Case Closed
Encyclopedia
Case Closed, known as in Japan, is a Japanese detective
manga
series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama
. The series is serialized in Shogakukan
's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon
volumes as of September 2011. Due to legal considerations with the name Detective Conan, the English language release was renamed Case Closed. The story follows the adventures of Jimmy Kudo
, a prodigious young detective
who was inadvertently transformed into a child after being poisoned.
Since its publication, Case Closed has spawned a substantial media franchise
. The manga has been adapted into an ongoing animated
television series
by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
and TMS Entertainment; the animated series has reached its twentieth season. The series has spawned three original video animation series, fifteen animated feature films, three live action
dramas, a live action series, numerous video games, and many types of Case Closed-related merchandise
. A two-hour television special
titled Lupin the 3rd vs Detective Conan was aired on March 27, 2009, and featured a crossover with the series Lupin III
.
Funimation Entertainment
licensed the anime series for North American broadcast in 2003 under the name Case Closed with the characters given Americanized
names. The anime premiered on Cartoon Network
as part of their Adult Swim
programming block and was discontinued due to low ratings. The first six films were released on Region 1 DVD
in North America. Viz Media
later licensed the manga series for English-language publication in North America and used Funimation's renamed title and cast.
Compilation volumes of the manga have sold more than 120 million copies in Japan. In 2001, the manga was awarded 46th Shogakukan Manga Award
in the shōnen
category. The anime adaptation has been well received and ranked in the top twenty in Animage
's polls between 1996 and 2001. In the Japanese TV anime ranking, Case Closed often ranked in the top six. Both manga and anime have had positive response from critics for its plot and cases.
is a 17-year-old high school prodigy who frequently helps the police in solving cases. During an investigation, he is attacked by two criminals, codenamed Gin and Vodka, from the syndicate called the Black Organization. They force him to ingest an experimental poison, APTX 4869, which is supposed to kill him, and leave him to die. A rare side-effect of the poison, however, transforms Kudo's body into that of a child instead of killing him.
Adopting the pseudonym Conan Edogawa, Kudo hides his identity to investigate the Black Organization. He intends to pretend to be a child until he can find enough evidence to apprehend the syndicate, after which he can then safely find and administer a cure for his current condition. Edogawa enrolls at Teitan elementary school and forms the Junior Detective League with three other children in his class: Amy Yoshida, Mitch Tsuburaya, and George Kojima. To further cover up his activities, he moves in with his childhood friend Rachel Moore, whose father, Richard, works as a private investigator. Kudo continues to solve criminal cases as Conan, but usually poses as Richard Moore with the help of special gadgets invented by his neighbor and friend, Hiroshi Agasa.
Shiho Miyano, a member of the Black Organization and creator of APTX 4869, tries to leave the syndicate after her sister's murder, but is held captive by them. She attempts to commit suicide by ingesting APTX 4869; however, like Kudo, she is transformed into a child. She manages to escape and enrolls in Conan's school under the pseudonym, Anita Hailey. She joins the Junior Detective League and assists Conan in his investigations on the Black Organization. Conan's quest has led him to help the FBI to plant a CIA agent, Kir, inside the Black Organization as an undercover spy.
In 2007, Aoyama hinted he had the ending planned out but he does not intend to end the series yet.
due to the publishing of the Kindaichi Case Files
series; the first chapter of his work appeared in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday on February 2. He cites the stories of Arsène Lupin
, Sherlock Holmes
and the samurai films by Akira Kurosawa
as influences on his work. Aoyama says he spends an average of four hours for each new case in his manga; a more complicated story can take more than twelve hours. Each case spans several chapters, and is resolved at the end where characters explain the details of their solutions in simple terms; A database consisting of all the cases from the manga was launched in 2007. Aoyama tries to keep the language simple to help his readers follow the story.
Meitantei Conan became the 25th longest running manga series with over 700 chapters released in Japan. The individual chapters are collected by Shogakukan in a series of tankōbon
volumes. The first volume was released on June 18, 1994; over 70 volumes has been released as of September 2011. Gosho Aoyama's assistants have also written and published 36 volumes of their own side stories of Meitantei Conan.
