Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation

Plot

Sakurako Kujō is a genius beauty in her mid-twenties whose life is centered around one thing and one thing only: bones. With little tolerance for others, she would be completely isolated in her study full of skeletons if it weren’t for high school boy Shotaro—her new assistant and constant companion. Why exactly she has taken a shine to him remains a mystery, but one thing is clear: Whenever the two go out together, the chances are high that they will come across a human corpse.

Characters

Shōtarō Tatewaki (館脇 正太郎, Tatewaki Shōtarō)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (radio drama), Junya Enoki (anime)He is a high school boy who assists Sakurako in her bone-digging expeditions. It so happens that they always find human remains in the process. He keeps Sakurako in check, as she tends to go crazy and try to keep the human remains for herself.

Sakurako Kujō (九条 櫻子, Kujō Sakurako)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (radio drama), Shizuka Itō (anime), Alisa Mizuki (live-action)She is a sharp-witted beautiful woman who comes from a prominent family and lives in a big old house with only a housekeeper as a companion. She has a hobby of collecting the bones of dead animals and reconstructing them. However, she is more interested in human remains. And with her being an osteologist, she also developed forensic skills from her uncle, a prominent forensic scientist in the prefecture, and has helped with many unsolved murders. She has a dislike for interpersonal relationships, although she has a fiance working with the Hokkaido Prefectural Police. She would often refer to Shōtaro as "shōnen" ("boy") instead of his real name.

Yuriko Kōgami (鴻上 百合子, Kōgami Yuriko)

Voiced by: Ayaka Imamura (anime)Shōtarō's classmate who keeps becoming entwined with his cases by coincidence.

Ume Sawa (沢 梅, Sawa Ume) / Gran (ばあやさん, Baaya-san)

Voiced by: Masako Isobe (anime)Sakurako's caretaker, who is kind-hearted but also strict, particularly when it comes to Sakurako's love of sweets.

Itsuki Isozaki (磯崎 齋, Isozaki Itsuki)

Voiced by: Shunya Hiruma (radio drama), Akira Ishida (anime)A life science teacher at Shotaro's school. He is handsome and slightly arrogant though he does care for his students.

Sōko Chiyoda (千代田 薔子, Chiyoda Sōko)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (anime)

Naoe Ariwara (在原 直江, Ariwara Naoe)

Naoe is Sakurako's fiance who works as a police officer, and vouches for her when she works on a case.

Hiroki Utsumi (内海 洋貴, Utsumi Hiroki)

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (anime)Utsumi is a police officer who often helps Sakurako and Shōtarō on cases.

Hector (へクター, Hekutā)

A dog previously owned by a family Sakurako helped. After said family moved into an apartment they gave Hector to Sakurako. Hector consistently exhibits a powerful interest and excitement toward corpses, seeking them out and staying near them when he finds them, and getting as excited as Sakurako when new skeletons arrive.

Haruto Imai (今居 陽人, Imai Haruto)

Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara (anime)

Hanabusa (花房, Hanabusa)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (anime)A professional painter. He is the mastermind behind many of the homicides that Sakurako investigates.

Anime

An anime adaptation by Troyca aired in Japan between October 7, 2015 and December 23, 2015 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Dear Answer" performed by True while the ending theme is "Uchiyoserareta Bōkyaku no Zankyō ni" (打ち寄せられた忘却の残響に, The Reverberation of a Washed Up Oblivion) by Technoboys Pullcraft Green-Fund feat. Yuki Ootake.

Live-action series

A live-action television series adaptation of the manga series was announced on February 24, 2017. The series is being co-directed by Yūichi Satō and Daisuke Yamauchi, and written by Junpei Yamaoka, with music composed by Yugo Kanno. It will premiere on Fuji TV in April 2017, airing every Sunday at 9:00pm.