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Saying “please” is usually enough, but this gesture will probably work as well
Summary of The File of Young Kindaichi Returns Episode 1
- While walking home from school with his childhood friend Nanase, Kindaichi is approached by a man who is with a fashion expo called Tokyo Girly Mode and asks Nanase to stand in for a model, named Ran, who she looks identical to in an show in Hong Kong, to which she accepts. Once they’re in Hong Kong, Kindaichi and Nanase come across a friend from school, Saki, who is on vacation. After they’re all together, a man accidentally spilled a drink on Nanase’s dress and offers to buy her new clothes. It turns out that while she was in the changing room, he presumably abducted her. Kindaichi then chases them, but eventually loses them. Coincidentally, he and Saki then come across Ran, the woman Nanase was set to replace in the show.
- Ran explains that people are after her because of a tattoo she has which leads to a diamond. She then joins Kindaichi as being her own replacement in the show in an attempt to flush out the abductors and save Nanase. Things don’t go as planned as the Hong Kong promoter for Girly Mode, a man named Chan Yongu, is poisoned and killed.
My Take
- Anybody who knows me knows that I have a special place in my heart for a good mystery. Since this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this series (which has apparently been around since the 90s), please excuse my ignorance because I’m just going to be analyzing what happens in this series.
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The star of a detective show is also the grandson of a famous detective? Who would have guessed?
- The first thing I noticed is just how much this anime reminds me of one of my personal favorite anime, Detective Conan. The art style seems similar, and the subject matters are similar. However, in Detective Conan, Conan is a (technically) high school boy who is a motivated genius, whereas the main character of this story, Hajime Kindaichi, is a genius who is completely unmotivated. Some people might not like his slacker personality, but I actually am fairly fond of it. It adds a different element of depth to his character that isn’t seen in Detective Conan (and do we really need a carbon copy of that series?).
- This episode centers around Kindaichi’s childhood friend, Miyuki Nanase, being given a trip to model at a fashion show called “Tokyo Girly Mode” in Hong Kong as a stand-in for a young woman named Ran, to which whom she resembles. However, she is presumably mistaken for Ran and is abducted, so Kindaichi must now use his expert sleuthing abilities to find her, and make sure Tokyo Girly Mode goes off without a hitch! That’s actually a nice way to start a mystery series, so I’m already a fan of this series.
- It was neat to see Kindaichi find Ran, only to have her team up with them and have her to be confused for Nanase, who she’s being replaced by in her absence. She also harbors a secret in the form of a dragon tattoo which supposedly leads to the Dragon Eye, which is a large diamond worth hundreds of millions of Yen. After a while, the episode then ends on a cliffhanger. I’m not a big fan of cliffhangers, but they work so well in mystery shows, so obviously I like them done in this situation.
- This is definitely an interesting story, but I feel they gave too much away of what happened in the episode in the intro. Does anybody else feel that way?
- I wonder exactly how that flashback at the start of the episode will tie into the story. Even though this should be obvious, I’m prepared to have my theory on it be completely wrong (as is the case, usually).
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Drama queen. The food wasn’t that bad
- As of now, our main characters seem to be Kindaichi, Nanase, and an underclassman named Ryuuta Saki, but seeing how this is a mystery series, many characters will come and go, so nothing seems to be set in stone yet. Kindaichi is a likable character, but he hasn’t proven his detective skills yet. He has, however, proven his determination to help those in peril as he’s seen chasing a limousine on a bike to save Nanase. I’ve seen some complaints about his voice, which is a little high pitched and odd, but I got over it fairly quickly. Nanase’s only purpose in this episode was to get caught, so we didn’t learn much about her character. I only hope that she doesn’t turn into the archetypical “damsel in distress”. Saki seems to be the book smart member of the group who serves as a more rational member of the team.
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Whoa, maybe the food really was that bad…
- I found “The Hong Kong Kowloon Treasure Murder Case” to be a great introduction to the series. It’s suspenseful, has great characters, and gives a lot of information to process before all is explained next week. If you’re on the fence about this series, don’t worry; it’s worth your time.