Magic Kaito

Plot

Kaito Kuroba is a normal teenage student whose father died under mysterious circumstances eight years ago. Eight years later, he is made aware of his father's secret identity; a famous international criminal known as Kaito Kid, and that he was murdered by a mysterious organization because he tried to steal a gem which was also targeted by them. The goal of the organization is to find within a year the Pandora Gem, a mystical stone said to shed tears during the passing of the Volley comet (which happens once every 10,000 years): drinking these tears bestows immortality.

He vows to prevent the organization from gaining immortality, and assumes his father's thief identity as he begins his quest for the gem. His only clues as to the gem's location are that it glows red under the full moon and that it is a doublet: a gem hidden within a larger gem. Thus, it would have to be a relatively large one with a bizarre history, and always stored in a place that never receives moonlight. He thus researches and steals famous priceless gems with odd histories from incredibly well-defended areas, but returns them after the very next full moon as they are not the Pandora.

Characters

The protagonist, is a smart, quirky and arrogant 17-year-old boy who is a master illusionist. He has some feelings for his childhood friend Aoko Nakamori who he teases constantly. His alter ego is the Kaito Kid, a gentleman thief who publicly announces his heists; after his heists he returns the stolen items to their owners. Occasionally he is challenged by other phantom thieves across the world, the greatest being the mysterious Kaito Corbeau from the USA. However Kid is able to defeat them all and force all of them to retirement. His Japanese voice actor is Kappei Yamaguchi and his English voice actor is Jerry Jewell.

Aoko Nakamori is Kaito's best childhood friend and love interest. She is an obstinate, impulsive and lighthearted girl. She often bickers with Kaito at school. She has feelings for Kaito, although she is afraid of admitting to him. As the daughter of Inspector Nakamori, she despises the Kaito Kid, though she is unaware of the irony. Her Japanese voice actresses are Ayumi Fujimura in the specials and Mao Ichimichi in Magic Kaito 1412, Yukiko Iwai in episode 76 of Detective Conan, Minami Takayama in episode 219 and OVA 4 of Detective Conan.

Saguru Hakuba is a famous high school detective based out of Japan and Kaito's rival. As the son of a high police official, he had many chances to capture the Kaito Kid. He believes that Kaito is the Kaito Kid but lacks the evidence. His Japanese voice actors are Akira Ishida in the Magic Kaito specials and in Detective Conan, and Mamoru Miyano in Magic Kaito 1412.

Akako Koizumi is a witch who uses real magic. Before meeting Kaito, her goal was to enamor every man in the world but Kaito's immunity to her spells makes him a target for her. She learns Kaito's identity as the Kaito Kid and becomes the only friend who knows his secret. Although she hates the fact that Kaito is able to resist her charms, she is enamored by his independence and mysteriousness. Her schemes involve her obsession with enslaving Kaito's heart and genuine concern for him in particular heists. Her Japanese voice actresses are Miyuki Sawashiro in the Magic Kaito specials, Eri Kitamura in Magic Kaito 1412, and Megumi Hayashibara in Detective Conan.

Ginzo Nakamori, known as Mace Fuller in Funimation Entertainment's Detective Conan dub, is the inspector in charge of capturing the Kaito Kid. His Japanese voice actor is Unshou Ishizuka and his English voice actor is Jay Jones.

Toichi Kuroba is Kaito's father. He was the original Phantom Thief Kid and took on the role to overshadow his wife's alter ego, the Phantom Lady, allowing her to leave her life of crime. He originally used the name Phantom Thief 1412 but due to Yusaku Kudo's reading, the 1412 was read as Kid, and was used since then. Toichi was killed after impeding an unknown's organization goal for the Pandora's Tear. His Japanese voice actor is Shūichi Ikeda.

Konosuke Jii is the Kuroba family's butler. He took on the role of Kaito Kid to lure out Toichi Kuroba's killer.

She was formerly the international thief The Phantom Lady of Twenty Faces. She fell in love with Kuroba Toichi and married him, retiring from robbery. She is the mother of Kuroba Kaito, the present Kaito Kid. Currently she is in Las Vegas, though she keeps regular contact with her son and asks Aoko to take care of him. She once tried to persuade her son to give up robbery and start a new life as a magician in Las Vegas. It is strongly implied in the "Midnight Crow" Arc that she knows who is Kaito Corbeau, the mysterious rival of Kaito Kid, who had recently become active in Las Vegas. It is also implied that she sent Corbeau to test her son.

Manga

Written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama, Magic Kaito has been sporadically serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday since 1987. It was halted in 1988 after two tankōbon volumes, but new chapters have been occasionally released since then; a third volume was published in 1994 and a fourth volume in 2007, two more chapters were released in 2011, and another three chapters were released in October 2014. In 2011 the first four volumes were republished in "Treasured Editions" from August 15 to December 16. Two versions of each volume were released, one containing a DVD of one of the TV specials.

While there has not been an official English-language release of the manga, it has been translated and released in Italy, Spain, Germany and Taiwan, by Star Comics, Planeta DeAgostini Comics, Egmont Manga & Anime and Chingwin Publishing Group respectively.

List of chapters

Television specials

Twelve animated television specials based on Magic Kaito have been created between 2010 and 2012. All have been directed by Toshiki Hirano, produced by TMS Entertainment and aired on Nippon Television Network System during Detective Conan's time slot. Several have been titled as "Detective Conan Specials" despite the fact that none have had anything to do with the Conan series. The first aired on April 17, 2010.

Television series

A 24-episode anime series titled Magic Kaito 1412 (まじっく快斗1412) was created by A-1 Pictures and aired on NNS from October 4, 2014 to March 28, 2015. The series was announced as a new simulcast beginning with episode 13 on Crunchyroll for audiences in North America. The two opening theme songs are "Kimi no Matsu Sekai" by Lagoon (eps. 1–12) and "Ai no Scenario" by Chico with HoneyWorks (eps. 13–24), while the two ending themes are "White of Crime" by Revalcy (eps. 1–12) and "Koi no Jumyō" by Galileo Galilei (eps. 13–24).