Hakkenden-Touhou-Hakken-Ibun-Cover

Cuticle Tantei Inaba Episode 2 Review

Cuticle Tantei Inaba Episode 1 Review Cover

Title: Cuticle Tantei Inaba, キューティクル探偵因幡
Producers: Zexcs, Sentai Filmworks
Genres: Action, Comedy, Mystery, Shounen
Duration: 23 min. per episode

In a world where half-human, half-animal chimeras live and work alongside normal people, there are sure to be a few bad apples in the bunch. That’s where lone wolf detectives like Hiroshi Inaba come in. He’s literally part wolf and has the amazing ability to extract critical information just by examining or tasting a sample of someone’s hair! Of course, that ability has also resulted in Inaba having a little bit of a hair fetish, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for his two assistants. And it’s nothing compared to the strange tastes of Inaba’s nemesis, the omnivorous (and half goat) crime boss Don Valentino, who has an appetite for green legal tender instead of tender young greens! Can sheer dogged detective work put the baaaaad guys behind bars?

 

Fansubs watched: Crunchyroll

This episode was much, much better than the first episode. There are better jokes, more charming characters and just complete over the top hysteria. The episode sticks to the two-story formula that occurred in the first episode. The first story involved a rival detective to Ogino called Yuzuki, who has a love for dogs- especially Hiroshi. Both tackle the same case together where Valentino steals a very important scroll from the prime minister. Yuzuki and Ogino reach Valentino’s house where he discovers that the super important scroll is just a game, where the players roll a dice and have to face some form of absurd challenge that requires time travel. So it’s basically Japanese Jumanji. Some hilarity occurs when the three teams; Hiroshi and Yuzuki, Ogino and Kei, and Valentino and Lorenzo, compete in some odd challenges such as: defeating 1000 warriors in the Edo period and turning a polar bear into a panda via a hair salon.

Cuticle Tantei Inaba Episode 2 Review Screen 1

The second story revolves around Ogino’s daughter Azusa. Apparently she is super strong but an adorable toddler, so you know that’s going to be funny. It starts off with Valentino stealing some poison and hiding it in a small area, where Azusa digs the crap out of with her super human strength. Valentino tries to attack Azusa but fails miserably, but her mother- Ogino’s wife- Wakaba, comes in to pat Valentino and apologises. Back in the headquarters, Ogino has to go somewhere and entrusts the security of his family to Hiroshi, with a deathly aura. They play in the park where Valentino is hiding. Azusa plays lots of games with Hiroshi and Kei, including: Azusa running with brute strength and speed dragging Hiroshi along and making a cabin. Valentino strikes again, but gets arrested by Azusa. But Wakaba lets them go free.

The whole episode is full of funny over the top moments that were simply missing from the first episode. All the jokes fitted in nicely and placed emphasis of the overactive emotions of the characters in bizarre situations. The Jumanji story was amusing due to the crazy battle, dogs biting Yuzuki and him patting Hiroshi, and with Hiroshi giving a polar bear a manicure make over – with the polar acting like a pretty woman. The second arc was just full of funny surprises due to Azusa, that little girl could bench press a house. There doesn’t seem to be any overarching story other than trying to catch Valentino, but the fact that they introduce new characters could be worrying. If they introduce new characters every story, it could turn into a large mess.

Cuticle Tantei Inaba Episode 2 Review Screen 6

This episode also introduces the opening, which has a mysterious vibe, which fits the setting of the main characters solving crimes but not the over top funny side of things. The animation throughout shows the main characters chasing Valentino and co. in numerous attempts. Nothing shown here indicates the comedic aspect of the show and seems rather dull. The music itself is nothing interesting, sure it’s not a bad song but it sounds like a typical shonen song, for some reason.

The episode is much more enjoyable than the first episode. The jokes are much more absurd and funny, and has somewhat a charm to it.