Dead Boy Detectives Stars Kassius Nelson & Yuyu Kitamura Tease Their Season 1 Arcs

Dead Boy Detectives stars Kassius Nelson and Yuyu Kitamura share their experience on joining the supernatural Netflix drama. Netflix is becoming a bigger home for Neil Gaiman’s world of The Sandman universe as 2024 will see the arrival of the Dead Boy Detectives. Initially set up at Max (previously known as HBO Max), Dead Boy Detectives instead made its way over to Netflix to take part in the same world as Gaiman’s other characters after The Sandman season 1.

Dead Boy Detectives follows two ghostly teenagers, Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland, who have been solving mysteries for several decades while trying to escape Death. Along the way, the Dead Boy Detectives agency expands with the addition of Crystal Palace (Nelson) and Niko (Kitamura), who became crucial players in the first season thanks to their supernatural powers and determination.

Screen Rant recently interviewed Nelson and Kitamura, who discussed joining The Sandman franchise, as well as their arcs in Dead Boy Detectives. Throughout the interview, the actors opened up on their respective characters’ mysterious backgrounds, dream crossovers with The Sandman, and what they would like to see in season 2 if the show gets renewed.

Kassius Nelson & Yuyu Kitamura Preview Dead Boy Detectives Season 1

Screen Rant: Both of your characters come in with baggage, but Crystal does not necessarily remember hers. Kassius, can you talk about her traumatic experience when we start the season just playing a character who doesn’t know who she is?

Kassius Nelson: I think it actually helps to experience it as Crystal’s sort of figuring herself out and to play the moments as they’re happening as opposed to ahead of time. We meet Crystal and she’s going for a very tricky phase in her life and sort of trying to find where she fits in this world and find people that she can feel safe with, which she does over the course of the show. But yeah, bless her. Bless her.

On The Mysterious Origin Of Niko Sasaki

Niko knows where she’s from, but we don’t really get to meet her family. We only hear about it in the season. Can you talk about where she’s at and why she’s hiding?

Yuyu Kitamura: We find her at a very supernatural point of her own life, which is a fun way to also meet the Dead Boy Detectives with the help of all of our wonderful characters. We find her getting to put herself out there, and like you said, she knows herself so well, but I think, for her, struggle has always been trying to find people to also accept her for who she is and what she can give to the group, I think is what she also takes away. [laughs]

It’s what she can bring to the group. She also learns that there’s a space for her in this world and being so far away from home similar to Crystal, I think there’s a sense of loneliness and she finds comfort with these people and they all find their chosen family.

Romance In The Dead Boy Detectives Department

I love that the boys are dead, but romance is not. Kassius, can you talk about the dynamic with Charles? Some sparks are flying there, what’s going on?

Kassius Nelson: I think it’s because they have a mutual understanding. They know what it’s like to feel lost to some extent. There’s an unspoken understanding and connection that the two of them have and they really see each other. They’ve both experienced trauma in different ways and they deal with it very differently, but they see through to each other. Whereas I think other people may not clock it or they have a barrier up, but for some reason. With each other, they’re able to see past that, which I think is probably one of the main reasons why they sort of connect.

Dream Crossovers With The Sandman Universe

This is part of The Sandman universe and we do know we have at least one cameo from the trailer, but is there any character from Netflix’s Sandman show that you would like to see your character interact with most and why?

Yuyu Kitamura: I feel like Niko just being in that world would be…

Kassius Nelson: That would be so funny, though. The way that they would receive Niko would be like, ‘Where is she from?!’

Yuyu Kitamura: [Is] she an alien?! [laughs]

Kassius Nelson: I think I’d love to see Niko in the world of Sandman, to see what their reactions would be like. Yeah, that would be so funny. I’m going to go with that, for sure.

Hopes For Dead Boy Detectives Season 2

Finally, there better be a Dead Boy Detectives season 2. What aspects of the world do you want to explore in season 2? Where else would you like to go, what supernatural creatures do you want to meet?

Yuyu Kitamura: I feel like now that they’re working as a unit, as an agency, I really wonder how they can each take their own space in that group. Like you said earlier, I think everyone has their role, and I really want to see what it would be like if they tackled a case that was a few episodes long.

Kassius Nelson: Yeah. I want to learn more about Niko’s background. I want to learn more about Edwin’s background and why he is the way that he is. I think I have questions I want answers to selfishly as well.

Yuyu Kitamura: Yeah, also additional to us, we have a few extra friends and how they might play a role in the agency.

Kassius Nelson: I also want to see Mermaid, I want a mermaid.

Yuyu Kitamura: That’s amazing.

About Dead Boy Detectives

​​​Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives. Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.

Check out our other Dead Boy Detectives interviews here:

• George Rexstrew & Jayden Revri
• Steve Yockey & Beth Schwartz

Source: Screen Rant Plus