The manga has been licensed for publishing across the world in countries such as China
, France
, Germany
, Indonesia
, and Finland
. In the United States, it is published by Viz Media
, who obtained the license on June 1, 2004. Following Funimation Entertainment's lead, the Viz Media translation released under the name Case Closed with renamed characters. Viz Media released the first English-language volume on September 7, 2004, and is currently ongoing. Victor Gollancz Ltd
used Viz Media's translations to distribute the series in the United Kingdom
.
version of Meitantei Conan is produced by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
and TMS Entertainment. Directed by Kenji Kodama
and Yasuichiro Yamamoto
, Conan's cases have been adapted into 25-minute episodes. More than 600 episodes have aired in Japan since the anime's premiere on January 8, 1996 making it the eleventh longest anime series. Initially, Shogakukan collected and released the episodes on VHS
video cassettes between June 1996, and October 2006. Four hundred and twenty-six episodes were released on VHS until Shogakukan abandoned the format and switched over to DVDs, starting from the first episode. For the fifteenth anniversary of the anime series, the series is being made available for video on demand
. Meitantei Conan is later broadcasted in North America on NHK
's cable network TV Japan
.
In 2003, the first 104 episodes of the regular animation series were licensed by Funimation Entertainment for distribution in North America and was retitled Case Closed because of legal considerations. Meitantei Conan has also been released in other languages. Case Closed debuted on Cartoon Network
as part of their Adult Swim
programming block on May 24, 2004; no more than 50 episodes were licensed from Funimation due to low ratings. The Canadian channel YTV picked up the Case Closed series and broadcast 22 episodes between April 7, 2006, and September 2, 2006, before taking it off the air. Funimation made the series available with the launch of the Funimation Channel
in November 2005 and was temporary available on Colours TV
during its syndication with the Funimation Channel. A separate English adaptation of the series by Animax Asia
premiered in the Philippines
on January 18, 2006, under the name Detective Conan. Because Animax were unable to obtain further TV broadcast rights, their version comprised 52 episodes. The series continued with reruns until August 7, 2006, when it was removed from the station.
Funimation also released DVDs of their dubbed series beginning August 24, 2004. Initially, the releases were done in single DVDs and future episodes were released in seasonal boxes; as of 2009, they have released 130 episodes dubbed in English. The seasonal boxes were later re-released in redesigned boxes entitled Viridian edition.
. The first seven were directed by Kenji Kodama
films eight to fifteen were directed by Yasuichiro Yamamoto
, and films sixteen and onwards are directed by Kobun Shizuno. The films have been released in April of each year, starting in 1997 with the first film, Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper. The sixteenth film, Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker
, is slated for April 14, 2012. The second film
and onwards were the top twenty grossing anime films in Japan. The revenue earned from the films funded Toho's other film projects. Each film was adapted into two film comics which were released in the fourth quarter of the same year. Funimation Entertainment released an English dubbed version of the first six films on Region 1 DVDs between October 3, 2006, and February 16, 2010.
s (OVA) series were produced by TMS Entertainment, Nippon Television, and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation. The OVA series Shōnen Sunday Original Animation are yearly mail order
episodes available to subscribers of Weekly Shōnen Sunday. The first Shōnen Sunday Original Animation was available in Weekly Shōnen Sundays 26th issue in 2000 with eleven OVAs released as of 2011. The first nine episodes of the OVA series were later encapsulated into four DVD volumes titled Secret Files and were released between March 24, 2006, and April 9, 2010. The second OVA series entitled Magic File are yearly direct-to-DVD releases. The first Magic File was released on April 11, 2007, and contained four episodes from the anime series. The Magic File OVAs henceforth contained an original plot with background ties related to their respective Case Closed theatrical films beginning with twelfth film Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear
with the fifth Magic File being tied to the fifteenth film, Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence
. The third OVA series are entitled Detective Conan Specials which focus on the character Phantom Thief Kid
and is aired during Case Closeds time slot in Japan.
titled was produced by TMS Entertainment, Nippon Television, and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation and aired on March 27, 2009. It was first announced in the 9th issue of Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 2009. The plot follows Kudo as he investigates the death of the Queen of Vespania while Arsène Lupin III
from the Lupin III
series attempts to steal the Queen's crown. The special earned a household record rating of 19.5 in Japan. VAP released the special on DVD and Blu-ray Disc
on July 24, 2009.
. Since then, 19 games have been released with Meitantei Conan: Aoki houseki no Rinbu Rondo released on April 21, 2011 for the Nintendo DS
. Currently, the majority of the games have only been released in Japan, though Nobilis has localized Case Closed: The Mirapolis Investigation for the PAL region
. All dedicated Meitantei Conan games released for the Game Boy, Sony
's consoles, the WonderSwan
, and the Nintendo DS have been developed by Bandai
. Banpresto
developed the Case Closed titles on the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance while Marvelous Entertainment developed Case Closed: The Mirapolis Investigation.
