Himitsu: The Revelation

Description on AnimeDB.net

Himitsu: The Revelation seems simple enough, and if you can get over the initial believability bump -- Solving crimes using the brains of the deceased. Sounds a bit like Pushing Daisies, but this series uses the brains and refers to their use with more technology and computers, rather than supernatural reason. Just that bit of difference introduces differently types of challenges that the Section Nine team (a special team assembled to deal with this form of research for police investigations) have to deal with.

It's not just "let's look in his brain and we can see who dunnit". The brain has to be intact, retrieved within a certain amount of time, the victim's family has to release the brain, they can only retrieve the visuals (no audio), and there's the obvious weird fact that to solve a victim's mystery, they're basically taking a little something that was otherwise going to go into a coffin/urn with the rest of the body.

This anime doesn't focus too much on how they do it, but more about how they use it to solve these mysteries. It's incredibly interesting how it seems the series could just be the same scenario over and over again, but different scenarios are quickly delved into, skipping parts you are familiar with and really getting down to business. Later on, there is a tad more of the team's members and also the past behind the section leader.

One big draw is being able to see into the minds of victim's last moments, and sometimes seeing into the minds of killers. It can get violent, bloody or graphic quickly, so this one isn't to watch with the kids. Give it a try if you're not afraid to get into some crime-scene-like messy memories, and see how Section Nine can overcome the challenges of the technology and others involved in the cases.

Recommendations:

• Shigofumi...psychological messes can be uncovered in even the simple anime premises of letters from the dead
  
• Antique Bakery...a little more comedy and pastries, but the underlying mystery is there (See Anime Spotlight)
• Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo...less mystery, more action, and some strange cases tackled by a sassy protagonist and her right-hand man (See Anime Spotlight)
• Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro...comedy, otherworldy creatures and finishing moves aid a young pawn and the demon that guides her through juicy mysteries (See Anime Spotlight)
• Umineko no Naku Koro ni...before the sun rises, a rich family at each others' necks over an inheritance must solve a riddling epitaph or become the victims of a mercilous witch (See Anime Spotlight)
  

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