Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target

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Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target
Theatrical release poster
Kanji名探偵コナン 14番目の標的(ターゲット)
Revised HepburnMeitantei Konan: Jūyon-banme no Tāgetto
Directed byKenji Kodama
Written byKazunari Kouchi
Based onCase Closed by Gosho Aoyama
Produced by
  • Masahito Yoshioka
  • Michihiko Suwa
Starring
CinematographyTakashi Nomura
Edited byTerumitsu Okada
Music byKatsuo Ono
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • April 18, 1998 (1998-04-18)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥1.85 billion[1]

Case Closed: the Fourteenth Target, known as Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target (名探偵コナン 14番目の標的(ターゲット), Meitantei Konan: Jūyon-banme no Tāgetto) in Japan, is a Japanese animated feature film based on the Case Closed series. It was released in Japanese theatres on April 18, 1998. The English version was released on DVD on November 20, 2007, by Funimation. The film grossed ¥1.85 billion in Japan.

Plot

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Rachel has recurring nightmares about her mother Eva being shot, which connects to a past incident where Eva was accidentally wounded during a police standoff involving Richard and a criminal named J.T. Morono. While Rachel struggles with the truth, Richard and Conan become involved in a string of attacks linked to playing cards left at crime scenes.

The case intensifies when friends and acquaintances of Richard—including golfer Henry Tish, sommelier Kevin Simms, and businessman Christopher Aston—are targeted. At the AquaCrystal complex, several murders occur, each tied to the spade suit. Suspicion initially falls on Morono, but Conan deduces the real killer is Kevin Simms, who faked being a victim.

Kevin’s motive stems from losing his sense of taste after an accident caused by Nina Oliver and his resentment toward others in his circle. Using bombs and staged traps, he attempts to eliminate his targets and escape, but his plan collapses. Richard subdues him, ensuring he faces justice.

In the aftermath, Rachel reconciles with Richard, realizing his actions years earlier were to protect her mother. A final scene reveals Eva left Richard not over the hostage incident, but because of his harsh criticism of her cooking.

Playing card symbols

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See also: Japanese numerals

During the course of the film multiple characters are represented by a certain number from a standard deck of cards. The playing cards are all spades, which represents death. The victim's name, clue left behind, and the connection with the number are all displayed below in the chart. Since the English adaptation has changed names of the characters, the corresponding relationships between the character and the numbers were changed accordingly.

Card number or name Victim's name (English version) Connection to the number (English version) Victim's name (Japanese version) Connection to the number (Japanese version) Clue left behind
Joker J.T. Morano His nickname in the casino is "joker". Jyou Murakami (村上 丈, Murakami Jyō) Same as in English.
Number 13/King Of Spades Joseph Meguire His name has 13 letters. Juzou Megure (目暮 十三, Megure Jūzō) First name is "thirteen". The King's Knife/Dagger
Number 12/The Queen of Spades Eva Kaden Her first name means "Queen" in other languages. Eri Kisaki (妃 英理, Kisaki Eri) 妃 means "Queen" in Japanese. The Queen's Flower
Number 11/Jack of Spades Hiroshi Agasa He has 11 patents on inventions. Hiroshi Agasa (阿笠 博士, Agasa Hiroshi) 士 is a combination of the kanji of ten (十) and one (一). The Jack's Royal Sceptre
False Number 10 Tammy Diez Her last name is the number ten in Spanish. Towako Okano (岡野 十和子, Okano Towako) Her name contains the kanji for 10 (十). No clue exists
Number 10 Henry Tish, pro golfer He is currently ranked as the 10th best Golfer in the world. Hiroki Tsuji (辻 弘樹, Tsuji Hiroki) 辻 contains the kanji for 10 (十). The Ten of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 9 Chris Ashton, developer
(The Hotel Tycoon) 		His holdings include nine important buildings in the city. Katsuyoshi Asahi (旭 勝義, Asahi Katsuyoshi) 旭 contains the kanji for "nine" (九). The Nine of Spades in a normal set of playing cards
Number 8 Kevin Simms, sommelier Attended a culinary school with an eight-year program. Kouhei Sawaki (沢木 公平, Sawaki Kōhei) 公 contains the kanji for eight (八). The Eight of Spades in a normal set of playing cards
Number 7 Nina Oliver, model Has modeled since she was seven. Nana Osanai (小山内 奈々, Osanai Nana) Nana is a Japanese reading of seven. The Seven of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 6 Emilio Cantore, photographer He has six children. Eimei Shishido (宍戸 永明, Shishido Eimei) 宍 contains the kanji of "six" (六). The Six of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 5 Richard Moore His last name has five letters. Kogoro Mouri (毛利 小五郎, Mōri Kogorō) 小五郎 contains the kanji for "five" (五). The Five of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 4 Peter Ford His last name has four letters. Peter Ford (ピーター・フォード, Bītā Fōdo) Last name (Ford) has phonetic similarity to "four." The Four of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 3 Inspector Nicholas Santos He is the third child of three siblings, each of which were born three years apart. Ninzaburo Shiratori (白鳥 任三郎, Shiratori Ninzaburō) 任三郎 contains the kanji for "three" (三). The Three of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 2 Mason Norfolk, food writer Wrote two books. Minoru Nishina (仁科 稔, Nishina Minoru) 仁 contains the kanji for "two" (二). The Two of Spades in a normal set of Playing Cards
Number 1/Ace of Spades Jimmy Kudo He is the number one detective,
Also number one in other things. 		Shinichi Kudo (工藤 新一, Kudō Shin'ichi) 新一 contains the kanji for "one" (一). The Ace of Spades in a set of playing cards

