It is not always at the forefront but this is a detective themed anime/manga blog. In that spirit we have decided to create a small database of detective series. Every title on the list is a anime or manga that has a detective as the star of the story. Sometimes the detectives are professional, some times they are amateur detectives, and some are reluctant detectives who find themselves embroiled in a mystery. The only real requirement is that the mystery or mysteries they are trying to solve be a major part of the plot. Titles that have a one shot mystery like episode 30 of Hayate the Combat Butler are not listed for they are not true detective series.
Please feel free to send suggestions of titles to add to or remove from the list. In fact, we implore you, we need help! This is a work in progress.
*We have not watched/read everything on this list*
- 13-nichi wa Kinyoubi? by Chizuru Enomoto
- 20th/21st Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa
- A.D. Police Files by AIC
- Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple by Oriental Light and Magic
- Anyamaru Tantei Kirumin Zoo by JM Animation
- Astral Project: Tsuki no Hikari by Garon Tsuchiya and Syuji Takeya
- Big O by Sunrise
- Billy Bat by Naoki Urasawa
- Chief Detective Kenichi by Osamu Tezuka
- Cinderella Boy by Magic Bus
- Clamp School Detectives by CLAMP
- Cyber City Oedo 808 by Madhouse
- Daughter of Twenty Faces by Shinji Ohara
- Dazzle (Unprecedented Game) by Minari Endo
- Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
- Deka Kyoshi by Tamio Baba
- Denno Coil by Madhouse
- Detective Conan by Gosho Aoyama
- Detective School Q by Tadashi Agi
- Domain of Murder by Studio DEEN
- Dr. Fabre Is A Detective by Easy Film
- Dr. Thrill by Osamu Tezuka
- Fake by Sanami Matoh
- Ghost Hunt by Fuyumi Ono
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex by Production I.G
- Glass Maiden (Crystal Blaze) by Studio Fantasia
- Gosick by Kazuki Sakuraba
- Heat Guy J by Satelight
- Hello, Harinezumi by Kenshi Hirokane
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry) by 07th Expansion
- Jiraishin (Ice Blade) by Tsutomu Takahashi
- Kagen no Tsuki by Ai Yazawa
- Kaze No Yojimbo by Studio Pierrot
- Kindaichi Case Files by Yozaburo Kanari and Fumiya Sato
- Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki
- Licensed by Royal by Pioneer
- Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro by Yusei Matsui
- Master Keaton by Hokusei Katsushika and Naoki Urasawa
- Monster by Naoki Urasawa
- MPD Psycho by Eiji Otsuka and Shou Tajima
- Nightmare Inspector by Shin Mashiba
- Ojiichan wa Shounen Tantei by Inoue Yoshihisa
- Paprika by Madhouse
- Paranoia Agent by Madhouse
- Patlabor by Studio Deen
- Phantom Quest Corps by Madhouse
- Pluto by Naoki Urasawa
- Psychometrer Eiji by Yuma Ando and Masashi Asaki
- Q.E.D. by Motohiro Katou
- Remote by Seimaru Amagi and Tetsuya Koshiba
- Rose Hip Rose/Rose Hip Zero by Tohru Fujisawa
- Seikimatsu Tantei Kurabu by Yotsuya Simon
- Sexy Voice and Robo by Iou Kuroda
- Sherlock Hound by Tokyo Movie Shinsha
- Skull Man by Kazuhiko Shimamoto
- Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning by Kyou Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno
- Spiral Alive by Kyou Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno
- St. Luminous Mission High School by GENCO
- Steam Detectives by Kia Asamiya
- Sukeban Deka by Shinji Wada
- Suteki Tantei Labyrinth by Meito Manjo and Seiji Wakayama
- Switch by Otoh Saki and Tomomi Nakamura
- Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP
- Top Secret ~The Revelation~ by Madhouse
- Umineko no Naku Koro ni by 07th Expansion
- Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo by Yoshiki Tanaka and Narumi Kakinouchi
- Zettai Shounen by Ajia-do Animation Works
- Zodiac P.I. by Natsumi Ando
Reverse Thieves 
Astral Project by Kyoichi Katayama?
Perfect Blue
If Paprika counts, this one should.
Matantei Loki Ragnarok
Gunsmith Cats also has a bit of detective work in there as a common theme.
The Tokyo Babylon OVAs were definitely detective stories, as well as the 4 episode Phantom Quest Corps. Yu Yu Hakusho, especially the early ones, concerned the Spirit Detective Urameshi Yusuke. Cyber City Oedo 808, Wicked city perhaps? Billy Bat By Naoki Urasawa(manga).
Thanks for the help everyone!
@lwelyk
I’d have to disagree, we considered it but really I find Perfect Blue to be a descent into madness rather than a mystery. Whereas Paprika is literally looking for a stolen item.
-Narutaki
Cinderella Boy, Monkey Punch’s odd sci-fi homage to US detective shows.
Features two detectives, Ranma (who is pretty much Jim Rockford) and Rella, who end up sharing the same body and swapping places at midnight (at least in the anime and the 1982 version of the manga). The gimmick is that one tends to find themselves in the middle of the case the other is involved with and so has to unravel the case without knowing the beginning of it.
2007’s Skull Man adaptation is a detective show for much of it’s run – rather than focus on Skull Man as the hero, it focuses on a journalist and photographer’s attempts to figure out who Skull Man is and what is going on in the town. Only once Skull Man is revealed in the final quarter of the series does it shift to action.
I’d class Mononoke as an occult detective show as the focus is on The Medicine Seller’s attempts to deduce the Form, Truth and Regret of the individual mononoke, rather just tell a ghost or folklore tale.
And a couple of shows I’m only aware of rather than seen:
Dr Fabre Is A Detective – a 2000 show that I have little on beyond it’s existence and Enoki Films’ page on it http://www.enokifilmsusa.com/library/fabre.htm
St. Luminous Mission High School – 1998 mix of mystery and harem as the only boy at an all girls school investigates mysterious goings on.