「さっさと行ってきなさいよ。探偵さん」

がっかりだな、名探偵

現場に大切なものを忘れているぞ

『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』

You disappoint me, great detective

You forgot something important at the crime scene!

"Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"

So in the end I couldn't keep up with weekly reviews of the Detective Conan live action series. Partly  because of university, but also because the quality of the series was very inconsistent. While I admit there were some good episodes too in this 13-episode long series, most of the episodes were either average or actually bad, which kinda sucked away the motivation to watch the series and report on it loyally every week.

Which explains why I am doing the final three episodes of the series in one single post now, two weeks after the series ended. The whole weekly posting thing experiment was fun to try, but I guess I found out the hard way that this only works if a) the series is actually fun to watch every episode and b) if the episode actually allows me to comment on it in a semi-meaningful way. 

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

When the Conan live action drama was first announced, I heard that the series would also include episodes based on the manga, but it was just this one single episode. Episode 11 ("A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi") is based on Desperate Revival [The Return of Shinichi & The Promised Place] (volume 26). Seeing as the live-action series focuses more on the Shinichi - Ran dynamics, the choice seems logical at first sight, as this case features them in a rather unique situation. Shinichi and Ran are having dinner in a restaurant, with Shinich clearly having something on his mind to say to Ran when a murder is discovered in the elevator of the building. Ran allows Shinichi to go see what's happening, not knowing that Shinichi was planning to propose to her.

The big, big, big problem with this story is that it is set chronologically after Shinichi turned in Conan in the manga. While the live action was already taking some liberties with continuity in earlier episodes(see episodes 3 and 9 for example), the contradictions there could be ignored with a bit of imagination. But by setting this case (and the surrounding events) before Shinichi turned into Conan, the live action series is set obviously in another continuity.

The original story is pretty good, resulting in one of the better episodes of the drama series, but the story loses a lot of its meaning because of the changed setting (in the manga, the fact that the case is set after Shinichi turned into Conan is very important for the conclusion of the story). The dramatization does not offer anything interesting new in return for these changes, resulting in a story that is not quite as good as the original manga or the anime episode.

Episode 12 ("I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!") starts out interestingly enough: a bank employee is found dead in the strongbox room of the bank, but the problem is that nobody can enter the room, as the security gate is down. Apparently, the murderer killed the employee, somehow activated the security gate, sealing off the strongbox room and even placed a bomb that goes off if somebody tries to open the gate. Mouri and Shinichi are asked privately to help, but to their big surprise, all three of their suspects confess to the murder, claiming they commited the murder on their own!

The problem of the three suspects confessing to the murder seems a lot like Bertus Aafjes' short story De haan heeft gegaapt of de zaak van de vele moordenaars (The Cock Yawned or the Case of the Multiple Murderers), the difference being that the latter is actually fun and this episode is really, really bad. Not the worst episode of the series, but it comes close. With problems involving illogical actions taken by the actors on stage, the awful (absolutely awful) hinting, and a pathetic attempt to make this case seem like a tragic (thus interesting) case, this episode is nothing more than a half an hour of headache-inducing nonsense. In fact, all of the notes I took while watching this episodes were just the keywords of the episode, all followed by a question mark. Why did (s)he do that? Why wouldn't someone notice that? Why would you leave that there? Why? Why? Why?!

The first episode of this series started with Shinichi, Ran and Mouri being locked inside a white room, being forced to recall cases Shinichi solved in the past in order to move on to other rooms, but in the final episode ("Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room"), Shinichi finally manages to escape from the white room. Or to be more exact: he was knocked out inside the white room and woke up in a harbor, being found by the police. Shinichi has no idea what happened, but the more shocking discovery is that Ran was found dead besides him in the harbor.

The rest of the episode Shinichi tries to figure out what has happened to Ran and who had captured them in the white room, but it takes no genius detective to solve the case. Halfway through the episode, Shinichi suddenly decides to run from the police, mimicking something Kindaichi Hajime has to do rather often in his stories, but with one big difference: there was no reason for Shinichi to run away. In fact, like with the previous episodes, I had to ask the Why question quite often, and I never got any answers.

