“Now, what will the modern day Sherlock Homes do about it?”
The thief and the detective, a constant struggle between good and evil, and this time is no different. Jimmy Kudo was an average high school detective until an evil origination made him take a poison that reverted his age. Now Jimmy goes by the name Conan Edogawa, to conceal his true identify. Conan still solves crimes, but he does it with the help of detective Richard Moore. When Conan solves a case, he uses his stun gun/ wrist watch to knock out Richard and with his voice synthesis bow tie he uses Richard’s voice to tell others. This case is like none other – Conan is going against his arch rival, the Phantom Thief Kid, who is trying to steal a rare Fabergé egg, the Memories egg, which once belonged to Czar Nicolas II of Russia. During the Kid’s first attempt, he was shot in his right eye, but due to the fact that the the bullet hit the Kid’s monocle, it is unknown if he is dead or alive. The Memories egg was retrieved undamaged, but that may not be a good thing. As more people who want the Memories egg turn up dead by being shot in their right eye, it would seem that some one will stop at nothing to retrieve this egg.
Highlights
The name Last Wizard of the Century is not referring to the Phantom Thief Kid, nor does it even refer to this or the last century, but it refers to the man who made the Memories egg. This man was a fan of making clockwork and other types of mechanical toys. At a toy show in the late 19th century his clockwork toys where so incredible he was given the title ВОЛШЕБНИК КОНЦА ВЕКА, which translated from Russian means the Last Wizard of the Century. Although his toys were incredible, his greatest masterpiece was the Memories egg. Inside of the egg is a gold statue of Nicholas II and his family reading a book, and on the bottom of the egg is a small mirror. This is no normal mirror, but it is a magic mirror, that when a light is reflected from the bottom of it a picture appears, and this picture is of Yokosuka Castle, the home of the last wizard of the century. Although some of the contraptions made by the last wizard of the century may seem improbable and or impossible to make, they are so magical that you won’t really care, that’s how this movie casts its spell on you. All of this Russian history added something special to the story for me. Often you will find some historical context to an anime story line, but in this case it was great to learn about some history other than Japanese. I had heard of the Fabergé eggs from my Grandmother, but never really understood what made them special. Now I know.
Overall
Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century is an amazing movie. The phantom Thief Kid is awesome; he is clever and charming, and he reminds me of some other great thieves from anime, such as Lupin III, and Jin King of the Bandits. This movie is very layered. It isn’t only about a thief and his treasure, it also goes into the death of the royal family of Russia, the fall of the Russian Empire, and Rasputin’s revenge. All of these things might seem overwhelming but it’s not; it is all very fluent and cohesive and well put together. One thing that was disappointing was the fact that The Phantom Thief Kid wasn’t really in it as much as I would have liked, but I enjoyed what I did get of him. This is a movie full of magic, and adventure, and one of my favorite Case Closed stories.
ComicsOnline gives Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century 3.5 out of 5 deaths.
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