The Kindaichi Case Files

The Kindaichi Case Files
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Hajime Kindaichi
金田一少年の事件簿 (Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo)
Genre	Mystery[1]
Manga
Written by	Yōzaburō Kanari (File and Case series) Seimaru Amagi (other series)
Illustrated by	Fumiya Satō
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	NA: Tokyopop
Imprint	Shōnen Magazine Comics (1992–2017) Evening KC (2018–)
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine (1992–2017) Evening (2018–2023) Comic Days (2023–present)
Demographic	Shōnen, seinen
Original run	October 28, 1992 – present
Volumes	96 (List of volumes)
Series titles
Files (1992–1997, 27 volumes) Short Files (1997–2000, 6 volumes) Cases (1998–2001, 10 volumes) New (2004–2011, 14 volumes) 20th Anniversary (2012–2013, 5 volumes) Return (2013–2017, 14 volumes) 37 Year Old Kindaichi (2018–present, 17 volumes) The Case File of Kindaichi 30th (2022–2023, 4 volumes)
Further information Light novel Written by Seimaru Amagi Illustrated by Fumiya Satō Published by Kodansha Original run September 22, 1994 – April 20, 2001 Volumes 9 (List of volumes) Television drama Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi Nozomu Amemiya Toya Sato Takaya Kurata Written by Tetsuya Oishi Manabu Kato Akihiro Tago Hajime Narita Masaki Fukasawa Studio Nippon Television Toho Original network NNS (NTV) Original run July 15, 1995 – September 16, 1995 Episodes 8 Anime film Operazakan – Aratanaru Satsujin Directed by Daisuke Nishio Written by Michiru Shimada Music by Kaoru Wada Studio Toei Animation Released December 14, 1996 Runtime 94 minutes[2] Anime television series The File of Young Kindaichi Directed by Daisuke Nishio Music by Kaoru Wada Studio Toei Animation Original network NNS (YTV, NTV) English network SEA: Animax Asia Original run TV series April 7, 1997 – September 11, 2000 TV specials November 12, 2007 – November 19, 2007 Episodes 148 + 3 (TV specials) (List of episodes) Live-action film Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi Released December 13, 1997 Manga Akechi Case Files Written by Seimaru Amagi Illustrated by Fumiya Satō Published by Kodansha Magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine Demographic Shōnen Original run August 13, 1997 – May 17, 2000 Volumes 2 (List of volumes) Anime film Satsuriku no Deep Blue Music by Kaoru Wada Studio Toei Animation Released August 21, 1999 Runtime 91 minutes[3] Original video animation The Black Magic Murders Directed by Toshiaki Komura Written by Isao Murayama Music by Kaoru Wada Studio Toei Animation Released December 17, 2012 – March 15, 2013 Episodes 2 (List of episodes) Manga Takato Case Files Written by Seimaru Amagi Illustrated by Fumiya Satō Published by Kodansha Magazine Manga Box Demographic Shōnen Original run December 4, 2013 – April 2, 2014 Volumes 1 (List of volumes) Anime television series The Kindaichi Case Files R Directed by Yutaka Tsuchida (season 1) Yoko Ikeda (season 2) Produced by Michihiko Suwa Shinji Shimizu Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka Miyuki Kishimoto Takuya Matsumoto Yoshifumi Fukushima Music by Kaoru Wada Studio Toei Animation Original network NNS (ytv, Nippon TV) English network SEA: Animax Asia[4] Original run April 5, 2014 – March 26, 2016 Episodes 47 + 1 (TV specials) (List of episodes) Television drama The File of Young Kindaichi Neo Directed by Hisashi Kimura Shunsuke Kariyama Written by Yuya Takahashi Original network Nippon TV Original run July 19, 2014 – September 20, 2014 Episodes 9 Manga Kinnyaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo Written by Yuki Sato Published by Kodansha Magazine Evening Demographic Seinen Original run December 28, 2021 – February 28, 2023 Volumes 4 Television drama The File of Young Kindaichi Directed by Hisashi Kimura Shunpei Maruya Ryuichi Inomata Written by Yuko Kawabe Tetsuya Oishi Original network Nippon TV Original run April 24, 2022 – July 3, 2022 Episodes 10
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The Kindaichi Case Files (Japanese: 金田一少年の事件簿, Hepburn: Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo) is a Japanese mystery manga series about the crime solving adventures of a high school student, Hajime Kindaichi, the supposed grandson of the famous (fictional) private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. Written by Yōzaburō Kanari or Seimaru Amagi (depending on series) and illustrated by Fumiya Satō, the Kindaichi series was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 1992 to October 2017, spanning a total of 76 tankōbon volumes. It is one of the earliest works in the mystery manga genre. In North America, the series was published in English by Tokyopop with the title The Kindaichi Case Files. Only the first 17 volumes (the first series) were released by Tokyopop.

The series was adapted by Toei Animation into a feature film in 1996 and a 148-episode anime television series broadcast from 1997 to 2000. The series was also adapted into a live-action film, five live-action drama series, three live-action television specials and further animated features for cinema and television. A second 47-episode anime television series adaptation, titled The Kindaichi Case Files R (Returns), was broadcast from 2014 to 2016.

Another manga series, 37 Year Old Kindaichi Case Files, was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Evening from January 2018 to February 2023, and is set to continue on Comic Days manga app. It is set 20 years later, in which Hajime graduates high school, and becomes a manager of a PR firm, but is swung back into mysteries, despite quitting detective work.

In 1995, The Kindaichi Case Files won the 19th Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen. By June 2019, the manga had over 100 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.