“The Million Dollar Star” marks the fourth installment of the “Detective Conan” saga released in French cinemas this Wednesday and the twenty-seventh in the franchise in Japan. We find the miniature hero with glasses and his faithful acolytes for a new investigation into the brazen theft of swords by Kaito Kid, one of the little detective’s favorite enemies. The team embarks on a real treasure hunt: what dark story is hidden behind these century-old blades?
As a reminder, the man who calls himself Detective Conan owes his childish size to a poison injected when he was a high school student by the Organization of Men in Black, one of whose criminal schemes he spied on. A drink that he survived, at the cost of his adult size. If his body has shrunk, his brain has not regressed, and the little investigator puts his extraordinary alertness at the service of the truth.
However, in this film where a host of characters parade, especially male, the eponymous vigilante rarely takes center stage and works in a group, with his lifelong partners, like his friend Heiji. On the program, action, romance, all in the island setting of Hakodate, in the Hokkaido region of Japan, with an often catchy soundtrack for the fight scenes.
It is not said that the most novice will not get lost in this story with multiple twists and turns. But for connoisseurs of the Conan universe and fans of the genre, this animated film will seduce, with several revelations being the key… Screened in the out-of-competition section of the 2024 Annecy Festival, “Detective Conan: l ‘Million Dollar Star’ is intriguing and fast-paced, with sometimes spectacular shots.
The number of admissions exploded in Japan when this opus was released on April 12, as it does every year in the country for “Detective Conan”. “The Million Dollar Star” quickly became the most viewed feature film of the year among Japanese spectators.
On the other hand, the French reception of the previous parts has always been much more timid. And we can wonder what reception will be given to this part, which for the first time will only be broadcast in VOSTFR, and not in VF, even though the franchise was intended to be “all audiences”: a decision which will perhaps put off some. be certain, and which could keep the youngest away.