Hi everyone! Long time no see! Welcome to the first blog update of 2021! And boy is it a long one so I'll spare you guys the details and apologies for its lateness. I welcome you to the final (for now) written review of the Case Closed/Detective Conan manga.
I’m going to be honest. I’m not a long time fan of Detective Conan. Yes, I started watching the anime in 2011, but compared to others I’ve met in the past few years, I still consider somewhat of a novice. That isn’t to say these last ten years haven’t been an experience. The people I’ve met, the anime I’ve watched, the manga I’ve discovered, a lot of it happened because of my accidental discovery of this series. I’m not going to bore you with the details since I’ve told this story so many times and it’s really not that interesting. I will, however, bore you with the contents of three, yes THREE, volumes. All of them filled with my least favorite character…..Ayumi. Also Amuro.
Yes, my worst kept secret is out; I don’t like Tohru Amuro. You may or may not know this, but there are people who hate Kaitou Kid showing up because he has his own manga and he (usually) does nothing for the plot. Fair. But Amuro is part of the plot and all he does is complicate things. Originally, he was written in to be a rival to Akai as yet another Gundam reference (Char "the Red Comet" vs Amuro Ray), and I was okay with him for a while up until Detectives’ Nocturne, which we’ll get to in volume 76. He’s a character I can’t understand the appeal of and it’s frustrating when he shows up and it's just a tease, but I digress and I’ve already delayed this article for too long. Let’s start with volume 75 and work our way to the beginning of the end.
Volume 75: I covered the first two chapters last time, so we’re skipping to the 38th page for the first chapter of a case of stolen Identity. Conan and Ran meet an elderly woman who claims to know the famous “Sleeping Detective”, Kogoro Mouri. They go to her house expecting him for dinner but instead meets a look-a-like college student barely old enough to be Conan’s father. He explains he’s just helping the poor lady out since she lives alone. He only solves little cases like finding lost items, until a commotion next door throws them into something a little more serious and Conan has to help the fake Mouri find the criminal. I quite like this case. Faux Kogoro is likable and the ending is cute. It’s only three chapters, but unlike most of the recent three-parters, it feels like just the right length. One final note, Gosho Aoyama references one of his one-shots called “[The] Santa Claus of Summer” about a boy who unknowingly has doomed the world trying to send a message to his now ex-girlfriend and meets a famous idol whom he tries to impress with the help of the military. None of Aoyama’s other series (including his one shots) are licensed in the US, but if you can find either the manga or anime adaptions, I’d recommend checking all of them out. (I really need someone to bring these over to the states, they’re so fun to read and even the anime adaptions are amazing.)
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover so let’s keep moving on to...oh no. Look, Naeko’s cute and I love Chiba, but wow, this couple is boring. Even Conan looks like he doesn't want to be here.
Someone vandalized Chiba’s car and it’s only the latest in a string of vandalism with no pattern or connection. This case reveals that Chiba is the anime/toku otaku of the cast and perhaps has a lot in common with Aoyama himself in that regard. It is also a case of revenge and road safety (spoilers but, well...) and clearly the most important part being Chiba and Naeko’s relationship, advances 1%, which is still probably faster than Ran and Shinichi. (It’s a joke, don’t @ me.)
Amuro’s introduction case is not only one of the saddest cases in the series, but also one of the craziest. This one I won’t give everything away, but there’s a death at a restaurant. An old schoolmate of Kogoro is getting married and they’re throwing an early celebration. It’s at this restaurant we meet this clumsy waiter with glasses. First impression is “oh great, another Jodie or Eisuke.” and I guess that wouldn’t be completely wrong, but….
There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here and trust me, it’s not what you think. I’ve read (and watched) this case a few times and it still hurts. On it's own this case isn't anything unique, and I definitely wouldn’t call it anything on “Clash of the Red and Black” level of amazing, but technically one member of the Black Organization is here, but that won’t be revealed for a few more volumes. I can spoil because if you’re here you probably know by now...hopefully.
