Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is based off of the lightnovel of the same name. It is very much similar to Durarara, taking place largely in a urban setting, with a large number of colorful and diverse characters with intertwining stories.

The main character is Zenji Banba, a badass detective, or maybe witty would be more appropriate terminology. He has been called to the park by another detective, Shigematsu, who tells him about the death of his own college, Takeda. The death was deemed a suidice, but a photo shows bruises that indicate it was made to look as such. Once they're on the same page, Shigematsu says the he've received a unmarked letter that he believes to be from Takeda. Inside is a photo of the mayor, who is making a speech here today, and a woman named Asakura Reiko, who is also present. To determine whether or not she's involved, Zenji uses something to create a fake gunshot noise and she reacts by searching vigilantly for the source, the reaction of a hit man but due to her long nails it doesn't seem like she was Takeda's murderer. Zenji seeks the help of Enokida, a hacker and inventor, and with his help he is able to gain access to information regarding Asakura and find out she worked for a company named Red Rum up until five year ago. Red Rum of course being murder spelled backwards, and with such a obvious name they might as well as have the slogan "We'll knock them dead!" and they also get information regarding a possible suspect, Ivanov Hisashi.

Ling Xianming is a hit man who likes to crossdress, he is a bit psychotic but also easy to anger. At the beginning he kills a man who stole from a company named Miroir. He works as a hit man to pay off the debt he owes and see his big brother again, this reason doesn't justify his actions, but it does help to give his character depth. After that job he is then sent to kill Takeda, but the man is already dead by the time he arrives. He doesn't receive a very large amount since the person who hired him who knows someone else is responsible, after complaining, Ling is given a job to kill Zenji but later, when they meet, he says that he intends to work with him instead.

After the incident at the park, Asakura and Ivanov have to deal with the son of the mayor, whose name I didn't catch, bringing a girl back to his hotel room and killing her, the type of thing he seems to do quite often and enjoy doing. The guy also had members of his club attack some random people as part of a game. All of this causes Asakura grieves as she is the one who has to clean it up.

Saitou is also a member of Red Rum who doesn't seem to have killed anyone yet, the fact he works as a hit man is stated but I feel it could of been made more clear anyways. After transferring to another branch he is given the task to kill Maruse Jun. Maruse is a member from the club of the mayor's son. Now, at the same time some people were hired by one of the victims of that attack I mentioned to target Maruse. One of which is a little girl assassin, a great idea, I mean who would suspect her of doing something like murder? Of course she is assisted by a adult male, and, by circumstances, they nab Saitou by mistake.

It's interesting to see a mystery story in a anime, we don't get too many of those. It's outside of the norm to see adult characters take front but it's welcome, the story takes itself seriously, but all of the characters have quirks about them to help give the show some flare. I would recommend this series to fans of the mystery genre or those who like a good story. That's it for now, but if you haven't already, please check out my take on Takunomi. Thank you very much for reading, and have a wonderful day.