I hope everyone has been doing well, regardless of if you are
suffering through extreme heat or extreme cold.
Aside from a rather
frustrating moment that occurred recently, things have been going
pretty well here, especially because I launched a new website
for a program I wrote for myself, and I can still do what I like.
A while back, I
managed to secure a copy of the latest installment of a series I
follow, and that title had recently arrived, which means that it is
time to get off my butt and take care of it.
Today. I will be
reviewing that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 99 by Gosho Aoyama.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
While attending a
birthday party for a classmate’s sister, Jimmy, Rachel, Serena, and
Sera have found themselves wrapped up in yet another murder case with
many weird coincidences.
However, in the
midst of all the other cases Jimmy must deal with, including the
discovery of a corpse at a farm and one that has Richard feeling
embarrassed, multiple parties start showing interest in an item
relevant to a case from nearly two decades ago, and if Jimmy is not
careful, he might blow his cover.
While the previous
volume was quite enjoyable, I cannot let things get to my head
and write things off, so I have to keep focused on what is in front
of me.
And I have to say
that I liked it a lot, though not as much as I would have wanted.
From the moment I
opened up this volume and started reading it, I found myself
engrossed in it enough that I didn’t want to stop for any reason.
As I have said
multiple times, probably to the point where you all, as well as
myself, probably feel like puking, one of the most important aspects
of a work of fiction is how things begin, as the beginning is
supposed to transport the audience to a new world and giving them the
temporary escape that they desire.
While there are
quite a few ways to do this, depending on the genre and the medium
used to present the work, Detective Conan, like most other
manga, was originally published as part of a serial publication,
which means that things need to pick up in a way that makes sense
based upon where the last installment left off.
In the last volume,
Jimmy, Rachel, Sera, and Serena go to a birthday party that a
classmate invited them to, with sera acting suspicious, and things
are mostly peaceful until somebody dies during a presentation, with
the final panel showing the deceased and the words “divine
punishment” on their forehead.
Even though I’m
not exactly thrilled with these kinds of endings, as it is becoming
the new normal after the biggest issue I have been having with these
volumes seemed to have finally gone away, this does still create
quite a few ways in which things can be picked up, as well as allows
this volume to kind of start towards the beginning of a case.
This volume picks up
from there, with Jimmy and Sera inspecting the corpse and telling the
crowd to contact the police, thus beginning the investigation phase
of the case.
While I am kind of
annoyed with this kind of opening, mostly due to them being the new
normal, which makes it a little hard to recommend this volume to
newcomers, I can at least put up with it, as I don’t need to rely
on the flawed human memory to remember exactly what has happened, so
that I can finally find out who the culprit is and get that anxiety
that fans of detective, mystery, and crime fiction expect to have
during the revelation or answer phase of what has been presented.
After all, my
interest is being held by the fact that the body has only recently
been discovered.
If this volume had
started off with the final chapter of the case, I think I would have
been very angry because I would have to start complaining again about
the dead horse that Gosho Aoyama and Shogakukan, or whoever they had
compile this volume for them, seemed to have finally moved on from.
Thankfully, this
volume started off towards the beginning of a new case, so I can at
least give them a passing grade.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to maitain this trend, as that will help make
things easier to attract newcomers, though what I really want
is have volume actually start with new cases, like how things
were earlier in the series.
I also liked how we
learned about a connection between Haibara and Sera.
Back in volume
89, Jimmy was wondering about the girl he saw in a photo seeming
to be somebody familiar, and he connects some dots after he sees
Haibara, who was trying on makeup with Amy.
This kind of created
a question of how Haibara was connected to this girl that I thought
was going to be a question for quite a long time.
However, in this
volume, after Mary asks Sera if she had secured the antidote to APTX
4869 that they suspect Jimmy to have, we are taken to a flashback of
the day Mary shrank like Jimmy and Haibara.
Not only do we
discover that the only character capable of competing with Kaito
Kuroba in their ability to disguise themselves was involved in Mary’s
incident, but we also hear her ask Mary how the poison her sister
developed tasted.
Now, we obviously
know that Mary was not able to respond, as did Vermouth, but this,
combined with what we already know of the history of APTX 4869, means
that Mary is Haibara’s aunt.
This both shocks me
and makes wonder how things will progress from here, especially when
it comes time for the final confrontation with Black Org, now that
Jimmy knows the identity Rum had assumed in the Japanese release, as
well as the name of the boss of Black Org.
If this, along with
other revelations, had not cropped up, I think I would have been
fine, as there was still quite a bit to like.
However, because of
this revelation alone, I wish that these English releases had caught
up with the Japanese releases already, as I want to see where this
goes.
Hopefully, future
volumes will offer more surprises as we get eve closer to the end,
but considering that we still do not know much about what Black Org
is up to and Gosho is more focused on delivering cases, I am not sure
when we will get more like this.
The thing that I
liked the most though was how good the cases were.
Other than the fact
that many volumes, until recently, ended when nearly all of the cases
presented had concluded, one of the things I have been finding
disheartening as of late has been the quality of the cases.
In the beginning of
the series, the cases were fun and engaging, like what many fans of
the detective, mystery, and crime fiction genres demand to have,
after the confrontation with Vermouth in the volume that had brought
me back into the fold, there seemed to be less and less of that,
especially now, where much of the intrigue comes from wondering when
the next confrontation with the Black Org would be.
Here, however, while
I cannot say that the series has returned to form, in that we are
cases left and right where everything is done right, I did find
myself invested in each case presented enough that I felt like I
wanted to figure out the puzzles before Jimmy and the gang.
This is the very
minimum I expect, and after such a long wait, Gosho Aoyama has
finally delivered on what has seemingly been forgotten.
If the cases had be
boring here, I think that I would have felt like dropping this series
again after the last volume I expect to be released here this year.
