The Case Files of Jeweler Richard
Genre: Detective, Mystery
Studio: Shuka
Hello my friends.
Welcome to another anime review.
This time, I will like to talk about an anime that has a very interesting way of creating mystery, as well as a lot of poignant moments. You can say it is not your average mystery anime.
Having said that, let me present you.
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard
But before I continue, I must ask you guys the sam question.
Are you guys happy? Feeling healthy?
If the answer is yes, then I am very happy.
Now. Let’s talk about the Case Files of Jeweler Richard.
PREMISE
Based on the light novels written by Nanako Tsujimura, and illustrated by Utako Yukihiro, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard tells the story of Seigi Nakata, a kind, second-year student of economics, who meets a foreign-looking man being assault by drunkards; after saving him, Seigi discovers that this man is a jeweler, called Richard Ranasinghe de Vulpian. Shortly afterwards, Seigi ask Richard to help him fin the true owner of a small pink-sapphire ring that the late grandmother of the former was saving for many decades.
After solving the mystery, Seigi starts working part-time with Richard at his jewellery, solving mysteries regarding a lot of precious gems, including rubies, garnet and opals.
To put in simple words:
«Every gemstone is a wonderful story.»
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is produced by Studio Shuka, famous for being on the direction of the second season of Durarara!!x2, as well as the fifth and sixth season of Natsume’s Books of Friends. It is almost a small studio, founded in 2013, but it has brought us a lot of beautiful anime that are worth checking out.
A detail of the light novels is that all of them were published by Shueisha, and mostly is intended to a female demographic group. Meanwhile, the anime comprises twelve episodes, and most of them are a very different story, pretty similar to Detective Conan, but I will get there later.
STORY
If there is anything that I learn from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, is that mystery fiction can come in many stories and in many formats. Case in point, the whodunit genre, from Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot; of in a more recent example, Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson. I will put the link at the end so you can check it out. Or in the way of Film-Noir, like Dashiel Hammett or movies like Chinatown, L. A. Confidential, and Fargo.
In the case of anime, we have, aside from Phoenix Wright, we got the works of Gosho Aoyama, especially…
DETECTIVE CONAN
Every single episode and mystery has really inventive elements, and each of them feels like something deeply influenced by the authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, and you can tell. Detective Conan is one of my favourite animes of all time, it really influenced a lot.
But I will talk about it some other time, I am getting out track here.
Returning to The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, every single story has a new case of a person that needs help, the customers, and their distress is symbolised in every gemstone. Like I said… every gemstone is a wonderful story, and how Richard and Seigi manage to solve those mystery is really charming. They don’t have to use their brute force, or any whimsical gadget, like Detective Conan. They use their knowledge, and in the case of Seigi, he tries to be empathetic with every new customer.
Case in point, episode two, where Richard’s customer had a big problem related to her heart. I will not spoil anything, but I will say that the way Seigi approaches the customer, and sympathises with her, is marvellous. It is like a detective and a future psychologist enter in action… sort of.
And the animation brings a really special feeling to the mix.
My only problem is that some of the customers of Richard do not have the same level of depth and psychological status as with Detective Conan or Phoenix Wright. Nonetheless, with the animation, you got this feeling of realism that makes you sympathise with them. Moreover, there is another feature I want to point out about the animation and the design; I really feel that this is done by artists who have experience doing love stories; the issue is that, when I see the art, I think it was inspired by the art of series like Citrus, Kimi no Todoke, Romeo x Juliet and some more. And this adds a lot of charm to the series.
OH… AND YURI ON ICE!!!
And I can say that, perhaps, in the future, Seigi and Richard can be a good couple. Yeah. I admit that I can ship Richard and Seigi, the same way I can ship Andromeda Shun with any of the Bronze Saints.
I love you Shun!!! I really love you!!!
Anyway. Despite the flaws, I can really say that The Case Files of Jeweler Richard have very wonderful stories. Perhaps not as great with Detective Conan, but definitely likeable and majestic.
CHARACTERS
Those eyes represent the beauty of the gems
And just like the stories are really interesting, the characters have a lot of charm too, especially because of the animation, including Richard, Seigi, and there are another two that have their style within the anime. Shoko Tanimoto (pictured above), a fellow partner of Seigi, who was a member of the mineralogy club at high school, and Haruyoshi Shimomura.
But the ones that really stand out are Richard and Seigi. With the class of the former, and the kindness of the later, they create a fantastic duo that invite us to be part of a pretty beautiful vision of mystery.
That we all definitely would like to enjoy.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is definitely something that you would like to binge in these lockdown times. It has beautiful animation, simple, yet interesting characters, an original premise, and so much fun.
So, get your gems ready, and pay a visit to Jeweler Richard. Let him charm you.
…
I think I should visit him.
Perhaps, he can do something about these gems.
My review of Knives Out:
Jainituos Presents 