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. **

 1

2

*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.

Special Post Two (Part 2) Interview with Aoyama Gosho April 2014

This is a continuation of the previous post. It is the second part of the interview with Aoyama Gosho which was printed in the April 2014 edition of the Monthly Conan Newspaper. For part one, please view the below link.

http://meitanteikonanplot.blogspot.jp/2014/03/special-post-two-part-1-interview-with.html


Enjoy.


Q(Questioner): So, you originally wanted to be an animator, and in college you were part of a manga study group. Why did you change to wanting to become a manga artist?

A(Aoyama): That's because I like making stories. And, I also like manga. And, I couldn't just suddenly go from wanting to be an animator, to wanting to be a director. But, as a manga artist, I'm really effectively always working as a director. So, really, it's just because I wanted to write stories.

Q: But it seems your father was completely opposed to it right?

A: Not just my dad, but really my whole family was opposed to the idea. They told me I should probably stop, when I told them I would become a manga artist. They said "I knew an illustrator. He could draw a crab so life-like that it looked like it would jump off the page. But despite that, he died poor. Do you want to be like that?" But, from the time "Magic Kaito" came out their responses changed. I always go back to my hometown on New Year's and I'll draw pictures and sign autographs that people requested from my family, and one time, I was sitting in the living room drawing, and my old man came in, he asked me to draw (Nakamori) Aoko-chan, and I just thought "Yes, I won!"(Laughs)

Q: By the advice of your upperclassman in college, you decided to aim for your manga debut, but originally you took your manuscript to a different company? Is that right?

A: It was Kodansha's weekly published Shonen Magazine. When I drew the prototype for Magic Kaito, I got an honorable mention or something, and just when I was thinking I was gonna draw for that magazine, the editor changed and the new guy didn't seem to like my style. He said "If you want to continue, you'll need to change your drawing and writing style." I didn't really like the sound of that, and and editor at the time, who would later become editor-in-chief, told me that if I didn't think changing my style sounded good, then I should probably just go to a different magazine. So I went right on to Shonen Sunday and made my debut drawing non-serialized stories.

Q: Did you ever think you would fail as a manga artist, or did you regret your decision?

A: I completely thought that. I didn't think it would be this busy! It's more difficult being a manga artist than becoming a manga artist. When you're new, you want to hurry and get a serialized story before you're forgotten so you spend every day drawing names (Rough story boards for manga), but once you actually get serialized, it's way busier. (Before you're serialized) It's beyond your imagination. "Detective Conan" is particularly busy. In the days I was drawing "YAIBA" it was way more peaceful. The pictures were difficult, because it was an action manga. If I hurried I could get the names done in about a day, and could get everything finished in about 5 or 6 days. Then, with my left over time I'd go play baseball. My assistant would be like "Let's go play ball!" And, I still had free time left over. If I tried to do that while making "Conan" it'd be too difficult...

Q: Usually, your work week is 3 days for the name, and 4 days for the manuscript?

A: Yes. And my daily routine is usually, I go to sleep at about 10 am, and wake up at around 1 pm, that's when my assistants usually arrive. I'll usually write a sign that says something like "Wake me up when you get here    -Aoyama-" So, my sleep time is about 3 hours. It's usually like that. I'll work and then at around midnight I'll usually get tiered and tell them I'm gonna go sleep for about 30 minutes. They'll wake me up, and we'll work through to morning. And that goes on and on for 20 years. (Laughs)

Q: What about your meals?

A: When I wake up, I'll always eat udon or soba or something. Then at about 7 pm I'll usually order something. I'm always ordering delivery. But in the middle of the night I'll go to a convenience store or something. A long time ago, sometimes my assistants would make something. Now that we're working off computers we're even more busy and my assistants don't have time to make any food either. Our dinner is from a convenience store! My favorite thing from there is oden. It's delicious and healthy.

Q: After 20 years of working, have your methods changed?

A: After about 3 hours of work, I'll take about a 30 to an hour and a half break. Maybe sleep for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes sleep, I'm rested enough.

