Manga Review: Case Closed, Volume 61, by Gosho Aoyama

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2017

Volumes: 92+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 58. 62.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A precocious high school super sleuth trapped in a kid’s body solves baffling crimes and mysteries while working on his toughest and most personal case—finding who put him in his miniature state.

Jimmy Kudo, the son of a world-renowned mystery writer, is a high school detective who has cracked the most baffling of cases. One day while on a date with his childhood friend Rachel Moore, Jimmy observes a pair of men in black involved in some shady business. The men capture Jimmy and give him a poisonous substance to rub out their witness. But instead of killing him, it turns him into a little kid! Jimmy takes on the pseudonym Conan Edogawa and continues to solve all the difficult cases that come his way. All the while, he's looking for the men in black and the mysterious organization they're with in order to find a cure for his miniature malady.

Serena’s eccentric uncle has a new plan to catch the elusive Kaito Kid, baiting the master thief with a pair of priceless high-heeled shoes. The Kid is one step ahead, but with Conan on his heels he'll have to toe the line!

Meanwhile, danger lurks in Conan’s own backyard. While the diminutive detective tries to crack a code found on a series of paper airplanes, he’s matched deduction for deduction by the mysterious man renting Jimmy Kudo’s long-vacated house. Is Subaru Okiya the mild-mannered engineering student he claims to be, or is he hiding a dark secret?

Review:

Every time I get a new volume of this series, I'm reminded why I like it so much. And it really just makes me want to catch up on the anime or manga, which I'm so behind on both of.

At the start of the volume, we're in a case about the Moonlight Magician, who I believe is a thief that Conan has run into several times before. He's just as smart as Conan, and while Conan seems to figure out his tricks, he still hasn't quite won their competition. I like the Moonlight Magician quite a lot, though. He challenges Conan more than most people.

Next there's a case about this snobby guy who dies when his car explodes. This goes on for a couple of chapters, and it's obvious from early on who it is. There's this other kid here, though, Anita, who I don't remember but is I guess staying with Doctor Asegawa, and she seems smart for her age but she dislikes Conan.

Before the cliffhanger, there's a short mystery about these paper airplanes with Morse code on them. Conan, as Jimmy, goes against this guy staying in Jimmy's house. Mostly, I liked seeing how Conan worked to make sure that Rachel was safe, and how worked up he got. They're so cute.

While I do quite love this series, no matter how cheesy it is, I do wish that Conan would turn back into Jimmy. I understand that that's the main tension and it's so played up that they would want to end the series with it. But I would like to see mysteries with Jimmy as the main character, and see his relationship with Rachel. I'm a fan of them.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!