As a first episode, we are quickly introduced to the main characters for this series. Despite meeting a fair number of people, they are introduced in an easy and logical manner which makes it easy to keep track of everyone; possibly due to the targeted age group for this series. While this first episode features high school students, the true target group would be much younger in the pre-teen to teenage range.

As an introductory episode, the story itself is not particularly strong and is more centered on fast paced action - almost as though there was too much of an agenda to be covered in the first episode. Indeed the rapid disclosure of the murder and the means by which it had be perpetrated is both a strength and weakness. While there is no threat of losing viewer interest if the intended audience fails to notice a key clue, at the same time, as a mystery show, it could give away the ending without allowing the viewer any real chance to do any major sleuthing on their own. We shall see if this is true only for this first episode or if this will be a common trend throughout the series. That's not to say that this episode doesn't any show promise for the series as a whole. The music itself is quite good with different background music as well as some very bouncy music when determining the truth behind an incident. Likewise, as with most TV animations, the opening and closing themes are done by J-pop groups and have a tendency to be a bit too catchy. Also, we find that there is a trailing scene at the end of the episode which makes us wonder just what's going to happen next time. Shinichi has regressed to being an elementary aged boy? How's he to continue as a (high school) detective?! Afterall, how many adults are going to listen to a six year old boy about a murder case? Leading us to this series one major weakpoint in story. There's no way that a six year old child (let alone a high school student) would be allowed into a crime scene. However, if we ignore that minor detail, this series promises to be a fun and light mystery show for pre-teen to teenaged children. Likewise, to make things easier for the intended viewing audience, a hint for the next show is given at the end of each episode so that people can try to solve the mystery on their own before Conan reveals all.
- JN, 99.07.19