Aoyama Gosho Special Interview Part 2 (The Crimson Love Letter)

This is a continuation of the interview I posted in the previous entry. You can find part 1 at the link below.

(I will be posting more from this special illustration book in the future. This is the end of the interview with Aoyama however.)

http://meitanteikonanplot.blogspot.jp/2017/05/aoyama-gosho-special-intervie-part-1.html

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--Notes--

*1 :  In a previous manga Aoyama drew called "Yaiba" there is a character named Souji Okita. In real life Okita Souji was the captain of the special police force in the Edo period known as the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi was created by the Tokugawa Shogunate at a time when there was a threat that the government was going to be overthrown and the political system would change (the Meiji Restoration). The Shinsengumi were a group of skilled swordsman who where charged with cutting down radical "reformists", or in other words, people they saw as a threat to the Shogunate. They mainly operated in Kyoto. 

Shinsengumi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinsengumi

Souji Okita: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okita_S%C5%8Dji

Souji Okita first appeared in Detective Conan, being mentioned in Vol. 31 File 8, "The Swordsman of Naniwa," Naniwa being an old name for the Osaka region. (Episode 263 of the anime). He also made his first physical appeared recently in Files 990 to 993 (Weekly Shonen Sunday 2017, Vol. 17, 18, 20 and 21).

*2 : Vol. 28. Anime episode 222 to 224.

*3: Vol. 83. Anime episode 763 to 764.

*4: In the original Japanese version his assistant is speaking in an Osaka accent like Heiji.

Aoyama Gosho Special Interview Part 1 (The Crimson Love Letter)

This is an interview with Gosho Aoyama about the new movie "The Crimson Love Letter," from the special illustration book "Hattori Heiji & Toyama Kazuha: Secret Archives." published May 13, 2017 by the Shogakukan. Part 2, and interviews with other cast member to come in the future.
**footnotes regarding the translation are added in text after the images at the bottom of this post. **

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*1:  Competitive Karuta, is a Japanese card game. "Karuta" is a Japanization of the Portuguese word "carta" which means "card". The Portuguese introduced playing cards to Japan in the 1500's. Competitive Karuta is called "Kyougi Karuta" in Japanese and is played with cards called "uta-garuta" ("uta" meaning "song" and "garuta" coming from "karuta"). The "uta-garuta" have poems written on them. So they are cards with "lyrical" poems written on them. There are 100 poems in total and they are known as "hyakunin isshu". They are waka poems by 100 different poets. The basic rules are that someone reads one of the poems and the two competing players try to be the first one to find the card with that poem written on it from the cards layed out in front of them. There are many videos on YouTube you can watch to see the game being played. Here is an example.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLb7AklHWQ

 **Kinshiro Toyama was the alias of Toyama Kagemoto, a government official in the Edo period. Kinshiro Toyama ended up taking a position that used to belong to Ooka Tadasuke, who, because he was the governor of Echizen, was known as Ooka Echizen. These two characters, especially Toyama, have made many appearances in popular culture, and also famously in Kabuki Theater.

***The namesake of Ooka Momiji is actually from a drama called "Ooka Echizen". The characters in that drama are based on the real historical figures. In that drama there is also a character called Iori Sakakibara played by actor Muga Takewaki, hence the butler's name Muga Iori.

Complete English Translation of Most Recent Detective Conan Case

If you're interested in checking out the most recent case 100% translated in native level English click the link below.

http://conanmangatranslation.blogspot.jp/

Special Post March 2016, Aoyama Gosho Interview.

Gosho Aoyama and Hayato Sakamoto Cross-Talk.

Creator of Detective Conan and The Yomiuri Giants' Captain.

"If you make it to a .300 average and 30 home runs..."　-Aoyama-

Why is it you became a fan of Sakamoto's, Mr. Aoyama? 

Aoyama: Well, I've been a fan since he was first drafted. At that time, I was very pleased with the scout Omori, and I had wondered what sort of player he would bring in. I thought "well, he's a little thin, but he looks like he can hit." (laughs) I had a good feeling about him when watching him play. He really stands out from the crowd! I've been a fan since then. Today's the first time we've met, and I couldn't believe it was really him. (laughs) It felt like is was still looking at a TV. Sorry. (laughs)

Mr. Sakamoto, today's the first time you've met, so what's your first impression of Mr. Aoyama

Sakamoto: My first impression? Just "this is the guy who draws Conan!" (laughs) I'm a big fan of manga and I've got an autograph I received before in the locker room. I'm gonna put the picture I got today there too. 

What do you think about the role Sakamoto played in last year's season

Aoyama: While I was in the hospital they didn't have Nippon TV G+ so I only got to see highlights on the news, and that was difficult. (laughs) Also, I hadn't realized Sakamoto was batting cleanup. That surprised me when I noticed. 

Sakamoto: It was my first year as captain of the Giants, so I'm getting a lot of new experiences. It was my first time batting 4th as well. My record wasn't that good, but all in all it was a good year.

You're both professionals in your respective fields, so you must encounter some real difficulties.

Aoyama: Well, first, I really worried about whether I could draw a serialized comic. I felt like I wouldn't have any more ideas after 3 months. The first year or two was really difficult. (laughs)

Sakamoto: For me, it's that we've got a game every day. That's physically tiring of course, but also you have to play in front of forty thousand people, and that's very mentally exhausting. How many hours do you usually spend drawing manga?

Aoyama: When I'm in production, I only sleep about 3 hours a night.

Sakamoto: And the rest of the time you're drawing manga?

