Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation
First novel volume cover
櫻子さんの足下には死体が埋まっている (Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru)
Genre	Mystery
Light novel
Written by	Shiori Ōta
Illustrated by	Tetsuo
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Imprint	Kadokawa Bunko
Original run	February, 2013 – present
Volumes	11
Manga
Written by	Shiori Ōta
Illustrated by	Tou Mizuguchi
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Young Ace
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	August 2015 – present
Volumes	1
Anime television series
Directed by	Makoto Katō
Written by	Takayo Ikami
Music by	Technoboys Pulcraft Green-Fund
Studio	Troyca
Licensed by	AUS: Hanabee NA: Sentai Filmworks
Original network	Tokyo MX, KBS, SUN, HBC, TVS, CTC, tvk, GBS, BS11, MTV, TVQ
Original run	October 7, 2015 – December 23, 2015
Episodes	12
Television drama
Directed by	Yūichi Satō Daisuke Yamauchi
Written by	Junpei Yamaoka
Music by	Yugo Kanno
Original network	Fuji TV
Original run	April 23, 2017 – June 25, 2017
Episodes	10

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation or A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako's Feet (櫻子さんの足下には死体が埋まっている, Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru) is a Japanese mystery novel series written by Shiori Ōta, with illustrations by Tetsuo. Kadokawa Shoten has published nine volumes since 2013 under their Kadokawa Bunko label, with over 1 million copies in print. An anime television series adaptation by Troyca aired in Japan between October and December 2015. A live-action television series adaptation aired between April 23 and June 25, 2017 on Fuji TV.

Plot

Sakurako Kujō is a genius beauty in her mid-twenties whose life is centered around one thing and one thing only: bones. With little tolerance for others, she would be completely isolated in her study full of skeletons if it weren’t for high school boy Shotaro—her new assistant and constant companion. Why exactly she has taken a shine to him remains a mystery, but one thing is clear: Whenever the two go out together, the chances are high that they will come across a human corpse.

Characters

Shōtarō Tatewaki (館脇 正太郎, Tatewaki Shōtarō)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (radio drama), Junya Enoki (anime)

Played by: Taisuke Fujigaya

He is a high school boy who assists Sakurako in her bone-digging expeditions. It so happens that they always find human remains in the process. He keeps Sakurako in check, as she tends to go crazy and try to keep the human remains for herself.

Sakurako Kujō (九条 櫻子, Kujō Sakurako)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (radio drama), Shizuka Itō (anime)

Played by: Alisa Mizuki

She is a sharp-witted beautiful woman who comes from a prominent family and lives in a big old house with only a housekeeper as a companion. She has a hobby of collecting the bones of dead animals and reconstructing them. However, she is more interested in human remains. And with her being an osteologist, she also developed forensic skills from her uncle, a prominent forensic scientist in the prefecture, and has helped with many unsolved murders. She has a dislike for interpersonal relationships, although she has a fiance working with the Hokkaido Prefectural Police. She would often refer to Shōtaro as "shōnen" ("boy") instead of his real name.

Yuriko Kōgami (鴻上 百合子, Kōgami Yuriko)

Voiced by: Ayaka Imamura (anime)

Shōtarō's classmate who keeps becoming entwined with his cases by coincidence.

Ume Sawa (沢 梅, Sawa Ume) / Gran (ばあやさん, Baaya-san)

Voiced by: Masako Isobe (anime)

Played by: Machiko Washio

Sakurako's caretaker, who is kind-hearted but also strict, particularly when it comes to Sakurako's love of sweets.

Itsuki Isozaki (磯崎 齋, Isozaki Itsuki)

Voiced by: Shunya Hiruma (radio drama), Akira Ishida (anime)

Played by: Takaya Kamikawa

A life science teacher at Shotaro's school. He is handsome and slightly arrogant though he does care for his students.

Sōko Chiyoda (千代田 薔子, Chiyoda Sōko)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (anime)

Naoe Ariwara (在原 直江, Ariwara Naoe)

Naoe is Sakurako's fiance who works as a police officer, and vouches for her when she works on a case.

Hiroki Utsumi (内海 洋貴, Utsumi Hiroki)

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (anime)

Utsumi is a police officer who often helps Sakurako and Shōtarō on cases.

Hector (へクター, Hekutā)

A dog previously owned by a family Sakurako helped. After said family moved into an apartment they gave Hector to Sakurako. Hector consistently exhibits a powerful interest and excitement toward corpses, seeking them out and staying near them when he finds them, and getting as excited as Sakurako when new skeletons arrive.

Haruto Imai (今居 陽人, Imai Haruto)

Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara (anime)

Hanabusa (花房, Hanabusa)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (anime)

A professional painter. He is the mastermind behind many of the homicides that Sakurako investigates.

Media

Anime

An anime adaptation by Troyca aired in Japan between October 7, 2015 and December 23, 2015 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Dear Answer" performed by True while the ending theme is "Uchiyoserareta Bōkyaku no Zankyō ni" (打ち寄せられた忘却の残響に, The Reverberation of a Washed Up Oblivion) by Technoboys Pullcraft Green-Fund feat. Yuki Ootake.

Episode list

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No.	Title	Original air date

Live-action series

A live-action television series adaptation of the manga series was announced on February 24, 2017. The series was co-directed by Yūichi Satō and Daisuke Yamauchi, and written by Junpei Yamaoka, with music composed by Yugo Kanno. It premiered on Fuji TV in April 23, 2017, airing every Sunday at 9:00pm for 10 episodes.

External links

• Official anime website Template:Ja icon
• Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia