After three decades, Detective Conan still hasn’t delivered a satisfying conclusion for fans. Meanwhile, the anime continues airing weekly, but viewers are growing increasingly frustrated by the declining quality of cases filled with illogical twists. The latest flashpoint is episode 961 (Vietnamese dub episode 1016), which has sparked outrage online for being downright ridiculous.
In the episode titled The Strange Camping Case, Sonoko, Ran, and Conan encounter a bizarre murder. The victim, Keidai Kosaki, died from an allergic shock caused by crab. What left viewers speechless were the suspects’ absurd actions after discovering the body. To avoid suspicion, the three suspects messed up the crime scene in ridiculous ways: dragging the body to another tent, stuffing crab claws into the victim’s mouth, scribbling on his face, even dressing him in women’s clothes and leaving a note saying “the culprit is my wife” in his hand. Even Conan remarked that poor Keidai couldn’t rest in peace.
These details quickly became a hot topic on social media. Many fans expressed frustration over the episode’s illogical elements, feeling it resembled a joke rather than a suspenseful detective story. The culprit’s motive was equally far-fetched. The real culprit was Mika Miura (the girl with glasses), the victim’s ex-girlfriend. Years ago, they broke up because Keidai refused to eat the crab dish Mika prepared. In revenge, Mika used the crab to poison her ex and framed his wife.
Many viewers online called this a sign of Conan losing its essence, even labeling it one of the worst episodes ever. Others pointed out that this was likely a filler episode (original anime content not based on the manga), explaining the “factory-like” plot, patchy storytelling, and lack of depth compared to Gosho Aoyama’s original work.
Viewer comments:
– In real life, doing that would land you in jail immediately, no chance of sitting around.
– I’m sticking to the manga or episodes that follow the original story, the studio’s made-up ones are just boring.
– These filler episodes not in the original story are almost as many as the main ones…
– Wow… the victim must feel seriously disrespected.
– There was an episode where the culprit’s plan was so perfect they should have gotten away, but then they invited Conan and Mori to hang out and told the story. Conan then uncovered the truth and caught them.
Despite its commercial success, Detective Conan has faced criticism in recent years for declining quality, repetitive storylines, increasingly illogical murder motives, and sometimes sacrificing mystery elements for humor or romance drama. The drop in animation quality and plot coherence has left longtime fans hoping the series will end soon to preserve its legacy.
