A while ago I did an article talking about the anime trope of the villain organization, aka a group of bad guys who are ranked according to power or some similar important factor, that the main cast has to defeat one by one on their way to stop the ultimate antagonist. Usually this trope appears in shounen and I have to say… it’s typically fucking awesome. I love the Espada, the Akatsuki, Organization XIII, all the popular gangs. However, there are some genres where we rarely ever see this concept utilized and for good reason. I mean we don’t really need a gang of ten evil dudes in a romance story right? Or like, a mystery for sure. Unfortunately for my dumbass Undead Murder Farce just couldn’t resist adding in their own little group of Espada. I have to say, it’s one of the most unnecessary and poorly executed depictions of the anime villain gang trope I’ve ever seen. 

For the uninitiated, Undead Murder Farce is a mystery anime that started off with a fantastic mini-arc this season, and then followed that up with a messy second “mystery”. The second mystery already included way too many characters that felt barely developed or even needed, but the second mystery also introduced two members of this show’s version of the Espada, a group of insurance workers who fight monsters. Everytime they show up, I feel like the author simply got scared that the average anime/manga fan would get bored without a fearsome ranked member hanging around. Even though the show ALREADY has an entire group of villains getting in the way of the main detectives who are not related to the insurance Espada. It’s so stupid. This past episode introduced two new members of the organization and their designs are so silly I couldn’t help but laugh. The inclusion of these types of characters just makes no sense for a mystery anime. We’re here to analyze clues and try to solve cases alongside the good guys, not to watch mid action sequences with underdeveloped Geico agents. Save 15% or more on car insurance? I’d rather simply save 15 minutes of wasted screentime, as in whenever one of these fucks appears.

Y'all aren't suited for this entire genre, what are you talking about?

I hope as we move on into the werewolf arc, that we’re able to keep the focus off of the insurance gang for as long as possible. They just arrived on the scene, but maybe we can get two or three banger episodes focused on the mystery before cowgirl Jessie over there starts blasting her pistol and contaminating the crime scene. What a horrendously out of place use of an anime trope that I often enjoy. Are you watching Undead Murder Farce? Do you think the anime gang trope should be kept away from certain genres? Was the creator attempting to spice up the mystery genre, or did they blindly add in something popular without understanding why it works or doesn’t in the first place? Stake a vampire, shoot a werewolf with silver, and fail to solve the case anyway as Flo from Progressive blasts your ass in the comments below!