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Chronologically following from our previous installment of the Detective Conan anime reviews, we're taking a little sidetrack to talk about the first Detective Conan movie, The Time-Bombed Skyscraper which came out at this point in the series.
We thought it was a pretty good movie in all respects. In the context of Detective Conan, it's like a good anime original episode with extra animation budget. A lot of extra animation budget. But even beyond its place in the series, it's a good action/suspense movie that doesn't even require any prior knowledge of Detective Conan to enjoy.
The movie begins in extremely media res, with a murder investigation in progress. The victim typed a mysterious message on his computer right before dying. Kogoro has narrowed the suspects down to three, and he thinks he has figured out what the message means and who is it pointing to. When his deduction turns out to be incorrect, Conan goes, welp, here we go, and knocks him out with the tranquilizer dart from his stun watch, and uses the voice-changing bowtie to deliver the correct deduction in Kogoro's voice and solve the case.
This is a wonderful way to introduce the entire concept of the series on the go, in ten minutes, without infodumping on us. You hear a lot about the writing advices of "start in media res" and "show, don't tell", and often these suggestions are warped and misinterpreted, but this scene is an excellent example of what they actually mean: it's useful to start with an interesting event, and it's better to deliver narrative information in a way that is integrated within the story. You don't need to know one thing about Detective Conan to follow this scene, and by watching it, you learn what the premise is. Kogoro is a famous detective but he's not actually that great, and Conan turns him into a mouthpiece to really solve the mysteries, by using the stun watch and the voice-changing bowtie.
Not necessary, thanks
Apparently this stroke of storytelling brilliance was unacknowledged by the movie itself, because right after this scene, there is an infodump sequence about what happened to Shinichi and the men in black and Agasa and the Detective Boys and all the gadgets. But almost all of the information in this sequence has either already been delivered in a natural way in the scene before, or will be delivered in a natural way in scenes forthcoming. Probably the only thing that needed this sort of exposition would be the explanation of Conan's true identity. But this movie didn't need three, separate explanations for the stun watch!
Returning to the actual movie, Conan receives a letter addressed to Shinichi. He is invited to a famous architect's party. Naturally, Shinichi cannot attend as himself, so he instead gives his invitation to Kogoro and his family, and that way the architect can meet another great detective, and then Shinichi can secretly be there anyway...
Conan calls Ran as Shinichi to tell her about this. Ran says that, if she's to do this favor for him, then he should go out for a movie night with her next week. She makes a point that it must be next week, on May 3rd, no rescheduling. Shinichi protests, but his objections are ultimately steamrollered.
Actual Funimation dialogue:
- Ran
I’m going to be in the lobby of that theater at ten, and I swear you better be there, and one more thing, it’s a date!
- Conan No! Not next Saturday! And I’m a little short right now, yeah that’s it, you understand!
Shinichi tries to think about what is so important about that particular day. He can't think of anything special on May 3rd, but his first thought is, instead, that May 4th is the day !
Later that evening, over dinner, Conan asks Ran why is she going on a date on May 3rd in particular. It's so that they will be out together until midnight when it becomes May 4th which is Shinichi's own birthday. He's a loser who first thinks of what Sherlock Holmes did on May 4th rather than remember his own birthday. What is wrong with him?
Ran tries to make sure that Shinichi's birthday is special for him, because otherwise she knows that he would not even remember it. He would just get older. And that's sad. Thank you, Ran. But you are wasted on him. He does not even seem to care about how she cares.
The house is symmetrical and the garden is symmetrical and the symmetrical hedges are sculpted into unnatural shapes and the lawn is flawless...
In the next scene, it's the day of the architect's party. He has architected a ridiculous English-style mansion for himself. The distinctive feature of many of his creations is that they're perfectly symmetrical. We noticed while watching this movie in Japanese with English subtitles that the characters were saying the English word "symmetry" as a loan word. Kogoro goes so far as to carefully define what "symmetry" means for the audience. His definition emphasizes that this is an "English" idea.
We went on a research tangent, and we've confirmed what this scene made us wonder: the concept of symmetry is foreign to Japan. The Japanese culture values what is natural, and balance is important, but a natural balance ebbs and flows. In contrast, the English idea of symmetry is a forced, unnatural state, linked to Victorian ideals of mankind dominating nature and bending it to its will.
