Meitantei Conan Movie 15: Chinmoku no Quarter

Once again we dive right into another Detective Conan movie, and coming off of the amazing Raven Chaser and Lost Ship in the Sky, this movie has some pretty big shoes to fill. Did it's snowy setting pull off another great story? ...pretty well, but lets elaborate the truth, shall we? Story (7/10): After an almost fatal bombing on a newly opened subway line occurs, Conan believes there's a connection to a dam building project that relocated an entire village 5 years ago, and the whole gang (minus the police department characters) end up traveling there. They are then met with some freaky coincidences thatcould lead to the culprit in this case. But just what is that persons goal, and what does a coma patient have to do with it? As a story for a movie, this feels a bit underwhelming, but by no means is the story itself bad. In fact I would say that it's the one of the more well done stories in a Conan movie to date, utilizing the time correctly and using the movie exclusive characters very well. The bad thing though is that it does feel like a longer episode of the main show, so there's a bit too much padding to fill out the almost 2 hour time frame. The movie also tries to bring up the Shinichi/Ran romance, but where it fit almost naturally into the previous movie, here it feels tacked on for the sake of having it just be there. Also I hope you're a fan of the Detective Boys, cause they play a larger part here than in more recent films, but even I, who isn't really a big fan of them, have to admit that they added a certain charm to the story itself. Otherwise I feel like the story moves along fairly well and the climax is really amazing, so kudos (heh) for holding itself up to the better standards of the last few movies. Art (8/10): I get the feeling that the staff who works on the movies is getting more into doing action scenes, since they were better than ever. They must have had fun with all the snowboarding scenes because hot damn were they fluid and exciting. The snowy village location was also really nice to look at, though this does cause the problem of the film being very white and pale colored heavy. Sound (7/10): I'm not going to rehash anything, since sound is pretty much the same in most Conan movies by now. But as usual, it was great (an much better timed with things compared to the horrendous job done in the last movie). Character (7/10): Conan/Shinichi, is, as usual, great, along with a bit more screen time for Ai, but since they really don't have too many character moments themselves, lets focus on the others. As I said before, the Detective Boys are actually fairly important in this movie, so I hope you have a soft spot for them (me personally, I don't really like them all that much, but they have their moments). But thankfully, they fit in very well with the plot and they are played up with their strengths, making them much more tolerable than in other films. Agasa, Kogoro, Ran, and Sonoko, on the other hand, are just sort of thrown into the movie and don't really do all that much, one of the unfortunate trends that the movies tend to have. (If you're wondering, Conan movies have the bad tendency of only focusing on one set of secondary characters, so one movie (Rave Chaser) may focus on the police characters, one (Jolly Rodger of the Deep Sea) focusing on Ran and Sonoko, and this movie on the Detective Boys, where the other set(s) feel out of place or underutilized. ...rant over, I promise.) The movie characters, thankfully, are fairly strong and are fun to watch. While they aren't too amazing (they do have the standard feel of a Conan case character), special note goes to Touma, who is fairly interesting and probably could have had more screen time on his own, but for what we got he was interesting and helped with some interesting parallels with Conan, Ai, and the Detective Boys. Enjoyment (8/10): Going into this movie, I had no idea what I was in for. All I knew was that there was a snowy location and...that's it. But I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. While I do think that they could have made the film a slight bit shorter, it was entertaining and a totally fun watch. Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence is a fun ride from start to finish, though it doesn't feel quite as strong as the two movies prior to it. But that doesn't matter as much since the mystery was interesting, the action fun, and it gave some characters some time to shine. While some things are the same as ever, it's still a fun movie for fans and non-fans alike. 7/10 = fun movie with an interesting mystery and good action, but just doesn't feel as strong as some of the better entries in the movie franchise; you better like the Detective Boys, because they're partial headliners here