, comprising several songs sung by Japanese voice actors of the characters in the animation, were also released. Several theme music
were performed by pop musicians such as B'z
, Zard
, and Garnet Crow
. The first four theme music were released by Universal Music Group
and all releases thereafter were by Being Inc.
drama focusing on Jimmy Kudo was aired by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the manga's first publication. Another episode was aired in the following year. These TV specials were produced by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation and TMS entertainment, and featured award-winning actors; Shun Oguri
portrayed the teenage Kudo and Takanori Jinnai
was cast as Richard Moore. Both dramas were released on DVDs after their broadcast on television. The dramas present stories in which Jimmy Kudo investigates mysteries in his teenage form. The scenario of the first drama, , takes place before Kudo's ingestion of APTX 4869 and is about an abduction case on board a cruise ship. In the second drama, , Kudo returns to his teenage form after eating a certain cake and has to protect Miyano, who likewise has returned to her adult state, from the Black Organization.
A third live action entitled, , aired on April 15, 2011 and featured Junpei Mizobata
as Jimmy Kudo and Shioli Kutsuna as Rachel Moore. The same cast are appeared in a live action television series entitled on July 7, 2011.
, the two companies collaborated to publish twelve biweekly magazines consisting of chapters from Weekly Shōnen Sundays Case Closed and Weekly Shōnen Magazines Kindaichi Case Files
. The magazine ran between April 10, 2008, and September 25, 2008.
Shogakukan have also produced many books spun off from the series. Fifty volumes of a film comic series were published in Japan between June 1996 and August 2000, covering the first 143 episodes of the anime, though some episodes were skipped. Five additional film comics entitled were published between July 2001 and January 2002 and covered selected episodes between 162–219. Thirteen official guide books were published between June 1997 and April 2009. Shogakukan has also published novel
s, digest books, educational books, and puzzle books.
In North America, Score Entertainment
published the Case Closed Trading Card Game on June 29, 2005. The game entails the use of three customized decks of cards, which players buy and collect. Representing characters, events, and objects in Case Closed, these cards are used by players to fulfill certain conditions to solve a case and win the game. Certain cards are used to foil the progress of the player's opponents. An English unofficial guidebook to the series titled The Case Closed Casebook: An Essential Guide was published by DH Publishing Inc. on March 25, 2008.
for the shōnen
category in 2001, and respondents in an online poll for Japanese citizens in their mid-twenties voted Meitantei Conan as one of the top three manga they wanted to continue running in publication. Case Closed appeared on the New York Times Manga Best Sellers list during the week ending on October 24, 2010. In France, the series was nominated for the Angoulême Festival Graphic Novel award among the Japanese selection. In the United States, Case Closed received praises from Mania.com's Eduardo M. Chavez and IGN
's A. E. Sparrow for its stories—telling the mysteries and how they were unfolded by the investigations of Conan and gang. Sparrow called the style of the series a mix of Scooby-Doo and Sherlock Holmes, while Chavez believed the manga had appeal to readers of all ages.
The animated adaptation of the series was also popular in Japan, appearing in the top six of Japanese TV Rankings at various times. The television series ranked among the top twenty in polls conducted by anime magazine Animage
from 1996 to 2001. It also placed better than twenty-third in polls for the top-one-hundred anime conducted by Japanese television network TV Asahi in 2005–06. The series received considerable airtime in China; it was the second most broadcasted animation there in 2004. Several of the franchise's films were nominated for awards in their home country. The ninth film was nominated for the feature film category at the 5th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards, and the next five films were nominees for the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
in their respective years of release.
In the United States, the dubbed series faced several negative reactions toward its changes to localize the content for North American audiences. Jeffrey Harris of IGN found it pointless to change the names of the characters, and Anime News Network
's Carl Kimlinger said that the changes of certain Japanese cultural references rendered several parts of the mysteries and their investigation illogical. The voice-overs proved to be a mixed bag for Carlo Santos, who reviewed the first DVD release of Case Closed for Anime News Network; he said that while the main characters sounded like "real people", the secondary ones "[came] off as caricatures". Lori Lancaster of Mania.com described Case Closed as "a clever series that had mysteries at every corner", noting the "bizarre" and "interesting" nature of each case. IGN's Chris Wyatt was positive to the manner the cases were set up, relating them to Agatha Christie
's "closed room" mysteries. He described the series as "Inspector Gadget meets Law & Order but in an anime style." His colleague, Harris, however, expressed annoyance with repetitive elements in the show and the contrived methods the series uses to keep Conan's identity a secret from certain characters.
