Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective
Episodic, somewhat anthology-type series are always a romp! They give us the freedom as viewers to simply take a step back and randomly watch the, without knowing much about the origins of the story or the world. It’s cool that series like these are becoming more prevalent in the world, keeping us hooked throughout their multiple different stories.
Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective was destined to be a 4 part OVA; however, it was later turned into a 12 episode series that lasted only one season. I’m guessing it wasn’t due to the mediocre quality of the series, but rather because episodic anime was not very popular back in the 90s.
Shido Tatsuhiko is the protagonist in Nightwalker. He’s not just a private detective but also a vampire. He is joined by Yayoi Matsunaga, a female government agent, and Riho Yamazaki, an orphaned teenager who works as his secretary, and Guni, just a green imp. Together with them, Shido must fight against the demonic creatures known as the Nightbreed. Meanwhile, a vampire called Cain is constantly on the search for Shido.
Due to its episodic nature and its reduced usage of typical anime tropes such as exaggerated reactions, overly busty women, and incessant repeating of names, this might be one of the most accessible anime to date.
This will come as a pretty easy watch for fans of fantasy/thriller genres. However, the part that bothers me about this series is that there is nothing memorable. It is just a collection of episodes that don’t really lead up to much or even end with a pivotal event. Things just happen, and then they stop happening.
The bit of story that it does have is consistently being dragged by filler content. Sadly, I found the only prominent female character unnecessary as she served no purpose; her character had no role to play.
The best part about this series is the flashback sequences, which focus on the past lives of the main character and his relationship with Cain. Other than that, there is little to no development here in any way whatsoever. Every single episode features the same amount of low-creativity as the rest.
The characters in the show are EXTREMELY stereotypically predictable, and there’s also no development to their arcs to flesh them out. Some episodes try but heavily fail. The three main characters are the archetypical cocky lead guy, a yandere, and a tsundere. There isn’t any development given to any of the supporting characters in this anime, and it honestly serves no purpose even to have some of them.
Though I think that the series’s episodic nature did play a part in it being canceled after only one season, I don’t think that was entirely the case. Looking back, even a series so good as Cowboy Bebop managed to fail in catching large audiences back then, so there’s probably some truth to that fact.
Unfortunately, though, Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective is nowhere near the same quality as Cowboy Bebop, which is perhaps why it never even got popular in the west. This is a weak and mediocre episodic series that doesn’t do much.
By today’s standards, the art in Nightwalker is outdated, though it seems like it has pretty standard art direction in the context of its release. The monsters look pretty interesting for the most part, but they’re very repetitive, and they don’t have much variation.
There’s also the problem that the character designs completely shift after four episodes, which were supposed to be OVA. Honestly, the studio could’ve just copied the style of the OVA and made it look the same, if not better. The designs after episode 4 are honestly much worse.
In terms of the sound, though, they have a great voice acting cast here! Yamazaki Takumi does a great job as Shido, along with Shinohara Emi, Tanaka Hideyuki, Sakamoto Maaya, and Ootani Ikue. They made sure that Ootani Ikue doesn’t overact in this show, which is pretty cool. While the cast is excellent, the voice acting seems like they didn’t put much effort into it; it’s just decent. In terms of the music, I remember nothing from it. It was passable but bland, and nothing was memorable.
Overall, though, Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective isn’t the worst series I’ve ever seen, yet it still isn’t any good at all. It’s got many problems; however, it does manage to remain simple and accessible enough to watch for literally anyone.
This is a series that you’re only supposed to watch if you’re looking for vampires, zero complexity, and something you’ll forget in the morning. As for me, I can’t really call this a good series by any means whatsoever. It’s bland, forgettable, and mundane, which is why I can’t comprehend liking it.
