Detective Conan: episode 1

Like I said before, I like this series. And since I already made an introduction on this show, I'll start the recaps with the first episode, so you'll get a gist of how everything started and how Shinichi Kudo became Conan Edogawa. You'll also get introduced to the characters, and look at their backgrounds. Also, I will choose which episodes I cover and the ones that I like and which also has something to do with the major plot. Because really, right now, this series has 500+ episodes and still airing, and I have no idea when this would end. If it does though, I'll let you know.

Alright, let's do this.

Detective Conan episode 1: Roller Coaster Murder Case

The first scene takes place in a mansion, where the famous 17-year-old Shinichi Kudo solves a case. As the events of the murder takes place, the opening music plays. After the murder happened, Inspector Juzo Megure, a veteran police officer who knows Shinichi, calms the rich old man as he insists that the murderer has left the mansion and says that he has no time for these investigations as their is no evidence of the Bank Manager's death.

At that moment, Shinichi arrived into the scene, announcing how the murderer did his job. He said that the crime took place in a sealed room that was locked from the inside. He explains that the murderer entered the balcony through an adjacent window and escaped the same way, and as there are no traces on the ground of the balcony, the crime was committed by someone from the party. The man doesn't believe Shinichi for there is a 10 meter gap from the window to the balcony, so he explains that if the roof's eaves are used the gap would be less than 2 meters. He also added that before the murderer left the first room, he fixed an end of a rope in there and when leaving the second room, he fixed the other end into the balcony, and then climbed back. The end of the rope has a wood so it would hold the balcony's posts due to constant tension and can be removed by just moving it a bit. As for the room, the Manager was probably told by the murderer to wait in the room and lock it.

Shinichi points out that the murderer is no other than the old man who killed the bank manager as there is no one who knows the ins and outs of his mansion. Getting a little uneasy, he denies that the old man would kill his friend for he is in a wheelchair and his right leg has not yet healed. But Shinichi contradicts, by throwing a globe unto him and dodges it. It was then revealed that he's been healed three months ago, and that he and the bank manager had some secret transactions together. So once again, Shinichi has greatly helped Inspector Megure in solving a case.

 

One morning, Shinichi has been awakened by a thudding sound that was produced by none other than Professor Agasa, his neighbor. He has made another invention, as he always does. His inventions are usually a flop (exactly what Shinichi's reaction is like), but he can be smart for he comes up with some pretty cool ones in the future episodes.

Next, we see Kogoro Mouri releasing his frustration and anger at Shinichi for because of him, his agency has run out of business. He hates the fact that Shinichi calls himself the 'high school detective' to gain more attention, which has affected his living. But the truth is, Kudo is really popular not only in his school but he is featured on tv as well. On the way to school, he meets (or gets hit) by his childhood friend, Ran Mouri, who tells him about her father's situation. And when he said that Mouri lacks the skills, well, he knows he shouldn't have said it.

At school, he drones on and on about his idol, Sherlock Holmes, and how he should have a hobby and a useful skill like soccer to be a good detective. Clearly, this isn't the first time Ran has heard about the greatness of Holmes, for she tells him to be more serious especially with girls. At that moment, he looked at her shyly and quickly changed the mood when she looks at him questioning his face. Topic has changed, but she reminded him that he once made a promise with her that if she wins the Karate championship, he'll go to Tropical Land with her.

That night, we see a woman in her room crying over something. At Tropical Land, we are first introduced to three kids: Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko who will be part of Conan's life. Meanwhile, Shinichi and Ran went to a roller coaster ride and as he enters the cave, he sees the children going inside a hole, like a secret entrance. Still talking about Holmes, he shows Ran how he has mastered the skills that he would know a person's hobby by just touching a their hand, just like when Holmes first met Watson. And so we are also introduced to new people on the ride, and there is this fantasy that Shinichi imagines when he saw a couple kiss. His dream was cut off by Ran when she dragged him to ride the roller coaster.

When they are already seated, Shinichi continues to talk about Holmes and this is when Ran had a fit. She called him an annoying detective nerd which took him by surprise for it seems that he's used to talking to her about Holmes. She then said "I was hoping for a day out with Shinichi... Why don't you understand my feelings?" With that, he was about to say something and explain when Ran said that she was only kidding. The ride has started (and of course, Ran held his hand saying that she was really looking forward to this trip), and as they entered a dark cave, Shinichi felt some teardrops on his face and then heard something. On the side of the tracks, the three kids saw something that scared them and Ayumi picked up a bead made of pearl.

