Mysteries Ahoy!

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After one of the busiest starts to a semester since I began my graduate program, I am delighted that I finally have found a little time to read and blog. At this point I am wary of suggesting that normal blogging service may soon be resumed – I have made that mistake several times over the past year – but I am excited that I should at least have a little more time to read for fun, particularly once we get to May.

My choice to start by reading and writing about another volume of the Detective Conan manga reflects that I had to snatch opportunities to read whenever I can and so could not commit to a novel. Still, I was excited to get back to the series and to take the opportunity to finally post some fresh content on here.

For the uninitiated, Case Closed is a long-running manga series. The conceit is that the main character, Jimmy, has been de-aged and is now in the body of a grade-schooler, though his mind remains as sharp as ever. Now calling himself Conan, he continues to solve crimes in the hope that he will find a lead that will help him discover the secret of his transformation and to turn himself back. Given that there are over ninety more volumes already published and the series is still going strong, I suspect he has a long way to go…

The first story in the collection is the Ayumi Yoshida Kidnapping Case. This is one of the stories focusing on the adventures of the Junior Detective League (formed in Volume 6), the collection of friends that Jimmy hangs around with at school. These stories tend to be a little lighter, playing on the large personalities within that group, and this is no exception.

While the group play hide and seek, Jimmy reads an article in a newspaper about a series of kidnappings and murders. Just a few minutes later panic ensues when they realize that one of their number, Amy, has hidden inside the trunk of a vehicle that has been driven away. When she discovers there is a head in the trunk with her, panic ensues and the group of friends try to desperately track her down before she becomes another victim.

I quite enjoy the idea that teenaged Jimmy is part of a kid detective agency, but this story suffers from featuring no detection at all. Instead, it is structured as another high speed chase, this time using environmental clues from the sounds that can be heard from Amy’s radio, but it is one the reader cannot play along with. It is, in short, an adventure.

As disappointed as I was in the content of this adventure, there are at least a few things I enjoyed here. One of them is the gag that Amy clearly has something of a crush on ‘Conan’ and is quite forward about it, making him rather awkward. Another is the artwork from the chase which has a fun energy to it, really conveying a sense of motion and excitement (even if the physics here is a little questionable at points). It is one of those stories that I suspect will probably work really well in the anime adaptation.

Unfortunately whatever charm I found in the execution is offset by the rather unsatisfying and silly resolution to this case. Once again, this is perhaps in keeping with the Junior Detective League concept but I felt disappointed that the piece doesn’t really go anywhere interesting or provide any opportunities for deduction at all. That being said, I do like this group of characters and I think they are necessary to the concept of the series, so I prefer to think of this as a bit of a dud and will hope that future outings are a little more compelling.

The second story, Richard’s Class Reunion Murder Case, sees the bumbling detective meet up with members of his university judo club to reminisce and spend time together. There are some hints of tensions between group members but when one of the group is discovered dead in their room in an apparent suicide, it is only when Jimmy points out some inconsistencies in the scene that they realize one of them must be a murderer. The problem: each of them appears to have an unbreakable alibi!

This is much more like it! After the very silly opening case, this story provides the reader with much more to think about – not least how to break that pesky unbreakable alibi. What I liked most about the story though is that after eight volumes of Richard looking rather ridiculous, this story gives him some dignity and demonstrates he can be taken (at least a little) seriously. The moment where he asserts his desire to catch the killer, acknowledging that he is aware that it must be one of his old university friends, is a really strong one for the character and presents a slightly different side to him.

The case itself has some neat features and an interesting allusion, even if it completely passed me by until it was explained. The key element is highlighted however in the story so even if you are unaware of what its significance is, the enterprising reader could go and research it. In this case I was content to just go along for the ride. For what it’s worth though, I’ve never come across the idea in anything else I’ve read. Finally, I love the way that this sets up but then subverts the structure of so many of these stories, even if it does mean Jimmy has more of a supporting role in this story than most.

Let’s briefly turn then to the final story, the Wealthy Daughter Murder Case. The setup here is that a very wealthy young woman is throwing a lavish party and has invited several potential marriage prospects there to spend time with and evaluate. When the party draws to an end, the woman discovers her tires have been slashed and determined not to give up her plan, she asserts she will stay in the house overnight. Inevitably the would-be suitors volunteer to remain with her.

While most of the story is presented in this volume, its conclusion is in the next volume so I will save detailed discussion for that post. What I can say is that what we get of the story here is a lot of fun and does set up an interesting resolution. I plan to read that ending soon to see if I was right in my thinking, even if I don’t expect to read the rest of the volume for a little while longer.

The Verdict: It’s unfortunate the opening story is so light on detection. Fortunately the other material here is much stronger and I am excited to see how the Wealthy Daughter Murder Case will conclude in the next volume.