The Detective is Already Dead Sales Skyrocket After Anime Premieres

The Detective is Already Dead is illustrating how much an anime adaptation can help boost the sales and popularity of its original source material.

As reported by Crunchyroll, the official Twitter account for the series recently boasted that sales of the original The Detective is Already Dead light novels have surpassed 850,000 copies in Japan, up from the 250,000 copies that it had reported last year. This means that in just 12 months, the series more than tripled its total circulation. A new promotional video featuring characters from throughout the series was posted to Twitter to celebrate the new milestone and promote the upcoming release of the novels' sixth volume.

While the announcement doesn't specifically credit the anime adaptation with the sales boom, it's not hard to draw a line between the popularity of the anime series and the increase in attention for the novels. The anime series was created by animation studio Engi Co. Ltd., which also produced the slice-of-life comedy Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! and the video game-inspired Full Dive. The show was directed by Manabu Kurihara, who previously worked on the Bleach and Macross franchises, with scripts by Noragami's Deko Akao. The anime premiered in July and was originally criticized for straying too far from the original source material, but nonetheless attracted a dedicated following.

The Detective is Already Dead was created by author Nigoju. The series focuses on Kimihiko Kimizuka, a young man who, through no fault of his own, seems to attract trouble wherever he goes. After being kidnapped and forced onto a hijacked plane, Kimihiko meets Siesta, a young woman who claims she is a "legendary detective." Siesta easily stops the kidnappers and recruits Kimihiko to be her personal sidekick.  The series then cuts between the time when the two worked together to solve various mysteries, and three years later, where Siesta has apparently died and Kimihiko is attempting to move on with his life.

In addition to the original light novels, the series was also adapted into an on-going manga, which was once written by Nigoju and features art by illustrator Mugiko. Both the manga and the light novels are available in English from Yen Press. All 12 episodes of The Detective is Already Dead anime are available for streaming on Funimation.

Source: Twitter via Crunchyroll