#41 – Kindaichi Case Files

The runner up in the great detective wars of the 1990s

Kindaichi started the big craze for detective manga in the 1990s, but arguably the late realisation of the anime meant that it was left in the shadow of Detective Conan. Pre-dating the Conan manga by 2 years, the Kindaichi anime followed Conan's anime by a year.

Kindaichi follows the sleuthing of Kindaichi Hajime, a high school detective. Comparing it to Conan, it seems pitched at slightly older audience, the pacing is slower and the mysteries more sturdy in their construction. The aim here is more to present the viewer/reader with all the clues you need to solve the mystery, whereas Conan seems more interested in the thrill of c(h)ase. Something interesting to note is that according to ANN, the creators of the manga, Kanari Yozaburo and Seimaru Amagi also provided scripts for the anime.

In a piece of coincidence, someone has picked up fansubbing the show again for the first time in 2 years in the last couple of weeks. Also, Tokyopop have the first 19 volumes of the manga licensed.