Detective School Q

Detective School Q is the story of a group of young students from Class Q of Dan Detective School (DDS), a prestigious and renowned detective academy founded by Morihiko Dan, the most famous detective in Japan, and the adventures and mysteries they unfold and solve together. They eventually work against Pluto, a mysterious organization which creates almost fool-proof plans that only a handful of detectives can solve.

Kyū Renjō (連城 究, Renjō Kyu))

Voiced by: Megumi Ogata (anime)
Portrayed by: Ryūnosuke Kamiki (live-action)

A bright, sweet and optimistic boy who is also a brilliant detective, but a little awkward in social situations. Otherwise, he is considered to be the team's leader and is known for his logical explanations of cases. His motto (taught by Renjou Satoru (his father)) - "A Detective must never give up or the case will remain unsolved". He has a good sense of judgment regarding people (when everyone distrusted Ryu, he expressed his open appreciation for him). He seems to have a crush on Megumi though he does say things that infuriate her such as looking and telling the colour of her panties. Even though he acts this way, he cares for her very much, as shown when they were trapped in a secret door in the old school building. He did everything he could to help Megumi as she struggled after getting bitten by a pit viper, even opening up the pipe system to send Ryu and the others an SOS. In addition, another such running gag of Kyu's is his constant misinterpretation of the Japanese language (for example, he said "training pants" when he heard the words "tore han," which means "treasure hunting").

Kyū had been a single child of a single parent (his mother) for as long as he could remember. However, a certain man had acted as his mentor when Kyū was little. When he was five years old, he was kidnapped and held as a hostage by some criminals but his mentor rescued him. In reality he was none other than Kyu's father (Satoru Renjou, Morihiko Dan's partner and right-hand man). Realizing the high risk of being a detective, Satoru married Kyu's mother in secret to keep his new family safe. After Renjou's death, Kyu's mother hid the truth from Kyu for years, trying to shield him from the danger that the life of a detective is always in; after he was accepted in the DDS, Mrs. Renjou changed her mind and supported him fully. One of his favourite words after solving the mystery is "There could only be one answer!"

Ryū Amakusa (天草 流, Amakusa Ryū))

Voiced by: Kōichi Tōchika (anime)
Portrayed by: Ryōsuke Yamada (live-action)

Ryu is the grandson of King Hades. King Hades had him sent to DDS. After his parents died, Pluto took care of him. As a child he was never allowed to socialize with others and so, viewed his house as more of a prison than a home. He was never allowed to have friends either. Since he never socialized, Ryu seems to have a cold personality, but he is still friendly with the other members of Class Q, and shares a special bond with Kyu, since he was the first one who could understand him. He admits that Kyu is a better detective than he is, despite Kyu's childish behaviour. He also mentions that tenacity and hard work are the factors that gives Kyu his edge over him. Ryu also has a Pluto mark on the back of his neck (seen at the Last Opening Video of Detective Academy Q).

For some reason, Ryu cannot remember his childhood, but is determined to find out anything he can. That Ryu is linked with Pluto is first discovered by Kyu, who keeps quiet about it, and even helps Ryu by trying to discover what had happened to him in the past. This leads them to several clues, like a portion of King Hades' diary and the institute where Megu had studied, among others. Once the hypnosis on him (which was blocking his memories) is removed, Ryu starts remembering his past. The final lock on his memories is removed by King Hades himself, since he considered his plan as a failure, due to which Ryu remembers that his father is still alive and is reunited with him.

Megumi Minami (美南 恵, Minami Megumi))

Voiced by: Hōko Kuwashima (anime)
Portrayed by: Mirai Shida (live-action)

Commonly referred by her friends as "Meg" (メグ, Megu), she has a unique talent of having a photographic memory, allowing her to memorize a scene instantly. This allows her to notice if a piece of evidence has been moved or is missing. She has a big crush on both Kyu and Ryu. However Ryu is not interested in her meanwhile Kyu enjoys teasing her (a trait usually seen in a boy who likes a particular girl ). She studied in the Tokyo National Talent Development Research Center alongside Yutaka Saburomaru. She lives with her older sister Akane (who attends a local university) as her parents work abroad. By the end of the series it is implied that Kyu and Megu are a couple.

The first time she sees Ryu, she feels that she has seen him somewhere, but cannot remember (which, she feels is odd, since she has photographic memory). Once her memories are unlocked, she remembers that both she and Ryu had studies at the Tokyo National Talent Development Research Center.

Kazuma Narusawa (鳴沢 数馬, Narusawa Kazuma))

Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (anime)
Portrayed by: Naruki Matsukawa (live-action special), Katsumi Wakaba (live-action drama)

Kazuma is a rich, well known computer games programmer. He often helps find information through his laptop computer, which he carries around with him at all times. At first after learning that he was a member of Class Q (which at the time was believed to be the lowest) he tried to get transferred to Class A. However, when his classmates came to his aid when he was in trouble he changed his mind, preferring to stay with his friends. Kazuma has a friendly rivalry with Kinta due to their different approaches to detective work. Kazuma and Kinta are often the butt of each other's jokes. He is a prodigy, but he can't get the right answers without his "lucky" hat as implied in episode 3; he seems to get over this flaw by the end of the TV series.

