Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions – Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Case of the Metropolitan Serial Drownings

Episode 1 of Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions opens with a female lead detective Amamiya exclaiming that there has been a fifth murder victim already. Here, we are introduced to Isshiki Totamaru. Amamiya simply asks him to go home and sleep since he’ll be useless in solving the case.

Isshiki goes to Kiku-san of the General Affairs, who states the misadventures that Isshika has had so far. He also says that Isshiki might get kicked out of the team if he continues to act without thinking of the consequences.

Kiku-sa mentions a ‘he’, a sleuth who could solve the case. He hands him an old photo and an address. Isshiki reaches the address and it is revealed that he manages an apartment building.

Isshiki goes up to the flat and as he is about to ring the bell, a male voice speaks, telling Isshiki that his mission won’t be successful. The voice also says that he won’t help Isshiki in whatever favor Isshiki asks.

Isshiki mentions that Kiku-san sent him, which prompts the door to open. Isshiki is surprised to look at the dishevelled appearance of none other than Ron Kamonohashi.

Ron grumbles about Kiku messing with his affairs. Stepping inside the house, Isshiki sees a cat thinking it to be dead. Ron mentions that the cat is sleeping and it was given to him by Kiku. Kiku’s son and Ron went to the same school.

Isshiki is surprised to find the floor of Ron’s apartment covered in cushions. Ron calls it his ‘Floor of Indolence’ since it knows Ron’s “daily routine of boredom”. Ron is cut off from any sort of media or electronic devices. 

His overall approach towards things is quite pessimistic. Ron refers to himself as “a hunk of junk, frozen in time” and asks Isshiki to leave. He refuses to help and claims that Kiku keeps on sending people for him to partner with. 

Isshiki is surprised as all his efforts to talk with Ron are a waste. Ron tells Isshiki to pray to the gods instead. He deduces that Isshiki was just at a shrine and that he was raised by his grandparents. Ishhiki is left speechless.

Ron throws a tantrum again and asks Isshiki to leave. Just then, Isshiki receives a phone call from Amamiya that there has been a sixth victim at Kazahana Park in Shibuya. She asks him to move there immediately.

Ron goes into a fit when he hears the case. He says that he cannot solve this and he went to great lengths to distance himself from sleuthing. Apparently he also has an incurable illness. He asks Isshiki to leave but Isshiki insists on taking Ron with him. He promises to back up Ron whenever he needs Isshiki’s help.

Ron and Isshiki run to the scene of the crime. The sixth victim is revealed to be a private investment broker named Okamasa. Ron flings himself next to Okamasa’s corpse, speaking as if having a conversation with it. Ron says that it was interesting that Okamasa gave up his valuables without a fight and mentions that Okamasa drowned. The inspector and Isshiki are surprised that Ron would know the details of the victim.

Ron begins noting the fine details about the corpse. Isshiki is surprised and confirms Ron’s deductions by summarizing the past five murder victims. Each victim has no traces of alcohol or drugs and were drowned at places without any water.

Ron suggests to find overlapping details to which Isshiki counters that there are no water bodies nearby. Ron says there is and exclaims that even after a five-year hiatus, his skills are not rusty.

Ron hollers up Isshiki to catch the culprit. He dubs Isshiki as “Toto” since “Totomaru” is too long a name. He asks Toto to arrange for some cash. Isshiki is skeptical to follow Ron.

The scene cuts to a clothing shop where Isshiki is dressed in expensive yet tacky looking attire. The selection is of course, Ron’s. Ron also mentions that Isshiki would need to chop his messy hair mop, to which Isshiki reacts asking Ron to look into the mirror first.

The two begin an undercover investigation. Isshiki claims he has been sleepless since two nights and wonders if he would be able to carry on. Isshiki enters the barber shop for a haircut but as he heads for the shampoo, Isshiki pretends to fall asleep. 

The barber fills up the bowl with water as Ron enters. Ron announces that the barber is the killer and the shampoo station is filled with oxygen deficient air. Isshiki connects the remaining dots but wonders how Ron knew it was a barber.

Ron explains that all victims had overgrown hair and if they wanted to attend any special event, they would go for a haircut. He cross referenced it to the victim’s movements, found a place with easy access to dry ice and also the one which cannot be peered into. He also mentioned that a place accepting walk-ins would fit the bill. 

This was the reason for Ron to dress up Isshiki in expensive clothes and talk about stocks; the barber preferred clients of that strata. Ron also mentions that the barber was caught in the act.

The barber makes a run for it and Isshiki follows. The barber is conveniently trapped, revealing that his sole motive was money. He was in huge debt because of stocks. Ron interrupts the barber’s monologue and asks him to jump. Ron’s eyes change color as he commands the barber, and they obey him.

Ron gets out of his trance and realizes what he has done. Isshiki has held onto the barber but soon slips. However, Ron holds them both with a rope. 

Ron exclaims that he has a new idea. People have gathered on the road and are worried. Kiku is one of the onlookers who grins satisfactorily. He later reveals that his ‘illness’ is that he kills the culprit but he has no conscious memory of doing so. He pressures the culprits into dying and it is too late by the time he comes to his senses.

Ron concludes by saying that the reason why Kiku sent Isshiki to him is because Ron needs a naïve partner and not an intelligent one. Ron asks Isshiki to bring all his cases to him.

The Episode Review

Episode 1 of Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions was the perfect start to an anime which promises a great deal of sleuthing and camaraderie between the leads. Isshiki and Ron are foils to each other. We saw that Ron’s deductions made Isshiki think a little more, and Isshiki’s ‘act first, think later’ approach to situations made Ron get out of his murderous trance.

Just under 25-minutes, the episode manages to capture one’s attention. It will be a delight to see what new cases the duo encounters next. It will be a cherry on the cake if Ron is met with a nemesis, just to spice things up!