Episode 020 – “The Haunted House Murder Case”

Japanese Episode 020: “The Haunted House Murder Case”
American Episode 021: “The Disappearing Act”
Original Japanese Air Date: June 17, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 28, 2004
Based On Manga: Files 017-019 (Volume 02, Chapters 08-10)
Next Conan’s Hint: Fu Dog (Dub Hint: “Shrine God”)
Original Version Organized By: Kuchiru Kazehara
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale & Matt Chaney
American Version Directed By: Eric Vale

Episode 019 – “The Elevator Murder Case”

Japanese Episode 019: “The Elevator Murder Case”
American Episode 020: “Fashion Sense”
Original Japanese Air Date: June 10, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 24, 2004
Based On Manga: No
Next Conan’s Hint: Creepy Basement
Original Version Written By: Kazunari Kōchi
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale
American Version Directed By: Eric Vale

Episode 018 – “The June Bride Murder Case”

Japanese Episode 018: “The June Bride Murder Case”
American Episode 019: “Wedding Day Blues”
Original Japanese Air Date: June 03, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 23, 2004
Based On Manga: Files 078-080 (Volume 08, Chapters 08-10)
Next Conan’s Hint: Bouquet
Original Version Written By: Kazunari Kōchi
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale
American Version Directed By: Christopher Sabat

Episode 017 – “The Department Store Hijacking Case”

Japanese Episode 017: “The Department Store Hijacking Case”
American Episode 018: “The Case Of The Hi-Jacked Department Store”
Original Japanese Air Date: May 27, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 22, 2004
Based On Manga: No
Next Conan’s Hint: Medicine Capsule
Original Version Written By: Junichi Miyashita
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale
American Version Directed By: Christopher Sabat

Episode 016 – “The Antique Collector Murder Case”

Japanese Episode 016: “The Antique Collector Murder Case”
American Episode 017: “A Load Repaid”
Original Japanese Air Date: May 20, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 21, 2004
Based On Manga: Files 052-055 (Volume 06, Chapters 02-05)
Next Conan’s Hint: Elevator Girl
Original Version Written By: Yasushi Hirano
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale & Matt Chaney
American Version Directed By: Mike McFarland

Episode 015 – “The Missing Corpse Murder Case”

Japanese Episode 015: “The Missing Corpse Murder Case”
American Episodes 016: “The Two Faced Brother”
Original Japanese Air Date: May 13, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 17, 2004
Based On Manga: Files 056-058 (Volume 06, Chapters 06-08)
Next Conan’s Hint: Scratches On A Dresser
Original Version Written By: Toshiki Inōe
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale & Matt Chaney
American Version Directed By: Mike McFarland

2013 New Years Predictions?

“I’ll certainly try to get comparisons out in a speedier fashion this year!”

… Said the worst webmaster ever.

Welp, I sure made 2012 a pretty pathetic year for this lil’ fansite of mine.  College and life got in the way, blah, blah, blah, excuses, excuses.  Of course, as of now, I’m officially a college graduate!  :D  So now I’ll either have to buckle down and make this site a bigger priority or find a new excuse for my laziness.  The only upside is that I only got four comparisons completed in 2012, so it shouldn’t be too hard for me to “beat my record” this year.

Although I haven’t posted anything new, I have been tweaking the site during my absence.  Check out the new, improved layout for the DVD Directory, for example.

Oh, I did start a brand new project about half-way through last year, but it has nothing to do with Detective Conan.  I’m not sure if any Digimon fans are reading right now, but if anyone’s interested, I’d like to invite you to check out Magic’s DiGiMONMUSiC Database.  I love importing Digimon CDs, so I wrote myself a little “buyer’s guide” since there really isn’t a single useful Digimon Discography on the entire internet.  Once I was done, I figured I might was well put it online for other people to use!  I completely copied the layout I chose for this site, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out.  And don’t worry, it won’t compete with this site for attention, because it’s actually finished.  That’s right, I actually *finished* a project for once!  Aren’t you proud?

Okay, enough self-promotion.  Since it’s January 1st, I figured now would be the best time to give my now-annual New Year’s predictions for Detective Conan!  But first, let’s see how my “predictions” for 2012 turned out.

“Aoyama will keep spitting out new manga chapters.  I suspect nothing major will develop in the main plot.“

Hmmm, did anything major happen in the manga this year?  I realize now that this was kind of a silly prediction to make considering I don’t regularly follow the manga’s progression in Japan.  I don’t think anything particularly amazing happened; I don’t remember any news blowout or anything.

