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ANIME REVIEWS

©1996 Kanenari Yosaburoh, Satoh Fumiya /
The Case Files of Kindaichi Shounen Project.
14 December 1996
Toei Animation
91 minutes



—by Egan Loo

Murder sells in Japan. To be sure, it is not much different from other countries; Great Britain has its endless succession of BBC murder mystery adaptations, and America has its MURDER SHE WROTE and Cabot Cove's replenishable supply of murder victims. For its part, Japan has weekly murder mystery TV movies, a magazine spotlighting a different real-life killer every month, and naturally, detective manga.
  Recently, two weekly shounen detective manga have attained enough popularity to inspire animated versions. Not coincidentally, both feature detectives who must deal with one murder case after another, all while attending school. (In fact, only once in a blue moon do either detective handle a case that happens not to be murder.) The first is DETECTIVE CONAN (MEITANTEI CONAN), a Weekly Shonen Sunday manga by Aoyama Goshoh about a detective in a grade-schooler's body. The television series it inspired still boasts top-five ratings after two years.
  The second is Weekly Shounen Magazine's THE CASE FILES OF KINDAICHI SHOUNEN (KINDAICHI SHOUNEN NO JIKENBO), the series written by Kanenari Yosaburoh and drawn by Satoh Fumiya about high school detective Kindaichi Hajime. Hajime is actually the grandson of another famous detective (hence, the "shounen" appellation). The elder Kindaichi Kousuke was a fictional detective created by Yokomizo Seishi which starred in novels, films, and television a generation ago in Japan. The KINDAICHI SHOUNEN television series currently airs before CONAN on Monday nights, but Toei Animation released a KINDAICHI SHOUNEN feature-length film earlier in December 1996. (A second movie has since been released in December 1997.)

  The first movie is loosely based on the first story in the manga, The Case of the Opera House Murders. However, the creators ensured that many of the secondary characters (and hence, the suspects) are different from the manga. As result, the killer's identity and the story's finale remains a surprise even to the manga readers. This was a welcome move for fans of the manga who knew the original story but still wanted to experience the suspense of the whodunit again.
  Kindaichi (voiced by Yamaguchi Kappei) joins his childhood friend Nanase Miyuki ( Nakagawa Akiko) and police detective Kenmochi Yasuo on a excursion to Utajima, a secluded island with a hotel named "Opera House." There, an acting troupe attempts to rehearse the Phantom of the Opera play amidst bitter rivalry among the stars. Before long, the serial killings begin and the finger-pointing follows. Is it Noujoh "Phantom" Kouzaburoh, Kanai "Christine" Rio, or another member of the acting troupe? Or is it Kurosawa Kazue, the hotel owner hounded by an aggressive real estate investor or Takizawa Atsushi, the hapless handyman with apparent ambitions of fame? Or is an actual phantom resurrected from a past tragedy to haunt its fellow troupe players?
  As a detective story, it is standard formula fare: an isolated locale, a cast where everyone has a motive to kill (except our intrepid detective and friends, of course), the murders, the drawn-out investigation, the red herrings, the offhand reference that sparks our detective's light bulb and lightning-speed deductions, and the final confrontation with the killer. What's unique is the lengthy denouement, for the movie is barely two-thirds over before Kindaichi confronts the suspected killer. Fortunately, writer Nishioka Takuya manages to keep the viewer's interest up during the full thirty minutes of the denouement. The overall plot with its requisite twists and complications is solid, if not always innovative. As in the manga, the dark and macabre ambience is occasionally lightened with humorous interludes. (Whether or not the sight of bodies spurting twice their volume in blood is disturbing or humorously trite is another matter.)
  On technical terms, this film is on par with other recent Toei Animation films with its decent but not stunning direction and cel count. Notably, the opening's exquisitely drawn opera backgrounds helps set the dramatic tone of story. Lately, Toei seems to be enamored with computer graphics, and director Nishio Daisuke makes a valiant attempt to incorporate them into the cel animation with as little incongruity as possible.
  All in all, the movie did what it set out to accomplish—prove the popular manga can be translated into anime with new stories but without losing the original spirit. Even if you haven't read the manga, this film is worth a look for anime fans who also love a good whodunit.

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