Detective Conan OVA 3: Conan and Heiji and the Vanished Boy

Alt title: Meitantei Conan OVA 3: Conan to Heiji to Kieta Shounen

OVA (1 ep x 24 min)
2003
3.706 out of 5 from 1,615 votes
Rank #3,096

Ran and Conan have been invited to visit Osaka by Heiji and Kazuha. Once there, they run across three children - Mayumi, Mikihiko, and Kenta - who have an uncanny resemblance to Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta. The trio is searching for their friend Satoshi who has gone missing, and they want Heiji's help to find him. Soon, our detectives discover that Satoshi's disappearance may have something to do with a bank robbery that happened earlier in the day. It's a race against the clock to save Satoshi before it's too late!

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Reviews

sothis
5

StoryOn my quest to add every Detective Conan OVA to the database, I inevitably ran across Detective Conan: Conan and Heiji and the Vanished Boy (aka Detective Conan OVA 3); while the most sentimental yet of the Detective Conan OVAs, it also proved to be one of the less interesting attempts. The first problem is the story: while only thirty minutes in length, it's disjointed and somewhat random. Conan and Ran have traveled to Osaka and, as always, run into a mystery they can't refuse. First, they meet three children who have a strange resemblance to their friends at home. Is there a reason for this? No, not really - which makes me wonder why Conan's creators chose to include this plot element. The children ask for help finding their missing friend; and thus, the rest of the OVA is filled with Conan's typical sleuthing skills as he tries to track down where the boy might be. Though attempting to figure out where the boy's "secret place" is located using clues is interesting on some levels, I just wasn't able to actively engage with the story. I'm not sure if it was because watching Detective Conan OVA 3 felt like watching any-other-Detective-Conan­-episode, but nevertheless the story didn't thrill me. Easily, Detective Conan OVA 3's main redeeming value came from its sentimental conclusion; it's not something you can necessarily figure out on your own, but is endearing enough to elicit the faintest bit of empathy towards the young boy.Fans of Detective Conan episodes will appreciate the OVA's story; others will probably be bored, confused (due to the lack of introduction to the franchise) and uninterested. AnimationAs with every Detective Conan title, the animation is passable and perfectly fine, but not groundbreaking or breathtaking. Detective Conan OVA 3, specifically, has better overall colors and saturation, so the score is bumped up a bit. SoundThere's not much to say about the audio in any specific Detective Conan OVA; each has a borderline-cheesy soundtrack filled with jazzy tracks that help accentuate its story. While the audio serves as a decent complement to the investigations and deductions, it isn't memorable or spectacular.CharactersIt's difficult to write the same text for each Detective Conan review I write; the usual characters such as Conan and Ran are exactly like they are in the series - not much else needs to be said.My main gripe with Detective Conan OVA 3's characters is the seemingly random introduction of the three children. What was the point of making them look like their friends back home? Was it to help you empathize with their plight? Was it simply a random decision that was meant to have more meaning than I gleamed from it? They are essentially a red herring, as you spend the entire time wondering if there's a hidden truth behind their existence. Minus points for that. The villains are one-dimensional and forgettable, with no exceptional or memorable qualities. OverallDetective Conan OVA 3 is one of my less favorite OVAs in the franchise. The characters appear to have been thrown in randomly as an unimportant red herring, and the villains and final "reason" for the mystery were uninspiring. While a brief amount of sentimentalism is helpful, I'd venture to say that only hardcore Detective Conan fans would find this to be a worthwhile watch.

DGFischer
7.9

The third Detective Conan OVA, Conan and Heiji and the Vanished Boy, is a light-hearted attempt at creating a dual reality of characters from Tokyo and Osaka.  For Conan and Ran are visiting Osaka, guests of Heiji Hattori (the only teen-age detective who's figured out that Conan is Shinichi Kudo) and Kazuha Toyama.  Listen carefully for the Kansai dialect they use.  But the animators for this OVA practice the fine art of cloning characters.  And this for the comic touch for a serious enough mystery. Look for these doubles, for the characters alter their persona for comic effect.  For Conan finds three kids who look eerily like his comrades from the Detective Boys, Ayumi , Mitsuhiko, and Genta.  But Mayumi is tomboyish and a touch coarse.  Mikihiko is not that bright.  And Kenta shows more observational skills and doesn’t obsess on eating.  These three Osakan kids have a problem.  Their friend Satoshi has gone missing and has left cryptic clues to his whereabouts.  It is up to Conan and Heiji to combine their detective skills to find Satoshi (who, as you might guess, wears glasses, but is more sensitive than analytical). It's the duplication of characters that made the story unique.  But it is the interplay of Conan and Heiji that makes the story jump; Heiji and Kazuha are the Osakan version of Shinichi and Ran.  The Conan complication is the heart and soul of the Case Closed franchise, as all Conan can do is watch Ran pine for Shinichi.  And the OVA is a nice break from the murder, the mayhem, the search for the operatives Gin and Vodka from the Black Corporation, the coping of the teen sleuth in the kid body, the longing of Ran for Shinichi.  Just a neat, clean story about a kid who ran afoul of bank robbers who needs a little rescuing. The music connected to this OVA is not as polished as those chosen for the series.  Still, the OVAs are new approaches to different types of crime and encounters between rivals.  This enriches the whole Conan experience.

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