The Final Countdown.note
"My mom said it’s bad luck to waste even one grain of rice!"
— Genta Kojima
Detective Conan: Countdown to Heaven is the 5th Detective Conan Theatrical Film in the franchise. It was directed by Kenji Kodama, written by Kazunari Kouchi, produced by Michihiko Suwa and scored by Katsuo Ono. It was released on April 21, 2001.
As a pair of towers in Tokyo are being prepared for their grand opening, there is a series of murders of people connected to the towers. Conan suspects that the enigmatic Black Organization may also be involved.
Trailer
Countdown to Heaven provides examples of:
- Big Bad Ensemble:
- With regards to the serial murder plot, Hosui Kisaragi. He confesses that he committed all three murders for the sake of Mount Fuji (the West Tama Twin Towers that the victims had a hand in building cut his view of Mt. Fuji in half). Or in the case of the second murder, he was going to commit. Which leads us to the other Big Bad of the film...
- Black Organization enforcers Gin and Vodka, who are out to execute an Organization member for his betrayal by attempting to hack them, and then blow up the data servers to remove any stolen data regarding said organization. And, as luck would have it, a seeming chance to get rid of Sherry as well...They succeed in the first goal.
- Chekhov's Gun: This is a Detective Conan movie so it’s to be expected.
- The shiny red Ford Mustang Convertible is how the Detective Boys ultimately escape the crumbling building.
- The mountain bike helmet Ayumi won as a prize also returns in the end.
- Sonoko styles her hair in a perm like Ai. While a funny scene, it leads to Gin realizing Shiho Miyano wasn’t nearby after all.
- Early on, Genta states that his mom tells him to not waste even a grain of rice. He repeats this line when he rescues Ai who was going to remain in an exploding building.
- A Day in the Limelight: The Detective Boys take center stage in this film and it is mostly focused on them.
- Evil Is Petty: Hosui Kisaragi went on a murder spree through the city to get back at the people who made the towers, which are blocking Kisaragi's home's view of Mount Fuji. As an artist who made his fame and fortune recreating that view in all of his paintings, his decision to get even for this visual nuisance with no care about collateral damage is nevertheless nothing if not obscenely disproportionate.
- Freudian Excuse: Housi Kisaragi, the murderer of the film (although at least one of the murders and the infernal climax are the hand of the Black Organization) is going on a killing spree to get back at the people who built a huge tower blocking his view of Mount Fuji. His reknown and fortune as an artist completely revolves around the art he made using that view.
- Hijacked by Ganon: Although the murder spree of this film was suspected by Conan to be created by the Black Organization, they turn out to be a Red Herring as someone else (Hosui Kisaragi) was responsible. However, just before Kisaragi is exposed as the Monster of the Week and arrested, the building becomes a towering inferno that the protagonists need to escape because the Black Organization decided to make an appearance after all and try to kill them by destroying the building. The second victim of the serial murders also turns out not to be Kisaragi's doing, though he still took advantage of the scene to further throw off the investigators' scent, and it also helps him that he was already planning to kill the man and now has a perfect alibi for it. That murder actually was the Black Organization's doing, as the victim was working for the BO as an information agent, but was killed by Gin for attempting to hack into the organization.
- Interrupted Suicide: Ai was content to remain in an exploding building, but was rescued by Genta.
- Earlier, Hosui Kisaragi attempted to poison himself after confessing to his crimes, only to be stopped when Conan knocks him out with his stun gun watch.
- Wham Line: During the climax of the story, Conan confronts the murderer of the film about his killing spree and the typical Motive Rant happens, but then Hosui Kisaragi mentions that he wanted one of the murdered people dead, but someone else did the deed. Cue the Black Organization revealing they did the deed for their own reasons and trying to kill Conan and his friends.
