Meitantei Conan Movie 01: Tokei Jikake no Matenrou

After 1 year of airing on TV, Detective Conan would finally get his chance to shine on the big screen. In 1997, the first ever Detective Conan movie, The Time-Bombed Skyscraper, was released to the public and became every fans' favorite movie. Despite its shortcomings, this movie is still very fun to watch to this day.

Throughout the movie, Conan has to find bombs spread throughout the city before they blow up. Seeing him chase down and deduce the location of these bombs is one of the highlights of this movie. Another thing is how much Ran plays an active role in the finale. In later ... films, she would rarely be allowed to be any more than a damsel in distress. Speaking of finale, everything done there is just so good, it has to be seen to be believed.

On the other hand, I do want to say that the culprit isn't that hard to figure out. Because of that, many people may get bored as they wait for Conan to finally catch up with them. Also, The version that I saw had some pretty shabby subtitles. While the translation itself was great, the editing and formatting was nonexistent. Characters' dialogue keeps getting mixed with title cards and song lyrics. While there are many better subtitled versions out there, the one I reviewed is quite literally a mess.

With all that said, this movie still has some charm going for it. Despite being nearly 25 years old, the art style is so well done that people can still enjoy it. If you have just started watching Detective Conan, then definitely watch this movie when you can. It's definitely a very good first impression!

Story - 9
Excellent pacing with high stakes and lots of content. The case itself has a little bit for the viewers to figure out for themselves, but the action is the real star of the show. Story feels solid from start to finish.

Art - 8
Same style, higher quality and effort.

Sound - 8
Great timing and presence from start to finish.

Character - 8
... Not a whole lot of development, but we got to see the characters interact a lot and very satisfyingly too. Also got a good dose of the Ran & Shinichi romance.

Enjoyment - 9
Good, clean fun. Especially for those not really into/familiar the TV series, so watching with others is great.

Overall - 8
Feels like a real movie, and friendly to outsiders of the series. May be a bit too action orientated for some, but the balance is just right for me. Lots of mystery, tension and danger from start to finish. A very good movie.

I grew up watching <i>Detective Conan</i>. It´s probably one of the reasons why I enjoy thrillers so much.

Despite that, I have never seen one of the movies. I am still a bit dumbfounded that there even are 26 movies and the anime is still running. Yes, he apparently still is a child.
<I>The Time Bombed Skyskraper</i> was a mixed experience for me. I enjoy the atmosphere <I>Detective Conan</i> creates and the theme song is as iconic as the <I>James Bond</i> theme, but something was missing here.
The plot is super predictable and you know who the culprit is immediately after he is introduced. There ... also was a too big focus on action scenes. <I>Conan</i> is the best when the focus lies on the investigation and explanation of the murders, focusing so much screentime on chase sequences was a weird choice. Despite that, the ending was great. Especially the dialogue between Conan and Ran when the bomb was about to go off was quite charming.