This is the otome adaptation that refuses to flirt with you. Rei Izumi gets handed a badge and a mandate, and the show would genuinely rather spend a scene on narcotics distribution networks in Tokyo than on a blush. It is plot-first to a fault: the men of STAND are numerous, handsome, and mostly interchangeable, cycling through frames with a line and a half each before the case pulls focus again. What actually lands is the restraint, the muted palette, the lovingly rendered desserts that get more visual care than half the cast, and an opening theme that will outlive your memory of episode 7. Reviewers reach for Psycho-Pass and they are not entirely wrong about the mood, just optimistic about the depth. Watch it for a woman doing her job in a genre that usually forgets she has one.

Drug crime is surging across Japan, and the police respond by forming STAND, a special unit built from uniquely skilled experts. Rei Izumi, a newcomer to the narcotics investigation unit of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, is given the job of scouting its members. She was picked for her strong sense of justice and dedication to police work, and possibly for a rarer trait: she is immune to most drugs. Winning over the candidates proves harder than expected, since each has their own views and reluctance, and many doubt her ability as a narcotics officer. The team's first task is to track down a dangerous drug harming ordinary people in Tokyo. Along the way, Rei also becomes entangled in a deceptive and perilous drug underworld. Adapted from an otome mobile game by Coly, the show mixes action, drama, mystery and psychological elements.