Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace

Plot

The story takes place at a middle school where several murder cases take place. Kobayashi, a boy who goes to this school, meets the genius detective Akechi, who comes to the school to investigate. Kobayashi takes an interest in Akechi and, in spite of his friend Hashiba's worries, he volunteers to be Akechi's assistant.

Characters

Kogoro Akechi (アケチ コゴロウ, Akechi Kogorō)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese); Eric Vale (English) A genius 17-year-old detective who solves abnormal crimes for fun. The government has given him a special license in order to capitalize on his special investigative skills. He is regularly seen taking aspirin and guzzling coffee drinks.

Kobayashi (コバヤシ, Kobayashi)

Voiced by: Rie Takahashi (Japanese); Jill Harris (English) A middle school boy who is often mistaken for a girl, he is blamed for dismembering his homeroom teacher. Much like Akechi, he is excited when he discovers that he can solve mysteries, and he's unfazed by morbid details of murder. Kobayashi asks to become Akechi's assistant if he can discover the real killer of his homeroom teacher.

Hashiba (ハシバ, Hashiba)

Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita (Japanese); Justin Briner (English) A passionate boy who is best friends with Kobayashi. He is the heir to the rich Hashiba company and detests Akechi for being "cold hearted" at first. He is also against the idea of Kobayashi becoming Akechi's assistant and often looks out for Kobayashi. He is the class rep and is popular with girls. It is implied he has romantic feelings for Kobayashi.

Hanabishi (ハナビシ, Hanabishi)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (Japanese); Monica Rial (English) The new homeroom teacher of Kobayashi and Hashiba. She's very cheerful in class and dresses up in a Lolita/cat-like style. Kobayashi notices cut marks on her wrists.

Keisuke Kagami (カガミ ケイスケ, Kagami Keisuke)

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum (English) An investigator for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He has a strong sense of justice.

Nakamura (ナカムラ, Nakamura)

Voiced by: Chō (Japanese); Mark Stoddard (English) A perpetually stubbly police officer, friendly with Kagami.

Black Lizard (黒蜥蜴, Kuro Tokage)

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese); Mallorie Rodak (English) An underworld figure with a fixation on Akechi.

Shadow-Man (影男, Kage Otoko)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese); Sonny Strait (English) A master of disguise. He's known as a "gentleman thief" and wanted by the police. He once befriended Kagami's little sister Tokiko. It is eventually revealed that he was stealing money in order to pay for an operation that saved the life of a girl named Sachiko who was terminally ill. Sachiko was later kidnapped, and Shadow-Man asked for Kobayashi's help to investigate her disappearance.

Minami (ミナミ, Minami)

Voiced by: Saki Fujita (Japanese); Jād Saxton (English) The medical examiner who delivers the results of autopsies in frantic scenes of exposition. Her personality is revealed to be much more twisted due to an incident where her little brother, who was terminally ill, committed suicide in order to make it her less painful for her, but the plan backfired and caused her to become one of the Twenty Faces.

Corpsey (死体君, Shitai-kun)

Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese); Jerry Jewell (English) The demonstration dummy that Minami uses to show causes of death. It is revealed that it was an inspiration from Minami's dead brother.

Tokiko Kagami (カガミ 時子, Kagami Tokiko)

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese); Brina Palencia (English) Kagami's little sister. Kagami frequently receives calls from her on his cellphone. Later murdered as retaliation for her brother's involvement in her killer's prior arrest.

Namikoshi

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese); Todd Haberkorn (English) Akechi's junior high friend and the first Twenty Faces. He created the Dark Star after constant abuse from his father and being cut with a knife at school by bullies.

Anime

The anime television series, produced by Lerche and directed by Seiji Kishi, premiered on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block on July 2, 2015. The anime is licensed by AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand and is being simulcast on their website as it airs in Japan. The opening theme is "Speed to Masatsu" (スピードと摩擦, Supīdo to Masatsu, lit. "Speed and Friction") by Amazarashi and the ending theme is "Mikazuki" (ミカヅキ, lit. "Crescent Moon") by Sayuri. The broadcast of the ninth episode was delayed one week due to a scheduling conflict with a sports program.