Book Review: Case Closed Volume 92
Hey guys,
I hope everyone is
doing well, especially now that we are heading into that time of year
where seasons change until the new year.
Things have been
pretty rough here, but because things may be possibly taking a turn
for the better and I can still do what I like, I can say that I’m
doing well.
Awhile back, I did
some browsing through Amazon’s catalogue and managed to preorder
some titles, which I thought at the time were going to to among the
last that I would be able to cover here for a while, and one of those
titles arrived recently.
Today, I will be
reviewing that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 92 by Gosho Aoyama.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
After exposing the
person responsible for the murder involving white heels, Jimmy has
more cases come his his way, such as a case where a pro golfer is
found lying next to his dead girlfriend, finding a pickpocket in a
sushi restaurant, and another walk down memory lane.
However, during the
cases, Jimmy encounters yet another person that could potentially be
Black Org’s number two and starts to suspect that a recent
acquaintance may have also been a victim of the drug Haibara worked
on, which deepens the mysteries.
While I did like the
previous
volume, I was left disgusted enough with how it ended to the
point where it became a good case in point to why these recent
volumes should not be ending and ultimately marked it as being okay
at best, so I can at least go into this without having to be worried
about too much bias, aside from the obvious fact that I have had my
worst expectations met at least once.
After reading this
volume, I found it to be okay at best.
When I first opened
up this book and started reading it, I found myself engrossed in it
enough that I didn’t want to stop reading for any reason.
As I have said a
countless number of times before, one of the most important things in
a work of fiction is how things begin, as the beginning is supposed
to transport the audience to another world, thereby giving them the
temporary escape that they desire.
While this can be
accomplished in a variety of ways, depending on the genre and the
medium used to present the work, Detective Conan, like many
other manga out there, was originally published in a serial
publication, which means that things need to start off in a way that
makes sense based upon the last installment.
In the previous
volume, Jimmy, Rachel, Serena, and Sera went to a mall to buy
swimsuits, where Jimmy started remembering something that happened in
his childhood, and Jimmy noticed an interaction between some women,
with the final panels showing that Jimmy and Sera had figured out
things.
In this volume,
things pick up from that point, with the police continuing their
investigation and the reveal that fans of detective, mystery, and
crime fiction would normally crave, so they can find out if they were
right or not.
Even though I am not
particularly fond of this start for a few reasons, many of which come
from my disgust of the recent volumes ending with cases that are
practically over, this is really the only way the volume could have
started off because everyone, including myself, typically wants to
see how things end and the chapter’s finale creates a nice
transition point for what is to come in this volume.
If this volume had
started things off differently, I am not so sure that things would
have worked out too well, even if I would have been a lot happier
with it, because I found my interest in the second case, which I feel
is the real start of this volume, was at its highest when I could get
right into it and I doubt that I am the only one that feels this way.
Fortunately,
Shogakukan, or whoever they had compile this volume together, and
Gosho aoyama chose to start things off at a good enough point to
create the most interest, so I can give them a passing grade.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to start off as well as this one did, because
that will help readers coming back for more, especially if they have
yet to notice the biggest issue with case in Detective Conan,
but I am actually wishing for the volumes to actually start with new
cases instead.
I also liked how we
saw how Akai, Jimmy, and Sera met.
While the case that
began this chapter was rather boring, beyond having to figure out how
the killer accomplished the murder, one of the intriguing things
about it was that it brought up how Sera knew the kid that everyone
called Conan was actually Jimmy and it sprinkled in little tidbits to
get me interested in learning about the events that occurred before
Rachel met Vermouth in New York.
In the second case
of this volume, which is mostly a walk down memory lane, much like
the New York case back in volumes 34
and 35,
we see Sera hiding behind Shukichi as she is introduced to Akai, who
has yet to have joined the FBI, and Sera tries to get a reaction out
of him, like a typical kid.
Not long after,
Jimmy comes up to Akai and claims that Akai is a clown because of his
face and the accordion bruises, to which Akai laughs and says that he
was way off the mark.
Right now, you guys
might think that I find this annoying, especially if you have been
watching the streams I’ve been doing over on YouTube
and Twitch as of late,
where I have voiced my disdain for Navia from Genshin Impact during
the Fontaine arc, but seeing as this is not the first time we have
seen a version of Jimmy that is not quite as knowledgeable as he is
not, with my memory going back to volume
55 and the meeting between Jimmy and Toichi Kuroba, I actually
got a good laugh out of this exchange.