Inspiration

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The plot of the film is a combination of two Agatha Christie mystery novels. The A.B.C. Murders is an Hercule Poirot mystery where the murderer seems to be picking victims based on the alphabet, just as people are being targeted in this film based on numbers in their names. It contains the same revelations that the murderer is only establishing a pattern to confuse detectives, and is willing to kill victims unrelated to his true motives in order to maintain the ruse. The other novel is And Then There Were None, where various people are invited to a secluded island and killed one by one, with the murderer actually being one of the party. In a nod and possible clue to viewers, Conan mentions a type of wine that Poirot drank in Death on the Nile.

Cast

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Character Japanese English
Conan Edogawa Minami Takayama Alison Retzloff
Shinichi Kudo / Jimmy Kudo Kappei Yamaguchi Jerry Jewell
Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya / Mitch Tsuburaya Ikue Ohtani Cynthia Cranz
Kogoro Mouri / Richard Moore Akira Kamiya R. Bruce Elliott
Ran Mouri / Rachel Moore Wakana Yamazaki Colleen Clinkenbeard
Genta Kojima / George Kojima Wataru Takagi Mike McFarland
Ayumi Yoshida / Amy Yoshida Yukiko Iwai Monica Rial
Sonoko Suzuki / Serena Sebastian Naoko Matsui Laura Bailey
Inspector Meguire Chafurin Mark Stoddard
Dr. Hiroshi Agasa Kenichi Ogata Bill Flynn
Detective Ninzaburou Shiratori / Detective Nicholas Santos Kaneto Shiozawa Eric Vale
Tammy Diez Miyuki Ichijo Carrie Savage
Emilio Cantore Kenji Utsumi Christopher R. Sabat
Kevin Simms Ryuusei Nakao Chuck Huber
Mason Norfolk Hirotaka Suzuoki Jason Liebrecht
Peter Ford Andy Holyfield John Swasey
Eri Kisaki / Eva Kaden Gara Takashima Julie Mayfield
Nina Oliver Maya Okamoto Luci Christian
Henry Tish Takashi Taniguchi Troy Baker
Jake Marano Eiichiro Suzuki Troy Baker

Production

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Theme Song

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"Shōjo no Koro ni Modotta Mitai ni" (少女の頃に戻ったみたいに, lit. "Like I was a young girl")

Lyrics by: Izumi Sakai / Music by: Aika Ohno / Arranged by: Daisuke Ikeda / Performed by: Zard

Soundtrack

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Masayoshi Takanaka (lead guitar), Ken Yoshida (bass), and Nobu Saito (percussion) are in charge of the performance of "Detective Conan Main Theme (Target Version)". In addition, T-SQUARE's Takeshi Ito ("Conan passes", "Aqua Crystal", "Into Aqua Crystal", "Frustration"), Casiopea's Tetsuo Sakurai ("Aqua Crystal", "Into Aqua Crystal"), George Yanagi ("KIZUNA (vocal version)") is participating.[2]

Box office

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At the Japanese box office, the film earned a distributors' income (rentals) of ¥1.05 billion,[3] and a total box office gross of ¥1.85 billion.[1]

Home media

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VHS

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The VHS of the film was released on April 14, 2002.[4] It was discontinued soon after 2006 as it was switched to DVD.

Region 2 DVD

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The DVD of the film was released on March 28, 2002.[5] A new DVD was released on February 25, 2011, significantly lowering the original price and added the trailer as a special feature.[6]

Region 1 DVD

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Funimation's English dub of The Fourteenth Target was released on November 20, 2007. Due to the Americanization of the majority of the character's names, most of the explanations for names have been changed. The ending of this film as well was changed to an endless loop of police cars with their lights from the final scene with the credits displayed over it.

Blu-ray

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The Blu-ray version of the film was released on June 24, 2011.[7] The Blu-ray contains the same content of the DVD plus a mini-booklet explaining the film and the BD-live function.[7]

Reception

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Anime News Network's Carlo Santos gave a mixed review of the film, saying that while it makes for "a good action-suspense movie with a clever mystery setup", he found fault in the dub transition of the story and ended saying: "In short, it's one of those movies that just happens to be a really long TV episode."[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "名探偵コナン：劇場版新作が興収60億円突破 シリーズ最高記録を更新". MANTANWEB (in Japanese). 2016-06-06. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  2. ^ "大野克夫* - 名探偵コナン 14番目の標的 オリジナル・サウンドトラック". Discogs (in Japanese). 15 April 1998. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  3. ^ "Highest grossing movies of 1998" (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  4. ^ "Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target VHS". Amazon.co.jp. 14 April 2002. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  5. ^ "Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target DVD". Amazon.co.jp. 28 March 2002. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target DVD (New)". Amazon.co.jp. 25 February 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target" (in Japanese). Being Inc. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  8. ^ Santos, Carlo (January 1, 2008). "Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target - DVD". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
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