出典 : Amazon.co.jp

As of 2019, 23 movies have been made into the long-running Detective Conan film series. The fifth film in that series is Countdown to Heaven.
It is popular for its first appearance in the theatrical version as a black organization that drugs the main character, Shinichi Kudo, into a smaller size, and for its focus on the popular character Ai Haibara, who was ranked as the fourth best film in the “Detective Conan: Past Movie Popularity Poll” held on the official website in 2015, making it a popular film with a large number of persistent fans. We showed them. What is the secret of such long-lasting popularity? We have discussed the content with an explanation.

Secret of Popularity 1: A work that focuses on the inner workings of the popular character Aya Haibara

出典 : Amazon.co.jp

Countdown to Heaven begins with Aya Haibara acting suspiciously on a camping night with the Detective Boys and Dr. Agasa.
These days, Haibara is more likely to show his bright side and his true face, which is typical of an 18-year-old of his real age, but at the time of the film’s release, he was portrayed as a quiet, expressionless character with no desire to engage with the people around him. Haibara betrayed the Black Organization, the enemy Conan had to defeat, and became an ally of Conan. However, because he didn’t say much, didn’t change his expression, and didn’t seem to want to cooperate with Conan or the Detective Boys, viewers couldn’t understand what Haibara was thinking and acting. Is he really on our side? I was in a state of mind.

This time, Aya Haibara makes some suspicious moves, but in fact, they all stem from the loneliness of loneliness. However, because I didn’t know what Haibara was “thinking”, in the beginning of the film I wondered if Aya Haibara was just pretending to betray the organization and was the enemy. and that is the psychological foreshadowing for the viewer. Then in the middle part of the film, Haibara’s blood-curdling exposition of his emotions, “I didn’t know what to think,” and the bond between Haibara and the boy detectives in the last part of the film is firmly depicted, and the changes in Haibara’s inner life are portrayed with great sensitivity, which is the biggest highlight of “Countdown to Heaven”.

Secret of Popularity 2: The unexpected skill of Ayumi Yoshida, the Detective Boys’ team, is good foreshadowing!

出典 : Amazon.co.jp

The Detective Boys and Dr. Agasa are on their way to the Twin Towers, the new largest twin building in Japan in Nishitama City. In the car, the children start to play a game, which they can’t do anymore. It’s the “Guess in 30 Seconds” game. Without looking at the stopwatch, they measure 30 seconds and the person who comes closest to 30 seconds first wins the game. In this game, Ayumi Yoshida shows her unexpected talent. In this game, Ayumi Yoshida shows her unexpected talent and beats the clock in exactly 30 seconds.
This scene is pretty much at the beginning of the story, but it comes into play at the end of the story when the game is in a life-or-death crisis. Moreover, there is a scene in the middle of the story where they play a guessing game and Ayumi can’t guess the 30 seconds. What’s the difference between when she can guess and when she can’t? This game, done very casually, is a big key to the end of the game.
Foreshadowing is neatly collected or “That was foreshadowing! The satisfaction of the audience is quite high when there’s a vivid scene called “The Countdown to Heaven”. The vivid foreshadowing of “Countdown to Heaven” ranks pretty high on the list of all-time “Detective Conan” theatrical releases, I’d say!

Secret of Popularity 3: The Boys’ Detective Agency plays a big role! I’m going to go ahead with my own investigation!

出典 : Amazon.co.jp

When it comes to the boy detective squad, in both the movie and the original, we have a strong impression of their role as working as Conan’s assistant, occasionally getting involved in cases. But in Countdown to Heaven, the Boy Detectives play a big role! First of all, in Detective Conan,Mouri Kogoro often gathers suspects and presents his theory based on information investigated by police such as Inspector Megure, but in Countdown to Heaven, the boy detectives go out of their way to the suspect’s home to investigate. They go to the person who might be the culprit, just the kids! The sense of suspense and the strange realism of the adults’ various responses to the juvenile detective team (giving them a pass because it’s a child’s investigation, kicking them out of the house for not imitating the police, etc.) gives viewers a fresh perspective.

Popularity Secret #4: What’s the meaning of the booger left at the murder scene?

Two people Conan met at the Twin Towers, one after the other, are murdered by two people. At the scene of each murder, there is a broken boar. What is the meaning of this boar? The gimmick here is that this is not a dying message from the victim, but a message from the killer. There are many cases of unraveling the dying message of the victim, but what is the benefit of a murderer going out of his way to leave a trail? What is the killer trying to accuse us of? What is the background to the killer? The message of the killer left at the murder scene, which makes you want to read deeper, gives viewers a sense of excitement as they work with Conan to solve the mystery.

Secret of Popularity #5: The loneliness of Ai Haibara. She calls her dead sister out of unbearable loneliness

As mentioned earlier, “Countdown to Heaven” opens in the middle of the night with Ai Haibara calling someone on a pay phone at the campground where the Detective Boys are staying. When he sees this, he later asks Kojima Motota, “Who were you calling at that hour? When asked if he is still connected to the organization, Haibara explains that he didn’t make any phone calls. After that, the shadow of the Black Organization is flickered in front of the Twin Towers, and the viewers are tempted to speculate that Aya Haibara is still connected to the Black Organization, pretending to betray them.
However, the reality of Aoi Haihara’s mysterious activities is that she was calling her sister’s house to tell her what happened to her because she wanted to hear her sister’s voice on the voicemail of her sister who was killed by the black organization. She was able to hear her sister’s voice on the answering machine, which she would never be able to hear again. When Haibara realizes this and is putting in a message the night before the Twin Towers opening party, Conan hangs up before he can finish. Haibara is in danger of being killed as a traitor to the Black Organization, and calling his sister’s house is very dangerous because they might find out.
When Conan tells him “I know how you feel, but don’t do it”, Haibara tells him “no one knows how I feel” and calls in to his room.

This is the first time that the cool, uncompromising Haibara becomes agitated.
A traitor who escaped because he couldn’t bear the thought of belonging to the organization that killed his sister. The pressure of feeling a sense of danger that his life is constantly being threatened because of it. This scene is the best part of “Countdown to Heaven” because you can see the human side of Ai Haibara who reveals these feelings.