By having this
moment, which precedes the actual case, in this volume, my
disappointment of having to deal with the conclusion of one of the
worst cases to end a volume of Detective Conan, could finally
start to dissipate.
If this moment had
not occurred, I think this volume would have ended up becoming a big
disappointment to me, as there was not really a whole lot to actually
seem that interesting, and probably given me reason to drop this
series for the second time.
Thankfully,
Shogakukan and Gosho Aoyama decided to start off the second case of
the volume in a way that reminded people that this series is also
considered a comedic series, which means I can give them some real
praise for a job well done.
Another thing that I
liked was how Haibara called the killer’s bluff in the fourth case.
One of the things I
am very much disappointed in with this series, though I am not
surprised that it has occurred, is how the cases do not really feel
like they are that much fun, exciting, or hilarious.
Yes, there are some
funny moments to be found in this series still, just as there are
some decent cases, but they are few and far between, in comparison to
the overarching plot.
Here, we have a case
that is most definitely bad in many regards, but it was still very
amusing going through it now.
With how the case
proceeds, it becomes obvious that is it more of a mystery as to how
the culprit killed the victim and made staged the scene as it was,
and so my initial desire was to dive into it and try to figure things
out, though I do not really feel that compelled to dive in.
However, when the
police investigation begins, Haibara walks up to the person we
already know is guilty and claims the woman that is in the photo is
an imaginary girlfriend, to which he tries to deny it.
Later on, when Jimmy
and the gang uncover his trick and expose it, we then find out that
Haibara was right from the beginning.
Even though I am not
particularly fond of this case, as it is a bit too easy to piece
together, even with Haibara mentioning a fake girlfriend, it still
ended up being quite memorable because people like me would typically
not give it much credence without establishing whether the alleged
stalker actually existed and did give me some good chuckles.
If Haibara blurting
out there being an imaginary girlfriend, I would have marked this
down as one of the worst cases in this series and made me feel like
canceling my preorders for future volumes right now.
Fortunately, Gosho
Aoyama included this easy to miss moment that made things a bit more
enjoyable, which makes me feel like giving him another passing grade.
The thing that I
liked the most though was how this volume ended.
As I have said a
countless number of times before, aside from the beginning, another
very important part of a work of fiction is how things end, as the
end is either supposed to make the audience demand more or leaving
satisfied, depending on if it is a standalone work, an installment in
a series, or the final installment of a series.
While this volume
continues the tradition of ending in the middle of a case that just
started in this volume, it fulfills its purpose in making me want
more by finishing off the volume with somebody keeling over, marking
the beginning of a new case.
In comparison to
other volumes that end with a case that has yet to conclude, this
kind of ending is one that I very much prefer because it feels like
the case has just started, which makes me glad that I had preordered
the next volume, which is set to release in January, according to the
product
listing on Amazon.
If Shogakukan, or
whoever compiled this volume for them, and Gosho Aoyama ended this
volume with this case practically being over, with only the reveal
remaining, I would have been quite mad because we have too many
volumes that end in that manner and I am quite sure that there are
many others that are just as disgusted with it, since a series can
only continue as long as fans are happy.
Thankfully, they
chose to end things off as a case just started, which is a far better
cliffhanger to repeat, and both Gosho Aoyama and Shogakukan get
another passing grade from me.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least that stood out as much as what I mentioned.
Because things began
in a decent enough way, there were things to chuckle about, even in
the worst case to be found, and the volume ended on one of the better
kind of cliffhanger endings, this was a decent read.
Although I found
some enjoyment in the book, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, such as typos, and things
that can be inferred from what I’ve already said, there is nothing
worth mentioning.
Despite the fact
that there was more good than bad to talk about, this good was only
good enough to make this a decent enough read to kill time.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of Detective Conan the most, though they might
have some of the same issues I had.
As for everyone
else, I would only recommend this to those just getting into
detective, mystery, and crime fiction, though I would recommend
checking out the earlier volumes first, as I do not think fans of
detective, mystery, and crime fiction will enjoy this too much.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
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