When Avengers: Endgame was obilerating box office records around the world, a strange phenomenon occured in Japan.
A Japanese film featuring a detective toppled the superheroes’ stronghold, pulling in six million domestic audiences.
That movie? Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire.
A bit of context here: Detective Conan opened on April 12 in Japan and stayed on top for three weeks until the arrival of The Avengers.
Now, despite being an “old” movie, it actually managed to regain top spot in the weekend ending May 5.
It’s little wonder why. The Detective Conan series is well-loved, especially in Japan. But to be able to beat The Avengers require something truly special, something the domestic audiences love.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the sights and sounds of Singapore.
That’s right, this 23rd instalment of the series sees the boy detective sleuthing for clues in the relentless Singapore heat.
So if you want to have a truly Conan-esque experience, here are some of the places featured in the film that you must go.
Merlion Park
Perfect for tourists who like to take silly photos.
Newsflash: the Japanese LOVE the Merlion.
Check out this crazy commercial:
So it goes without saying that Singapore's favourite mythical creature is playing a big part in the movie.
Ok, perhaps a little too much. That’s the Merlion spouting blood. This writer hopes it is doing ok. Must be tough vomiting water 24/7 and being part of millions of silly photos year after year.
Marina Bay Sands
Perfect for tourists who like a bit of gambling and a whole lot of geo-tagging.
The next Singapore obsession brings us to the trinity pillars -- Marina Bay Sands (where else?), 2018’s most instagrammed place in Singapore..
The origin of this particular obsession first started when popular Japanese boyband Smap appeared in this commercial:
And to really feed the Japanese appetite for MBS, it seems like the entire movie revolves around the integrated resort.
Exhibit A: Nice establishing shot with Gardens by the Bay.
Exhibit B: Livery on point too.
Exhibit C: Somewhat psychedelic laser show.
Exhibit D: Nice drone shot?
Exhibit E: Obligatory shot of the infinity pool.
Exhibit F: Not sure what to say about this but cool.
Exhibit G: Nice drone shot part 2?
Exhibit H: Jibaboom!
To top it all off, the movie’s central plot begins with a murder at MBS.
So happening.
Maxwell Food Centre
Perfect for tourists who love to stuff their faces with affordable, delish hawker fare.
Moving on, the trailer reveals a fight happening right at Maxwell Food Centre. But that’s not the news point.
The real news point?
Check out the attention to details.
Probably as an homage to our cuisine and how much they love our hawker fare -- their love for Hainanese Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh and Chilli Crab is well documented, with various Singapore-inspired restaurants popping up in Japan.
Pulau Brani
Not perfect for tourists. Please stay away.
In this shot, Kaitou Kid, a charming thief in the Conan-verse, suffers from an injury and is taking refuge at what seems to be our ports. We are only 70% sure it’s based on Pulau Brani. But putting on our detective cap and looking at all the evidence, we are 72% sure as Pulau Brani is closest to MBS.
Fountain of Wealth
Perfect for tourists who want some wealth.
According to Singapore’s national paper of record, Suntec City’s Fountain of Wealth is in as well.
We don’t have the screenshot so here’s a real image of said fountain.
The director Chika Nagaoka says the Fountain of Wealth was memorable though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
