Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace

Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace was produced by studio Lerche and released in 2015 as a commemorative project marking the 50th anniversary of the passing of Edogawa Ranpo, the foundational figure of Japanese mystery fiction. The series serves as a modern, stylized reimagining of the themes and protagonists found in Ranpo's seminal Boy Detectives Club stories, transposing the classic detective-fiction atmosphere into a surreal and often grotesque contemporary setting.

The visual direction of the series was helmed by Seiji Kishi, who collaborated with screenwriter Makoto Uezu to construct a narrative that balances traditional deductive puzzles with avant-garde aesthetic choices. While the series drew attention for its bold, experimental visual style and its integration of digital lighting effects, it received a mixed critical reception, with observers often divided by its tonal shifts between classic mystery tropes and the hyper-stylized, sometimes disturbing imagery characteristic of the production.