Customer Reviews

Case Closed, Vol. 1

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Of course there is a lot of comedy and a lot of romance and back story but the part that I find really interesting are the cases. This is about 16/17 year old Jimmy Kudo one of the greatest detectives you can think of. You can not beleive the cases he can solve! After witnessing a crime these men in black give him a poison that should kill him but it shrinks his body into that of a 6 year old. Until he can find the men in black that shrunk him, he (taking on the alias of "Conan" since if the men find out his real idenity they will kill him and the ones around him,) solves these ridiculusly hard cases. If Sherlock Holmes was alive he would struggle to solve them! Conan is put under the care of Jimmy's wannabe girlfriend and her 'stupid', 'not perceptive' detective father and Conan/Jimmy solves the cases for him. In the first volume the cases he solves are hard but relativly simple, but later on they have these cases that even if the pulprit walked around with a sign saying he did it, you couldn't sove them. One word, Amazing!

Jimmy Kudo, a 2nd year high school student, is best known for his deductive skill, enough so, he's even called the best detective in all of East Japan.

After Rachel, Jimmy's childhood friend and daughter of the retired Detective Richard Moore, scores well in the Karate Tournament, he takes her to Tropical Land to celebrate, unbeknownst of the trouble that awaits.

After solving a case, with no toruble whatsoever, Jimmy tails a couple of suspicious men in black. He watches over an illegal transaction and is soon knocked out and slipped a secret poison, which turns him small. Jimmy creates the alias "Conan Edogawa" and stays with Rachel and Richard, in hopes of finding information on the drug and men that shrunk him.

Will Conan turn back to his original form? Do Rachel and Richard know about this change? How will he go about solving cases as a 1st grader? Who exactly were these men in black and why do they have a drug with the ability to shrink one's body? All this and more answered in the mystery novel, Case Closed.

What happens when you mix a pre-school body with a high schooler's mind? A really weird person (really close), nope! A super ace detective who has to hide his talents because he's staying at his best friend from High School's house? Yes.

When High School detective and prodigy, Jimmy Kudo involves himself too far into a mystery of two men wearing black, he ends up being turned into a tiny preschooler with a high schooler's mind. To cover up his flaw and to keep his friends safe, Jimmy must pretend to be the preschooler he turned into and stay at his best friend, Rachel's house under the name "Conan Edogawa".

Throughout the series, the hilarity of Jimmy's failed attempts to conceal his high school self rise as do Rachel's suspicions about Conan's (Jimmy's) similarities to Jimmy. In addition to that problem, Jimmy can't keep his head out of a mystery even as a little kid, bringing him into deeper trouble with Rachel's father, Detective Richard Moore.

The bloody assasinations, stabbings, head chopping, impaling, poisoning, dismemberment, drownings, and more show up to block Jimmy's way to finding the cure that will return him to normal, in the meantime, Conan (Jimmy) has to keep Rachel from worrying about his other self, and keep her from knowing the truth of how he became small.

This is an excellent series for all manga fans or mystery fans, it's funny, suspenseful, (and gory for anyone with action issues. I highly reccomend anyone to read this book and the rest of the series if they want action, jokes, mystery, a little bit of love and wit.

The Best Mystery Manga ever!

Gosho Aoyama, Case Closed vol. 1 (ViZ, 1994)

Back before I switched cable companies, I got a station called ColoursTV of which I was greatly enamoured. Prime time weekdays was reserved for Funimation, an importer of anime that managed to come up with the some of the coolest shows I've ever seen come out of Japan. One of them, and the one I miss most dearly these days, was Case Closed. So when I found the manga sitting at my local library, I was overjoyed and immediately dove in.

