# Case Closed
**Case Closed** (名探偵コナン, *Meitantei Konan*, Detective Conan) is a Japanese detective manga written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama that has been serialized in Shogakukan's *Weekly Shonen Sunday* since 1994, and the franchise of anime, films, and other adaptations built on it. Outside Japan the manga is published under the title [Case Closed](https://www.edgepedia.org/case-closed-tv-series) because of legal issues with the title Detective Conan.[1](https://du.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A1936533/FULLTEXT01.pdf) It follows the teenage detective Shinichi Kudo, who is shrunk into a child's body by a poison given to him by men in black and takes the alias Conan Edogawa while continuing to solve cases.[2](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 名探偵コナン (*Meitantei Konan*), known in Japan as Detective Conan[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjadh/5/1/5_2/_pdf/-char/en) |
| Serialization | Shogakukan's *Weekly Shonen Sunday*, from issue 5 of 1994, still ongoing[4](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/mangaplanning/detail/349c41201b62db851192665c504b350ff98c6b45fb62a8a2161f78b6534d8de9/) |
| Author | Gosho Aoyama (born 1963, Tottori Prefecture), previously known for *YAIBA*[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) |
| TV anime | Premiered January 8, 1996; airs Saturdays at 6:00 pm on the Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV network (except in some regions)[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) |
| Theatrical films | First film in 1997, *Detective Conan: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper*; the 28th film opened April 18, 2025[2](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/) |
| Circulation | More than 270 million collected volumes in print worldwide[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) |
| Award | Won the shonen category of the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) |
## Story and premise
The story begins when Shinichi Kudo, a high school detective famous for solving difficult cases, witnesses a transaction by men in black while on a date with his childhood friend Ran Mouri. To silence him they force him to take a mysterious poison; instead of dying, the drug shrinks him into the body of a first-year elementary school student.[2](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/)
To hide his identity, he takes the name Conan Edogawa, assembled from the detective writers [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-conan-doyle) and Rampo Edogawa, and moves into Ran's household, whose father Kogoro Mouri runs a detective agency.[6](https://www.skjam.com/2014/08/25/manga-review-case-closed-detective-conan/) Believing that cases around him may yield clues leading to the men in black, he keeps solving crimes while concealing his identity from Ran as he seeks a way to recover his original body.[2](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/) In a typical case, a body turns up, several suspects offer alibis, and Conan works out which one is lying about a time, a temperature, or a telephone call, then tranquillizes Kogoro Mouri and delivers the solution in a borrowed voice.[7](https://tiermarks.com/manga/case-closed/)
## Structure and recurring plot
The series is a shonen manga with the elements of a classic detective novel, characterized by tricks based on scientific knowledge and physical laws and by logical solutions to the crimes.[4](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/mangaplanning/detail/349c41201b62db851192665c504b350ff98c6b45fb62a8a2161f78b6534d8de9/) Set mostly in Beika Town, Tokyo, and locations across Japan, it alternates individual case resolutions with a central axis of conflict between law enforcement agencies such as the police, the FBI, the CIA, and public security police and the criminal Black Organization.[4](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/mangaplanning/detail/349c41201b62db851192665c504b350ff98c6b45fb62a8a2161f78b6534d8de9/) This long arc, in which Conan works against the organization that poisoned him, has been compared to [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond) versus SPECTRE, and reviewers note that it is hard for a casual reader entering mid-series to follow.[8](https://www.comicsonline.com/2010/04/_manga_review_case_closed_volume_34/)
Aoyama is noted for the diversity of his plots and for laying clues that allow a mostly fair-play mystery across a variety of settings, from impossible shootings at a television station to ticking bombs on trains.[9](https://theinvisibleevent.com/2017/04/08/224/) Because the main reader demographic is young boys, the story structure tends to be simple and easily understood, with explicit explanations of the tricks used.[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjadh/5/1/5_2/_pdf/-char/en) A computational narratology study of 134 of the comic's detective stories categorized 37 types of plot elements, 10 types of tricks, 9 types of criminal motives, and 10 types of victim–criminal relationships, extracting eleven factors through factor analysis as a basis for modeling story patterns.[10](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjadh/5/1/5_2/_html/-char/en)
## Publication history
Gosho Aoyama, born 1963 in Tottori Prefecture, debuted in 1986 with *Chotto Mattete*, winner of a prize in the 19th Shogakukan New Comic Award, and won the children's category of the 38th [Shogakukan Manga Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/shogakukan-manga-award) for *YAIBA* in 1992 before starting Detective Conan in *Weekly Shonen Sunday* in 1994.[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) The manga's first magazine cover appearance was the 1994 issue 6.[11](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/adnews/7298/) Volume 109 was released in October 2026 in standard and special editions simultaneously.[12](https://shogakukan-comic.jp/news)
