Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
fh1478
We Are More Than Pretty Faces
Pretty Boy Detective Club is a story about how pants makes boy pretty, and without stripe pants, you'll not have pretty boys.
A girl with eyes to kill for, surrounded by pretty boys who have a good use, and mystery to solved that are outland, it's a fun time.
They is that normal story stuff, like finding the place you belong to, and people who respect you for who you are, and all that good stuff, but what you really here for are the, pretty boys with they striped pants.
Are the characters deep? no, they are what they seem like on the surface, but we are here for the aesthetics, and they are pretty.
One look at the anime, and you can see that it is made by Shaft studio, the vibrant colors and the stylish way of constantly using angles, and all the ways the…
Read at the sourceCurlybrace101
One common argument made in favor of Pretty Boy Detective Club is that, because it is by the author of the Monogatari series, one must be a Monogatari fan to enjoy it. For two reasons, that's bullshit:
1) One should not have to enjoy a completely unrelated work of fiction to enjoy something.
2) Whether you are a Monogatari fan or not does not change the fact that the plot of this show is absolute nonsense.
I cannot express to you how much this anime lacks any amount of reason or sense. Don't get me wrong, I am very good at suspending my disbelief, and a lot of my favorite anime are the stereotypical "confusing" anime (Lain, Utena, Baccano!, etc), and not even that can save this show for me. The plot is just one random, absurd, and unrelated event after the next without any reason for any…
Read at the sourceiridi
This show squandered all of its potential. It started off strong, with an interesting premise, beautiful art, and a colorful cast of harem archetypes that would no doubt get fleshed out into full people along the way. The opening is also a banger.
So you know what it did?
Immediately threw out the premise, kept each character locked to their singular core trait, and straight up did not show the most important parts of each episode. The show cuts to black to avoid having to depict anything more complicated than characters talking to each other and more than once resorts to still drawings (especially in later episodes). The MC also acts wildly out of character at random points. I'd praise her for being able to be more than a singular trait, but it instead just comes off as bad/inconsisten…
Read at the sourceChoripan007_
This anime has one of the best art styles and production I've seen in a while without being a triple A anime. I could say that Bishonen Tanteidan is at the level of Top Tier animes on production. My favorite opening ever, Godly OST. Amazing Animation, cheers to my lads the animators and musicians.
The characters and the story are pretty average, average++ I'd say, some characters are much better than others, the main character is a 6.8. While others like the little president are a 7.5.
Pretty enjoyable, I didn't enjoy it that much cause it happened that I saw it after a masterpiece like Vinland Saga.
Read at the sourceInjenss
This anime was pure trash. It was so trash that repeatedly, like a theme of the anime, they would introduce arcs and foreshadow events that never came or had no bearing on anything. For example: (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD): The heroes foil an underground casino, which seems to trigger the guy who runs it to want to directly challenge the president of the Pretty Boy Detective Club. But...then he does nothing. The angle just dies. They play up an angle where this little girl is supposed to be excessively mean, with the goal of the MC becoming her friend. Only, she never does. You never see the girl again after the misunderstanding is cleared up. Most egregious was the last villain. A guy who is WAY too extreme for this kind of anime, he just comes from out of nowhere, like he wandered out of Psych…
Read at the sourceShadowLight13
The Pretty Boy Detective Club is...
And experience, certainly.
And here's why...
It is not realistic - it doesn't have to be either. It is set in school, but none of the characters act remotely their age. Even the least serious of them. And that's fine. Ouran Highschool did that too. All that means is that in this sense, it's not all that original. (But then, nothing is original.)
That said, the premise isn't the same as OHHC, as it involves "detective work" (read: lucky guesses leading to the revealing of mysteries because frankly, the connection between whatever clues we are given and the answer is just so ridiculously weak. The Sherlock Holmes book series and its various adaptations does this better.
The art is aesthetically pleasing though. Gorgeous, without a doubt. But it a…
Read at the sourceKanna_4869
No, man, I don't want to have to watch Monogatari to ''get'' this, ok? That's a lame excuse from fans to convience people this has ''deep meaning'' cause it comes from ''deep author''.
This anime fails in every aspect for me. It's boring, the stories are overly complex (and stupid) just for the sake of it. I didn't get anything from watching this.
Yes, yes, ok, maybe not my kind of show, ok? but even for a casual this is 0% watchable and that's my main complain about this series.
The visuals and shots are the only thing that's quality here, the rest? plain boring.
