Review of Beautiful Bones -Sakurako's Investigation-

“Beautiful Bones” or “A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako’s Feet” is a detective show styled directly upon the classic Sherlock Holmes novels, or at the very least, uses the general setup of Holmes to tell various stories about human mortality, and the various philosophical and moral issues that lie therein. The character archetypes should be familiar. Sakurako-san is an eccentric, antisocial rich lady who spends her time studying bones because it is her passion. She is very intelligent, but often comes across as rude because of her honest and analytical nature. Shoutarou, presented as our protagonist, is the foil- a quiet, observative, and domestic high schoolboy who makes up for his lack of studied intelligence with warm kindness and keen eyes. A typical Sherlock and Watson, though Shoutarou is arguably a more competent character than Watson could ever hope to be.

The visual design is absolutely exactly what it needs to be- dull and uninteresting. No sarcasm here. This is a story that follows Sakurako and Shoutarou as they solve the fairly unpleasant mysteries of human remains they find in their daily lives. Each specific “case” allows the callous Sakurako and the sentimental Shoutarou to give their opinions and analyses of the causes and morality behind each incident, making for a calm psychological drama/slice of life.

The appeal in this show is not action, or romance, or substantial drama. It is in the conversations between the characters, and the solving of the mysteries. It often tries to debunk or explain the “supernatural” in order to reveal some truth in the world, and most of it seems factually accurate. A large majority of the mysteries are completely solvable by anyone with the exact specialized knowledge or the observation skills required of analyzing human remains.

This show is hardly melodramatic, and does not rely on misunderstandings or arguments to carry the plot, and I appreciate the attempt to create an atmosphere of realistic morbid curiosity and investigation. While Sakurako and Shoutarou are extreme characters that likely do not exist in reality, they both have hyperbolized traits that exemplify real human urges. Sakurako represents an innate desire to unearth and understand facts, while Shoutarou seeks sentimental and spiritual peace in order to be morally comfortable with each case.

With simple visual design, excellent writing, great performances by all the voice actors, and an… entirely passable musical score, this anime is worth the time of anyone who is willing to sit down and come to terms with death in the context of human society. It, while facetious and pretentious at times, still manages to give realistic and mundane stories that pique a viewer’s interest while also fundamentally remaining in reality. 7.5/10.

Note: People seem to be unfairly disliking this show just because it is episodic. Why does being episodic lower the quality of the show? This is not some drama that is trying to tell a larger story than what is seen in each episode. The concept behind it is to suggest philosophy and opinion behind mortality in modern society, with a fictionalized but realistic setting. It does not need to have a sprawling, grand, "Oh my god it's all connected!!!" Part 4 JoJo ending to be a good murder mystery, because it is not trying to be a murder mystery.