Tantei to Neko-chan – Josee

An ex-police officer private detective × a mysterious young man.

The one that had been creeping in Kawasaki’s heart unnoticed, who runs a detective agency, is sometimes a pushy assistant, sometimes an investigation target (!?), Okachimachi…

Detective and Neko-Chan is a forced proximity, workplace romance that felt, well, forced.

I am not a fan of characters who have affairs with married people. Unfortunately, Okachimachi is a guy who sleeps with other men in exchange for something. The men are frequently married.

Okachimachi is a desperate, needy mess who latched on to the latest person who showed him kindness, which happened to be Kawasaki. Kawasaki is a serial do-gooder whose tender heart bleeds for everything from stray cats to hapless disaster magnets like Okachimachi.

The part that left me unconvinced is that it doesn’t have to be Kawasaki. Okachimachi would have latched on to anyone to fill the void inside him.

The romance might be meh, the PI part makes up for it. The supporting cast and the cases make this manga enjoyable.

Kawasaki is a PI and frequently handles cheating spouse cases. It’s how he met Okachimachi, who later became his assistant. In these investigations, Okachimachi made himself pretty useful, making effective use of his androgynous looks to entrap cheaters.

The clients were interesting as well. One was a woman who wanted evidence against her best friend’s fiancé because she was convinced he was committing marriage fraud. It has a nice little twist. The client has feelings for her best friend.

One memorable case was a man requesting them to search for the true owner of his ring, his missing old lover. The client promised to return with a picture of his lover but never did. They found the old lover, nonetheless, but there was a shocking revelation! This is my favorite case.

There are other queer supporting characters and an adorable fat cat. My favorite was Hibiki, a pet detective and a misanthrope who prefers the company of animals to people. He always has a mischievous glint in his eyes and is eerily perceptive. I wished he was the one pair with Kawasaki.

Overall, a mix-bag but mostly a win. Hibiki deserves his own manga!

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