When i first began watching the anime version of Detective Conan, the site i was watching only listed it as being 50 episodes long. Assuming that was all, i finished the 50 episodes only to discover that 50 was rather 600 + episodes. After making it to about episode 300, i abandoned the anime and decided to take on the challenge of the manga.

To start of, the pros of the manga. Although being a detective manga, you'd assume that the biggest pro should be the mystery cases and plot, for me, it's the characters. Although the characters seem to be nothing special at first, you soon find yourself adoring them. Gosho Aoyama has a special way of making the characters so relatable and fun, and all with unique and different personalities, you can't help but falling in love with them.As well, the interactions between the characters draw you in. The high school detective and his childhood friend (and love interest), as well the friendship between Shinichi and the high school detective of the west, Heiji Hattori, and the rivalry between the famous theif, Kaito Kid, and Shinichi. I think the characters and their interactions with each other are the one thing that make this incredibly long manga bearable to read.


The next point is both a pro and a con. The story line is compelling and original, and the chapter with the Black Organization are thrilling. However, with one of the chapter only happening once every 50-100 chapters, the plot is very slow developing. The rest of the chapters, for the most part, involve case (mostly homicide). The cases are all very unique and creative, and would definietly appeal to any mystery novelist fan. However, the cases do have a tendency to become repetitive quickly. Although each murder is different, and the circumstances do vary, the idea of locked room murder, and others do repeat multiple times, and some sometimes do end up thinking "not another locked room case". However, not all the cases in between the BO ones are like this. Aoyama includes case involving Heiji Hattori (the loveable Osaka detective), Kaito Kid, and flashbacks to before Shinichi's body was shrunk which are all exciting and thrilling in their own way. So although some cases seem to get a bit repetitive and boring, you find yourself pushing through to reach one of the more exciting chapters (which happen frequently).

The art is neither a pro nor con. The art is fine, but it's not outstanding or special. It's a bit different from other mangas, but it's still a good style. However, although the main characters are all distingushable, many of the character designs to have a habit of looking similiar. Many side and minor characters can be easily forgotten, or look very similar to another character in the story.

The biggest con for this manga, for me, is the length. It's easy to get discouraged by the length, and there are times where it seems as though it's dragging on way too long. In my opinion , if anything could make this manga better, it would be a faster moving plot and less chapters.

In conclusion, if you enjoy reading detective stories, and look some really loveable, fun character and adorable romances and friendships, this manga is for you, so long as you don't mind the time commitment it may take. However, if you don't really love mysteries, don't read this manga. Although the characters and plot line are intresting, if you don't enjoy regular detective cases, you won't be able to get through the 800 + chapters of case files that this manga is.