In 2006, the Japanese government used Conan in campaigns to help promote crime awareness among children. Targeting the same audience, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
used Conan and his friends in two pamphlets: one to promote the ministry's mission, the other to introduce the 34th G8 summit
held in the country in 2010. Several characters in the series featured in the sixth installment of the Anime, Heroes and Heroines commemorative stamp series issued by Japan Post
in 2006. Aoyama and his creations are celebrated in his hometown Hokuei, Tottori
; a museum with exhibits of his work is located there, and several bronze statues of Jimmy Kudo
, Conan Edogawa
, and Rachel Moore are installed in various locations throughout the town.
Anime
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama
Gosho Aoyama
, born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age...
. The series is serialized in Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes as of September 2011. Due to legal considerations with the name Detective Conan, the English language release was renamed Case Closed. The story follows the adventures of Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...
, a prodigious young detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
who was inadvertently transformed into a child after being poisoned.
Since its publication, Case Closed has spawned a substantial media franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
. The manga has been adapted into an ongoing animated
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
is a TV station joining Nippon News Network and Nippon Television Network System in Osaka Business Park, Osaka, Japan founded as "" on February 13, 1958...
and TMS Entertainment; the animated series has reached its twentieth season. The series has spawned three original video animation series, fifteen animated feature films, three live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
dramas, a live action series, numerous video games, and many types of Case Closed-related merchandise
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
. A two-hour television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
titled Lupin the 3rd vs Detective Conan was aired on March 27, 2009, and featured a crossover with the series Lupin III
Lupin III
, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...
.
Funimation Entertainment
Funimation Entertainment
Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...
licensed the anime series for North American broadcast in 2003 under the name Case Closed with the characters given Americanized
Americanization
Americanization is the influence of the United States on the popular culture, technology, business practices, or political techniques of other countries. The term has been used since at least 1907. Inside the U.S...
names. The anime premiered on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
as part of their Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
programming block and was discontinued due to low ratings. The first six films were released on Region 1 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in North America. Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
later licensed the manga series for English-language publication in North America and used Funimation's renamed title and cast.
Compilation volumes of the manga have sold more than 120 million copies in Japan. In 2001, the manga was awarded 46th Shogakukan Manga Award
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
in the shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
category. The anime adaptation has been well received and ranked in the top twenty in Animage
Animage
is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, was serialized in Animage from 1982 through 1994...
's polls between 1996 and 2001. In the Japanese TV anime ranking, Case Closed often ranked in the top six. Both manga and anime have had positive response from critics for its plot and cases.
Plot
Jimmy KudoJimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...
is a 17-year-old high school prodigy who frequently helps the police in solving cases. During an investigation, he is attacked by two criminals, codenamed Gin and Vodka, from the syndicate called the Black Organization. They force him to ingest an experimental poison, APTX 4869, which is supposed to kill him, and leave him to die. A rare side-effect of the poison, however, transforms Kudo's body into that of a child instead of killing him.
Adopting the pseudonym Conan Edogawa, Kudo hides his identity to investigate the Black Organization. He intends to pretend to be a child until he can find enough evidence to apprehend the syndicate, after which he can then safely find and administer a cure for his current condition. Edogawa enrolls at Teitan elementary school and forms the Junior Detective League with three other children in his class: Amy Yoshida, Mitch Tsuburaya, and George Kojima. To further cover up his activities, he moves in with his childhood friend Rachel Moore, whose father, Richard, works as a private investigator. Kudo continues to solve criminal cases as Conan, but usually poses as Richard Moore with the help of special gadgets invented by his neighbor and friend, Hiroshi Agasa.
Shiho Miyano, a member of the Black Organization and creator of APTX 4869, tries to leave the syndicate after her sister's murder, but is held captive by them. She attempts to commit suicide by ingesting APTX 4869; however, like Kudo, she is transformed into a child. She manages to escape and enrolls in Conan's school under the pseudonym, Anita Hailey. She joins the Junior Detective League and assists Conan in his investigations on the Black Organization. Conan's quest has led him to help the FBI to plant a CIA agent, Kir, inside the Black Organization as an undercover spy.
In 2007, Aoyama hinted he had the ending planned out but he does not intend to end the series yet.
