Should Detective Conan have ended a decade ago? 

Are you still waiting for Conan to return to Shinichi form after nearly 30 years? Or for Mouri Ran to finally discover the truth about the little boy, Edogawa Conan? Me? I’m done waiting. 

With Detective Conan, the new movie 28: One-Eyed Flashback smashing Japan’s box office last month, it’s clear that the franchise’s popularity is unstoppable. But popularity and purpose are two distinct entities. While the new movie delivers its trademark nostalgia and suspense, let’s be honest – the emotional pull often comes from side stories and cases about Conan’s friends rather than the actual main plot. Sure, they’re intriguing and keep fans smiling, but they also distract from what really matters: the long, painfully slow battle with the Black Organization. The result? The central storyline I’ve been waiting decades for gets buried under a mountain of charming but ultimately irrelevant mysteries. I have to ask: Is it really time for Detective Conan to finally bring Shinichi’s story to a close?

I’ve followed Detective Conan since childhood – every deduction, every twist, every inch closer to the truth. Gosho Aoyama’s storytelling once kept me hooked with razor-sharp plotting, but after decades, the series has dragged on far too long. The main plot – the main conflict between Conan and the Black Organization has slowed to a crawl, buried under endless filler cases.

According to Anime News Network, Detective Conan dominated Japan’s box office in 2024. Commercial success? Absolutely. But commercial success doesn’t equal great storytelling. The greats know when to bow out. Death Note ended at its peak, cementing its stories at the perfect moment and leaving a lasting legacy. Conan? Not so much. Fans often say, “But Shinichi hasn’t turned back yet!” My take? Spiritually, he already has. We don’t need to see him change back to feel that the story has reached its emotional peak.

Detective Conan has stretched on for decades, and has over 1000 episodes aired in Japan without a true conclusion. Many fans watch out of habit or nostalgia, holding on for a payoff that may never come.

“Ending at the right time isn’t the end of love – it’s what makes it forever gorgeous.”

So, what do you think? Should Detective Conan keep churning out case after case indefinitely, or is it finally time to close the book on Shinichi’s detective journey?