While this is neither a great Conan story or a great Lupin story, it is a great Detective Conan AND Lupin III story. The two casts enter the story of the Kingdom of Vespania at different ends. Conan is embroiled in an attempt to murder the Crown Princess and Lupin is attempting steal the Crown of Vespania. Fujiko becomes involved at a third point in the tale and draws the two threads together.

There’s a few problems that might seem huge depending on your expectations. The mystery isn’t much of a mystery. And Lupin’s heist never really goes anywhere. It’s another Lupin film with the shadow of Cagliostro hanging over it. But I feel that’s overcome by the character work, which is full of clever touches for people following both franchises. For instance, early in the story the serious and too eager Detective Takagi has great characterisation, engaging in the sort of background pantomime you don’t normally associate with anime. And the few occasions where Conan and Lupin interact are as good as you’d want them to be.

But the real treat comes in the handling of Jigen and especially Fujiko. If you’re a Fujiko fan, this is one her better outings in a Lupin III special. Fun scenes with her, the princess, Lupin and Conan. Jigen too gets some good interaction with Conan as the pair investigate the deaths that start the film.

Probably not a great introduction to either franchise as it lacks what they do best, but for fans of both shows there’s enough here to get your teeth into.

How much do the characters look like the animators might have seen a Monkey Punch drawing at some point in their lives?

I often complain that Lupin III specials have characters that look like Detective Conan characters, well at least here they’ve got the excuse of actually having Detective Conan characters present. So it’s odd that a lot of the non-Lupin, non-Conan characters don’t particularly look like either Gosho Aoyama or Monkey Punch characters. The two victims certainly look like Aoyama characters, as does the Princess. But the others are some sort of happy medium, trying to create a world in which Conan and Lupin can exist side by side despite their distinctly different appearances.

The Lupin gang look really good in this film though, probably my favourite designs for them in a while. Not particularly Punch-y, but their movements and body language are.

How ludicrous are the capers?

They aren’t that crazy. There’s an impenetrable vault and a magic ore, but there’s no audacious set pieces here. This may be a rare Lupin special where Fujiko probably gets most of the action.

How much is Goemon involved in the story, rather than just a third act deus ex machina?

Poor Goemon doesn’t get much use here. With Fujiko and Jigen at the heart of the story, there’s not really any place where Goemon fits in except for his usual save the day spot. He does get some nice lines in the final scene though. To the extent that I’d really like to see a script where Fujiko and Goemon have to work together most of the time, as that’s a relationship that doesn’t seem that well explored from what I’ve seen.

I might add images when I get my PC back up and running. In the meantime click on the titles to go to their homepages.

LUPIN III vs. DETECTIVE CONAN

I’d totally forgotten this special was due, let alone that it was due so soon. I often complain that non-Monkey Punch created characters in the various TMS Lupin specials look like they’ve stepped out of Detective Conan, so this will take care of that complainy by having them actually be Detective Conan characters. Looking forward to this a lot, and I have a lot of goodwill towards both the shows, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

But it’d be nice if it was.

Marie and Gali

There’s an episode of this already on nicovideo that shows off the strong visual style it has, and even though it has an educational intent, it looks a lot of fun.

Mainichi Kaasan

Based on the newspaper strip of the same name, this looks like the sort of comedy show that gets utterly ignored in anglophone fandom.

Charady no Joke na Mainichi

This is an odd one. A daily gag show, where Charady tells a joke everyday. Overseen by TV 3D CGI guru Ryuji Masuda, but directed by Kyoto University of Art students. With that strange concoction, it’s got be worth checking out at least once.

Sengoku Basara

Videogame-based anime don’t have a strong pedigree. And even with Production IG animating, I’m not sure this will be an exception. Itsuro Kawasaki directs, and as Rental Magica, Arc The Lad and Licensed by Royalty didn’t get the blood pumping so I’m not inclined to think this will either.

The Milestones of Quality and Quantity – The “100 Million Copies” Best-Seller Comics Award ComiPress.

Astro Boy, Black Jack, Doraemon, Dragonball, Slam Dunk, Touch, Fist of the North Star, Detective Conan, One Piece, Golgo 13, Oishinbo & Kochikame – the twelve 100 million manga sellers. Comi Press has a translated article from ACGTalk about these landmark titles.

HARRY HILL’S TV BURP

Now on it’s 7th (!) series, it’s still slightly weird to me that Harry Hill is now the face of mainstream comedy, alongside Al Murray. Anyway, the series continues in the same vein it always has, it’s “comic look at the week’s TV” modus operandi is still surreal and affectionate in an Iron Fist in Velvet Glove sort of way. The way he’ll say incredibly cruel things about people in a clip and then have them come out and do a skit or song with him is impressive.

MONK – “MR MONK AND THE THREE JULIES”

This week’s episode was a high point in the latest season of Monk. Less reliance on a guest star, an actual mystery, no wringing of pathos and/or tragedy from Monk’s condition, Randy wasn’t a total goof, and lots of stuff for all the characters to do rather than another Tony Shaloub twitch-a-thon.