A different problem I had with the episode is that is hardly a satisfying finale to 13 episode long series. From the beginning of the series, I had one fear: that the main storyline of the gang being locked inside the white rooms was nothing more than just a method to string the seperate stories together. I really hoped that the writers would have planted hints spread across all the episodes, allowing the viewer to construct a case while watching the series. Which is why I paid attention to the dates the cases occured on and to the passwords in every episode. But that was all useless. The final episode is just a cheap way to wrap up the series, delivering not a single grain of satisfaction. No interconnection between the episodes, no carefully planted seeds across the episodes! Despite the fact that it could have been done perfectly considering who the final criminal was! It's the sort of thing that is done expertly in the manga, as evidenced with the Vermouth and Kir/Eisuke storylines there. Carefully plotted hints scattered over a variety of stories that may or may not be directly connected to the overall storyline. Which makes the lousy way it's handled here more obvious.

Oh, and a random observation: the Beika police station looks awfully like the police station in the Furuhata Ninzaburou episode The Fear of Professor Kuroiwa. Which is really interesting considering the criminal's identity and the overall tone of the episode.

And this finally wraps up my review-series of Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi. And yes, it was quite tedious, as the material was usually not really worth writing about. I love Conan, and the TV-specials were OK, but this series, on the whole, almost feels like a mistake. Episode 3 ("Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder"), episode 9 ("Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West") and episode 10 ("The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman") are worth a look, but the rest can be missed.

I won't say there was nothing positive at all in the Mizobata/Kutsuna era Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi series, but I guess my gut-feeling about the original TV special that preceded this series was right: the current creative team just isn't talented enough to (consistently) come up with stories worthy of the franchise name.

Aaaah, at least the manga is still going strong!

Original Japanese title(s):
『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「キスは殺しの理由、20年後の復讐殺人! 完璧なアリバイの謎 」
Date & Password:　2010.9.17;　エレベーター
『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「私が殺しました! 3人の単独犯? 偽装殺人の謎を暴け!」
Date & Password:　2010.9.24;　タンジョウビ
『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「蘭死す! 真犯人が天才探偵へ最後の挑戦 白い部屋の謎を暴け」
Date & Password:　2009.5.15;　ヒロタハジメ

「真実の三角関係って一体どういうこと？ 」

「これだけ前半がボリューミーだったんで。ここはスッと行った方が良い・・・」

「いや、いや、今日は常にトップギアで行きましょ」

「後ほどでエエのよ。　ここは前半みんな走った後で中盤から後半で息切れた時にフッとこれが一番良いのよ」

『ヘキサゴンＩＩクイズパレード！！』　（2011.09.07）

"It's kinda busy in the first half of the show. So I think it's better to go lightly now..."

"No, no, let's go full gear the whole day"

"Later is better! After everybody has finished running around and is out of breath in the first half, I'll just pop out, that's the best!"

"Hexagon II Quiz Parade!!" (2011.09.07)

With the show almost over and mostly mediocre episodes, I don't expect much of the remaining episodes of Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi). When the series first started, I was hoping the series would pick up after the first half, but that didn't really happen. And the preview for this week's episode wasn't really interesting either, so.... wa... wait. Ha...hah? Did my eyes fool me, or was episode 10 actually a good episode?!

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Episode 10 ("The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman") actually features an interesting problem, which is pretty rare in this series (this is indeed the most original story since... episode 3?). A client of Kogorou is attacked by a stalker during her videochat session with Ran. Ran rushes to the apartment, but no sign of the client, just a totally ransacked apartment and signs of violence (blood traces). She calls the police and Shinichi, but even the client isn't found even after a complete search of the apartment block

And here comes the interesting part: the dead body of the client is eventually found, but in a Weekly Mansion in Saitama. Which by car is located about three hours away from the client's apartment. Yet the client was definately killed during the time she was videochatting with Ran. What makes the problem even more interesting is that the police have a suspect (the stalker), but he was seen by Ran at the client's apartment around the time the murder must have happened. So here we have a murderer (stalker), at the crime scene (apartment) as witnessed by Ran, but the body at a place 200 kilometers away from the crime scene! If the client was murdered in her own apartment, how did the murderer move her body to the place where she was discovered? And if the client was murdered at the place where she was discovered, how did the murderer manage to be at the apartment at the same time?

