English Dub Review: The Dinner Table Detective “Please be aware of two-timing affairs File 1”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Reiko and Kyoichiro’s next case involves a dead man who was supposedly cheating on three different women on a dating app.

OUR TAKE

We’re onto our next story arc, which based on the pattern of the previous ones may conclude halfway through the next episode, and I am pleasantly surprised and happy to report this was actually a bit better than the last two so far! The premise for this mystery is a bit more interesting, with it focusing on more romantic intrigue instead of money inheritance or…anger over your dad getting re-married? Whatever the first one was about. Also, the jokes in his are slightly more funny AND the acting for the dub voices seems to have improved somewhat. I say somewhat because there are still definitely distracting moments where these actors, who may not have English as their first language, mispronounce very basic words and sentences in ways that are basically inexcusable by modern anime dub standards. Or even anime dub standards from twenty years ago, if I’m being completely honest. But again, they do seem to be improving, so it’s possible this series could end with the actors sounding totally passable. It is unfortunate that this is where my expectations are at now but I’m covering this show until it ends so I have manage my own standards if you don’t want these reviews to be me having a verbal psychotic break about how crap these actors are. I save that for other shows.

Oh, and this episode once again has Kageyama providing the key bit of insight that will likely help Reiko solve the case next episode. I guess that’s just the formula of these stories since this is the third time it has happened, so we’re officially establishing a pattern here. It’s just that I cannot understand the idea of writing a story about a woman detective whose shtick is that her male colleague underestimates her even though she solves all of the cases herself, and THEN making sure to say in every story that “oh don’t worry, her male butler is the one who REALLY solves it by figuring out the big missing detail despite only getting second hand knowledge so then the woman detective can say she solved in on her own”. What is that supposed to be saying? What are we meant to be thinking of Reiko and her ability as a detective when this keeps happening? Also, four episodes and three stories in, we still don’t really have a reason for why she has this secret identity, especially since her friends, who I guess are recurring characters, are never around to notice? And what the hell makes her a “Dinner Table Detective”?! It just raises too many questions, ones that I don’t think we’re getting answers to any time soon.