Detective Conan: Japan's #1 film runs on cinema screens in the UK this weekend

From Friday the 27th and the weekend, Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram will air in UK and Irish cinemas. Detective Conan has never done that before.

The Sherlock Holmes Museum and local businesses in London’s Chinatown are sponsoring to make this happen. I’ve tickets to see it on Sunday, here in Edinburgh, home of Arthur Conan Doyle.

It’s a big deal. This long-running franchise is significant in Japan, and this feature-length is the highest-grossing hit of the year: 6 weeks at number 1 and 10.8 million tickets sold.

Gosho Aoyama‘s original manga, sometimes called Case Closed, is often labelled a modern Sherlock, and Sir Arthur’s work influences the series.

With over 270 million manga copies sold, the story of Shinichi Kudo, a teen detective transformed into a child, has captivated audiences worldwide. The franchise includes a long-running anime, record-breaking films, games, and a recent National Gallery collaboration, showcasing its enduring popularity.

Trinity CineAsia shared the official synopsis;

Shinichi Kudo was a brilliant high school detective until one day he was turned into a child by the mysterious Black Organization. Taking on a new identity as Conan Edogawa to protect those close to him, Conan now pursues the Black Organization in hopes of finding the cure to bring him back to his teenage self.

When a calling card belonging to the legendary Kid the Phantom Thief is found in a warehouse belonging to an illustrious family in Hokkaido, Conan’s interest is piqued: why has a great thief well-known for his pursuit of precious gems set his eyes on swords dating back to the great Edo period? Meanwhile, the discovery of a body with a cross slashed across its chest leads to the “Merchant of Death”, an arms dealer who has his eyes set on an even greater treasure. With Conan and his fellow detective Heiji Hattori both hot on his trail, the exciting battle for treasure begins!

If you can find a local cinema, you’ll have a 15-rated animation, which is shy of two hours, and in Japanese with English and perhaps Chinese subtitles.