The Detective is Already Dead Manga Vol. 2 Review – Finding the Lost Heart

Manga adaptions of light novels can really be a hit or miss. The light novel version of a story has a chance to finely detail scenes and situations for the reader to follow. However, manga needs to keep a particular pace for the reader to follow while depicting memorable scenes. The Detective is Already Dead Vol. 2 manga has some of the best pacing I’ve seen from an adaption. It doesn’t spend too much time on needless exposition and ops to tell this insanely romantic and adventurous story by relying on the characters’ facial expressions.

The Detective is Already Dead Vol. 2 begins by recounting the events of how Kimihiko Kimizuka met Bat. It’s a vital flashback, not only for the story’s sake but also for Kimizuka’s newest case to find the heart donor of Nagisa Natsunagi. It’s been one year since the death of Kimizuka’s boss, the ace detective, Siesta, but evidently, she may be closer than he thinks.

There are some genuinely romantic scenes in the middle chapters, and Kimizuka remembers minor details about Siesta. It shows how much he admired her, even though she would put him down or drag him into danger. Their partnership lasted three years, and it was emotionally taxing on him, but I feel like, in these moments, he’d rather have that than be without her. His knack for getting into things against his will continues when a young idol requests his help.

The story is mainly framed around Kimizuka and Natsunagi’s friendship and how it continues after closing the case. What’s great about these scenes is how well they’re shown in the panels. The pacing doesn’t speed up or go too fast. Instead, we linger on these moments and enjoy Kimizuka being honest about his feelings. That is, right before something crazy happens, such as a young idol girl calling him a pervert in front of a crowd of people.

The illustrations by Mugiko are lovely. The characters don’t have to say too much because you can see their facial expressions of confusion, determination, and confidence. They each have a distinct personality that is highlighted in every scene. I felt the emotion of the characters and even laughed at some comedic scenes. Still, I would have liked the “matter of fact” and “coincidence” scenes kept at a minimum. I don’t like the idea that everyone is holding onto these secrets, and they won’t just say something. Instead, the pair is expected to go around and listen to long-winded stories to get the information they could have received hours before.

The Detective is Already Dead Vol. 2 is a very playful story of a detective’s assistant who would instead enjoy not being a detective at all. However, here is in taking on a new case. This volume is pretty emotional, but the whimsical back and forth of the conclusion tell me that this story understands how to handle romance and comedy, which is essential to stand out in this medium. Regarding manga adaptations, this is one readers will appreciate due to the lengths Mugiko went to get these characters right.