Thrilling and suspenseful! The fourth “Case Closed” (Meitantei Conan) film hits home as Rachel is being targeted by a killer. Can Conan stop the killer in time?
Image courtesy of © Gosho Aoyama/Shogakukuan-Yomiuri-TV-Universal Music-Sho-Pro-Toho-TMS. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Case Closed: Captured In Her Eyes
DURATION: 100 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, Japanese Stereo, English Subtitles
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Originally Created by Gosho Aoyama
Directed by Kenji Kodama
Screenplay: Kazunari Kouchi
Storyboard: Kenji Kodama
Music by Katsuo Ono
Character Designs by Masaaki Sudoh
Art Director: Yukihiro Shibutani
Chief Animation Director: Junko Yamanaka, Kei Hyoudou, Masaaki Sudoh, Yoshihiro Shimizu
Animation Director: Makoto Sato
Art Design: Hiroyuki Mitsumoto, Kazunari Roppongi
Producer: Masahito Yoshioka, Michiko Suwa
Anime Production by Kokuichi Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Featuring the following voice talent:
Kappei Yamaguchi/Jerry Jewell as Kaitou (Phantom Thief) Kid, Shinichi (Jimmy) Kudou
Minami Takayama/Alison Viktorin as Conan Edogawa
Kaneto Shiozawa/Eric Vale as Inspector Shiratori (Inspector Santos)
Chafurin/Mark Stoddard as Detective Megure (Inspector Joseph Megure)
Akio Ohtsuka as Inui Shoichi
Akira Kamiya/R. Bruce Elliott as Kogoroh Mohri (Richard Moore)
Kenichi Ogata/Bill Flynn as Dr. Agatha (Dr. Agasa)
Megumi Hayashibara as Ai Haibara
Mitsuru Miyamoto as Nishino Makoto
Half-pint detective Conan Edogawa has solved plenty of crimes, but this time it’s personal! There’s a killer on the loose, and the targets are none other than the boys in blue. No cop will be safe until the boy wonder cracks the case. But there’s just one problem. Only Rachel has seen the fiend in action, and the shock of a witnessing a murder up close and personal made her forget everything she ever knew and everyone she ever loved. With his dream girl square in the sites of a homicidal maniac, time is running out for Conan to unlock the secret of what was captured in her eyes!
“Meitantei Conan” or “Detective Conan” (“Case Closed” in the U.S.) has been one of the longest running manga and anime series in Japan. Written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama and featured in Weekly Shonen Sunday since 1994, the anime series which started back in 1996 is well-nearing 600-episodes and 14 movies have been released in Japan.
FUNimation Entertainment have released several of the movies on DVD in Dec. 2009. “Cased Closed: Captured in Her Eyes” is the fourth “Meitantei Conan” film that was in theaters in Japan back in April 2000. The film was directed by Kenji Kodama (director for the “City Hunter” films, “Case Closed” TV series, “Tales of the Abyss”, etc.) and a screenplay by Kazunari Kouchi (has written the screenplay for the TV series and all films). Character design is by Masaaki Sudoh (who worked on “Kekko Kamen” OAV and “Momotaro Densetsu”) and music by Katsuo Ono (“Lupin III vs. Detective Conan” special and the “Detective Conan” TV series and films).
The main storyline of “Case Closed” focuses on a popular high school detective named Jimmy Kudo (Shinichi Kudo). One day while going to an amusement park with his friend Rachel Moore (Ran Mohri), Jimmy saw two men suspiciously dealing something in the dark. Unbeknown to Jimmy, a man behind him had spotted him and hit him with a bat and forced him to ingest a poison capsule. Jimmy survived but the capsule somehow shrunk him to a child. If these thugs found out that Jimmy is still alive, they may hurt the people around him. So, his good friend Dr. Agasa (who helps Jimmy by building him gadgets which include a stun-gun wrist watch, voice changing bow-tie, solar powered skateboard and powerful shoes) suggested he wear a disguise. When Ran began asking who his name was, Jimmy replied Conan Edogawa.
So, in order to find out who the men are, he wound up living with Ran and her detective father, Richard Moore (Kogoro Mori). Only two people know Conan’s true identity: Harley Hartwell (Hattori Heiji), popular detective from the high school in the west and Vye Graythorne (Ai Haibara), a transfer student who originally worked with the thugs who gave Jimmy the poison pill but in order to escape, she ingested the poison pill and shrunk.
Together with some friends, Jimmy as Conan continues to take down criminals with his detective skills.
In the fourth movie, “Case Closed: Captured in Her Eyes”, detectives are being killed. But things hit home when Detective Sano and Rachel are attacked by a gunmen and Sano dies trying to protect Rachel. Rachel sees the face of the killer but faints. Because of the tragic circumstance, Rachel suffers mental trauma and has no memory of what happened on that night of the murder.
Knowing that Rachel may have seen the face of the killer, Conan knows that while her father and the police need her to think about what she saw, Conan on the other hand wants to find this killer immediately. As the police try to jog her memory, the killer is determined to kill Rachel before she reveals his true identity.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Case Closed: Captured In Her Eyes” is a film that came out back in April 2000. So, you can tell it’s an older anime but because it is a film, films tend to have a much higher budget than the TV series so you see more detail and shading in the art backgrounds. Picture quality is slight blurry but it’s satisfactory considering it’s an older anime using cels and is not digital. Also, the film does have a few dust particles that can be seen from time to time but it’s not distracting at all.
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 English and Japanese Stereo. English audio dialogue is clear from the center and music and sound effects are more front channel driven. Voice acting is well done for the English dub but for those who followed the Japanese series may get confused by the changing of the names. Japanese audio is well-done and for those who have a modern home theater receiver and a 5.1, 7.2 or higher setup, my preference was to have audio set on all channels for a more immersive soundscape.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Case Closed: Captured In Her Eyes” comes with FUNimation Entertainment trailers only.
I grew up with “Meitantei Conan” and I own several Japanese manga volumes which helped me learn Japanese and have watched the original Japanese anime series including the Japanese drama. But I have never seen any of the animated films before, so it was a pleasure to see FUNimation Entertainment show their dedication in releasing the films in the US.
As for “Case Closed: Captured In Her Eyes”, the film is thrilling and suspenseful. We see multiple deaths by an assailant and the fact that Rachel is involved, so it becomes quite personal for Conan as he tries to figure out who is the killer. The whole gang from the TV series have a short appearance in the film but for fans of the series, we get to see that emotional side of Conan (despite now having the body of a young boy) who loves Rachel but can’t do anything to express his emotions because of his current state.
For those who have never watched the television series, you can still get into the film because there is a brief introduction of how Jimmy Kudo became Conan Edogawa and also explanation of his various gadgets that he uses and also the supporting characters that appear in the film.
As for the TV PG rating, because Conan has the appearance of a child, “Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century” is not a children’s animated film. People get shot and killed or physically hurt in this detective animated film.
This fourth film is definitely Conan and Rachel driven. Thrilling and suspenseful plus a touch of drama being displayed by Jimmy (as Conan) for Rachel. If you enjoyed the previous films or the TV series, definitely give this fourth film a chance!