Q: Do you have any superstitions?

A: When I'm about to start work I'll spin my chair before I sit down. It's sort of become a habit.

Q: Do you ever think "Based on that spin, it feels like today's gonna be a good day"?

A: No, not really. (laughs) It's just a stupid habit of mine.

Q: I heard that tendinitis is common among manga artists, but do you take any precautionary measures?

A: Well, it seemed like I was headed in the direction of developing it, so, probably over 10 years ago I switched to using milipens (type of pen). A long time ago I just used the regular G-pen, but that requires more pressure and  my hands would hurt, but when I draw with milipens I could draw all the lines very easily. "YAIBA" was completely drawn by pen, but I guess "Conan" was only done with pen in the beginning. With the thick and thin lines in Conan, with a regular pen you could just do it with one stroke, but with a milipen, you have to go over it several times to get the right thickness. If you're a person who's never used a pen, then you won't know that amount of pressure that needs to be applied, so if you're just starting out as a manga artist, please use a pen.
An other thing that's changed is the about 3 or 4 years ago we switched to using computers for the drawing, and we don't have to apply tone by hand anymore.

Q: The Conan movie that is coming to theaters in April "The Sniper from a Different Dimension", it has some very pivotal and mysterious characters like Akai Shuichi and Okiya Subaru making their first appearances in a movie, and they seem to play a key role.

A: Well, I can't really say too much, but if you go see it, a "certain something" gets confirmed in the movie. It may be the first time a movie gets there before the manga on a main plot point. If you're a fan, you won't want to miss it. It's very cool.

Q: In the manga, Akai presence has been gradually becoming felt.

A: It's a very scary and cool image. In the manga, various mysteries are going to be cleared up. Of course that is to be expected from a mystery series. (laughs) Like the waterfall that Holmes fell over with Professor Moriarty (Reichenbach), the place where Akai was shot was called Raiha Ridge. (Reichenbach in Japanese is ライヘンバッハ or Raihenbahha which if you take out the middle becomes "Raiha") And after Holmes fell into the falls, he was still alive right?

Q: So that's a clue isn't it.

A: Yeah. Of course I'm a big Holmes fan. But Akai's name I took from from "Mobile Suit Gundam".

Q: In the explanation of the key characters on the site for the movie, it is written that the FBI investigator James Black is a fan of Mine Fujiko. Was that decision influenced by the "Lupin VS Conan" movie?

A: That's sort of a fan service. It's sort of interesting when stuff like that is written. Black knows about various things. And those character explanations were also written by me. At first, only Akai's was long, so I made the others match his length, and added the bit about Fujiko.

Q: Nowadays, the manga artists of the original work are becoming more and more involved with the theatrical version of the movies as well, but I've never heard of the original author even writing the character profiles on the movie's site.

A: Am I the most involved manga artist? I just added a few notes to what the advertising department wrote. There were several hints in the parts I wrote. I wrote several very fishy things.

Q: Why is it that you are so involved?

A: I just like anime. I originally wanted to be an animator after all. I just ask if I can see any news before they release it. They let me get away with a lot.

Q: Speaking of originally wanting to be an animator, what do you think about the anime series?

A: There are times when I think "thank you for taking it to such an extent," but there are also times when I think about how they went through such trouble to draw it, and it's ended up like this. When things are good I tell the editor over the phone "tell them they're doing a good job."

Q: The anime has things that the manga doesn't like sound and movement. Have there been any other effects by the anime on the Conan world?

A: Yeah, in the "Moonlight Sonata Murder Case" (manga volume 7, anime episode 11) Beethoven's Sonata "Moonlight" is flowing through Moonshadow Island. You can't hear the music in the manga. When I was drawing it I could here it myself, but that can't be conveyed to the reader. But it can to the viewer with the anime. I thought that was really cool and exciting.

Q: Do you ever take inspiration from other manga artists who have had long running series or manga that have been made into successful anime, or from voice actors?

