Anime

Consume This: Case Closed Season One

I first came across Case Closed when I saw it by chance on Adult Swim.  I only managed to watch a couple of random episodes before the show was juggled around in the schedule, leaving it outside my normal viewing times (this was before I had a DVR), and I never could find dub copies online.  That little bit of viewing was enough to make a huge impression on me, and it instantly became one of my favorite series.

PLOT SUMMARY

Jimmy Kudo is a genius teen detective, aiding the police with cases and generally making a name for himself in the progress.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that he gets to impress Rachel Moore in the process – and she happens to be the daughter of another local detective, Richard Moore.  One day Jimmy gets in over his head by following a pair of men that he should have avoided – they poison him!  Instead of the intended deadly effect, the poison shrinks him down to child-size, making him appear as a seven year old child!  Now, as Conan Edogawa, he has to track down his assailants in order to find the antidote by helping Richard solve his cases.

CAST OF NOTE

Shinichi Kudo/Jimmy Kudo: Kappei Yamaguchi, Jerry Jewell
Conan Edogawa: Minami Takayama, Alison Viktorin
Ran Mori/Rachel Moore: Wakana Yamazaki, Colleen Clinkenbeard
Kogoro Mori/Richard Moore: Akira Kamiya, R. Bruce Elliott
Hiroshi Agasa/Hershel Agasa: Kenichi Ogata, Bill Flynn

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH

If you enjoy a good mystery, picking up this series should be a no-brainer.  Each episode, whether it is a single shot or multipart story, usually succeeds in drawing the viewer into the puzzle.  Case Closed definitely is not intended to be a serious drama, as comedy plays a huge part in the character of the show.  The main characters at least are fully developed, with a rich background and a complete range of emotions and personality quirks.  The subplot of Rachel and Jimmy’s romantic relationship lends a deeper meaning to some of the events they live through, as well as providing extra challenges for Conan to face alongside the mysteries.  The first season gets you the origin story, as it were, and a handful of different cases to solve.

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T WATCH

Don’t come into Case Closed expecting futuristic, fantastic or science fiction elements, as it is set in at least the 90’s era contemporary Japan.  That limits the scope a little bit, and though the show stretches that setting a bit, if you don’t like anime about regular people you’re not going to like this one.  Mystery is all that Case Closed is base upon, and it doesn’t really overlap any other genres.  If you aren’t a fan of mystery Sherlock Holmes-style, then I would steer clear of the show.  The first season is all unique from episode to episode, but it can get a little bit repetitive in later seasons.

FINAL GRADES

I would definitely give Case Closed Season One a solid B.  It isn’t too flashy, but it’s a great way to spend some time.  It’s also much better than some of the action animes out there.  The bottom line is that it’s too good to pass up if you are a fan of the mystery genre even a little bit.  As Funimation does the English dub of the series, I also get a huge kick out of guessing who the one-off characters are voiced by in each episode, as many of them are voiced by common Funimation actors.  It’s not too expensive as far as DVD box sets go, and it’s also available on Netflix.  Oh, and just as a note of interest – if you’re looking for the Japanese version of the show, it can be found under the name Meitantei Conan, or Detective Conan.  Naming issues with Conan the Barbarian prevented the show from carrying the same title in North America.