Fun fact! Aoyama has a brother who’s a doctor and it was perhaps this brother that inspired the medical phenomena that is at the center of this case. I enjoyed it a lot for it's tragic take on a forbidden love (and who doesn't like those?), oh and being one of the rare cases where there simultaneously is and is not a culprit. (I'll stop teasing and let you get to reading!)
With this, volume 75 comes to an end and we’re stuck with another character nosing around the agency. Tohru Amuro, P.I. age 29, man of many names and occupations. Conan sums up my feelings exactly.
Here we are, Volume 76, Amuro’s here to stay and as Kogoro’s new assistant, he’s definitely not going away any time soon. In this case, we’re in the agency’s office and it’s clear someone’s trying to get Conan, Kogoro, Ran, and Amuro out of there. Amuro informs them that there was actually someone in the room. As they’re standing outside the door, a gunshot rings out and what seems to be a hostage situation might have become a suicide? That’s just the first chapter. Just like the sub-title of this volume, this case is known as Detective’s Nocturne, and with a name like that, you bet something big is going to happen. Amuro offers to take Kei Kashitsuka, the hostage, home and everyone accompanies him. Conan turns his “child mode” up to 100% and sticks to Kei like glue for the remainder of the case. Meanwhile, Amuro, Ran, and Kogoro look around the apartment and find listening devices and a dead body?! Amuro realizes Conan miiiight not be in the safest place right now. Agasa and Haibara get a ride with Okiya to try to find him and Sera’s determined to find the kid as well.
The case is a full five chapters, so above average than what we normally get. Chapter 4 is where the real investigation begins. Kei’s trying to find someone and Conan offers to help. He hilariously gets thrown out of the first place they go to. Meanwhile the chase to rescue Conan continues, but he turns up fine. Chapter 5 (chapter 800 overall) is where a lot of the action is. I enjoyed this case, especially the ending which never gets old to me. What shines most is Aoyama's page composition and keen eye for details. (Not trying to shill the Fuinimation dub, I swear!) There are a few pages at the end of the fifth chapter and even after countless re-reads I can't help but marvel at them. Honestly, the series’ best moments when Conan’s words aren’t taking up half the page. One thing that I like from this is Sera. Almost every scene she’s in she acts like a worried girlfriend to Ran and a concerned mom to Conan. While I wish she had more spotlight this is the case where I really came to appreciate her.. One thing I noticed with the translation (which is done well, don’t get me wrong) happens in chapter 3. Amuro asks Ran and Kogoro what they use for their passwords. Ran says she uses her birthday (which we still don’t know in the year of our lord 2021) and in the original Japanese Kogoro does use part of his name but with numbers (5563). The number 5 can be read as go or ko, and 6 can be read as mu or ro(ku) and 3 can be read as mi or san. Basically 5563 can be pronounced as “Kogoro-san”. Japanese number puns are my favorite thing, I just wish I knew more to actually follow them better.
This next case focuses on the Detective Boys and another barbecue. How I wish you could have been there in 2012 when this chapter was published. Week to week, to have an action-packed chapter ending on a cliffhanger only to realize Gosho Aoyama is a troll since the Detective Boys are obviously more important than finding out who Bourbon is. Back to the case: Agasa and the kids are at a couple’s house for a barbecue. There’s obviously a lot of tension between them as they get into many arguments over little things.
Essentially the couple gets into an argument that turns nearly deadly as Sumika (the wife) is stabbed and taken to the hospital. She’s taken into surgery and has the rarest bloodtype (AB negative), so her husband (with the same blood type) offers to donate some. Meanwhile Conan has to find out if he stabbed her intentionally or not. No one dies and the couple makes amends, so the ending to this case is cute and heartwarming. I enjoyed Haibara’s role in this case too. She gets to speak her mind and has a small realization about something that happened in the last case. Her role has been severely reduced in recent memory so moments like these are frustrating in reveling in past events and great since it is a reminder of Haibara's past contributions.
The last case of this volume that will carry us into the 77th volume has Takagi in a desperate situation. Takagi is off from work early as he has somewhere to be. The next day he doesn’t show up and a mysterious man hands the Detective Boys a package. He tells them to give it to the police as it’s a “gift from Takagi”. It turns out to be a tablet displaying a live feed of Takagi tied up somewhere. Now it’s a race against time to find him before something happens and he falls to his death.
