Case Closed
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Case Closed, also known as in Japan and in non-English speaking countries, is a detective manga and anime series by Gosho Aoyama which has been published in Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine since 1994.
The series depicts the cases of a young private detective who was inadvertantly turned into a prepubescent boy by criminals and now struggles to continue his profession while keeping his true identity, age and medical condition secret.
VIZ Media publishes Detective Conan manga in English as Case Closed for American audiences. The comic uses the original right-to-left format and the English anime names for the main characters while it uses the original Japanese names for the minor characters.
The anime version is produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and has run over 440 television episodes and ten movies in Japan, and is still running on Japanese television today. It airs Mondays at 7:30 p.m. on Nippon TV. In July 2003, FUNimation announced that they licensed Detective Conan for a release in North America, to be released as "Case Closed" due to legal issues concerning the name Conan (Conan the Barbarian, although Conan can be considered a regular name as in Conan O'Brien). In the United Kingdom VIZ's releases are published by Gollancz Manga with the same naming conventions.
The tenth movie, Private Eyes' Requiem [link] was announced on December 15 2005 and was released on April 15 2006, debuting at the [number one position] in the Japanese box office and remained there for three consequtive weeks. As of May 28, 2006, it has earned $25.8 million in the Japanese box office. [link]
The latest in the series of its franchise is a live-action TV drama which is poised to be aired in autumn 2006. It would act as a prequel of the current storyline, starring Shun Oguri as Jimmy Kudo, Tomoko Kurokawa as Rachel Moore, and Takanori Jinnai as Richard Moore.[link]
Story
The English manga names will be used, with the Japanese original in brackets at their first mention. Japanese names are in Western order, with the surname after the given name, with the exception of Edogawa Rampo (Edogawa is the last name here).
At the beginning of the story, 17-year old (16 years in the manga) high school student Jimmy Kudo (Shinichi Kudo) becomes the boy, Conan Edogawa. Jimmy Kudo in the beginning of Case Closed is known as a high school student detective. One day, Jimmy goes to a theme park named "Tropical Land," with his childhood friend (or current girlfriend), Rachel Moore (Ran Mori). He encountered a case where a roller coaster passenger, Kishida (Kenneth in the English anime), is killed in a spectacularly bloody decapitation. He solved the case and on his return home, he witnesses a suspicious deal involving some men dressed completely in black. Another man in black spots him, knocks him down, and gives him an untested poison named Apotoxin-4869 (APTX4869), which is intended to kill him. The poison does not kill him. However, when he comes to his senses, his body had shrunk down to the size of an elementary school boy.
Following the advice of Dr. Hiroshi Agasa (Dr. Herschel Agasa in the English anime), Jimmy hides who he really is, lest the men in black find out that he is alive. When Rachel asks for his name, Jimmy spots books by Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Rampo and comes up with the name "Conan Edogawa." Agasa says that "Conan" is a relative of his, but was too busy to take care of a young child, and suggests that "Conan" go live with Rachel, and both Conan and Rachel agree.
Rachel's father, Richard Moore (Kogoro Mōri) is also a detective, but is not very capable. Conan always solves mysteries in his stead. As Conan appears to be just a boy, police don't pay Conan any mind. Conan instead uses Detective Moore by putting him to sleep with a "anesthesia gun-watch" and pretending to be Moore by using a voice changer disguised as a bow tie.
Other important characters that appear (some later) are Jimmy's parents Booker (Yusaku) and Vivian (Yukiko) Kudo , Harley Hartwell (Heiji Hattori), a rival detective from Osaka, gentleman thief Phantom Thief (Kaitō Kid , who also appears in Magic Kaito), inventor of the APTX4869 Shiho Miyano (codename "Sherry" within the black syndicate, turned into a child also after she took her own drug to escape the organization, and then lives with Dr. Agasa under her new name Ai Haibara), and the other members of the black organization: Gin, Vodka, Tequila, Calvados, Pisco, Vermouth, Kir, Chianti, Köln, and a mysterious "boss" who has only been mentioned so far.
Case Closed has the format of classical mystery/crime literature, with such classical set ups such as the Closed-Room-Type murder case, and cases with a limited number of suspects. It also includes the wrap up of the case and conclusion/solution of the case as in typical crime literature.
