FUNimation Productions has announced that Detective Conan, the highest-rated anime series in Japan, will undergo a name change to Case Closed when it debuts on the Cartoon Network on April 5, 2004.  According to a press release from FUNimation, the name of the mega popular series was changed 'due to legal considerations' -- doubtless due to fears of confusion with Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. 

The protagonist of Case Closed will continue to be known as Conan Edogawa.  Manga creator Gosho Aoyama paid homage to his two favorite mystery writers, Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and the pioneering practitioner of the Japanese detective story, Edogawa Rampo, by naming the central character of Detective Conan Conan Edogawa.  The names of some of the other characters in the series will be anglicized.  The teenage Conan, known as Shinichi Kudo in Japan, will be 'Jimmy Kudo' here in the U.S.  Jimmy's girlfriend, Ran Mouri in Japan, becomes 'Rachel Moore' for the U.S; while her father, Kogoro Mouri, becomes 'Richard Moore.'  Ayumi, Gentai, and Mitsuhiko, three key members of the Kid Detective Squad in Japan, become Amy, George, and Mitch here in the States.

The Detective Conan anime series, which has passed the 350-episode mark in Japan, remains the most highly rated anime series on Japanese TV.