Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street

A technology company unveils a virtual reality system that places players inside a reconstructed London. Fifty children are chosen as its first players, Conan among them. Once the game begins the system locks: any child who cannot finish will suffer brain damage. At the same moment a murder is committed in the real world. The film is not interested in the puzzle. It is interested in inheritance and class: while Jack the Ripper is hunted in the London of the game, outside it the raising of the children of Japan's elite families is under discussion. The film says this to a young audience openly. The form is in two layers: Victorian London and present-day Tokyo alternating. The design of the game sections is noticeably more detailed than in other films in the series. Kenji Kodama directed; it is the sixth feature in the series. It was among the highest-earning animated films of its year in Japan and is always near the top when fans argue about the best Conan film. Minami Takayama voices Conan. Who it is for: viewers of Detective Conan and people who like references to classical detective fiction. Who it is not for: anyone new to the series. The film introduces none of its crowded cast and assumes you know who they are.