Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens: Episode 1

By: RogueSymbiote

Story Arc

The Hakata ward of Fukuoka is rampant with detectives, hired hands and assassins. Banba, a private detective, is tasked by Shigematsu to investigate the death of another detective. The circumstances around the fellow detective's demise lead Banba to believe that he was murdered by a hired assassin for looking into Mayor Harada's affiliations. Shigematsu gives Banba a photo of the mayor with two men and a woman that belonged to the dead detective. After speaking with a few informants, Banba learns that the woman is an assassin who deals in poisons and that one of the men in the photo has also recently been killed.Saitou, a newly hired assassin is tasked with eliminating a man who was involved in an attack resulting in the victim falling into a coma. He awaits for his target to return home when Saitou is mistaken for his own target and abducted by another agency tasked with avenging the young man who was viciously beaten. Banba returns home to find a crossdressing assassin named Lin waiting for him. Lin was the assassin who targeted the man from the photo of the mayor. Having been ordered by his agency to assassinate Banba for looking into the assassinations, Lin surprisingly admits to Banba that he aims to protect the private detective rather than carry out his assignment. Assassins in Hakata must also be on their toes as rumors of the opportunistic samurai who takes out fellow hitmen swirls.

Episode 1 Review

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is definitely a slow burn. The plot moves along slowly, but that may be just to introduce the numerous characters. Detective series' tend to move at a slower pace, but there needs to be suspense and excitement in order to maintain the audiences attention. Banba and Lin seem to be the only characters so far that warrant focus. If it wasn't for the plot twist at the end of the episode, I would have rated the storyline even lower. Now that the first episode is out of the way, hopefully the series will allow the exciting premise of a city filled with assassins to take center stage. The animation is decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. There is a solid foundation built in this episode, but the excitement factor needs to take it up a notch.