawashiro. Aside from the fact that he is a radiant being capable of draining the blood from the likes of someone like Sunako of PGE, he is also a young genius detective, who can be said to have semi-omniscient powers. It’s still quite unbelievable at this point that a guy like Mayuki can possess this ability, so I’m hoping that it’ll be given light later on. Perhaps some scientific explanation as to what brought about this talent? There’s still much to be known about this little guy, who tj_han refers to as Honey-sempai, with his striking resemblance with the usa-chan loving shota. Mayuki likes sweets as well (based on the cakes served to him by his butler), so I guess that makes them all the more similar. hmm… I can be Mayuki’s usa-chan

More than Mayuki however, I’m intrigued with the character of Seiran, who’s voiced by Junichi Suwabe!!! *suppresses fangirl scream* Bishieness and overall smexy factor aside. Butlers who kicks some serious ass is a major plus point, not to mention that we have Seiran here who acts all gentle on the outside but has this ‘dark’ side of him. What’s his real identity, and why is he capable of controlling Souka and Yuuhi? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say his real role in this show is to balance out much of the light and radiance from Mayuki, or else we’ll all be blinded by his shininess There is some truth about this however, since he’s like the yin counterpart of Mayuki (the yang).

A semi spoilerish info from reading the manga:
Show ▼

With regards to the identity of Yuuhi and Souka, the manga wasn’t quite subtle in concealing this secret, since it’s already revealed on their first appearance. This lack of subtleness is what really sets the difference between the manga and the anime, with the latter one being more superior and faithful(?) in maintaining the overall sense of mystery. The anime also proves to be better with the pacing and sequence of events it decided to adapt, as opposed to its manga counterpart. One evident proof of this is the foreshadowing in the anime, as they’ve already made us see a glimpse of Byakko early on, when she hasn’t appeared in the manga until volume 3. It makes you more assured of the direction the anime’s taking, at the very least.

The shoujo-ness of the character designs as well as the presentation of this mystery anime really drew me in. I didn’t find it surprising that girls like Minori, Hatsumi (the maid), and even the police officer Miyako were mesmerized by the radiant being Mayuki, for obvious reasons I am anticipating how the twins Kouta and Rakuta will react to this, seeing how their bishieness have been cast aside with Mayuki’s appearance

In any case, I think I’m gonna give this show more priority than Ninomiya-kun now, considering that Suteki Tantei Labyrinth has much potential and is more worthy of blogging in my opinion (I’ve also seen episode 2 of both shows, as well as the manga of S.T.Labyrinth). As much as I enjoy watching Ninomiya-kun, I don’t think it offers much to viewers except pure guilty pleasure and fanservice haven for others. I’m leaning towards the surprise factor that Suteki Tantei Labyrinth has, as opposed to GSNK (Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun) which you’ll enjoy for stuff that’s… already there, the characters and their wacky interactions, and overall craziness.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Related posts:

1. First Taste of Spring Anime 2009
2. First Taste of Spring Anime 2009 [Update]
3. First Taste of Spring Anime 2009 [Update 04/27/09]