Detective Conan

In my days we didn't just mindlessly watch whatever was on TV. Seriously, I feel like that anime these days have no real creativity. During the 90s there was one anime that I enjoyed- Detective Conan or Case Closed. Not only was it interesting and fun, it was so different. The main reason is it actually showed death, not a blanket covering a dead corpse. It was an actual dead body, no fluff to hide the gruesome truth. The other main reason is that it makes you think. Maybe it's just me, but I need to figure out who the culprit is with the main character. Sometimes you get it wrong or right. Usually, the viewers don't solve the mysteries 100% right. Unless you are a genius, detective, part of the staff of Detective Conan, or someone who loves spoilers.

Alright enough of the blab and praise, let's actually talk what the show is about. The character name is called Shinichi Kudo (Jimmy Kudo in the English Dub) is a high school detective. A Sherlock Holmes fan, he solves difficult cases that the police are stumped on. But he gets too curious about a couple of men in black-who are called the Black Organization. Gets knocked out and the Black Organization gives him a drug that is suppose to kill him. Hahaha, but the drug fails to kill Shinichi and he gets turned to a little boy. So, DON'T GO INVESTIGATING BY YOUR SELF, EVER. Shinchi goes under the alias of Edogawa Conan and lives with his childhood friend and potential lover, Ran Mori (Rachel Moore). Just to get this clear, the reason why he lives with Ran is due to her father being a detective. This way he can find out more about the Black Organization. The whole series revolve around "Conan" solving mysteries that occur in his life.

The characters are ok...There are several of characters that pop in and out of the series. And there are some who are forgotten and never appear again. The main characters are Shinichi, Ran, and Kogoro Mori (Richard Moore). A bunch of kids in the Junior Detective League, who are a bit annoying but it reminds me that kids are just not capable of being adults. There are several polices from Tokyo or from other regions, who have love lives that sometimes are shown in the series. Also there are people from the FBI tracking down the Black Organization. Some of the side characters help Shinchi or are being used by him. (Trust me watch the series and you will figure out what I mean). Honestly the only character that I am fond of is Shinichi Kudo and Heiji Hattori (Harley Hartwell). They are two detective who gets working on a case no matter what the circumstances are. However their arrogant and stuck up attitude can be a turn off. Another character that I am also fond of is Kaito Kid, a magician thief. His magic tricks are interesting, and he is the only one to rival with the main character. These three characters are young high schoolers who can be smarter than some college students. So, they have a right to be arrogant. But its tolerable, compare to the dad-Mori. With the females, all of the females seem to scream all the time and act like wimps, even though they kick a**. There is probably one person who is not like that and her name is Ai Haibara (Vi Graythorn). Similar to Kudo, she is a stereotypical cool character-silent and smart. The characters are overall adequate but...they can be really annoying sometimes.

Alright AVERT YOUR EYES for those weak in the heart and stomach, remember there are some gruesome scene that is not for those who can't take blood. If you don't want to see the picture: Click page down two times and AVOID THE PICTURE.

As you can see or imagine from the picture, this is a scene from episode 34-35. This episode gives me nightmares when I first watched it, but it was a great episode and probably the most gruesome. The overall episode involves a bandaged man who traps Shinchi and company at a house and kills a guest. Who is the culprit and why isn't he finished killing? Another episode that people would enjoy is 57-58, where Shinchi and company are part of a Sherlock Holmes tour however an unexplained accident happens and people are slowly being killed off. How did the trick work and who is the next victim? For those who can't handle gore should watch 76. This is the episode where Phantom Thief is first introduced and the magic trick is the thing being solved than the murder. These are a few episodes that I personally enjoy. They are mostly in Case Closed: Season One or Season Two.

I praise the show for being creative but I had some issues when I first saw it.
It always seem to be a bad decision to not watch a show from the start, if you do, you get the wrong idea. When I first saw it around episode 100, I thought that "Conan" was the son of Shinchi and Ran. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I was SO wrong and I realize how important it is to watch the show from the beginning.

Regarding the animation...The ears seem to be out of proportion, the ear lobe are just too distinctive. Also their fingers were a bit pointy. It all seems...so weird to me WHEN I first saw the show. Now the animation has changed-kinda drastically for me. But I prefer the old school animation. Maybe because the first season was great, compare to now...Isn't change great!

Be wary of the English dub, some of the episodes are different compare to the Japanese dub. Example is the English dub for the Phantom Thief is 78. This is not the only problem with the English dub. Sometimes the jokes or clues can only work with the Japanese language so there can be a bit of confusion when they link the clues together. What can you do about it. However, the voice actors/actress are decent and seem to match the characters well. Only a bit monotone.
Side note: The English dub for the anime was cancelled, so none of the recent episodes are in English dub.

I forgot the music! The show has really decent music in the show, really the theme song. Its got a nice jazz feel which is totally different from anime. Though it is not the greatest, it does fit the story well, specially during those suspense moment. The openings and endings are really not that great to me. Maybe the music was made in the 90s but even with the recent music, still not that great.

The series is good but lately the mysteries have gotten worse compare to it's first release. As a result, don't expect too much around episode 500 or something....There are so many episodes and its still airing, so not for those who want to watch a short anime.

So what are your opinions of this anime? What are your favorite episodes? Enjoy the series or not?

Overall the main message of the series is DON'T BE DUMB AND COMMIT MURDER! The people are trap in a sort of revenge/guilt/freedom/etc trip and find out their only option is murder. There are so many times where people play the innocent card by saying they let their emotions take over or that person was evil and deserve to die. etc. etc. etc. In truth, we are not be given that power to pass judgement, that's why there is something called Justice. I am not a murderer so I don't really understand, but people know that killing is a source of evil. That's why people are sent to jail, sent to trail, or at least have guilt. Our own justice is not efficient for passing judgement on others because we have the same urges. That means we have to be punished as well. But enough of this tangent, the anime shows that there is no perfect murder and only one truth prevails.