I can't even write a proper review cause I didn't get anything from watching it, seriously... but I wanted to say something for those +8 reviews spitting all kind of ''Monogatari'' or ''Nisio Isin''stuff.
And no, this is no…
Read at the sourceHenriqueNeves
In Bishounen Tanteidan, the real charm is in the mystery and beauty of the moments, not in their endings.
All this beauty and stylization does not have a purpose that goes beyond being beautiful and stylized. The anime empties everything that can be dramatic and logical, and focuses only on what the events themselves can provide. It is evident that the anime has an objective discourse and theme, but it also seeks to confuse the viewer about its real intention. Its narrative, logic and conclusion are empty, but the main theme is not.
If you think about some conventions and principles (or rules, as the more radical and limited ones insist on saying that they exist), Bishounen Tanteidan is an anime constructed in a “wrong” way. He proposes several mysteries and possibilities, but I haven'…
Read at the sourcechateaughost
I've seen fans of this show say they hate when people compare it to Ouran High School Host Club, and I completely understand why. Aside from a crossdressing female protagonist and a club of pretty boys, there really aren't many similarities. They're very different shows, and if you like one of them there's no guarantee you'll like the other. I won't lie, I'm a huge Ouran fan and that premise is exactly why I took interest in this show in the first place, but I won't hold it up against Ouran as a judgement of its quality.
Pretty Boy Detective Club's fatal flaw is that it takes itself too seriously. When the twist of the first arc was revealed in the second episode, I had to pause multiple times because I was laughing so hard. And that's not a bad thing! It was so stupid and over the top t…
Read at the sourceHubbuble
I think it'd be pretty appropriate to do a short review summarizing the main divide of opinion on this anime.
This isn't an anime for those who seek a good mystery and like to theorize about the possible resolutions to problems the "detectives" face. The mysteries might as well be only a prompt for the characters to live around, being the fanciest they can. It's not at all meant to be realistic in any way, starting with the characters and ending with the solutions to the cases, which come mostly out of left field.
This is an anime (obviously catered to women, not a specific age demographic) to take you on a an elaborately dressed ride, entertaining you with some fun dialogue and silly situations which inevitably result in a poetic monologue with a line that's supposed to make you go "Ha!…
Read at the sourceAPolygons2
pretty boys detective club, a show that was one step away from greatness.
this show was a perfect example of why 1 weak point can ruin an entire story, depending on what it is, and in what story it is being weak in.
now let me start with the positives and then get slowly to that single negative that ruins the show:
art, direction and animation: 9
its more than good enough for this kind of show. I mean if this was a battle shounen, 9 would be extremely high for this animation and art. but if I'm being honest, I don't think making the animation better than this is going to change much. so this is was without a doubt, perfect and the best part of the show. and its a studio shaft work, which have yet to see a badly directed anime from. so needless to say, the direction was just as good as…
Read at the sourceIWatchAnime07
Sometimes you just have to turn off your head and enjoy the chaos in front of you. Bishounen Tanteidan is a story full of childhood dreams and wonder, it feels nostalgic even. The number of chaotic elements rivals that of Alice in Wonderland, with the same fever dream-like charm. The central focus of the show is to be a child again, spending your childhood doing the things you like, not caring about how others view it, and look back on it with a laugh. I enjoyed this show quite a lot, it reminds me of all the child-like ideas and dreams I had when I was their age. After all, it's never too late to enjoy our life while we can.
Read at the sourcemoodie
A show made for adults who can reflect back on their youth.
I have provided additional books as recommendations to help people better understand the true value of this series. It's clear that there are people who can't understand the brilliance of Pretty Boy Detective Club and I want to help illuminate them.
What does it mean to be a boy? Can anyone be a boy? What does it mean to be pretty? What does it mean to be curious?
These are the many questions we have as children yet we forget to answer them as adults. Nisio Isin takes a cerebral approach when analyzing several key themes in adolescence. The lenses which frames the arc based plot revolves around mysteries that are absurd in nature but completely obvious once solved. Doesn't that remind you of every test you've taken? It shoul…
Read at the sourcecringeylazy
My Synopsis:
An episodic drama about mysteries taking place within the school uncovered by the Pretty Boy Detective Club.
Negatives:
The cases the boys have to solve in each episode are ultimately boring, and usually the conclusion is pretty boring too. While they're interesting, they're still not entertaining or gripping to watch. Making you want to do other things than watch the show, and this is a big problem as the show is one that requires your attention at all times to follow what's going on. While I do enjoy the characters and their designs, they're very surface level aside from the main girl, which honestly makes it very difficult to become invested.
