Book Review: Case Closed Volume 88
I hope everyone is doing well, even with everything that is happening
in the world at the moment.
Things have been a
little rough for me recently, especially with things that have been
frustrating me about my living situation being compounded by recent
events, but I am still glad that I can do what I like to do.
A while back, I was
able to secure the new installments of some series I follow and one
of them recently arrived, so I have to get my butt into gear.
Today, I will be
reviewing that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 88 by Gosho Aoyama.
As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.
Just as Jimmy wraps
up one investigation, more come his way, such as a double homicide at
a place where a cult classic filmed, a ramen shop being staked out
because of a murder that happened during a robbery, and the untimely
death of the founding member of an all girl band.
Now, Jimmy must
solve this string of cases, to be able to keep the leads on Black Org
rolling in.
While the previous
volume was good, I also found the cases contained within to to be
pretty forgettable, helps me to come into this volume with a bit more
of a level head, though I will not deny that it can swing the way of
always negative, so I still need to be on guard.
After reading this
volume, I can only say that I found it be okay.
From the moment that
I opened up this volume and started reading it, I found myself
engrossed enough that I did not want to stop reading, though it was
not to the degree that I would be irritated about being interrupted.
As I have said a
countless number of times before, one of the most important parts in
a work fiction is how a work begins, as it is supposed to transport
the audience another world.
While this kind of
hook can be done in a variety ways, depending on the genre and the
medium used to present the work, Detective Conan, like many
other manga, is published as part of a serial publication, which
means that things have to start off in a way that makes sense based
upon how the last installment ended.
In the previous
volume, Jimmy and the gang were investigating Yoko Okino and a soccer
player, to determine why they were together, and then they stumbled
upon yet another murder, with the final panel showing that Jimmy had
figured everything out and was ready to make his deduction.
While seeing that
kind of ending still irritates me because it has popped up way often
in the volumes Viz Media has brought over to where I live, it did a
nice job of making me want to see who was the person who killed the
restaurant owner, and the beginning of this volume provided that pay
back, though it did not really help to jog my memory too much.
Seeing as I did say
the previous volume did feature quite a few, I am not surprised that
my memory could not be jogged too well, but if this volume had not
started off the way things did, things could have been so much worse.
Fortunately, Gosho
Aoyama and everyone else involved chose went with the beginning this
volume in a way that made sense, so I will give them a passing grade
here.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to start off better than this one did, but
seeing as there has already been one volume with forgettable cases,I
would not be surprised if things get worse.
I also liked how the
mystery surrounding Sera’s brother was answered.
While it was never
really that big of a mystery in the series, beyond him possibly being
a Rum suspect or a victim of Black Org, I remember wondering who the
brother was, with big hints thrown in volume
85, where both the mysterious girl and Okiya, who had been
confirmed to be Akai, were shown not long after the shogi match
acting weird.
Here, in this
volume, in the middle of yet another case that seems rather
forgettable, Yumi and Sera each describe the man they are talking
about, noticing the similarities.
Not long after,
Jimmy suggests Yumi contact her significant other and Sera decides to
call her brother, who tells her to call back later, while Jimmy
notices that Yumi and Sera’s conversation are in sync.
Even though I think
it adds to the comedic moments of this volume, which were the only
things that were truly memorable about the cases overall, I liked how
the reveal was done like this.
If Shukichi Haneda
had not been confirmed to be Sera’s brother so soon after what was
seen in volume 85, I think I would have been very annoyed because
there would be no other reason why Sera’s living family members
would all be interested in a shogi match at this particular time in
the series.
Thankfully, Gosho
and his team remembered that he had practically revealed who the
middle brother was and used this moment to confirm it, which makes me
feel like giving him another passing grade.
Another thing that I
liked though were the comedic moments.
Aside from reading
for the cases, one of the other things that I really like about
Detective Conan is how I can always find a moment or two to either
chuckle or break out into laughter.
Even though the
comedic found in this volume are par for the course, there was one
moment that really had me going, which eclipsed even the moment that
Haneda was confirmed to be Sera and Akai’s brother.
In the final case of
the volume, after the body was discovered and the investigation phase
began, Inspector Meguire did his round up, Sera suggests watching the
surveillance camera to see what was not blocked out by a phone and
Meguire agrees to do that.
Not long after,
Meguire says that the have the kid detective, girl detective, and
barista detective on the case, with an expression suggesting a sigh,
and Takagi flat out says, “Is anyone in this town not a sleuth?”
This had me laughing
a little hysterically because there have indeed been one too many
detective characters introduced in this series, especially now that
the current big mystery concerns the identity of Rum, which even the
Japanese readers do not know beyond who he is disguised as.
If Gosho had not
added in this moment, thereby allowing the series to make fun of
itself a bit, I think things would have been alright, as there were
still things that made me chuckle, but this is genuinely the only
thing I can remember about this volume without having to look through
it again.
Fortunately, this
moment was kept in and ended making the volume a bit more enjoyable,
which makes me feel like giving the Gosho the first, and likely only,
above average grade that this volume has gotten so far.
The thing that I
liked the most though was how this volume ended.
Aside from how
things begin, another important aspect in a work of fiction is how it
ends, as the ending supposed to either leave the audience wanting
more, in the case of an installment in a series, or leave them
feeling satisfied, in the case of a standalone work.
While I make it no
surprise that the ending itself is not my cup of tea, due to it being
overdone in this series already, I found myself on the edge of my
seat while actually reading through it that I am glad I managed to
have secured a copy of the next volume, which is supposed to be
released in January, according to the product
page on Amazon, and get the answer.
If things hard not
ended like this, there is a chance that I may have gotten an ending
that I would be much more satisfied with, but there is also the
chance that things could have ended so much worse.
Thankfully, Gosho
and Shogakukan, or whoever they had put this volume together, decided
to end things with the anticipation for wanting to know the answer,
which can be a big draw for reader, so I will give them another
passing grade.
Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to end in a way that is both great and not so
tiring, but seeing as it can be hard to find a way to start and
finish installments a series, I would not be surprised if these kinds
of endings still show up.
Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, or
at least that stood out much as what I talked about.
Because things
started off decently, the identity of the middle brother in Sera’s
family had been confirmed, there was a truly hilarious moment, and
the end was good, even if it is not my cup of tea, this was a fairly
decent read.
Although there were
things that I liked, there are some issues.
However, aside from
things that are too minor to talk about, such as typos, the only
thing that really bothered me was the same thing I complained about
in the last volume that I do not feel like getting into again at the
moment.
As a result, I will
have to say that there is nothing worth mentioning.
Despite the fact
that there was quite a bit to like and nothing to really hate except
for a problem that has appeared yet again, unless you want to get
real nit picky, this volume was only good enough to kill time.
I mainly recommend
this to fans of Detective Conan, as they will enjoy this the
most.
As for everyone
else, I recommend looking elsewhere for something to read, but if you
really want to give it a shot, I strongly recommend checking out the
earlier volumes first.
If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
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or SubscribeStar,
so that I can continue following this series and maybe find more
worth while reads for you guys to check out.