Bryce's Blog

I hope you have been doing well, regardless if tax deadlines are
getting to you or you are just putting up with the monotony of the
daily grind.

Things are still a
little here for me, but things are going well enough that I can still
do what I like.

A while back, not
long after I got the previous
volume, I noticed that I the next installment of a series I
follow was already to preorder, so I snagged a copy.

Now that the title
has arrived, it is time to get off my butt and deal with it.

Today, I will be
reviewing that title, which is called Case
Closed Volume 90 by Gosho Aoyama.

As I have given a
series synopsis in an earlier
post, I will not go over it again.

A case has cropped
up that was eerily similar to a case from the past and Jimmy and the
gang have decided to check it out.

However, once that
case gets resolved a few others that possibly also have a connection
are waiting in the wings for the master sleuth, including the death
of a known scammer that is trying to get in on the action and the
death of a rock star who gave a song a name that attracts the
attention of Black Org.

While the previous
volume was decent enough, that does not mean that things will remain
as good, so I have to tread carefully, so that I can try to stay as
fair as I can.

After reading this
volume, I have to say that I liked it, though not quite as much as I
would have liked.

From the moment I
opened up this volume and started reading, I found myself engrossed
enough that I did not want to stop reading for any reason.

As I have said a
countless number of times before, one of the most important aspects
in a work of fiction is how things begin, as the beginning is
supposed to help transport the audience to another world, thereby
giving them the temporary escape that they desire.

While there are
numerous ways to do this, depending on the genre and the medium used
to present the work, Detective Conan, like many other manga,
was originally published as part of a serial publication, which means
that each installment has to start in a way that makes sense based
upon where the last installment ended.

In the previous
volume, Jimmy started looking up information regarding a famous shogi
player who had disappeared nearly a two decades before the start of
the story and Agasa mentions that he was called over to a crime scene
for questioning.

Not long after that,
an investigation starts and we see details that are fairly similar to
the case involving the shogi player, before finishing off the volume
with Jimmy asking Akai why he wanted to accompany him and Agasa to
the crime scene and learning that the case of the shogi player’s
death inspired Akai to join the FBI.

In this volume,
things pick up immediately from there, where Akai reveals that his
father was involved in the case, before continuing on with the case
itself.

This was the only
way this volume really could have started off well because my
interest was captured when Akai said that the case that continued on
into this volume was what inspired him to join the FBI, and Gosho and
Shogakukan, or whoever they had help compile this volume together,
made a great decision to run with the momentum here.

If they had just
continued on with the investigation phase of the case, I think I
would have been highly disappointed, because the people involved in
bringing this series to the world at large does seem to know how to
pick the best places to start and end volumes, even if I am still fed
up with the fact that every volume these days ends when a case is
practically over, instead of releasing volume that finish with the
final case presented.

Fortunately, that
did not happen, and the volume was able to start off on a good note.

Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to start off just as well as this one did, as
that will help maintain the fanbase, but what I really wish for is to
finally a have a few releases that start with a new case.

I also liked how
Koji Haneda and Black Org were involved in quite a few cases.

While this volume
does not feature another confrontation with Black Org, which, along
with cases involving Kaito Kuroba, usually makes volumes more
enjoyable, the fact that nearly every case had something to do with
Haneda, who Haibara said was listed two lines below Jimmy, either
because his case had something to do with the case or something came
from that case and that Black Org was paying attention makes me feel
like a confrontation may just be around the corner, as well as wonder
why it matters so much to Rum, seeing as Haneda’s case did ruin
their reputation.

If something as big
as this did not happen, I think that this volume would end up being
rather forgettable, which would not really give too many people a
reason to read more of the series.

Thankfully, Gosho
had decided to incorporate the Black Org more and started dropping
more things to be interested in, making this arc as exciting as it
should be, considering that Rum is Black Org’s number 2.

Hopefully, things
like this will keep croping up as the series goes on, but considering
how there has been so much revealed in the Japanese releases for this
arc, I would not be surprised that things slow down.

Another thing that I
liked about this volume was how things were revealed about Sera and
the girl staying with her.

While the girl with
Sera has been quite a mysterious individual for quite a while, though
there has yet to discussed how Akai’s and Sera’s family connects
back to the Miyano family, nothing of interest really happens that
often beyond why they are interested in Jimmy.

Now, there are not
too many things revealed here that plays a part in the story at
large, beyond an inkling of who the little girl with Sera and is
associated with and her relation to Sera, but it was still very
interesting, such as how the girl was able to subdue the culprit in
the second case of the volume and that she and Gin both talked about
demons lurking in the darkness, while saying that Jimmy is not same
boy they knew before.

This makes me very
curios because it shows for certain that both girls know that Conan
is Jimmy, even though he did not say out right, and makes me even
more interested in why all three of the children of Akai’s family
is in Japan and at least two thirds of them seem to be interested in
either Black Org or the Haneda case.

Just like how Koji
Haneda’s case coming up quite a lot made things far more memorable,
I do not think I would have enjoyed this volume too much if the
slivers of details found in the case featuring them had not occurred,
as it was integral to making all of these case feel connected.

