Those mad lads did it! I'm not sure if this was always the intention or if these episodes were a direct response to the first batch of episodes that TMS put out, but it looks like more episodes of Detective Conan have been adapted that now add some much-needed context. The Black Organization season was an interesting experiment where specific episodes were released that pertained to a particular theme. Those episodes revolved around moments where Conan directly confronted members of the Black Organization, the main overarching villains of the entire franchise. On paper, it made sense given how bloated with filler the anime is, but it fell short a little bit due to the season also seeming to skip events and character introductions that those episodes directly referenced. Those episodes seemed to capstone at the climax of one of the first major arcs in the series, but instead of going forward with the next major arc about the Black Organization, TMS decided to go backwards and adapt other key canon episodes that now fill in the gaps, adding that much-needed context that I and a lot of fans were probably missing.

The name of this season, Rivals Of The Great Detective, is accurate, as the theme of these episodes is introducing key figures in Conan's life that will play a part in the series down the road. During the season, we get a more proper introduction to the kids Conan needs to interact with at his elementary school, his parents, and his main rival, Heiji Hattori. Almost all of these introductions stem from the fact that people are looking for Shinichi because he is presumed missing while he is under the appearance of Conan. The idea is that Conan is still keeping his identity a secret so that the Black Organization doesn't show up to finish the job since the poison that transformed him into a child was originally supposed to kill him.

Now, you might think that adapting episodes that have next to nothing to do with the Black Organization might mean that we're getting away from what makes Detective Conan interesting. However, I would argue that this selection of episodes does a better job of establishing what Detective Conan's main appeal is, the mystery and character drama. The relevancy to the overall story is in the introduction of characters that will become mainstays moving forward. In fact, these characters make appearances in episodes that relate to the Black Organization, or we get introduced to plot points that remain relevant to the franchise to this day. Granted, the way we get introduced to things can feel very forced. Sometimes the setup for an episode can be “Someone gets suspicious of Conan, so let's introduce a case or random plot point that conveniently lets him also dodge suspicion." For a series all about logic and mystery, there sure are a lot of random happenstance.

Despite the setups, we have much stronger mystery episodes that feel engaging and fun to listen to. The mysteries aren't really of the variety where the audience can piece together what happens themselves, as oftentimes characters will need to explain how the bad guy committed the murder, but there's something about the way that the episode is paced that keeps things very engaging. There's also a good level of creativity to a lot of these murders that definitely throws realism out the window, but it's still fun to imagine if someone actually did commit murders like this in real life. Detective Conan in a lot of ways is a throwback to a lot of old-school mystery novels, which weren't always the most realistic, but they were fun and creative.

The advantage of cutting out all of the filler from the anime is to reduce the opportunity to feel bored. Even if you're not attached to the mystery itself, the characters these episodes introduce or the drama between the characters still keep you engaged. I like Heiji as he's a bit more of a hothead version of Conan. I like the levity that the elementary school friends provide, and one of the specials in this season introduces a fan favorite character who even has his own separate series. I do wish Ran were given more to do. Sometimes I worry that her main role in the story is to be gaslit by everyone into thinking Conan isn't Shinichi.

The animation quality feels just as strong as the Black Organization episodes. Netflix still seems to be using the upscaled remasters, so everything looks crisp and clean. I even noticed some fun camera angles that play around with audience expectations. The special Kaito episode of this batch of episodes is probably the best the series has looked outside of the movies. Combine that with the classic score, and this season is just a great time from beginning to end…in a vacuum.

Probably the biggest issue with this season is how it relates to the previous one. I can understand why TMS didn't want to go back and add episodes to the Black Organization season that were released on multiple platforms. The problem is that right now, we have a really awkward way to watch the early episodes of Detective Conan officially. If you want the proper watch order for the series based on this particular release, you need to watch the first few episodes of the Black Organization season, jump over to watching all of this season, and then go back to finish the rest of the Black Organization episodes. I won't pretend to know the logic, but it feels like it would've been narratively stronger to add the introductory episodes to this batch of episodes, put out this season first, and then put out the Black Organization episodes.

This release also makes me curious what TMS plans to do moving forward. Will they release more setup and character-focused canon episodes before getting back to the Black Organization, or will they go back and forth? Maybe we'll have episodes focusing on the police force? Will there be a new season that releases all of these episodes in the proper watch order? It comes off as a bit of a logistical nightmare, but at least we have these episodes in a format at all, because it is still better than the alternative of trying to license and dub thousands of episodes.

Speaking of the dub, it is still very strong. All the returning cast members still sound great, and I'm glad that we get to hear more of Mauricio Ortiz-Segura as Shinichi. The new cast members also do a good job of portraying the different elements of their characters. Interesting choice to have Ortiz-Segura also play as the mysterious Kid, but he sounds distinct enough without giving away too much about who he is, and I really like Nazeeh Tarsha as Heiji. The only downside of the dub is that it falls into a similar issue that the Black Organization dub did with regard to characters that have specific linguistic quirks. In the Black Organization episodes, there was a character named Jodie who was an American and spoke English, but that didn't exactly translate to an English dub, so they didn't address it. In this case, we have characters like Heiji, who is supposed to have a very particular accent that makes his dialect distinct compared to everybody else. This comes up a few times and even becomes a plot point later on in the series. The equivalent would have been probably to give Heiji a bit of a country or southern accent, but instead, they omit an accent entirely.

The focus on the mystery gave the dub staff the ability to flex a little bit with cases that revolved around specific Japanese language and terminology. Some cases pertain to notes written in Japanese or the specific meanings of words. Kudos to the dub staff for making these cases sound natural despite the switch over to English. There was never a point where I felt like I was taken out due to the script writing.

I'm glad we have more Detective Conan. I want more Detective Conan. The future of the franchise is a little weird and inconsistent, especially since it seems like the movies are still coming out with a separate cast. But I am glad we live in an era where Conan seems to be gaining more popularity. The release is a little bit messy, and the future still seems uncertain. Still, that's better than not getting any of these episodes with the quality that we have at all.