Thankfully, that did
not happen, and Gosho Aoyama and everyone working with him managed to
earn a passing grade.
Hopefully, future
cases will improve from here, so that the early cases are not the
only ones remembered fondly when the series ends, but because Gosho
Aoyama and everyone else working on this series is only human, I
would not be surprised if this is just following the dead cat
bouncing pattern.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least that could stand out as much as what has been mentioned did.
Because things
started off quite well, though I am already starting to grow weary of
the new normal, there were some interesting revelations, and the
cases were all enjoyable, this was a pretty good read.
Although I liked the
volume, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, such as typos, and stuff
that can be inferred from what I have already said, only one thing
really annoyed me.
That thing was how
this volume ended.
Now, you guys might
be saying that I have already made my disgust of the recent pattern
of ending cases just as they begun clear and it makes no sense for me
to talk about it now, especially because I did say that it is not as
bad as ending things when only one chapter remains in the case, but
this is one of those times where I cannot just simply wave things off
with a passing grade.
While I was reading
through this volume and enjoying my time with it, I was given the
impression that I was going to be given what I have been asking for
all this time and finally see a volume where all the cases presented
are concluded, with questions swirling around why the sushi guy asked
Jimmy what did, forgetting that this volume contains 11 chapters,
which is made clear in the table of contents.
Instead, the volume
ends of with a case that has practically been solved by both Jimmy
and his father, with the only problem being getting everything in
order, especially because he must once again have Kaito Kuroba help
him.
This kind of ending
really grinds my gears because not only do I, or even the rest of the
auduence, get any fun out of this, as we know that the case concluded
before it has begun, but we also need to wait for the next volume to
get any details, so that we can even have a remote chance of
competing with Jimmy and the gang, should I or anyone else desire.
Yes, I know ending
volume like this can be difficult, but this is not the way.
In fact, this is the
reason why the people putting these volumes together shouldn’t be
determining things by page count or chapter count, the latter of
which is how I suspect Detective Conan releases are done, but
by what feels like a good and natural end, at least in the
appropriate moments.
By continuing to say
that a volume must be x pages long or have no more or less than y
chapters, there is no flexibility in choosing a good place to stop
and end things, thereby ruining whatever interest in the next
installment the audience should have.
If things had ended
with the end of the previous chapter, resulting in the next volume
starting with what ended up being the final chapter of this volume, I
would have been way more satisfied with things.
Sadly, I instead
feel like demanding Shogakukan to give us better than this, because
what I get here makes this volume a complete and utter disgrace in an
area of a work of fiction that determines whether people come back
for more or are left feeling satisfied.
Hopefully,
Shogakukan can learn from experience, especially because these
English releases are close enough that I was surprised to see the
image below, but I would not be surprised if more blunders crop up.
Thankfully, that was
all that I had problems with, so Shogakukan and Gosho Aoyama, as well
as Viz Media, can at least walk away knowing that they did not
disappoint me even further.
While there was only
one thing to complain about, it was big enough that it made an
otherwise great volume into something the makers should be ashamed of
producing.
Despite the fact
that there were quite a few things to like, especially the presence
of some enjoyable cases, the one and only negative did enough damage
to only make this good enough to kill time.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of Detective Conan, as they will be able to enjoy
this the most.
As for everyone
else, you all can check this out if you are bored, but I suspect that
there might be some fans of detective, mystery, and crime fiction
that will be turned off as much as me by the fact that the final case
of the volume feels like a waste.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
either Patreon
or SubscribeStar,
so that I can continue following this series and possibly find more
worthwhile reads for you guys to check out, or if you would like the
chance to just chill with me, subscribe to my YouTube
channel or follow me on Twitch,
where I mostly stream RPGs and visual novels that catch my interest.
I hope everyone has been doing well, as the seasons have officially
changed for everyone.
Things have been
going fairly well here, especially because I can still do do what I
enjoy.
A while back, I went
looking through Amazon’s catalog, to keep up on the titles I
typically follow and managed to secure some titles.
Recently, one of
those titles arrived, which means that it is now time to get off my
butt and take care of it.
Today, I will be
reviewing that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 98 by Gosho Aoyama.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
Jimmy and the gang
are still wracking their brains over which tray is authentic, in
order to find out who killed the antique appraiser.
However, even if he
manages to wrap up the case, he has other things to contend with, as
Sera and Akai both start piecing things together about not only each
other but also the movements of those allied with Jimmy.
While the previous
volume ended up being alright, mostly due to lackluster cases,
that does not mean things are going to continue going downhill, so I
must make sure that I don’t let soured feeings get in the way of
being able to judge things.
And after reading
this, I have to say that I enjoyed it quite a bit.
From the moment that
I opened up this volume and started reading it, I found myself
engrossed in it enough that I didn’t want to stop reading for any
reason.
As I have said so
many times before, ine of the most important aspects in a work of
fiction is how things begin, as the beginning is supposed to draw the
audience into the world of the work, thereby giving them the
temporary escape that they desire.
While this can be
accomplished in a variety of ways, depending on the kind of work and
the medium used to present it, Detective Conan, like many
other manga, were originally published as part of a serial
publication, which means that things need to start in a way that
makes sense, based upon where the previous installment left off.
In the previous
volume, Dr. Agasa pays a visit to an appraiser that he asked to look
at an antique that he got back the place he visited back in volume
12, which was never dubbed in the anime, not even from the recent
stuff, as of this writing, on a page
on Crunchyroll
featuring the newer dub effort, since the new dub is out of order and
contains gaps and said case happens in episodes 163 and 164,
according to the case
page on Detective
Conan World’s wiki.
Not long after they
get there, the appraiser is found dead, and, when the investigation
begins, Sera starts questioning Subaru, who we know is Akai.
