Kindaichi Case Files Returns With Original Anime Cast

Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo R (Kindaichi Case Files Returns), the new television anime of Yōzaburō Kanari and Fumiya Sato's detective manga, will reunite the voice cast from the earlier 1997-2000 television series.

Taiki Matsuno plays a high school boy named Hajime Kindaichi who usually seems dull, but when there is a case, he demonstrates remarkable deductive skills inherited from his famous detective grandfather. Akiko Nakagawa plays his childhood friend Miyuki Nanase, Juurouta Kosugi plays police inspector Isamu Kenmochi, and Toshiyuki Morikawa plays Kindaichi's rival Kengo Akechi. YTV's chief producer Michihiko Suwa was also a producer on the first series.

The weekly anime will premiere on Saturday, April 5 at 5:30 p.m. on YTV, NTV, and their affiliates. Just like 14 years ago, Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo R will run right before the Detective Conan anime. The 1997-2000 Kindaichi Case Files anime ran before Detective Conan at 7:00 p.m. on Mondays to start the "Mystery Hour" of two detective anime. This time, YTV is nicknaming the new Saturday detective anime block the "Mystery Zone." (Detective Conan moved to Saturdays five years ago.)

The first Kindaichi Case Files television anime ran from April 1997 to September 2000. Video Research reported that its highest ever rating in Tokyo's Kanto area was 19.0%, and it averaged 14.8%. The manga also inspired two anime films, two television anime specials in November 2007, as well as several original video anime. The manga just inspired a separate new web anime from FROGMAN (Eagle Talon, Thermae Romae) last month.

The manga also led to several live-action adaptations, including last month's special set in Malaysia with Ryosuke Yamada of the boy band Hey! Say! JUMP. KinKi Kids group member Tsuyoshi Dōmoto, Arashi member Jun Matsumoto, and KAT-TUN member Kazuya Kamenashi also played the title role.

The original manga ran from 1992 to 2001 in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It went on an irregular schedule in 2004, and came back as under the updated title Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo R (Kindaichi Case Files Returns) in 2013. Tokyopop published part of the manga in North America.

Seimaru Amagi created the original concept for the manga, and he is launching the new psychological suspense series Shinjuku DxD (Shinjuku D by D) under the pen name Yuma Ando this month. Under several pen names, he also created or co-created Drops of God, Getbackers, Sherlock Bones, Bloody Monday, and other manga.

Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo R's timeslot is currently held by the Space Brothers anime.