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Detective Conan Anime Gets Original 4-Episode Kansai-Set Arc in January

The official website for the Detective Conan anime announced on Saturday that the anime will premiere a four-episode original story arc in January 2020. The story arc is set in the Kansai region of Japan and will air for four consecutive weeks. Takahiro Ōkura (Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter, Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire) is writing the original story.

The story arc's teaser visual above depicts the fictional movie Daikaijū Gomera vs. Kamen Yaiba (Giant Monster Gomera vs. Masked Yaiba). The tagline on the visual reads, "A giant monster and a superhero — who will you root for?"

The story arc begins when Conan and others are invited to the press unveiling of the movie Daikaijū Gomera vs. Kamen Yaiba and visit Nichiuri TV in Osaka. During the unveiling, the producer Yonekura dies after getting crushed under a gigantic monster prop in a warehouse. When it turns out that the rope holding up the monster prop was cut by a knife, the Osaka Police determines that this is more than an accident and investigate. The suspects are narrowed down to Yonekura's subordinates. Conan and the others investigate famous locales like the Osaka Castle Garden and Nichiuri TV's new office building (modeled after the real-life YTV broadcaster's new office building that was just completed this year).

Gomera and Masked Yaiba are fictional characters within the Detective Conan story world. Gomera is an homage to the real-life giant monster characters Godzilla and Gamera, while Masked Yaiba is an homage to Detective Conan manga creator Gōshō Aoyama's earlier manga Yaiba and the Masked Rider franchise.

More details will be revealed at a later date.

Gōshō Aoyama's Detective Conan manga series centers on Conan Edogawa, the alias of detective Shinichi Kudo, whose body shrunk after being poisoned at the beginning of the story. Together with detective Kogoro Mori and his daughter Ran, Conan helps the police solve difficult mysteries.

Detective Conan has been running since 1994, and in August 2017 it became the first Weekly Shonen Sunday series to publish its 1,000th chapter. The manga's 96th compiled book volume shipped on April 10. The manga has spawned an ongoing television anime series and a yearly anime film series. The 23rd film in the series, Meitantei Conan: Konjō no Fist (Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire), opened on April 12 and became the highest-earning film in the franchise's history.

The Detective Conan manga is currently on hiatus. It entered hiatus on September 11, and will return on November 27.

Sources: Detective Conan anime's website, Comic Natalie