Magic Kaito is a shonen manga series starring Kaito Kuroba, an Ordinary High-School Student. He has a pretty sweet life: a small but nice house, a loving mother, and a childhood friend in Aoko Nakamori, whose father just happens to be a respected Inspector at Ekoda's Division Three. He's also incredibly smart, athletic and has fast fingers.
Everything's perfectly fine, until one day when he finds out about a recent resurgence by a local villain, a mysterious Phantom Thief clothed in white and famous for his signature cape, hat and monocle who specializes in using stage magic and street magic to steal his targets. Feeling challenged, he decides to find out all he can about the man.
That's when he stumbles upon the secret room in his house filled with props and innumerable pieces of junk. And also a white tux, a cape, a top hat and a monocle. Alarmed by the discovery of a veritable Bat Cave in his own home, young Kaito suits up as best he can and heads out to ask some questions. Turns out that the guy currently running around is not only an old friend of the family, but Kaito's dead father was the original Phantom Thief - until one day he was brutally killed in an 'accidental' explosion on stage. The old friend of the family, Jii, is under the impression something incredibly funny happened, and not anything particularly ha-ha funny either.
Well, turns out he's right, and now the only way to find out what happened is to lure the killers out into the open the only way Kaito knows how: by taking up his father's mantle and becoming the new Phantom Thief.
His new name? Kaitou Kid.
Sound familiar? It should. The Kaitou Kid also happens to be one of the most popular characters of Case Closed - the infinitely more famous detective show by the same mangaka, Gosho Aoyama. Magic Kaito actually began serialization in Shonen Sunday in 1987—seven years before Case Closed began—but the series went on hiatus after the first two volumes came out in 1988, and Aoyama only occasionally draws new chapters for it while working more continuously on Case Closed. The two series are set in the same 'verse, and since Magic Kaito volumes stopped being regularly produced, you can thank Canon Welding for his continuing existence and that of his peers.
A twenty-four episode adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures debuted in October 2014, which sees some technological upgrades (for instance, Kaito reads media coverage of his exploits on a smartphone and converses with his mother over Skype).
This manga provides examples of:
- Abnormal Ammo: Kaito's gun shoots cards. Of all the things...
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Robo-Kaito.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: The driving force behind Kaitou Kid's huge female fan base (which unsurprisingly includes Sonoko from Case Closed).
- Animated Actors: The first and the fourth volumes of the original manga contain bonus pages revealing that the entire series is in fact a TV show. The first volume haves a whole extra chapter of Hilarious Outtakes (including one revealing that a one-shot princess character that looked kinda like Aoko was indeed Aoko wearing a blonde wig and making her eyebrows look thicker with makeup), while the fourth volume haves a page where a young kid that appeared in one of the chapters says that he haves to go on "the set of another show" while wearing a familiar pair of glasses and a bowtie.
- Art Evolution: This manga's early artwork can be very jarring if you've dropped by from reading any volume of Case Closed, or even from the Shounen Sunday specials.
- Indeed. The first and second volumes of the series show Gosho's style was much more cartoonier and, in some ways, sloppier: lanky bodies, thinly inked lines, and abuse of screentones. His style got more proportioned, refined and cleaner as time went on.
- Artistic License – Biology: DNA tests cannot narrow down a person's age accurately enough to confidently say that Kaitou KID is 15-17 years old - telomeres get shorter with age, but each person's telomeres are different lengths. There is not one true standard, so without knowing the initial length of KID's it wouldn't be possible to assign an age to him based on the final length.
- Artistic License – Law: The legalities of Hakuba having access to the DNA database of all high-school students in japan seems rather suspect at best and a horrible breach of privacy at worst...
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Kaito and Aoko play this to a T.
- Betty and Veronica: Or something like that. For Aoko, she could pick either Kaito or Saguru, although everybody knows how this one goes in Gosho's work. However, both can be pretty arsy.
- Black Magician Girl: Akako Koizumi is, admittedly, a Cute Witch.
- Bland-Name Product: Kaito's favorite carbonated beverage is Mr. Pepper.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Inspector Nakamori when Akako puts a magic necklace on him that sends him into snarling shoot-everything mode. (She apparently forgets about it, and it's still on at the end of the chapter.)
- The 1412 anime takes care of that, as Aoko breaks the necklace when she gives her dad a tight slap at the end of the story.
- But Not Too Foreign: Saguru might seem like a pompous Brit (and is even introduced with the Union Flag), but he's only half-English. This is pointed out during his first appearance when, despite being one of the most well known detectives in England, he's also shown to be the son of the highest-ranking police officer in Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan's Superintendent General).