Here, this volume
picks up on Sera’s questioning Subaru, asking him how he knew she
was a girl, before we finally resume the investigation that just
started.
By picking things up
here, my attention was quickly grabbed, as I felt like I would be
able to get answers to the questions I got from reading the previous
volume, and it gave me reason to kee on continuing on with this
volume, even if it was possible for the cases to feel rather dull.
If things had not
started off in this way, I think I would have felt lost and
disappointed, as the questions posed by Sera were very reasonable,
considering she has yet to uncover Subaru’s identity at this point,
and I saw no other way that this could have started, even if I was
more interested with the case at hand.
Fortunately, Gosho
Aoyama remembered that he something to deal with before finishing the
case and made a rather interesting start for the volume, which makes
me feel like giving him a passing grade.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to start off just as well as this one did,
because I think there needs to be more interesting things going on
than just going from one case to another, which will also help to
maintain the fanbase.
I also liked how
something that came up in the first case of the volume seemed to crop
up multiple times throughout the course of the volume.
While deep messages
or truths aren’t really a focus of the series, or most other works
of fiction, though I can think of one mangaka that seems to include
messages about importance of accepting and validating oneself in many
of their works, and the thing that came up in this volume is not
really that deep, at least to me, it was still interesting to see.
After the both the
authentic tray and the killer were revealed, Agasa was disappointed
that he never found out the antique he brought in was worth, but
Subaru said that its worth was spelled out by an idiom that states
trying to conceal a secret only makes it more obvious.
Now, knowing about
the idiom might lead people like me to feel a bit frustrated because
many of us know that Jimmy seems to always find a way out of Rachel’s
suspicions, with the more recent events becoming much more
unbelievable than earlier moments, but the fact that things relating
to this idiom multiple times was still intriguing enough.
For example, after
the case concluded, Sera noted that the idiom fit both Haibara and
Jimmy perfectly and Akai figured out what had happened to his mother
when he talked to Sera.
Even though this is
not necessarily new information to us, it is still interesting to see
how Sera was able to figure out that Subaru was her brother and that
Akai could figure out that his mother suffered the same fate as Jimmy
and Haibara.
However, the thing
that really intrigued me about how prevalent this idiom was in the
volume happened in the last case of volume.
In that case,
Rachel, who was invited along with Serena and Sera, attend a birthday
party for a friend with Jimmy, who only came along because she didn’t
feel like leaving him home alone, and Jimmy is not feeling the
greatest.
When Jimmy was about
to take some meds, Sera notices the capsule that Jimmy noted was the
protype antidote for APTX 4869 and questions him about it, thereby
leading him to hide.
However, Mary and
Sera are able to figure out that what Jimmy had was likely what they
were looking for and Mary tells Sera that she should try to get it.
By seeing this, it
makes me wonder if we will have a moment where Haibara meets them and
shares her knowledge with them, as that would likely be a bit easier,
but because both Jimmy and Sera aren’t in a position to establish
an alliance quite yet, I can still see them trying to swipe the drug
in the future.
If the idiom was not
so common within the pages of this volume, I think I would have been
alright with things, but by making it so obvious and having it fresh
in my mind while I read this, made things all the more enjoyable.
Hopefully, things
like this happen much more often in future volumes, as it will help
to mainain interest and give readers something else to look out for,
but because I know that that is not a big thing to have in this
series, I wuld not be surprised if things started feeling like more
of the usual.
Another thing that I
liked was how the cases this time were actually pretty good.
While I cannot say
that they are quite up to par with what was featured in the first 26
volumes, I can say that this is an improvement over what things were
like in the previous volumes.
In nearly every case
to be found here, I found myself wanting to figure everything out and
enjoying each scenario presented as it came, like how Haneda figured
out who killed a shogi club member, before Jimmy and the trick behind
the antique trays was also quite interesting, as was the treasure
hunt case started by Momoji.
This is what I want
from every volume of this series, especially because Detective Conan
is supposed to be a mystery series first and foremost.
If the cases were
dull this time around, I might have considered cancelling my
preorders of the last two volumes to be released over here this year,
as I don’t think I would have the patience to either wait for
things to get good again or for Gosho Aoyama to finally bring this
series to a close, and I do not think I am the only one in that
position right now.
Thankfully, Gosho
Aoyama and Shogakukan, or whoever they had compile this volume for
them, managed to deliver something that I can say that I am proud to
have read.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be just as good as this one, especially when we get
closer to the final showdown with Black Org, because I, and many
others, would like to see this series end just as well as Pandora
Hearts did in its final
volume, but because this series is made by human hands, I would
not be surprised if the series went further downhill.
Thing that I liked
the most though was how this volume ended.
As I have said
numerous times already, aside from how things begin, another
important part of a work of fiction is how things end, as the ending
is supposed to either leave the audience satisfied, in the case of a
standalone work or the final installment in a series, or, in the case
of an installment in a seres, a reason continue.
While I am still not
completely satisfied with how things ended in this volume, I am happy
to say that it both does the job of making me want to get the next
volume as soon as I can, which makes me happy that I was already able
to preorder it, and ends on the better side of spectrum of what can
happen when a volume ends with a new case.
This may not be the
first volume to end things like this, as it did end with the
discovery of a body, but it is one that I am happy with because I
want to be able to start the investigation and learn more about what
is going on, which I am sure fans of detective, mystery, and crime
fiction crave in the stuff they look at.
If this volume ended
like many others before it did, I would have been mad, because the
dead horse would have reared its ugly head once again, and I am sure
people have grown tired of me mentioning how tiring it is for a
volume to end when the case only has a single chapter left.
Fortunately, Gosho
Aoyama and Shogakukan, or whoever they had put this volume together,
decided to end things at a decent enough point that I feel ike giving
them another passing grade.
