WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited, "I Came, I Saw, I Sponsored" now streaming on Funimation.
After a brief hiatus due to COVID-19, The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited (which is a mouthful of a title) has finally returned, rebroadcasting from Episode 1. The Millionaire Detective is about the crime-solving adventures of a millionaire and a detective who have clashing personalities. The studio, CloverWorks, is the same one that animated the first season of The Promised Neverland.
The first episode opens with an introduction to our main characters and, already, the pair's chalk and cheese approach leads to clashes of methodology, with Kato being the more traditional crime-solver, while Daisuke prefers to let his money do the hard work.
The Side of Righteous Justice
Kato Haru who works in the Modern Crime Prevention Task Force. Previously, he worked at the elite First Division but he was transferred out due to his stubbornness. The detective division seems to be the lowest of the police department where nothing really exciting ever happens, but this doesn't seem to perturb him too much.
Haru is the exemplification of the righteous detective: someone who acts in the name of justice, regardless of the lack of appreciation that he may get for his efforts. When his partner complains about working tirelessly without any token of appreciation, Haru tells him that "Money isn't everything."
Money Solves Everything
On the other side of the coin is Daisuke Kambe, who recently transferred into Haru's department. He enters the scene in a tailored suit with slicked-back hair and a piercing, radiating confidence. Everything about him screams of "wealth." He's implied to be some piano prodigy and lived relatively happy with his parents until something tragic happened, which resulted in him now working in the detective department.
Where Haru seems to be earnest and genuine in his desire to solve crimes within the law, Daisuke doesn't. To put it bluntly, Daisuke is an ass. He knows he's one, and he basks in the knowledge of that because with his unlimited balance, he can get away with a lot of truly outrageous things. Things like kicking a prince out of his vehicle or crashing through cars as he makes his way through the streets. But Daisuke's charisma (and sheer wealth) pulls people in despite how terrible of a person he actually is.
A Dangerous Combination
In a thrilling car chase, Kato and Daisuke pursue a van that is driven by two thieves who, unbeknownst to them, are carrying a bomb in their van. While Daisuke is driving, he's talking to his butler, HEUSC, getting intel and simultaneously calculating the damages that he's incurring as they crash through the city.
They arrive at a bridge and before the van can cross it, it immediately splits and the van starts slipping backward before something crashes into them, stopping them abruptly in their tracks, then slowly starts pushing them forward. Haru and Daisuke slowly inch them towards the river, fully intending to drop the van and the thieves into the water to stop the bomb.
Terrified, one of the thieves jumps out of the truck, leaving the other one in the driver's seat, paralyzed. Unable to watch any longer, Haru leaps out of the convertible and frees the second thief before both Haru and the van are sent overboard.
Daisuke gets out and walks over and notices Haru still clinging on to the edge, his glare burning with resentment. Without offering a hand, Daisuke stands at the top, expression wholly unimpressed for a few seconds, before he suddenly smirks. Losing his grip, Haru falls into the water and miraculously doesn't die from the impact.
At the end of every episode, there's a counter for how much Daisuke has spent with the first episode clocking in at over 1.3 billion yen, just to solidify Daisuke's careless attitude toward money. From the get-go, Millionaire Detective promises an interesting dynamic between these two unlikely partners with two very different senses of justice.