In our review of last year's Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram, we pondered whether the 27th film in the anime franchise would be a hit with UK audiences. This was the first time a Detective Conan feature opened in UK and Irish cinemas, after all. Well, a year later and we're here with film number 28; Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback.

The Million-dollar Pentagram felt like an event. Not just because it was the first to launch on the big screen, but because the film itself placed fan favourite characters front and centre, and kept up a fantastical energy for its entire runtime. One-Eyed Flashback has a lot to live up, but unfortunately it misses the mark.

If you thought the plot in The Million-dollar Pentagram was convoluted, then you'll have your work cut out here. Set in the Yatsugatake mountain range, a prologue set 10 months before the events of the film sees Inspector Yamato Kansuke (Yuji Takada) chasing down a gun store robber before suffering a shot to his left eye. To make things worse, Kansuke is caught in an avalanche and loses his memory of the event after being rescued. Back in the present, an old colleague of private detective Kogoro Mouri (Rikiya Koyama) requests to speak to him about the mountain incident, but is killed by a masked shooter as he meets with Kogoro and Conan (Minami Takayama).

From there, Conan, Kogoro, and seemingly most of the cast from the series, head to Yatsugatake and get involved with the case. Whilst the plot threads do somewhat come together by the end, there's just a lot to keep track of. It's a staple of the murder mystery genre, sure, to keep audiences guessing. But with so many characters and seemingly vital pieces of information, plot elements and character arcs get pushed to the wayside until the filmmakers clumsily bring them back to the forefront when the script demands it.

This is a far more subdued affair than The Million-dollar Pentagram, with an emphasis on the straight-faced case than fun character interactions. But as with any Detective Conan outing, there's an energy you can't shake off. The art and colour pop off the big screen, the set-pieces are exciting, and the voice actors bring what nuance and depth they can. One thing that does make One-Eyed Flashback stand out is the light exploration of plea bargaining within Japan's criminal justice system throughout the narrative.

One-Eyed Flashback is ultimately a disappointing entry in the Detective Conan feature film series, but there's just enough here to avoid it becoming a total misfire. The power of Detective Conan was evident in the film's finale; try wiping the silly grin off your face when the franchise's iconic theme tune blasts through the speakers whilst a bombastic set piece fills the screen.

Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback releases in UK and Irish cinemas on 26 September.