Amuro Tooru is a very popular and important character plot-wise in the original Conan manga, but unfortunately his secret identity and the way the story of Conan is structured limits the amount of time we have with him outside of case solving. Meitantei Conan: Zero no Tea Time works to remedy that problem by following Amuro's daily life in all three aspects - as his double life as the kind cafe worker and rookie detective Amuro Tooru, deadly Black Organization member Bourbon, and finally, his real identity as National Security police agent Furuya Rei. Because of the sheer amount of identity switching Amuro goes through, it is incredibly entertaining to watch as he goes from cold and calculating to reckless and compassionate in a matter of a few panels.
Zero no Tea Time is no doubt a slice of life manga. While Amuro's life may be far from 'realistic', his emotions and daily activities are grounded in reality. While the Conan story solely focused on Amuro's work life, we get a glimpse into everything else through Tea Time. It's fascinating to get an inner look into his motivations, his past and relationship with his peers, his home life (or lack of) and how that affects his psyche. While the slice of life aspect and lack of overall plot or action may seem uninteresting or boring, especially when reading multiple chapters in a row, in small doses Tea Time gives you the perfect material to keep you engaged in between waiting for official Detective Conan chapters. Overall, I think Zero no Tea Time does its job very well and highly recommend it to anyone wishing to either delve more into Amuro's character or simply find more material to consume in the Conan universe.
