The Kindaichi Case Files

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:07 pm

Tried as I might, I couldn't find a dedicated topic, so, here ya go

So what's the show all about ? Kindaichi is a brillant but lazy and perverted young student who can't admit his love to his childhood friend, and constantly stumbles across murder cases.

Yep, sounds lame, but read on, coz what really make the show worth the watch is the cases

The show might be compared to detective Conan since they're the most famous of the mystery genre, but the reasons that makes the KCF unique are :

- a refreshingly realistic art style

- longer and more in depth cases

- its unique blend of classic whodunnit and slasher tropes (killers are often masked individuals named after a local legend, or supernatural entities who initiate large body counts)

- classic music kinda reminiscent of what you would hear in a Hitchcock movie, with a unique flair for suspense themes

If you're familiar with detective academy Q, the KCF is from the same artist and part of them are penned by the same writer. And though detective academy Q has a special place in my heart thanks to its awesome soundtrack and some of the best whodunnit cases I've seen in my life, Kindaichi is excellent.

As of now, 54 episodes are translated in english, while 77 + all the OAVs are subbed in french, out of 148 episodes. Give it a try !

EDIT : make sure you watch the episodes in their correct order ! Unlike detective Conan, some cases in Kindaichi are linked to each other, and some recurring characters make a come back.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:07 am

I've seen/read/listened to pretty much everything of Kindaichi... actually, the only things I haven't consumed yet at are Takatoo Youchi Shounen no Jikenbo (available free, in English through Kodansha's Manga Box app by the way) and the currently running Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R series.

I love Kindaichi Shounen, though a lot of the stories tend to feel alike, because ITS ALWAYS REVENGE and things like that (though the short stories make up for that).

Unlike detective Conan, some cases in Kindaichi are linked to each other, and some recurring characters make a come back.

How much of Conan have you read/seen? It's actually Conan which has the most recurring characters/connected cases/etc. I just read the newest Conan volume today and all stories featured there had some connection to earlier cases/characters O_o

Edit:
And I love the music from the anime too! See random thing I wrote about one piece of the soundtrack.

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:46 am

I love Kindaichi Shounen, though a lot of the stories tend to feel alike, because ITS ALWAYS REVENGE and things like that (though the short stories make up for that).

That's indeed the series' biggest weakness. In 3/4 of the episodes, the motive is always the exact same, and you can tell if a new character is gonna be a victim a couple of seconds after meeting him.

Of course it makes the rare episodes that break the formula all the more interesting, a good example being :

Spoiler:

This is one of the reason why I prefer detective academy Q, actually, the series is much more creative when it comes to motives, and overrall the plots are much less predictable.

How much of Conan have you read/seen? It's actually Conan which has the most recurring characters/connected cases/etc. I just read the newest Conan volume today and all stories featured there had some connection to earlier cases/characters O_o

Aha, yeah, I meant outside of the black organisation main plot.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:11 pm

Shtak wrote:This is one of the reason why I prefer detective academy Q, actually, the series is much more creative when it comes to motives, and overrall the plots are much less predictable.

DAQ is definitely a better series overall IMHO, better stories overall and also a clearly structured overall story with beginning, middle and end. I wish they'd do a proper sequel to that too, the Premium standalone volume ended with a clear hook for a sequel series...

Aha, yeah, I meant outside of the black organisation main plot.

I don't mean even that. From the local geography to schoolmates to people they met in earlier cases, basically anything can come back in Conan.

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:39 pm

DAQ is definitely a better series overall IMHO, better stories overall and also a clearly structured overall story with beginning, middle and end. I wish they'd do a proper sequel to that too, the Premium standalone volume ended with a clear hook for a sequel series...

Yeah, some cases really had me stumped, and surprised me both regarding the identity of the culprit and his modus operandi (while in kindaichi is becomes very easy to identify the murderer once you're used to the series' tropes). I also like how in the longer cases, there's always a consistant plot and overarching mystery/secret, on top of the murder mystery itself. The kamikachi village or the channeler case (the two very best cases, IMO) would have made a much more solid mystery anime movie than anything spawned by the conan or the kindaichi franchise. It's a shame the anime barely covered the beginning of the manga, and judging from your post the manga itself wasn't finished !

I don't mean even that. From the local geography to schoolmates to people they met in earlier cases, basically anything can come back in Conan.

