edgepedia

Arts and culture / Screen and stage / Film and television / Films and standalone screen works / Individual films by title and year / Franchise and series entries as standalone works / Anime 'the Movie' franchise entries

General · Edgepedia5 min read

Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine (名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影)

Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine (名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン）, Meitantei Conan: Kurogane no Submarine) is a 2023 Japanese animated mystery-action film, the 26th theatrical feature in the Detective Conan series based on Gosho Aoyama's manga. Directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa from a screenplay by Takeharu Sakurai, it was released in Japan on April 14, 2023 by Toho, runs 109 minutes, and centers on Ai Haibara as the Black Organization closes in on her.1 • 2

Key factDetail
Series position26th theatrical animated film in the Detective Conan franchise1
Japan releaseApril 14, 2023, Toho distribution; 109 minutes; also shown in IMAX, MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema1 • 3
Director / writerYuzuru Tachikawa, who directed Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer; screenplay by Takeharu Sakurai1
Music and theme songScore by Yugo Kanno; theme song "Utsukushii Hire" (美しい鰭) by Spitz2 • 4
Opening recordHighest first-three-days attendance and box-office revenue of any film in the series at the time of release5
AwardExcellent Animation Work Award at the 47th Japan Academy Prize6
Spanish releaseJuly 26, 2023 via Alfa Pictures; 110 minutes; €72,509.79 from 11,048 admissions7

Spoilers

Plot

The story is set around the Pacific Buoy (パシフィック・ブイ), a marine facility built off Hachijojima near Tokyo that connects the security cameras held by police forces around the world. As the facility prepares to go fully operational and to link with the network run by the European police organization Europol, engineers from many countries gather there, and a test of a new technology applying a facial-recognition system is underway.1 • 8

Conan and the Detective Boys are on Hachijojima for whale watching at Sonoko's invitation when Conan receives word from Subaru Okiya, the alias of Shuichi Akai, that a Europol officer has been killed in Germany by Gin of the Black Organization. Alarmed, Conan sneaks aboard a security boat carrying Metropolitan Police personnel including Kuroda Hyougo and infiltrates the facility. There, a female engineer is kidnapped by the Black Organization, and a USB memory stick holding information she carried falls into the organization's hands. A shadow also closes in on Haibara, who is staying on Hachijojima; she is the developer of the body-shrinking drug APTX 4869 and herself took the drug to escape the organization, so the leaked data threatens to expose that she is Sherry.1 • 8 • 9

Production

The film was directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa, who had previously directed the series' 22nd feature Zero the Enforcer, with animation production by TMS Entertainment and distribution by Toho. Character design and chief animation direction were by Masatomo Sudo, and the score was composed by Yugo Kanno.1 • 2 Producer credits go to Shuho Kondo, Takeshi Shioguchi, and Yuhei Okada.2

Actor Sawamura Ichiki guest-starred as the voice of Makino Yosuke, director of the Pacific Buoy facility where the story unfolds.1 The regular cast included Minami Takayama as Conan, Wakana Yamazaki as Ran, Rikiya Koyama as Kogoro, Megumi Hayashibara as Haibara, Yukitoshi Hori as Gin, Fumihiko Tachiki as Vodka, Mami Koyama as Vermouth, Toru Furuya as Amuro Tooru, and Hideyuki Ikeda as Akai.10

Writing and direction. Screenwriter Sakurai Takeharu has described setting the film's focus on Haibara's inner life against the backdrop of a surveillance society and personal dignity, and the producers asked the team to make a serious Conan film centered on her.6 • 11 A producer interview also discussed scenes for which Aoyama Gosho personally supplied the original key drawings.12

Box office and reception

The film opened on April 14, 2023 and set a series record for its first three days in both attendance and box-office revenue.5 In Vietnam it ranked eighth among the major Japanese anime films released there from January 2021 to December 2023 by box office.13

Overseas, the film was released in Spain on July 26, 2023 by Alfa Pictures under the title Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine, classified there as not recommended for children under seven, with a running time of 110 minutes and earnings of €72,509.79 from 11,048 admissions.7

Japanese reviewers placed the film as a turning point for the long-running series, noting its shift from the action-heavy tendency of earlier entries toward the psychology and relationships of its characters, particularly Haibara, while some criticism was directed at the pacing of the final act. Megumi Hayashibara's performance as Haibara and the tension of the underwater sequences were singled out for praise.6 The film won the Excellent Animation Work Award at the 47th Japan Academy Prize.6

Later release history

The film received its first uncut Japanese television broadcast on April 19, 2024 on Nippon TV's Friday Road Show, part of a two-week run of Conan films timed to promote the following year's feature The Million-Dollar Pentagram.14 Its streaming availability has changed repeatedly: subscription lineups have carried it in some periods and dropped it in others, with subscription windows for the Conan films typically ending in late August each year, and it has remained available through TSUTAYA DISCAS mail-order rental.15 • 16 • 17

References

  1. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン）: 作品情報, 映画.com
  2. Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine, JFDB
  3. 劇場版『名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影(サブマリン)』特報, Toho Movie Channel (YouTube)
  4. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影〈サブマリン〉作品情報, ぴあ映画
  5. 劇場版『名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影』公開。劇伴・菅野祐悟に聞く, Kompass (CINRA)
  6. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影 レビュー・評価, 映画.com
  7. Datos de Película ICAA, Ministerio de Cultura de España
  8. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン）あらすじ・配信, JustWatch
  9. 「黒ずくめの組織にもドラマがある」脚本家・櫻井武晴インタビュー, ふたまん＋
  10. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影 (2023) キャスト・あらすじ, シネマトゥデイ
  11. 劇場版『名探偵コナン』監督起用の経緯, PRTimes
  12. 映画「名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影」青山剛昌の原画担当シーンの裏側, 映画.comニュース
  13. 国・地域ごとの需要の相違, 経済産業省
  14. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影, 宇宙wiki
  15. アニメ『名探偵コナン』配信状況まとめ, DTI
  16. 劇場版「名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン）」の配信はどこで見れる？, アニメ！アニメ！
  17. 名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン） 配信情報, Filmarks

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

© 2026 Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Embed a reference card.

Report an error

Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine (名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影)

Pick at least one reason.