“Super Detective Usami-Chan”
What They Say:
“Long time no see, but these weirdos are back!” For the first time in 15 years, Gag Manga Biyori returns to screens with a new anime! A quirky cast of characters, including Shotoku Taishi, Matsuo Basho, and Usami-chan, will be dragged into creator Kousuke Masuda’s unique world of surreal gags. Check out the exciting adventures of these crazy characters in every episode!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I love short-form anime and we’ve had so few over the years that getting new ones always makes me happy, and often the weirder the better. With a number of other series produced for this property over the years, what we get is basically what’s in the title, simple gag comedy material. Here, we’re introduced to the elementary school students with Usami-chan as our primary focus. She’s playing detective and handling cases in the class, but it’s been a quiet week until the very end when a gym uniform is stolen. That gets her right on the case and her quick accusation at her desk neighbor Kumakichi just goes right into a lot of weirdness. With a lot of fast dialogue, wordplay, and other jokes in-between, it’s amusing to watch this kind of mystery unfold and the twists and turns it takes. Especially as it constantly changes the “aspect ratio” for various reasons and even goes down to just a small block headshot at one point.
In Summary:
We don’t get a lot of “weird for the sake of being weird” shorts but when we do they are just that. This one with its focus on Usami and a school mystery definitely has its laughs, especially how defensive Kumakichi gets, but also that he’s instantly the first suspect. The unraveling of events and other truths just takes the absurdity further and I couldn’t help but to laugh. It’s cheap, shallow, and pretty damn basic overall but it’s the kind of quick-hit weirdness that can cleanse the palette and leave you with something quotable to add to yourself. It’s not great but those that discover it and click with it, it’s going to be your next big thing.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Prime Video
