Als weltweit erfolgreichster Manga hat der kleine Schülerdetektiv Conan sich eine beeindruckende Fanbase aufgebaut und mit wachsender Begeisterung auch den TV- und Gamingmarkt für sich erobert. In diesem Jahr erscheint der 25. Film auf dem deutschen Markt, was Anlass genug sein dürfte, noch einmal die früheren Werke sich zu Gemüte zu führen. Äußerst empfehlenswert ist dabei vor allem der 15. Film der Reihe, der nicht nur in einem ungewohnten Setting stattfindet, sondern auch den Protagonisten vor äußerst schwierige Rätsel stellt. Während in der Regel die Conan-Werke oft vergleichbar sind mit dem detektivischen Niveau der deutschen ZDF-Krimireihen, liefert uns Regisseur Kobun Shizuno, der erstmalig das Steuer in der Hand hält, eine deutlich spannendere Geschichte, die geprägt ist von vielen Wendungen und Unvorhersehbarkeiten. Zeitgleich bietet er uns bildgewaltige Ereignisse, die mit einem äußerst emotionalen Payoff gekrönt werden. Sowohl Liebhabende der Reihe als auch Neulinge dürften mit diesem Film gut unterhalten sein.

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Japanese anime and manga production has been in full swing for decades and enjoys a large community worldwide. In addition to successful series such as ONE PIECE, DRAGONBALL and ATTACK ON TITAN, many people in Germany are not even aware that earlier animated works such as HEIDI also originated in the East Asian film studios. However, none of these partly endless series could hold a candle to DETECTIVE CONAN so far, because with over 250 million books sold, this is the most popular manga series of all time, which of course has also been adapted into all kinds of other media forms. In addition to video games and an anime series, which now comprises more than 1000 episodes (of which only just under 500 are available in dubbed versions in Germany), there are also several film productions. Four live-action films have been made, which have not yet been released in this country, as well as another 25 anime works, the latest of which will be shown on cinema screens at the end of May this year.

The films all function independently of each other and are loosely based on the associated series. The Detective Conan world is encompassed by an overall story, which is rather rarely advanced. Otherwise, only individual crime stories are often told, which are primarily intended to entertain the audience. All the plots focus on the masterful school detective Shin’ichi Kudō, who can already solve all kinds of cases at the age of 17. However, when he is administered a poison one day, he does not die but shrinks to the size of a first-grader. The boy secretly investigates the black organisation behind this attack by infiltrating the notorious detective Kogorō Mōri and thus tapping the necessary sources of information. Involuntarily regarded as a foster son, Conan is thus constantly drawn into new cases that occur even apart from his actual investigations.

This is what it’s all about

In his latest adventure, the student must solve a series of bombings that originate in a devastating attack on the Lord Mayor of Tokyo. In the course of his investigation, the little boy discovers that there might be a connection to acts that the mayor carried out before taking office. However, this idea can only be investigated on the east coast of Japan, which prompts Conan, the scientist Hiroshi Agasa, his confidant Ai Haibara and the Detective Boys to travel to Kitanosawa, where a snow festival is being held at the same time. The team also meets Ran, Kogorō and Sonoko on site. As the investigation continues, they all encounter more dead bodies, more dangers and more mysteries, which demand all of Conan’s skills and ultimately bring a village to the brink of destruction.

Review

All the films in the anime sector of this series follow a similar principle. There are several cases to solve, all of which intertwine in some way and usually seem only loosely connected until the end. A central sub-investigation is already pointed out in the intro, before the individual important characters and gadgets are then broken down in a quick summary, so that even newcomers can get started easily. We are then presented with the frame story, which is often rather irrelevant and only serves as a lead-in for the actual plot. The investigations now repeatedly lead to dead ends and ensure that everyone involved is confronted with seemingly unsolvable puzzles that make the characters despair and can even become life-threatening. In this respect, DETECTIVE CONAN – THE 15 MINUTES OF SILENCE provides us with no innovations.

Director Kobun Shizuno, who entered this film universe for the first time and went on to develop six more works, manages to create an extremely exciting case that clearly stands out from the many monotonous predecessors. The drama surrounding the individual characters is brought more into focus, the problems are made trickier and the dangers no longer arise from the very conspicuous bourgeois simple-mindedness, but relate largely to average citizens. In addition, we get a new setting, as none of the previous films have ever taken place in a snowy landscape. For the geographical setting and the visual design, the film team used the small town of Kurobe, which lies at the mouth of the river of the same name, as a guide. The town does not play a role, however, but only a thermal bath region located nearby, directly behind the Unazaki Dam. This dam was modelled on the Kurobe Dam, which is the largest in the country and is located upstream.

Detektiv Conan – Die Halloween-Braut ©2022 GOSHO AOYAMA/DETECTIVE CONAN COMMITTEE All Rights Reserved.

Medieval role models

Screenwriter Kazunari Kouchi manages to establish a good balance between expository part and arousing momentum. Character personality structures familiar from previous works are adopted 1:1 and refined again, especially in the big climax, to achieve an even deeper connection with the audience. The retention of character traits is important in large parts, but should not remain entirely without criticism, because on the one hand, women are always seen as the weaker sex, who fearfully hide behind the courage of their actually weaker male partners and often cannot even open up intellectual connections to the same extent. On the other hand, Kouchi, based on the series template, works more intensely with some clichés, which find their unpleasant peak especially in the supporting character Genta Kojima as a greedy, stupid little boy.

Ironically, both in the series and in the films, the series always relies on an excellent perpetrator profile that is developed free of any inappropriate personality attributions. This is made possible by the fact that the antagonists only become visually recognisable after the case has been solved, even if they may have already played a role in the investigation several times. In scenes in which the villain is seen, the people are portrayed as black gender-neutral until this point, which additionally maintains the surprise effect for the audience and gives them the opportunity to guess along. However, the evidence is not always treated transparently or even supplemented afterwards by a flashback, so that an exact determination of the perpetrator is left to the on-screen action.

Fast-paced mainstream cinema

DETECTIVE CONAN – THE 15 MINUTES OF SILENCE is unusually big on the action part, which is characterised by chases, rescues, duels and daredevil stunts, which, similar to the FAST & FURIOUS series, are marked by supernatural staging approaches, but still work with an uncertain probability of success. Thanks to an attractive pacing, the film remains exciting until the very end and also provides us with an outstanding payoff, which not only proves to be a dramaturgical highlight, but is also excellently staged visually and radiates an affective heaviness that we rarely experience in the Conan universe.

Unfortunately, the many small errors that creep in over the course of the film have a sobering effect. Characters occasionally appear where they shouldn’t, conversations are not heard by nearby people despite being within earshot, medical inaccuracies creep in that could have been avoided with a little more intelligent scripting and physical impossibilities serve as the icing on the cake.

Conclusion

As the 15th work in the series, DETECTIVE CONAN – THE 15 MINUTES OF SILENCE has an exciting adventure to offer both fans and newcomers alike, which provides no time for boredom thanks to the overlapping of several genres, an inscrutable story development, as well as impressive animations that always run under the same sound motif. This film is by far one of the most emotional and can score especially with its pompous payoff, but also with a much more straightforward crime story that tests the audience’s intelligence several times. Those who do not want to deal with the series chronologically will find a successful introduction in here.

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