Hopefully, this kind
of ending can finally overtake the one I, and likely many others, ave
grown weary of, as this kind of endng is far more interesting, and
there might be a chance to bring other readers in by continuing the
trend of endng like this, but I will not be surprised in the trend
I’ve grown tired of continues in the next volume.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least that either stood out as much as what mentioned or could not be
shoe horned in with what I talked about.
Because things
started off quite well, the fact that an idiom ended up being quite
prevalent within its pages after being first mentioned, and the
ending was of the more satisfactory variety, this was quite an
enjoyable read.
Although I liked the
volume, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, such as typos, nothing
seemed to bother me too much.
As a result, I will
have to say that there is nothing worth mentioning.
Considering that
there was quite a bit to like and nothing to really hate, unless one
wants to get really nit picky, this was definitely reading.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of Detective Conan, as they will be able to enjoy
this the most, but fans of detective, mystery, and crime fiction,
should be able to enjoy this too, since there weren’t really any
dull cases to be found.
As for everyone
else, this might be worth giving a try, especially if you want to dip
your toes into the waters of detective, mystery, and crime fiction,
but it might be better to start with previous installments first.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
either Patreon
or SubscribeStar,
so that I can continue following this series and maybe find other
interesting reads for you guys to check out, or if you would like the
chance to just chill with me, subscribe to my YouTube
channel or follow me on Twitch,
where I mostly stream RPGs and visual novels that catch my interest.
I hope everyone is doing well, as we get closer to an official
changing of the seasons.
Things have been
alright here, with some moments of feeling pressured, but I am still
glad that I can do things that I enjoy.
A while back, I went
looking through Amazon’s catalogue to keep up on some series that I
follow and I managed to secure a few titles.
Of which, one
arrived this week, which means that it is time to get off my butt and
take care of it.
Today, I will be
reviewing that title, which is called A
Certain Scientific Railgun Volume 20 by Kazuma Kamachi.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
Things have started
to get messy around Academy City, with attacks on companies
purportedly being perpetrated by students of Tokiwadai becoming more
frequent, to the point where Antiskill has decided to directly
monitor the students.
However, when Kuroko
and Uiharu uncover a message left behind by a recent graduate, things
start heading towards a momennt that the mastermind of everything has
been waitng for.
While I did enjoy
the previous
volume, I still need to make sure that I keep myself on my toes,
so that I can remain as fair as possible.
And after reading
this, I can say that I very much enjoyed it.
From the moment that
I opened up this volume and started reading it, I found myself
engrossed enough that I did not want to put it down for any reason.
As I have said a
countless number of times already, possibly to the point where I feel
like puking, one of the most important things in a work of fiction is
how things begin, as the beginning is supposed to bring the audience
into another world, thereby giving them the temporary escape that
they desire.
While this can be
accomplished through a variety of means, depending on the genre and
the medium used to present the work, this series, like many other
manga, was originally published as part of a serial publication,
which means that things need to pick up in a way that makes sense
based upon where the previous installment ended.
In the previous
volume, Misaka’s seniors graduated from Tokiwadai, which caused Sha
to grin, as that meant her plot can finally begin, before finally
ending with Kuroko finally being admitted to Tokiwadai and Kiyoshi
revealing her reservations about what is to come.
In this volume, we
see Sha training somewhere trying to get a grasp on her powers for
the next stage of her plan, now that there are no perceived obstacles
in her path, and Kuroko notices that Misaka is still searching for
her hairpin, even though we, as the audience, know her roommate took
it.
Even though there
were multiple points in how the first chapter of this volume could
have started, I think the way this one started is the best that we
could have, as the year long wait between volumes can and has
caused issues in the past for me, and likely others out there, and a
training session on its own creates enough intrigue about what is to
happen, even though I am aware of what will happen because I am up to
date on the Japanese releases of A Certain Scientific Railgun.
If this volume had
started out in any other way, I do not doubt that it would have been
good, due to how many points of interest came up in the last volume,
but I think I would have been disappointed because only a few of
those options would be able to pick up the excitement that we should
be having right now.
Fortunately, the
volume started off in the least problematic way possble, which makes
me feel like Kazauma Kamachi and ASCII Media Works, or whoever they
had put this volume together, did a very good job.
Normally, I would
say that I hope future installments of this series will start out as
well as ths one did, but considering that it was recently announced
that A Certain Scientific Railgun will end serial publication
this month, according to an article
by Orpheus Joshua back in February on Noisy
Pixel, I can only say that I hope future publications would be
able to start just as well as this one did.
I also liked how we
got some pay off on Kiyoshi’s reservations about Sha’s desire for
revenge.
While there was not
much hint of it during this arc, from what I can remember at least, I
do remember that Kiyoshi specifically told her sister to not involve
Misaka in their affairs and only gave off slight hints about how she
was feeling.
Yes, Kiyoshi did not
really do anything too much to stop her sister, so she is still
complicit with what is going on, but it started to show some
development in Kiyoshi as a character to the point where I wish she
would appear in the series again, like the flashback back in volume
17 had suggested would happen.
Instead of the
immediate pay of Kiyoshi growing a backbone, we get to see treated to
a great fight between Kuroko, before she became so annoyingly
obsessed with Misaka, and Kiyoshi, who we learn was not that bad of a
roommate, seeing as I do remember Kuroko suggested something went
down near the beginning of the series.
During this fight,
we see Kuroko pull a much more effective Touma Kamijou and berates
Kiyoshi, which has me excited to see how this will contribute to the
grande finale of the arc,
If we did not this
kind of payoff, I think I would have been greatly disappointed
because I see no point in making Kiyoshi pull a heel faced turn like
Darth Vader so late into the arc if this fight meant nothing to her.
