Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire is the 23rd film released for the Case Closed franchise, and it was released to Japanese theaters on April 12, 2019.

Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire
English Publisher: Discotek Media
Format: Blu-ray
Release Date: July 26, 2022

The film takes place in Singapore, which is where a karate championship that Sonoko’s love interest, Makoto Kyogoku, is participating in is taking place. His sponsor, a lawyer named Sherilyn Tan, is murdered after meeting with a former criminal behavior psychologist named Leon Lowe. During the investigation, one of Kaito Kid’s “calling cards” is found in the elevator where the murder apparently happened.

Kogoro, Ran, Sonoko, and Conan are invited to come and cheer Makoto on in Singapore. Unfortunately, Conan, doesn’t have a passport to be able to travel overseas. Before the others leave, Conan is knocked out and kidnapped. When he comes to, Conan finds himself in a suitcase without his glasses or his gear. When he gets out of the suitcase, he discovers that Kaito Kid is posing as Shinichi and has snuck Conan into Singapore because Kaito Kid wants Conan to find out who has framed him for murder. In order to hide the fact that Conan is with them, Conan takes on a new identity as a child from Singapore named Arthur Hirai. He claims his parents are out of the country and that he has been left alone. He is invited to spend time with Ran and the others.

In addition to clearing his name for the murder, Kaito Kid is also interested in The Fist of Blue Sapphire, a jewel that is being used in the belt that will be awarded to the winner of the karate championship. It’s also established that Leon, who is in charge of guarding the belt, wants to get a hold of the Fist of Blue Sapphire for himself. Leon’s not confident that his champion and bodyguard will be able to beat Makoto during the competition, so Leon uses what he knows about psychology to try to convince Makoto to drop out of the competition. After Sonoko is hurt, Makoto blames himself and drops out, which frustrates Sonoko and puts her relationship with Makoto to the test. At the same time, Kaito Kid is trying to get the sapphire, and in the process of the attempted heist, he finds himself being framed for a second murder.

As usual, Conan finds the clues he needs and pieces everything together to figure out the truth behind the two murders and how they’re connected with The Fist of Blue Sapphire. The story contained a few twists, and a twist would usually pop up around the time that I thought that perhaps I might have figured out the truth behind the case.

I liked seeing the relationship between Sonoko and Makoto playing an important part in the story. Makoto is a character who appears occasionally in episodes of the Case Closed anime series, so it was a nice change to pace to see him as a featured character in one of the films. I was also happy to see another Case Closed film that utilizes Kaito Kid in a major role, and that he’s in a role where he wasn’t the main villain.

When it comes to the Blu-ray release, it has 1.77.1 16:9 / 1080p High Definition video. The audio includes English DTS-Master Audio 5.1, Japanese DTS-Master Audio 5.1, and Japanese DTS Master Audio 2.0. I had no complaints with either the video or audio quality for this release. For extras, the Blu-ray included a trailer for Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire, as well as two teasers for the film.

It should be noted that the outer slipcase labels the release as Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire, but the cover artwork on the Blu-ray box itself and the Blu-ray Disc labels the film as Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire.

If you’re a fan of the Case Closed anime and are trying to acquire home video releases for the series, I would recommend acquiring this release of Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire for your anime library.

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