Manga Review: Case Closed Volume 33 by Gosho Aoyama
Quick recap: Teen genius detective Shinichi Kudo (Jimmy Kudo in the American version) witnesses a murder by mysterious men in black. They try to kill him with an experimental poison, but it instead shrinks Shinichi to look like a small child. To conceal the fact that he’s still alive, Shinichi takes the name Conan Edogawa.
With the aid of inventor Dr. Agasa, Conan is placed in the home of his sweetheart Ran Mouri (Rachel Moore) and her father, bumbling private eye Kogoro Mouri (Richard Moore.) Although he’s acknowledged to be a very bright child, Conan must often resort to tricks to avoid being spotted as the one really solving all these murders while trying to find clues to the Black Organization.
In Volume 33, we begin with a two-parter about the slow-burning romance between Tokyo police detectives Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi. Tired of waiting for Takagi to take the initiative, Sato agrees to an omiai (potential engagement meeting) with the wealthy police detective Ninzaburou Shiratori (Santos.) If Takagi doesn’t come to pick her up before the end of the meeting, Sato will agree to marry Shiratori! Too bad Takagi is trapped investigating a robbery where all the witness testimony is contradictory.
Then it’s time to prepare for Valentine’s Day, so the Mouri family is off to a remote mountain lodge to make chocolate! There’s allegedly a ghost that brings chocolate to people who freeze to death in the forest, and this time, the corpse is a videographer who was trying to find a wolf!
Next, the Detective Kids help a man find his late wife’s lost watch. Which doesn’t seem to be connected to the next door neighbor’s death while watching a videotape–at first.
And finally, American exchange teacher Ms. Jodie becomes involved in the death of a sleazy detective who was investigating a case of embezzlement. It leaves off on a cliffhanger–can you solve the mystery?
The subplot that runs throughout is a mysterious man in a black ski cap, who doesn’t seem to be directly connected to any of the cases, but shows up too often to be coincidence. There’s no actual movement on the myth arc.
The first mystery requires knowledge of how the Japanese language has changed since pre-World War Two, and the cliffhanger also involves some knowledge of Japanese, but the others are solvable with a little effort.
An enjoyable, but not essential volume.