A: Of course. I'm influenced strongly by the voice of the actors, definitely. I'll have an idea for the voice of a character in my head. Conan is voiced by Takayama Minami, and Mitsuhiko, at first I sort of was drawing him with more of a mischievous face, sort of like Suneo (a character from Doraemon), but Otani Ikue has a cute voice, so I started drawing him with a cuter face. And Conan always says "あれれ？(roughly, a cutesy kid way of saying "Oh? What's this?")". Originally he said that in the first volume but didn't really say it after that, but when Takayama said it in the anime, it was cute, and I started having him say it more. In the beginning, it was only my influence on the drawings, but the influence of others is good. I'm very glad, and I'd like to say thank you very much.

Q: You like sports too right? I heard you like the Giants, and soccer. So, what do you think about Japan in the World Cup this year?

A: It's great isn't it. I like Honda Keisuke who went to AC Milan. I was thinking "this guy is good" before he started really making a name for himself. He's got a big mouth doesn't he. He looks cool. He's a man of his word. He's number 10 for AC Milan....that's so cool. It seems like he's gonna do something really great. I hope he gives it his all.

Q: Do you watch European Soccer?

A: I used to a long time ago. I really liked (former Italian player) Roberto Baggio. I liked Serie A. And I really liked Juventus because Baggio originally played with them. Their uniform was really cool too, with the black stripes. It actually influenced the uniform of the Tokyo Spirits in my manga. So, yeah, I like Juventus. Usually I'll take a vacation once every 4 years, and I'll go see the World Cup. I went to see in person the '98 France World Cup, with Japan vs Argentina. I'm gonna go with my editor this year too.

Q: Conan's Super Kick Shoes have soccer influences as well don't they.

A: Conan began serialization in '94, and it was around that time that the J-league had just started ('93). So, I'm sorry for hopping on a fad like that.

Q: There are also Kendo and martial arts motifs aren't there.

A: That's because I was in the Kendo club at school.

Q: Changing topics, about a news paper, you haven't designed one have you?

A: No, I haven't. But the Nikkan Sports News Paper printed a full page advertisement of the Bell Tree Express. I was so happy. I framed it and hung it in my room.

Q: Sports newspapers themselves play important roles here and there don't they. With the Sumo wrestling record chart etc., I'm glad the contents in real life are different than the story. But anyway, lastly, could you give a message to your fans, especially the young people.

A: Thank you for supporting me these past 20 years. And thank you for your future support as well. If you're thinking "should I give up on becoming a manga artist? Is it too difficult?" No...I have fan letters saying "I think I want to be a manga artist.", but I just want to say, be prepared, and resolute.

Q: When you've ended Conan, are there any themes you'd like to try out?

A: Journey to the West! I really like it. And, I wanted to do something like that. But, well, too many years have gone by. If this were when I was drawing YAIBA, I could easily do it, but now it would be too hard.
I'd like to draw some kind of Science Fiction too. That'd be good. If I could have a break from Conan, I'd draw that. (laughs)

Q: Lastly, could you give a few words to the readers of the Monthly Conan Newspaper, about the core of Conan.

A: The next movie is a production that couldn't be done as a manga. It could only be done as a movie, and it's very cool. It couldn't be done in the manga, and it has a lot of ties to the original story. This could only be done in anime. And, because this couldn't be done with manga, there's a ton of action packed cool stuff in it. Normally, the movie wouldn't go ahead of the original work and reveal something about the story. This is the first time. If people think "What? Is that all?" I don't know what I'll do. (Laughs) We can probably only do this with a movie. You'll probably think "Ah, I see." So, please look forward to it.

(The End)

Special Post Two (Part 1) Interview with Aoyama Gosho March 2014

(This interview comes from my translation of the interview posted in the March 14th "Detective Conan Newspaper". I will try to buy next month's issue and post the rest of the interview)

An extra long interview that lasted over 2 hours with Detective Conan creator Aoyama Gosho (50). This time, he talks about the black orginization, how he creates tricks for cases, Kaito Kid...and he gives a full report on his future plans.

