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Episode 1 Review

Japanese Title: DOUBLE DECKER! ダグ＆キリル

Summary

Double Decker is part of the ‘new animation project’ for Tiger & Bunny and will depict the ‘worst yet best detective buddies’. The anime stars Satoshi Mikami as veteran detective Doug Bilingam and Kohei Amasaki as enthusiastic but disappointing rookie detective Kirill Vrubel, who have teamed up at the specialized criminal investigation agency. Their mission is to clamp down on the dangerous drug called ‘Anthem’, which has a high mortality rate.

Impressions

Thanasis

I love silly comedies. Most of the time they try to be funny through jokes about situations we can all relate to and references to popular culture trivia that most of us can get. Double Decker has both and wraps it in a package that looks like a manzai routine meets an American cop-buddy movie. The first episode introduced us to the main characters and the protagonistic duo; Doug, a straight-faced detective part of a special unit, SEVEN-O, that goes after users of a drug called Anthem, a substance that turns its ‘victims’ into superhuman monsters. Kirill is a goofy constable whose head is over the clouds. He prefers daydreaming than doing his job properly and his only goal in life is to imitate the MC of his favorite western comics and become a hero just for all the wrong reasons. The rest of the characters are all colorful and memorable, from the members of the special unit to Kirill’s old lady landlord. The setting is a contemporary New York-style metropolitan city state called Risvaletta.

The anime is taking place in the world of another popular anime, Tiger & Bunny, but there is no indication if the two will overlap in any way. Yet, if you are looking for an action anime that follows the monster-of-the-week format (this is probably how this is gonna play) and some light-hearted comedy about silliness and cops, give this first episode a chance.

Jennifer

From the people who brought us Tiger & Bunny comes buddy-cop anime Double Decker: Doug and Kirill. The title is a pun on the Japanese word ‘deka’ (a slang term for ‘detective’ in Japanese) and double-decker buses. It seems to be a common misconception that this series is meant to be a sequel to Tiger & Bunny or have the same setting, when this is in fact not true. Although the series could very well be set in the same universe or timeline (not quite sure yet), DD has its own distinctive worldview. Right from the very first episode there are lots of fun references to famous cop shows such as Hawaii Five-O and more, yet its futuristic setting gives it its own special Double Decker taste. If you’re wondering what this has to do with Tiger & Bunny, well it should be obvious once you watch the first episode. The character designs, visuals, direction and comedy all have that Tiger & Bunny feel to it, without being so similar that it feels like a cheap rip-off. Most importantly, the main theme of T&B and DD are the same – ‘buddies’.

As of Episode 1, the series is heavily resting on Kirill’s personality, so it is really important that the surrounding characters have personalities that don’t get drowned by the rookie detective. The story seems to revolve around a fictional drug named ‘Anthem’, which is not exactly an original plot point, so we will have to see if DD is going to bring us something different.

To be completely honest, it is very difficult to see how this series will go. I enjoyed the first episode, loved the world-setting and think Kirill is an interesting enough character (maybe I just really like his chunibyo tendencies), however it could honestly go in either direction from this point!

I would recommend the first episode for anybody who loves cheesy buddy-cop shows. Of course I would say T&B fans should check it out, but you really don’t need to know anything about Tiger & Bunny to start this show!