This episode really caught me by surprise. At first I thought it would be like the Murder Collector story of Tantei Gakuen Q ("Detective Academy Q"), as it featured a murder caught on video, but it turned to be quite different. In a positive way. I won't say the story is perfect, but it's a relatively complex story for this series that is also done relatively well. The main trick is pretty cool and the final deduction Shinichi made was actually impressive. There are some points in the story that really need some polishing though (including the final deduction), but I'll just blame at the time-constraints this series has. With a bit more running time / rewriting, this could really have been a very, very good story. But even as it is now, it's pretty good. I don't know where this sudden rise in quality this late in the series comes from, but you won't hear me complaining about it. I actually find it incredible that that the scriptwriter of this episode was also the person who wrote the awful episode 8. He also co-wrote the second episode, which was OK-ish. Meaning he wrote the best, one of the mediocre and the worst episode of the series.

And I certainly didn't expect to mention his name in conjunction with this series, but the episode is a lot like Norizuki Rintarou's stories. The modern urban setting is certainly a trademark of his short stories and the movement of characters in the modern maze of buildings is one of the more interesting parts in his more complex plots. Actually, the main trick itself is also very much like Norizuki's puzzles (even invoking Queen), especially Toshi Densetsu Puzzle.

Oh, and you'll always get my attention with a Yaiba reference!

The next episode is actually the first one to be based on the manga (volume 26; Desperate Revival [The Return of Shinichi & The Promised Place]), which fans should recognize as one of the more interesting episodes in Conan history. I'm a bit disappointed that didn't go with a 'bigger' story, but seeing as this series does feature Shinichi and Ran as a duo, it's an understandable choice. Just wondering how they're going to tie this in with the main series! The live action series has made no mention at all until now about Shinichi turning into Conan in the future, so it'll be interesting to see how they're going to explain that!

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「200キロを瞬間移動した死体の謎! 悪女の完全犯罪計画を暴け」
Date & Password: 2010.07.27; ビデオチャット

「浪速の高校生探偵、お手並み拝見だ 」

「それより、何か分かったの？服部君が先に事件を解決しちゃうかもよ」

「別にそれでもいいさ。探偵が何人いようと、真実はいつもたった一つしかねぇんだから」

『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』

"But have you figured it out yet? At this rate, Heiji might solve the case before you"

"That doesn't bother me. No matter how many detectives there are, there is always only one truth"

"Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"

No, I've not been very enthusiastic about the Conan drama for quite some time now. Most of the episodes feature rather predictable plots (and some are actually awful). In the manga, all the cases Shinichi solved in the past before he turned into Conan featured interesting plots, thus in my mind Shinichi case equals high standard detective stories. So my expectations for a series with only pre-Conan Shinichi stories were pretty high. The gap between my expectations and the actual series is sadly pretty big. And for the last couple of weeks, I was just watching the series out of habit.

Yet, the preview for this week's episode did spark my interest. For it was a Hattori Heiji case. Which equals awesome in my mind.

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

I'll just start with saying that episode 9 ("Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West") is pretty much impossible Conan-canon-wise. Hattori and Shinichi actually meet for the first time in volume 10, which is after Shinichi turns into Conan. So the meeting of the high school detectives of the East and West is simply impossible (despite some nice tries of the scriptwriter to save continuity).

Anyway, Hattori and Kazuha are in Tokyo to attend a match and happen to run into a robber. Chasing the robber, Hattori runs into Shinichi and Ran (not knowing who Shinichi is) and Shinichi stops the thief with his football, which ricochets into a house. Cue the sound of glass shattering and the discovery that a woman has died inside the house because she was hit by shattered glass. Was it Shinichi who accidently killed her? Of course not, and the detectives of the East and West join forces to find out what did happen inside the house.

The funny part is that Shinichi doesn't want Hattori to know he is Kudou Shinichi (the high school detective of the East). So he lies to Hattori, saying his name is Doiru (戸伊流（ドイル） - Doyle). Which is actually an awesome reference to the Edogawa Conan name, so yeah, I was quite happy with that. Ok, not much is done with it afterwards, as Shinichi isn't holding back his deductive powers this episode, so Hattori pretty much figures out he is Kudou Shinichi (_thus_ making this episode impossible canon-wise), but still, a nice nod to the main series. And Shinichi should use the Doiru alias more often.

The trick of the dead woman is pretty basic though and it was funny to see that the scriptwriter of this episode also wrote episode 6, as both episodes have a clear Galileo-vibe going on, with a type of trick that seldom appears in the Conan manga. Realistically though, the trick is pretty ridiculous as it might take 100 tries before the trick becomes actually lethal. It's probably one of the most basic tricks in this particular category of tricks and has been parodied quite often actually (one of the best gags in the detective-parody drama Kaette Kosaserareta 33pun Tantei ("The Forced Return of the 33 Minutes Detective"), where detective Rokurou actually confesses he doesn't understand the trick himself, as he only saw it on TV!).