The title change in English translation resulted from legal issues with the title Detective Conan.[1](https://du.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A1936533/FULLTEXT01.pdf) The series is published in multiple languages, including a Chinese edition titled 名探偵柯南 in Taiwan.[13](https://www.conanpedia.com/Comic)
## Anime and films
The television anime premiered on January 8, 1996 and continues to air on the Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV network each Saturday evening at 6:00 pm, except in some regions.[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) In 2026 the anime marked its 30th broadcast anniversary with collaboration episodes with *Pretty Cure*, J-League, and the Birdman Rally, a two-hour special, and a commemorative stage at the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair.[14](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/news/)
Theatrical films began in 1997 with *The Time-Bombed Skyscraper* and have been released annually; *Detective Conan: Flashback*, the 28th film, opened on April 18, 2025.[2](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/) The franchise extends further to television dramas, games, novels, a real escape game series, educational manga such as *Nihonshi Tantei Conan*, an official [Shogakukan](https://www.edgepedia.org/shogakukan) reading app, and a *Detective Conan World* attraction at [Universal Studios Japan](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-studios-japan).[4](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/mangaplanning/detail/349c41201b62db851192665c504b350ff98c6b45fb62a8a2161f78b6534d8de9/) • [15](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/pr/ntconan/about.html) • [16](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.shogakukan.conanportal.android) • [17](https://www.usj.co.jp/company/news/2025/pdf/1126.pdf)
## Reception and significance
The manga is described in academic work as a best-selling detective series and a successful multimedia property in Japan.[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjadh/5/1/5_2/_pdf/-char/en) With more than 270 million volumes in print worldwide, it is a representative work of *Weekly Shonen Sunday* and supports a broad audience from elementary school children to adults, a target range the licensor defines explicitly.[5](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/) • [2](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/) Critical reviews of the English editions praise the fair-play puzzle construction but note the series' size and episodic format, recommending it for readers who enjoy individual whodunits rather than a fast-moving main plot.[18](https://nextpanel.org/reviews/is-case-closed-detective-conan-worth-reading) A recurring evaluation is that the mysteries are compact and neatly presented, while the solutions sometimes require unusually fast logical leaps.[8](https://www.comicsonline.com/2010/04/_manga_review_case_closed_volume_34/)
## References
1. [Method and Material, Dalarna University thesis on the English translation of Detective Conan](https://du.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A1936533/FULLTEXT01.pdf)
2. [Detective Conan license page, Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions](https://www.shopro.co.jp/license/title/401/)
3. [Murai, Hajime (2020). Factors of the Detective Story and the Extraction of Plot Patterns Based on Japanese Detective Comics. Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities 5(1), 4–21.](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjadh/5/1/5_2/_pdf/-char/en)
4. [Detective Conan manga IP page, Shogakukan AD POCKET](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/mangaplanning/detail/349c41201b62db851192665c504b350ff98c6b45fb62a8a2161f78b6534d8de9/)
5. [Detective Conan introduction page, Yomiuri TV](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/introduction/)
6. [Manga Review: Case Closed (Detective Conan), SKJAM! Reviews (2014)](https://www.skjam.com/2014/08/25/manga-review-case-closed-detective-conan/)
7. [Case Closed Review, Tier Marks](https://tiermarks.com/manga/case-closed/)
8. [Manga Review: Case Closed, Volume 34, ComicsOnline (2010)](https://www.comicsonline.com/2010/04/_manga_review_case_closed_volume_34/)
9. [Case Closed Volumes 11 and 12 review, The Invisible Event (2017)](https://theinvisibleevent.com/2017/04/08/224/)
10. [Full-text HTML version, JJADH 5(1)](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjadh/5/1/5_2/_html/-char/en)
11. [Celebrating 30 years of Detective Conan serialization, Shogakukan AD POCKET (2024)](https://adpocket.shogakukan.co.jp/adnews/7298/)
12. [Shogakukan Comic news](https://shogakukan-comic.jp/news)
13. [Detective Conan original manga, Conanpedia (Chinese)](https://www.conanpedia.com/Comic)
14. [Detective Conan news page, Yomiuri TV](https://www.ytv.co.jp/conan/news/)
15. [Nihonshi Tantei Conan series page, Shogakukan](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/pr/ntconan/about.html)
16. [Detective Conan official app, Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.shogakukan.conanportal.android)
17. [Universal Cool Japan 2026 overview, Universal Studios Japan](https://www.usj.co.jp/company/news/2025/pdf/1126.pdf)
18. [Is Case Closed Worth Reading? Detective Conan Review, Next Panel (2026)](https://nextpanel.org/reviews/is-case-closed-detective-conan-worth-reading)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Manga titles, publishers, and magazines › Shōnen manga titles › Sports, mystery, and thriller titles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license