This film proceeds exactly like the few other films before it where Conan faces off against the perpetrator alone and gets shot at a few times. However this movie seemed the most mundane. You think the bombing of the tunnel and the dam are going to be some huge thing, only it's because someone wants to drain the water to find his diamonds. That's it. The rest of the movie more or less plods along with a death here and snow antics there. Even the start of the film turns out to be "not such a very big deal" and only marginally related to the caseof blowing up the dam. Then there's the fat shaming humor between Genta and Agase that happens and it seems like it's going to be a clue or something and it isn't. So it just sticks out randomly like a PSA. The part where Mouri hits on Mizuki also seems way out of place. Telling her that she'd look pretty without glasses that pops up later at the end. People have to wear glasses you know, not everyone can wear contacts. However THAT is a clue. Still it seems like the dragged and dropped those bits into the movie than making them fit in. In the end the "Quarter of Silence" is in reference to the 15 minutes you have to find someone in an avalanche. Which only happens to Conan AFTER everything is over and the perp is found out. Also they act as if it's a hard and fast rule. 15.01 is too late, GAME OVER. When it could be less than that or more than that depending on the person. Really the only thing this movie has going for it is Touma, the fluffy little snowflake he is. That's only because I like Miyata Kouki too. Otherwise this is another mediocre film.

Detective Conan Movies Rewatch Before Watching Movie 26: Movie 15 This movie took the Mission Impossible aspects of movie 14 and ramped up even further. Our beloved hero is now going full Tom Cruise mode and doing impossible stunts throughout the movie, and I'm all for it. In addition, the stakes were raised to the point that it felt like our hero wouldn't be able to save the day, which made the movie more thrilling than most other DC movies. However, despite all the action sequences, this movie also had a lot of heart. The movie tackled subjects of friendship, maturity, and family more than a typicalDC movie by actively exploring the original characters while paralleling them with our main cast. We see Conan and Ai acting like parents. We see Ran's care for Shinichi and Conan. We see how the original characters quarreled with each other. While the relationships and the characters depicted were surface-level, this was more than enough for a shonen movie. All this balanced with one of the most thrilling second halves of DC movies made this one of my favorite DC movies ever despite the case being somewhat average. 9/10

Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence has an interesting premise for an anniversary film. Instead of starring the Black Organization or Kaito Kid, the fifteenth installment of the film franchise instead opts for a more unorthodox perspective: that being Conan and his friends having fun at a snow festival... all while the looming danger of a local dam threatens to destroy the town and everyone inside. Hey, that's how it be sometimes. For the majority of the film, Conan and the gang get to chill and have fun experiencing the wonders of winter. To be fair, there hasn't been a Conan film so far that hasbeen set in a snowy environment. As such, it wins points for originality. That said, it mostly feels like we're waiting for something to happen rather than doing anything about it. While it does pick up later on, the movie seems to be spending more time meandering around the town bumping into convenient clues that eventually lead to the case being resolved. Like The Darkest Nightmare, mystery is not the focus of this film. Even though the majority of the second act is dedicated to frolicking in a winter wonderland, it does have a silver lining. Let's just say that a certain character appears who is crucial to the resolution of this case. His development as he tries to cope with reality is probably the most intriguing aspect of this film. Had it not been for this character, Conan and everyone else would've just been playing around in the snow the whole time. Of course, when the movie does pick up, it picks up really fast. The third act is easily the best part of the film as everything that has been building up to this point has finally been resolved and we are treated to some of the best action scenes that has ever come out of the movies so far. If there is anything that is worth sticking around for in this film, its the climax. When it comes to the art, the character models are on point and the environments are well detailed. The snow effects and the establishing shots in this films are very well done. That said, the running cycles do appear to be inconsistent with the ground they are running on. It's hard to explain, but you'll see what I mean. The music is still as serviceable as ever, but this time we get treated to two very prominent tracks: White Crisis and the Quarter of Silence Ballad Version. Both tracks are very good and worth listening to by themselves. In conclusion, Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence is a movie that's... okay. Not too good and not too bad, but still memorable enough to be worth mentioning. Definitely the kind of movie to watch during Christmas season, like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or The Day After Tomorrow (okay, maybe not that last one). Either way, be sure to bundle up when watching this winter-themed movie (preferably with hot coco and a warm fire).

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