Release
The anime version of Case Closed was announced by Weekly Shōnen Sunday in November 1995. It is produced by Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation and TMS Entertainment.[5][6] Over 1150 episodes have aired in Japan since the anime's premiere on January 8, 1996, making it the fifteenth longest anime series to date.[7][8] Initially, Shogakukan collected and released the episodes on VHS video cassettes from June 1996 to October 2006.[9][10] Four hundred and twenty-six episodes were released on VHS until Shogakukan abandoned the format and switched over to DVDs, starting over from the first episode.[11] For the fifteenth anniversary of the anime series, the series was made available for video on demand.[12][13] The series celebrated its 25th anniversary in January 2021, and the "Moonlight Sonata Murder Case" episode (11th episode of the series) was given the remake treatment as the first part of its celebration, which featured the latest staff and production techniques, and classical pianist Aimi Kobayashi performed Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 for the episode. It aired on March 6, 2021.[14][15]
As of 2018, the Detective Conan anime has been broadcast in 40 countries around the world.[16] The Canadian channel YTV picked up the Case Closed series and broadcast 22 episodes between April 7, 2006, and September 2, 2006, before taking it off the air.[17][18][19] Case Closed was later broadcast in North America on NHK's cable network TV Japan.[20] Hanabee Entertainment licensed the series for distribution in Australia.[21]
In 2003, the first 104 episodes, as well as the first six movies were licensed by Funimation for distribution in North America, under the title Case Closed because of legal considerations.[2][22] The Case Closed anime has also been released in other languages such as French, German and Italian.[23][24][25] Case Closed debuted on Cartoon Network as part of their Adult Swim programming block on May 24, 2004;[26] no more than 50 episodes were licensed from Funimation due to low ratings.[27]
A separate English adaptation of the series was made by Voiceovers Unlimited Pte Ltd. in Singapore.[36] Another one by Animax Asia premiered in the Philippines on January 18, 2006, under the name Detective Conan.[37][38] Because Animax were unable to obtain further TV broadcast rights, their version comprised only 52 episodes.[39] The series continued with reruns until August 7, 2006, when it was removed from the station.[40] Both the Singapore and Philippines versions used Japanese character names.[36] The California-based channel United Television Broadcasting (UTB) aired it with English subtitles from 2011 to 2014, until episode 421.[41][42]
Crunchyroll began simulcasting the series in October 2014, starting with episode 754.[43] In September 2020, Crunchyroll began streaming the first 42 episodes, later adding episodes 42–123 in August 2021 (with any special episodes with an extended runtime that were previously split into multiple parts being presented as they were originally broadcast in Japan).[44][45] In August 2024, Crunchyroll removed the first 123 episodes. In January 2016, 52 episodes of the anime appeared on Netflix, initially under its original title Detective Conan before changing to its English moniker Case Closed. The episodes were listed as "season one", although in reality they are episodes 748 to 799. The episodes were only available in Japanese, but were subtitled. The availability was likely part of Netflix's efforts to expand its anime catalog.[46] In January 2021, Netflix removed the episodes.
It was revealed in February 2023 that TMS Entertainment commissioned a new English dub of Case Closed, with episodes of the anime beginning streaming on Tubi that same month, starting at episode 965.[47][48] This marked the first English dub for the series since 2010.[49] The dub is produced by Florida-based studio Macias Group with a new dub cast (except for the voices of Shinichi, Conan, Ran, Kogoro, and Kaito Kid, whose voice actors were retained from the Bang Zoom! Entertainment home video dubs).[50] However, it is no longer streaming as of February 2025.[51]
On June 26, 2025, TMS revealed that a new English dub of select episodes would launch on Netflix and Crunchyroll in selected territories, including North America under the international title Detective Conan, beginning on July 3 of the same year. The first batch of episodes, Conan vs. The Black Organization, will be followed by four films, also released as Detective Conan on TMS' "Anime! on TMS" YouTube channel in North America within the month for a limited period of time.[52][53]
Films
Twenty-seven feature films based on the Case Closed series have been released. They are animated by TMS Entertainment and produced by TMS, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Nippon Television, Shogakukan, ShoPro, and Toho.[54] The first seven were directed by Kenji Kodama; films 8–14 were directed by Yasuichiro Yamamoto; films 15–21 were directed by Kobun Shizuno; film 22 and 26 were directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa; films 23, 24, and 27 were directed by Chika Nagaoka; and film 25 was directed by Susumu Mitsunaka. The films have been released in April of each year, starting in 1997 with the first film, Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper.[55] The 27th and latest film, Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram, was released on April 12, 2024. The second film and onwards were the top twenty grossing anime films in Japan.[56]