Well that's odd because I always regret how some settings and characters are never heard of again after their one and only case. I would love a sequel to the wealthy daughter case or the moonligt sonata one. I mean I love how some apparently one shot characters in Kindaichi that were mere suspects during their first appearance unexpectedly come back several times. While there is a handful of recurring characters in Conan, their introduction barely leave any doubt regarding the fact that they aren't minor characters. Plus all of them are investigators, you never see a perfectly random suspect returning later on.

Post by **Bad Player** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:20 pm

KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI
KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI
KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI
KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI

oh, uh...

yeah.

I like Kindaichi.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:24 am

Shtak wrote:It's a shame the anime barely covered the beginning of the manga, and judging from your post the manga itself wasn't finished !

Well, it wasn't that bad. The anime covered a bit more than half of the manga, I think, and some of the stories that weren't adapted as anime, were used in the live action series (including the finale).

Premium was an one-shot sequel, set a bit after the main series. The thing is, it ended with a hook for a new series (or at least, new adventures for Q Class)...

But Amagi/Satou are busy with Kindaichi Shounen again, and the last few adventures they've been hinting at more background story (also with the Takatoo spin-off etc.), so I guess they'll stick to that for the time being.

Well that's odd because I always regret how some settings and characters are never heard of again after their one and only case. I would love a sequel to the wealthy daughter case or the moonligt sonata one. I mean I love how some apparently one shot characters in Kindaichi that were mere suspects during their first appearance unexpectedly come back several times. While there is a handful of recurring characters in Conan, their introduction barely leave any doubt regarding the fact that they aren't minor characters. Plus all of them are investigators, you never see a perfectly random suspect returning later on.

Settings and characters return all the time in Conan. I just checked the first 20 volumes of Conan, and practically every volume has either a setting, or a character that returns in a later story. For example, a suspect of the Wealthy Heiress case returns as a new suspect in another case in volume 16. The Moonlight Sonata case is refered to quite often as being a trauma for Conan due to what happened to the murderer (something Kindaichi Shounen should learn to.... >_>). The couple from the long Hatamoto case in volume 3? Conan and the gang go visit them in volume 23 or something like that. Two soccer players in volume 9? We see them, and their teams often in the background on TV, or on newspapers. The cafe beneath the Mouri agency starts out as background filler, is now one of the main settings of the series (including the people who work there). Heck, Takagi Wataru, protagonist in the police department love story plotline, was nothing but a throw-away, nameless subordinate of Megure the first few appearances, until Aoyama suddenly gave him a name (derived from the anime's voice actor for the character) and made him into one of the most popular characters of the series!

If anything, Conan is suffering from a bloated secondary cast (in fact, it does. Too many things return actually).

Bad Player wrote:KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI
KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI
KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI
KINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKIN
DAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAI
CHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHIKINDAICHI

oh, uh...

yeah.

I like Kindaichi.

I make it a point always to refer to Kindaichi Kousuke as Kindaichi, and Kindaichi Shounen as Kindaichi Shounen, or Hajime ^^'

Oh, and Bad Player, considering you can actually read Japanese, the novels have all been rereleased as pockets last year! The second case at the Opera House, the offline meeting at a snow lodge are fun!

Post by **Bad Player** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:24 pm

It's true that Kindaichi cases are pretty much all structured the exact same way (including motive), but... I don't really care. Because you can never have too many supernaturally-themed impossible serial murders~ Even if the motive is always the same, I still think they're compelling (compare with Conan). And then the tricks~

I haven't read/seen any Kindaichi Kousuke stuff, so... hm.

I also like how Kindaichi, er, Shounen doesn't really have that many recurring characters. And, unlike most other mystery series (I'm aware of), returning characters in Kindaichi Shounen aren't exempt from being killers or victims.

Also if those books were rereleased, I'll look into them :o (Hopefully Kinokuniya will have them or something...)

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:25 am

Did you catch the news there'll be a new TV anime?! (as in a series, and not specials/OVAs)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... w-tv-anime

Edit:

I have to admit though, there's not much 'new' material left to adapt, so I am kinda surprised at the decision. A lot of the one-shot second season has already been adapted as either TV special, OVA or live action. The 20th Anniversary series only has four or five stories, one of which also adapted as live action drama. I guess the last story of the first manga season hasn't been filmed yet (and I like that one too!), but the implications of that story don't really work with the continuity of the anme series...

