Thoughts on “Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok”

So, a while ago I had access to an anime network that let you watch a limited selection of shows on demand, and one of them was “Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok”. I liked it, and so after cancelling that channel I was browsing in a store that sold anime DVDs and found it, and started to watch it. As usual for me, at the time it disappointed me, although this time I remembered the reason: the main female character, Mayura, was really, really annoying. It also automatically did a “Play All”, which at the time didn’t fit into my schedule. So, I left it. With my recent push to finish things, I figured it was time to sit down and watch it.

The basic premise is that Loki of Norse Mythology fame is kicked out of Asgard and sent to Earth in the form of a child. Mayura is a young girl who is obsessed with mysteries, and the two of them end up working together at a detective agency — I think Loki had one before she came along and she just joined it — specializing in the supernatural. This is at least in part because Loki is trying to gather enough evil energy to allow him to return to Asgard, and so seeking out those things is a great way to get that. Anyway, a number of other Norse gods show up as well — Thor, Heimdall, Frey, Freya (Loki’s love interest who doesn’t remember that she’s a goddess when she’s in her child form), the Norns, etc — and there are a number of adventures that take place around the framing device, although the gathering of evil energy plot gets sidelined about half-way through.

I don’t know much about the background here, but I suspect that this anime was based on a manga, because a lot of the time the storylines seem to be based on things that would have been explained — or should have been explained — later. As an example, Loki’s daughter Hel makes what is supposed to be a shocking appearance, except the figure only appears in one episode before being revealed in the next, neither of which are shocking or very suspenseful. More of a background would have allowed for us to wonder about that.

This also impacts the ending, where a number of threads are left hanging, likely because of the expectation of there being another series to continue them, which as far as I know never happened. How Loki was going to cause Ragnarok, for example, or for Loki to finally face Odin, or for Loki and Freya to get together or to settle the love triangle with Skald, and so on. These just kinda peter out, as the gods ponder returning to Asgard and then all eventually decide to stay on Earth, which makes for an unsatisfying ending.

Overall, though, the show is kinda fun. It mixes humour with drama and action, and mostly balances it well. There are times when it inserts an odd comedic scene in a more serious episode — usually with either Frey doing something insane or a love triangle issue with Freya — but it even lampshades this at least once. Loki and Yamano are an interesting pairing with some interesting running gags — Yamano buying everything on mail order — and the gods often fit in nicely to the plots under discussion. It has its hiccups, sure, but overall it’s pretty entertaining. I’ll probably watch it again.