Yes, she has a strict looking bobbed hairstyle, strides around in black clothes and calf length boots and wields a (physically impossible) telescopic bullwhip with which she apprehends perps, Indiana Jones style but... despite the title, this is a decidely non-sleazy comedy cop show which serves up a decent amount of fun, especially if you're already familiar with the particularly Japanese take on goofball comedy.
Sergeant Kuroi Maya (Mikako Tabe) somehow parachutes into the Violent Crimes Investigation Section of Kawasaki Aozora Police Station for reasons which are never quite explained but presumably relate to her (unseen) father's position as the Deputy Police Commissioner. Nepotism also seems to account for her ability to operate on a maverick basis much to the frustration of her boss Inspector Shirokane Fujiko, the other female lead.
The series kicks off with a stakeout in which a crazed otaku is threatening to kill a shop assistant because she sold the last of some kind of collector's anime character doll. The entire Violent Crimes team are trying to persuade him to give up when in strides Kuroi, complete with the limited edition doll which she has managed to obtain from somewhere. Holding the doll in front of her face, she then proceeds, ventriloquist style, to first befriend and then belittle the perp in front of everyone present until, completely brow-beaten, he gives up.
This is basically Kuroi's MO. She became a 'sadistic' detective because she wants to persecute criminals at a decidely personal level. However, her misanthropic behaviour is basically directed at everyone around her, including the unfortunate constable-on-the-beat, Shusuke Daikanyama, who she encounters on her second case and then drafts in to the department as her sidekick, without the consent of her boss.
One of Kuroi's unique eccentricities (see earlier posts re. cops and eccentricities) is to have the hapless Shusuke spin her round on a children's roundabout while she contemplates the facts of the case, Sherlock-violin style. There's also Kuroi's oft repeated catchphrase 'Bakajanaino?' which means, 'Are you stupid?' and which gets to be addressed to just about everyone in the show at one time or another.
To complete the required roster of quirky cop show characterisation tropes, there's a regular underworld informer who appears in ever more outlandish disguises as the series progresses, and a crossdressing forensic pathologist played by singer (and one-time denizen of London) Mitz Mangrove.
It probably helps to have some comedy slice-of-life and/or thriller anime or J-dorama under your belt to get the best out of the slightly corny humour that pervades this series. Certainly, seasoned anime viewers will recognise the flustered, awkward male vs. ice-cool, intelligent female trope that characterises the behaviour of the show's regular team members.
This is not high art TV drama but it is entertaining enough. One-off series like these are churned out by the hundred, as far as I can make out. More often than not they are based on a manga series, visual novel or, as is the case here, a conventional novel. I think their very ephemerality is part of the appeal. It's an appeal that is almost addictive insofar as you have a sense that there's always going to be something even weirder or wackier out there somewhere which you'd hate to let slip through your grasp.
