Speaking of Anime

Detective Conan

What is it: Shinichi Kudo, son of a famous mystery novelist and an actress, is a high school detective on the rise to national recognition. He has helped local authorities solve cases that they couldn't. After two men dressed in black knocked him out and gave him a dangerous concoction to kill him, Shinichi transformed into a child. This poses as both an impossible situation and somewhat of a blessing. Now it is up to Shinichi, now going by the name Conan Edogawa, to find those two men and get his body back to normal. Until then, he has no choice but to be a child and cover his real identity. Because if he doesn't, those two men will find out and they will kill him.

Initial Reaction: Before Naruto, but after Dragon Ball Z. THIS is the anime that got me into anime. It's not my first show, because I have to credit DBZ and Sailor Moon for that. But at that time I didn't know what anime was until I saw this. Though, when it came out in America, it was called Case Closed, so that name is more synonymous with my childhood association with this show. I remember staying up late every Saturday night to watch it. Once Lupin III went off, I immersed myself in this mystery/crime solving show. Of course, the early episode had bloodier deaths that scared the hell out of me, but I couldn't stop watching. As you can imagine, I was pretty sad when it stopped airing.

Favorite Character: I would have to say Conan/Shinichi. I never had such an attachment to a protagonist even after all these years and all these anime. He's a little bit of everything, but cocky is probably his general description. As a detective, his knowledge and problem solving skills are unrivaled. Not only is he intelligent, he is quick to adapt to most situations. He's also able to awe at others who have stepped up. I can recall an episode where Kogoro (Richard Moore, for those more familiar with the English dub) solved the case on his own without Conan having to put him to sleep. Stuff like that enables other characters to have a spotlight, and even grow and develop a little bit. We all know how good Shinichi is at solving crimes, so there's always a way to twist it up somehow.

Crushes: Ran/Rachel, Haibara, Sera

Ships: Shinichi/Ran, Conan/Amy

Final Thoughts: If you haven't noticed, I have a strong bias when it comes to this anime. Everyone has THAT anime they think of when asked "what is your favorite anime". For me, it's this. Case Closed is my all time favorite anime, and a lot of that is built on my history with the show. Earlier I mentioned how sad I was when it stopped airing on Toonami. Well, imagine how excited I was when I got my own computer and started watching it from where I last left it. I was ten years old when I first saw it, finishing it eight years later when I started college. It does have its negatives, of course. As much as I absolutely love this anime, I cannot recommend it to anyone (as much as I want to). The main reason why is....it's long. The anime has been running for over twenty years, with more than 900 episodes. It's longer than One Piece. So if you aren't patient enough to watch 900+ episodes of One Piece, then you definitely aren't going to sit through 900+ episodes of this. Not only is it long, it's incredibly slow. Think of it in terms of a video game, where you have a main story and tons of side quests. It takes so long to get to the main plot that I can imagine people quitting before catching up.

With all that said, I still love this anime with all my heart. It is by no means the greatest anime ever, or even the most interesting. But much like Ed Edd N Eddy when it comes to all time favorites, it's MY number one.

Grade: 10/10