DVD Corner

Case Closed Season 1 DVD Review

“Case Closed” is a gimmicky detective anime series.

As part of the ongoing S.A.V.E. series (which are affordably priced repackaged re-releases), Funimation has recently put out several seasons of the classic 90’s anime series “Case Closed.” In the 26 episode first season, viewers are first introduced to teen detective Jimmy Kudo. He’s a smooth, observant, smart, Sherlock esque detective that has a knack for solving crimes (much to the displeasure of bitter goofball detective Richard Moore). Richard’s daughter (Rachel Moore) is Jimmy’s best friend/potential lover. Of course, Jimmy is in love with her too, but the two have yet to admit their feelings to each other. Unfortunately for Jimmy, his seemingly happy life is about to change for the forseeable future after he becomes poisoned. No, he doesn’t die. Instead, he wakes up to discover that he become a small child again. Not wanting to reveal what happened to him to anyone other than the cooky Professor Agasa, Jimmy decides to become someone else entirely. His new persona? Conan Edogawa (a reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). While Conan can’t take on cases by himself obviously, he still continues his detective  work by tagging along with Richard Moore (or sneaking off on his own to investigate solo)

Throughout the course of the season, expect to see episodes about murder investigations that take place everywhere from parties and a museum to a fashion design company and a private ship, kidnappings, missing person cases, Jimmy/Conan searching for clues about the mysterious men in black who poisoned him, Conan going back to school, a bomb, the Junior Detective League, a missing cat and a missing corpse, robbers, and a murder attempt on Richard.

“Case Closed” is essentially a standard detective series with a gimmick. While the gimmick certainly shakes the plot up, it basically just feels like a reverse “Big” with the semi-adult becoming a kid. The anime series is definitely not as original or as clever as it thinks it is. In fact, it’s rather corny at times (especially with the Junior Detective League stuff and Conan and Rachel’s friendship dynamic).

With all of that said, I’m still happy to see an anime series that isn’t the same old mech or haremy centric story that we so often see these days. At the same time, I wish the show wasn’t so routine. Most of the time, the plots are your average “murder of the week” detective mystery with some goofy humor thrown in ala the James Bondian gadgets that Conan gets (see the voice changing bowtie for reference). The show is at its best when Conan is trying to figure out what happened to him or when he tries to figure out how to explain Jimmy’s sudden absence (this is where that voice changing bowtie comes in handy).

Having not seen any of the following seasons, I am curious to see where the story goes. Is the Conan element something that lasts the entire series or does Jimmy come back soon? I would HOPE that the writers wouldn’t drag out this story arc for seasons on end, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did.

Video/Audio:

The episodes, which are presented in fullscreen, look very much like old school anime. The colors appear faded and the animation quality is definitely pretty standard stuff. This series could definitely benefit from being remastered.

This set contains English and Japanese Stereo tracks. The English track is sufficient, but the opening song sounds terrible in English. While the Japanese song sounds superior, I think I actually prefer the voice acting in the English track more. I find Conan’s voice to be preferable in the English dub.

Extras:
* Trailers for “Yu Yu Hakusho,” “Dragon Ball Z” Double Feature, “School Rumble,” “Kodocha,” “Sasami,” “Tsubasa,” “School Rumble,” “xxxHolic,” “One Piece,” “Ragnarok,” “Dragon Ball Z,” and “Case Closed.”
* A text character spotlight on Conan Edogawa and brief text about Conan’s super sneakers gadget.

Summary: “Case Closed” is a watchable anime series, but it’s not a must see series by any stretch of the imagination.

September 3, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Case Closed Anime, Case Closed S.A.V.E., Case Closed Season 1 DVD Review, Funimation