Detective Conan: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper

Synopsis

The first theatrical Detective Conan film, released in April 1997 to coincide with the television anime's first anniversary, established the franchise's signature model for theatrical storytelling: a large-scale urban threat forcing Conan and the regular cast into a scenario exceeding the scope of any television episode. Directed by Kenji Kodama with screenplay by Kazunari Kouchi, the film opens with a bomber issuing threats to destroy a series of prominent newly constructed skyscrapers across Tokyo — modernist landmarks embodying Japan's postwar architectural ambition. Conan must trace the perpetrator's identity through planted evidence, deductive leaps, and physical confrontations, working against a countdown deadline that the film sustains for tension across its 95-minute runtime. The procedural structure mirrors the television series but scaled for cinema: the mystery is more elaborate, the stakes are citywide, and the climax demands Conan operate across multiple simultaneous locations. The film's box-office success established that Detective Conan could sustain annual theatrical releases — a pattern that has continued for nearly three decades and made many entries among Japan's biggest animated films of their respective years.