Detective Conan Movie 13: The Raven Chaser

Often, I am not a fan of movies with original stories based off of anime. They often are ridiculous and have some of the most pathetic and annoying characters introduced, for some storyline that the anime would never go near thanks to it's horrible cliches and terrible attempts to make you care about the characters introduced in the movies. Detective Conan is a very popular shonen anime, and I had guessed before knowing there were movies based off of it that there were movies based off of it. However, unlike most anime, some of the movies have actually been pretty awesome. Perhaps it's because this animedoesn't have magic and avoids stories about annoying princesses that are protected by the protagonists and stuff like that. Or maybe because they are basically one big case in each movie, except with more explosions than a typical Conan case. (although I admit I haven't seen movies 8-11, which I've heard weren't that great). Story: This story is very similar to some of the other Conan movies in that there are many people in danger and many people die because of a large case that needs to be solved. The other movies had other parts of the plot that were more relevent to the actual characters but this takes it to a new level. The Black Organization, the powerful, mysterious organization Conan has been trying to stop for a long time, ends up involved in this case. Now, something I really hated about the 5th Conan movie is that the Black Organization was barely even seen in the movie and that the entire thing, at least a times, felt like an excuse for Conan to be an explosion-filled, dangerous situation. This movie avoided both. With the exception of the end, the movie felt very similar to Black Organization cases in the anime. They are unexpectedly involved in this, and we slowly but surely learn why. Of course, a little more than half way through the movie and it seems to avoid anything Black Organization related a bit too much, and quite honestly, the case itself, while certainly good, gets a bit boring (especially compared to the Organization, which I am always find entertaining). The ending is great, although I admit it was kinda silly. Another thing worth mentioning is the amazing continuity. Sometimes people who make a story for an anime that isn't based off of the manga can do a horrible job at remembering why people liked it in the first place. One of the many reasons I enjoy Conan is the amazing use of continuity and how so many of the cases are at least briefly mentioned eventually. I can think of no less than 10 references to older cases, and all of them are awesome to anyone who actually remembers those cases (and one of those references was only in the manga at that point). Art: I don't have much an opinion of the art for this anime, but I did really enjoy the art I guess. It looked better than normal anime episodes since this is a movie and since the anime art works best when the setting isn't a normal, sunny day, the parts when it was night or evening were pretty great. But other than that...I thought it was really good. That's all. Sound: Like the anime, the voice acting was great. I love all of the voice acting and it was nice to hear Kamiya Akira as Kogoro one more time (this was the last thing translated before we got Kogoro's new voice actor). Not much else to say, the voice acting for all of the characters is always amazing. Especially the Black Organization members. When they talk, I almost automatically think that something awesome is going to happen because of their voice acting. The music is...ok. There was some good music but way too often they played this annoying song in the background that, according to the official soundtrack I heard, was actually like 30 very slight variations of the same song. It was not enough to ruin anything in the movie but it was still very annoying. Character: I should point out that I think that about 95 percent of the recurring characters in this anime are really awesome. But there was more than the usual characters in this movie. In the anime, while Megure, Takagi and others are in many of the cases since they are in that area, there are a number of other inspectors and detectives that have appeared when they have gone to other prefectures. Almost all of them appeared and the interaction between them was amazing to most Conan fans. Gunma's idiot Yamamura interacting with the recently introduced serious, and badass Nagato Inspector, Yamato was hilarious because of how different their personalities are. Even better was the amazing "deduction" Kogoro did later in the movie and how his two fanboys, the loud but fun Sango Yokomizo and Yamamura reacted to it made me laugh. The continuity also helped and the characters felt much more in character than I would expect (not that I care for the movies as long as they aren't absurdly out of character). However, something was wrong with Gin. He seemed way too happy. Not even in typical "Gin is going to kill someone" happy that I would expect, but more of a bizarre happy. And some of the things in the ending were kinda silly. Enjoyment: I enjoyed this movie. Most other Conan fans probably will too. I think others can enjoy it as another random movie instead of actually watching the entire series, but a lot of the things in the movie make me think that even Conan fans who never pay attention to anything that isn't in the manga would enjoy the interaction between characters and the amazing continuity. Overall: 9

