Aaron's Review: Case Closed

A delicious meal that got really fucking stale. 

Guys, Gals, & Non Binary Pals. This is Aaron’s Review of Case Closed/Detective Conan

!Background!

Set in Japan, a teenager name Jimmy Kudo is a mystery novel enthusiast who is also an actual detective. One day, two men drug him after he sees one of their deals. But, the experimental drug reverts his body back to when he was a child. In order to protect his identity in case the men find out he lived, he goes under the name ‘Conan Edogawa’.

During his time as a child, Conan lives with his friend Rachel and her father detective Richard Moore. There, he aids Richard in his detective work without his knowledge or Rachel knowing who he really is.

!Story!

Firstly, I’m going by the English dub names because that’s what I watched. This also means I’m reviewing the episodes Funimation dubbed. If something changed after season 4 that I state in this review, Funimation didn’t dub that episode, which means I didn’t see it.

But, if this show is good enough, I would want to continue watching it even if I’m reading subtitles instead of hearing what their saying right? No. I stopped watching the show before I got to the final English dubbed episode.

Two reasons:

Reason number One: a mystery show that follows a formula has never interested me. Okay, that’s a lie. The premise and the characters grabbed my attention. Also, the murder cases were well thought out and innovative. This is the most important thing in a mystery show/book/movie/game. It does it very well.

The tone is always set per episode in a sort of slice of life format at the beginning. We meet the people who will the suspects in the episode. The murder takes place. The clues are put together. A twist takes place in the story. Conan thinks some more. He figures it all out. Then Conan puts Richard to sleep using his stun watch and mimics his voice with his bow tie speaker (I know it’s sounds silly, and it is. Think of it like James Bond gadgets) to tell who’s guilty. The two debate as to why they couldn’t have/ how they did it. The murder explains their reasoning after ‘you made one mistake’ speech. The three go home with some joke related to the episode as it ends.

My problem with formulas is that the show can become very stale if it doesn’t do something new every now and again. Maybe you can be interested in the murder cases after 200 episodes. But for me, I couldn’t do it. Why?

Reason number Two: The premise is that Jimmy was poisoned and is looking for the people who did it. He has a set goal and the show pussy-foots around it. In 200 episodes, there’s about 25 episodes that move the plot forward or have character development. Meaning I have to sit through 175 episodes of stuff that doesn’t really move the idea this show is based around on. 

Plus, there’s only so much of a formula I can take with something as serious as murder every single episode. On top of that, there’s over 500 more waiting for me should I decide to pick the show back up.

No thank you.  

While what I saw was good, it’s just not worth hours upon hours of ‘when is Rachel going to find out Conan is Jimmy?’

!Characters!

So, what’re the characters like? They’re good.

Jimmy Kudo is very intelligent and arrogant to match. So when he’s placed in a child’s body, he has this ‘the crap I have to put up with’ attitude that’s told in his inner monologues. As Conan (named after ‘Conan Doyle’, author of the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ novels), Jimmy acts like a kid to keep the up the image. By nature, he’s polite and knows how to get involved in situations. However, he also forgets that people want a child out of their business and treat them a certain way which is where some of the show’s humor comes in. Jimmy’s commentary for Conan’s actions and trials are always a treat to listen to just as much as when he’s trying to figure out the mystery.

Rachel Moore is a karate champion who acts as Conan’s monitor through the series. She’s very protective and generous of others. To sum her up more easily, Rachel has a ‘do no harm, take no crap’ personality. She tells her dad not to drink too much and will snatch the beer out of his hand if need be.

Doubling as Jimmy’s love interest, Rachel waits for her friend to come home. It’s kind of sad to watch the scenes that deal with Rachel & Jimmy’s broken relationship.

Richard Moore is a living contradiction. He’s a detective who constantly jumps to conclusions. While funny, it can be grating at times when he makes assumptions that have already been destroyed. But, Richard is still a detective. Jimmy is smarter, but the middle aged man can keep up, just barley.

A full of himself alcoholic, Richard acts as the show’s comic relief while still maintaining a sense of authority when the murders take place and knows how to talk to people during investigations. This is something I enjoy about him.

There are too many side characters for me to talk about but here’s what you need to know.

Dr. Agasa is Jimmy’s neighbor who knows about his predicament and gives him the ‘James Bond’ like devices.

Inspector Meguire is the official policeman that often responds to the murder scenes since Richard is a private detective.

Amy, George, & Mitch are Conan’s elementary school friends while Jimmy is stuck in his childhood. They serve as comic relief but have a few episodes (that don’t involve murder) dedicated to them which I do enjoy.

!Summary!

There’s not much else for me to talk about. I recommend checking the show out because the mystery aspect and the anime’s characters are entertaining. I just don’t believe it’s worth the hundreds upon hundreds of what is technically filler.

!Grade!

Case Closed: C+

Final Word: It’s good filler, but it’s still filler.