Volume 1 gives us the story of Jimmy Kuda, high school super-detective, before he becomes Conan Edogawa. (Because the idea of a high-school super-detective just isn't enough weirdness for a manga, it seems.) We see him solve a few cases, meet some of the main characters, and get himself into the tangle that results in the creation of his alter ego, pint-sized primary-school sleuth Edogawa. Fast-paced and fun, a good start to the series. *** ½

Jimmy Kudo tries his best to be like his idol Sherlock Holmes by helping the authorities solve baffling crimes even though he's just a junior at Teitan High School. His mind has been trained by reading an extensive library of detective novels, which include those written by his own father, who along with his mother, work in the United States, leaving Jimmy to fend for himself. He might have gotten involved in one case too many as he is knocked unconscious while witnessing a blackmail payoff. Instead of killing him outright for what he's seen, a mysterious man in black slips him an experimental untraceable poison and leaves Jimmy for dead. But instead of bringing about his death, the poison transforms his body into that of a 6-year-old boy! Of course noone believes that he is Jimmy Kudo, except Dr. Agasa, a mad scientist that happens to live next door. Agasa advises the boy to keep his identity secret because if the guys that poisoned him find out he is still alive, they'll just come after him. Better to let them think he's dead. Taking the name Conan Edogawa, Jimmy must keep his secret even from the girl that loves him, Rachel Moore, even as he moves in with her and her father, who is a sorry private detective. Conan will try to use the resources in Richard Moore's office to track down those who gave him the poison and hopefully get his body back to its normal size. Along the way, he will help Rachel and her dad solve cases while at the same time never revealing his real identity.

Volume 1 of Case Closed is a promising read that is nothing if not entertaining. The art is more influenced by Disney than most manga I've read and gives you a feeling of anthropomorphized animals like Donald Duck or Goofy. While the art seems very kiddy-friendly there are some very unfriendly scenes in this book of graphic violence such as a man getting decapitated on a rollercoaster and bloody corpses. Actually, this ability to show some of the crime scenes is what makes it interesting to older readers. While Case Closed is no CSI, this book provided some entertaining mysteries even though it fumbles on its own passion to connect dots and make plot twists, which can be a failure in any mystery novel. The characters are cool, but I could have done without the needless identity secret giving Rachel an ulcer. Jimmy could have at least told HER if he told some crazy scientist so she wouldn't be worrying about him. A good start to the series.

Elias Hernandez 3/9/06
102 English

Case Closed

Case Closed, by Gosho Aoyama, is the book in the magna series. The show was great and the book is even better. The book is full of suspense. You can solve the case with Conan Edagawa (main character) and get confused. All while by his side. There is plenty of times where you solved the case until another suspect shows up or a new piece of evidence reveals itself. The book is also filled with action. Conan is always getting attacked when he gets close to cracking a case. This book also has an amazing story line and some of the most amazing plot twist I have ever read.
You will fall in love with Conan as you find out how he solves the most unbelievable cases known to man. These cases range from child's play, to master mind, and finally to unsolvable. Even still Conan some how manages to solve everyone of them no matter how long it takes. Conan is like any other ordinary teenager. He has his share of girl problems, as well as friend
problems. The only difference is that he is incredibly smart for a 9 year old. You will find out why he is so smart when you buy this book. This book is I think incredibly cheap for what for what you get to read. If you are a fan of the show you will definitely be a fan of the book. Must by for any novel lover old and young.

I have had this book since I was a 12 year old in the year 2004 and I absolutely love it! I love the plot of a highschool detective turning into a kid and having to go around solving crimes. The Case Closed/Detective Conan series is very fun and entertaining. It is now 2011 and after all these years I still love this book and series very much. I am a very satisfied customer!

The series itself is great, interesting (if maybe a bit repetitive) plot, lovable characters, and a gets-you-thinking edge in it on par with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. However, Whoever thought it was a bright idea to "American-ize" this piece of literature should be smacked across the head with a 2x4.
First of all, Kudo's name is Shinichi, not "Jimmy"; his girl's name is Ran, not "Rachel"; and her dad's name is Kogorou, not "Richard" (Also, Ran practices "Akido", a much more graceful and intricate martial art than the "Karate" this book states).

I recommend not buying this book, but still trying to support the author in other ways. Instead I would be happy to introduce you to the wonderful world of Scanlating!

Very fun! I gave this as a gift to my husband (we're currently renting the series from Netflix) and he said that the manga was fantastic (and of course, now he wants to read the rest... :)

This book is GREAT! It is about a high schooler who solves mysteries. One day when he takes a friend to the amusement park, he solves a crime there. And then he follows some strange men who end up drugging him and wen he wakes up...hes a little kid!!! This book has it all: ACTION, ROMANCE, COMEDY, and FUN!!!! Please by all means.. buy this!!!