Detective Conan anime 2016 appreciation thread

[kkslider5552000]

This is a thread I've been wanting to make for a while. I feel like I'm one of the only people...well, talking about the anime at all, first of all! But I sincerely wanted to make this thread, because I have been so happy with the anime for the past...year I guess. Now, I genuinely like the series quite a bit even now, but in the past I have sometimes been overly kind towards certain episodes. Shouldn't have done that honestly. Because the anime has certainly had its issues, especially since I caught up with it.

For a long, looooooong time, the anime only cases have been very easy to skip, even if you watch this series specifically for the episodic cases. And especially once the Bourbon arc began, the 1 episodes AOs in particular had become really lacking. Even if there were good elements, it was so hard to care and it just felt like people making boring, poorly paced versions of what Gosho does. And in a series as long and formulaic as Detective Conan, this was a gigantic mistake. But it doesn't matter because the series will go on being popular in Japan and people will get their money. Outside of basic quality necessary to not make that audience actively want to stop watching it after watching it for years and years, they can just lazily write the same formula with some new elements. Clever enough, but continuing on just so the series can continue to exist and adapt Gosho's work. Basically, the series being 1/3 of a Simpsons, Family Guy, Spongebob type zombie of a series that exists just to exist and make some people money.

But, out of nowhere, sometime around the end of the Bourbon arc, it felt like they either got new writers or people just wanted to try more. Because the AOs have been really good for at least the past year. It really feels like they try new things for cases and even characters, and do things to make you legitimately care about what's going on. They want the series to feel like a complete series and not just filler between the "worthwhile" parts of the series. This has also been helped by the fact, that for the first time in ages, more than one of Gosho's adapted cases fully lived up to his past work in the same year (The Darkness of the Prefectural Police and the Zombie case). If we had these long breaks between manga cases in previous years, it would've been pretty bad, but this year, it never really bothered me. I mean, yeah, my patience for plot going somewhere has dwindled because of how stupidly long the Bourbon arc was, so even less of that is a shame, but otherwise, it's been great. And I say this as someone who cares about the plot and characters far more than the cases usually.

But they've even implemented those elements in recently! Not only did the last case focus on Kogoro's fear of heights, established in MOVIE TWO, but there's also been recent cases that have actually properly taken advantage of Conan's bizarre situation and used that to tell interesting stories that are relevant to his character. It's like the good AOs waaaaaay back in the early days of the series where it would be different every time. And I never thought this would happen. NEVER. I wrote a long post (RIP) about my frustrations with Ran as a character and how Gosho has failed with her, and even that I think has a reasonable chance of being fixed someday maybe. But I just assumed AOS were never gonna be consistently good again. I had no reason to assume otherwise. And for the most part, I was totally wrong. I don't know why this happened, but I am so happy it did.

This is the best year for the anime since 2008. Now, it's obviously not as good as that since that was mostly Gosho and mostly Gosho at his best with a crap ton of plot. AOs aren't gonna top that. But otherwise, best year since then. Great work, keep it up.

also this is the only time I will ever make a "2016 appreciation thread" :V

[Wakarimashita]

There have been quite a few shitty AOs (the alien one and the tidal park one to name a few) but for the first time in quite a while we've also gotten several good one part AOs in the span of one year.

[kkslider5552000]

There have been quite a few shitty AOs (the alien one and the tidal park one to name a few) but for the first time in quite a while we've also gotten several good one part AOs in the span of one year.

I guess?

I mean, you're not wrong, but interesting bad >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> boring bad.

[Wakarimashita]

There have been quite a few shitty AOs (the alien one and the tidal park one to name a few) but for the first time in quite a while we've also gotten several good one part AOs in the span of one year.

I guess?

I mean, you're not wrong, but interesting bad >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> boring bad.

The alien and the tidal park cases were not interesting bad though.

[kkslider5552000]

There have been quite a few shitty AOs (the alien one and the tidal park one to name a few) but for the first time in quite a while we've also gotten several good one part AOs in the span of one year.

I guess?

I mean, you're not wrong, but interesting bad >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> boring bad.

The alien and the tidal park cases were not interesting bad though.

all things considered...yeah they were. I mean, maybe not the tidal one as much but even still. You have forgotten the depths of boredom some filler can bring.

[Valentin]

Alright then, let’s see what this year has had in store so far.

Conan and Ebizou’s Kabuki Juuhachiban Mystery
Even though this was basically more of sophisticated promotion for the guest star than a Detective Conan episode, it was quite enjoyable and a decent start for the anniversary year.

The Ventriloquist’s Illusion
Despite its obvious solution, this two-parter was another welcome change and reminded me of some older anime originals.

The Shadow Approaching Amuro
…

The Disappointing and Kind Alien
This episode, on the other hand, reminded me of the dullness of most newer anime originals and conveyed the impression that its creators stopped thinking as soon as they had decided on the topic.

The Missing Fiancée
After two good and two bad anime originals, I would rank this one inbetween as an acceptable but not overly interesting episode.

Kogorou’s Pursuit of Rage
That’s where I would place this episode as well since its protagonists are both caricatures and characters.

The Seven People in the Waiting Room
If they had made this a two-parter instead of giving it an abrupt and silly ending, it could have been good.

The Hidden Secret of Dongaraji Temple
Then they could have spared us this overall bad episode.

The Detective Boys Get Out of the Rain
No, wait, they could have done the previous case, but refrained from making one of the worst anime originals of the series with this one.

The Tidal Park Comeback Case
Similarly to The Seven People in the Waiting Room, this episode could have been good if its ending had not been so ridiculous.

The Beauty, The Lies, and The Secrets
I liked this episode very much for the chemistry between Conan and the culprit, who even have something which resembles genuine dialogs.

The Mysterious Boy
While its constellation might have been rather simple, I found this one to be even better just because of that and the culprit sensing Conan’s identity.

The Great Detective’s Weakness
That they both focused on one of Kogorou’s traits and made him man of the match is something that they are welcome to repeat in the future.

In terms of relatively good, okay and bad, my score seems to be 4-5-4. Since I haven’t done this with previous years, I can’t say for sure if this is better or worse. Though these numbers don’t suggest that this year has been outstanding, I do feel and think that some writers might have taken the opportunity to rewatch a few old episodes and recognize that anime originals don’t have to be as bad as they usually are.

As there is a whole quarter left, I won’t be too generous with them just yet. Still, The Man Who Died Twice doesn’t look too miserable, the annual Mystery Tour should be solid, and if the remaining weeks don’t yield complete trash, I think that I will be able to agree with you that this anniversary year had comparatively many anime originals where one can at least say that they tried, and that alone—sadly—is worth mentioning.

[DCUniverseAficionado]

one can at least say that they tried, and that alone—sadly—is worth mentioning.

Well, that was completely necessary...

[kkslider5552000]

The Detective Boys Get Out of the Rain
No, wait, they could have done the previous case, but refrained from making one of the worst anime originals of the series with this one.

your opinion is bad and you should feel bad

that episode was great. GREAT. It was made of fun.