I knew it was only a matter of time before the series reached this point. Given the unorthodox nature of these episodic releases and the impressive awkwardness of the original Black Organization episodes, I had a feeling TMS would run into this particular problem. It’s impressive that it took this long for this issue to surface. The FBI Intervention is a perfect example of all of the problems that come with this distribution approach wrapped into one easy-to-point-at package. Let’s break it down.

The first batch of episodes TMS released under Studio Nano was the Conan Vs. The Black Organization, which highlighted specific episodes that prominently featured the main antagonist of the Detective Conan franchise. While most of Detective Conan is made up of one-off mysteries, some specials and episodes advance the narrative of Conan taking down the mysterious organization responsible for turning him into a child. Many of these episodes introduced recurring characters or plot points that would shake up the status quo. While it was commendable, one problem with the original Conan Vs. The Black Organization episode set was that TMS omitted key episodes that served as a buildup to some of the dramatic climaxes. It worked well enough, but you definitely weren’t getting the same experience as others who watched the episodes in the proper order.

Some of these characters were established FBI agents investigating the organization on their own time. During Conan Vs. The Black Organization, some of these FBI agents are undercover, and in some cases, the season skips to their dramatic reveal, which technically happens dozens of episodes later. Basically, a lot of the in-between moments featuring these characters while they were undercover were largely skipped. The climactic Black Organization episodes work just fine without them. The problem is that TMS has now made a whole season of those specific episodes that were skipped, in which Conan was suspicious of the FBI agents.

So what’s wrong with that, you might ask? It’s the fact that the purpose of any tension or drama is completely gone now. These episodes are probably the most egregious example of just filling in the blanks compared to previous ones. There is this suspenseful back-and-forth that takes place during the main series, where you, as an audience member, have no idea who these characters are because Conan doesn’t know who they are. What should be long, drawn-out scenes where Conan feels the weight of the suspicions now feel like time-wasters because, if you watch the episodes in this seasonal release order, you already know what the twist is. As an audience member, I’m not getting inside the characters’ minds. There might be some moments where I’ll think to myself, “Oh, that was neat,” like how some of the FBI agents will test Conan’s deductive reasoning when he makes it very clear that he is smarter than the average six-year-old. There’s even a little bit of a funny suspension of disbelief because it’s not like the FBI knows that Conan is Shinichi, which means that these grown American adults are just keeping a close eye on this young boy.

But at worst, the lack of tension really makes these episodes feel more drawn out than I think they are supposed to. Some of these episodes should have been included with the Black Organization release. What am I supposed to be excited about? Is it the fact that the three most prominent characters in these episodes (Jodie, James Black, and Akai) are FBI members? Even if you somehow jump around to watch these episodes before the Black Organization episodes, the title of this batch spoils it for you. Why would you name a batch of episodes after the organization that the mysterious characters featured are clearly supposed to be members of? Who exactly are these episodes for? There aren’t even any distinct setpieces or impressive animation cuts to show. In fact, much of the show is downright visually boring, with episodes set in an apartment, in a car, or in a bland arcade.

I think these episodes are just for people who want to see them get adapted in English. If you’re a new or casual fan, I need to make a chart that explains when you’re supposed to watch these episodes. And the cases? A lot of them actually aren’t that impressive because they have to share screen time with Conan’s suspicion of the FBI members. The best case was probably the first one regarding a mysterious death in a bathtub. But the latter mysteries aren’t nearly as fascinating because they are secondary to the focus of Jodie acting suspiciously. There’s even one case that legitimately felt like finding the criminal was an afterthought, considering that the usual breakdown of how the murder was committed was immediately followed up with incriminating evidence that would’ve immediately thrown him in jail, whether Conan figured out exactly how he did it or not.

So these episodes are awkwardly released, have absolutely no suspense or tension, and arguably display some of the weaker cases. So what do these episodes have going for them? I would argue that observing exactly how the dub was put together is actually a selling point. Considering that many of the FBI members featured are American and operate undercover in Japan, there are some interesting adaptation workarounds on display. Characters like Jodie and James Black will sometimes break into English or use really exaggerated accents in the original Japanese version, but that doesn’t necessarily carry over to the English dub. So Bryn Apprill and Philip Weber‘s performances, respectively, aren’t nearly as bombastic. However, they still capture a bit of the ditsy American archetype they are trying to convey. There’s attention to detail in some of the characters’ specific ways of saying English words or differentiating between types of English accents. There was one specific workaround that I thought was a little clever regarding how Jodie sometimes uses her ability to speak English to hide her true intentions. Massive props to the writing team and the dub staff for tackling what I could only assume was maybe a nightmare of English localization. While it might not have worked every time, it worked well enough to convey the overall point across a language barrier.

Can I recommend these episodes? I feel like the best way to watch them would probably be in the middle of Conan vs. the Black Organization episodes. I really hope TMS releases all these episodes in chronological order once enough of them have been adapted. The fact that we’ve had so many batches at this point implies that these episodes must be successful, right? I wonder if there will come a point when they can adapt the episodes linearly after they finish catching up on all the plot episodes leading up to the conclusion of the major arcs. That would be ideal, but I also don’t know exactly what the plan is. Hope that next batch isn’t as awkward as this one because this has certainly been the lowest point of this creative endeavor.