Manga
Meitantei Conan was conceived in 1994, during the raise in mystery genre mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
due to the publishing of the Kindaichi Case Files
Kindaichi Case Files
is a serialized Japanese mystery manga series based on the crime solving adventures of a high school student, Hajime Kindaichi, the supposed grandson of the famous private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. They are written by Yōzaburō Kanari or Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Fumiya Satō...
series; the first chapter of his work appeared in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday on February 2. He cites the stories of Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television such as Night Hood, stage play and comic book adaptations.- Overview :A...
, Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and the samurai films by Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
as influences on his work. Aoyama says he spends an average of four hours for each new case in his manga; a more complicated story can take more than twelve hours. Each case spans several chapters, and is resolved at the end where characters explain the details of their solutions in simple terms; A database consisting of all the cases from the manga was launched in 2007. Aoyama tries to keep the language simple to help his readers follow the story.
Meitantei Conan became the 25th longest running manga series with over 700 chapters released in Japan. The individual chapters are collected by Shogakukan in a series of tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes. The first volume was released on June 18, 1994; over 70 volumes has been released as of September 2011. Gosho Aoyama's assistants have also written and published 36 volumes of their own side stories of Meitantei Conan.
The manga has been licensed for publishing across the world in countries such as China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. In the United States, it is published by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
, who obtained the license on June 1, 2004. Following Funimation Entertainment's lead, the Viz Media translation released under the name Case Closed with renamed characters. Viz Media released the first English-language volume on September 7, 2004, and is currently ongoing. Victor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership...
used Viz Media's translations to distribute the series in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Anime
The animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
version of Meitantei Conan is produced by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
is a TV station joining Nippon News Network and Nippon Television Network System in Osaka Business Park, Osaka, Japan founded as "" on February 13, 1958...
and TMS Entertainment. Directed by Kenji Kodama
Kenji Kodama
is a Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the anime Case Closed and working with the anime Lupin III.-Works:* Bug tte Honey : Episode Director* Case Closed : Director, Storyboard, Episode Director...
and Yasuichiro Yamamoto
Yasuichiro Yamamoto
is a Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the anime Case Closed.-Works:* Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie , Animation* Urusei Yatsura: Only You , Assistant Animator, In between Artist...
, Conan's cases have been adapted into 25-minute episodes. More than 600 episodes have aired in Japan since the anime's premiere on January 8, 1996 making it the eleventh longest anime series. Initially, Shogakukan collected and released the episodes on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
video cassettes between June 1996, and October 2006. Four hundred and twenty-six episodes were released on VHS until Shogakukan abandoned the format and switched over to DVDs, starting from the first episode. For the fifteenth anniversary of the anime series, the series is being made available for video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
. Meitantei Conan is later broadcasted in North America on NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
's cable network TV Japan
TV Japan
TV Japan is a 24-hour Japanese language television channel geared towards the Japanese diaspora in North America. It is currently the only Japanese TV channel available in the United States and Canada. TV Japan is owned by NHK CosmoMedia America Inc, a company operated by NHK Enterprises- the...
.
In 2003, the first 104 episodes of the regular animation series were licensed by Funimation Entertainment for distribution in North America and was retitled Case Closed because of legal considerations. Meitantei Conan has also been released in other languages. Case Closed debuted on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
as part of their Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
programming block on May 24, 2004; no more than 50 episodes were licensed from Funimation due to low ratings. The Canadian channel YTV picked up the Case Closed series and broadcast 22 episodes between April 7, 2006, and September 2, 2006, before taking it off the air. Funimation made the series available with the launch of the Funimation Channel
FUNimation Channel
The FUNimation Channel is a 24-hour cable network which broadcasts anime series in the United States. OlympuSAT was chosen as the exclusive distributor of the network....
in November 2005 and was temporary available on Colours TV
CoLours TV
Colours TV was a multicultural American TV network produced by the non-profit organization Black Star Communications. Programs focused on the cultural and educational issues of the Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Native American communities. Some examples of programming included video...
during its syndication with the Funimation Channel. A separate English adaptation of the series by Animax Asia
Animax Asia
Animax Asia is the Japanese anime TV network Animaxs English language feeds in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as its feeds across other regions of mainland Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan...
premiered in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
on January 18, 2006, under the name Detective Conan. Because Animax were unable to obtain further TV broadcast rights, their version comprised 52 episodes. The series continued with reruns until August 7, 2006, when it was removed from the station.
Funimation also released DVDs of their dubbed series beginning August 24, 2004. Initially, the releases were done in single DVDs and future episodes were released in seasonal boxes; as of 2009, they have released 130 episodes dubbed in English. The seasonal boxes were later re-released in redesigned boxes entitled Viridian edition.
