The luscious hills of Koumi Island are one of many reasons tourists pay its shores a visit—a reason that comes second only to its scenic coral reefs and the legend of Anne Bonnie and Mary Read. The museum that houses the cutlass and pistol of the daring pirate duo does wonders for the small island's tourism.
On a trip to the island, the famous Kogorou Mouri is joined by his daughter Ran, her best friend Sonoko Suzuki, the Detective Boys, and Conan Edogawa. Following a mix up at the hotel regarding their rooms, the group encounters treasure hunters and becomes acquainted with the island's treasure fever. Sent on a hunt of their very own, the Detective Boys scour the isle; while in far harsher waters, Conan discovers a murder. The police, following a clue from a recent robbery, arrive soon after, and Koumi is plunged into chaos.
What follows is a mad dash by not only the treasure hunters but also the inhabitants of Koumi to secure Anne and Mary's long lost booty. All the while, however, Conan, Kogorou, and the police search for the one thing far greater than riches—justice.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Yo ho, yo ho, a detectives life for me! ...uh...anyways. The Detective Conan movies are a yearly tradition that can either be an amazingly fun ride or just a slightly longer episode of the show, depending on the strength of the story itself. Jolly Rodger in the Deep Azure? ...kind of in the middle, I'd say. Story (6/10): As per usual for a Conan movie, it starts out with the whole gang (Conan, Ran, the Detective Boys, Hakase, Sonoko, and Kogorou) going somewhere, in this case an island that has the claim to fame of having the cutlass and pistol of famous female pirates AnneBonnie and Mary Read, and supposedly a treasure left behind by them is somewhere on the island. This means our heroes end up entangled in a treasure hunt, treasure hunters, and the usual wacky antics before the mystery reveals itself: where is the hidden treasure and what is it?
Honestly the story here is pretty weak and you'll figure out the mystery itself pretty quickly (ironically an English speaking audience can figure it out most of the clues faster than the main cast). The 'twist' on the treasure is also pretty easy to see coming. (I'd even go so far as to say that watching One Piece or the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie will have clued you in as to what it is.) Most of the characters introduced are either OK to annoying, and the villains are weak, especially for a Conan movie, where the villains are meant to be interesting. I won't say that the story itself is bad (there are some cool moments), but it's a fairly middle of the road movie for the series.
Art (6/10): While the art is really no different from the show, the movies still do bump up the animation enough for the action scenes. The background of the island is pretty bland though. When I heard the title, I was thinking more ocean scenes and underwater stuff (though to the movies credit, there are some pretty neat diving scenes), not 'tourist island'. Otherwise it all looks OK.
Sound (6/10): I almost wish they added POTC style background music, cause otherwise this was pretty average. The normal Conan anime tracks play and while they still are awesome, I honestly kind of wanted more swashbuckling style music for a story centered around pirates and a treasure hunt. (Call me a cheesy chick but come on!)
Character (6/10): As I mentioned above, we have the normal Conan characters showing up and it's pretty standard that there isn't anything stand out to mention about them, so for the sake of the review I'll ignore the normal cast and talk about our movie cast, save for 2 at the end.
The movie cast is honestly really damn boring. There's the 2 treasure hunters who are assholes (guess who the villains are?), a plain tourist department head who barely shows up, the 2 diving instructor girls are basically drive by characters for how fast they become unimportant, and the one interesting character is the inn owner that the group stays with. If you've seen the show (or even the other movies), these characters are pretty bland and not that fun to watch. While nothing is really wrong with them, they just feel like they only need to be in the story for about 5 minutes, not the entire film.
But at least Ran and Sonoko get to be cool in this film! Yup, for once our 2 high school girls get a little development and get to show off their friendship for the viewers, so at least that was a treat.
Enjoyment (6/10): Yeah...this wasn't a bad watch, but I've had more fun watching other Conan movies. This one just seemed to drag and by the end I was looking at the time-stamp to see how much left I had. I did have fun with the last 20 minutes of the movie, but that's out of an hour and 41 minutes. :/
Overall Detective Conan: Jolly Rodger in the Deep Azure is a pretty average movie and nowhere near the best that the Conan movie series has to offer. The story itself is pretty bland, lacking the normal coolness or sense of intrigue that others have, with a just there set of movie characters, and a fairly weak story resolution. If you're a fan of the series, give this a watch when you have time, but I would say check out the other movies.
