Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire

Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire is the first Conan movie that I get super hyped about even since the first trailer and announcement were out. This is the first Conan movie featuring Kaito Kid that I watched. When Kid is involved, the story is usually funny as Kid and Conan will try to outwit each other. Makoto is seldom involved so it is nice to have him featured. This movie is set in Singapore so that is another bonus point for the hype as the trailer really showcases Singapore in an amazing way. Lastly, the movie was originally released in Japan on my birthday so that is another reason for my hype.

The Fist of Blue Sapphire feels like an opposite of Zero the Enforcer. The Fist of Blue Sapphire is much funnier but the action scenes are not as exciting. Despite all the good elements, the story is pretty lousy. The "I trick you and you trick me" plot between the 2 antagonists are so confusing. It does not help that the reasons for the antagonists to commit the crimes are so vague. The pacing is so bad: funny and light-hearted at the beginning, suddenly turn serious and full of expositions/shortcuts to drive the story in the middle, action-packed (although rather flat) towards the end, and then return to funny and light-hearted for the end credits.

This movie is a good example of a trailer that already shows all the exciting parts of the movies and give false expectations of the movies. The trailer is so action packed with Kid fighting Makoto,  Kid getting hurt, Merlion vomiting blood, and all the explosions. In the actual movie, Kid fighting Makoto does not quite make sense as Kid keeps successfully evading Makoto, Kid getting hurt is not that dramatic in the actual movie, Merlion vomits red liquid is only a sign for the antagonist's plot to start, and all the explosions do not give adrenaline rush.

Nevertheless, one thing that the movie really does well is the depiction of Singapore. I think Singapore Tourism Board (STB) should use this movie to promote Singapore in Japan. Haha.. It is a nice touch that they use Chinese, Malay, and Indian names for character names. The English is not that believable but at least they use English speakers instead of Japanglish. Even if you are not a fan of Detective Conan, I will still recommend Singaporeans to watch the movie as it is quite interesting to see Singapore in an anime form.

I think $60 is quite reasonable

Because of my hype, I decided to splurge for the fan screening and meet and greet. I knew about this event quite late and by the time I booked, there were only about 10 seats left which were the first row seats. I was still deciding if $60 was worth spending since I was not impressed with the fan screening that I attended for The Crimson Love Letter. This time I was really swayed by the t-shirt. Since I would get the first row anyway, I decided to buy the meet and greet so that I would be able to see mascots, Kappei Yamaguchi (seiyuu of Shinichi and Kid), and Naoko Matsui (seiyuu of Sonoko) nearer.

I am feeling very emo because I left office at 522pm today when I was planning to leave at 5pm. Although the screening started at 650pm, collection of the goodies started at 5pm and Odex kept emphasizing that the available t-shirt sizes would be first-come-first-serve. I was worried that I would not get M size so I queued for the goodies first before queueing for the mascots. Odex did not even state that there would be opportunity to take photo with the mascots. Sigh.. The mascots only appeared at 6pm. I was quite lucky that I decided to still queue after hearing the staff were saying "5 more minutes" and I was the third last person to take photo with the mascots. Unfortunately, the person helping me to take photo sucked and the photo was not clear. Jeez... I did not have any chance to re-queue or even to change to the movie t-shirt for the photo. Haiz.. Of course looking at the bright side, I should be thankful that I still managed to take photo with the mascots given the circumstances but I can't help to curse myself why I was so stupid to stay so late at the office. I already brought my digital camera so I should have just used that instead of my phone camera as well. Sian..

Part of the meet and greet was lucky draw for 20 shikishis signed by the seiyuus. I was at A12 and A11 got one of the lucky draw. FML! One of the perks of sitting in the first row was during the mass photo taking session, I would be in the first row. I am pissed at the woman that asked the first row people to stand at the aisle. There were some standing spots in the first row (with the mascots etc) and I could have been there. Sad.. Let's see the final photos posted online to see if I am visible enough to see if this was a good or a missed opportunity. The meet and greet event itself was quite badly organised and poorly executed that it felt that the organiser just wanted to milk our money. I am actually quite okay to pay extra $10 for the 15 minutes of meet and greet part. It is possible to maximise these 15 minutes for a more memorable experience for the fans but too bad things did not happen that way.

It is my first time attending this kind of fan event and I admit that I quite enjoyed myself and I would not mind to do something similar again. The fans watching were quite lively so it was laughing or clapping together with others who could appreciate the show or understand the jokes. It is also my first time watching at GV Max. I think the main difference with usual cinema hall is that the distance from the first row to the screen is still quite big. It is not that bad to watch from the first row in GV Max although my neck is still not comfortable la.

Some photos from the event.

The lighting is so dark

The first two people are the seiyuus of Sonoko and Shinichi

The mascots should be lively and expressive la

One unexpected encounter today was the person who checked my ticket for the collection of the goodies recognised my name. He was one of the student volunteers during ASEAN Para Games in 2015. I could not remember him in an instant but after seeing his name tag, I remembered. His hair was different. Haha.. I showed him that yes I eventually remembered him and I showed him the group photo we took previously lol. I am quite honoured that someone remembered me although I feel quite self-conscious given the circumstances. Haha.. I am a closet otaku after all :p

Unfortunately I was cut off from the video and the photos :(

I am barely here.. Sucks.. They should hire a better photographer