The Dinner Table Detective: A Mystery Anime Hit or Miss?

Have you ever dreamed of being a detective? Well, during my freshman years in high school I was really obsessed with our library—I mean, not a day would pass without me spending at least an hour reading. Perhaps it’s because I’m still amazed with the fact that I got surrounded with a lot of books because way back in my elementary years, we don’t have a library in school. That’s why I spend my free time reading books, and one genres of the books that I got engrossed with is the mystery. I was so into it to the point I imitated the protagonists of the book I’m reading. Lemony Snicket, Encyclopedia Brown—they’re among the detective characters I looked up that time.

Even up until my later years, mystery fiction always attracts me, and when I get into Wattpad—Loki Mendez and Landice then later added to my favorite book detectives. With that, I really aspired to be a detective, and I even tried acting like one. Of course, I knew I wouldn't be one in real life because my temper isn’t ideal for that career. Anyway, even though I can’t chase that dream, I still continue to like mysteries. That’s why when I remembered the new mystery anime that I marinated earlier this year, excitement immediately came over me. The premise was intriguing, and the character designs were familiar and interesting, so last Saturday I tried watching it. And now, before I share with you my review of it, let’s first get to know how the Dinner Table Detective operates!

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About the Anime

The Dinner Table Detective (Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de) is a mystery-comedy anime that premiered this spring 2025 and it aired from April 4 to June 20. This 12 episode-long anime was animated by Madhouse and was based on the novel written by Tokuya Higashikawa. Earlier this year, I really anticipated the completion of this anime’s airing. However, like most of the anime series I left to marinate, I often forgot about them, so when I remembered it again last week, I didn’t waste time to download all of the episodes. Enough with that, I’ll share with you the gist of its story—so if you’re interested, relax and scroll further.

Like any other mystery, it all started with the introduction of our main character, who is Reiko Hosho, an heiress to a wealthy family. At first glance, Reiko seemed like any other wealthy lady, prim and proper; however, there’s more to what meets the eye. For unknown to many, Reiko is a newbie detective from the Kunitachi Police Department, and to avoid unnecessary attention, she chose to hide her wealthy background. But her cover was almost blown when a mystery case happened at one of her friend’s social gatherings. Thankfully, before her incompetent mentor discovers her secret, a mysterious helping hand helped her, and it turns out that it’s her new butler, Kageyama.

Same with the usual butlers, Kageyama is extremely competent in assisting his master, but as Reiko confides the mystery to him, he couldn’t help but criticize the apparent lack of deduction skills of his master. Yet despite his sharp tongue, Kageyama still proves that no mystery can be left unsolved because together with his master, they would solve puzzling cases—mysteries that are better solved after dinner, and thus the dinner table detective was born.

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Honestly, the first episode was quite underwhelming for me. I kinda expected that it would be more hooking, but it struck me as an average mystery. I was expecting something else thrilling, yet it was just another mystery that was quite obvious. Well, that’s my opinion on the first episode, but as I watch this series further, I somehow appreciate the convenience of short mysteries. For there are really long mystery cases, and often, most of the details of the story are there distract you from the tiny clues that are important for the case. Yeah, it’s always the small details, and perhaps one of the things I like in the cases solved is that they’re too straightforward. It doesn’t let you get bored with the long narratives that are usually just there to veer you off the course.

Since it’s a mystery-comedy, of course, there are funny scenes and characters that entertained me a bit. I can’t say they’re totally funny because I don’t feel like it. There are silly scenes, but for me, they don’t appeal as funny as they intend to. They’re borderline cringy, but it’s something tolerable. Maybe the one that cracked me up genuinely was the straightforwardness of Kageyama. He really has no filter whenever he criticizes Reiko’s cluelessness, and it’s sort of satisfying because there are points that are quite obvious yet she still has a hard time grasping them. So yeah, I’m really happy that Kageyama’s there to help her because if he isn’t then innocent characters would really go in jail.

Opposite to how I feel about Kageyama, I was definitely disappointed with how Inspector Kazamatsuri turned out. Like my expectation with the first episode, I was underwhelmed with him because I’m expecting that he would play an important role in each of the cases. However, the moment I get to know his character, I immediately wish that he would just shut up. I’m not really fond of loud characters, yet I don’t fully dislike them. I thought that he would be flashy and smart at the same time, but I guess it’s just the flashy part that made it out. His character design reminded me of Kaito Kid, so I thought he would be as brilliant as him, but it turned out he’s just mostly all talk. And after watching it all, I can say that he’s like Ran’s dad in this anime.

So much for the story and characters, the animation was decent, which was expected since Madhouse animated it. The opening and ending song were nice, although I like the ending song more for it leaves a nice heartwarming feeling, which is pretty unusual because ending songs usually sound melancholic. Further, the bright color palette they used somehow amplified the comical part of the story, and it balances out the bit of melancholy I felt whenever there's a tragedy that happened. Speaking of tragedy, most of the cases ended up that way, and I guess that’s one of the things I like about this anime, because same in real life, mystery mostly ends up in tragedy. One must pay for his or her crimes, no matter how good his or her intentions are.

Overall, this anime was a decent watch despite that it was underwhelming at first. Perhaps it’s just me because I expected too much, but anyway, the moment I got used to its pace, the cases somehow became intriguing and hooking. They say mysteries leave a bad aftertaste, yet this left a nice one. The ending was hopeful, and even with just a single season, it could do just fine. So if you’re looking for a mystery that’s not that heavy and tedious to follow, then you need to try watching this anime. Before I forget, I’ll give my experience in watching this anime a 7.5/10.

And now for its trailer, here it is—

Have you seen this anime already? Or you still haven't encountered it yet? Well, if you have something to share, then feel free to comment. And that's all for now, minna-san~ I hope you enjoyed reading my review.