Many references to other detective literature can also be found for fans of detective novels; References to Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's works, Kogoro Akechi, Kosuke Kindaichi, Arsène Lupin, Maigret, and many more.
The manga also includes a Detective Encyclopedia, where many characters of detective, mystery, and crime literature and film are introduced, including even Columbo and James Bond.
In Japan a new theatrical movie of Detective Conan is released every year in April during the Golden Week. Also, regular appearances of 1 hour specials as well as the yearly two hour new year special define the series.
Characters
The Japanese names are in Western order (surname after personal name), and are followed by the names used in the American, Canadian, and British adaptations.
Main characters
- / Jimmy Kudo - A high school detective now living in the body of a small boy under the alias Conan Edogawa(江戸川コナン Edogawa Conan).
- Birthday: May 4
- Skilled at: Football (soccer) and logical reasoning
- / Rachel Moore - Jimmy's best friend since elemetary school. Both are in love with one another but they never have the nerve to admit their feelings. She is skilled in the martial arts and is the captain of her karate team. She spends most of her home life looking after Conan (whom she does not know is really Jimmy) and her irresponsible father, Detective Richard Moore. She sometimes threatens him with a punch on the table, but is a very genial person.
- / Richard Moore - Rachel's father, an incompetent private detective. He's married to Eva Kadan (Eri Kisaki in the original Japanese anime and manga), a successful lawyer. They are now living separately. Despite his irresponsible ways, he appears to care deeply for his daughter, and at times shows some flashes of honor and strict ethics.
- , also Agasa-hakase, which means Professor Agasa) / Dr. Herschel Agasa - An absent-minded professor who invents several devices to help out Jimmy. His given name is Hiroshi in the English manga and Herschel in the English anime. He serves as one of the few roles in the story who learns about Conan's true identity and helps the little detective in cases.
- , also known as "Sherry" (シェリー) and as - A former member of the crime syndicate that created APTX 4869, the poison that shrank Jimmy. Shiho betrays the organization after Gin killed her sister, Akemi Miyano. Shiho took the drug in a suicide attempt, but rather than dying, she, like Jimmy, became small. She is taken in by Dr. Agasa and becomes Conan Edogawa's right hand under her alias Ai Haibara. She later shows affections toward Jimmy and is cheered by him as well, but on the other hand, she does not dare confess since she knows that Jimmy is in love with Rachel.
- / George Kojima (manga) or George Kaminski (anime) - A friend of Amy and a self-proclaimed leader of the Junior Detective League (Detective Boys, or Shōnen Tantei, in the original Japanese anime and manga).
- / Mitch Tsuburaya (manga) or Mitch Tennison (anime) - A friend of Amy who has a scientific approach. He seems to be infatuated both with Amy and Ai Haibara. A smart first grader who believes in technology.
- / Amy Yoshida (manga) or Amy Yeager (anime) - A girl who becomes friends with Conan, Amy is the token female member of the Junior Detective League. She has a crush on Conan (which makes him uncomfortable, because he, of course, loves Rachel). A naive and innocent little girl who shows courage from time to time and often cheering everyone.
Police officers
- also known as Inspector Megure (目暮警部 Megure-keibu) / Joseph Meguire - A detective that uncovers some clues Conan and Richard Moore miss. Richard used to work under him 10 years ago. It was noted in the second 'Detective Conan' movie that he never took his hat off, eventually revealed in Volume 29 of the manga that he has a hidden scar.
- - A young female officer who works with Megure. Her father was also a police officer who was killed on duty when she was only six years old. Her former partner Matsuda was killed in an explosion. She made her debut as a cameo appearance in Volume 19 of the manga and was properly introduced in Volume 21. Tough, energetic, and a dedicated police officer (so dedicated that her "dates" tend to turn into police investigations) she is hugely popular with the male members of the police department.
- - Miwako's parter who died while trying to stop a bomb from exploding. He chose to stay inside a Ferris wheel ride with a bomb because a message came that another bomb's location would be displayed on the casing 3 seconds before the explosion. He originally meant to redeem his partner Hagiwara, who died 4 years before in a related incident, but was unable to succeed. Miwako was partnered with him for less than a week, but his intense personality and subsequent death left a huge and lasting impact on her for years to come.
- / Detective Wilder - Another officer that works with Meguire and has a crush on Satou. He was first introduced in the anime and made his first manga appearance in Volume 17. He has an appearance of ineffectual nervousness, but he's not as useless as he seems. His quick ability to assess a situation and take immediate and decisive action when necessary are points in his favor.