Thankfully, Kazuma
Kamachi and the other working on this series decided to not pull a
Darth Vader and gave us something to look forward to in the fight
that is about to come.
Hopefully, the
mainline Index series will be able to learn a thing or two from this,
especially seeing as Yen Press did pick up the second
part of the light novels, which I was not certain of back when I
reviewed its 17th
volume, as that will help make things more interesting for that
series.
The thing that I
liked the most though was how this volume ended.
As I have said many
times before, aside from how thing begin, another important aspect in
a work of fiction is how things end, as the ending is supposed to
either leave the audience feeling satisfied, in the case of a
standalone work or the final installment of a series, or wanting
more, in the case of an installment in a series.
Even though I am not
completely satisfied with the ending, it does exactly what it is
supposed to do, which is to get me hyped for the next volume, and, if
I had not known the series will be seeing its final chapter in Japan
this month, I would have been waiting baited breath.
In this volume,
after Sha’s schemes were exposed by Kuroko, we see Sha marching
towards the final stage, to enact her plans, while Misaka, who is
concerned about Kiyoshi, pleads with her fellow dorm members to help
her, suggesting that the big showdown between Sha and Misaka is about
to begin.
By seeing this
transpire, I am left with the desire to want to get my hands on the
next volume right now, but seeing as this volume is currently the
latest both here and in the Japan and that the manga has only one
chapter left, I have no doubt that I will be waiting quite a while.
If the volume had
not ended the way that it did, though the official last chapter was
just an extra, I do not think that my excitement would be as high as
it is right now, which means that it would have failed to do its job,
even if I would have felt more satisfied with things.
Fortunately, ASCII
Media Works and the other parties involved in compiling this volume
decided to end things the way they did, which makes me feel like
giving them a ton of praise.
Hopefully, future
works will be able to end just as well as this did, but considering
that everyone working on this series for us to read are all human, I
would not be surprised if nothing can compare to this.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least that stood out as much as what I already discussed.
Because the
beginning was great, there was some payoff in that of an exciting
fight to Kiyoshi starting to feel conflicted, and that the ending was
great, this was a great read.
Although I liked
this volume, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, such as typos, only one
thing bothered me, which is how this volume ended.
While I did say that
it did do its job in getting me excited for the next volume, seeing
as we are being teased with the anticipation of a fight between
Misaka and Sha, along with other things that were hinted within the
chapter, I did also say that I was not completely satisfied with
things.
Now, when I
initially had issues with the ending, before looking around at
things, I was going to say that it felt like this volume had gone on
too long and that the ending, while exciting, would have been much
better suited as the start of the next volume, and I will standby
that last part still, but right now I will say that with it being
close to the end of the series, that I don’t think this volume
should have been the longer between this and the next volume, which
will likely be the last.
Yes, this is the
part that will lead into the big final fight that is typical of
battle shonen, like Yu Yu Hakusho, DBZ, and many others, but I
think that the final volume of this series that I suspect will be the
next one, according the math, since the longest volume features 12 or
so chapters and the shortest volumes tend to have 6 to 7 chapters and
170 is the last chapter, I think I would have enjoy things a lot more
if the volume ended at chapter 160.
I know, I said that
my excitement probably would not have been as high as the volume
ended with Misaka asking for help and Sha heading to the final stage,
but the whole setup with the fight between Kuroko and Kiyoshi would
be the closest to that high that I got from the final chapter of the
volume and would also mean that this series can officially end on a
high note, though it still can, depending on what the final chapter
turns out to be.
Here, however, with
the lead into what may be the final volume, I think that it could
hurt the ending of the series by giving too much time to some aspects
that are more common in the anime than the manga.
Still, the ending is
not bad enough to do any real damage to the volume itself, so I can
let Kazuma Kamachi and the other that do their best to bring us
something we can enjoy go knowing that they didn’t do anything too
bad.
Thankfully, I cannot
think of anything else that I didn’t like all that much, at least
that could apply only to this volume.
While there was only
one thing that bothered me, it ended up being something that would
likely hurt the series more than the volume itself, so I can just
label it as an annoyance.
Considering that
there was quite a bit to like and only one thing to be annoyed with,
depending on if one was aware of the end of the series being in
sight, this was definitely worth reading.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of A Certain Scientific Railgun, as they will be
able to like this the most, though those aware of the fact that
Railgun ends this month might not be satisfied with how this volume
ends.
As for everyone
else, ths might be worth giving a try, but considering that the next
volume could very well be the last, I recommend reading from the
beginning instead.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
either Patreon
or SubscribeStar,
so that I can hopefully find more worthwhile reads for you guys to
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where I mostly stream RPGs and visual novels that catch my interest.
Happy New Year, everyone!
I hope everybody has
been doing well.
Things here have
been kind of a bit hectic, especially because I have had to deal with
a problem that many people do not seem to notice where I live, but it
has mostly been alright.
A while back, I was
looking through Amazon’s catalog for the titles I follow and was
able to secure a copy of one of those titles, which has finally
arrived.
Today, I will be
reviewing that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 97 by Gosho Aoyama.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
After uncovering the
identity of the killer on a movie set, Jimmy and the gang have plenty
more cases to solve, such as a case where a killer takes advantage of
a predicament caused by a snow storm and coded notes, the death of a
man who was swindling women, and the death of an antique appraiser.
However, the Rum
suspects and Sera are still acting a little strangely, and Jimmy must
tread carefully while dealing with them.
While the previous
volume was pretty decent enough to get on my nerves, aside from
an issue that feels like beating a dead horse right now, that does
not mean that things are all better at the moment, so I still feel
like I can be on my toes when I need to be.
And after reading
this, I must say that I found it to be alright.
