Case Closed volume 3
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(quoted from the back of Case Closed volume 3)
In this suspense-filled volume:
Jimmy, Rachel, and Richard take a vacation aboard a cruise ship, but little do they know that the patriarch of the wealthy Hatamoto family is about to be murdered.
With the perpetrator still aboard, can you figure out whodunit before Conan does!?
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Case Closed volume 3 contains:
File 1: The Hatamoto Family
File 2: The Secret of the Locked Room
File 3: Who Gets the Fortune?
File 4: Family Massacre
File 5: Who Rigged the Darkness
File 6: Unattainable Dream
File 7: A Strange Gift
File 8: The Same Person
File 9: The Mystery of August 3rd
File 10: The Nick of Time
End of Volume Bonus Pages
Storyline:
This is definitely the best volume in the series to date. The mysteries are excellent! With two tough cases to solve any person wanting to play a detective will surely be satisfied. Not only that, but the story also gets a face lift once Rachel discovers that Conan might actually be, (gasp!) Jimmy Kudo. These things don't only help increase the suspense and mysteries, they also help increase the depth of the storyline which previous volumes lacked. The only fault I could find in the story was that some of the refreshing plot twists were dropped at the end of the volume, which was a bit disappointing.
Artwork:
Volume 3 manages to keep the exact artwork from the previous volumes. The cartoony drawings that look like they came out of the 80's are a trademark for this series and it keeps the feel of the series unique. The only problem I had with the art was that the cartoony feel doesn't actually fit with the detailed murders that tend to appear left and right in the volume. Although, by volume 3, most people should have gotten used to this.
Characters:
Although Conan's secret is almost found out in this volume the characters really don't get much of a face lift. Actually, the only thing that the main characters have done in this volume is almost realize that Conan isn't who he says he is. But, with a series like this where new characters are introduced every few chapters, while previous ones are being dropped, this is to be expected. Still, it couldn't hurt if the author put aside some time to bring older characters towards a newer layer of depth.
Summary (Warning: May Contain Spoilers)
Since Case Closed is a mystery series I don't want to give away any of the ends to the cases so I'm pretty much just going to summarize each of the chapters and the cases.
In chapters 1-6 the first case about the murder at the cruise ship takes place. Jimmy, Rachel, and Richard are taken aboard the Hatamoto family's private ship because they got stranded when Richard lost track of time. They quickly find out that the Hatamoto family had just celebrated a wedding between Natsue Hatamoto and Takeshi Hatamoto. A quick introduction to the family members takes place around this time: Gozo (the head of the family), Kitaro (married into the family), Joji (2nd son of the Hatamoto family), Ichiro (art student in the Hatamoto family), Mariko (Kitaro's wife, mother of Ichiro), Akie (one of the daughters of Hatamoto family), and Tatsuo (married Akie).
It quickly becomes obvious to Conan that this family has some serious issues. Gozo is always picking on the family members and there is no family togetherness. So it is no surprise to the family when Gozo is found dead in his room. At first, everyone was convinced it was suicide but after Conan led Richard through the case it became obvious he was murdered. The blame quickly went to Takeshi because everyone had previously found out, that night, that he had married into the family for revenge on Gozo. After they locked him up in a cellar, the murders kept happening and Conan went out to solve the case. Was Takeshi the real murderer, or was someone else making it seem like he was the killer?
In chapters 7-10, the second case takes place. These chapters have to do with a surgeon who has been receiving free money and gifts through the mail once a month by an unidentified person. Masayuki Ogawa, the surgeon, had received a total of $25 million yen in the past couple of years and a ton of toys from this person. While Richard tells the man to keep the money, Conan quickly discovers that there is more to this case then meets the eye. After going through Masayuki's records he finds out the real reasons behind the presents and it isn't to say thanks.
(On a side note, during these chapters Rachel starts to realize that Conan is actually Jimmy Kudo! Sadly, this was dropped at the end of the volume.)
Extras:
There are basically three extras included in this volume: an extra section with a few 4 panel comics, a note from the author, and another mystery recommendation. The 4 panel comics actually provided a quick laugh but the other two extras were just wastes of my time, but if you are obsessed with mysteries they might appeal to you.
Content Warnings:
-Language: No
-Violence: Yes
-Nudity: No
-Sexual Situations: No
Overall:
With some excellent mysteries and some unexpected plot twists this makes volume 3 the strongest of the three current volumes out in the U.S. Sadly, the undeveloped characters and the fact that Case Closed will only appeal to certain groups cause this volume to be a bit stale in some areas. Thankfully, any mystery fan should be able to look past these faults and find an enjoyable experience reading this volume of Case Closed.
+ Mysteries that put previous volumes to shame and unexpected storyline twists.
- Characters are still kind of dull and this volume has little reread value.
Score: 7.5/10