Films
Fifteen feature films based on the Case Closed series have been released. They are animated by TMS Entertainment and produced by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Nippon Television, ShoPro, and TohoToho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
. The first seven were directed by Kenji Kodama
Kenji Kodama
is a Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the anime Case Closed and working with the anime Lupin III.-Works:* Bug tte Honey : Episode Director* Case Closed : Director, Storyboard, Episode Director...
films eight to fifteen were directed by Yasuichiro Yamamoto
Yasuichiro Yamamoto
is a Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the anime Case Closed.-Works:* Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie , Animation* Urusei Yatsura: Only You , Assistant Animator, In between Artist...
, and films sixteen and onwards are directed by Kobun Shizuno. The films have been released in April of each year, starting in 1997 with the first film, Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper. The sixteenth film, Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker
Case Closed: The Eleventh Striker
is the 16th film installment of the manga and anime series Detective Conan. The film is slated to be released on April 14, 2012....
, is slated for April 14, 2012. The second film
Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target
Case Closed: the Fourteenth Target, known as in Japan, is the second Case Closed movie. It was released in Japanese theatres on April 18, 1998. The English version was released on DVD on November 20, 2007 by Funimation. The movie grossed ¥1.05 billion in Japan.-Plot:The Fourteenth Target opens...
and onwards were the top twenty grossing anime films in Japan. The revenue earned from the films funded Toho's other film projects. Each film was adapted into two film comics which were released in the fourth quarter of the same year. Funimation Entertainment released an English dubbed version of the first six films on Region 1 DVDs between October 3, 2006, and February 16, 2010.
Original video animations
Three original video animationOriginal video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
s (OVA) series were produced by TMS Entertainment, Nippon Television, and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation. The OVA series Shōnen Sunday Original Animation are yearly mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
episodes available to subscribers of Weekly Shōnen Sunday. The first Shōnen Sunday Original Animation was available in Weekly Shōnen Sundays 26th issue in 2000 with eleven OVAs released as of 2011. The first nine episodes of the OVA series were later encapsulated into four DVD volumes titled Secret Files and were released between March 24, 2006, and April 9, 2010. The second OVA series entitled Magic File are yearly direct-to-DVD releases. The first Magic File was released on April 11, 2007, and contained four episodes from the anime series. The Magic File OVAs henceforth contained an original plot with background ties related to their respective Case Closed theatrical films beginning with twelfth film Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear
Case Closed: Full Score of Fear
Case Closed: Full Score of Fear, known as in Japan, is the twelfth movie installment of the popular manga and anime series Detective Conan. The initial screening of the movie in Japan was scheduled on 1 April 2008. An OVA, which takes place three years earlier, was released specially for the movie...
with the fifth Magic File being tied to the fifteenth film, Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence
Case Closed: Quarter of Silence
is the 15th film installment of the manga and anime series Detective Conan. The film was released on April 16, 2011. This film celebrates the fifteenth anniversary of the anime...
. The third OVA series are entitled Detective Conan Specials which focus on the character Phantom Thief Kid
Phantom Thief Kid
, the true identity under his alias is a fictional character created by Gosho Aoyama for the Magic Kaito series. His father was the original Phantom Thief Kid and was killed by an unknown organization...
and is aired during Case Closeds time slot in Japan.
Television special
A two hour television specialTelevision special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
titled was produced by TMS Entertainment, Nippon Television, and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation and aired on March 27, 2009. It was first announced in the 9th issue of Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 2009. The plot follows Kudo as he investigates the death of the Queen of Vespania while Arsène Lupin III
Arsène Lupin III
is a fictional character introduced by Monkey Punch in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. According to its creator, Lupin is the grandson of Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin....
from the Lupin III
Lupin III
, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...
series attempts to steal the Queen's crown. The special earned a household record rating of 19.5 in Japan. VAP released the special on DVD and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on July 24, 2009.
Video games
Meitantei Conans expansion into the video games industry followed behind its foray into animation. On December 27, 1996, Meitantei Conan: Chika Yuuenchi Satsujin Jiken was released for the Game BoyGame Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
. Since then, 19 games have been released with Meitantei Conan: Aoki houseki no Rinbu Rondo released on April 21, 2011 for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. Currently, the majority of the games have only been released in Japan, though Nobilis has localized Case Closed: The Mirapolis Investigation for the PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
. All dedicated Meitantei Conan games released for the Game Boy, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's consoles, the WonderSwan
WonderSwan
was a line of handheld game consoles produced in Japan by Bandai between 1999 and 2003. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai...