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 9:29 pm

Settings and characters return all the time in Conan. I just checked the first 20 volumes of Conan, and practically every volume has either a setting, or a character that returns in a later story. For example, a suspect of the Wealthy Heiress case returns as a new suspect in another case in volume 16. The Moonlight Sonata case is refered to quite often as being a trauma for Conan due to what happened to the murderer (something Kindaichi Shounen should learn to.... >_>). The couple from the long Hatamoto case in volume 3? Conan and the gang go visit them in volume 23 or something like that. Two soccer players in volume 9? We see them, and their teams often in the background on TV, or on newspapers. The cafe beneath the Mouri agency starts out as background filler, is now one of the main settings of the series (including the people who work there). Heck, Takagi Wataru, protagonist in the police department love story plotline, was nothing but a throw-away, nameless subordinate of Megure the first few appearances, until Aoyama suddenly gave him a name (derived from the anime's voice actor for the character) and made him into one of the most popular characters of the series!

You gotta look at the context, though. There are actually very few cases in Kindaichi, and most of the early ones featured a character that would return later. While out of hundreds of Conan cases, only a small, small minority of them feature a continuity of some sort. Also as bad player pointed out, Kindaichi's returning characters' comeback can take any form, while you can be sure that returning ones in Conan will always play the exact same role. Sheesh, I don't quite know how to put it

Moving on to something we can agree on :)

I have to admit though, there's not much 'new' material left to adapt, so I am kinda surprised at the decision. A lot of the one-shot second season has already been adapted as either TV special, OVA or live action. The 20th Anniversary series only has four or five stories, one of which also adapted as live action drama. I guess the last story of the first manga season hasn't been filmed yet (and I like that one too!), but the implications of that story don't really work with the continuity of the anme series..

That's excellent news, especially since it's so rare for animes to get revival/separate seasons. Looks like Kindaichi is still going strong in Japan. I'm also pretty sure there are eleven plot left to adapt in the NEW series alone. Unless you count the live action series, but I must admit I don't think much of it and usually avoid it.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 7:54 am

AFAIK, the following (long) stories have yet to be animated:

(Of the first manga season)
1. Young Kindaichi's Desperate Run (first manga season finale)

(of the second, one shot manga season)
2. The Hell Gate Cram School Murder Case (live action special in January this year)
3. The Snow Ghost Legend Murder Case
4. The Inspector Kenmochi Murder Case
5. The Alchemy Murder Case
6. The Game House Murder Case

(of the 20th anniversary series)
7. The Man Eating Laboratory Murder Case
8. The Kowloon Treasure Murder Case (live action special last year)
9. The Rosenkreuz Murder Case

And maybe the first story of the currently running Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R series...

And there are eight short stories left to be animated. I guess that they could do all of this in a two-cour season, especially if they drop the two stories that have been recently adapted as drama, and I don't think they'll go back to the first season finale (which is a shame though....)

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 12:39 pm

If I'm not mistaken, The mummy's curse was never adapted into an anime, either.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 12:53 pm

Ah, forgot about that, but with the plagiarism scandal surrounding it, I doubt they dare touch that story again... (and it was adapted in the first TV drama series anyway).

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 2:21 pm

Wow, thanks man, I was offered the Tokyo zodiac murders last Christmas and hadn't touched it yet ! Now I know I should keep my distance with the mummy's curse till I read the book.

Post by **Bad Player** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 6:23 pm

Yeah, I had heard that that Kindaichi Shounen case was basically taken from that other book... I forget where, but I think I read something about how whenever they were developing a new case for Kindaichi Shounen, they would look to other mystery stories for 'inspiration' for the tricks ^^" (But at long as the first place I see the tricks is Kindaichi Shounen, I don't really care~)

Isn't the final case of the first manga series the Reika Kidnapping case, though? And is The Snow Ghost Legend Murder Case different from the yukiyasha case? (Because IIRC, the yukiyasha case was in the first manga run, and was animated)

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:19 am

They're different cases. The Snow Ghost Legend Murder Case is a story in the second, one shot season of the manga.

And the Reika kidnapping case is the last case of the 'regular' series, but the first 'season' (as they call it) consists of the original regular series, the case series and the original set of short stories. The last story before the hiatus was Young Kindaichi's Desperate Run (the Count of Monte Cristo). The second season starts with the Vampyre case and consist now out of three series: an annual one shot series (2004~2011), the 20th anniversary series (2012~2013) and the currently running R series (2013~).

Especially the earlier stories of Kindaichi Shounen were quite horrible with the 'borrowing' of tricks. You might argue for the one in the first Opera House story because of the LeRoux link, but there has been some blatant stealing from famous stories in the series (not as much as the series progressed though).