Ran sees the symmetrical house as just a cute thing to notice. How neat, the two sides are the same! Yet, symmetry is this architect's obsession, showing his particular hubris and need for obsessive control. He is so obsessed with symmetry, he even changed the way his name is written so that it would be symmetrical when written vertically. ✽
Hearing this, Conan thinks that this "almost sounds like a disease"...
On another day, Conan is at Agasa's house. They're watching the news, and they're saying that the house where the guy was murdered at the beginning of the movie burned down. It was one of that architect's creations. Also, there was a massive burglary at an explosives factory. As they're watching the news, Shinichi receives a call from a mysterious guy who is using a voice changer to distort his voice. He says he's set a bomb in the park by the river. Can you stop it from blowing up?
Conan busts out of Agasa's house on the solar skateboard and makes it to the park. The Detective Conan movies tend to really want to showcase the solar skateboard, even though it's one of the least-used gadgets in the series. We guess that it makes sense to reserve it for the high-budget scenes, so that we can have Conan zipping around all the bystanders and doing cool moves on the skateboard, and it does look cool in this movie... but overall, we are glad that the skateboard can usually be completely forgotten, because it's kind of a stupid plot device.
Though, the animation in this part is incredible.
The bomb has been strapped to a toy plane that Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko are playing with. Conan manages to make the bomb explode without hurting anyone. When the bomber calls again, Conan is so flustered that he answers Shinichi's phone as Conan. He realizes his mistake and is about to speak through the voice changer, but it's a good thing he didn't, because the bomber can see him, and he's pissed at the idea that Shinichi sent a toddler to stop the bomb instead of facing him in person. But the bomber is also fully believing that this is the way things are going, which prevents him from realizing that Conan is Shinichi, so, that's how Conan is spared from having that problem too. The bomber tells him the location of a second bomb, and Conan rushes there next.
Conan is carrying the bomb around all, oops, can't go that way, there's a playground over there, eep! Just like how Batman was once in a similar predicament.
Conan had that whole chase on the skateboard, dealt with the bombed toy plane, ran out on the skateboard again, located the second bomb, stole some poor kid's bike to replace the broken skateboard, dodged oncoming traffic, avoided like 5 deadly accidents, was able to have the second bomb explode in a safe place... and the sideways blast of the bomb threw him against a tree, and that is what lands him in the hospital. Sad trombone.
When Conan wakes up in the hospital, he says that Shinichi sent him to take care of this bomb, and Kogoro is so pissed at Shinichi for risking Conan's life. Kogoro cares more about Conan than he likes to show. And if this had really been the truth of what happened, Kogoro would be right to be furious at Shinichi...
Conan receives another phone call on Shinichi's phone, and this time around Kogoro takes the call. That's enough having toddlers and irresponsible teenagers dealing with bombs - Kogoro says that now the bomber needs to deal with adults. The bomber explains that he's planted bombs on the train loop line, and they will explode at sunset or if the trains reduce speed below 60 kmh, so the trains can't even stop moving while the police are trying to locate the bombs.
This part is really exciting and well done.
The kids went to see Conan at the hospital, and when they left, they rushed to get into the train, and wouldn't have been involved if they hadn't been in such a hurry and didn't jump to get in before the doors closed. And they all say they're so lucky to have caught the train. Little did they know...
Note the ad behind the kids...
As the situation progresses, the investigation moves towards the identity of this mystery bomber, and why would he call Shinichi in particular. Are there people from previous cases that would want revenge against Shinichi? Megure zeros-in on what he describes as the most high-profile case that Shinichi has solved. A mayor and his son were involved in a lethal drunk driving accident. The son said he was the one at the wheel, but Shinichi realized that the son had taken the blame upon himself to prevent a political scandal, and that the one responsible for the accident had been the mayor.
Back then, Shinichi did this whole demonstration, having the son sit in the car, fasten the seatbelt, and even offered him the same brand of cigarettes that he usually smokes... this was to show that he could only reach the car's lighter with his left hand from the driver's seat, but the lighter only had fingerprints from his right hand on it, proving that actually the son was in the passenger's seat. But Shinichi already had all this fingerprint proof. He didn't really need to go through this whole demonstration using the same brand of cigarettes. He only did it to be a showy fuck, and as a display of dominance.
When in the timeline did this case happen? Was it the week before the start of the series?