Positives:
The animation and art is stunning, as you'd expect from Shaft, setting a beautiful and unique feel for the show. The cha…
Read at the sourceExemplarCayman
“Because this is… child’s play, after all.”
Bishounen Tanteidan is an anime adapted from a mystery novel series by Nisio Isin, directed by Akiyuki Shinbou and animated by Studio Shaft. It’s literally Bakemonogatari. The end. Thank you for reading my Bishounen Tanteidan review.
That’s everything that I’d need to say if we were living in an ideal world. We’re not living in an ideal world. We’re living in a world full of liars. In this particular case, full of liars that lie about liking something that they can't even begin to understand.
Here’s a completely hypothetical example: if a person that doesn’t know how to read says that they like a certain book - that isn’t necessarily a lie. After all, the book might have some beautifully drawn illustrations of sexy girls, and “the pictures make…
Read at the sourceautumn_sky96
After first episode, I had mixed feelings, but decided to continue. Second episode caught my interest and created some expectations just for the rest of this show to disappoint me completely.
The issues they are solving just come and go as if it was nothing, there is no good conclusions, no consequences for anything happening, it's all just one big mess of ridiculous cases just so the characters had something to do. Which is really upsetting, considering the potential I saw in the plot from second episode - I thought it's going to play much bigger role? But it was never brought up again? While it was made into such a big deal in the first two episodes??? Really disappointing...
Thr animation and graphics are very pretty though.
Read at the sourcePyraXadon
Oh boy, my first Nison-in review. This outta be…difficult.
Story:
Pretty Boy Detective Club rules: 1) Be beautiful. 2) Be a boy. 3) Be a detective. On the eve of Mayumi Dojima’s 14th birthday, the girl looks up at the sky searching for a star that she had witnessed 10 years ago but has struggled to find since. On the same night, a haughty young boy in a detective’s outfit comes up to her and offers his aid to find the star that she’s been so dedicated to find. This boy’s name is Soutouin Manabu, the president of the ‘Pretty Boy Detective Club’ where in their school of Yubiwa academy, is a club comprised of multiple ‘pretty boys’ who solve mysteries beautifully.
Up until now, I haven’t really talked about any Nison-in works because a) they’re seeped in a lot of double meaning phrases tha…
Read at the sourceKamacho_Bronze
Before I begin my review, I believe there is a thing or two about Bishounen Tanteidan that needs to be cleared up before actual scoring the show on its own merits, as it feels other reviews seem to miss these aspects.
Bishounen Tanteidan is inherently, unrealistic. The middle schoolers act like 20s bohemian adults. They go toe to toe with kidnappers, a possibly supernatural murderer, an esoteric artistic weirdo, a first grader who acts like an adult princess trying to save her dynasty through marriage, and somehow, a middle school casino racket done for very....dangerous purposes and reasons. Realism is completely lacking in this show.
And thats what it is supposed to be. The middle school setting of the story, is a way for nisioisin to focus on topics relating to growth and childhood, a…
Read at the sourceAuri_Shirou
First anime I watch of this writer. The art style, animation and everything else is amazing. The character designs are creative and attractive. I found the story to be really terrible though. It was really long winded and boring at times. Things that could be told in a more clear way were explained in really weird and complex ways for no reason. It is obvious that is how this writer likes to narrate their stories. The story also doesn't seem to have any plot. It's literally episodic, in each episode they deal with something for no apparent reason, nor final objective. The story ends with nothing but some kind of weird bonds between the characters. As if nothing happened, there was nothing this story wanted to tell, nothing that it wanted me to feel.
I find that the characters are quite pe…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
To be part of the exclusive Pretty Boy Detective Club, follow these 3 rules: Be pretty; Be a boy; and most importantly, Be a detective.
The famed Monogatari novelist NisiOisin is back, as is studio Shaft together with chief director Akiyuki Shinbo, ready to tackle another series that the legendary novelist has concocted, namely the Bishounen series. Originally, this Bishounen Tanteidan (or the Pretty Boy Detective Club) group was supposed to appear in one of NisiOisin's earlier series that is aptly named the Boukyaku Tantei (or The Forgetful Detective) series, but during its story development, he decided that it could be made as an independent title separately. And yes, you could definitely see why that stems from the off-beat logics that NisiOisin is known for, mainly subverting his audi…
Read at the source