Post by **Bad Player** » Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:35 pm

Ash wrote:And the Reika kidnapping case is the last case of the 'regular' series, but the first 'season' (as they call it) consists of the original regular series, the case series and the original set of short stories.

Ah, gotcha. Is that when the series changed writers?

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:21 pm

First teaser for the new series is out :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GhYeCWeehM

(Nothing important revealed though)

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:40 pm

The first volume of the Returns series (which lend its name to the new TV series) is also scheduled to release in two weeks! Looks like it'll be like the 20th Anniversary series, i.e. not complete stories in one volume, which is a bit of a shame... I liked the one-story-in-one-or-two-volumes formula...

But with a new manga series and a TV series, I hope they'll make some new games! The last standalone Kindaichi Shounen game (for the DS) was absolutely horrible (The Conan X Kindaichi Shounen crossover was fun though, written by the same person behind the Danganronpa series).

Post by **Bad Player** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:47 pm

Ash wrote:(The Conan X Kindaichi Shounen crossover was fun though, written by the same person behind the Danganronpa series).

...Ash why did you ruin the game for me like that

I feel so torn, though, because OMG NEW KINDAICHI ANIME HAIPE HAIPE HAIPE, but I like reading mysteries a lot more than watching them. (And then on top of that, the anime will sometimes cut certain parts out... I mean, they totally ruined the Wax Doll Castle Murder Case!)

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:20 pm

Bad Player wrote:...Ash why did you ruin the game for me like that

絶望ー

I feel so torn, though, because OMG NEW KINDAICHI ANIME HAIPE HAIPE HAIPE, but I like reading mysteries a lot more than watching them. (And then on top of that, the anime will sometimes cut certain parts out... I mean, they totally ruined the Wax Doll Castle Murder Case!)

It kinda depended on the story, but I think some stories were definitely done better in the anime than the original story. Especially in the early parts of the series (when it was still traditional cel-animation). The last part of the first episode, when Hajime finds the body? In terms of atmosphere better than 99% of the manga. Wada Kaoru's music is fantastic too (I was so glad to hear the main theme in the teaser for R!!) and the main voice acting cast is pretty strong too. Matsuno in particular is the best Kindachi there was (there have been practically as many voice actors as 'normal' actors (for the TV dramas) for Hajime...).

(Until they start to sing Kimi ga iru kara, of course)

Oh, and I hope that with R, they'll have more consistent character design throughout the series >_>. Satou did some really strange things with the character designs the last few years. Hajime and Miyuki would look differently each year in the 2004-2011 series (most horribly in 2011's The Game House Murder Case, where they looked even younger than the kids in Tantei Gakuen Q), while the 20th Anniversary series also seemed to be on and off with the designs(Miyuki on volume 2's cover....)

Post by **Bad Player** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:23 pm

Kindaichi OPs have been kinda... >_>

If nothing else, hopefully this new anime has good ones ^^"

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:30 am

There were quite some good opening... Brave, meet again, Justice ~ Future Mystery (sung by Conan!) are okay and Kimi ga iru kara.. is probably the best known of all the openings (My favorite song is Justice for True Love, but that one is not as well known because it's the ending of the second movie).

I am actually quite surprised seeing Agi (Amagi) tweet that they just started doing voice acting for R today! (https://twitter.com/agitadashi/status/4 ... 2491393024) Man, production cycles on these things must be killer.

Post by **Bad Player** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 12:36 pm

I like the song Brave, but the other songs are kinda eh, and even then the visuals for all of them are still pretty eeeh >_>

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:36 am

There were quite some good opening... Brave, meet again, Justice ~ Future Mystery (sung by Conan!) are okay and Kimi ga iru kara.. is probably the best known of all the openings (My favorite song is Justice for True Love, but that one is not as well known because it's the ending of the second movie)

Kimi ga iru kara has a very sweet melody. But come to think of it, I don't really remember the others (I've yet to see the most recent episodes, though, and I often skip the beginning).

A bit of news :

http://kfrfansub.netne.net/

It looks like the new series will be 26 episodes long, which more or less matches Ash's count of leftover episodes. BTW, I really hope Rosenkreuz's mansion will get an adaptation, I love the premise of that one ! New teaser, also :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCUF5QRdY-U

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:48 am

There's more to be found on the official site: http://www.ytv.co.jp/kindaichi_r/index.html

It will start tomorrow with the Kowloon Treasure Murder Case (four episodes).

