English Dub Review: Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective “Spontaneous Human Combustion”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Ameku investigates a supposed ancient curse that was unleashed by a recent excavation into a tomb.

OUR TAKE

We’re doing another two-parter like with the first two episodes, and this time we’re dipping our toes into more of a ghost story, essentially going full Scooby Doo. And you know what, unlike what most might say, I would fully encourage a show to go full Scooby. People like to poke fun at it nowadays but those meddling kids weren’t just stopping bad guys dressed as monsters, they were also cutting through superstition and fear to uncover the truth! And both that and this show share a common literary ancestry in Sherlock Holmes, so there’s that, but this one supposedly starts dealing with actual ghosts, so I’m counting it. In this case, some researchers have unearthed a tomb of an ancient Japanese mystic who was known for cursing several people, so naturally these trained and educated scientists who put together this investigation…immediately start thinking there’s a curse. I guess there’s a reason why they aren’t doctors. But yeah, that’s the set up for the episode, which is honestly a notable step up from last week’s phone video related twist, though not as intriguing as the initial episodes with the dead man with blue blood. It fits squarely in the middle, which was already kind of a low bar.

As for the reveal, it apparently turns out to be related to a couple of the researchers ends up getting Cryptococcus due to staying in the damp tomb that had become a breeding ground for fungal spores, and one in particular got a really bad case due to taking some antibiotics. See, that’s what solving supernatural mysteries is all about! Think it might be a curse or something beyond the grave? Think again! You probably went into a dank place while using the wrong medication, you big fat dummy! EXCEPT, as I said, this is a two-parter, and this one ends with one of the assistants suddenly dying of seeming Spontaneous Human Combustion! That’s fire! And fire is the opposite of the moisture that caused the fungus, so it can’t be connected to that! Oh shit, maybe the curse actually is real? Well, we’ll have to wait a week (or watch the subs that are currently available) in order to find out! But uh…considering this is only the fourth episode of twelve, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this will also end up being revealed to be man-made. Just a guess, though.