The
Story of Conan
|
The
Story of Conan
|
Meitantei Conan (Famous Detective Conan) by Gosho Aoyama is the story of Shinichi Kudo, a famous high school detective, who is turned into a child by a mysterious poison that is forced on him by members of a equally mysterious organization. Realizing that the poison was meant to kill him, Shinichi is forced to hide his true identity to prevent his would-be murderers from finding him. He adopts the name 'Conan Edogawa', (a name adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes, and Ranpo Edogawa, a famous Japanese fictional detective) and ends up living with his childhood friend (and secret love) Ran Mouri and her father, Kogoro Mouri, a private detective. This was advised by the one person he trusted with the knowledge of what had happened, Professor Agasa, Shinichi's next-door neighbour. Agasa suggested that by staying with a detective Shinichi had a better chance of finding the organization and a cure.
Neither Ran or Kogoro are aware that the new member of their family is actually Shinichi, although Ran is slightly suspicious as Shinichi has disappeared without a trace.
Since Kogoro is a useless detective Conan doesn't have high hopes of getting any useful information. However, a lucky chance gives Kogoro a case, a case which Conan solves, but Kogoro gets the credit. From then on, Conan uses Kogoro to solve cases (thanks to some useful little gadgets made by the ever helpful Professor Agasa!), something which brings Kogoro fame and helps Conan deal with the frustration he feels being in a child's body. Frustration which is increased by the knowledge that Ran cares deeply for Shinichi and observing her unhappiness over Shinichi's absence. Using a voice changer Conan telephones Ran as Shinichi which helps to some degree, but the more information he unearths about the 'Black Organization' the more he realizes that telling Ran the truth would put her in danger.
Conan's search for a cure and his discoveries about the Black Organization form the underlying plot of the story and keep the suspense throughout the series. Along with a variety of other characters, Conan is faced with a variety of cases ranging from kidnapping to murder, many seem impossible, but Conan claims 'No crime is impossible to solve. There is always only one truth!' and proceeds to prove his words correct. Gosho Aoyama loves mysteries and he creates some wonderful ones for Conan to solve like locked room murders and in one, a series of murders connected with Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. He also has a deft touch with humour, creating a series that is intriguing, amusing and suspenseful with a variety of interesting and very lifelike characters.
Currently in Japan, Detective Conan is very popular with adults and children alike. The manga is up to the Volume 46 of the graphic novels and is still running in Shonen Sunday, one of the highest selling manga magazines. The TV series has passed the 250th episode mark and is still running, and there have been 8 movies to date.
Lately there has been a lot of increase in stories involving people connected with the Black Organization and some resolution of character relationships. The current feeling is that events are drawing to a climax and it is possible that Gosho Aoyama will be ending the series soon. But the outcome is far from sure... Will Conan turn back to Shinichi? Or will he be forced to stay as Conan? Will he bring down the Black Organization? Who will live? Who will die? Will Shinichi and Ran even be together? Who knows! Only Aoyama-sama and he's not telling!
If you want to learn more about Detective Conan or even read some manga that has been translated into English by some wonderful and dedicated people then please check out the LINKS page. To learn more about the characters in Conan, please go to my CHARACTERS page.