From the moment I
opened up this volume and started reading the first few pages, I
found myself engrossed enough to find out what how things would end
in the case, but I didn’t feel like I just had to read it because
it was that interesting.
As I have said many
times before, one of the most important things in a work of fiction
is how things begin, as the beginning is supposed to draw people in,
thereby giving them the temporary escape that they desire.
While this can be
accomplished in a variety of ways, depending on the kind of story
being presented and the medium used to present the work, Detective
Conan, much like many other manga was originally published as
part of a serial publication, which means that things need to start
in a way that makes sense.
In the previous
volume, after Makoto accidentally injured an actor, who he thought
was committing an actual crime, got forced to take part in the
filming, people start dropping like flies and the investigation
proceeds, with the final panels showing that Jimmy had pieced things
together and that it was time for the reveal.
In this volume,
things pick up from there and proceed into the reveal portion of the
case, which should be the most exciting part of a case in a work
detective, mystery, or crime fiction, as the audience wants to find
out if their guess was right, and goes through its thing.
While I’m not
exactly happy with this opening, because I am still sick and tired of
seeing volumes that begin with the concluding chapter of a case, I do
have to give Shogakukan, or whoever they had put this volume together
for them, credit for starting things off in the most appropriate way
possible.
If Gosho Aoyama had
started this first chapter in any other way, I would have been really
disappointed with what I was seeing, as he doesn’t really make
mistakes like that, even if the cases that he presents are not the
most enjoyable to me.
Thankfully, Gosho
Aoyama and Shogakuka, or whoever they had put this volume together
for them, provided the minimum expected and got a passing grade.
I also liked how
Detective Yamamura was unknowingly right on the nose about a case.
While there was not
really that much to laugh about in this volume, due to much of the
humor being mostly par for the course, the one thing that I can count
on is either the idiotic characters being so close to the truth of
what had happened or totally off the mark.
Here, while
Yamamura, one of the dimwitted police detectives, wasn’t exactly on
the mark of what had transpired, he unknowingly pegged the right
person from the start.
Early on in the
case, we see the culprit leading a man to a home, where she then
stabs him, establishing this particular case as one where we must
expose the culprit, rather than finding them like the typically
whodunnit.
Later, after the
body is discovered by Jimmy and the gang, Yamamura talks to the
culprit and accuses her of killing the victim to get out of marrying
them, which we, as he audience knows is not the case.
Although he was off
the mark in why the culprit killed the victim, I was laughing because
his usual shtick involves the paranormal and he does not typically
dig into people like Yokomizo did back in episode
9 of the anime.
Unlike my beef with
that episode, where the cast was very much incompetent and did not
notice very obvious mistakes that the killer did not hide very well,
this is one instance where it seems Yamamura is a bit more competent
that he usually was and that was enough to subvert some expectations
enough to create a laugh.
If Gosho Aoyama had
made Yamamura even more aware of what had actually happened, I don’t
know if I would have enjoyed things as much, since there we things
we, as the audience, knew that he did not until his team revealed the
victim’s past.
Fortunately, Gosho
remembered that there were things that only the audience was supposed
to know and made Yamamura give a reasonable enough accusation towards
the culprit to help make a simple enough case be more enjoyable that
it would have been.
The thing that I
liked the most though was how this volume ended.
As I have said
countless time before, aside from how things begin, another very
important part of a work of fiction is how things end, as the ending
is supposed to either leave the audience wanting more, especially in
the case of a work that is part of an installment of a series, or
leave the audience feeling satisfied, in the case of a standalone
work.
While I have been
relatively unhappy with how many of the recent volumes have been
ending, mainly due to them ending when there is only one chapter of
the case and that one chapter turns out to be a typical reveal,
rather than a trap, this one is on the better side of the spectrum.
After Jimmy and the
gang hear that Agasa was going to see an appraiser, to see how much
his antique was worth, they make their way with Subaru, who we now
know is Akai, and Sera to visit the appraiser.
Later on, after the
appraiser is dealt a fatal blow and leaves his mark on the authentic
antique, the investigation begins it usual process until we hit a
point where antiques cannot be determined so easily, with the volume
ending on Sera questioning Subaru, since she doesn’t know Subaru is
Akai.
By ending things
like this, my interest is raised by posing three questions:
- How will the real
antique be found? - How did Akai know
his sister was spying on Agasa’s place? - Who killed the
antique appraiser?
Typically, the main
focus of these cases is exposing the culprit, whether that be their
identity, breaking their alibi, or exposing their lie, which is why
the way volumes these days have ended has grown rather tiresome.
However, by leaving
me with multiple questions, instead of the usual Jimmy finding the
answer, I find myself wanting to get my hands on the next volume
right now, even though it will not be released until April, according
to the product listing
on Amazon, and I cannot preorder it in my preferred format yet.
This is how I wish
volumes would end these days, since Shogakukan, or whoever they have
compile these volumes, and Gosho Aoyama refuse release a volume that
starts with a new case, because this is the excitement I, and likely
many others, desire, and the team behind this series finally deliver.
Hopefully, future
installments will be able to end just as well as this one did, as
that will help keep readers coming back for more, but because I have
had a rough time with this series last year, I would not be surprised
if things take a tumble again.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least that could shine as brightly.
Because this volume
was able to start off decently, there was something to laugh about
because it was unexpected, and the volume ended in a way better way
than the typical volume has been recently, this was a decent read.
Although I there
were things I liked about the book, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, such as typos, and things
that can be inferred from what I already said, there was only one
thing that really bothered me.
The bulk of cases
found in this volume felt rather dull.
One of the things
that really drew me into Detective Conan in the early volumes
was how good the cases were. The cases were interesting from start to
finish and felt like they were so fun that I could see why fans of
detective, mystery, and crime fiction have a fun time trying to beat
the detective to the answer, which is why I was able to recommend
this series to fans of those genres.