Aoyama: Or watching the Giants. (laughs)

Sakamoto: Thank you very much. (laughs) I've gotta be able to run around so sleep's very important. I get about 7 or 8 hours. So, you don't get any time off?

Aoyama: Time off? No, no!

How about right after you've finished the manuscript

Aoyama: Ah, that's when I'll watch the Giants game they've won. On nights they've won, it gets broadcast on Nippon TV G+. So, I'll record it and watch it later to refresh myself. (laughs)

Sakamoto: Haha! You really do like the Giants don't you!?

Aoyama: I've been a fan since the Nagashima days. (Shigeo Nagashima: coach of the Giants from 1972 - 1980, and 1993 - 2001) How do you feel about the change of coaches?

Sakamoto: It's my first experience with that. It feels fresh and exciting. 

Aoyama: Can I say this? For me personally, I want Sakamoto to be batting third. Then I want you to get .300 average with 30 homers...then once you do that, please make an appearance in Conan!! Also, I want you to go a year without injuries.

Sakamoto: A .300 Avg. and 30 home runs! Since you're expecting it I'll do it. Then we'll aim toward winning the Japan Series. After I do that you put me in Conan? (laughs)

Aoyama: Definitely! (laughs) I'll be supporting you with all my might this year!!　 

Blog Status Update

Hello everyone!

This is a "mid-entry" post if you will. When I first started these posts there was a lot of Detective Conan for me to get caught up with, which meant that posts came more frequently. Now, however, as I am completely caught up with the current weekly Shonen Sunday, that means these posts will be fewer and farther between. I'm posting this just to let people know that this blog hasn't died. I've got two posts concerning Sera's background and the mysteries surrounding her character. But I'm waiting until many of the questions have an answer before posting those. The point of this blog is still to give Detective Conan fans like myself a consolidated summary of the plot and events in the story, which is something I wasn't really able to find anywhere else. Since a lot happens in the main through story, and it's a lot to remember over a long period of time, I think something like this is helpful. ^^
Anyway, I will also continue to translate as many interviews with Aoyama as I can. (There are a lot more done in Japan than get translated to English.) There is one in particular I read recently that I think is interesting.  
That's all for now!

Special Post 3: Gosho Aoyama's Surgery

This comes from the 16th volume of Shonen Sunday magazine in 2015, which was published wednesday of last week (3/18/2015). I will translate the message from Aoyama, and also post the original Japanese version below that.

Hello, Aoyama here!

I know it's sudden, but I had surgery and am in the hospital!

So, the surgery went fine, but it seems I'll need to be in the hospital for a little while.

So, for the time being, Conan will be on a little break, but sometime around summer I'll be out of the hospital, and things'll get back to normal!

Until then just "wait a minute" (laughs)*

-Gosho Aoyama-

The man playing "Kantai Collection**" all the time in the hospital.

(A word from Conan) Stop just playing games and get better already!

* Reference to Aoyama's earlier work of that name.

**A popular game by Kadokawa Games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantai_Collection 

どーも　青山です！

突然ですが、この度　手術して　入院する事になりやした！

まぁ、手術は無事　終わったんですが、　しばらく入院しなきゃならねぇようなので、

その間、掲載が不定期になると思いますけど、夏頃に退院して　これまで通りに戻る予定だよん！

それまで「ちょっと待ってて」ね（笑）

入院中は「艦これ」やりまくりだー♪の

青山剛昌でした。

コナン＞＞ゲームばっかやってねーで

早く治せよね！

The Return of Akai Shuichi: A Confrontation with Bourbon

(For more 'updated' details, check previous "Bourbon" entries)
Bourbon solves a code Conan makes when the detective league is trapped and he comes to save them but hides the fact that he found the code and says he just happened to be passing by. He also finds out where Agasa's house is. (It's at this point he must learn about Agasa's gadgets and what Shuichi used in faking his death)

Bourbon and Vermouth are in disguise and hear Jodie talking about the case at the hospital and Shuichi touching the phone. This gives Bourbon more information on the case, to piece things together.

Conan runs into Bourbon in the hospital (the hospital where Rena was being held) and says he's looking for a friend "Kusuda Rikumichi". This is the guy who was posing as a regular patient but was really working with the black organization. Bourbon asks if Conan knows him. Conan immediately says no, and Bourbon says that's amazing because most people don't instantly know that they don't know someone just from the name, and they might ask more questions. Bourbon has basically figured everything out at this point but needs to confirm it. So he creates a scheme to get Camel to tell him what he needs to know.
Bourbon asks Takagi about Rikumichi. Takagi tells him that a few days before the bombing case (Rena's case) that a damaged car was found not far from the hospital, and that the owner was Rikumichi. And that there were blood splatters in the car, which seem to have been caused by a gun.
It's with that, that Bourbon completely figures it out.

It's during this case that Akai confirms Bourbon's true identity officially, and Conan finds out who Bourbon is really working for. Bourbon knows Akai is still alive but doesn't know where since Conan set up a trick to throw the trail off Subaru. Akai continues to live at Kudo's house as Subaru, in order to keep an eye on Haibara.
Conan and Bourbon seem to be on good terms at the end of the case, since Bourbon is also an enemy of the black orginization. But Bourbon still doesn't know Conan is Kudo.

Before getting cut off by Vermouth, who still thinks Bourbon is with the black organization, he starts to say her secret, that she is the boss's...

Also, in a text to Shuichi from Rena, we learn the code name of someone higher up than Gin (The head boss' number 2), that is "Rum". And we also learn that the Boss has started making movements.