This movie is not actually part of the canon continuity, but if it were, the existence of this case would create a snarl: Inspector Megure said that this was surely the most high-profile case that Shinichi has ever worked on, but the series begins with the case that really put Shinichi in the limelight, , so which one was Shinichi's most important case now? Also, the way it goes in Episode 1 implies that, at the time, it was a relatively new development that he'd started waltzing into crime scenes. Though, this is an aspect that will get increasingly retconned over the course of the series, what with adding like 25 "Shinichi's first case" episodes, going all the way back to kindergarten [not an exaggeration, this is literally something that happened]...
But the mayor is in jail now, and the son wasn't even in town while the whole bombing was happening, and Conan saw the bomber earlier, and he can tell that he's not the son in disguise, so it doesn't seem like the two cases have anything in common.
During this investigation, Megure is aided by a never-before seen cop, Shiratori. He will reappear in future Detective Conan movies, and later will get a role in the manga and anime as well, but this is his first appearance, initially as a character-of-the-day kind of deal. He happens to be an architecture fanboy, and at one point he's able to launch into a whole explanation about the unique design of the bombed bridge, and he knows all about the famous architect, and he can list all the awards he's won. He's also strangely antagonistic towards Conan. When Conan meets him, he acknowledges that Conan sure has helped solve a lot of cases, and when Conan tries to be dismissive that it's just a coincidence, Shiratori notes that it's sure a lot of coincidences...
In the end, though, Shiratori is just a red herring. He just kind of says things in a creepy way, all the time. And he's a person of high tastes who is interested in architecture, and also wine tasting, French cuisine, impressionism, and anything that would make him sound refined [and give him an excuse to drop exposition]. This characterization was initially for making him suspicious in this movie, but it will stick, which will make him a pretty interesting character for his future reappearances.
Ultimately, Conan realizes what all of these cases have in common: all the bombings and the arson cases have been targeting buildings made by the famous architect. It seems there's someone out to get him. But the truth is even more fucked up than anyone could have imagined...
The architect has been systematically destroying his own buildings that he made when he was younger, because he hates how they are not perfectly symmetrical. They are almost perfectly symmetrical, but one has one extra chimney on one side, and one has an extra roofed patio, and the streetlights on the bridge are only on one side, and that's why he wants them destroyed. Wow.
Spot the asymmetries!
As artists, we can understand being displeased with older works and no longer wanting to see them, but that doesn't count if the work in question is a building, omg no.
Also, this freak has a gallery dedicated to himself in his own house, with photos of his buildings. The buildings that he hates. Every day, he goes to his gallery of failures and regret. No wonder he worked himself into this state.
The architect kept a diorama of the scrapped building project in the gallery of his failures
The architect also would have been in charge of a big building project sponsored by the mayor who ended up being convicted for the fatal car accident. With the mayor in jail, the project was canceled. So, in the architect's mind, if Shinichi hadn't meddled with the investigation and hadn't uncovered the conspiracy, then it would have been the son of the mayor who would have gone to jail, the mayor would have continued sponsoring this land development, and the architect would have been able to continue making his stupid perfectly symmetrical building project. So, actually, that case does have a link with the current one. And that's why the architect specifically wants to exact revenge on Shinichi.
Also, the architect's father was also a famous architect, and he died in a fire that burned down his house, and it was after his death that his son suddenly became famous. It's never stated out-right, but there's the implication that he killed both of his own parents to get in the limelight, and to destroy their imperfect building... Later, he has a whole screed about how love does not belong in architecture and no one will ever understand his aesthetic sense, so... he probably did it...
And it took us four times watching this movie, but we finally realized that his name is Moriya Teiji... it's a pun on Professor J. Moriarty. Aaaaargh!
Shinichi calls Megure while the investigation is taking place at the architect's house, and reveals everything, and now the architect can be arrested. But this movie is called "The Time-Bombed Skyscraper"... He has already set up time-bombs in one more building, and it's the mall where Ran is going to see a movie with Shinichi. She's already in the building and waiting for Shinichi to arrive.
During the party, the architect had this whole amenable conversation with Ran about how she'll be going to the mall for her date, and he was already plotting to blow up the building with her inside. But they're just happily talking about her upcoming date, and he's all, oh, jolly good.
The first round of bombs go off, and the architect had set them specifically to block all the doors and emergency exits of the building, so that everyone inside will be trapped and panicking. He fully imagined that this would include Shinichi and Ran, and he did something devilish with the last bomb, just for them.