Volume 77: The more I read this case, the more I like it. We finally get a bit of backstory for Takagi, and it took too long. In fairness, Wataru Takagi was never meant to be an actual character. Or at least he was never meant to be a canon character, only serving a role as an unnamed cop in the anime adaptation of the series, but became one once Aoyama adopted him into the manga. On the other hand, Satou got her backstory years before this, only a while after her debut. For Takagi, we learn about his late mentor, Wataru Date, and Takagi’s kidnapping is related to Date. The ending is both sweet and mysterious. Of course, they find Takagi and Satou’s the one who literally jumps out of a helicopter to save him. This is one of my favorite scenes, especially of the Takagi and Satou ship (which is one of the more popular ones). A month later they visit Date’s unknowingly accompanied by another acquaintance of Date, raising many questions.
The next case happens a little while (Conan’s world time) later. Conan and Haibara are supposed to be going on a ski trip with Agasa and the kids, but Haibara had to go back for something and Conan tagged along. Now they need a ride. Haibara suggests they ask Okiya, surprising Conan because she never seemed to like him. On the way they see Takagi who’s already back at work but still suffering from nightmares. As they talk, someone has died from falling off a building. Okiya drives them to the area. There are three suspects who all back their alibis up with items: a glass of foaming beer, a cup of steaming hot coffee, and a smoking cigarette.
Conan solves the case through the items and doesn’t need to hide behind anyone or use his bowtie this time. It’s another case with some science, but this time it comes from a memory of Kogoro of all people. I think the trick to the case was definitely inspired by something that happened to Aoyama or maybe a colleague/friend of his. It’s a trick I never would have thought of since out of these three items I only occasionally drink coffee. What I find funny is how Takagi admits he suspected the killer from the start because of something they said. The case itself isn’t anything special. Most people will remember this case for the epilogue with Okiya and Haibara.
Speaking of Okiya….and by that I mean Sudden Flashback Case! There have been a couple of times in Conan that featured cold cases: the one I think about a lot is the Cruise Ship Murder case with Heiji back in volume 23. Anyway this case has Sera, Ran, and Sonoko stumble across a scene with a dead man and his friends surrounding his body. Sera deduces his life was just about over anyway but someone cut it even shorter. The killer even seems to have left a message that Ran recognizes from ten years ago when, for the first and only time, Yuusaku (Shinichi’s dad) dropped a case.
Ran texts Shinichi, and Conan freaks out because they’re going over to the Kudo house. (Maybe there’s something in there he doesn’t want Sera to see? Hmmm…) Conan beats them to the house but not before the girls see Okiya, who Gosho decides to draw doing a slick move with a comb (I just really like this scene). Conan finds the file just as Sera suggests Okiya might be bringing the ladies to the house (this becomes important later in the series so keep this in the back of your mind). Conan is confused by the case because Yuusaku’s word is as good as the word of God and if he says you’re never gonna see something again, you’re never gonna see it again. Basically the “Shi” kanji character isn’t supposed to exist so how is it back?? The next chapter is mostly the girls and Conan, joined by Okiya, investigate the case using the info Yuusaku had filed. They’re stumped and Okiya suggests they call Shinichi, but he calls him….*checks Japanese ver* Kinichi. The girls are confused but Ran explains she was just respecting Shinichi’s wishes not to be known by Okiya. Considering he’s supposed to be dead, it makes sense. Conan runs to the bathroom to let Shinichi answer the phone, but Okiya’s on to him. The last chapter they return to where they first started and Conan goes full Shinichi mode with the deduction which freaks Ran out. Whoops. So we end this case with some nice kick-assery from Sera and Ran who beat the gang who killed the guy. Sera drops the American title, and Conan knocks out someone too, I guess.
I know Yuusaku is controversial, but I… I mean, I don’t hate him, but he really is the deus exmachina of the Conan universe. He shows up for Aoyama to remind Conan that he’s not that great yet. For me, that makes him as a character really annoying. Good thing he only shows up in flashback here right? The case as a whole is pretty simple since the cast is so small. It did have me guessing the whole time because it does take a little knowledge of Japan and its culture.
