Kimitsuka Kimihiko & Siesta (The Detective is Already Dead)

Created by Nigojū (text) and Umibōzu (art)

“Is there a detective on this plane?”

Four years ago, during an attempted airplane hijacking, Japanese high school student and trouble magnet KIMITSUKA KIMIHIKO became, at her insistence, the assistant to the beautiful and enigmatic girl detective SIESTA (which wasn’t even her real name). They ended up traveling the world together in high style, solving crimes and battling “the enemies of the world.”

Until Siesta died about a year ago, that is. Kimitsuka figured that was that — at the ripe old age of eighteen, it was back to the “completely, utterly normal” life he’d left behind years ago to become a jet-setting crimefighter.  

But some people still think of him as some sort of ace detective. And then he meets a girl who bears a disturbing resemblance to Siesta–the same pale silver hair, the same enchanting blue eyes…

Kimitsuka and Siesta first showed up in a series of illustrated Japanese ranobes (light novels, aimed at a YA readership), but soon enough, their adventures were being chronicled as manga, serialized in the pages of Monthly Comic Alive, and shortly after, it was announced that a 12-episode anime series in Japanese was scheduled to air in July 2021.

Even better for those whose Japanese isn’t quite up to snuff is that everything — the novels, the manga collections, the anime and the inevitable spinoffs — headed towards English translation by Taylor Engel  beginning in 2021.

“LIGHT” NOVELS (Ranobes)*

Written by Nigojū
Illustrated by Umibōzu

• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 1 (2019) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 2 (2020) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 3 (2020) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 4 (2020) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 5 (2021) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 6 (2023) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective is Already Dead, Volume  7 (2024) | Buy this book  | Kindle it!
• The Detective is Already Dead, Volume 8 (2024) | Buy this book  | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 9 (2024) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective Is Already Dead, Volume 10 (2025) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• The Detective is Already Dead, Volume 11 (2026) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
  * These are their English translations. I have no idea when the original Japanese editions came out.

COMICS (Manga)

• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD
  (2020, Mugiko)
  Written by Nigojū
  Illustrated by Umibōzu
  Serialized in Monthly Comic Alive since May 2020.

MANGA COLLECTIONS (Tankōbon)

• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, VOLUME 1 (2020, Yen) | Buy this book  | Kindle it!
• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, VOLUME 2 (2022, Yen) | Buy the book | Kindle it!
• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, VOLUME 3 (2022, Yen) | Buy the book | Kindle it!
• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, VOLUME 4 (2023, Yen) | Buy the book | Kindle it!
• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, VOLUME 5 (2024, Yen) | Buy the book | Kindle it!
• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, VOLUME 6 (2024, Yen) | Buy the book | Kindle it!

TELEVISION (Anime)

• THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD
  (2021, AT-X)
  12 episodes
  Language: Japanese
  Premiere: July 4, 2021
  Based on characters created by Nigojū (text) and Umibōzu (art)
  Adapted by Deko Akao
  Art by Yōsuke Itō
  Animation by ENGI
  Directed by Manabu Kurihara
  Music by Yuuyu, Naoki Tani, and Tatsuya Yano
  Theme song performed by Mary × jon-Yakitory
  Starring Shin Nagai as KIMIHIKO KIMIZUKA
  and Saki Miyashita as SIESTA
  Also starring Ayana Taketatsu, Kanon Takao, Saho Shirasu, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Takehito Koyasu, Maria Naganawa, Mai Fuchigami

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

• Big in Japan
  Japanese Eyes

THE DICK OF THE DAY

• July 30, 2021
  The Bottom Line: He’s just a kid. She’s dead. Or is she? The popular Japanese series, THE DETECTIVE IS ALREADY DEAD, available now in English, with more on the way…

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.