First Reactions: Cuticle Detective Inaba Episode 12 (End) and Quickie Scores (8/10)

My biggest criticism of this show as a whole is just the fact that it hasn’t been able to constantly harness its potential and occasionally throws in a long-dull skit that breaks up the action. It became a lot easier to rate after the final episode, which was one of the highest-energy ones of the show.

Endings to comedy series are a tricky business. Because it’s sometimes hard to wrap up the actual plot of a show without getting serious, it’s often just better to save up a combo barrage of jokes and start firing, as Cuticle Detective Inaba did. That sort of low-risk, high-reward approach does fine by me. I don’t feel emotionally invested in the characters’ success so much as I just like them enough to smile every time they fall over each other in failure. Therefore, pure comedy is the name of the game.

CDI-12-6

Apply directly to the forehead for best results

It was interesting to see the goat-skull wearing neet introduced in the second half interact with the main cast. It emphasized just how casual and good-natured the villains are, and even evoked some personal memories of Astro Fighter Sunred. Florsheim would totally have applicants get super-nervous during a job interview.

CDI-12-7

Still more badass than Peeled Shrimp

There were also a lot of spiffy small touches this episode that played up the ultimate punchlines with considerable deftness. The scene with Hiroshi in horror-stalker mode did a great job of using first-person camera and perspective swaps, a finesse that carried over to the introduction of goat-skull in the second half. It’s fair to say I’m excited for director Susumu Mitsunaka’s next work; he’s shown enough potential in just the right places over this series to make me believe he’d have a chance at whatever material he’d like to try.

Character Designs: 1/1 (Soft edges work well for comedy, also surprisingly capable of pretending to be dramatic.)

Soundtrack: 1/2 (Nothing that really blends in or sticks out, but not bad music.)

Writing: 3/3 (Character and their actions almost always felt organic, and that unpredictability lent itself to superb comedy.)

Direction: 3/4 (Sometimes bland, sometimes chain-lighting effective.)

Overall: 8/10 (Seriously fun, performed at a level well beyond the basic premise)

2 thoughts on “First Reactions: Cuticle Detective Inaba Episode 12 (End) and Quickie Scores (8/10)

  1. I’ll probably try watching this, it looks interesting! I haven’t been keen on this year’s comedy series except for Senyuu which I really get a good laugh from. What type are the comedy skits, by the way? 😀

  2. Comedy skits in this show are sort of short-story based. It’ll start with a basic premise (e.g. everyone goes to a petting zoo, character X has been kidnapped), and then just freestyle idiot-straight man comedy with the characters for 10 minutes with the oddball things that pop out of that premise. It’s a lot like Gintama/Daily Lives of High School Boys in form, though not as good as those two.

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