Goemon (Detective Precure!)
Illustration: WhyTrend

What happened

On the morning of June 7, 2026 (8:30 a. m. JST), the anime *Detective Precure!

* (nicknamed 'TanPure' by fans) aired Episode 19, "Welcome to the Labyrinth Train!?" In it, a recurring villain named Goemon disguises himself as an onboard vendor, steals a travel itinerary, and transforms a school-trip train into a 'Labyrinth Train.' The heroines Anna and Mikuru then have 30 minutes until the next station to solve puzzles and chase him down.

Goemon is known for a maze-creating ability the show frames as a 'domain expansion,' and the episode was promoted in advance as a puzzle-heavy installment.

Why it is trending now

The spike came from real-time viewing. The day before, on June 6, outlets such as Oricon published the synopsis and preview stills, and a cross-dressing disguise shown in the trailer drew anticipation. When the episode aired, live-tweets surged from around 8:30 a.m. JST, helped by momentum from the show's preceding two-week crossover with a famous detective anime.

How fans reacted

Reactions were overwhelmingly positive and comedic. Viewers loved the gap between the goofy drag teaser and the genuinely sharp 'conductor Goemon' in the episode, praised the escape-room-style quizzes, and affectionately analyzed why even the Precure heroines seem to like this villain. Critical voices were rare.

What to watch next:

With fans openly asking for Goemon's puzzle episodes to become a recurring format, the question is whether the staff lean further into these escape-room-style chapters and how the larger Phantom thieves storyline develops in later episodes.