So... Please Enjoy! ^o^

I(Interviewer): So, It seems you have decided on the overall ending already right? Have you even planed the final scene?

A(Aoyama): On January 4 this year (2014) I went on a kind of talk show event held in my hometown in Tottori Prefecture, called "Let's Have a Chat with Aoyama Gosho Day!! 2014". And, there we had talked about the black orginization, and the identity of their Boss. I had revealed that the Boss was someone that has already made an appearance and we already know their full name. So, it's a character we already know, and we also know their full name, but there has been some mistake that has gotten out there.It's been going around the internet...and it's wrong!!

I: That would be that it's Professor Agasa...

A: Right right. And it's even being said that it's the woman that Agasa liked, Fusae-chan ( Fusae Campbell Kinoshita), but that's wrong too. hahaha. Even personally, I think their story ended up beautifully. And it's been said many times that that story is just too nice, and that it just has to be her, but I don't think I want to have that be a major plot point.

I: So, at the present moment, are there no other hints about the identity of "that person".

A: No, not for now. Just please look forward to it. (laughs)

I: So then, the black orginization is full of mysteries. But, what sort of orginization are they, and what is their goal? World Conquest?

A: Well, the world....or rather, they want control of lot's of money. They're moving stealthily in the shadows...sort of like (Al) Capone did right? Or, sort of like the image of the bad guys in 007 or something...sitting there stroking a cat. It's probably best not to say too much.

I: Is there any standard procedure when you're drawing the black orginization?

A: As for the members, like Gin or Vodka, their names must be some type of alcohol. But, I'm running low on different types. They're all distilled alcohols. And the girls, like Sherry and Vermouth, are named after sweet alcohols. (As for why) I just think it sounds cool.

I: And as for Haibara Ai, did you intend from the start to have her on the side of the black orginization, or did you always plan to have her develop in the way she has?

A: Yeah, even in volume 2 she had already made an appearance, though it was just a silhouette. And, because she's was a character sort of in between Conan and the orginization, her name Haibara (灰原) came from Haiiro (灰色) meaning grey.

I: The movie that came out at the end of last year "Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Conan THE MOVIE" (The second cross over movie) there's a scene where Haibara gets in the bath with Mine Fujiko. So, what direction is Haibara going from here on out?

A: Hahaha....Yeah, I don't know. I guess nature will have to take it's course (Laughs) The bathing scene was a little surprising. At first, my editor handed me the story board and was like "Aoyama-sensei, there's a scene here where Haibara gets in the bath with Fujiko!" And, I had read the script and didn't remember there being a scene like that in there. So, when I asked if we should have them cut it, he said that Monkey-sensei (Monkey Punch: the creator of Lupin the 3rd) requested there be a scene with Fujiko in the bath. So, I thought, if it's going to be in there I wanted it to be cool, so I added a bunch of lines, and there was a lot of content that got cut. There probably aren't any manga artists who are cutting things from animations. But I had originally wanted to be an animator.

Haibara's lines are my true intentions

I: The lines that Haibara says when she's merely muttering to herself are impressive and actually very poetic.

A: The only person thinking them up is me, so I struggle with it. She herself is an easy character to write, because the things she says, I could say in real life. The things I couldn't have Conan say inspire what Haibara says. And you could say that those things are my true intentions. If there were someone that killed a person to protect a bear, Haibara would look at them with an angry face and say "You can't take animal rights that far", but if it were Conan he would say some harsh words. Because they'll say some indiscreet line with a stern face, Haibara and Kogoro are valuable.

I: Even if Kogoro is an idiot who's always joking around, he does have some cool moments doesn't he.

A: I created him with the image of just a generally bad detective. He has a habit of misreading things, but he's actually very important. When he should be cool, he isn't. He's very easy to write. I can easily write some perverted thing I'm thinking. I'm probably most like Kogoro.

I: So it's safe to say that your true intentions/thoughts are hidden in Haibara and Kogoro's lines?

A: Yes, those two are very easy to write.