Now this is why I love this anime: When the ride went out of the cave, there was a headless man seated at Shinichi and Ran's back, and the decapitated head was shining. You read that right. Shining. (So let me just cap it again to show you how cool this anime is) So the police arrive at the scene, and you see Inspector Megure trying to solve the case. It's a good thing our hero is here, so Megure won't have a hard time. And when Shinichi introduced himself and said that it was a murder, everyone were in awe and amazed that he's the high school kid. Meanwhile, the two men in black who sat the last row of the ride named Gin and Vodka were curious.

Shinichi drew on a piece of paper the people who were on the ride. The first row was the victim's friends, the second row was our couple, third row, on Shinichi's back, is the victim and on Ran's side the girlfriend, and on the last row are the men in black. Everyone had safety restraints, so the only possible person who could kill him was his girlfriend, who was seated on his right. While he was thinking, Shinichi suddenly heard a man's voice, it was from the men in  black, and Shinichi noticed that they were in a hurry.

A knife was found in the girlfriend's purse, but Shinichi proved wrong and pointed the girl from row A(Hitomi, screencap above) who incidentally is a gymnast. He explained the technique of how she murdered the victim(Kishida), that this is just like an acrobatic maneuver where she can easily glide from her seat by putting a purse at her back and tie a metal rope with a hook on it and put it on the victim's head. By using the roller coaster's speed and momentum and throwing it into the rails, the head would be easily cut off.

His evidence? Before the ride, she was wearing a pearl necklace and it fell off near the rails. The tears were also proof that she knew he was going to die. And so she broke down and cried and said that she only killed him because he dumped her and met a new girl.

Ran was crying the entire time after the case while Shinichi consoled her and told her that these things happen all the time. Suddenly, he saw one of the men who were wearing black and decided to follow him. He said goodbye to her and when she stopped him, something just suddenly didn't feel right.

Ran: I don't know why... but I'm getting a strange premonition...that I will never see Shinichi again.. A very bad feeling...

One of the men in black, the bigger man arrived in a dark corner with a man who was clutching a briefcase. This looks like a secret exchange(and blackmail) because money is involved, and Shinichi witnessed the deal. Just then, one of the men who were in black approached his back and hit him. The bigger man told his older brother to kill the detective but the blonde man opposed the idea for the police is still near. Instead, he wanted the detective to try out the new poisonous drug their organization invented and experiment it on him. And so they gave him the drug and water to gulp it down, and left him in the dark.

  

Shinichi was struggling after drinking it and a while later, he passed out. And the police are just about to discover that where was once a young man lying in the grass is now a kid wearing oversized clothes.

Comments:

For someone who has been watching this series for quite some time now, I'm actually happy about this episode and the number of Ran-Shinichi moments. On this episode, we can see that their relationship has already been established, that they have known each other for a long time now and they are comfortable with each other.

We also see here what kind of person is Shinichi Kudo. He has a bit of an ego that can sometimes go overboard, for he knows who he is and he's proud of how well-known he is not only in public but by the girls in his school as well. Despite of his popularity, Ran is the only one who scares him and makes him shift his personality. From here we can see how he sees Ran and we get a clue that he sees her more than a best friend and a childhood friend. On the part where she told him to be more serious with just one girl, he actually blushed and looked at her in a different way. In the imagination that he had while ago when they saw a couple kissing in the amusement park in the roller coaster ride before the murder, you can see what goes on in his mind about Ran.

We still don't know what goes on in Ran's mind, although there was a brief moment in the roller coaster and before the ride started that she was really looking forward to this trip which shows how long she has been waiting for it to happen. It might be that she has some feelings for him, but it hasn't been fully established yet, just like Shinichi had. These two may have feelings for each other; but they just haven't told each other yet.

 

On this episode we are also introduced to the Black Organization, namely Gin(blonde) and Vodka(shades guy). Basically they are an underground group that Shinichi has never heard of, so he at first he doesn't really know who he's dealing with. But he doesn't care who they are; for his one philosophy is that 'there is always one truth', and as a detective, he will continue uncovering the real facts behind the stories. The men in black had no idea that Shinichi would still be alive after drinking the drug, because as they said, they haven't really tested it yet, so they don't know it's effects. They just assumed that he'll die after taking it, and they're assured as well that the police won't notice the drug for once it has been consumed, it cannot be detected on the corpse. Gin and Vodka won't be appearing as much on the drama as well, for they are the main antagonists of the series, and part of the major plot.

 

Now I'm off to the second episode, which I'm not sure when would be posted.

Disclaimer: I do not sub the DC series nor am I part of any subbing group. I only do recaps, and its because of these wonderful subbers that I am able to understand this show.