Forget the status quo, we’re going police procedural this time.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Gosho Aoyama
Translation/Adaptation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
What They Say
A blind woman hires Richard Moore to find the scarred man who once saved her life. Can Conan figure out which of her visitors is the hero…and which one is a serial killer on the lam?
Then the dashing jewel thief known as the Kaito Kid vows to crack a safe built by a legendary master of traps. But when Conan sees the Kid’s message, he suspects he may be dealing with an impostor!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There’s a certain rhythm to most volumes of Case Closed. You can usually bet on each case having exactly three suspects, of a murder happening right in front of Conan, and of the solution to the crime being at the end of a complex pile of clues. I’m happy to say this volume shakes things up considerably.
Things begin typically enough, with a case out at sea with a missing diver who turns up dead from dehydration. The crime itself is actually a pretty goofy cover up, but the motive behind the murder is solid. Unexpected accidental deaths during diving are not entirely uncommon, and I don’t know why the murder didn’t just sabotage the woman’s gear. Leaving someone to die from exposure on a rock kinda hits home just how vindictive the crime was. (There’s a tantalizing moment where we get a hint that the sketchy Okiya is dangerous, but that’s our only morsel of Men in Black this volume.)
It’s the next case which launches into an unusual format for this series. It focuses on a blind woman searching for a long lost savior she knew as a child. It’s easy to guess who the man in question is out of the choices presented, even though the author tries to trick the reader with appearances. What’s unusual, besides this case not being a murder, is that one of the suspects might be a serial murderer totally unconnected with that case. Not only that, it all links back into a murdered cop twenty years before. This, in turn, launches into the next case where the killer appears to strike again.
Suddenly it’s not so much the usual mystery but a police procedural. The complex web of tricky mystery novel clues falls away in favor of footwork. Witnesses in a cold case are requestioned and suspects and narrowed down. It still feels like Case Closed, but the details of the case are actually far more compelling. The idea of a group of brilliant minds falling victim to their own hubris is fascinating in this context. Not to mention there’s an actual level of suspense and concern when the cops have to face off with the killer. I would love to see more stories in this series play out like this one does in the future. Usually, we only get storylines this complex when they’re connected to the Men in Black.
To close out the volume we have yet another Kaito Kid incident in the making. This time it appears that Mr. Sebastian is baiting the Kid to break into a uncrackable safe. We have to wait until the next volume to see if the Kid calls his bluff or takes the challenge on head first.
In Summary
This volume of Case Closed has a little bit of everything. A typical case for Conan and the Junior Detectives which hints at the Men in Black storyline, a string of serial murderer cases which play out in a completely unexpected format for this series, and a return of the Kaito Kid. It’s a good mix of cases presented in a fun way and with strong motives for the crimes. It also has enough connections to the cast to make the reader invested in the outcome of the biggest case in this volume. While Case Closed is almost always entertaining, it could afford to be more ambitious more often, as this volume proves.
Content Grade: A –
Art Grade: A –
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: October 10th, 2017
MSRP: $9.99