Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace (Review)
Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace Comes Close to Being Great, but Has to Settle for Just Being Pretty Good.
Most anime fans know that their favorite series are typically based on manga (or sometimes videogames). However, Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace is actually based on the works of Edogawa Ranpo, known for being a major influence on Japanese mystery fiction. So, it’s only appropriate that Rampo Kitan is one of the more interesting mystery anime I’ve stumbled across in a long time. The premise and storytelling techniques leave a lasting impression and create a compelling narrative filled with interesting characters. However, it just can’t help itself and starts to unravels towards the end as it succumbs to typical cliches.
Rampo Kitan follows a character who I can only describe as a Japanese Sherlock Holmes, named Kogorō Akechi (Eric Vale). Of course, this genius detective is a high school student, because,well, it’s an anime. However, he’s not the only school kid with incredible deductive skills and he’s soon joined by an apprentice named Kobayashi Yoshio (Jill Harris). Together they take on cases that the police are ill-equipped to handle. That is until they stumble upon a case that threatens not only their very lives but the future of Japan itself.
The series is directed by Seiji Kishi who is responsible for a slew of incredible series such as Assassination Classroom, Angel Beats, and Danganronpa: The Animation, all of which are character-centric anime. He teams with one of my favorite anime writers Makoto Uezu, who worked with Kishi on Assassination Classroom (and also wrote series like Is this a Zombie? and Akame Ga Kill), and it’s easy to see their brand of storytelling shining through over the course of the 12-episode anime. Rampo Kitan is filled with strange and bizarre characters, many of whom are criminals, such as Shadow-Man (Sonny Strait) who is master of disguise and a gentleman thief with a soft spot for children in need. As intriguing as so many of the characters are in the series, the anime also features a lot of gut-wrenching killers who use truly disturbing methodologies in order to take out their victims. However, Rampo Kitan isn’t a series that relies on shock value and instead focuses on the methods and motives of the monsters that Akechi and Kobayashi are hunting down.
One of the things that made Rampo Kitan stand out to me is the fact that Kobayashi is transgender. Of course, there are characters from other series (such as Assassination Classroom and Stiens; Gate) that dance around the idea, but Rampo Kitan full-on embraces it. So much so, that there’s even a character in the series that struggles with their feelings for Kobayashi. It’s such a refreshing concept to see in an anime series and goes to show that even though Japan is seriously messed up in a lot of ways, it’s also a society that is much more progressive in just as many ways. Of course, I’m not simply enamored with the series because it offers some unique representation (there’s a lot more to Kobayashi’s character that makes them unique).
The other aspect of Rampo Kitan that enthralled me is the strange visual narrative techniques it uses. For one thing, characters appear as shadows until they’re properly introduced to Kobayashi which implies that how detached they are from humans in general. For Kobayashi people are puppets wandering around until they create a bond with them. The same technique is often used as the main characters reflect on crime scenes and develop theories. As they do, the audience gets to watch the puppets play out the crimes as they debate the possible methodologies being used. It’s a perfect way to keep a series interesting even though most of it is just characters standing around and talking.
I honestly really loved Rampo Kitan right up until it’s final arch when things just got too absurd. The entire time the series hints a Moriarty like character pulling the strings. However, when the final showdown starts the series abandons the impressive deductive skills and gives the enemy an ace in the hole that threatens to undo everything. I don’t want to spoil it, but trust me that it feels incredibly out of place in the world that Rampo Kitan so carefully constructs. Still, everything up until the last few episodes makes it a series well worth watching. It’s far from perfect, but Rampo Kitan doesn’t stumble as badly as many other anime do. Because of that, I say it’s well worth a watch for anime fans looking for an interesting and truly unique series.
