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Detective Conan Films Get Ranked By Onscreen Property Damage

For many years, Detective Conan movies have been an annual opportunity for the series to indulge in high-stakes, adrenaline-filled action set pieces. On one hand, they're satisfying films that offer a different experience from the TV series, but on the flip side, some of the more extravagant scenes depict a level of destruction that would be very costly if they were to happen in real life.

Amid all the social media chatter around the release of Detective Conan: Kurogane no Submarine (Iron Submarine), the 26th film in the franchise, one viral Twitter post adopted an amusing premise: ranking the films by the level of onscreen property damage. Juntoku Yoshizawa, a foreign investment consultant, tallied up the score based on viewings of the previous 25 films.

映画コナンの被害額TOP10：

劇中で被害が確認できた動産・不動産ですが、何回やっても『紺青の拳』の被害額がバグってしまいます。

2021年『緋色の弾丸』はランクインですが、2022年『ハロウィンの花嫁』は大規模除染費用ぐらいで、ランキングTOP10圏外か。

2023年『黒鉄の魚影』に期待？です。 pic.twitter.com/6xYE6xrtdr

— 吉澤準特｜ロジカルシンキング＆図解 (@juntoku_y) April 1, 2023

Yoshizawa found that the top spot went to Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire (Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire), the 23rd film, which first opened in Japan in April 2019. This film was the clear winner at 639 billion yen (about US$4.8 billion), mostly because it portrayed the destruction of Singapore's resort area, including the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the Gardens by the Bay.

The film is set in Singapore, and was the first Detective Conan film set outside of Japan. Singapore's famous Marina Bay Sands is the site of a murder case in the film. The plot involves a large gem known as the "Blue Sapphire," which sank to the bottom of the ocean at the end of the 19th century. The film centers on Kaitō Kid, Makoto Kyōgoku, and Conan Edogawa. Makoto, an undefeated karate master with 400 wins, confronts Kid as Kid tries to steal the Blue Sapphire. Meanwhile, Kaitō Kid brings Conan to Singapore against his will.

Second place went to Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence, which depicted the destruction of the Kitanosawa Dam, modeled after the real-life Kurobe Dam. This dam alone would have cost 215.4 billion yen (about US$1.6 billion), for a total of 219 billion yen (about US$1.63 billion). This was followed by Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet, where the destruction of the 150 billion yen (about US$1.1 billion) stadium accounted for the 171 billion yen (about US$1.3 billion) cost.

Yoshizawa told the web news outlet Maido na News that he used a simple formula to calculate the property damage costs. He ignored historical examples of property damage costs and calculated purely based on the construction fee and the market value. He remarked that Detective Conan was able to unhesitatingly depict this level of destruction because it's an anime.

Yoshizawa previously went viral last December after he calculated that Detective Conan's Beika Town has a murder rate 10 times that of Venezuela and 2,000 times that of Japan as a whole, based on 2020 crime statistics. Incidentally, his favorite Conan film is Case Closed: The Crimson Love Letter (Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter), which blends karuta, mystery, and romance.

Detective Conan: Kurogane no Submarine opened on April 14 and ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 2,176,407 tickets to earn 3,144,638,7340 yen (about US$23.4 million) in its first three days, making it the best three-day opening for the franchise. The film earned 64% more in its first three days than the previous film, Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween.

TOHO is aiming for the new film to be the first in the franchise to earn 10 billion yen. But will that be enough to make up for the fictional property damage?

Source: Maido na News via Livedoor News, Hachima Kikо̄