金田一

AL was amazed to find the Japanese comics Kinda'ichi Case Files (金田一少年の事件簿) on my bookshelf.

I must say the stories of Yozaburo Kanari (金成陽三郎) and Seimaru Amagi (天樹征丸) are far from perfect, and the illustration of Fumiya Sato (佐藤文也) appears monotonous. Nonetheless, for lovers of detective story, there aren't very many choices. (Of course Detective Conan [名偵探柯南] is superior in every aspect, but you need a variety of diet.)

Many detective stories have elaborated tricks, but few authors create adorable characters. As Hercule Poirot once sighed (in The Clocks): our faithful Dr Watson was the real triumph. That's another reason why Detective Conan is memorable: it is all because of Kogoro Mori (毛利小五郎). Is he all that thick ? Or has he actually seen through all the disguise of Shinichi Kudo (工藤新一)?

PS. Kogoro is no doubt a perfect symbol of the boss - taking all the credits, the best contribution he could make is to sit there (asleep !) and do nothing, but you always have the worry that he actually knows what's going on !