But the appearance of Hattori and Kazuha really saves this episode and actually makes it one of the better, if not best episode of the whole series. With some dialogue lifted from the manga, this 'first contact' story is really amusing. Despite the subtitle of this episodes, Hattori and Shinichi are actually cooperating quite nicely, like the later Conan-Hattori stories in the main series. Having two detectives really makes this episode fun to watch. And the two actors of Hattori and Kazuha fit their roles a lot better than the ones doing Shinichi and Ran.

It also seems like the series slowly enters its final stages. The cast is still captured in the white rooms and they got seperated from Kogorou some episodes earlier already, this time Shinichi and Ran get seperated from each other too. Which is pretty much screaming that the show is almost over. I have no idea what to expect of the series finale though. My expectations were pretty high when the series started, but that has pretty much died out now, so little things like Kogorou pinching a spoon and the fact we have all these dates and keywords might have no relation at all with the series' finale.

Not sure when the finale will be though. Wikipedia says this series will run until the end of September, which would mean another 4 episodes? 13 episodes is a bit on the long side for a normal drama series though...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「服部平次と密室殺人見えない凶器のナゾ! 東西探偵推理バトル」
Date & Password: 2010.09.10; キズナ

「真実はひとつ。ただ真実だけが正義なろうかなって」

「《素人探偵浅黄蝉丸、密室首切り殺人事件を即座に解決、ただし犯人現行犯》みたいなっ！」

『クビシメロマンチスト 人間失格・零崎人識』

"Just like 'Amateur Detective Asaki Semimaru solves the Locked Room Decapitation Murder Case instantly, but only because the murderer was arrested redhandedly!'"

"Strangulation Romanticist - Human Failure - Zerozaki Hitoshiki"

By now, I only watch Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi and write the reviews every week out of habit, not because I particularly like to do it. Which is never a good sign, I guess. 'Cause I really shouldn't write if I don't like writing about a subject. Aaaah, if only the TV series was a bit better... Ah well, I'm not sure how long the series is supposed to be, but it should be somewhere between the 10~12 episodes, so it's almost over.

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Episode 8 ("A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera") starts out very, very mediocre, with Ran being groped on the bus and Ran and Shinichi chasing the groper in a very, very boring chase scene (with a slight touch of Sherlock). But it seems like it was just the introduction to the main case of the episode: in an apartment Ran and Shinichi had passed during their chase, an elderly lady's artificial respiration machine had stopped working. She was brought to the hospital, but the police suspects the lady's helper might have tried to kill the lady and made it look like an accident. And for no real reason, Kudou starts to mingle with that case, while Ran is still trying to get the groper convincted for his crimes.

The mystery of the victim's artificial respiration machine turns out to be connected with the molester Ran and Shinichi had apprehended, but that was pretty clear from the start on. In fact, this whole episode is absolutely boring as everything is so obvious. From the dull humour to the bad acting at the beginning of the episode to the obviousness of the mystery, nothing interesting happens in the whole episode. It's pretty much as horrible as episode 5. Actually, I think this episode replaced episode 5 as the worst episode of this series now.While the series on a whole is not on a very high level, you'd think that a series featuring a pretty neat problem like a person dying of a fingergun, wouldn't have such boring and uninspired episodes.

The only other molester-in-detective-fiction I recall, is the story The Beauties Detective Club from the manga Tantei Gakuen Q ("Detective Academy Q"). That story didn't even feature a murder, but it was a story focused on how the trio of Megumi, Yukihara and Touya had to prove that a man was a groper in the train. And it was actually quite good. And according to an article by Koyama in Misshitsu Misteri no Meikyuu (see The Attic, Japanese materials), it seems that the pink film  Chikan Densha - Seiko no Oshiri ("Molester Train - Seiko's Butt") is in fact an interesting locked room mystery movie. Not sure what to expect from that though.

