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| Don't worry, everyone! There are a lot more logos! ^__^ |
Detective Conan, the anime with over 700 episodes and has been around for more than 15 years. Gosh, where to begin. Wait! I know! The beginning of time!!
History
Gosho Aoyama began publishing the manga in January 19, 1994 and currently has 79 volumes. The anime premiered about two years later on January 8, 1996 and has over 700 twenty-five-minute episodes (rounding up to over 17,500 minutes—not counting the one hour episodes, of course!). The anime is ranked 16th for longest anime series (see here for full list). Next thing up is the story.
Story
Shinichi Kudo, a 17 year-old detective prodigy that often helps the police with cases, goes on a "date" with his childhood friend Mouri Ran after she wins a karate tournament to Tropical Land. While there, he sees someone acting suspiciously and excuses himself from his friend, who gets the feeling that she'll never see him again. While investigating, he discovers that the man is making a trade with another man. Just then, Shinichi gets hit in the head by a guy from behind. The two then force him to take a pill (which is later revealed to be called APTX 4869, a rather odd name for a pill) and leave him to die. However, an odd event happens in which, instead of dying, Shinichi turns into a seven year-old boy.
To hide his identity, Shinichi changes his name to Conan Edogawa (the two names of the mystery writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—author of Sherlock Holmes—and Edogawa Rampo). From then on he lives with Ran and her father, Mouri Kogoro, a private detective, under the persona of a kid. Despite being a child, Conan helps and solves cases for Kogoro in hopes getting a case related to the Black Organization, an organization, he discovers, that was at fault for his changing into a kid.
So there you have it: the plot. Now do you understand why this has over 700 episodes? No? Well, maybe it's because of the fact that 99.9% OF ALL THE EPISODES ARE FILLER. I just really wish this anime would focus more on the overall plot rather than on a mystery the characters comes across. However, I'll admit, each episode is very compelling and challenges you to solve the case before Conan (and sometimes other people). Now, you can't have a story without its characters, right?
Characters
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| Don't worry, guys. There are WAY more characters than this! :D |
As expected from a 700+ episodes anime series, there are a chock-full amount of characters. The main cast being closest in the image above. However, the side characters are also interesting and quirky, making this anime have a great cast. It'd take ages to list all the characters, so I leave them to you to discover their oddities and humor, and to figure out which ones you love and hate—because you will find them.
Animation
It's a bit hard for me to judge this anime's animation, because, well, animation sure does improves after a decade, and this anime is no exception. The first few seasons may look odd to you, though, for their "pumpkin-like" noses and large ears, but these elements balance out in the later seasons of the anime. However, I believe the early 2000s is when the anime's animation was at its prime. I'm not as much a fan of the current animation, but it's definitely acceptable.
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| Look! She looks like a rhino from the side! |
Sound
Having over a dozen of opening and ending songs, this anime has a lot of soundtracks. However, a disappointing thing I have realized about the anime is that a lot of the jazz from the '90s vanished without a trace in the 2000s. Which is a shame, because there are some pretty damn catchy jazz songs. Overall, however, the music and soundtrack for the anime is very well made and has some of my favorite anime songs.
Overall Enjoyment
Overall, the anime is very enjoyable. There is humor, romance, action, and surprisingly heartache. Everyone should be able to find something they like in this anime, and I have found a lot of things to like, and hate, about the anime. The major problem I have with this anime is, once again, its length—it's just way, way, WAY too long! Honestly, if it stuck to a coherent plot, this anime could have been summed up to 50 or so episodes—maybe even a hundred. But it does not, unfortunately, and, because it is filled with a bunch of filler episodes, the anime suffers the consequences.
The Bottom Line
I hereby give this anime the score of ★★★½, with each section rated the following:
Story: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★★½
Animation: ★★★☆☆
Sound: ★★★½
Enjoyment: ★★★★☆
Because of its rating, this anime is deemed "Good," and I recommend it to the mystery-loving community, people twelve and older (there's some gore, just to let you know), and someone who just wants to watch a good mystery show. And with that, see you next time, otakus!
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