- Officer Chiba (千葉刑事) - Takagi's partner who likes to eat a lot. He's nice and very encouraging towards his friend. He made his debut in the fourth Detective Conan movie, then as a cameo appearance in Volume 29 of the manga and was properly introduced in Volume 32. Later in the series it's revealed he is a fan of the children's show Kamen Yaiba (Case Closed's counterpart to Japan's "Kamen Rider").
- - Another officer that works with Meguire and likes Satou; however, she does not feel the same about him. He made his first appearance in the first Detective Conan movie and his manga appearance was in Volume 21, along with Officer Satou. Later in the series he makes overt advances towards Miwako, relying heavily on his status as the scion of a wealthy family (and doing his best to make the shy and awkward Wilder feel inferior in the process)
- - Traffic officer who knows about Wilder's crush on Satou. She often teases the two about their relationship.
Black Organization
- Gin - One of the top-ranked members in the BO. The person who gave the APTX 4869 poison to Jimmy. Extremely cold-blooded and one of the most menacingly drawn of the villains. It should be noted that he is also extremely perceptive, which is also why it would be extremely difficult to catch him.
- Vodka - A member of the BO and is always seen alongside Gin.
- Tequila - A giant BO henchman towering above 6'5". Introduced in volume 12 of the manga, and accidentally killed by a briefcase bomb in the same volume.
- Vermouth - An important member of the crime syndicate (also known as the Black Organization, BO). Her true self is Sharon Vineyard, a famous American actress who learned the skill of disguise along with Vivian Kudo, mother of Jimmy (aka Conan). The Boss' favorite member.
- Kir - Originally a newscaster named Rena Mizunashi, Kir also serves as a member of the Black Organization, which is revealed in episode 425 (volume 48-49 of the manga). She gets knocked unconscious and detained by FBI agents after being involved in an accident. It is revealed that her name is most likely an alias that refers to 007.
- Chianti - A member of the Black Organization that serves as an assassin. Appears in volume 48/49 of the manga and episode 425. Has a mark on one of her eyes.
- Korn - Chianti's partner. Appears in episode 425 and volume 48/49 of the manga. He is much older than his comrades and wears dark sunglasses. Unlike the other members, he does not smile.
- Calvados- Sniper that aids Vermouth in almost killing Jodie, but he is eventually killed himself in episode 345.
- Boss - Leader of the Black Organization. Unseen and unheard, known only through text messages. His phone number follows the tune of the children's song "Seven Ravens".
Other characters
- / Serena Sebastian - Rachel's best friend. Serena is very obsessed with guys, but later she develops a somewhat genuine liking towards Makoto Kyougoku, a promising martial artist. Serena has a sister (named Ayako Sebastian in the English manga, Angie Sebastian in the English anime, and Ayako Suzuki in the Japanese versions). She thinks Jimmy Kudo is a loser and is always trying to set Rachel up on dates with new guys.
- Jodie Starling - First appeared in episode 176 as Ran's English teacher under the name of Jodie Saintemillion. She appeared to know Conan's secret, judging by her dialogue towards him (calling him "cool kid," etc). For a long time she was suspected by Conan fans to be Vermouth in disguise, and even investigated by Conan and Heiji on these suspicions in episodes 277-278, but is later revealed to be an FBI Agent in episode 345. She has a personal vendetta against Vermouth concerning the death of her parents. Please note that her name is a reference to Agent Clarice Starling from "Silence of the Lambs" played by actress Jodie Foster.
- - First appeared in episode 230-231 as a mysterious man spying on Conan. He is later revealed to be an FBI agent in episode 345 and Jodie's partner. In the manga, Gin refers to him as a very dangerous man after Vermouth informs him about her encounter with Conan and the FBI agents.
- James Black - Another FBI Agent who works with Shuichi and Jodie.
- / Harley Hartwell - Jimmy's rival detective from Osaka, who later becomes friends with him. He has a relationship with martial artist Kazuha Toyama (遠山和葉 Toyama Kazuha), his childhood friend and would-be love interest, and this is pretty similar in the case of Jimmy-Rachel.
- Skilled at:Kendo
- / Booker Kudo - Shinichi's father, a famous author of detective stories. Created the popular character, "Night Baron".