, and the Nintendo DS have been developed by Bandai
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
. Banpresto
Banpresto
is a Japanese toy company, best known in America for game development, headquartered in the Shinagawa Seaside West Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was founded April 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd. The company was renamed Coreland in 1982, and during the 1980s it worked mainly as a subcontractor for...
developed the Case Closed titles on the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance while Marvelous Entertainment developed Case Closed: The Mirapolis Investigation.
Audio CDs
Katsuo Ono composed and arranged the music in the Case Closed animation. Twenty-three CDs of Ono's work have been compiled as of 2011; each film in the franchise has its own soundtrack, and compilations of the soundtrack in the TV episodes number seven CDs. Two image albumsImage song
An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album for an anime, game or dorama that is usually sung by the seiyū or actor of a character, in character...
, comprising several songs sung by Japanese voice actors of the characters in the animation, were also released. Several theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
were performed by pop musicians such as B'z
B'z
is a Japanese hard rock duo, composed of and .B'z has released 45 consecutive #1 singles, 24 #1 albums, and sold more than 79 million records in Japan alone...
, Zard
Zard
was a Japanese pop group. Originally a group of five members, with lead vocalist Izumi Sakai as group leader. However, Sakai was the only member who stayed on in the group while others joined and left regularly. As such, Zard and Sakai may be referred to interchangeably. Zard's work was sold under...
, and Garnet Crow
GARNET CROW
Garnet Crow is a Japanese pop/rock band formed in 1999 and associated with the Giza Studio record label. Members include Yuri Nakamura, Hitoshi Okamoto, Nana Azuki, and Hirohito Furui, with Nakamura leading on vocals...
. The first four theme music were released by Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
and all releases thereafter were by Being Inc.
TV live action
In 2006, a live actionLive action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
drama focusing on Jimmy Kudo was aired by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the manga's first publication. Another episode was aired in the following year. These TV specials were produced by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation and TMS entertainment, and featured award-winning actors; Shun Oguri
Shun Oguri
is a Japanese actor, director and voice actor.-Career:Born to a theater director father, Tetsuya Oguri, and having an actor brother, Ryo Oguri, Shun Oguri started his acting career quite early in his life...
portrayed the teenage Kudo and Takanori Jinnai
Takanori Jinnai
is a Japanese actor, film director, and singer. He was born August 12, 1958 in Okawa, Fukuoka. He made his directorial debut with Rockers , a 2003 film based on his years as vocalist for the punk rock band The Rockers . He was nominated best actor for a Japanese Academy Award three times, once in...
was cast as Richard Moore. Both dramas were released on DVDs after their broadcast on television. The dramas present stories in which Jimmy Kudo investigates mysteries in his teenage form. The scenario of the first drama, , takes place before Kudo's ingestion of APTX 4869 and is about an abduction case on board a cruise ship. In the second drama, , Kudo returns to his teenage form after eating a certain cake and has to protect Miyano, who likewise has returned to her adult state, from the Black Organization.
A third live action entitled, , aired on April 15, 2011 and featured Junpei Mizobata
Junpei Mizobata
Junpei Mizobata is Japanese actor, best known as Saga Kazuma in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. He also appears in the drama Akai Ito as Atsushi Nishino .-TV shows:* Detective Conan - Kudo Shinichi...
as Jimmy Kudo and Shioli Kutsuna as Rachel Moore. The same cast are appeared in a live action television series entitled on July 7, 2011.
Other related media
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Weekly Shōnen MagazineWeekly Shonen Magazine
, also known as Shōnen Magazine, is a shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha, first published on 17 March 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies , it's mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college...
, the two companies collaborated to publish twelve biweekly magazines consisting of chapters from Weekly Shōnen Sundays Case Closed and Weekly Shōnen Magazines Kindaichi Case Files
Kindaichi Case Files
is a serialized Japanese mystery manga series based on the crime solving adventures of a high school student, Hajime Kindaichi, the supposed grandson of the famous private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. They are written by Yōzaburō Kanari or Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Fumiya Satō...
. The magazine ran between April 10, 2008, and September 25, 2008.
Shogakukan have also produced many books spun off from the series. Fifty volumes of a film comic series were published in Japan between June 1996 and August 2000, covering the first 143 episodes of the anime, though some episodes were skipped. Five additional film comics entitled were published between July 2001 and January 2002 and covered selected episodes between 162–219. Thirteen official guide books were published between June 1997 and April 2009. Shogakukan has also published novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, digest books, educational books, and puzzle books.