6/10 = a fairly average Conan movie with an OK plot, but nothing spectacular to warrant any rewatch value; while not fully recommended, it isn't a bad movie if you have time to kill, though Conan fans will probably be bored quickly
vivigorousjammer
August 28, 2014
Mixed Feelings
The story in this Detective Conan film is a bit of a mixed bag. There's plenty of thrilling action scenes that are really fun and exciting to watch, but in-between all of that is a pretty lackluster treasure hunt mystery. While I won't spoil the solution for you, I will say that it's not quite as ingenious or well-written as many of the other solutions in the main show. This left the story, as a whole, feeling kind of average and lackluster. The art is along the same lines, as well. During those action scenes, there's some really impressive stuff, but in-between those scenes, it lookedabout on par with what you'd see in an episode of the TV series in 2007 (when the movie was released). Now, the TV series doesn't look bad by any means, but I would expect a bit more detail from a feature film. Unfortunately, we only get that extra detail in the opening scene, and a few others, leaving the art also feeling like a mixed bag.
Sound design is well done. Sound effects are loud and booming when they need to be and adds to the experience, giving it that real theatrical feel. The soundtrack is pretty standard and the same as it commonly is. I believe the only new piece of music is the ending theme, but I didn't much care for it. Voice actors do a fine job, as usual. Nothing too surprising here, but a solid job on the audio side of things.
The main cast are all just as fun and charming as they are in the main series; however, the new characters that they introduce for this story end up falling kind of flat, and feel very forgettable.
Overall, this is a fun, simple film that is a good watch if you're a fan of the series. However, it feels less like a big, theatrical production, and more like just another filler story of the main series with a few theatrically produced action scenes thrown in for good measure. It's not bad by any means, and I enjoyed parts of it, but as a whole it fails to impress me all that much, and thus, it gets a 6 out of 10.
AcActionManonAnime
April 5, 2019
Recommended
Of all the Detective Conan movies out there, it is commonly agreed upon that Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure is the weakest film in the entire catalog. No big action scenes, no international stakes, and an overwhelming lack of fan-favorite characters. It's just Conan and the gang solving pirate-themed riddles at a small tourist island with the possibility of finding some lost treasure. While I wouldn't recommend this movie to people who want more action and fan-favorite characters in their movies, I will say that Detective Conan: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure is still a fun and silly little adventure film that's stillworth being remembered.
One of the things that I like about this movie is how it incorporates the pirate-themed elements in its mystery. Beginning as an innocent game of scavenger hunt only to turn into something much bigger is pretty well done. The way the movie parallels Ran and Sonoko with the pirates Anne and Mary is extremely silly, but fitting. The way Conan is given so much authority in the later parts of the movie is absolutely bonkers (it just works, okay?). In the end, I'm still confused about how much the culprit knew about the treasure in the first place. That said, one aspect that I find to be really worth mentioning is that not once does Ran whine for Shinichi to come and save her. Given who she is and how often she does it, it almost feels like something is wrong with her (crazy, right?). Music and animation are nothing to write home about; if you watch the anime, then you know what you're in for.
In the end, this isn't the kind of movie you watch for the thrills or fan service. This is the kind of movie that you watch on a lazy afternoon. Given this movie's reputation, I don't expect everyone to agree with me. The only consolation I need is the knowledge that I reviewed this film and judged it all on my own.
Not Recommended
From the beginning to the end it was predictable, boring and downright repetitive to what you normally see in the series or extras or OVAs. The theme is pirates with the sentimental of friendship and judging by the movie cover illustration it's focused on Ran & Sonoko. That didn't even turn out to be the focus point it was implied on doing. Mainly another story of "bad guy" taking advantage over brains of the mighty detective but getting played in their own little game (which probably describes MOST story plots). The touching moments with friendship and love was... dim, it was present but to sayit didn't stand out at all is an understatement.
Also questioning why some characters were even there, it was hardly necessary for them to be present, I think they just put them in there to extend the time of the movie.
And that's just for the story; animation wise, your eyes get attacked by a crowd of 3d models walking on the streets which movements looked horrendous (like a beginner attempting at string puppeteering for the first time). But yeah, bottom line; I've seen more treasure hunting story plots in the anime series that were more exciting and well done than this piece. Hardly enjoyable, they could've done better, but see for yourself.
