Detective Conan, also commonly known as Case Closed, is a Japanese Manga series. It was written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama and was released in the weekly Shonen Sunday in 1994.
The Manga series is quite an old one and people seem to fall in love with it once they start reading it. Detective Conan is highly appraised for having smart-witted characters.
This series was very famous initially when it was released. However, its popularity hasn’t died down but has only increased since then. In 2021, the manga sold over 250 million copies all over the world.
It was also regarded as the fourth best-selling Manga and was sold in 25 countries. In fact, it is so popular that in Japan, there’s a town and airport named after the hero of the series.
If you’re curious to know more about this series, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’ll be discussing everything related to Detective Conan and we’ll also take a look at why the series is worth the watch.
So let’s get right to it!
Detective Conan Plot
The Manga series Detective Conan revolves around the story of a high school detective known as Shinichi Kudo. Shinichi was able to solve many cases and was regarded as the savior of the Japanese police department.
He was very intellectual as well as intelligent and he was only 17 years old. The story begins when Shinichi goes to a theme park called Tropical Land with his friend Ran Mori.
Over there, a murder took place on a roller coaster. Shinichi was able to solve this case very quickly. However, after this case, Shinichi was suspicious of a man in black and so he decides to spy on him.
Upon trying to capture a blackmailing case, Shinichi gets poisoned which causes his body to shrink in size to that of an elementary school kid. The poison was actually supposed to kill him but didn’t.
Now the series is about Shinichi going under the alias Conan Edogawa and staying at his friend’s place until he’s able to get to the Black Organization. However, his friend Ran Mori doesn’t know that it’s him.
Through this organization, he’ll be able to get to the antidote which will help him get back to his previous form and out of this teenage boy’s body.
In short, the series revolves around a detective whose physical age was chemically reversed. Now he spends his life trying to hide the fact that he’s mentally developed but is stuck in a boy’s body.
The series is based on the genre of mystery and thriller. This is what attracts the audience the most about Detective Conan.
Who is Detective Conan based on?
The series of Detective Conan is based on a lot of influential works. Many of which come from the famous detective and mystery novels of the time.
Gosho Aoyama, the mangaka of this amazing series, took inspiration not only from these novels but also from his own one-shot Manga. He was also inspired by parts of his childhood and his immense love for films.
A series like Sherlock Holmes helped influence the creation of the Manga, Detective Conan. The character’s qualities are somewhat based on the character of Sherlock Holmes.
Even the title of this Manga series is derived from the name of the author of Sherlock Holmes, who is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
In many interviews, Gosho Aoyama has stated that movies made by Kurosawa have had a great influence on his Detective Conan series.
Moreover, the character of Detective Conan is famous for using his voice to solve mysteries. He has a voice-changing Bowtie which helps conceal his identity.
A professor, who was a former member of the Black Organization, helps him by making such gadgets for Conan to use. The English name of this series is Case Closed.
The Setting of Detective Conan
The story is set in Tokyo, Japan, in a vast town called “Beika City,” named after Sherlock Holmes’ flat on Baker Street.
A café in the series based on Dame Agatha Christie’s “Hercule Poirot” and many others are named after famous detectives invented by mystery novels. There are also names based on locations visited by Sherlock Holmes and his companion John H. Watson.
Because of the conflict between Conan and Kaitou Kid, the series is practically comparable to Sherlock Holmes’ war with Arsène Lupin, whose name was originally changed to Herlock Holmes to avoid copyright accusations.
Production of Detective Conan
Case Closed was conceived in 1994, during the boom of mystery genre manga due to the publication of the series The Kindaichi Case Files; the first chapter appeared on January 19 in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday.
Aoyama mentions Arsène Lupin’s stories, Sherlock Holmes, and Akira Kurosawa’s samurai flicks as influences on his work. He spends an average of four hours on each new case and twelve hours on more intricate ones when scripting each chapter, ensuring that the conversation remains straightforward.
Is Detective Conan worth watching?
Although Detective Conan’s Anime debuted in 1996, the series is still going on. Soon it’s about to release its 1000th episode. This indicates that the series is well written and therefore, worth a watch.
Moreover, this Anime has several interesting storylines and is great for casual watching. Undoubtedly, it’s going to be good and this can be proven by its loyal fan base that has developed on its own over the years.
Although it should be noted that the series is very long and has hundreds of episodes. If you’re someone who doesn’t have the time to invest in a long-running series, then I’d probably suggest not watching Detective Conan.
However, the fans praise the author for creating one of the best and most intriguing storylines in the history of Anime.
The work in this series is actually amazing and it is believed that any series that has been running for more than 20 years now is bound to be a good one!
Additionally, others have also listed reasons why the series is definitely worth watching: exciting scenes, a variety of plots, and the dynamic relationship between characters.
Here’s a video about things one didn’t know about the series Detective Conan:
What makes Detective Conan so special from other series?
Fans of this series have described Detective Conan to be a work of art. They believe that in every episode of this series, there’s tons of information to be taken.
Once you finish watching each episode, you feel as if you have learned a lot of useful things but in an enjoyable manner, therefore, making it an educational Anime. The knowledge that this Anime provides can be applied in real life and that’s what makes it so great.
The story of the characters in this series is regarded as powerful and very moving. In Japan, Detective Conan is especially popular amongst women and girls for having a great romance thread.
The author managed to create several intricate plotlines which are all tied to the big mystery of the Black Organization.
Furthermore, it is also praised because it is one of a kind in its own genre of mystery. Usually, Anime or Manga are all the same, but Detective Conan is different as it deals with solving legitimate mysteries and murder cases.
In addition, the show is regarded as timeless and fans still eagerly wait for each of its episodes, despite it having several of them.
Although there are differences between Manga and Anime as well. Here’s a table describing how the series is different in terms of Manga and Anime:
| Manga | Anime |
| It’s faster because it has no filler episodes | Longer and slower because of the filler episodes |
| A lot of useful content and scenes highlighted | Filler episodes can be interesting |
| Amazing artwork by the mangaka | Amazing live scenes |
| Uncensored | Censorship |
Final Thoughts
The key points in this article are:
- Detective Conan is a Japanese Manga series, which was written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama in 1994. It was released in the Weekly Shonen Sunday.
- The story revolves around Shinichi Kudo whose age has been chemically reversed and now he is living his life like a teenage boy. He was poisoned and is working towards getting to the Black Organization.
- Through this, he will be able to gain access to the antidote which will change him back to what he was.
- The series is based on many works of art, like mystery novels and even the detective story of Sherlock Holmes.
- Detective Conan has managed to build a loyal fan base that claims that the show is a must-watch. It has amazing storylines and the characters are also well written.