TMS, please get all of Detective Conan (Case Closed) legally streaming in the U.S.

This is the one franchise where I'm not even all that interested right now in demanding more content be Dubbed.  That fact that so much isn't even Subbed in any official capacity in my country still there is no excuse for.

It's really frustrating that Crunchyroll has the first 123 episodes and everything from 754 upwards, but nothing in-between.  That's almost 16 years of Detective Conan history. 

In my opinion the best eras of the show are in those in-between years, from the introduction of Ai Haibara to the Mystery Train arc. That includes the Vermouth saga, the Kir saga and most of the Bourbon saga. Countless compelling Kid episodes, most of the Columbo episodes I'm currently aware of and a number of special 2 hour episodes that are arguably more like what many people want a Detective genre movie to be then the more action oriented theatrical films. 

I still enjoy the show but feel there is a spark it's lost as Gosho has really dragged out the Rum arc. The first 123 episodes are mostly all Classics, but none of the really compelling worldbuilding and main storyline stuff had started yet. 

I have on this blog tried to prioritize what is more legally accessible when making recommendations to people for potential entry point episodes.  But my actual top 20 maybe even top 50 episodes of the show are probably all in that era the official localization skips over. Everything that truly makes the show Great not just an above average mystery show is in that era. 

Ironically what I've seen form this era is mostly stuff relevant o the main plotline(s) however faintly or at least based on Manga Chapters, most of the Anime Original Episodes I've seen are from the first 134 episodes which I watched all of or from randomly watching more modern episodes on Crunchyroll. But I do know this time period contains a lot of Anime Original Episodes from the two writers who wrote the movies I like the most, so those are episodes I've been meaning to check out. 

Update June 26th: Turns out Progress is being made.

https://tmsanime.com/news/detective-conan-coming-to-crunchyroll-netflix

I am NOT claiming credit for this, this almsot certainly had to in the works already before I posted this.

I am technically disappointed it's only a curated selection and not all of them.  I say let the Dubs be a select Few but please Sub all of them, even the most disliked expendable Anime Only Filler.

As far as the movies go only one will ever be up on YouTube at a time which is how they intend to keep us incentivized to buy Physical Releases and/or digital copies.  And Black Iron Submarine isn't among the first confirmed.

The distinction between Best and Favorite.

Is something I believe I've talked about on this blog before.  What I actually consider the best of a series is not always the same as my personal favorite. That's not a denial that what I consider the best is still itself an ultimately subjective opinion, but often what I personally enjoy rewatching the most isn't what I consider the most flawless.

When it comes to long running Anime franchises with a lot of movies like Lupin III, Detective Conan aka Case Closed or Pokémon, what I consider the Best is a more consistent opinion as my personal favorite may fluctuate. 

And a third distinction I like to make with those is what movie makes the most ideal entry point to the franchise.  For each of these (almost) every movie can be a perfectly fine entry point, none of them are bogged down by continuity (the most recent Conan films kind of are, but not too much). But I'm still able to consider some better at that specifically then others. There is a bad entry for Lupin III actually, never under any circumstances let your first impression of Lupin III be Castle of Cagliostro, it is antithetical to everything Lupin stands for.

With Lupin The Third the Best and the most ideal entry point are the same, the film known as both The Secret of Mamo and The Mystery of Mamo. But my personal favorites tend to be among the TV Movies.  Missed by A Dollar is the one I've been calling my favorite lately. Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid is of those Lupin III stories where he's going after something we're told the original Arsene Lupin also went after the one with the best understanding of the original Arsene's character.  But The Secret of The Twilight Gemini is the best at drawing on a specific classic Arsene Lupin story (Teeth of The Tiger).  The Columbus Files is one I'm maybe biased for because it happens to be the first one I ever watched early in my Anime fandom, but it did hold up on my recent rewatch.  

For Detective Conan the ideal entry point is the first movie, The Time Bombed Skyscraper.  The best is the third The Last Wizard of The Century, and in this case the best may also be my favorite.  However three other candidates for my personal favorite do exist, movie 4 Captured In Her Eyes, movie 5 Countdown to Heaven and movie 11 Jolly Roger in The Deep Azure.

With Pokémon I am hard pressed to consider any a better entry point then the others.  The best is definitely the third movie Spell of The Unown. But I often feel most compelled to rewatch either Pokémon Heroes Latios and Latias or Mewtwo Returns. 

How my Anime Fandom has shifted

There were a few times back in 2016-2019 when I would question if how All In I'd gone on Anime might wind up being a phase.  I can now confidently say it hasn't, it's here to stay.

What I have become is less motivated to keep up with currently airing seasonal Anime.  I'm down to only three for Spring 2025 and there's really one 1 confirmed to be airing then each from Summer and Fall I'm planning to watch, Rent-A-Girlfriend season 4 and Spy x Family season 3. And I was starting to sense this trend during 2024 as well.

There is no active dislike for anything, I do not intend to start saying that Anime is bad now.  

No I've simply build up a big enough frame of reference that I now chill out on feeling the need to up my numbers on the Database sites, for now Anilist is my default.

https://anilist.co/user/KuudereKun888/

I will continue to expand what I've seen.  There are up coming shows I'm excited for.  And older shows I haven't finished yet I want to add to when I find time. But I'm now ready to focus way more on revisiting what I'm already a fan of deepening my familiarity with them.

It's not that nothing has changed about the state of current Anime, things are always changing, and I do think there is a good chance I will in the future be seeing the Fall 2023 season as either the first or last season of it's era.  But rather then viewing them as changes for the worse they are just changes to a state I'm less personally engaged by, for now at least.  I'm happy for all the people who think now is the most exciting era to be into Anime in ages.

What's interesting though is how even the Isekai coming out I've become more selective of what to check out.  I was one of the biggest apologists for the Genre at even it's most "generic" and still am for everything I have seen, but maybe now I'm finally feeling the fatigue with the Genre so many others were feeling 8 years ago.

Another thing I remember about 2016-2018 was how I was a big advocate for the Slice of Life and Cute Girls Doing Cute Things genre in it's purest most strictly defined form.  I talked about how something like Lucky Star is what I've secretly always wanted to write even back when I didn't know it was already an existing genre.  And the thing is I still do, but at some point I stopped actively watching those shows.  Part of it was them becoming less common as it felt like the first half of 2018 was the last time we had a bunch.  But I also failed to devote any rewatch time to Lucky Star (A show I for a time labeled my second favorite Anime) or Yuru Yuri, and instead found myself spending more time with what are simply the Anime versions of more conventional Genres.  And now this season I was watching Mono but put it on hold.  A number of things I put On Hold I'm likely to return to, but no guarantee. 

So that is something I plan to return to.  Though first I want to devote a good chunk of June to Queer and Magical Girl Anime.