Today, and after introducing you Oda’s Will at the end of last year, we will return to another work by the same publisher: The Detective Conan Enigma. Still published by Pix’n Love, the book looks back on another big name in the history of manga. This time, we find Pierre-William Fregonese as author, he who was already behind the writing of Forever Tsukasa Hojo, the book returning to the career of the father of City Hunter or Cat’s Eye.
For the publisher, it’s no longer a first attempt when you see the number of books in their Pop’n Love collection. With us, for example, you could already read our opinions on the books dealing with Akira Toriyama and evangelion. That, but also those we haven’t told you about. Suddenly, there is something to trust in this collection which continues to grow.
So, of course it is growing, but is this collection good for all that? And if so, is the book retracing the adventures of the greatest of the “little” detectives up to the others? This is what we will see together.
Chasing Sherlock?
For those who do not know Conan, this is a detective manga in which the reader can follow two characters who, in fact, are only one. On the one hand, we follow Shinichi Kudo, a 17-year-old high school student who helps the police solve certain investigations. On the other, Conan, a young boy ten years her junior. At the beginning of the story, Shinichi overhears a conversation between two criminals, who then make him drink an unknown beverage. Leaving him for dead, he wakes up later, rejuvenates ten years and then changes his identity to become Conan. His goal ? Find his old body.
Moreover, Gosho Aoyama is known to have been inspired by many other works to create his character and his universe. In the long list, there are some very well-known names like Arsène Lupin, Hercule Poirot or Sherlock holmes. All these styles mixed with a plot as original as that of a rejuvenating teenager who seeks to regain his lost identity, this is a series that has a lot of potential. And it is not its global success that will make us say the opposite.
And it’s not the 100 volumes released for the series that will make us believe that Detective Conan is a commercial failure. But 100 volumes, just like it was for Oda’s Will, that’s a lot of stuff to deal with. This is why Pierre-William Fregonese’s work is divided into as many chapters (even more in the end) than there are arcs in the manga. Each chapter therefore returns to an arc and offers an analysis of the latter, thus allowing comparison with the works that we quoted above, but many others as well. This analysis also makes it possible to make the link with the multiple adaptations of the manga which do not necessarily follow the same chronology as that chosen by Gosho Aoyama.
At the heart of the work
Moreover, the author is in the originality by ignoring all the pre-Conan phase. The book begins by talking about the work itself, without preliminary discussions. It’s not so bad, you say, since it energizes the reading from the start and allows us to focus on what really interests us: Detective Conan. The choice of title then seems logical to us, since the other works of the publisher always mention the name of the creator (Oda, Akira Toriyama, etc.).
This strong choice to leave the creator in the background therefore greatly impacts the reading. Nevertheless, the latter remains pleasant as the structure chosen for the book and the chapters is relevant. The author’s style is no longer to be put to the test with his various works already published, but it should nevertheless be noted that his pen is pleasant to follow throughout the discovery of the book. Important thing when you see the length of the latter. Admittedly, we have already seen more, but reading 202 pages badly written, it would not be possible!
Even if the original work has still not reached its end, this book teaches us a lot about the adventures of Conan. A real booster shot coupled with an important source of information, this book knows how to speak to fans of the first and last hour, while refreshing the memory of those whose love for the unfortunate high school student does not date from a long time ago. yesterday, causing a few omissions here and there.
Should we fall for the Detective Conan enigma?
Therefore, we can say that The Detective Conan Enigma is a book that will speak to fans of the original work. By original work, we mean the original medium, namely the manga. After all, the way the different arcs are handled outside of the manga is not the same, so the author had to make a choice. And even if he talks about everything, the focus is definitely on the manga.
From the top of its price of 24.90€, this book offers a very nice cover in standard edition (the collector’s edition being out of stock) and a quality edition. The paper is thick, the printing good, everything you need to keep it in good condition and enjoy reading it. Good job from the editor.
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Thus, we can conclude by saying that we recommend this book to all fans of the series, or simply to manga lovers who also appreciate the work of Gosho Aoyama without having him under their skin.