The preview of next week's episode, which is about 15 seconds long, was actually more interesting than the whole episode. It seems like next episode will feature both Hattori and Kazuha, which is pretty surprising. Of course, Shinichi and Hattori don't actually meet until volume 10, after Shinichi turned into Conan, so this whole episode will be pretty much impossible canon-wise, but hey, two master detectives who will probably go against each other? I'm in! Guess I was wrong with thinking that the Hattori episode would be based on the snow-trip story from the manga (a story set before Shinichi turned into Conan, with Shinichi and Hattori working on the same case but they never really meet or even get to know each others' names). Of course, if the writers are going to ignore canon, they can go pretty much anywhere...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「女の意地、痴漢犯への復讐!監視カメラに秘めた殺人トリック」
Date & Password: 2010.09.30; ジハツコキュウ

「溢れる涙光る」

"There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better. No lesser crime than murder will suffice. Three hundred pages is far too much pother for a crime other than murder. After all, the reader's trouble and expenditure of energy must be rewarded"

"Twenty rules for writing detective stories"

This has definately been a very active year for Conan-related media (as it's the 15th anniversary of the animation): besides the manga, anime and the annual animated movie, we were also treated to a new game, a live action TV special and a live action TV series. And now Aoyama Goushou is also going to release two new chapters of Magic Kaito?! While I really like Conan!KID, Magic Kaito!KID was always a lot more comedy-oriented and I felt the last chapter in Magic Kaito was a bit too dark for the series. I hope the new chapters are a bit more light-hearted. But anyway to continue with the weekly Conan media...

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Episode 7 ("A Bloody Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!") is a very strange episode in the Conan-Canon. I didn't notice it until the preview for this episode, but Conan has very few kidnapping cases (though volume 72 actually had one..). At least, they don't occur often  in the manga, I'm not sure about the anime. You'd think that in a mystery series with a lot of children and even a heir to a zaibatsu conglomerate walking around unguarded, there'd be more kidnapping cases. I'm not sure whether Kindaichi Hajime encountered more kidnapping cases or not, but those cases were at least memorable. But anyway, Sonoko does get kidnapped in this episode actually.

Sonoko was just kidnapped for convenience however, as she happened to be with the real target of the kidnapper: Noguchi Yuri, (incredibly rich) daughter of the recently deceased Ramen King Noguchi. The kidnapper asks for a case full of diamonds as the ransom. Miki, Yuri's half-sister, agrees to pay the ransom. Not for Yuri's sake, but just to protect the company's name. She is supposed to place the diamonds in a briefcase and attach it to the big ad-balloon on top of the firm, letting it float in the sky. The police and Shinichi keep a watch over the briefcase and balloon, but nobody approaches it for over an hour.

After a hour, the kidnapper calls again, saying he has received the diamonds. Shocked, they get the briefcase back to the ground and discover that all the diamonds have disappeared from the briefcase! And because we want murder in a mystery (?), Miki gets killed while everybody is busy releasing Yuri from her holding cell. Because an impossible disappearance isn't enough.

Like I said, kidnapping cases seem more a case for Kindaichi Shounen (or maybe more specifically, Amagi Seimaru) to me and this case really feels like a mesh of some Kindaichi Shounen stories (and a bit Tantei Gakuen Q  ("Detective Academy Q")). The disappearing ransom trick was done much better in Kindaichi Shounen's short story The Ransom that Disappeared into Silver. The setting of the diamonds disappearing from a floating locked room in this episode is cool, but the solution to the disappearing ransom is just too obvious here. It's never a good sign when you figure out the trick of a mystery before it appears on screen, right? Well, I bet most people figure out the trick to the stolen ransom trick before it's even done!

The whole kidnapping-ending-in-murder plot was also done better in Kindaichi Shounen's Hayami Reika's Kidnapping Murder Case and Tantei Gakuen Q's Murder Collector. Both stories are written by Amagi Seimaru and share a similar trick, which is actually also sorta used in this episode, but not nearly in as interesting ways as in the mentioned stories.

So all in all, not an episode I like very much. The idea of a kidnapping case is good because it hardly ever happens in Conan, but the mystery itself is pretty boring. Focussing only　おｎ an impossible disappearance might have made the story better, as now it's a bit too much in too little time (something the Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo live action series also suffered from actually: Young Kindaichi's Murder is a hectic story as is, but reduced to a 45 minute episode? It's nearly impossible to follow)

Soooooo, when are they going to introduce Hattori? The storylines from the manga? Don't tell me I have to wait for the finale for that....

