Let Detective stories do what they want

[KuudereKun]

I've ranted before about how Detective Fiction seems to have less permission to break its perceived Genre Rules than any other Genre, even before I got into Detective Conan in early 2022. Since then I’ve become more of a fan of this genre and become even more passionate about the opinions I expressed back then.

Now the Detective Conan aka Case Closed franchise has plenty of cases that will satisfactorily play by the rules these critics care about so much, in fact other people praising this franchise online will praise it on exactly those terms. But thinking about this genre in its specific Anime forms has brought another argument to my attention.

I’ve recently a seen few YouTube videos explain how no Mecha Anime is actually about the Mecha (I would argue Robotics;Notes is but it's definitely unique) in response to all these noobs who think Eva or something else is oh so innovative for being “a Mecha show that isn’t about the Mecha”. I don’t think how much a given Mecha is or is not about the Mecha should matter to its quality, but it is telling. Normally we understand that certain Genres refer to plot devices or narrative framing devices now what the individual story is actually about.

Mysteries however are treated the opposite, one that doesn’t treat getting the mystery itself right as it’s number one priority is considered to have been badly written. And the rules they care about so much are in tension with each other, they want there to have been a fair chance for the reader to have figured it out before the answer is formally revealed, but at the same time it’s bad if it’s too obvious. Striking the balance is rewarding, but it shouldn’t be an absolute requirement.

Well the first and fourth Detective Conan movies are two of my favorite Detective Stories ever written and yet they fail this metric in opposite ways, almost as a perfect case study.

Naturally I am about to Spoil those two movies. You have been Warned. (Detective Conan does technically have a SciFi element.)

In The Time Bombed Skyscraper it’s really obvious, Leo Joel looks like a villain the moment we meet him and the only Red Herring provided is a Cop which you should never expect a Detective franchise this mainstream to be willing to commit to. It doesn’t matter because the real drama of the film is about other things and then Leo Joel simply is a very good villain, he’s basically Howard Roak of The Fountainhead and I hate that I can lead with that when recommending the movie to people since it’s technically a spoiler.

Captured In Her Eyes has the other issue which is ultimately the one people hate more, there is no fair chance at you solving the mystery on your own, the killer winds up being someone never even presented as a suspect. But it's fine because who the killer is is even less what the movie is actually about then the first one. And in the English Dub the killer is voiced by John Michael Tatum so once he takes his mask off he’s a lot of fun.

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[Nealithi]

While I am unfamiliar with Detective Conan, let me pose some counter arguments for debate.

Genre is not too specific generally. A mecha anime as you used in example is rarely about the mecha. It includes the mecha. Like sci-fi includes extra science elements but does not have to focus on them. It is set dressing. A way to put a concept forward and examine it. Measure of a Man is about exploring what creating artificial life will mean. The space ships are set dressing for this episode.

But a mystery is about that examination. If the mystery is weak then it fails the genre. Like a court room drama that does not involve police, lawyers, or court rooms. How is it a court room drama?
That said you can have other stories inside those stories to flesh them out and make you feel for the characters. Take Law & Order, one of the original detectives left and Lenny Brisco came on board. The mystery itself was secondary to introducing Lenny and showing who he was as a character. They still had their case. But it was more a framing device. Like as flippant as he might seem, commenting on the uniform police going to a donut shop. It also showed he was very observant. "It matters when they have powdered sugar on their ties."

[KuudereKun]

In a Detective story what matters is that I buy that the Detective solved the mystery, calling it cheating when they couldn't have solved it themselves is what I'm railing against.

[Nealithi]

In a Detective story what matters is that I buy that the Detective solved the mystery, calling it cheating when they couldn't have solved it themselves is what I'm railing against.

Ah I misunderstood the problem.

Consider however that for some reason they cannot solve it properly. There was a crushing episode of Law & Order where someone was killed. I know shocking. The one eye witness was a homeless woman that had given a loose description. The detectives found someone they liked for the killing. A man with secrets. They eventually lock him in prison to hold onto him. Then they find the witness who says the man they got is not the right one. But when they go to release him from prison he had been killed for his pudding cup. Because the detectives went the wrong way in their investigation.

I think a problem with detective shows is they start with an interesting premise and after a while it can get pretty silly. Numb3rs, CSI both come to mind as they lost their initial premise or could pull 'evidence' out of thin air.