Introduction
Reiko Houshou, heiress to a large conglomerate, seems like any other wealthy lady. However, not many people know that she is a rookie detective for the Kunitachi Police Department. In addition, she hides her identity from her incompetent boss, Kyouichirou Kazamatsuri, a flashy heir to his family's motor business.
During an investigation involving her college friends, Reiko has trouble identifying the culprit and their motive. Out of nowhere, a man approaches Reiko and introduces himself as Kageyama, her newly assigned butler. As soon as Reiko confides in him about her worries, he criticizes her lack of deduction skills and helps her quickly crack the case. Now with the sharp-tongued Kageyama at her side, Reiko may just become the detective she desires to be.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
12 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ichin
Nice light-mode mistery detective anime. For someone like me that gets anxious when watching a thriller this was perfectly digestible, some cases were super chill and some hit harder but in an emotional and cathartic way, (like the v-tuber one).
The comedy was pretty hackneyed and noisy, but there was a level of meta-comedy I really liked, that is, Miyano, Kaji, and Hanazawa having fun playing each their eccentric character.
I also really liked the attractive and realistic faces of the character design and the very detailed colorful backgrounds.
OP and EP also had luscious graphics and compelling melodies, I immediately put them in my repeat playlist.
Kazamatsuri and his white suit were iconic and hilarious, but Kageyama the butler totally stole the show.
Super sexy voice by Kaji Yuki a…
Read at the sourceOtaku_Senpai
I liked the main characters at their introduction. The lead detective and his assistant are both heirs of very rich families. The lead detective is a bit incompetent but makes a big show with his loud mouthed flair. The assistant is more competent but she isn't much smarter either. However, the butler seems to be the real genius who can solve cases on the spot mainly with observation skills, kind of like Sherlock Holmes. This guy is my favorite in the show. And he isn't afraid to blatantly insult his boss, the assistant detective, which lead to a funny dynamic between them.
Highlight of the show for me is not when the murder mystery is solved but every time the butler would insult/tease the lady detective Reiko's 'detective skills' before helping her solve the case. Because that is the f…
Read at the sourceSalvatierra21
Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato presents a proposal that brings a breath of fresh air to detective anime, since the main character is not based on Sherlock Holmes. Using a worn-out writing method, it shows us what would happen when the police and detectives are not the most qualified for the job, but through effort, help from others, knowing how to win over their bosses, and maintaining a good public image, they can keep their jobs while solving cases along the way.
The humor used may seem somewhat exaggerated and out of place at times, but thanks to the personalities of the characters, it works well and does not overshadow the crimes, keeping the serious scenes intact.
In the cases, we see stories centered on high-status families, businessmen, and the world of show business, which fits well w…
Read at the sourceZER0F00L
This par of a meal of a mystery show, is served with heart, but the flavor palette leave you wanting more. The visuals are nice and unlike many other shows in its realm is much more colorful and delightful to watch, and does well to match it when the story begins to hit its darker tones, and fills the room with light during the more hopeful moments, speaking of hopefuls our hopeful leading lady supported by her less than tactile boss plays well off one another, and she also plays well with her butler who constantly criticizes her inability to solve the case. It's a wonderful dynamic of the trio that makes them likeable and want to follow them, their energy bleeds over into the audio of the show as well, a score you could swear you heard out of a Professor Layton or Phoenix Wright game in t…
Read at the sourcekiyo_seibah
Exceeded my expectations! Actually enjoyable and entertaining. Yes, it's a detective story so of course the main theme will be mystery. But the type of mystery that's light and not too complex and confusing. There'll be new case every 1-2 eps so the mysteries are pretty quick to solve. Not really bothering me tho bcs they aren't dark psychological anime in the first place, in fact it's a comedy mystery so u can expect few good comedy scenes.
And other things i really like is the artstyle. It was lovely and unique, kinda reminds me of great pretender tbh. Scoring also decent and fitting the scenes very well.
Although yea i feel like sometimes the case was too quick to solved because the moment the detective are meet dead end, kageyama the butler was there to quickly solved the case. And t…
Read at the sourceLunaPKL
Definitely a hidden gem of the season. The mysteries are pretty decent, I solved a few of them on my own with the clues mentioned, which makes Kageyama calling MC an idiot even funnier. The ending is a great show of how all the characters have improved. The only setback is that this girl WEARS THE SAME RED DRESS EVERY DINNER SCENE! SHE'S RICH! SHE HAS A BUTLER AND YOU'RE TELLING ME SHE ONLY WEARS THAT OUTFIT???? WE'VE SEEN HER CLOSET! SHE HAS OTHER CLOTHES LIKE WHAT???!!!!