Conan steals the bomb plans from the architect, and ultimately it ends up that Conan is able to reach the other side of the door to the emergency exit, but he isn't able to open it, so he uses the voice changing bow-tie to talk as Shinichi to Ran on the other side of the door. She's found the last bomb, and she happens to have the scissors from her sewing kit in her purse [woah is Ran the prepared one, walking around with an emergency sewing kit!], and Shinichi is talking her through the process of which wire to cut next to disarm the bomb. Keep talking and nobody explodes!
Shinichi guides Ran through cutting all the wires shown on the schematic, but Ran informs him that there are two wires left: one red and one blue. Should she cut them? Which one? Shinichi doesn't know what to do, and they are stuck at a standstill.
The clock strikes midnight. Ran wishes Shinichi a Happy Birthday. The architect specifically set the bombs to go off three minutes after midnight, to let the two of them have a last few minutes together to celebrate his birthday and say farewell. What a sicko.
Shinichi decides that if they are going to blow up anyway, Ran might as well try cutting one of the wires. He leaves the choice up to her.
It is only after Conan is carried away by the rescue squad that he realizes that the architect set a trap! When Ran was happily telling the architect about her upcoming date, she had mentioned that her favorite color is red, and it's the lucky color for her and Shinichi's horoscope, and she's buying Shinichi a red shirt for his birthday, and the asshole was there deciding, woo, wouldn't it be sick if I made a bomb where the red wire is the one that kills them all? [dissolves into evil laughter]
This architect was so, so evil to Ran. Just because Ran has the misfortune of knowing Shinichi. And just because Shinichi had the misfortune of being involved in the case with the mayor. The architect is watching Ran's father crying while she's trapped in the building, and the asshole is there gloating about it. Why is he so cruel to them all?? But yeah, not like we should be looking for logic with Moriarty.
But for all of his evil moustache-twirling, he failed to consider the way Ran's brain actually works. He thought they'd pick the red wire to cut because Ran said that red was their lucky color. But when faced with cutting the red wire, Ran opted to instead cut the blue wire, because cutting the red wire would be like cutting the red thread of fate, and severing her connection with Shinichi. Her sentimentality saved them all.
And shame on all the other people trapped in the mall. The moment they realized that Ran had found the last bomb, they all screamed and scurried away to hide behind the debris, as if that would save them if the bomb would go off. They left a teenage girl to the grueling task of disarming the bomb alone, and didn't even offer her moral support. Then again, Ran was already the person who had to keep everyone else calm, maybe it's for the best that they weren't burdening her as she was trying to disarm a bomb and accept their impending doom and say her farewells to Shinichi...
And, if you were wondering, yes, the ending did make Denise cry.
In conclusion
It's a great movie! It makes us wish we'd watched this sooner, and that we'd had an opportunity to watch it in a movie theater back at the time. It is a good movie, and it's good to watch even if you don't know anything about Detective Conan going in - maybe it's even especially good as an introduction for any new-comers to the series. But it also has about everything a returning fan would want from a Detective Conan movie. There's a case with Sleeping Kogoro, a flashback case with Shinichi, all the action of finding and stopping the bombs, all the mystery of needing to unravel the overarching plot. All the major characters from the series at the time are present [even Sonoko has a small but meaningful role]. And to top it all off, there's the intense scene with Ran and Shinichi at the end. Not to mention that the animation and art style are amazing.
If you're following along with our Detective Conan episode reviews, they continue after this movie with Part 5!
What is so good about Detective Conan?
The stories are well thought out, the solutions are NOT obvious but can be put together by an observant [and thinking] viewer, just as Conan does, and best of all the series does not insult the intelligence of its viewers: the show is entertaining without padding 3/4 or the episode with slapstick routines and mindless ...
What is the best Detective Conan arc?
Best Episodes / Arcs in Detective Conan?.
Ep 11: The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case..
Ep 34-35 The Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case..
Episode 188-193: The Desperate Revival arc where we see Shinichi come back purposefully for the first time*.
Ep 304 which has that great scene between Takagi and Conan..
Which Detective Conan movies are worth watching?
Detective Conan Case Closed Films: Best-to-Worst.
Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer [2018] ... .
Detective Conan: Crimson Love Letter [2017] ... .
Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween [2022] ... .
Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare [2016] ... .
Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser [2009] ... .
Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street [2002].
Why do people love Detective Conan?
Many people like Detective Conan because it's a series with many clever surprises and an expansive plot. With almost a thousand manga chapters and almost that many episodes, that's a lot of cases. The author puts a lot of care into crafting mysteries that will stump and puzzle you.