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「血ぬられた骨肉の遺産相続殺人! 誘拐トリックのナゾを暴け!」
Date & Password: 2010.05.27; ダイヤモンド

「俺は愛のために人を殺さない。でも愛する人を、絶対に死なせない」

「お客さん、探偵でしょう」

「メイ探偵だ。メイを忘れてもらっちゃ困る」

『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』

"Mister, you're a detective, right?"

"A Great detective. Don't forget the Great"

"Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"

Doing these weekly reviews for Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou ("Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi") is fun, but also quite difficult. Writing reviews is hard enough, but with books, or complete series you usually have enough material to write about. However, it's quite hard to write something substantial about a single episode of a running series. It's like writing a long post on a single short story. Depending on the story, it can be done, but that's rare. The same with these episodes. Meh, at least I have a whole Conan review database to refer to when discussing Conan-related media...

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Last week's episode was not really enjoyable, so I wasn't really looking forward to this week's episode, but it actually turned to be OK-ish. In episode 6 ("The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!"), the whole 'a nightly Conan' theme of this series comes back as the story is set within a hostess club. The main Conan series often refers to these clubs as a place where Kogorou likes to spend some time, but I think this is the first time that a hostess club is used as a setting. Which is somewhat understandable, as you can hardly bring in Conan or the Detective Boys to such a place.

Anyway, Shinichi, Ran and Takagi have been following Kogorou to a hostess club on request of Ran's mother (Takagi was needed to get Shinichi and Ran, who are minors, inside). Kogorou is one of the two participants in a drinking game with all 20 hostesses. The hostesses are all lined up in the club and the participants take turns in choosing girls. Each turn, they can choose up to three girls, who will give them a kiss and pour wine in their glass. With each turn, the participants move up in the line of hostesses. The winner is the one who chooses the twentieth hostess, the no. 1 hostess in the club, who will give a kiss to the winner. Kogorou loses, but the real loser is probably the no. 1 hostess, who dies after drinking the wine that was poured out by the hostesses during the game.

Another poisoning story?! That was my first thought. Which wasn't making me very happy, as the previous two episodes were also poisoning stories and they ranged from OK-ish to bad. But luckily, the focus of this story was different from the previous two stories. Those stories focused on the direct poisoning method, how the poison entered the victim's body. This is actually how a poisoning story in Conan usually turns out to be, the search for the item that was used to introduce the poison in the victim's body (see for example, Kaitenzushi Mystery (Conan 63) or China Town - Deja Vu in the Rain (Conan 34).

In this episode however, the focus lay on the method the murderer used to manipulate the drinking game. It made the episode feel quite fresh compared to the previous two stories, which were essentially Queen-ish search stories. This change made this episode feel quite fresh, something the series was really needing by now. I won't say that this episode's trick was very good or anything, but it was original enough for this series and I could totally see this trick being used in the main series (be it in a different, non-hostess club setting). And that's maybe the most important for a series carrying the Conan brand, it has to fit the main series' atmosphere. Poisoning stories for example wouldn't be as fitting for a Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo series (unless it was one of many tricks used by the murderer).

The episode also had a distinct Galileo-ish atmosphere: mathematics and Descartes play a big role in the story, as the trick used by the murderer was fundamentally based in mathematics and one of the suspects is actually a mathematician. I really wouldn't be surprised of the scriptwriter was influenced by Higashino Keigo's scientific detective series when (s)he wrote this story. The episode also reminds me of a series like Liar Game, which relies heavily on mathematics, game theory and all kinds of sciences in explaining the awesome things the characters do to win games.

The main story (with Shinichi, Ran and Kogorou trapped) seems to be moving on too, as Shinichi and Kogorou manage to save Ran by retrieving the antidote, but Kogorou gets seperated from Ran and Shinichi in the process. Kogorou still has the spoon he took with him in episode two, so he might use that in one way or another. Or am I just too fixated on that spoon.

I'm also very happy to see that the next episode isn't a poisoning story! Kidnapping stories are not rare in Conan, but for some reason I associate a kidnapping story more with Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, than with Conan. Even though young Kindaichi only handled like two or three kidnapping cases in his career, with most of them ending in murder...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「美女20人の華麗なる殺しのキス! 殺人方程式に隠された殺意!」
Date & Password: 2010.06.10; デカルト

『毒婦』

"There are two things that I consider inexcusable. Poisoning, and betrayal! Only a coward would hurt people using either of these tactics"

"Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Trials & Tribulations"

About halfway through Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou ("Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"), the show starts to have some really awful episodes. Never a good sign. I hope they come up with the stories based on the manga soon....

