Case Closed, Vol. 01: The Sherlock Holmes of Modern Times

For as long as I can remember, I've always been fascinated by mysteries and who-done-it murders, even though I'm usually wrong about who was responsible! It's fun to work with the detective, piecing everything together to find who the bad guy is. When you get it right, you feel proud of yourself, but even when you get it wrong, you just resign to do better next time.

I honestly don't remember when I first stumbled across the anime, Case Closed, but I fell in love from the very first episode*. I can't quite articulate how amazing the series is to me. Each case explores a different element and not one of them is the same - the motives may be the same, but each case is as different from one another as a pineapple and a turtle! The show more atmosphere around this series, both in the anime and the manga, pulls you into the mysteries and the stories of the characters. But it's not all serious drama, there's a nice slap of comedy mixed in, as well, keeping it from getting too dark.

I've always been the kind of person to empathize with characters, both fiction and fictional. I often cry when they do, laugh when they do. When I'm listening to their stories, they feel real to me. This is especially apparent in the Case Closed series. I feel frustrated because I can't properly articulate how this series makes me feel and how amazing I find it to be.

Case Closed greatly draws inspiration from Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and mentions it several times. Actually, I was never much interested in Sherlock Holmes until I watched Case Closed! Some may not want to invest their time in this series simply because it's so long! But I promise you, every single episode is worth watching and every single book is worth reading. Even if you're not into anime/manga, if you're a fan of mysteries and detectives, you should definitely give this a chance!

You can't have a complete collection of detective stories without Case Closed on your shelves. I love this series so much! show less

High school detective Jimmy Kudo is really good at solving crimes. His best friend, Rachel Moore, is worried that one day he'll get in too deep, but he casually brushes off her concern. After noticing two suspicious men in black clothes at a festival murder scene, Jimmy sights one of them later and decides to follow him, only to be attacked from behind. The attacker, a crime syndicate lord, force-feeds Jimmy a newly-developed, undetectable poison instead of killing him outright. But instead of the poison killing him, it turns his body into that of a grade schooler. To prevent a followup attack on him or his family and friends, Jimmy adopts the pseudonym Conan Edogawa, one that he must use even in front of Rachel. He quickly finds that show more no one will listen to a child, and is forced to solve crimes through Rachel's incompetent P.I. father, Richard Moore, with help from Dr. Hiroshi Agasa's voice-modulating tie and his own ingenuity. Along the way, Rachel reveals her true feelings to him, and he vows to do whatever is necessary to get his original body back and return her feelings. show less

Case Closed is the Manga series by Gosho Aoyama. It features ace detective, Jimmy Kudo--a high school whiz kid who is transformed into the body of a little boy. His mind, however, remains intact and he continues to solve mystery after mystery.

Volume 1 takes the reader to the beginning of his story. While riding on a roller coaster with his girlfriend Rachel, Jimmy is at the scene of a gruesome murder. Shortly afterward, he is poisoned. Instead of dying, however, he is transformed into the body of a six year old, unbeknownst to Rachel. Jimmy decides to keep his identity secret and adopts the name of Conan Edogawa (obviously in homage to his idol Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries).

Rachel decides to take him show more in to live in her home with her father, a mediocre detective. Conan tags along with Rachel's father and finds ways to help him solve his cases. Rachel, a karate expert, acts as Conan's protector, as he is too small to defend himself.

Readers--particularly boys--will enjoy this series for all of its mystery and action. The book is divided into short mysteries, which can make reading it bit by bit an easier way to tackle it for the individual. Girls will also enjoy the strong female protagonist, Rachel. Despite Conan's cute character, Case Closed tends to be a bit graphically violent, and isn't for younger readers. show less

A teen age detective, Jimmy, is drugged but instead of dying he is made physically younger. Great, how is he going to find the men who did this to him when no one will listen to a six year old? At least he maintained his adolescence intelligence and now while as, Conan, he helps a not to bright PI solve crimes he can keep an eye out for the criminals responsible for his predicament.

An early manga about a teen Sherlock-like detective who is poisoned such that he de-ages into a little kid.
Cute, but I probably won’t read past this first volume.

If you love mysteries, I would definitely suggest this series, Case Closed. It's funny, adorable, and overall a really good read.

This was a boring book. There was no story. It introduced the characters and finished the story. I do not recommend this book.