Furuhata Ninzaburo season 1 eps 1-3

Furuhata Ninzaburo is a breath of fresh air for me. A detective series concentrating on the detective and how he uncovers the criminal. No oversized police team doing the jobs of 3 people. No inept colleagues wasting screen time. Not stupid trying to be cool by walking in a V formation scenes. Just basic detective work masterfully written by Mitani Koki. (Shinsengumi, Ai Kotoba wa Yuki, Osama no Restaurant)

The first three episodes have all started with a crime and it seems to be the formula of the series. You know who the murderer is and how he/she covers the crime out. The fun is watching how the idiosyncratic Furuhata Ninzaburo put the pieces together and proves the suspect is the murderer. This isn't a whodunit dorama but a who do you prove it.

There is an element of gentlemanly competition. The killers know they are being suspected but yet engage in a verbal duel with Furuhata, almost as if he must leave them alone if they can stop him from connecting all the dots and they confess willingly when Furuhata wins. At the beginning of every episode Furuhata does a small quote which has bearing on the how he will solve the crime at the end and he does break the fourth wall right before showing his hand to give the audience who may not have come up with the answer another hint.

Even when I had guessed the how, it was still fun. Its sort of like watching a play where the audience encouraged to participate and try to gather enough evidence to pinpoint the murderer before he does. So far so good. Let's see how well the rest of the episodes holds up. Thanks to Kazuya_ for subbing this gem. Looks like there are plenty of good oldies left to watch!