FIF#243-Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective

At the Tenikai General Hospital, the lives of dozens hang in the balance daily.  For Doctor Ameku Takao, most of those cases can be solved in seconds.  It’s the more mysterious illnesses with no clear cure or answer that really intrigue her.  Together with her hand chosen staff, Ameku leads the Investigative Pathology unit, using unpredictable and unorthodox methods to solve mysteries and maybe save a few lives in the process.

 
Maybe it’s my immense love for Apothecary Diaries but when a random title comes across my feed about a Doctor who (no pun intended) happens to be a cutie, it might merit a first episode peak.  Unlike Apothecary Diaries though, Ameku MD is a modern day medical drama featuring a main character who bears a very, let’s just say uncomfortable resemblance to another infamously beloved Anime menace.  And lets just say by the end of the first episode, I’m not sure I’d trust this Doctor Detective with my life much less anyone elses.
 
Yeah Ameku’s biggest grievance is her similarities to one Haruhi Suzumiya.  She’s young, highly ambitious, thirsting for anything interesting and only takes cases that peak her interest.  Sure she helps out a couple of patients in the first half of the premiere but she sounds so damn bored diagnosing them.  It’s not until a very deceased patient with a munched off leg and whose bleeding blue appears that she goes into full blown “OH HELL YES” mode.  It’s all the air of Suzumiya’s “Don’t bother me unless you’re an Alien, Esper or Time Traveler” mantra.  She even has a hapless Kyon esque assistant in Yu, who Ameku can hijack for her needs regardless of his.  My God these two could be related and it’s freaking scary.
 
There’s also something that bothers me about the Ameku premiere and it’s the show very noticeable focus on every characters lower half, specifically their feet.  This isnt anything new, especially for the more naughty Anime that love looking up girls skirts of focusing on a pair of long legs in pantyhose.  Ameku’s premiere feels like it was guest directed by very well established foot fetishist Quentin Tarantino.  Seriously they take up a good 25-30% of the entire episode.  Is the fact that Ameku wears sandals really that interesting of a character trait?  Her having a fairy tale mini house on the roof of the hospital is more of a attention grabber.  Also, the victim of the leg bite has blue blood?  I cant be the only one who saw this and first went to “He’s a Mu from Rahxephon” (they also had Blue Blood, man I need to get that show on Blu Ray).
 
In a wide world of Anime that has a more competent, fun and unique lead in Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective doesn’t really have anything to offer that merits further watching on my part.  The only thing Ameku instills in me is terror, terror that the mystery takes priority over the patients themselves and a very Haruhi Suzumiya level of ego.  Do yourself a favor, make Maomao your primary care physician, at least she has a heart.