Kiiinda disappointing they start with this story. It was originally written specifically for the live action special, and as such, it feels quite a bit different from 'normal' Kindaichi Shounen stories. Ah well, I see they did clean up the character designs though, Miyuki doesn't look like a dead doll anymore like in the manga adaptation of the story!

Post by **Bad Player** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 11:52 pm

so much haipe

As long as Itsuki shows up at some point I'll be good.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 10:26 am

Not much to say about the first episode; it's quite faithful to the manga, IIRC. Love how the show feels mostly just like a continuation of the previous series (which is also the reason I have to get used to that new main theme music...).

Edit: BTW, the show will stream on Chrunchyroll!

Rubia Ryu the Royal · Post by **Rubia Ryu the Royal** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 4:27 pm

I don't know if I should start up a new topic about it, but I've started reading Tantei Gakuen Q, after hearing that it was written by the same author for Kindaichi Shounen. And needless to say, I'm loving it already. I've yet to warm up to the characters themselves, but the entrance exam alone was enough to keep me going. I'm only on chapter 4, but I think I'll be speeding through to the latest soon enough.

But then I'd like to ask. I've never actually read (or at least I don't remember reading) any Kindaichi chapter, so how would it compare to TGQ? Thanks in advance.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 6:28 pm

Tantei Gakuen Q has longer shories, shorter stories, code cracking stories, humorous stories, long serial murders, everything. Kindaichi Shounen is a lot more strict with its structure (long serial murders. And it's always for revenge). Which has its own charms, as there's usually more build-up for each story and tricks tend to be a bit more 'bigger', on the other hand, a lot of the Kindaichi Shounen stories of the last few years do feel a bit dependent on just a gimmick trick, which is hardly enough for a story somewhere between 200~400 pages. TGQ is the more consistent series in terms of quality. With Kindaichi Shounen, the template is more or less the same for every story, so it's easier to notice when something goes wrong (and vice versa, by the way).

Both series are kinda set in the same world though. I remember TGQ's Saburoumaru appearing in... Kindaichi Shounen's The Alchemy Murder Case, I think, and there's an inspector too who appears in both series...

And shameless plugging: short reviews for all of the TGQ manga in three parts! (part one, part two and part three)

Post by **Bad Player** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 1:52 am

Man, sub groups work fast. Can't even finds raws of the new episode!

I haven't seen the live action version or read the manga version of the case, so... can't comment much. A Miyuki lookalike? Well... not as bad as Conan, where there are, like, five people who all look exactly like Shin'ichi running around by now. We've only seen the first death, but it reminds me of the poisoning death from the French coin case.

Probably not going to watch anymore, since I like reading mysteries more than watching them. ...Or at least, if I watch it, I'll wait a bit, so I can watch entire cases at once, rather than having to watch each wait for the conclusion xP

OP is probably the best Kindaichi OP yet. For once the visual component isn't terribad! ~~Except there was no Itsuki. So disappoint.~~

Also I haven't read all of TGQ (up to but not including the "collector" case), but what I read was pretty good. So I'd definitely recommend it.

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 1:23 am

Rubia Silve Ryu wrote:I don't know if I should start up a new topic about it, but I've started reading Tantei Gakuen Q, after hearing that it was written by the same author for Kindaichi Shounen. And needless to say, I'm loving it already. I've yet to warm up to the characters themselves, but the entrance exam alone was enough to keep me going. I'm only on chapter 4, but I think I'll be speeding through to the latest soon enough.

But then I'd like to ask. I've never actually read (or at least I don't remember reading) any Kindaichi chapter, so how would it compare to TGQ? Thanks in advance.

I'm no fan of TGQ's characters and overrall prefer Kindaichi's more down to earth and realistic ones. TGQ is very anime-ish in this regard. But when it comes to pretty much everything else, TGQ is miles better than Kindaichi. The writer really went out of his way to keep everything fresh. I started watching it with no prior knowledge, and I was repeteadly amazed by :

Spoiler:

Also, as pointed out earlier, TGQ does make big efforts to find original motives for the killer, to conceal the killers' identities and to find new tricks. I love Kindaichi, but the series is so formulaic that I'm never surprised by the whodunnit or howdunnit. But hey, many won't agree with me and in any case it's a solid series, so give it a try !

Post by **Bad Player** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 3:21 am

You're not surprised in the howdunnits in Kindaichi? But that's the whole point! (I mean the motive is the same every time, and the killer is almost always a one-time throwaway character, so... what's left?!)