However, for much of
this volume, none of the cases could really pull me in, whether that
was because things were a bit too obvious, like the chapel murder
case, or the trick felt way too simple, like the case where Yamamura
unknowingly suspected right the person from the beginning.
This dullness in the
cases presented here made it rather hard for me to really want to sit
there and read through the volume to the point where I think that I
could have easily put this volume down, thereby missing the good that
I was able to experience by pushing on through.
Yes, I cannot expect
things to remain great in a series that has been running for about 3
decades by now, but considering that the biggest threat in the series
right now is the number two of Black Org and the Japanese fans are
likely waiting for the showdown with Rum, now that Jimmy knows who
Rum was disguised as, I would expect things to be a little better
than this.
If Gosho Aoyama and
those helping him bring this series to people like us had put in a
bit more effort, I feel like things could have been better in this
department, because people like me want to experience some good
mysteries again that we can keep coming back to, to relive.
Unfortunately, that
was not what was delivered here, and I feel very much disappointed.
Thankfully, this was
the only thing that really soured me experience with this volume, so
Gosho Aoyama, Shogakukan, and everyone else working their hardest can
at least walk away knowing that they did not comletely and utterly
fail.
While there was one
one issue that could be found with this volume, that issue was big
enough that it hurt my overall enjoyment, thereby hurting an
otherwise good release.
Despite the fact
that there were a few things to like, the bad was enough to only make
this good enough to kill time.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of Detective Conan, as they will be able to enjoy
this the most.
As for everyone
else, I suggest you look elsewhere, or even read one of the early
volumes, as the dull cases might be a big turn off for those that
want to see some good mysteries.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
either Patreon
or SubscribeStar,
so that I can continue following this series or maybe find more worth
while reads for you guys to check out.
Hey there, everyone. I hope you all are doing well, especially now
that we have officially transition into a new season.
Things have been a
little stressful, but I can still do what I enjoy, so I am happy
about that.
A while back, I took
a gander through Amazon’s catalog and managed to secure at least
one of the titles I follow, which has recently arrived, thereby
meaning that it is time to get off my butt and do something.
Today, I will be
covering that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 96 by Gosho Aoyama.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
After wrapping
things up with the case surrounding female officers getting attacked,
Jimmy is thrust into even more cases, such as another heist
announcement from Kaito Kuroba, and an accident after watching a
movie leading to another case.
However, during
these cases, Jimmy must contend with somebody else who has him pegged
and is causing issues, as well as staying out of Rum’s reach.
While I did enjoy
the previous
volume, I did have a problem with it that I was a bit
disappointed in, so I feel like I can keep on my guard, but I must
keep in mind that things might not go downhill just because of a bad
release.
And after reading
this, I have to say that I kind of liked it.
From the moment that
I opened up this book and started reading the first few pages, I
found myself engrossed in it enough that I didn’t want to stop
reading for any reason.
As I have said a
countless number of times already, one of the most important things
in a work of fiction is how things begin, as the beginning is
supposed to help draw in the audience, thereby giving them the
temporary escape that they desire.
While this can be
done in a variety of ways, depending on the genre and the medium used
to present the work, Detective Conan, like many other manga
out there is published as part of a serial publication, which means
that it needs to start in a way that makes sense based on the last
installment.
In the previous
volume, which I expressed a bit of disappointment with, we see the
beginning of a new case, where police women are being attacked, with
the final pane of the volume showing the discovery of the second
victim.
In this volume,
things pick from there, with the investigation of the second victim
starting up and time starts ticking to find the culprit.
While I would still
have preferred to have this case start off at the very beginning of
the case, this provides me with a nice little recap of the case that
is in progress which helps me ease myself into the current case, as
well as get me geared up for what is to come.
If this volume had
started off with the conclusion of his case, which I have grown
rather tired of as of late, especially because it makes it hard for
me to recommend good entry points into the series, I would have been
greatly annoyed, even if it does provide a good hook for the next
volume.
Fortunately, Gosho
Aoyama and Shogakukan decided to start things off here, which means
that they do get some praise from me though not as much as if they
just started the volume with a brand new case.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to start off as well as this one did, though I
am still holding out hope for a volume that will finally start with a
new case, rather than act as an overflow for the previous
installment, as I would like to help introduce others to this series.
I also liked how
much tension there was in this volume.
One of the things
that I very much like about Detective Conan, aside from the
cases, which were phenomenal in the early volumes, was how tense
things got when Black Org started making appearances and got
involved, as well as people learning of the secret he has been
keeping.
Back in the previous
volume, Amuro was tasked by Rum, the second in command of Black Org,
with investigating Jimmy Kudo, and I was expecting this to be
happening in the background, with things that would seem completely
insignificant.
However, in this
volume, we see Amuro talking to the new head of Inspector Meguire’s
division, where he asks how his side project is coming along, using
the name Bourbon.
Even though Jimmy
now knows the identity of Rum, like we do, in the Japanese release,
this part here makes me want to forget all of that because I am
currently wondering why this guy would know Amuro’s codename within
Black Org, thereby putting the reader on edge about whether this guy
is Rum or not, like we should be asking at this point in the series.
As much as I hate
cases being left to be wrapped up in just the first chapter of the
next installment, this caught my interest so much that I would have
been alright with the chapter with the panels concerning this
conversation being the start of the volume, as it picks up with the
intensity that I had back when we finally learned the name of the
boss of Black Org.
However, what really
brought up the tension and made things interesting was something that
happened in the last case of the volume.
After Makoto,
Serena’s boyfriend, had accidentally knocked an innocent person
unconscious because he did not know what he saw was an act, Sera
starts asking questions about Jimmy, with some flashbacks of things
that happened back in volumes 25 and 26, according to a page
on Detective
Conan World’s wiki, which I haven’t covered because I have
only reviewed volumes 27 and later.
