Musical Clue

 「さぁさ目を閉じて御覧なさい」

『うめいねこのなく頃に　Banquet of the Golden Witch』 

 

"Come, close your eyes and try to remember."

"Umineko: When They Cry - Banquet of the Golden Witch"

I finished Banquet of the Golden Witch earlier this week, so added my new thoughts on what might be happening on Rokkenjima to the Umineko no Naku koro ni playthrough memo. I'll probably finish Alliance of the Golden Witch this month too and do a short post on the Question arc then, before I move on to the latter half of Umineko no Naku Koro ni. And speaking of mystery stories set on an island...

With the year long delay of the theatrical release Detective Conan film The Scarlet Bullet from April 2020 to next month, they also launched a brand new marketing campaign for the film late last year, with "RELOAD" as the campaign's main theme. "RELOAD" is of course a reference to The Scarlet Bullet's renewed release date, but there was another big project for 2021 that fitted perfectly with this theme. For the episode count of the animated television series was also about to hit 1000. The animated series based on Aoyama Goushou's manga featuring the shrunken detective started airing on January 8, 1996 and has since been one of the major animated television shows in Japan, basically running the whole year through (though it also slots in re-airs and occasionally skips a week). Whole generations have grown up watching this television series, and the accompanying annual theatrical films aren even now still breaking records in Japan. To commemorate the broadcast of special episode 1000, it was decided to do a complete remake ("reload") of a twenty-five year old classic and also one of the most beloved episodes of the series: Piano Sonata "Gekkou" Satsujin Jiken ("The Piano Sonata "Moonlight" Murder Case"). While in the manga, this story doesn't appear until volume 7, it was featured much earlier in continuity of the animated series. It originally aired as episode 11, the show's first one-hour special (April 8, 1996). The remake of Piano Sonata "Gekkou" Satsujin Jiken is a two-parter (episodes 1000 and 1001), which were broadcast on March 6 and 13, 2021. And I figured this was the perfect time to revisit the story myself.

After receiving a mysterious letter signed by Asou Keiji, Mouri Kogorou, Ran and Conan travel to the small island of Tsukikage, but to their surprise they learn that Asou Keiji, a well-known pianist, has been dead for twelve years, and his death was rather unusual: after a performance at the island's public hall, he had taken his wife and his daughter back home and set fire to his own house. People who tried to save them however saw that he had stabbed his family with a knife, and even as the horrible fire raged around him, they saw Asou frantically playing his beloved Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. While obviously Asou couldn't have sent the letter to Mouri, it appears someone had reason to call Mouri down to the island, and they decide to ask around about Asou. One of the people they should interview is the mayor of Tsukikage Island, whom they learn is going to attend to the funeral service in the public hall of the previous mayor, accompanied by the candidates in the upcoming mayor elections. They wait outside the public hall while the funeral service continues, but suddenly the solemn mood is interrupted by... the Moonlight Sonata! Figuring something is wrong, Conan rushes to the hall where Asou Keiji's piano is kept and finds one of the candidates murdered there! A mysterious music score is also left on the scene, which makes it seem like Asou Keiji might be the one responsible for this murder, but why?

My first remark is that as a remake, these two episodes are quite straightforward. Nothing fancy has been done with the story or the presentation, they basically simply animated the story from the manga the way they always do, with the current, regular animation techniques and storytelling, and while I haven't compared these new episodes with the old special, I wouldn't be surprised if even the storyboards are more or less the same. It's kinda funny, and even odd to see this old story animated in the current style of the animated series though, as so much has changed in these twenty-five years. There's of course the jump from traditional cel animation to digital cel animation, but Mouri Kogorou too has had a completely different voice actor for over ten years now, so it's weird to hear the current voice in this older story. Character designs nowadays are also different from the older stories, so a lot of the character archetypes are not used (often) in the animated series at this point. Also: yep, Conan knows better than to just put unknown substances in his mouth now!

But wow, I have to admit I had forgotten a lot of the details of this story! It's actually a lot simpler, and more straightforward story than I had remembered, though it's still a nice mystery story, that is perhaps a bit more focused on mood than truly mindblowing trickery, but at the same time, it's also plotted better than I had thought. As a Conan story, it's pretty unique as an early story, being set in a small village on a remote island, though subsequent anime original episodes would often visit these smaller communities (not to be confused with the islands of Kindaichi Shounen, that usually don't have whole villages and just one or two manors). But the cramped and slightly outdated island vibe, the backstory of Asou Keiji madly playing the piano in the fires that consumed him and the Moonlight Sonata being played at all the murder scenes (yes, there are multiple murders in this story) make this story a memorable one in terms of atmosphere.

For example, I had completely forgotten that all the major events basically occur within the island's public hall, making it a rather frightful place as people keep on dying in different rooms there. With most of murders are committed in a rather "open" way, meaning anyone on the island might've committed the crime, the focus lies more on the why as the crimes themselves are rather straightforward, and that is what initally disappointed me a bit, as my memories of the tale were more positive. But near the end, I did really like how the story gave a very clear-cut, and good reason for why the murderer acted the way they did, with especially the reason why the first murder was committed there and in that manner being very clever. It's a shame that one major clue seems to point too directly to the murderer then, because the other clue (probably the one most people remember) was much more subtle and surprising. The set-up for the climax is a bit silly (I mean... was everybody staring at the speakers?!!), but by the time the story is over, you'll probably know why this episode is such a long-time favorite of Conan fans. In fact, this is the one story that Conan is reminded of every few years in  the main Detective Conan continuity, even though it's not directly tied to the overall storyline. The events of this episode and the impact it ultimately left on Conan himself are quite significant, so once in a while, you'll find a reference to this case in the manga. So in that regards, it's worth a watch if you started watching Conan in the middle and don't know this story yet.

As a remake, Piano Sonata "Gekkou" Satsujin Jiken, is perhaps not surprising in any manner: it's simply the classic Conan story with a new coat of paint. But I certainly didn't mind revisiting this story again, and if you hadn't seen the original special yet (or read the corresponding manga chapters), you might as well try these two new episodes. It's one of the iconic early Conan stories and also quite enjoyable even if you haven't seen much or anything of the franchise yet. And don't forget, volume 99 of the manga is also going to be released next month (and no, I haven't forgotten about 37 year old Kindaichi either).

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン』1000-1001話「ピアノソナタ『月光』殺人事件」