WARNING: The following contains significant spoilers for Season 1 of The Detective Is Already Dead, now streaming on Funimation.
The Detective Is Already Dead maintains a focus on its central investigative team of Kimihiko Kimizuka, Nagisa Natsunagi and Yui Saikawa, with various flashbacks to the eponymous late detective Siesta. Thanks to a colorful cast, there are several supporting characters who could easily handle the spotlight themselves.
These characters are entertaining enough in the series, but also raise enough questions about their lives and backstories to justify their own light novel or OVA spinoffs. Here are three potential Detective Is Already Dead spinoffs and the stories they could explore, as well as anime in the same genre that might inspire them.
Bat Could Star in a Mystery Anime's Redemption Quest
The character known as Koumori, translated literally to Bat in the Funimation dub, is a member of SPES whom Siesta apprehends in Episode 1. After Siesta's death, Kimizuka and Natsunagi visit Bat in prison for a lead on their first case. Bat has extremely advanced hearing due to an alien implant in his ear, which he uses to determine that Siesta's heart has been passed on to Natsunagi. In Episode 4, Kimizuka enlists Bat's help again to find a sniper in a crowded concert hall. In one of the series' most impressive displays of power, Bat texts the sniper's location to Kimizuka because he can hear them over the sounds of the show -- despite being in the stadium parking lot at the time.
SPES is a big part of The Detective Is Already Dead, providing the driving antagonistic force of the series. Exploring the supernatural organization of assassins and their bizarre abilities from the perspective of a defector from their cause would be a compelling new angle. In addition, Bat's incredible powers not only lend themselves to a variety of creative applications, but are useful in the context of identifying fine details, meaning the character would be perfect for a spinoff in the mystery-solving genre.
Bat’s anime could be a classic story of a criminal using his power for good on a quest for redemption. The story wouldn't be able to make Bat too heroic, however. He'd have to maintain his arrogant demeanor to remain the character who made such an impact in The Detective Is Already Dead while still experiencing the kind of development a dedicated series could provide. With his own anime spinoff, Bat could join the ranks of charming yet ruthless anti-heroes such as Code Geass's Lelouch or Death Note's Light Yagami.
Fuubi Kase Could Lead a Spinoff About Her Own Detective Agency
The long-suffering "assistant inspector" provides a more grounded counterweight to Siesta, making her the Inspector LeStrade to the latter's Sherlock Holmes. Fuubi Kase is less optimistic and animated as Siesta or Natsunagi, but her cynical worldview sets her apart and could be developed in a variety of ways in her own show. The closest things Kase has to friends in The Detective Is Already Dead are the teenagers Kimizuka and Charlotte Arisaka Anderson.
This might make fans curious who her friends and coworkers are in the police department, potentially revealing a whole new world of detectives. Alternatively, the plot could be about Kase opening a private detective agency. Even though Siesta is technically a private detective, this would ironically help set Kase's story apart since she would be involved in small-scale investigations rather than global affairs.
Siesta is a legendary detective, but anime fans don't always necessarily want to watch a character who's the best at what they do. A more conventional, realistic detective like Kase, without access to incredible combat skills or sci-fi inventions, would be facing significantly higher and thus potentially more interesting stakes. The Detective Is Already Dead is a supernatural teen detective series, but there is a demand for anime that take place in more realistic police settings. Supernatural elements aren't necessary to turn even the more mundane side of police work into a compelling story. You’re Under Arrest! or even comedies like KochiKame tell down-to-Earth stories about adult police officers.
Charlotte Arisaka Anderson's History With Siesta Could Be Explored
Siesta's equally mysterious contact shows her a great deal of affection, seeming jealous and outraged when Siesta wants her and Kimizuka to work together. Highlighting her combat aptitude, Siesta describes "Char" as "extremely dim-witted." She certainly has a unique way of thinking: after boarding the cruise ship in Episode 10, she claims she had planned to keep winning in the ship casino in order to earn Siesta's "bequest." This despite already knowing that bequest is the responsibility of tracking down SPES around the world. Char's role as a globetrotting gambler makes her seem like a James Bond type figure, but her constant losses and misguided conception of what the prize might be undercuts these tropes in a funny yet endearing way.
Char’s unusual way of thinking and overly formal mannerisms would provide plenty of comic relief, but the contrast between them and her unwavering professionalism as a secret agent could make her a layered, multi-faceted protagonist. Her serious side is demonstrated when she infiltrates a SPES hideout with Kimizuka in Episode 9, saving his life from its leader, Seed. The notion of Char being unintelligent is further complicated by the high-octane sequence in Episode 11 when she saves Kimizuka again.
Kase pilots a helicopter to the cruise ship's deck that SPES shapeshifter Chameleon is holding hostage, and Char shoots at him with a machine gun from on board the craft. Char reveals she felt Chameleon's familiar presence when she boarded the ship, and "made all possible preparations." Watching the onslaught, Kimizuka claims, "I can't tell which one is the bad guy," highlighting Char's fearsomeness. Her hidden depths and thoughtful level of preparation mean an anime from her point of view could explore her thought processes, which are not always apparent to those around her or the audience.
The Char series would also be an action anime with a trigger-happy female protagonist, like Black Lagoon. The Detective Is Already Dead often feels more like an action anime than a detective anime, so a story about Char would be able to explore the action genre to the fullest. It could be an origin story explaining why Siesta means so much to Char, and how they came to work together.
Alternatively, it could cover the gap between Char and Siesta’s last case and her reunion with Kimizuka. Given her affection for the detective, one can only imagine how hardly she took the news of Siesta's death. Kimizuka tells Char he will always be a sidekick, to which she replies "the one who's truly tied down by (Siesta) is you, not me." This implies her grieving story would be different from Kimizuka's, and that despite hating Kimizuka because she believes Siesta preferred him, she has moved on in her own unique and potentially interesting way.
The Detective Is Already Dead has many more light novels to adapt, and the source material is ongoing. This means the series' main characters, Kimizuka and Natsunagi, have many more stories to tell. Even so, more stories from new perspectives could expand the series' unique world even further.
