Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street · reception & legacy
2002 · Kenji Kodama
How Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A big hit in Japan in 2002 (a franchise-best ¥3.4 billion at the time), it has only grown in stature since — as the movie series drifted toward action-blockbuster spectacle, fans increasingly point back to this one as the peak the films never quite reached again.
What's debated
The perennial fight is whether the best Detective Conan movie is barely a Detective Conan movie at all — a virtual-reality sci-fi adventure wearing a detective series' clothes — or whether that's exactly why it's the best one.
Its footprint
Its 'kids trapped in a deadly VR game' premise has made 'it did Sword Art Online before Sword Art Online' a running joke online, with Ready Player One comparisons joining in later.
Where it stands
The consensus fan-favorite of the 25-plus Conan films and the standard 'start here' recommendation — the one non-Conan watchers are told works as a standalone.