In North America, Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment was a trading card design and manufacturing company based in Arlington, Texas. Their first card game was the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game in 2000. Score Entertainment was a member of the Donruss Playoff LP family of companies...
published the Case Closed Trading Card Game on June 29, 2005. The game entails the use of three customized decks of cards, which players buy and collect. Representing characters, events, and objects in Case Closed, these cards are used by players to fulfill certain conditions to solve a case and win the game. Certain cards are used to foil the progress of the player's opponents. An English unofficial guidebook to the series titled The Case Closed Casebook: An Essential Guide was published by DH Publishing Inc. on March 25, 2008.
Reception
Meitantei Conan has sold more than 120 million volumes of manga in Japan; individual volumes frequently appear on the lists of best-selling manga there. It won the 46th Shogakukan Manga AwardShogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
for the shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
category in 2001, and respondents in an online poll for Japanese citizens in their mid-twenties voted Meitantei Conan as one of the top three manga they wanted to continue running in publication. Case Closed appeared on the New York Times Manga Best Sellers list during the week ending on October 24, 2010. In France, the series was nominated for the Angoulême Festival Graphic Novel award among the Japanese selection. In the United States, Case Closed received praises from Mania.com's Eduardo M. Chavez and IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's A. E. Sparrow for its stories—telling the mysteries and how they were unfolded by the investigations of Conan and gang. Sparrow called the style of the series a mix of Scooby-Doo and Sherlock Holmes, while Chavez believed the manga had appeal to readers of all ages.
The animated adaptation of the series was also popular in Japan, appearing in the top six of Japanese TV Rankings at various times. The television series ranked among the top twenty in polls conducted by anime magazine Animage
Animage
is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, was serialized in Animage from 1982 through 1994...
from 1996 to 2001. It also placed better than twenty-third in polls for the top-one-hundred anime conducted by Japanese television network TV Asahi in 2005–06. The series received considerable airtime in China; it was the second most broadcasted animation there in 2004. Several of the franchise's films were nominated for awards in their home country. The ninth film was nominated for the feature film category at the 5th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards, and the next five films were nominees for the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
The of the Japan Academy Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Nippon Academy-sho association .-History:...
in their respective years of release.
In the United States, the dubbed series faced several negative reactions toward its changes to localize the content for North American audiences. Jeffrey Harris of IGN found it pointless to change the names of the characters, and Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
's Carl Kimlinger said that the changes of certain Japanese cultural references rendered several parts of the mysteries and their investigation illogical. The voice-overs proved to be a mixed bag for Carlo Santos, who reviewed the first DVD release of Case Closed for Anime News Network; he said that while the main characters sounded like "real people", the secondary ones "[came] off as caricatures". Lori Lancaster of Mania.com described Case Closed as "a clever series that had mysteries at every corner", noting the "bizarre" and "interesting" nature of each case. IGN's Chris Wyatt was positive to the manner the cases were set up, relating them to Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's "closed room" mysteries. He described the series as "Inspector Gadget meets Law & Order but in an anime style." His colleague, Harris, however, expressed annoyance with repetitive elements in the show and the contrived methods the series uses to keep Conan's identity a secret from certain characters.
In 2006, the Japanese government used Conan in campaigns to help promote crime awareness among children. Targeting the same audience, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)
The is a cabinet level ministry of Japan responsible for the country's foreign relations.The ministry is due to the second term of the third article of the National Government Organization Act , and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Establishment Act establishes the ministry...
used Conan and his friends in two pamphlets: one to promote the ministry's mission, the other to introduce the 34th G8 summit
34th G8 summit
The 34th G8 summit took place in on the northern island of Hokkaidō, Japan from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo ; and Nago, Okinawa . The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders...
held in the country in 2010. Several characters in the series featured in the sixth installment of the Anime, Heroes and Heroines commemorative stamp series issued by Japan Post
Japan Post
was a government-owned corporation in Japan, that existed from 2003–2007, offering postal and package delivery services, banking services, and life insurance. It had over 400,000 employees and ran 24,700 post offices throughout Japan and was the nation's largest employer. One third of all Japanese...
in 2006. Aoyama and his creations are celebrated in his hometown Hokuei, Tottori
Hokuei, Tottori
is a town located in Tōhaku District, Tottori, Japan. Bordering it are Kotoura to the west, Kurayoshi to the south and Yurihama to the east.As of May 1, 2008, the town has an estimated population of 15,622 and a density of 273 persons per km²...
; a museum with exhibits of his work is located there, and several bronze statues of Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...
, Conan Edogawa
Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...
, and Rachel Moore are installed in various locations throughout the town.
External links
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