- Calling Card: Kaito always sends a letter ahead to let the police know what he's going after. If nothing else it means that he finds out quickly when someone is planning on framing him for something, and can take steps to properly humiliate them.
- The Cameo: Not so much in the manga, Conan showed up in a lot of the first adaptation into anime specials, which results in a mean Continuity Snarl if you think about it too much.
- Cerebus Syndrome: As mentioned above. It's a rather unorthodox case in that it didn't develop this until after it hit an irregular publishing schedule; the first dozen or so chapters (comprising the first two volumes) ran monthly throughout 1987 and 1988, and featured virtually no "serious" elements (unless one counts Akako's introduction). After that, the manga largely went on hiatus (with the occasional story released every few years), as Aoyama was busy working on Yaiba and later Case Closed. For the record: Saguru's introductory chapter came in 1990, while Snake and Pandora weren't established until 1993.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Kaito and Aoko.
- Clock King: Saguru Hakuba, who uses his freakishly accurate pocket watch to keep track of time down to the hundredths of a second and knows just how late Kid will be to any given heist...and well, apparently Kid picked this up to a certain extent while fighting Conan.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Kaito might be the desperado, but he's still the one that wears white.
- Colorful Theme Naming: It's Gosho Aoyama, it exists. Everyone's name is related to a color: Kaito Kuroba, Aoko Nakamori, Ginzo Nakamori, Akako Koizumi, Saguru Hakuba, and even Keiko Momoi.
- Crazy-Prepared: In chapter 31 Kaito is mentioned to have multiple plans in place for his current heist, all lettered. He also knocked out a random police officer and disguised as him, then disguised as himself on top of the police officer disguise, just in case. Heck, he crazy glued the officer disguise in place in case Nakamori pinched him. It came in handy.
- Dating Catwoman: Pretty much, since Kaito and Aoko are the main romance. (This works out so Kaito is Catwoman, in case you were wondering.)
- Dirty Cop: Nightmare, aka Jack Connery, ICPO.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Compared to the series'
Spiritual Successor, which takes place in the same universe, Magic Kaito contains a lot more fantastic elements (such as a Ridiculously Human Robot and actual witchcraft) than the more down-to-earth and naturalistic Case Closed. Kaito's characterization in particular has changed a lot over time: fans of his suave and generally non-violent characterization in Detective Conan are usually shocked at how much of an impulsive, mistake-ridden, and sometimes violent person Kaito is for much of the earlier manga chapters. The change is likely due to Aoyama continuing to tweak and reimagine the character during the years-long hiatus Magic Kaito went on; it's notable that as Aoyama Canon Welded the two sibling franchises, Magic Kaito chapters became a lot more similar to Detective Conan in stakes and tone. - "Eureka!" Moment: In one chapter, Kaito figures out how a street magician got a parliamentary pin after a kidnapper claiming to be the Kaitou Kid took the Japanese Prime Minister, when Aoko tells him the key to beating the boss of their video game is to defeat the king controlling him first.
- Evil Overlord List: Kaito's read it. Snake most certainly hasn't.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Variation, in that Kaito dresses as his alter ego, Kaitou Kid, for a skiing/costume contest (Makes Just as Much Sense in Context)
- Goofy Print Underwear: In one chapter, Kaito flips up Aoko's skirt and recoils in horror - Aoko, knowing that he often does this to her, had put on panties with a fish print! (Kaito is mortally afraid of fish for reasons that were never explained).
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: During the Angel Crown heist date chapter/special.
- Green Rocks: Pandora, the stone Kaito is looking for, is a mystical gemstone that bequeaths immortality to whoever holds it underneath a certain comet.
- Hammerspace: When in doubt, assume it's sleight of hand. Somehow.
- Headbutt Thermometer: Very typical example by Aoko to Kaito.
- Hired to Hunt Yourself: In an attempt to catch KID, inspector Nakamori asks Kaito to help him by using his knowledge of magic tricks. Of course, to keep it interesting, a second thief is after the McGuffin of the week.
- If I Can't Have You…: Akako figures that, if she wants to control all men on the planet, she might as well kill off the one who she can't control.
- Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: Most of Kaito's tricks simply aren't possible with real-life stage magic.
- Latex Perfection: Kaito, when he has a mind to do it. Often though he doesn't bother, leading to a time where Inspector Nakamori saw his face, forcing Kaito to disguise as Aoko and taunt the Inspector with the lie that he regularly disguises as someone from his life.