But other than that small detail, this is a decent detective anime. The op is also pretty good and the comedic moments aren't half bad.
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
A mystery story that lacks mysteries.
I'm not a huge fan of the detective genre because I always get frustrated when I can't even guess who the culprit is in each case. Although that's also my indicator of how well a mystery is done. In Nazotoki, I guessed every single case without even trying. Despite being detectives, it feels like I'm watching my local police force trying to figure out who committed a crime despite having all the video evidence. The detectives seem to have their IQs lowered as the episodes went by. The figure in charge of solving the mysteries, who was the butler, wasn't exactly intelligent or a genius; he just had common sense. In Nazotoki, the mysteries are a secondary element to the story, as they don't want to tell a super-complicated mystery but rather give a glim…
Read at the sourceKumoiro_Shizuki
I can see that this anime isn't exactly a hit with fans, and I can understand why. This little series has several flaws that tarnish the picture, but it still has a certain charm. So I'm going to elaborate on a few points that might, perhaps, encourage you to give it a chance.
Animation: 9
Art direction: 9.5
Visually, the anime does well with its polished animation and distinctive art direction. For my part, I saw strong inspiration from Great Pretender, particularly in the color palette. Madhouse, without reaching the level of Frieren of course, delivers a visually sparkling series that should appeal to the widest possible audience.
Music: 9
Dubbing: 5.5
As for the music, there's a very pleasant jazz-funk ambience, a real pleasure for the ears. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of…
Read at the source5iv3_
To be honest, this show was not what I had imagined this show was gonna be, but I really enjoyed it! It's honestly just a lot of fun comedy with a bunch of different little mysteries to solve (this show did make me realize i'm so bad at mysteries though, omg).
The artstyle is fun and very comic book-y, animation is pretty nice. Nothing over the top, but it's better than decent. Plot was fun and I think the characters are quite entertaining and make for some fun interactions. Truly, it's a fun show. (don't understand why it isn't liked :/. it's funn).
Also, as a little tidbit, i cried a bit (granted I cry really easily haha. i have a soft heart 💕) But the episodes that were a little sad/bittersweet were really well done (Episode 6 especially).
Anyways, It's a good show 👍 You 🫵 sho…
Read at the sourceCinaGinger
It's not extraordinary, just another story about detectives. However, I started to see some potential when I finished watching all the episodes and realized this was just the beginning of something very special and particular. Maybe watchers wanted her to be extremely intelligent and smart from the start-go and the comedy is silly, like every Japanese anime that we are familiar with, but the butler character seems to be a key point in this and seems to have some mysterious reason as to why he's serving her, maybe to teach her about the profession and of course, make her mature.
Read at the sourceMarinate1016
When we talk about hidden gems of Spring 2025, Dinner Table Detective needs to be near the top of the list. This is such an underrated detective series with some decidedly good writing and one of the most unique detective premises in the genre. Not to mention a loveable MC and fun supporting cast. Finally, a detective who has just as much of an idea what’s going on as I do!
Reiko being totally unqualified to solve any of these cases made this hilarious to watch because we, as the audience, will think she’s on to something just to realize how stupid we all are when Kageyama comes around to solve the case. The “dinner table detective” of it all referring to Reiko’s butler solving all her investigations over dinner every night is different. A lot of these detective anime feature brilliant p…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
The Dinner Table Detective — Solving detective cases at the comfort of your own dining table? Now that's something never done before, where the stakes of life are tantamount to the judgment of what's on the table.
Listen, I dig detective stories like the plague, and throughout the last few years or so, we've been through some of the best detective-esque settings that the AniManga industry has to offer, the likes of Summer 2023's Undead Girl Murder Farce and the series of Yuukoku no Moriarty a.k.a Moriarty the Patriot, which saw both seasons in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, respectively. However, not every detective show is a whiz out from the mystery hat, which is why we find ourselves underwhelmed by the mystery shows this Spring 2025 season: from the famed mystery author of Aki Shimizu's C…
Read at the source