PSYCH – “LIGHTS! CAMERA! HOMICIDIO!”

Conversely this was a low point for Psych. While the clues in the mystery were fair, the culprit wasn’t ever on the radar as a suspect. And so the normally strong mystery structure was gone, meaning it had to coast on it’s ample charms. Not sure if this was due to some sort of writer’s strike lack of rewrites, or a meta-textual conceit to do with the setting of Spanish language soap opera that the mystery took place in. Still perfectly watchable and rewatchable due to the comedic performances of the ensemble cast.

DETECTIVE CONAN – “CLASH OF RED AND BLACK – THE BEGINNING”

Episode 491 marks the beginning of the end game in the mystery of Eisuke Hondou, the clumsy student who appears to have connections to the Black Organisation. As Conan tries to find the link between him and Rena Mizunashi, the news reporter detained due to her involvement with BO, it leads them to a case that has nothing to with that at all…

In fact the case resembles those times in soaps where they crowbar in a socially relevant message with no subtlety whatsoever. However, the case is completely fair to the home viewer as this series tends to be.

Nonetheless I look forward to see how this overall arc progresses, as the series excels when it drags Conan and the supporting cast from Poirot-style external investigators into the chaos of the case itself.

How Gosho Aoyama won the great detective wars.

As mentioned in the Kindaichi Files entry, over the last decade there has been a popularity of detective manga and anime. While Kindaichi Files was popular, there is one series that has risen above all competitors and imitators. Detective Conan.

The manga started in 1994, and with the anime following in 1996, with neither of them showing any signs of stopping.

The series follows the adventures of the Shinichi Kudo, a teenage detective of some repute and skill. In the course of the first case we meet him on, he discovers members of the nefarious “Black Organisation” who poison him. However the poison is experimental and rather than killing him, shrink him down to the size of an six year old. In order to protect his friend Ran and her father, the bumbling P.I. Kogoro, he dons glasses and adopts a secret identity. That of Conan Edogawa, a “relative” of local friendly mad scientist Dr Agasa. Conan being from Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa from Edogawa Rampo.

The relationship between Ran, Shinichi and Conan is an interesting spin on the classic silver age Lois Lane, Superman, Clark Kent relationship, even down to Shinichi using glasses as a diguise (though obviously being shrunk down helps). Ran and Shinichi slowly come to realise their true feelings for one another in their “absence”, with Conan unable to tell her he’s really Superman. Err.. Shinichi. On the whole it’s very nicely done and handled with a subtle melancholy that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a show aimed at kids.

Something else you might not expect is the sheer number of murders and endangerment of 6 year olds this series brings. The very first episode’s murder is a decapitation on a roller coaster, and once it introduces the Detective Boys Club, Conan’s gang of 6 year old hangers on, it can seem rather odd if you stop and think how many times these little kids have been confronted/threatened/trapped/captured by murderers over the 400+ episodes of the show.

Now personally I think any qualms about the show are totally unfounded. Growing up one of my favourite shows as a kid was the Red Hand Gang which was a live action show involving a gang of kids thwarting all sorts of crimes. Likewise shows like Murder She Wrote were very appealing to me as I got a bit older.

Detective Conan’s success rests on a very winning mix of elements that appeals to range of ages. The basic whodunnit plots have an appeal across the board, with earlier episode more clearly aimed at kids, giving clues to how the crime was performed. There’s a great deal of childhood fantasy elements in the Detective Boys Club and in the gadgets Asura designs for Conan. There’s the relationship between Shinichi and Ran that can work without the fantastical elements, as shown in the pre-Conan elements of the first story and the live action prequel made last year. And there’s a wide range of supporting characters, who are increasingly well fleshed out as the series progresses. The relationship between Ran’s estranged parents is especially strong.

The whodunnits often fall into the Jonathan Creek school of extraordinary locked door murders, where the thrill comes more from how it was done, than who did it. There’s also however a more hard boiled detective element that comes into play in the stories where the Black Organisation appear and in the films. Often Conan or his friends and family will become the targets in these situations, rather than simply acting as consulting detective. However these episodes are few and far between.

The fact of the matter is that Detective Conan is a great weekly TV series that you can dip in and out of, however it is not a series you necessarily want to buy and keep. The TV episodes tend to have functional animation, and the mysteries are reasonable, but not dazzling. The appeal lies in it the gentle exercise for the little grey cells it gives you and the company of some charming creations for 20 minutes. The films are another matter, and in general are nice little thrillers that are worth making the effort to seek out. Last year’s 10th anniversary one was especially good.

The anime and manga have been released in the US and UK as Case Closed, due to possibly unfounded fears of the name Conan. The anime was broadcast on Adult Swim, which is of course entirely the wrong place for it. Chicken shit broadcasters, give the kids the murders they deserve! It’s now found a home on Funimation’s own channel. Where it’s shown at 1am…