“You’ve been making your son eat blueberry snacks and vitamin A supplements, correct?”

Mystery anime are an oddly eclectic genre that isn’t heavily represented (though I guess episode-per-episode Case Closed is certainly carrying its weight). That makes it even weirder that we have two different medical mystery series airing this winter. Unlike Apothecary Diaries, Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective is set in a modern day hospital setting with a distinctly House-like premise, so I think there is room enough for both series.

The biggest problem that Ameku M.D. faces isn’t competition, it’s that it seems to be trying a bit too hard to stick out. I also can’t deny that I’m a bit annoyed that I didn’t realize this was a double episode premiere, as I initially approached my analysis from the standpoint that I’d need to wait until next week for some resolution. Having seen the resolution, it holds up better than I feared, but I’m still wary of the show’s presentation and playful tone. If you’re a fan of medical mysteries, then you’ll be dining well this season. I certainly recommend this show, but as stated, I do have my trepidations.

The show follows Dr. Takao Ameku, an eccentric and youthful-looking doctor who is the director of Tenikai General Hospital’s Department of Investigative Pathology. Despite her brilliance, she tends to eschew pleasantries and is quick to focus on cases that spark her curiosity, occasionally butting heads with hospital administration or even the police. As a former fan of House M.D., I can acknowledge that this is a decent set up for a medical mystery lead, but the show really wants to convince us that Ameku is quirky. Her department is located in a cottage on the hospital’s roof, it’s littered with books, and she seems to spend time programming and watching movies with her subordinate. It reminded me a bit of Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions, which isn’t a positive correlation. It’s not as bad as that comparison suggests, but both wanted to hammer home that their leads were unique geniuses.

Fortunately, the two rapid fire diagnoses that kick off the episode are relatively fun. They do a good job of establishing Ameku’s competence, as she lays out how she reached her conclusions. Some aspects of them feel a bit forced, but as a relative layman, I’ve certainly seen worse. The primary case is a bit of a mixed bag. It does include some interesting twists and turns, but ironically, the case becomes rather simple once you remove the medical component. I’m guessing plenty of viewers will have guessed the culprit before the reveal occurs.

The production is being carried out by Project No.9, and while I’m certainly not about to characterize them as a top tier animation studio, they did impress me last year with Senpai wa Otokonoko. Likewise, their animation here feels nice and expressive, albeit sometimes to a fault. Ameku could stand to be a little more grounded, but instead she sometimes makes broad sweeping gestures, like she thinks she’s auditioning for Code Geass. I suppose that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but she is the most physically charged of the cast.

I enjoyed the OP. The music itself didn’t stick with me, but the visuals were striking. It also showed up very late into the episode, at around the halfway point in the first episode. The ED is a nice chill track, with some fun artistic flourishes to the limited animation within it, but it appears to strike a slightly romantic tone that I wasn’t expecting. I’m curious if the show will progress in that direction, and if so, does the ED constitute a spoiler? That’s a dilemma I don’t think I’ve encountered.

Before I wrap up, a few Notes and Nitpicks:

• My medical knowledge is probably better than most, but I’d still be best characterized as a layman. As such, even in instances where I know a diagnosis lines up, I’m not equipped to judge how obvious a solution was, or determine how many alternative diagnoses there might have been.
• I didn’t have much to say about Akemu’s assistant, Yu Takanashi, as he mainly served as the straight man to Akemu’s weirdness during these to episodes. I suppose he gets to show off a little in episode 2, but he’s still eclipsed by his boss. We’re also introduced to first-year resident Konoike Mai, but she doesn’t have much to do yet outside of provoking exposition for the viewers.
• So, the first episode involved instances of both overuse of vitamins and a parasitic worm from consumed meat… There’s no way the writer of these novels hasn’t watched House, right? Those are both diagnoses that pop up in the first episode of House.
• Speaking of TV dramas, Detective Kimiyasu Sakurai is definitely inspired by Columbo, right? He’s got some real Peter Falk energy going on there.

Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective shows some promise, and I’m willing to recommend it to fans of mysteries and medical dramas. I’m still not convinced that the characters will be compelling enough moving forward, but they do have their charms. For now, I’m giving it a positive review, and I’m hoping that future mysteries capitalize on the show’s premise a little better.

Score: 3.5/5