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Like the previous episode, episode five ("The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House") is a poisoning story. The murder victim is a famous film director who was working with Shinichi on a movie. The victim died after drinking his tea and everything seems to point to his wife as the main suspect (whose motive would be that her husband was having an affair). The problem? The wife lost her memory when she saw her husband die.

This was an awful episode. Really, really awful. I have seen my share of boring, bad stories, but this one ranks among the 'best' of them. The poisoning trick is like the very first trick that will come into your head when you see the scene, while the amnesia subplot is as bad as you would expect it to be. Though I have to admit that even that subplot was better plotted than the poisoning story. The trick used by the murderer could maybe fool the peole who were at the scene at the time of the crime, but never the police. And the way the murderer tried to wipe the evidence was awfully stupid. It's like screaming you're the murderer yourself. And seriously, visual hints in a visual media are alright and such, but this was a bit ridiculous. The only good point about the story is the somewhat downer-ending, which was quite darker than what you'd expect from Conan (which has its share of downer-endings).

I associate poisoning stories very strongly with Conan, as they occur very often in the manga. And they are often done quite well, with a good mix of (usually visual) hints and a sound foundation in 'the real world'. For example, last night I was re-reading Conan 63 (yes... the last Conan manga post is still coming), which has a story with a poisoning in a kaitenzushi. The location makes up for an interesting spot for a poisoning, with all the moving parts and etiquette involved and the trick was indeed well integrated in the location. The trick used in this week's episode of the Conan drama, is just boring and the most basic of basic tricks. The previous episode, while certainly not a perfect story, at least had a better trick.

On the slightly bright side: the overall storyline is finally moving. At the end of the episode, after they move into the next room, Ran gets hit by a poison arrow, and Shinichi and Kogorou have five minutes to figure out the next password. Still not sure what's going to happen, but as we enter the last half of the series, we should see more of the overall storyline. I hope. Of course, if they stay at the quality of this episode, they might do all the main storyline-things in just the last 10 minutes of the final episode...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「記憶を消した女優の華麗なる殺人トリック 避暑地での完全犯罪」
Date & Password: 2010.08.12; ジョユウ

「オレには見えてきたよ。この事件のたった一つの真実ってやつがね」

「ラブは０だと？笑わせんな！芝の女王に言っとけ！０は全ての始まり！ そこから出発しねぇと何もうまれねぇし、何も達成もできねぇって・・・そう言っとけ！」

『名探偵コナン』

"Love is worth zero points? Don't make me laugh! Tell the Grass Court Queen this:  everything starts from zero! Nothing will happen, nothing can be achieved if you don't start from there!"

"Detective Conan"

Oh, look, Keyhole TV still works despite the change to exclusively digital broadcasting in Japan. The quality of the stream is still horrible though... And in other news: why is it taking me ages to finish a book? Maybe because it took almost half the book before anything of interest happened? As episodes on the Conan live action series are pretty short, people usually die rather fast luckily. Anyway, on with the review of this week's episode of Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou ("Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi").

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

The case Shinichi, Ran and Kogorou are asked to remember in episode 4 (subtitle: "Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick") is a poisoning case during a wedding reception Kogorou was organizing for his acquaintances. Shinichi was forced to help Kogorou behind the scenes with the party (because of a batsu game, Shinichi couldn't refuse any requests that day) and quickly discovered some underlying tension between the the bridge, the groom and a (female) friend of the groom. It was pretty clear that there was something going on with the groom and his friend, though Kogorou seemed rather oblivious to it. Until it hit him hard in the face, as the friend suddenly died during the reception after drinking a cocktail. It was murder of course.

Ah, the search for the method of poisoning, a true Conan staple! In the nearly 20 years Conan has been active (which accounts to like almost one year within the series?!), he has encountered many, many, many ways of poisoning people. Some of them very ingenous. The method in this episode is not particularly exciting though. Actually, the trick itself is pretty good and clearly integrated into the story-setting. However, why did the murderer went through that much trouble to execute the trick?  The trick, in its most basic form, can be done without leaving that much evidence  / witnesses. Which is, I assume, what you want if you are a murderer who does not wishes to get caught. So why make the trick worse by adding in stuff that actually leaves evidence / witnesses? As if the writer of this episode came up with a decent enough trick, but couldn't find out how to come up with clues that would point to the culprit.  The trick / setting however is indeed something you wouldn't normally see in Conan (the manga), I think. I wouldn't say that Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou is a truly adult series (it really isn't), but I can kinda see what they meant with the 'nightly Conan' premise (the same with the concept of love hotels in the last episode).