- / Vivian Kudo - Shinichi's mother, a former actress who gave up her career at age 20 to marry Yusaku against the will of her family. A Yukiko Kudo also appears in episode 4 of CLAMP School Detectives, another mystery anime. She has been a rival of Rachael's mother in her high school years, and was elected Miss Teitan High School.
- / Phantom Thief Kid - A thief that looks a lot like Jimmy (and also has a girlfriend named Aoko Nakamori, who, coincidentally, looks a lot like Rachel). Despite the fact that Jimmy/Conan does not care much about investigating thefts, Kid can be considered his archnemesis, as he is the one criminal (beside some members of the BO) he can't seem to catch. Curiously, Kaitou discovers Conan's true identity, but keeps his secret, and sometimes Jimmy can even count on Kid's help to solve some of his cases (when the criminal is not Kid, of course). His codename in the police department is 'Thief 1412'. Kaitou Kid appears in his own manga series, Magic Kaito. Kid steals antiques and arts of high values in search of his father's murderer (who was Kaitou Kid before he died 8 years ago).
Cast
Japanese cast
- Conan Edogawa - Minami Takayama
- Shinichi Kudo, Kaito Kid / Kaito Kuroba - Kappei Yamaguchi
- Ran Mori - Wakana Yamazaki
- Kogoro Mori - Akira Kamiya
- Eri Kisaki - Gara Takashima
- Professor Hiroshi Agasa - Kenichi Ogata
- Ai Haibara / Shiho Miyano / Sherry - Megumi Hayashibara
- Genta Kojima, Detective Wataru Takagi - Wataru Takagi
- Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya - Ikue Ootani
- Ayumi Yoshida - Yukiko Iwai
- Inspector Juzo Megure - Furin Cha
- Detective Miwako Sato - Atsuko Yuya
- Detective Ninzaburo Shiratori (1996 to 2000) - Kaneto Shiozawa
- Detective Ninzaburo Shiratori (2000 to present) - Kazuhiko Inoue
- Yumi Miyamoto - Yuu Sugimoto
- Gin - Yukitoshi Hori
- Vodka - Fumihiko Tachiki
- Vermouth / Sharon Vineyard - Mami Koyama
- Kir / Rena Mizunashi - Kotono Mitsuishi
- Sonoko Suzuki - Naoko Matsui
- Shuichi Akai - Shuuichi Ikeda
- Heiji Hattori - Ryo Horikawa
- Kazuha Toyama - Yuko Miyamura
- Yusaku Kudo - Hideyuki Tanaka
- Yukiko Kudo - Sumi Shimamoto
English dub cast
- Conan Edogawa - Alison Retzloff
- Jimmy Kudo, Phantom Thief Kid - Jerry Jewell
- Rachel Moore - Colleen Clinkenbeard
- Richard Moore - R. Bruce Elliot
- Dr. Herschel Agasa - Bill Flynn
- George - Dameon Clarke
- Mitch, Angie Sebastian - Cynthia Cranz
- Amy - Monica Rial
- Inspector Meguire - Mark Stoddard
- Detective Wilder - Doug Burks
- Serena Sebastian - Laura Bailey
- Tequila - Andrew Chandler
- Harley Hartwell - Kevin M. Connolly
- Booker Kudo - Randy Tailman
- Vivian Kudo - Laurle Steele
Movies
Since 1997, a movie based on the series is screened during the Golden Week (Japan). Because of the series' general popularity in Japan, most of the movies are number one in box office rating at debut, if not for several weeks. These movies are often the second best selling domestic movie in Japan after the Studio Ghibli movies. The list of movies screened so far include:
- , 1997
- , 1998
- , 1999
- , 2000
- , 2001
- , 2002
- , 2003
- , 2004
- , 2005
- , 2006 (10th Anniversary Special)
Music
- For more details on this topic, see List of Case Closed music tracks.