“TMS will keep spitting out new episodes, our annual OVA, our annual Magic File movie tie-in, and our obligatory annual feature film.“

I was pretty much right on the money here.  The TV anime kept airing as usual.  “The Eleventh Striker” came and went, with a brand new “Magic File” side-story to compliment it.  One OVA came out.  There was also one new live-action special this year, along with six new Magic Kaito specials (if those count).

“Absolutely nothing interesting will be announced regarding music releases.“

I was dead-on here.  Two opening theme CD singles and three ending theme CD singles were released, along with a soundtrack for Movie 16 and a single for that film’s ending theme.  And… that was it.  The usual routine.  We did get a CD Drama this year, though, and that was pretty unexpected.  I suppose that’s technically not a “music release,” but I’m still willing to say I was half-wrong because I really didn’t see that coming at all.

“Now that all of the feature films have been released on Blu-Ray in Japan, the only high-definition home video release I expect to see for this series is for “The Eleventh Striker” (in seperate “regular” and “special” editions for both DVD and Blu-Ray).  On DVD, the series will continue with its four-episode-per-disc “Part X” releases.  In December, we’ll get another two additions to the “DVD Selection” series, featuring volumes for Sato and Takagi and either Inspector Megure or Professor Agasa.“

I was right about the blu-rays.  All we got was “Eleventh Striker” getting a “regular” and “special” edition.  On DVD, the series received ten “Part 20” volume releases, three live-action releases, and three Magic Kaito releases.  I was dead wrong about the “DVD Selection” discs, though.  We didn’t get any character volumes at all!  We did get a “Soccer Selection” disc to promote Movie 16, but nothing else.

“FUNimation will announce absolutely nothing for 2012.“

Yup.  Moving on…

“Viz will release their quarterly volumes of the English manga, but nothing else (guide books, art books, etc.) will be announced.“

Yup.

“The Wii game will never make it to America, despite being fully translated and dubbed.“

And… yup.

So really, Japan kept going as usual (though they did shake things up a little with the CD Drama), while absolutely nothing happened stateside.  Seriously, I don’t say this often, folks, but thank goodness for Viz.  At least we’re getting the most important part of this franchise translated and released in America.  I’d prefer a monthly schedule (or even every two months), but I’ll take what I can get at this point.

So what do I think will happen in 2013?  About the same, actually.  Some of FUNi’s reps appeared on an AnimeNewsNetwork podcast recently and confirmed (once again) that FUNi simply isn’t touching this series anymore.  Viz already has its quarterly manga volumes up for pre-order on websites, so we know those are coming (again, thank goodness).  And now that the Wii U is here, any and all hope of getting “The Mirapolis Investigation” in the good ol’ U-S-of-A is lost.

On the Japanese side, I’m pretty much keeping my predictions from last year.  At this point, we know what we’re getting: Manga chapters, TV Episodes, a feature film, an OVA, a Magic File, DVD volumes, a DVD/Blu-Ray for the feature film, and some CD singles.  I do hope they mix it up with the music releases this year, though.  I’d love a new background music collection.  I guess the only prediction I’ll change is the “DVD Selection” one.  Since this year’s movie seems to be about the ocean and battleships, I predict we’ll get some sort of “Sea Selection” DVD with some of the series’ most popular water-based episodes.

Happy New Year!

– MagicBox

Episode 014 – “The Mysterious Sniper Message Case”

Japanese Episode 014: “The Mysterious Sniper Message Case”
American Episode 015: “The Shooter”
Original Japanese Air Date: April 29, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 16, 2004
Based On Manga: No
Next Conan’s Hint: Answering Machine Phone
Original Version Written By: Kazunari Kōchi
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Matt Chaney
American Version Directed By: Christopher Bevins

Episode 013 – “The Bizarre Manhunt Murder Case”

Japanese Episode 013: “The Bizarre Manhunt Murder Case”
American Episode 014: “Mystery Mastermind”
Original Japanese Air Date: April 22, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 15, 2004
Based On Manga: Files 013-016 (Volume 02, Chapters 04-07)
Next Conan’s Hint: Calculator
Original Version Written By: Yūichi Higurashi
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale
American Version Directed By: Christopher Bevins

Episode 012 – “The Ayumi-chan Abduction Case”

Japanese Episode 012: “The Ayumi-chan Abduction Case”
American Episode 013: “Kidnapped: Amy”
Original Japanese Air Date: April 15, 1996
Original American Air Date: June 14, 2004
Based On Manga: Files 081-083 (Volume 09, Chapters 01-03)
Next Conan’s Hint: One Billion Yen (Dub Hint: 100 Million Dollars)
Original Version Written By: Junichi Miyashita
Original Version Directed By: Kenji Kodama
American Version Written By: Eric Vale & Andrew Rye
American Version Directed By: Christopher Bevins