So You’ve Finished ‘Jeweler Richard’: Now What?

‘The Case Files Of Jeweler Richard’ tumbled into our lives like a snowfall in spring – gentle, unexpected, but kind of beautiful. It quickly became an obsession for me, and I love being part of the fandom. 

But now that the twelve-episode series is over (and with no definite sign of a season two as yet), what do we do next?

Obviously, there’s fanfiction. We currently stand at over 90 works on AO3 – not many, but we are a small and still-growing fandom. If you want fic recs, I’d definitely suggest starting with anything by furiosity – their future-set ‘No Other Will Do’ is a heartbreaking what-if story where Seigi and Richard parted ways after working together for just a few months, only to meet up again several years in the future. ‘Makes The Heart Grow’ is also worth reading – inspired by Richard’s speech in episode 10 about all the possible futures Richard and Seigi could face, it explores different ways the two of them could live out their lives. It’s short, but beautiful.

Of course, you could take up the mantle and write your own, or send prompts to an author (I’m still stuck at home on furlough and eager for stuff to write, so please do send your prompts my way!).

But what if you want to find more anime, manga or other media with a similar tone, set-up or theme?

If your favourite part of TCFOJR was the gentle mystery-solving and soft colour-palette, perhaps check out ‘Beautiful Bones – Sakurago’s Investigation’. A young man, Shoutarou, meets Sakurago, an expert on and collector of bones. Together, the two solve various mysteries and develop an unusual but special friendship. The episodes have a weirdly beautiful ‘transformation’ sequence each time Sakurago gets into bone-analysis mode, and the whole story is quirky but gentle.

Likewise, you may want to look at this season’s ‘Woodpecker Detective’s Office’. Having watched the first two episodes, it’s definitely a bit more murdery than ‘Jeweler Richard’, but it’s another mystery-solving story with a deep friendship at the heart of it and it’s also visually pleasing – lots of soft colours and detailed artwork.

If you’re after more of the same odd-couple friendship, it might be a stretch but give ‘Samurai Flamenco’ a try (although expect to find it much weirder than JR!). Alternatively, if you want to watch a live-action show about a quirky guy from out of town teaming up with a local guy with strained family relationships, check out ‘Due South’. It’s one of my favourite older shows, and the mysteries are a bit more intense than those in JR but the show still has a gentle, light-hearted tone that makes it a fun watch with a great friendship at the centre.

If you want to hear more of Sakurai Takahiro or Uchida Yuuma (the seiyuu for Richard and Seigi, respectively), you can currently find both of them in season two of ‘Fruits Basket’, as Ayame and Kyo.

Sakurai-san is an incredibly prolific actor with tons of voice-acting credits to his name (you may well know him best as either Cloud Strife or Kishibe Rohan), but my particular favourites are his eponymous roles in ‘Shirokuma Cafe’ and ‘Osomatsu-san’. See him being refined-evil as Claude Faustus in season two of ‘Black Butler’, or refined-manly as Bill in ‘Levius’. Or, if you want a bit of a mind-trip, watch him as Reigen in ‘Mob Psycho 100’ where he’s essentially the Poundland equivalent of Richard Ranashinge deVulpian.

Uchida Yuuma was fantastic in ‘Banana Fish’, although expect to find that one a much more emotionally gruelling watch than JR. For something more romantic, check him out as Uenoyama in ‘Given’ from late last year. Or if you want pure fluff, take a look at ‘Uchi Tama? Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka?’ for Uchida (and several more big name seiyuu) as cute cat-boy Beh.

If you have any recommendations for fans of JR now that Jeweler Richard Thursday is but a fond memory, do share them in the comments. Follow me on Tumblr or Twitter for more JR content, and be sure to check out the wonderful works in the JR tag on AO3! And please, please do click ‘like’ or even consider buying me a coffee if you’ve enjoyed this blog – it’s lovely to feel appreciated!