Square Enix has announced that they will produce an anime adaptation of manga author Natsume Ono's ACCA 13-Ku Kansatsu-Ka. The key visual for the anime and a
website were made available online mere hours ago. Here's a description of the series that's floating around the usual sites [via MangaHelpers:
The kingdom of Dowa, which is subdivided into 13 states, is celebrating its monarch's 99th birthday. These thirteen states have many agencies that are controlled by the giant organization known as ACCA. Within ACCA, Jean Otis is the second-in-command of the inspection agency. His agency has 10 people placed in each of the 13 states, with a central office in the capital city. They keep track of all the activities of ACCA across the kingdom, and keep data on each state's ACCA office flowing towards the central office. Jin also often has business trips from the capital to the other districts, to check on the situation and personnel there.
Not a ton of help, right? Well, we did a bit of detective work and found out a few more details. The main character, Jean loves to smoke, however, cigarettes are a luxury item. His tendency to "borrow" them earns him the nickname 'cigarette stealer'. His superiors tolerate this eccentricity because Jean has keen observation and intelligence, which he uses to solve crimes that take place in each ward. His skills will come in handy as there's a faction plotting to over throw the government. The kicker, is that a few members in this organization have very close ties to Jean.
As with Natsume Ono's
Ristorante Paradiso, there's a distinctive European stylization to the characters and setting.