And with that, we enter the final case of both the 77th volume and of this way too long review. We start off with Agasa and the Detective Boys (of course including Conan and Haibara) on their way to a camping trip in Gunma. (Yay…?) Conan’s probably getting sick and Haibara offers him medicine but not before accidentally letting Conan see she’s carrying one of the Apoptoxin antidote samples. This leads to a classic is perv joke and we’re just gonna move right along. Conan and Agasa go shopping for supplies and they run into Sera who’s also in town on her way to see the Cherry Blossoms. Meanwhile Haibara and the kids are out collecting firewood and stumble upon someone burying a body. Haibara tells them to run. Conan, Agasa and Sera arrive at the camp and don’t see the kids nor can they get through when they try calling so they go looking. They arrive at the spot the kids ran from and see a bunch of cops hovering around the half buried body. The kids find a cabin to hide in but it might be the spot where the lady the guy was burying was killed and Haibara knows it’s only a matter of time until the killer returns.
The biggest problem about talking about this case is how much it leads into the next one and well….spoilers. While a lot happens in the next few chapters, I can say the case after this isn’t my favorite and to be honest, it goes downhill from here. This pre-Mystery Train case isn’t too bad and the ending does give a sense that sh*t is about to go down. I just wish the Mystery Train wasn’t so….mediocre. And no, this one's not entirely Amuro's fault.
Warning (I’m gonna quickly list my complaints about the series):
I love this series, but I don’t l don’t love it so much that I’m blind to all its flaws. I’ve learned so much over the years about story telling and Gosho Aoyama isn’t a great storyteller. There, I said it. I don’t like how he handles his characters; including but not limited to:
Eisuke’s gone and the fandom is pretty sure he’s been forgotten.
Ran and Haibara have been sidelined.
Heiji’s only here for some Scooby-doo shenanigans when he knows about Conan, Haibara, and the Black Org.
The FBI agents rarely show up, which is bad considering Akai used to be in it and now that he’s gone so are they….for the most part.
The Sera/Akai family tree keeps getting complicated and I need it to end.
Rum is handled so badly, I don't even wanna think about reliving these chapters sometimes.
THIS SERIES IS SO DAMN LONG, I’M TIRED BUT WHY CAN’T I LEAVE?!
Despite its length saying otherwise, I feel the end to this series is nigh; I don’t think it can go on for much longer. Big things have been happening in the manga lately so much so that even those who aren't seeking spoilers end up stumbling upon them. However, it feels like the story is getting pushed along while also not really going anywhere. Almost like Aoyama's packing for something that he plans to put together and deliver later (and I hope this is the case).
While this might be the final consecutive review from this sleuth, don't think that I'm putting down my magnifying glass for good. Think of this as a “see you later” more than a “goodbye.” A special thanks to all of you for reading along and keeping your skills sharp with me. Perhaps I'll return to the beat at some point. There are cases coming up in future volumes that I enjoyed and I look forward to reading again! and while my feelings toward the series are more complex than even the greatest case Conan has ever solved, what I've gained from the supportive readers, Viz media's translations, and of course, Aoyama's artwork will always be with me, and that, my friends, is a truth that will always prevail.
Extra Special Thanks:
Sakaki for the blog, edits, and suggestions for the articles.
Funimation for licensing the anime (until 2018).
My friend from high school who inadvertently got me looking into Funimation’s anime series.
CrunchyRoll for subbing the anime.
Discotek
and TMS for keeping the dub, and my dreams, alive. (Lupin VS Conan Dub when?)
And Viz Media for sticking with this series. 77 volumes and counting. Bless all of you. Seriously. They've been publishing this since 2004, it's been over 16 years!!
Everyone currently working on the series include:
Translator: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
Touch-up & Lettering: Freeman Wong
Cover & Graphic Design: Andrea Rice
Editor: Shaenon K. Garrity
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your hard work. I look forward to reading more of it in the future! Until then, adeus~
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