Sakon the Ventriloquist

The dark-haired bishounen is Sakon Tachibana, a puppeteer, and the other is Ukon, his favorite puppet and best friend. Sakon is the (only) grandson of Saemon Tachibana, a national treasure of Japan famous for his manipulation of Bunraku puppets. Ukon is a child doll puppet made in the early Meiji era by the famous female dollmaker Unosuke. Together they run into murders and solve them.

If you like this, try

Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (TV) 87%

148 eps · 1997

It gives you the same episodic case-by-case detective rhythm, just with a sunnier shounen tone instead of Sakon's shadows.

Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective 79%

12 eps · 1998

Trade the puppeteer's morbid partnership for a vampire detective paired with an amnesiac past, but keep the same episodic supernatural case structure.

Mouryou no Hako 78%

13 eps · 2008

You get a similarly moody, methodical detective unraveling grotesque crimes with a philosophical, unhurried pace.

Fantastic Detective Labyrinth 78%

25 eps · 2007

A boy detective with an uncanny gift facing crimes beyond normal comprehension mirrors Sakon's eerie investigative instincts.