One of the major complaints that Detective Conan fans have is the diminished threat and barely there plot development involving series antagonist the Black Organization. Fans want to see the next step in their threat to Conan and what will happen. Unfortunately that's a long ride that just keeps getting longer. But luckily, Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser is one on the few movies to deal with the Black Organization and it does so damn well. Story (8/10): While Conan is living his daily life with his friends and the other characters as usual, a car accident occurs that ends up being connected to a seriesof unexplained murders across Japan. This means that the majority of the law enforcement characters from across the series come together to figure out how to deal with this and to find out who's behind it. But Conan discovers that the mysterious Black Organization has their own stake in the proceedings. It then becomes a race between the 3 groups as the main story progresses into the final truths: why is the Organization involved, who is committing these murders, and how can Conan piece it all together? This is definitely a movie for the hardcore fans, bringing up a lot of the past Black Organization plots and characters and even the law enforcement characters seen throughout the series. It makes this a treat for fans, since it becomes a game of references for them. The actual plot of the movie is just great, intriguing and mysterious in a high stakes game that will have you wondering how the story will play itself out. Sadly, the main murder mystery plot has a sort of abrupt ending that, while explaining a lot and settles everything, feels like the writers didn't know how to really tie it into the Black Organization plot at the most crucial moment. Otherwise I really enjoyed the story and am glad that we got a Conan movie that helps delve into the main antagonists more. Art (8/10): They really cranked up the art for this movie, since it just seems like there was a lot of action and movement throughout the whole story. All the characters look good and there were very few errors. The big set-pieces were also really well done and continue to look better and better with each film. Sound (7/10): Beyond the normal Conan series tracks, I didn't really notice anything new or interesting. While they are still great tracks, it gets a bit boring hearing the same score as the main anime itself. Character (9/10): This was a real highlight for all the main characters. Conan shows just how great of a character he is, the cop characters are really given the spotlight and are allowed to be much more confident and competent than in the main series. The Black Organization characters come off just as menacing and mysterious as before, showing off their status as the Big Bads of the show. The movie characters are pretty well done, though they did kind of need a bit more time on screen to really make the most out of their stories. The only real knock I have against the characters is that Ran, Sonoko, and the Detective Boys are barely in the film (though they REALLY would've been in the way, to be honest), so their small parts in the movie felt a bit tacked on. (Though Ran gets a sick fight scene at the climax.) Enjoyment (8/10): This movie was a seriously awesome ride and for good reason. It really celebrates the series and shows off it's best parts and made me want to see what would happen next. Though the only thing I will say is that it's almost a bit TOO continuity heavy- you really need to remember and have a good idea of where the main plot is and have to remember a good majority of characters to get a big part of the enjoyment out of the film (I myself totally forgot some of the side law enforcement characters, though eventually I remembered them). Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser is probably one of my new favorite Conan movies, thanks to some solid writing, well done characters, an interesting mystery, and just a general sense of using all the parts of the anime to its strength. While it is a bit continuity heavy, I would just say catch up on the plot up to when the movie came out and you should be able to follow along. This is definitely the movie for Conan fans to enjoy and I hope that we see more movies like this in the future. 8/10 = a very solid movie with very few drawbacks and just a whole lot of fun; definitely NOT meant for the uninitiated, since it does rely heavily on past cases and the recurring side cast; recommended for the Conan fan who wants a little canon with their annual movie

A close acquaintance of mine once asked me "what, in my opinion, is the quintessential Detective Conan movie?". For some time, I thought that all a movie needed to be good was to have good pacing, clear focus, and an incentive to see things to the end. While those elements are necessary for a movie to be "good", what does it mean for a movie to be a "good Detective Conan movie"? In my mind, that kind of movie must embody everything Detective Conan is about; A brilliant detective robbed of his adult body that must solve murder cases with the police in order tobring the organization responsible to justice. In my journey to review each and every one of these movies, Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser not only fulfills the requirements to be a great movie overall, but also the best Detective Conan movie so far. One of the best things this movie is able to do is juggle a massive cast of characters and make each and every one of them important. Conan isn't the only star of this film; we have Ran, Kogoro, the Detective Boys, Megure and the police force, and the Black Organization (not to mention the film's original characters). Despite the cast being massive, each and every person in this movie has a purpose that is essential to the resolution of the story. In most movies with a large cast, they often run the risk of either overstaying their welcome or just blend in with the background. In entire run time of this movie, not once did I experience that kind of blunder. This is only one of the several things this movie gets right. Another thing that this movie gets right is its story. While the Black Organization is present in this film, the main focus for Conan (and for them as well) is to find the culprit responsible for the serial murders taking place all over Japan. With Conan's identity at stake, its a race against the clock to find the culprit before they do. This probably has to be one of the best constructed cases in the movies so far. The majhong tiles and the phrase "Tanabata... Kyo.." have more meaning behind them than one might think. This movie has so many layers that it is literary a treat to re-watch it over and over again. Along with the three elements I mentioned above, Raven Chaser is also an overall great movie. As much as I love this movie, I will concede to it not being perfect. What happens to the Organization in the end is a bit unsatisfying, the reasoning for the true culprit is a bit of a stretch, one of the key plot points does reference a spoiler in the main series, and while the art style is great, it does utilize some pretty obvious CGI in a few spots. Not enough to ruin the film, but worth mentioning. This movie is so good that the only bad thing about it is that every other movie after it always falls short because of it (all have tried, but none prevailed). Despite that, I'm truly happy that a movie like this exists. If anyone were to ask me what the quintessential Detective Conan movie is, I would point them to Raven Chaser any day of the week.

Well, I might be a bit biased here because this movie's got literally almost all my favourite characters lined up but this film has been one of the best the Detective Conan franchise has to offer. And that's where I'm going to start my review - the characters: Finally, some input on the Black Organization. Yes, it's specially geared to the events of this movie but getting a little insight on how their relationships inside the group are has been refreshing. I have waited for a case that brings together some police departments and my prayers have been heard. Although, in the end, the police wasn't as muchof a driving force overall. I guess it made sense to not have them stealing Conan's thunder. As for the story and the case itself: The way this movie approaches the solving and finale of the case was quite nice. Usually, you'd think it's a one-man-show again but not this time. There's, indeed, something coming from all groups which is great to see. Especially, since the Detective Boys aren't as obnoxious as they are most of the time (for me at least). What made me happy the most was that Ran really got her time to shine. My only "negative" point would be that I didn't find the music as thrilling as it could have been. Thinking of some bigger scenes, I can't really recall what music there was because it was somewhat forgettable. Except for the usual themes you already know from the anime itself and therefore expect some serious shiddledidoo going down. Overall, I don't regret buying the DVD because I'm probably going to watch it many times over.