For someone who has not watched much Detective Conan, I was admittedly a little nervous to watch TMS/V1 Studio's newest “Detective Conan: The Fist of the Blue Sapphire.” From newcomer to newcomer, however, I assure you; do not be afraid. The film reeks of one typical 2000s trope after another. Released in 2019 in the same debut month as “Detective Pikachu,” the film is just one addition to a serial phenomenon of remaking 90s classics, though this one admittedly sticks more to its 2D guns than its Pokemon counterpart does.
“Detective Conan: The Fist of the Blue Sapphire” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
“Detective Conan – The Fist of the Blue Sapphire” kicks off with the dramatic murder of brilliant lawyer Shirley Tan by Marina Bay Sands. Detective Conan (Minami Takayama) and his crew, inadvertently get involved after they fly to Singapore to support Sonoko Suzuki's boyfriend, karate champion Makoto Kyogoku (Nobukyuki Hiyama). The plot thickens, however, when the championship karate belt turns out to hold the coveted blue sapphire – the largest in the world – and multiple actors more than willing to cheat their way into possessing the precious jewel.
This time, Conan stays within his childish form (forcibly so, since he's actually an undocumented immigrant the entire movie?) while his sworn frenenemy, Kaitou Kid (Kappei Yamaguchi) cosplays as his older self. Doubles and doppelgangers mix up the mystery between the usual confessions of ardor, adding to the film's suspense. The anime includes as many exciting tropes as humanly possible, it seems; peppered with billionaires, tank explosions, and even martial arts, the film seems to be written for the sheer thrill of excitement.
At a surface level, the cheesy formal qualities in “Blue Sapphire” work, however. The poor English dubs and cheesy graphics add to “Blue Sapphire's 90s aesthetic, and the original character designs are true to the franchise. Flat English voice acting (which regrettably, there is much of it) peppers the film's exaggerated Japanese voiceovers, but even that – along with the poor CG drone shots and liberal use of 3D cars – only adds to the its 2000s charm. (What a pleasure it is to see traditional 2D-animated explosions and rippling water in a 2019 production!)
The exciting nostalgia do go overboard however, to the point in which they start to drag on more than they stimulate. The plot is fun, but predictable; the big murder mystery is not even much of a twist. Even more cringe-worthy is the the Makoto-Sonoko couple's continual embarrassment. The internal monologues, the blush scenes, even a mildly racy swimsuit scene – the scriptwriting is straight from the book. Have anime couple politics not progressed after all these years?
This addition to the series reads more like a thriller than a simple detective movie, aiming for a fresh angle at the franchise while maintaining its characteristic nostalgia. Whether it actually works, however, is questionable. The recycling is overdone, resulting in only eyebrow-raising amusement rather than seat-edging enthrallment. “Detective Conan: The Fist of the Blue Sapphire” is, at the end of the day, subject to the sin of commercial anime – it runs on more fan fodder than actual fire.
