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