Meitantei Conan Magic File 3: Shinichi to Ran Mahjong Pai to Tanabata no Omoide

This is another pre-story starring Shinichi and Ran. The ending of this particular Magic File sets the beginning for Detective Conan Movie 13: The Raven Chaser therefore hinting that you might wish to watch this first since it does give you "hints" to solve the mystery in the movie itself.

My bias does come out for many predominant "Shinichi-Ran" cases but this particular one was nice since the flashback journeyed to grade school (where everyone is cute no matter what). The idea that you could write a message with mahjong tiles was also very interesting and yet hilarious with its connotation (kyu, kyu, kyu).

The story ... is fair - unlike most Detective Conan arcs, this is more "cute" than heart pounding (there is actually really no mystery to be solved here). The art drastically improved since the last Magic File and is basically on par with most new Conan animations. Sound as always, is decent. The characters themselves are fine (my bias against Ran does make me rate it lower) but overall enjoyment is quite good.

As with the other OVA's in the Magic File series, they are not often necessary to understand per say but (as the real fans know) it fleshes the story.