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A little topic to tell why we all love Detective Conan (Case Closed) and what is SO great about this series. Personally, when I first discovered Detective Conan, it was by curiosity. I had finished watching another anime called City Hunter, which is great, and I wanted to find another series which was as thrilling as it. I knew Detective Conan by its reputation, but I thought it was the story of a little boy who outsmarts professional detective. How wrong I was ! I was litteraly captivated by the story and the strong characters of the series. The first investigations were a little too easy, but it became much more interesting and complex quickly. I love the idea of a detective story where the truth comes from a child's mouth, and the fact that tricks that deceived adults aren't able to fool "the little eyes of justice". Conan is much more than a character, he is a metaphore about guilt and judgement. In fact, the whole series is a metaphore of the fight between good and evil inside the society and inside each of us. Much of the murderers of the series aren't really bad people, they are much more victims of the merciless society who turns people into vultures and the innocents into killers. Their reasons to kill are understandable and we often feel sympathy toward them. They are just good people who take a wrong turn in life because of this crual world. In the way this world work, Conan represents the true justice, impartial and sometimes harsh. He has the most difficult role in each murder story because he is the one who can't sympathize with the culprits. He must confront them to their crime, no matter what their reasons are, and sometimes we can see clearly that he doesn't always like to do so, harboring some sympathy towards some criminals even though he can't close his eyes or substitute himself for justice. And, while most of the culprits don't regret what they did and think their actions by the "an eye for an eye" moto (while forgetting the "makes the whole world blind" part), when they are confronted by the look of a "pure" child, they truly realize what they have just commit and they express some remorse, ashamed to be seen as killers in the eyes of this child. So, while Conan is a kind of fighter of true justice, I also see him as a kind of angel guardian. While he comes to late to prevent the souls to be dirty, he is still able to make them redeem themselves, even though it might be already too late. He makes them realize that, even though bad things happened to them, they had still what was the most important: their souls. And that they lost it by themselves and can't take it back once lost. Regardless of their reasons, they are just the wrong kind of people. And I think this is an important part of Shinichi's evolution: it shows him another side of the culprits that the high-school detective couldn't have seen. Maybe that's why he feels some kind of sympathy for some of the culprits: because he starts to understand them, even though he can't forgive them for what they did. And, at the same time, in his role as a young seeker of the truth, he realizes that the true battle comes from the society itself that corrupt the human mind. But this is a fight no one can win and I think this is one of the most depressing aspects of the series. But I wonder if the war between Conan and the Black Organization couldn't be some kind of a metaphore of this fight for the society's soul. The Black Organization is pure evilness and the ultimate enemy of Conan. While his reasons to fight them are kinda selfish at first (he wants his real body back), they became more genuine after the death of Akemi Miyano, the moment when Conan decides to destroy the organization even after he has his body back. And the role of Ran is also important because, as Vermouth say, she is an "angel". As Kaori Makimura in City Hunter, she is some kind of guardian angel who brings love to those who have known and who gives them the determination to accomplish their goals. She is a pure woman, one who is able to touch the hearts of the wrong kind of people and who must absolutely be protected from the evilness of this world. No matter what, Conan cannot afford to lose her, she is the light that guides him and protects him, she is too precious. And I also find that reminiscent of Ryo Saeba, the City Hunter vigilante who didn’t have a true childhood, a former war orphan, and who discovers true love at the side of that woman who is both a mother and a lover for him (though he won’t admit it). A mother and a love, that’s also pretty much the role Ran also plays toward Shinichi/Conan, waiting for him while he can’t reveal his true feelings for her. Not yet… So, while it's a very cliché idea, Detective Conan (pretty much like City Hunter) is a story about how love can save a city from it's own decadence. I find the same kind of spirit between these two series, just different, and I think that's why I fell so much in love with Detective Conan. Because, while it’s not a love story, romance is pretty much at the core of the whole dynamic of the series. Conan is indeed a true knight who would put his life at stake to protect what is most important in the world: the love of a woman, a love which is for one but also for all. I also like pretty much the dynamic between Conan and the culprit. There is something of a mise en scène on both side: the mise en scène of the culprit that Conan must see through (well, it's a little strange, but the random killers in Detective Conan are all criminal masterminds. But, if they weren't, the storylines wouldn't be so thrilling), and Conan's own mise en scène to unmask the culprit and the trick used while protecting his true identity. Both tricks are based on deception and, in a way, there is a metaphore of the child who sees a magic trick and who tries to see through. And once he does, there is no longer magic at all and the "magician" himself becomes no more than nothing. Especially when Conan acts himself as a magician with his own mise en scène and, so far, only Heiji Hattori has seen through the "trick" of a detective mind inside a child body. For all those reasons, for me, reading Detective Conan is like watching Peter Pan. There is this magic and this wonderful story of beautiful and genuine feelings which is very reminiscent of childhood (while it's not really a story for children. It's like a universe caught between two ages, like the main character) and, at the same time, the story itself and its themes are universal. And Shinichi has still to uncover the greatest mystery of all: what is lying deep within the loved woman's heart ? As good a detective as he is, will he still be able to see through Ran's tricks to protect her hidden feelings ?