The ending of the episode is rather exciting though. Up until now, Shinichi, Ran and Kogorou moved from one room to another, entering passwords that correspond with the cases Shinichi encountered on the dates asked. This time however, they are asked to answer with a date on a question. Something goes wrong during this and the room goes all danger! danger! with red lights flashing and moving cameras and other cliffhanger ending cliches. Does that mean that the story in the next episode is important and will tie up with the overall storyline of our heroes being captured?

Oh, and I just noticed that the cases are not presented in chronological order.  Maybe some code-cracking with putting all the passwords associated with the dates in order later on in the series?[/speculation]

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「完全犯罪! 結婚式で殺人予告、密室毒殺トリックの謎を暴け」
Date & Password:  2010.05.31, キス

「これでピースは揃った。後は真実を証明するだけ」

"The truth will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the paradoxes one by one… It's never easy… We claw and scratch for every inch. But we will always eventually reach that one single truth. This I promise you"

"Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All"

As TV goes exclusively digital in Japan from tomorrow on, I guess I can't watch the Conan drama live anymore through Keyhole TV? *sigh* The third episode in the series feels a bit better than the previous two episodes: it's still troublesome at some points, but it's going the right way.

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Episode three (subtitled "Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder") starts again with Shinichi, Ran and Kogorou locked in the white room. They learn nothing new about their situation, but at the least the case their kidnaper wants them to remember is a good one. July 09, 2010. The day defense laywer Kisaki Eri was summoned to court. Not as a lawyer though, but as an important witness. A hostess called Reika (one of Kogorou's favorites) is accused of stealing money, but Reika claims she was at a totally different place on the time of the crime. She claims to have been in the love hotel area in the Haido ward and that she saw Kisaki Eri entering a love hotel there with a man (enter an exploding Kogorou who cries about adultery and stuff) . Thus, if Kisaki testifies she was there at the time of the crime, Reika goes free. Reika is not a particular likable defendant though, even going as far as making Eri angry as Reika makes comments on the old man Eri accompanied to the love hotel. Eri makes a finger gun motion, saying that Reika should back off, or else bad things might happen.

Like Reika being shot through her head. Nobody can believe their eyes, but it seems like Eri just killed the defendant with her finger. Kogorou laments the fact that two women fighting over him led to murder (and is promptly taken away), while Shinichi comes to a surprising conclusion before the eyes of everyone: he says that it's clear the Kisaki Eri was the killer! (Cue Ran making a mom-speech)

Eri isn't the killer of course. The episode was a mix of good and bad ideas: the whole concept of a person dying through a finger gun motion is fantastic, but the trick behind is rather predictable. Furthermore, the trick relies way too much on coincidence. So the solution was sadly enough not as inspired as the image of the murder. I did like how the episode actually had quite some misdirection built into it, leading into something that almost seems a layered solution. The episode on a whole feels better than the first two episodes though. The whole image of Eri killing a defendant with her finger still overpowers the disappointing solution and the story feels a bit more complex compared to the much simpler previous two episodes.

The episode is a bit strange though in the Conan continuity: Shinichi shouldn't have met Eri in long time since Eri and Kogorou started to live seperately, so that makes this episode (and the special) err... non-Conan-canon? The fact Satou and Takagi interact with Shinichi on a friendly basis also bugs me a bit, but not as much as the Eri-thing, as that was actually a crucial plot-point for her introduction story in the series.

The other strange thing was that this episode was totally different from what I expected it to be. With a) Kisaki Eri being a laywer, b) this being a detective show, c) the episode set in a courtroom and d) the anime having special Kisaki Eri, laywer episodes, I was expecting this to be more like an orthodox courtroom mystery. However, as the detective =/= laywer in this episode (the role being reserved for Shinichi of course), it felt more like a normal mystery. It feels like a nice setting has gone a bit to waste.

The next episode doesn't like particular excting actually. So no real expectations from my side for that, but I wouldn't mind a bit more expansion on why Shinichi, Ran and Kogorou are locked in the white rooms by now.

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一へのう挑戦状』　サブタイトル「密室法廷で起きた殺人事件! ホステス殺害トリックを暴け」
Date & Password: 2010.07.09; クチベニ