However, unlike
Harley, who also questioned Jimmy and uncovered his secret on his
own, Sera reveals through her thoughts that her mother, the girl who
was with Sera, ended up in a state similar to Jimmy.
By seeing this, it
makes me wonder how exactly Sera and Jimmy are going to join forces
in the manga now, as I already know who shrank Sera’s mother and it
has also been revealed recently in the Japanese that Rum is aware of
what APTX 4869 can do.
If this particular
moment had not shown up, I would have been disappointed, as the
previous volume had quite a lot going for it.
Thankfully, this was
added in as part of this volume, which helped to make the tension
become a significant part of this volume.
Another thing that I
really liked were the funny moments.
Even though I do
enjoy the cases presented in this series, I also like how the comedic
moments in this seres can be absolutely funny, as it breaks up the
monotony.
While much of the
humor to be found here is pretty much par for the course at this
point, I found myself chuckling quite bit during the second case of
the volume.
At the beginning of
the case, we find out through Harley that Kaito Kuroba had announced
his next target, and Harley is seen ogling Kazuha’s mouth, which
annoys her.
Later on, when
things start to happen that lead up to Kaito Kuroba making his move,
we see Kaito notice the interaction between Kazuha and Harley, and
Kaito decides to have some fun by disguising himself as Kazuha,
thereby creating some funny interactions between Harley and Kaito.
However, what makes
this all so funny, aside from the fact that Harley does not notice
that Kaito has disguised himself as Kazuha, much to Kazuha and
Jimmy’s disappointment, but even shows that Kaito has slipped up,
when Jimmy asks him why he is crouched down, which is something that
everyone noticed except for Harley.
Now, with the
exceptions of his appearances in Detective Conan, if Hakuba is
involved in his heists, and a sequence featuring Jimmy in volume 4 of
Magic Kaito that got added into episode 219 (Japanese count)
of Detective Conan, Kaito, like Jimmy, is presented to make
very few, if any mistakes, to the point where even who is disguised
as is part of the mystery, but here, he really blows it and in a very
hilarious way.
If Kid had not made
the mistakes he did during this case, I think it would have been
alright, as the case itself wasn’t too bad and the audience was
aware of much of Kaito’s actions, since it was more so a battle of
wits than anything, but I do not think it would have left that much
of an impression on me, aside from the fact that we might have
learned of who Scotch was from Morofushi, though he did also play a
big part in this case.
Fortunately, Gosho
Aoyama decided to have things play out like this and it became
memorable for just providing some good laughs.
Hopefully, we get
more cases like this that feature Kaito, as it feels like Kaito
Kuroba’s cases have been getting a lot more dull now that he only
shows up when Serena’s uncle challenges him than the random heists
they were earlier in the series, but I would not be surprised if
things got worse.
The thing that I
liked the most though was how my attention was held quite well by
this volume.
Now, some of you
guys might be surprised that I did not talk about the ending this
time around, like I have done with other volumes, as I have stressed
that the ending of a work is just as important as how things begin,
which is still very much true, but this warrants attention because
this is also an important part of writing anything.
After all, not
everyone is as patient as I typically am, and will stop reading
things when they no longer hold their interest, except maybe for
instances where what is called the sunken cost fallacy arises, which
happens with many long running manga.
In the case of the
series, I complained about how the previous volume felt like it
dragged on, as we had a lot going on, from Rum asking Amuro to
investigate Jimmy Kudo and we even learned the name of the person in
charge of the Black Organization, but then we just finish things off
with the start of a case that does not end until three chapters into
this volume, with its only relevance to the things that happened
before being the very end.
Here, however, I did
not find myself that bored out of my mind because everything felt
relevant to what was going on overall.
Yes, it could be due
to the fact that Gosho Aoyama has decided to make nearly every case
of the Rum arc relevant to the plot, but there are a lot of other
interesting tidbits out there, like a possible connection between
Haibara and the Akai family, which has yet to be disclosed in the
Japanese reeases, and even questions that popped up even when the
cases were dull.
In fact, unlike how
the previous volume felt like it dragged on, this one felt so short
that I had to double check that I did indeed get the usual three
cases per volumes that are typically contained.
If this had been
anything like the previous volume, I would have dropped the series
here and now, as Gosho Aoyama and Shogakukan, or whoever they had
compile this volume for them, usually do a good job in picking a
decent mix of cases that should hold a person’s interest, and would
likely result in the loss of more readers.
Thankfully, that did
not happen this time around, and that makes me feel like giving them
a big round applause for a job well done.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to be as interesting as this one is, but
considering how many cases are seemingly plot relevant these days, I
would not be surprised if future volumes end up becoming boring, at
least if the series does not end as soon as the current plot
progression of the Japanese releases makes me feel it will.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least that stood out as much as what I talked about.
Because things
started off quite well, there was a lot of tension and questions to
be found, and the volume did not feel like it dragged on, this was a
great read.
Although I liked the
volume, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, like typos, the only thing I
can think of to really complain about would just end up being like
beating a dead horse at this point, which I feel relieved about,
since I have been quite disappointed with this year’s batch of
volumes, even though there were only really two volumes that were
truly problematic.
As a result, I can
gladly say that there is nothing worth mentioning.
Considering that
there was quite a bit to like about this volume, unless one really
wants to get nit picky, this was definitely worth reading.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of Detective Conancite>, as they will enjoy this the most.
As for everyone
else, I recommend check out the earlier volumes first, especially
because the volumes these days require knowledge from the previous
volume to enjoy.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
either Patreon
or SubscribeStar,
so that I can continue following this series or maybe find some more
worth while reads for you guys to check out.