With its ingenious murder mysteries and thrilling solutions, Case Closed – also known as Detective Conan – has long been one of the most beloved manga series in Japan and abroad. In addition to an anime show running since 1996, a Detective Conan feature film has dropped almost every year. The highest grossing Japanese release of 2024 so far, this latest addition to the franchise also marks a milestone for animator Chika Nagaoka, the first woman to direct a Detective Conan movie.
For the uninitiated, the opening credits deftly recap the characters’ backgrounds in under two minutes. After a run-in with a secret crime syndicate, high school detective Shinichi Kudo is forced to take a mysterious pill, which shrinks his body to that of a seven-year-old. He takes up the name Conan – after Sherlock Holmes’s famous author of course – and continues to flex his analytical deductions while living with his crush Ran and her detective father Kogoro Mouri. Very few people know his real identity; two of them are Heiji Hattori, another teenage sleuth, and Kaitou Kid, a master jewel thief.
Initially, Million-Dollar Pentagram begins as yet another face-off between Conan and Kid. However, Kid’s plan to steal several ancient swords gives way to a wild treasure hunt that sees the two arch enemies join forces. While this new dynamic is entertaining to follow, the script soon gets convoluted as more and more foes are added to the mix; the film’s climax feels less like a showcase of Conan’s intellect and more like an excuse for an action sequence. There are some flashes of brilliance here though: the use of the real-life location of Goryōkaku fort, in particular, is quite mesmerising. Nevertheless, the emphasis on cameos from known characters, along with the lack of a real antagonist, make this outing for the hardcore fans only.
• Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram is in UK and Irish cinemas from 27 September
