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 manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 1992 to October 2017, spanning a total of 76 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 of 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, The Case File of Kindaichi Age 37, was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine Evening from January 2018 to February 2023 and continued on the Comic Days manga app from April 2023 to November 2024. 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. It was followed by The Case Files of Kindaichi Papa, started on Comic Days in January 2025.
In 1995, The Kindaichi Case Files won the 19th Kodansha Manga Award in the category. By June 2019, the manga had over 100 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
Overview
Kindaichi mysteries are whodunnit stories featuring gruesome (usually multiple) murders, often with a folkloric tinge. Most feature a locked room mystery and recurring elements such as the murder occurring when all surviving suspects have (apparently) airtight alibis.
A notable trait of The Kindaichi Case Files is that the killers are not depicted as psychopathic murderers and the murders are never committed for financial reasons alone. The identified killers all have deep rooted problems, often involving great emotional trauma through the greed or thoughtlessness of others, as their reasons for committing the murder(s). Thus the killers are often portrayed as sympathetic figures, as opposed to cold, calculating killers in some other mystery series.
In addition to this, after being revealed, the criminal usually attempts suicide.
Characters
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:17-year-old Fudo High School student Hajime Kindaichi is unmotivated, lazy, and a little lecherous, much to the exasperation of childhood friend Miyuki Nanase. However, only a few people see his great intelligence and deductive prowess by his 180 IQ, possibly inherited from his grandfather, private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. He is also an accomplished sleight of hand artist. Despite his clumsiness and myriad other flaws, he is a loyal friend and a first-rate detective.
:20 years later, he became a PR firm manager, quitting detective work. But crimes never retire. So he was stuck into a case he solved many years ago. He later marries Miyuki and has a child named Tsukumo with her.
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