Hopefully, more
details will come to light as the series continues, but considering
the fact that only the audience knows who Rum is at this point in the
Japanese releases of the series, I think that it will not be long
before everything is revealed.

The thing that I
liked the most though was how this volume ended.

As I have also said a
countless number of times already, aside from how a work of fiction
begins, another thing that is very important is how things end, as
the end is supposed to leave the audience either feeling satisfied,
in the case of a standalone work or the final installment of a
series, or wanting more, in the case that it is an installment in a
series.

While the ending of
this volume is still a bit of a disappointment to me, it is about on
par with that of the previous volume because, like the final chapter
of the previous volume, it does not feel like the case is being
dragged out unnecessarily by making it obvious that only one chapter
remains in the case.

It does this by
showing everything leading up to the final case of the volume, from
continuing to present a timeline by revealing that Rachel had indeed
encountered Vermouth in the preceding case to introducing Harley and
Kazuha back into the mix, before ultimately ending with the discovery
a body not long after it appears that things have begun.

After having been
made to suffer from volume after volume with that end with cases that
were practically done, I am so glad that there have been two volumes
in a row where the case feels like it is just getting started.

If this was how all
of those other volumes ended, I might have been able to endure it,
instead of finding myself disgusted, because this is only acceptable
way to truly end a volume with a case that has not concluded.

Yes, I know that
picking where each volumes begins and ends can be difficult when a
publisher decides that it is time to compile a volume of manga or
comic books chapters, but readers do not enjoy being left to hang
when the current events in a story are just about over, unless we are
talking about the serial publication of the chapters themselves.

Fortunately, such a
bad mistake was not made, which shows that Shogakukan, or whoever
they have putting these volumes together, and Gosho Aoyama are
getting better with deciding where a volume should end.

Hopefully, future
volumes will be able to end just as well this one did, as this is how
I think readers would prefer things to end, but I will not be
surprised if things go back to the way they were before, as much as I
wish they would go back to having every other volume end with the
conclusion of a case.

Outside of those
things, I cannot think of anything else that I particularly liked, at
least any that stood out as much as what I talked about.

Because the volume
began well, most of the cases had a connection with Black Org and a
case that seemed quite important, and that we see both Sera and the
mysterious girl, as well as the fact that it had one of the better
cliffhangers to be found, this was a great read.

Although I liked the
book, there are some issues.

However, aside from
things are too minor to talk about, such as typos, only one thing
really bother me, which is page ordering.

Now, some of you
guys might be groaning, saying that of course page ordering might not
be right because manga is meant to be read from right to left,
whereas stuff where I live is usually ordered left to right, but that
is not the case here.

Usually, when the
volumes of Detective Conan are brought over here, the Viz
releases are supposed to be the same as they were in Japan, with
maybe an exception here or there, as there might be something special
that had to be obtained separately that was included in the English
release, but the ordering is typically right.

However, as can be
seen in the images below, which are screen shots I took from the
Kindle app to confirm if I was seeing was really the case, there is
content that seems like it was supposed be a double page spread but
the two pages were nowhere even close to lining up, since the mystery
library is supposed to be the very last thing in the volume, yet it
is paired with part of that double page spread.

Now, here is how I
believe it was meant to be viewed, which I was able to recreate
because of the way I usually read these volumes.

As can be seen in
the images, things make a lot more sense this way, but for some
reason Viz put the pages in the wrong order, at least in the digital
release.

I am not too sure
what is going on here, but Viz is usually better than this, as it is
something that I hardly complain about with their release, but
something tells me that there was were no quality checks done before
this volume was sent out to the public.

No matter if the
book is a graphic novel, like most manga releases are in America, or
something like an Agatha Christie book, the page order needs to be
right and Viz Media should be ashamed of themselves.

This was an
otherwise exciting read, but this small bit just had to rear its
head.

If Viz had checked
things over carefully before releasing this volume, I sure that I
would have been really satisfied and been willing to overlook any
other small mistakes, but, unfortunately, I cannot do that.

Hopefully, Viz will
learn their lesson before releasing more volumes, because things like
this might make me consider dropping the series more than any
downturn in the department of case quality.

Thankfully, this was
the only thing that really bothered me, so I can at least let Viz
Media go knowing anything else was likely a minor mistake, even
though the overall quality of this release has been hurt.

While there was only
one thing that was a big issue, it was a big enough issue that it
seems to suggest the staff at Viz were lazy and kind of soured my
enjoyment of the volume a bit.

Despite the fact
that something happened that suggested that Viz may have been lazy
about putting the volume together for a Stateside release, the good
balanced things out enough to make this worth reading.

I recommend this to
fans of Detective Conan the most, as they will find the most
enjoyment in it.

As for everyone
else, this might be worth giving a try, but I would recommend
checking out the previous volumes first.

If you liked this
review and would like to see more, please consider supporting me on
either Patreon
or SubscribeStar,
so that I can continue following a series that many enjoy and maybe
find other worthwhile reads for you guys to check out.