I: How do you think up the tricks?

A: It's painful. Every time it's very difficult. But, there are times when my editor will also come to me with an idea. When we go into a meeting I'll ask "have you seen anything interesting recently? Have you read any novels? Is there anything we could use?" and if there's anything interesting, we'll use it. Of course, we'll end up changing everything about it though. And then we'll start asking various people things. My younger brother is a doctor so, I'll ask him about the time of death, rigor mortis, how much postmortem lividity appears etc. It's important to wring out the foundation.

I: Do you ever try out the tricks in real life?

A: For ones we can test, we test mostly all of them. A long time ago there was one where an answering machine was used as a tape recorder and then the tape was recovered. We had to actually test that. And just recently we tested if you could float a tomato on water using salt. We wanted to know how much salt would it take. And in order to get it to float, you have to put a ton of salt in the water. So, we didn't know what to do with that. But, at first, if you put just enough salt in there so that it's not quite floating, but it hasn't quite sunken either, and then you just barely sprinkle a tiny bit more in, it floats right to the top. And I thought that was really cool.

I: If you test things too much you'd probably get hurt wouldn't you.


I: There is a lot of variation in the stories, but do you ever reference cases that occurred in real life?

A: Actually I don't reference cases that have actually happened. That would probably be a little inconsiderate. But, actually a few weeks after I had drawn the Bus Jacking case, something similar to that had occurred in real life. I thought "Oh man, this is bad. Should I stop drawing Conan." Although, I could probably use cases from a long time ago. Like the "3 hundred million yen case" (He is referencing the largest heist in Japanese history. It occurred in 1968 in Tokyo, and has yet to be solved.) But I couldn't reference cases that are still ongoing or that have recently occurred. It might seem like I'm making fun of it, or making light of it, and that wouldn't be good.

I: Of the tricks and the story, which do you think of first?

A: Without a doubt, the tricks. And then I write a story for the tricks. Because I start with the most difficult thing and go from there. The trick will take about a half a day, or about 6 hours. If it goes quickly, maybe 3 hours. But even in 1 day, there's stuff I can't get done. There are times when I'll only get to sleep about an hour and a half. So, I'll be like "I'm gonna sleep, so hang on a little while."

I: Of these past 20 years, what trick are you most satisfied with?

A: Hmm...What would that be? Maybe I should ask you that. But, the code with the sun and the moon (vol 12),  the secret to that was originally from Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men". That's one that you can figure out on your own. That's also the first Holmes story I read. I was really excited and very moved. I was a kid, so I couldn't read English, but I still thought it was really cool. Even if it said, this person is an "L", as a kid it still didn't click immediately and I would read it while referencing the dictionary.I was in about 2nd or 3rd grade. I thought "wow, Holmes is cool. I want to do that someday."　

I: Where do you get the news and lingo related to the police and investigations?

A: I've asked the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. They'll tell me various things.


Kid is a sneaky character

I: Kid is also a very popular character. Could you tell us the details of his creation, and your future plans for him? Is he going to be involved with Conan and the black orginization?

A: Well, he's originally from my previous work called "Magic Kaito". I created that because I really liked Arsene Lupin and Lupin the 3rd. And recently he got involved a little with the black orginization during the Bell Tree Express case (the mystery train case from vol 78) but from here on out I don't think he will very much. Kaito Kid is a very sneaky character. He can disguise himself, and he can change his voice and stuff. It's better if he's an enemy. He's too sneaky to be an ally. There are a lot of female fans of his, but I don't plan on bringing him out too much.(wry smile)

I: There are creators who decide how much a character will make and appearance completely on their own.

A:Yeah, there are. Just freely doing whatever they want. When there's a movie, saying things like "No, don't have them say something like that" and then changing everything. Then they'll notice how it ends and really just change everything.

I: The Conan anime is faithful to the original.

A: Yeah, that's because it's a very long story. If it wasn't faithful to it, it would become inconsistent. And at the beginning I asked them to please do just as the original does.

