![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mangavillage.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/Case-Closed-26.jpg\")
<\/a>By:<\/strong> Gosho Aoyama\nPublisher:<\/strong> Viz Media – Shonen Sunday
\nAge Rating:<\/strong> Older Teen (16+)
\nGenre: <\/strong>Mystery
\nPrice: <\/strong>$9.99<\/p>\n
When it comes to manga series, I\u2019m not a distance runner. The longest I\u2019ve kept with a series? 15 volumes, and even that was because I got a great deal on buying them all at once. Now, it\u2019s not always a matter of choice\u2014the incredible Dragonhead<\/em> has wrapped up, but I haven\u2019t read more than half of the books because bookstore and comics retailers in town don\u2019t carry it except in spotty numbers(I know I could special order them or get them online from a place like Powell\u2019s, but that\u2014for some inexplicable reason\u2014sticks in my craw. And I work in a bookstore!).<\/p>\n So recently I decided to attack this head on\u2014I came across several volumes of different series, well into their runs. I knew very little about any of them, but jumped in headfirst to see if these volumes hold up on their own. With money as tight as it is, I\u2019m guessing many of you are in a similar position as myself: my manga budget has been seriously cut, and I find myself reading catch-as-catch can. I read what I can find at the library, trading with friends, and yes, even reading in bookstores (That\u2019s a whole different column, but\u2014and I say this as someone heavily invested in the bookstore business\u2014readers are a good thing. If I have couches in my bookstore, then you are welcome to come in and read, even if you don’t buy something this trip. And the sale that\u2019s not happening now? Well, if you like coming to bookstores, eventually it will happen. In the long run, reading can only be good for the industry).<\/p>\n At any rate, that\u2019s how I came to pick up volume 26 of Case Closed<\/em>. This is a series I\u2019ve been peripherally aware of, but I\u2019ve never read it before, never seen the anime, and never looked at any of the range of ancillary Case Closed<\/em> stuff (card game, etc.). I knew it\u2019s a mystery series, but that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n So, how does it hold up? Well, from the very beginning, it had lots going for it: an attractively packaged book (something Viz is well-known for); a sure and generous arrangement of everything from the translation to extras (something to be expected when the great Shaenon Garrity is at the editing helm); and a tight, comprehensive summary on the back and inside that hits the basics (Jimmy Kudo, a teen detective\u2014think Hardy Boys<\/em> and Nancy Drew<\/em>\u2014is poisoned by mysterious criminal types with a substance that physically transforms him into a first grader. He takes on the pseudonym \u201cConan Edogawa\u201d to continue solving mysteries) without losing you in convoluted details. Despite knowing nothing about the series, I found it great fun! Discreet, intriguing and enjoyable mysteries (about three over the entire volume), are linked by the larger plot, which involves Jimmy\/Conan regaining his normal body. But will it last? And if it doesn\u2019t, will he explain everything to the girl he loves in time?<\/p>\n The art\u2019s fun, and services what is, ultimately, not a book that depends on its visuals: mysteries tend to be word heavy, and considering that this is more \u201cBritish cozy\u201d than \u201chard-boiled detective\u201d (sorry, a bit of mystery novel speak here), there\u2019s not much call for speed lines, or other hallmarks of action sequences. The characters are well-drawn, both visually (they are easily distinguishable one from another) and otherwise. In fact, there was really only one character that jumped out at me as an annoying manga stereotype.<\/p>\n Overall, this structure and the characters are durable enough to be very forgiving to the new reader. The questions I don\u2019t have answers for? Does the fact that I was able to jump in so readily belie a static overall story that would get tedious if read from volume 1 all the way to volume 26 and beyond? The larger storyline had some intriguing developments this go round\u2014would it be as interesting if the larger story weren\u2019t so foregrounded? Can the mysteries themselves sustain the series? I liked the mysteries here, but given 50-75 mysteries over the course of the series (I\u2019m guessing), are they more Sherlock Holmes or Encyclopedia Brown? In the end, I have no idea. Maybe the true test of the series’ quality: I\u2019m curious enough to check out future volumes should I have the opportunity, but I don\u2019t feel driven to seek out earlier ones.<\/p>\n In the end, Case Closed<\/em> doesn\u2019t end up on my must read list, but, as I said, it is great fun. Also, despite some discreet nods to mystery\/suspense violence, the \u201colder teen\u201d rating is completely absurd. This volume, at least, is perfectly acceptable to the preteen crowd. This go round at least, my random manga pick left me quite pleased!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Something you should know about me: I like shiny new things. Given the choice between having something I know behind door number one and knowing what\u2019s behind door number two? Curiosity wins. When my wife and I get ice cream, I\u2019m the guy who has to taste like, 10 different flavors before I settle on something. And, if you regularly read our weekly picks, you\u2019ll see I am always drawn to the new manga, even when it means overlooking incredible, established series. By: Gosho Aoyama Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Sunday Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Mystery Price: $9.99 When it comes to manga series, I\u2019m not a distance runner. The longest I\u2019ve kept with a series? 15 volumes, and even that was because I got a great deal on buying them all at once. Now, it\u2019s not always a matter of choice\u2014the incredible Dragonhead has wrapped up, but I haven\u2019t read more than half of the books because bookstore and comics retailers in town don\u2019t carry it except in spotty numbers(I know I could special order them or get them online from a place like Powell\u2019s, but that\u2014for some inexplicable reason\u2014sticks in my craw. And I work in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[83,99,109,208],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews-reviews","category-viz-media","tag-manga","tag-older-teen","tag-reivew","tag-viz-media"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2umma-bN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}