- MacGuffin: See Green Rocks. Also, any piece of artwork Kaito is aiming to steal will usually become one, considering said object will little have any effect on the plot (except that one time the MacGuffin was a statue).
- Magician Detective: Kaito very occasionally. More often in his cameos in Detective Conan, since he's astronomically more likely to be encountering a murder.
- Monumental Theft: The concept of the infamous clocktower heist, where Kaito claims he's going to steal said landmark. (It's sort of a metaphor, but it counts.)
- Mugged for Disguise: Kid will often steal someone's clothes as part of a heist, with the person he replaced usually left Bound and Gagged in Goofy Print Underwear.
- Not Himself: Inspector Nakamori. Thanks a lot, Akako.
- Oh, Crap!: Basically Kaito's expression when Aoko tosses away his hat when he's currently Kaitou KID, and found out his identity, he was even sweating a lot. Though Aoko thinks Kaitou Kid disguised himself as Kaito in chapter 35, so he's safe, for now.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Kid shoots at the police with a normal gun in one chapter. Surprise, it's not Kaito, but it only serves as half an alert for Nakamori, who's startled, but then carries on as usual.
- Phantom Thief: Kaitou Kid's profession.
- Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat: Or a bunch of doves and then a large bird, rather.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Kaito's card gun is a revolver. His enemies have sniper rifles. Then again, they're specifically trying to shoot him out of the sky.
- Rule of Cool: Most of early Magic Kaito can be summed up as "Why is there a pirate submarine/mad robot/fish/dark sorceress intent on stealing Kaito's heart? Because there can be."
- Secret Identity: Only Kaito, Jii and his mother Chikage are meant to know that Kaito's the Kid. Saguru and Akako know, too, but Kaito will always deny it when they mention that fact to him, even if his excuses might sound like Blatant Lies at times.
- Skyscraper Messages: Kaitou arranged for a pair of skyscrapers to display a birthday message to Aoko once.
- Stage Magician: Kaito's father was one and Kaito is pretty much practicing to become one. Also the Hopper Magician Troupe in "Red Tear", who are rather good, and, aspiring...the Prime Minister. Who's atrocious.
- Steal It to Protect It: Kaito Kid is a Phantom Thief who targets jewels. However, the reason for this is because he is looking for a specific type of jewel that the people who killed his father are after. When he learns a jewel he has stolen isn't the one he is after, he either discards them or returns them to their owners.
- Suit Up of Destiny: He has a very unique suit (for a Phantom Thief at least) so of course there's a very nice one in chapter one, and how
. - Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Inspector Nakamori very much so. To a point Saguru, but with less Butt-Monkey and more near-successes.
- Theme Naming: During the preparation for Chat Noir and KID's showdown, Nakamori notes that all three characters introduced for the story have gem-related names - Ruby Jones, Mitsuishi (Shining Stone) Dan and Alan Cartier.
- Villain Decay: Snake arguably gets this; after a threatening enough introduction in "Blue Birthday", he gets handed more and more humiliating defeats from Kaito in his subsequent appearances.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: A valid question. Kid in early Magic Kaito chapters uses multiple rocket-powered vehicles, including a scooter that can ride down the side of a building. What stuff does Kaito make, and what's been lying around the KID Cave / fancy-den-behind-a-painting for eight years? It's not unreasonable that Toichi (and maybe his largely unknown secondary cast) could have set it all up, but the only gadget we know for sure he used is the hang-glider cape, and Kaito had the card gun before learning about Kid.
- The 1412 anime tries to answer this question in the second episode - Jii supplies Kaito with the gadgets, and a shot of a yellow Volkswagen Beetle pulling away from outside of the Blue Parrot heavily implies that he obtains them from Kudou Shin'ichi's neighbour Professor Agasa.
- In chapter 34, Kaito mentioned that Jii's professor friend fixed up his motorbike after it turned into ashes, it might possibly be the same one as mentioned in the 1412 anime. Also, in Case Closed, Professor Agasa mentions in one chapter he lent his Volkswagen Beetle to his bartender friend, heavily hinted to be Jii and furthering the connection.
- The 1412 anime tries to answer this question in the second episode - Jii supplies Kaito with the gadgets, and a shot of a yellow Volkswagen Beetle pulling away from outside of the Blue Parrot heavily implies that he obtains them from Kudou Shin'ichi's neighbour Professor Agasa.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Kaito is afraid of fish. It especially becomes a problem when he has to rescue Aoko from a sunken pirate submarine (don't ask).
- You Killed My Father: Kaito's main motivation against the bad guys is to get them back for murdering his father onstage and playing it up as an accident.