I: When a movie comes out, I heard you are very involved.

A: I am. There's the feeling with a movie that you can do larger scale things that you couldn't do in a manga.

I: I also heard that there was an idea to set something up that would link the "Lupin the 3rd VS Conan THE MOVIE" with the 18th Conan movie "The Sniper from another Dimension".

A: The setting is the "Tree" but we weren't allowed to use the name "Sky Tree" (The Tokyo Sky Tree is a tower recently built in Tokyo). They weren't sure about having people dying there. They were probably right about that. (wry smile)

I: I guess there aren't too many differences between making it a movie, or for TV, but the TV series is steadily becoming larger scale.

A: Just as long as they don't interfere with the original.

I: Last year the Conan series was awarded the Fujimoto's "Special Series Award". There was an award recognizing the people who make it, and as one of the great anime which have crossed over to become movies.

A: Yeah, that's amazing isn't it.

I: Even as a movie and anime, you're still pretty involved aren't you?

A: I feel I might as well get involved. At first I was just going to completely leave it up to them, but then I thought, well, I better not. And I ended up changing things on all the scripts. And I was wondering if that's really something a manga artist does. It was a lot of work. After I would finish the name (the term for the "story board" like stage of a manga) I would read scripts and check them. That's a lot of work.

(Continued in the next issue)

Murder on the Belltree Express

Agasa, the detective league, Kogoro, Ran, and Sonoko, are all taking a trip on a mystery train, where a case will be staged by the staff and the passengers must try to solve the mystery. Sera also shows up. She says that it's just a coincidence because she is a detective too and so naturally would want to ride a mystery train. Actually, she saw the photo of Sherry the kids had taken and so wanted to go along in order to get information on her.

Kudo's mom, Subaru, Sharon (Vermouth), and Bourbon are also on board. Vermouth is disguised as Shuichi, and bourbon stays hidden most of the time. While Vermouth knows that Sherry is Haibara, Bourbon does not, and so he has let the black organization know that he expects Sherry to be on board. Their plan is to capture her and kill her. Gin and Vodka are waiting at the train station where the train is headed.

Vermouth knows that, especially because the other kids (the detective league) are there, once Haibara realizes the black organization are on the train to capture her, she will take the antidote to turn herself back to her normal body so that if she is killed, and her body gets discovered, it won't be her in child form. So, once she has done that, Vermouth and Bourbon set up a trick to make Haibara go to the back of the train while everyone else goes to the front. There, Bourbon confronts her at gunpoint.

However, Conan overheard Vermouth talking to his mom while she had her phone out, and so he put Haibara to sleep with a tranquilizer dart. Then he got the help of another person who he discovered was on the train while investigating the murder that also happened to occur, that person being Kaito Kid. Conan has him disguise himself as Sherry and go to the back of the train in her place.


When Vermouth disguised as Akai confronts Sera and knocks her out in order to keep her out of the way, Conan and the others know this and so Subaru takes Sera and puts her safely in their room to sleep. Before she got knocked out, she called scar Akai (Vermouth) "Shu-ni". The "Shu" uses the same character as Akai Shuichi's name, and the "ni" uses the same character from "big brother". So, it seems to be revealed at this point that Akai Shuichi is Sera Masumi's older brother.

So, back at the back of the train, Bourbon holds Sherry (Kaito) at gun point (but doesn't shoot as he doesn't really want to kill her), and sets down a bomb that he is going to use to detach the back car from the rest of the train, and then later the black organization will capture her. However, Vermouth has planted more bombs at the back, probably in order to avoid Sherry getting caught and telling the organization something about her she doesn't want her to. That's probably related to why she hasn't told anyone that Conan and Haibara are Kudo and Sherry. So, Bourbon detonates the bomb(to detatch the car, not kill Sherry), but just as he does so, we see a glimpse of Akai Shuichi through smoke.

So, Bourbon and the rest of the black organization now believe that Sherry is dead.
But, Vermouth sees Haibara get off the train with Conan and the others, so she knows that they saved her somehow, but she(Vermouth) doesn't say anything.

