WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of Millionaire Detective, now streaming on Funimation.
Part of Millionaire Detective's charm comes from the dynamic between its two, bishonen main characters. With their lives heavily differing in the beginning, such as their financial circumstances and their views on justice, these polar opposites start to rub off on each other and improve each other's lives as a result by the end of the anime. Considering the way that certain episodes build up the canonically platonic relationship of Daisuke and Haru, it's not surprising that many viewers were curious, initially, as to whether or not this was a Boy's Love anime. So, how much does the show play with Haru and Daisuke's relationship, and what would happen if it focused on them as being more than just friends?
Instead of focusing on their relationship exclusively, Millionaire Detective actually follows Daisuke and Haru as they resolve a number of cases while working for the Tokyo Police's Modern Crimes unit. At the beginning of the show, there was little compromise in their differing methods of solving cases. With Daisuke's unlimited financial resources, he pulls off a number of stunts that wouldn't be practical for the typical detective. Due to this fact, Daisuke starts off the show believing in the fact that his money could resolve issues as effectively as the others. An example of this is during a moment in which Daisuke and Haru have to interrogate two criminals in order to find a supplier of illegal goods. While Haru believes that they should coax information out of the criminals normally, Daisuke leaves the second interrogation room with the information he gained by buying off the person in question.
However, the development of these characters causes them to work together more effectively as time goes on. Before Daisuke entered Haru's life, the detective was holding onto some trauma in connection with the use of his firearms. Due to an incident where Haru shot and killed a person disguised as a bank worker, he struggles to pull the trigger again. In the series' climactic fight against some subordinates, Daisuke helps Haru overcome this trauma. With his belief in Haru carrying out his job as a hero restored, they both stopped the boat that Daisuke's father was using to escape.
But more interestingly for those invested in the intimacy of their relationship, the two of them share scenes outside of their work. The fourth episode is the most significant for viewers looking for any romantic subtext due to the fact that they both cover a relatively minor case, which leads to them spending the night together (... not in that way, though). Haru doesn't have any of the vast wealth that Daisuke enjoys, which forces the millionaire to adjust to a new, more downtrodden environment. Daisuke ends up wearing some of Haru's spare clothes and the two of them make food together and have some drinks.
While they share these moments with each other, the way that the show is structured creates a proper balance between their personal lives and their work lives; weaving a romantic subplot into all that could certainly have been an interesting way to incorporate the Boy's Love genre into an overarching detective story. It isn't impossible to imagine, either, thanks to the steady buildup of their friendship. The Boy's Love genre also has many instances wherein a fictionalized romance between two men can come off as sensationalized or perhaps even fetishized. Millionaire Detective could have been an opportunity to help represent this genre in a subtler way by making its romance more of a natural undercurrent. However, that would require the show to take itself more seriously so that the romance wouldn't have been completely lost to the show's more comedic twists.
What may nix any BL fans' hopes, however, is that Haru seems to show an interest in Daisuke's female relative. While her connection to Daisuke isn't explained in detail, Haru ends up thinking that she must be his wife before he reveals the truth. There is also a scene in the last episode where Haru imagines her on vacation once Daisuke brings up the topic.
Daisuke and Haru's relationship is one we've seen in many other detective pairs. From the likes of Batman and Robin to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, they all juggle their friendly relationships along with their detective work. (And, of course, fans also can't help but see the homoerotic potential there, too.) If Millionaire Detective was built on a romantic plot, it would possibly detract from other important elements. The show does a fair job of playing with its comedic undertones -- largely through the absurdity of the tricks Daisuke can do using his money -- while also building up a serious, criminal escapade involving cold-blooded murder. If the show wanted to focus on building up a romantic relationship, it might come at the cost of these other, precariously-balanced tonal shifts.
