English Dub Review: The Millionaire Detective – Balance:UNLIMITED “A Golden Key Can Open Any Door”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After Cho and Takei’s death, Haru tries to get Daisuke to come with him but he refuses and turns in his MPD badge at Haru’s question of him continuing the case as a detective. Later at the station, Kiyomizu reveals that Cho’s dice are actually two parts of a wiretap and that Cho planted the one half on Shigemaru Kambe. Now before the group can do anything with that information, the First Division takes Haru as a material witness to Cho and Takei’s death. As Hoshino is interrogating Haru the group finds excuses to get to work on locating the other half of Cho’s wiretap.

Meanwhile, Daisuke and Suzue confirm that Shigemaru is alive and they track down where he’s headed. Hoshino after a bit of questioning and a resignation letter found inside Takei’s desk believes Haru and they go after Shigemaru with the others. Both teams track Shigemaru down to a boat, Daisuke and Haru board the cargo ship with their own methods. However Shigemaru’s associate prevents Daisuke from chasing after his father, and Haru moves to shoot the guy only to recall his past trauma as Shigemaru leaves his spot from the high ground.

Our Take:

The Millionaire Detective always manages to subvert expectations with each episode. From the lack of Haru and Daisuke partnership to Daisuke just ignoring Hoshino’s comment on him making Haru dream of being a hero again. It holds a balance in between the detective work from the Second Division and the rich spending methods from Daisuke as well.

In this episode, while we don’t see Haru and Daisuke working together, we get to see the rest of the Second Division doing most of the work as Haru is naturally being questioned for the murders. The episode gives an opportunity for them to really stand out and become more than the lazy coworkers. It was an amusing moment to see how they worked together. There’s also Hoshino, Haru’s former partner, and his role in this episode which brings to light the details in the incident that demoted Haru. Furthermore, we get to see how perspective changes things as Hoshino lets Haru go to chase after Shigemaru. There’s also his attempt at conversing with Daisuke who has better things to do. It was a good scene for the minor character to develop from the previous episodes.

Now there’s the Kambe family with Daisuke refusing to back down as he chases Shigemaru and Suzue constantly warning him that it could be a trap. Daisuke’s money spending is another amusing moment for the crowd as well. From the crowd spinning for money to his tech suit. It was interesting how Shigemaru could just undo Daisuke’s suit in order for his associate to pummel his son without killing him. This brings up the question of Shigemaru’s motives because it appears that he has an important one thanks to that scene with Daisuke asking his grandmother about whether or not she knew that her son was alive.

Then there’s Haru who struggles with his trauma of shooting with a gun. The flashbacks help with getting the full scope of the incident and how much it still affects Haru to this day. Even though we don’t see much of him as a detective with the others, Haru does manage to land a good impression with his words to Hoshino in the interrogation room, It worked well in giving the vibe of being a detective despite his predicament as a suspect in Hoshino’s eyes.

Overall this episode was good with how it’s building up to that final confrontation with Daisuke, Haru, and Shigemaru. Hopefully, Haru overcomes his trauma in time to save Daisuke from Shigemaru’s associate.