Figures I write something about
Kindaichi Case Files for anyone with a passing interest.
In this manga, you follow the adventure of a lazy and lecherous student by the name of Kindaichi. Few recognized his worth and his deductive prowess as he rarely shown motivation in anything. However, when he comes across something he felt to be an injustice surrounded by seemingly unsolvable mystery, he tackled them head-on earnestly and accompanied with a great sense of justice. In short, the series is about plucky teen detective solving murder mystery, most which are whodunit stories. Despite started serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 1992, 2 years earlier than Detective Conan, Kindaichi while still mildly popular trails behind Detective Conan these days. This was to be expected because the run of Kindaichi has been inconsistent.
So someone who is more familiar with Detective Conan may ask, what's the difference? What makes Kindaichi more intriguing to Conan, what gives it a differentiated selling point?
The most notable difference is Kindaichi is centred in murder mystery whereas Conan comprise of robbery, kidnapping, heist etc on the sideline. You could say because Kindaichi is hampered by its repetitiveness, the story of Conan flows more seamlessly. The cases in Conan could happen in his daily routine activities whereas Kindaichi always need a preface for going to a secluded area where the curtains of an inevitable murder mystery was drawn. But I digress, it is also precisely of this focus where Kindaichi outshines Conan.
Every murder mystery arc has a thematic theme that fits the setting. Their origins are mostly from the urban legend that surround the place. As every arc is set in a remote place and play around a certain urban legend, it heightens the mystery atmosphere in Kindaichi. And while it could combine many elements, such as religion, fantasy and science fiction, the ending is always rooted in logic and science.
Was it really a will o wisp?
Spot something unusual? That's just a small step in guiding you to the right direction! Sometimes, murder scenes as extravagant as this and portray accordingly to the supposedly themes / urban legends are trying to disguise a deeper ploy of the culprit.
In another area where Kindaichi is more proactive in this genre is it encourages people to solve the mystery. More often than not, it drop hints in a subtle manner and requires the readers to pay close attention to every unconventional behaviour and action.
In the words of famous mystery novelist Soji Shimada,
"I present all the details and then tease my readers to find the murderer".
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Now, for recommended cases and arc, there are only a miserable few chapters available in Eng for manga. For the anime, I would whole-heartedly recommended the earlier adaptation which is Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (TV). Modern Kindaichi cases are kinda lacklustre and less well-crafted.
Up to episode 15, the translations are comprehensible. The first case of the anime was actually the 5th case of Kindaichi but since Kindaichi is episodic in nature and they are given sufficient introduction, it should be fine. Here's a feel of its 90's opening and ending.
OP 1 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjIXE-YWMHM
OP 3 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRS5a7YuUTk
ED 3 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3LfGUZMQI8
To summarize, though it's only what is available, the first 15 episodes ( 5 cases ) of Kindaichi's 1997 anime are good introduction for someone interested in this series. Personally, I also love the ost in the series. Particularly this
heavy-hearted and sorrowful tune when Kindaichi discovered a body. Kaoru Wada did a great job there.
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