It turns out the raws of the Case series I had on my comp were in Chinese. However, I may or may not have come into possession of proper Japanese raws today

What the heck is with Fumi, though... It seems like she just came out of nowhere. Was she introduced in the drama or anime between the File and Case series, or am I missing something, or what? (Dat name pun, tho.)

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:19 am

Fumi first appeared in the short stories. She was introduced... in that one story I can't remember the name of, but with Hajime and Miyuki staying in Hajime's uncle's holiday lodge park for Christmas.

Anime-continuity is different though, she appears very early there...

Shtak · Post by **Shtak** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:27 am

Bad Player wrote:You're not surprised in the howdunnits in Kindaichi? But that's the whole point! (I mean the motive is the same every time, and the killer is almost always a one-time throwaway character, so... what's left?!)

It turns out the raws of the Case series I had on my comp were in Chinese. However, I may or may not have come into possession of proper Japanese raws today

What the heck is with Fumi, though... It seems like she just came out of nowhere. Was she introduced in the drama or anime between the File and Case series, or am I missing something, or what? (Dat name pun, tho.)

Aha, well I might have exaggerated a bit, the tricks in the wax dolls and the graveyard island stories did surprise me

but the way the tricks are used suffer from the same issue as the killer's identities : there's almost always a scene/line that will feel forced or out of place, in the sense that it brings too much attention on an event, alibi or a minor character, or because the direction suspiciously tries to conceal some things. And I know during this kind of scene that the writer is trying to trick me, and what's being said will turn out to be the complete opposite.

For example, in the early case of the

Spoiler:

:

Spoiler:

Agatha Christie's stories tend to suffer from this, too. TGQ, John Dickson Carr's books and Detective Conan (the early cases, at least), not so much.

Is Fumi a new character in R ? Did you like the first episode ?

Post by **Bad Player** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:13 pm

Ash wrote:Fumi first appeared in the short stories. She was introduced... in that one story I can't remember the name of, but with Hajime and Miyuki staying in Hajime's uncle's holiday lodge park for Christmas.

Anime-continuity is different though, she appears very early there...

Ah. Dark Wikipedia volume list xP Looking at the release dates of the tankobon, it seems like the short files and case files were interspersed with each other...? Bah

Shtak wrote:For example, in the early case of the
Spoiler:
cat burglar
:
Spoiler:
I knew right off the bat that there was no way Kindaichi's friend's attack was real, since the real killer just never misses, and also because the writer obviously wouldn't tell us in the first episode the fact that the killer was male and tall, according to the "victim's" statement

I thought that too, but because for whatever reason it felt similar to me to

Spoiler: A certain S.S. Van Dine book

Also Fumi is Kindaichi's cousin. She's already in the regular anime :P

Hatshinit · Post by **Hatshinit** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:51 am

Man this new anime is lifeless as hell...

Post by **Bad Player** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:59 am

Hatshinit wrote:Man this new anime is lifeless as hell...

And I wouldn't want my murder mysteries any other way

*rimshot*

Hatshinit · Post by **Hatshinit** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:04 am

Bad Player wrote:
Hatshinit wrote:Man this new anime is lifeless as hell...
And I wouldn't want my murder mysteries any other way

*rimshot*

There was a guy saying "don't tell anyone or it will cause panic".... WHILE BEING FILMED. Also it's so obvious the culprit is Ran and this will go on for what, 2 more episodes? Is this a joke? I'm just waiting for another case and what do I see... They will re-air one of the (not so good) OVA. Nice.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 6:46 am

Did some reading the last few days:

Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R 1: the currently running series, which lends its title to the TV show. Hajime and Miyuki work a part time job during a test panel for a ski resort. Of course, murder happens. Or does it? This story, while doing nothing really surprising for the series, has some points of interest, as it deals with disappearing people and bodies, so it's never really clear whether something really has happened (of course, considering this is Kindaichi Shounen, something has happened). In fact, I liked this opening story better than most of the stories in the 20th Anniversary series.

Oh, and funny that they used the opening scene of this story, as the opening scene of the currently running TV show!

Takatoo Shounen no Jikenbo (AKA Takato's Side): hey, you can read it for free through Kodansha's MangaBox (even in English!). But I wouldn't. Granted, the idea of an one-shot exploring Takato sounds alluring, but the result is 1) a story that is basically the same as the Seven School Mysteries of Fudou High (Takato joins magic club at school, upperclassmen get killed in locked room and disappears...), 2) with a trick so easy to see that you'd hardly need Takato for that. Pretty disappointing.