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He could solve any case brought to his attention and in record time. Shinichi Kudo, a seventeen year old master detective, had it all. This is an amazing accomplishment for a non-shounen series, so for any fans of the franchise, let's. A while back the manga passed 1000 chapters (and is close to publishing 100 volumes), and now the anime has crossed the 1000 episode threshold about a week ago after being on the air since 1996.
Shinichi catches wind of a dirty deal going down, and spies on a pair of men in dark trenchcoats. One day, while Shinichi and Ran are at an amusement park, the pair become separated. Who is driven crazy by the fact that Shinichi gets all of the great cases.
He goes to the goofball inventor that lives next door to him for help, and the inventor agrees to give him a hand. When Shinichi comes to his senses, he finds he's shrunken down to the size of a fourth grader. However, things don't work exactly as planned.
In each episode, Conan solves a different case in the style of all good detective shows, giving hints to help the viewer try to guess who the villain is, while trying to keep his true identity a secret. Thus concludes the backstory to the series. Shinichi then makes it his mission to one day find the men who poisoned him and get the antidote. Ran offers to let "Conan" live with her family while his "family" is away.
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If the show is ever aired or released commercially in the States, you should try to find it.Amazon.ca - Buy Case Closed Season 5: Detective Conan and the Chains of Iron. Though many of the cases involve murder (and some pretty elaborate ones at that) each episode is presented in a way for people of all ages, much like how I used to watch Murder, She Wrote as a kid. The mysteries Conan solves each episode are very brain teasing, but nothing impossible if you put your brain cells together and follow the clues. Helping him is a funny inventor who gives "Conan" (an alias the character uses as a child) cool James Bond like gadgets, like a bow tie with a voice distorter and shoes that magnify kicking strength. He must then masquerade as an eight year old (going to school, etc.) while keeping his identity a secret and a look out for the villains that gave him the poison.
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