Kintarō Tōyama (遠山 金太郎, Tōyama Kintarō))

Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa (anime)
Portrayed by: Jun Kaname (live-action)

Kinta is the son of a well-respected police officer, but moved out due to a family dispute. He now lives alone and works part-time in different jobs, going from one to another. Kinta is the strongest member of the class, having had lessons in judo, kendo and karate. He also has superb senses, especially his eyesight and sense of smell. Kinta often mocks Kazuma's high tech approach to detective work, preferring instead to rely on his "instinct". His tough personality as well as his excellent senses have been very useful at times. He is very strong and sometimes hits either Kazuma or Kyu, instead of only patting them. He also repeatedly tries to pick up girls (with little success).

Morihiko Dan (団 守彦, Dan Morihiko)

Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka (anime)
Portrayed by: Takanori Jinnai (live-action)

Born in 1936, Morihiko Dan is the founder and principal of Dan Detective School, and a famous detective who has solved many cases, and is the only private detective in Japan who is licensed to hold a gun. Morihiko Dan was a former police officer who resigned to open up a private detective company of his own, Dan Detective Company (DDC), the parent company of DDS. He was assisted by a young boy named Satoru Renjo, who acted as his partner, assistant, and apprentice. Together they helped build DDC and DDS into a top level detective company and school (some of the top-level detectives at DDC and instructors at DDS were the first generation students of DDS). Among many criminals they fought, the most powerful one was the crime organization known as Pluto (冥王星, Meiosei). Although Pluto was finally thought to apparently have been destroyed, it wasn't without cost. Satorou Renjo, Dan's most prominent apprentice and heir-apparent was killed, and Mr. Dan was forced to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Years later, there are signs that Pluto is being resurrected. Realizing that his days were numbered due to his old age, Morihiko Dan decided to open a new, special class called Class Q, consisting of several extremely talented persons. He would train them, analyze each one of them, and appoint the best student of this class to be his successor.

Shino Katagiri (片桐 紫乃, Katagiri Shino)

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (anime)
Portrayed by: Sawa Suzuki (live-action)

The loyal assistant of Morihiko Dan, she assisted Megumi, Kyu and Kinta in getting admitted to DDS, having met them during a case, featured in the first episode of the anime series.

Shintarō Maki (真木 慎太郎, Maki Shintarō)

Voiced by: Ken Narita (anime)
Portrayed by: Toshihide Tonesaku (live-action)

DDS's head of forensics, Shintarou Maki is both a skilled teacher and doctor, and is quite intelligent in his knowledge of medical and forensic science.

Kōtarō Nanami (七海 光太郎, Nanami Kōtarō)

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (anime)
Portrayed by: Tarō Yamamoto (live-action)

Nanami is another loyal righthand of Morihiko Dan. He's very skilled in the art of disguise, and is often ordered by Dan to watch Class Q in cases by disguising as one of the suspects. Nanami's very carefree, as he loves to show his new tricks (which Ryu despises) to Class Q, but he can be extremely serious when he needs to be. His favourite disguise is that of a cactus, which is also occasionally accompanied by a flashy, brightly patterned sombrero or Mexican outfit. This usually appears when he is under stress, such as when he had to take Dan-sensei's place as head of DDS during Dan-sensei's hospital stay. He is usually assigned to look after Class Q especially when they discover the Pluto's hand behind the undertaken cases. When Dan-sensei takes ill, he is appointed the temporary Head Master of the school.

In the anime, he appears very early and for the majority of the show he does absolutely nothing that has any effect on the plot or story line of any of the episodes. For instance, after the students have left Class Q he removes his disguise and says something like "that's interesting." In the manga, he appears rather late. In fact, Class Q is not aware that he is following their progress for quite a long time.

Yutaka Saburōmaru (三郎丸豊, Saburōmaru Yutaka)

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (anime)
Portrayed by: Akiyoshi Nakao (live-action)

He studied at Tokyo University. He is arrogant and enjoys boasting about his "superiority". He thinks he will be the qualified detective, often becoming the comic relief in the series. He is initially in Class A after joining DDS, but later gets demoted to Class B in the manga. He knows Megumi Minami via the Tokyo National Talent Development Research Center and has a crush on Megumi's older sister Akane alongside Kinta in one episode in the anime. Although he has an IQ of 180, he seems too inept in solving mysteries.

A live action adaptation of the series began airing in Japan from July 3, 2007 on Nippon TV.[6] It spanned a total of 11 episodes. A prequel to the television series aired on Nippon TV prior to the premiere, featuring the same cast. The opening theme was "Answer" by Flow, while the ending theme was "Stand By Me" by the brilliant green.

• Pierrot's Official Website for Detective School Q
• Animax Japan's website for Detective School Q
• Animax East Asia's website for Detective School Q
• Animax South Asia's website for Detective School Q
• TBS's Website for Detective School Q
• Detective School Q (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia