# Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation (2015)

> A serious high school student is drawn into the morbid investigations of an eccentric heiress who adores bones.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/57215

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, crime, mystery
- Network: TOKYO MX
- Cast: Junya Enoki, Shizuka Itoh, Kikuko Inoue, Ayaka Imamura, Akira Ishida, Masako Isobe
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5194246/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: morbid, playful, melancholic, eerie, dark

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with a solid season rating offset by a modest vote count, praised for its macabre detective pairing and bone-focused mysteries.

## Synopsis

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation (2015) is a Japanese animated crime mystery series created for TOKYO MX and produced by TROYCA, DAX Production and Lantis. Shōtarō Tatewaki, a serious high school student, is pulled into the orbit of Sakurako Kujō, a wealthy and strikingly beautiful woman in her mid-twenties who adores beautiful bones. The two live in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, where a sequence of incidents turns on skeletal remains and buried evidence. Each episode follows a grim case that Sakurako approaches with cheerful curiosity while Shōtarō brings a sober, grounded eye, and their clashing temperaments drive the investigations forward. The single twelve-episode season is a self-contained run of mysteries rather than a single continuing arc. Its tone blends morbid whimsy with melancholy and unsettling darkness, and its forensic detail gives the cases weight. Fans of Bones, Monster and Mushishi will find resonance in its mix of eerie procedure, offbeat partnership and bleak human stories. Dark, quirky and sharp, it suits viewers who enjoy grim puzzles delivered with a playful surface.

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