Opening animation
The 5th is the first to introduce Shiho/Ai. The 6th is the first to introduce officer Takagi(only officer). The 7th is the first to show all the main officers that work with Megure as well as Ran's mother(Eri). The 10th is the first to show Gin and Vodka in the intro credits. The 13th is the first to show ALL the officers including those who don't work with Megure, plus, the teacher Jodie, and new BO member Vermouth. The 15th introduces James Black and the FBI Agents (Jodie and Shuichi Akai). And the 16th Opening is the first to introduce new members of the Black Organization (Kir, Chianti, and Korn). The 17th Opening recycles visuals from the previous openings (13-16), however, it adds Kir to Vermouth, Gin, and Vodka's group as the main black organization members. The 18th opening shows almost every contributing minor character in the series, and Kir as the only black corps member.Adaptions elsewhere
In the U.S. version, as is customary for most of FUNimation's productions, the original songs were replaced by new songs using the same melodies and an English translation of the original lyrics. This is also the same for the German RTV adaption of the anime.Broadcast and adaptations
Detective Conan is airing on Yomiuri TV (producing TV station), NNS TV stations, and TV Miyazaki on Mondays at 7:30 p.m., after Tezuka Anime, Black Jack. It is regularly one of the highest rated programs on Japanese television.There have been unconfirmed reports that the Fox Network (pre-Fox Box) considered licensing the series at one point, but decided not to as it was thought to be far too violent. Indeed, there are many situations that involve disturbing homicides, such as human corpses, dismembered bodies, and in a very few cases, even murdered children. (In the very first episode of the anime, the young man, Kishida, is beheaded on a roller coaster, with actual graphic detail and gore. The anime version has gouts of what appears to be intense light spouting from where Kenneth's (as "Kishida" is known in the English anime) head was.
In every other part of the world, in the many countries where Detective Conan was released and aired, the name "Detective Conan" (or the literal translation of it), remained intact. Detective Conan has aired in Chile, Spain, Germany, Italy, China, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Philippines, and other nations. However, it was at the insistence of TMS that legal precautions be taken in the US market and the alternate title "Case Closed" be used. Likewise, FUNimation was also instructed, much to their dislike, to use a new logo designed by TMS, as well as change most of the character's names to what the Japanese licensor felt would be more friendly to an American mainstream audience. However, like many licensors who have an inaccurate perception of the North American market, marketing an animated murder mystery show to a family audience in the US was far more difficult than TMS anticipated.
Cartoon Network began broadcasting Case Closed as part of their Adult Swim programming block in May 2004. Although a family series in Japan, the mature content of the crimes portrayed prevented it from gaining prime time exposure to its proper audience. Only 50 episodes aired in the United States, and in January of 2005, Adult Swim announced that it would not purchase additional episodes due to low ratings. They gave back the rights to the series later that year, and it has now debuted on a syndicated FUNimation Channel programming block airing on CoLours TV on Monday, June 19, 2006. However, episodes are still being released on DVD.
The English dub of Case Closed made its Canadian television debut on YTV's Bionix programming block on Friday, April 7 2006 at 10:30 p.m.. Currently Case Closed is still part of the Bionix block, but as of June 2, 2006, it has been airing at a later timeslot of 12:00 a.m.. The reason for this, however, is likely not so much because of low ratings (as was the case on Adult Swim), but because the station needs to meet their annual Canadian Content quota by airing a certain amount of Canadian programming before 12am, leaving, effectively forcing the series out of the main line-up. What fate the series will meet later during the fall 2006 season is unclear.
Awards
At the 5th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards competition, the ninth Detective Conan movie, Detective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths, won the Feature Film category, together with Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Heirs To The Stars. [link]See also
External links
English
- [FUNimation's official U.S. website]
- [Box Office Mojo]
- [Case Closed Trading Card Game website]
- [J-Revolution.com's Case Closed section]
- [Kudo's Files]
Japanese
- () [Official website of the Detective Conan movie]
- () [YTV INTERACTIVE -よみうりテレビ - Official Japanese TV series web site]
- () [Official Japanese manga web site]
- () [Official Japanese drama site]
Other
- () http://dconan.net/index.php, site that has information on the black organization, including the newest members ( Kir, Chianti, and Korn)
- () http://www.rtl2.de/pokito/51.php RTL II official Detective Conan blog
- () http://www.detectiveconanweb.com.
Navigation
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Characters | |||
| Jimmy Kudo | Rachel Moore | Richard Moore | |||
| Minor / Recurring Characters | |||
| Harley Hartwell | Kazuha Toyama | Booker Kudo | Vivian Kudo | Phantom Thief Kid | Akemi Miyano | Ai Haibara | |||
| Black Organization | |||
| Black Organization |Gin | Sharon Vineyard | |||
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