Kaito escapes the explosion via his hang glider.
After thinking that he saw Shuichi on the train, Bourbon asks Vermouth for the files related to the events right before and after Akai's death, and then says he's going start re-investigating him. (It's from this point he really starts to piece together what happened.) Also, in the next case, Bourbon happens to get involved and he notices Conan making deductions. At the end, he is talking to Vermouth on the phone and says he has a new interest in The Sleeping Kogoro, while actually talking about Conan. (meaning, now he is investigating Kogoro's office to get info on Conan rather than Sherry, as he thinks Conan has to do with Akai's "death", which he does).

Sera Masumi

Conan, Ran and Sonoko meet someone on a bus, while they're on their way to a hotel restaurant, who's going to the same hotel. On the roof of that Hotel while investigating a murder she says that she is a detective and the her name is Sera.

Her full name is Sera Masumi. She seems to be suspicious of Conan's true identity when she fakes a mistake in her deduction to get Conan to make his.

Sera says that she was born and raised in Tokyo but since three years ago she had been living with her parents in America. But, she just now returned to Tokyo. Also, Conan says he feels like he may have met her before. This is probably linked to the fact that she is Akai Shuichi's younger sister. Since Shuichi also lived in America and works as an F.B.I agent it would make sense that she lived there with him. She was probably notified of his "death" and has come to Japan to investigate. So, also, Conan may recognize her just because she resembles Akai, or he may have actually known her in the past, as she seems to hint that she knew Kudo well.

Sera notices that someone was living at Kudo's house and found out from Mitsuhiko and Genta that it is Subaru.

Sera is seen at her room at the hotel she's living at, deleting photos from her computer, including the one of the reflection of Haibara, and saying "for data at least...its an easy task to accomplish." (This may have something to do with the mysterious girl who appears later with Sera, who looks a lot like herself (Sera) and also like Haibara. That girl is currently still only known as "Sera's little sister from outside the domain" (possibly meaning "half-sister"))

Although, Sera knows the F.B.I was in Japan on investigation (when her brother was "killed") it's not clear if she knows what the investigation was about or who she thinks is responsible for Akai's "death".

Sera seems to definitely suspect Conan of being Kudo. She may even already know for sure.

When Camel shows a picture of Sera to Jodie and James, Jodie doesn't recognize her at first, but then thinks that she resembles someone. James says he doesn't know her, however, he knew right away that she was a girl (unlike everyone else) and had sort of a shocked face when he saw the picture.
He probably remembers her as Akai's sister clearly.

In a later case, Sera is asking Ran and Sonoko about what kind of girl Haibara is, and Ran says that she's like an adult who's become a kid because she's always saying adult like things. Then she says "You may not know this, but just like Shinichi, Conan is also a huge Holmes fan." And, Sera then thinks to herself  "Yeah, I know...I've known since a long time ago." Since she must know Conan's true identity, and likely knows Haibara's now too, at this point she probably has a fair amount of knowledge of the overall situation but not everything.

Scar Shuichi

One day, Jodie sees someone walking under an umbrella who looks like Shuichi.

The fingerprints on the phone Jodie gave to Takagi to check came back as being Conan's, Jodie's and the same prints as the ones from the body in the fire from the explosion that apparently killed Shuichi (The body and prints being Rikumichi's).
The "Akai" with burns on his face that Jodie sees, is actually Vermouth in disguise. She is helping Bourbon to see if Akai is really dead based on the reactions of those who see her in that disguise. (This is revealed in a later case that involves Vermouth and Bourbon on a train)

Gin Vodka and Candy follow the man that looks like Shuichi to that department store waiting to determine if it really is him, and if it is, kill Kir (and Akai) (because it would mean she only pretended to kill him(Akai) in the car fire, which would prove she's actually working with him)
This also shows that for some reason Vermouth is hiding what she's doing from the organization as well. And Bourbon is too, obviously because he isn't really one of them.

Gin talking to Rena asks if "he" knows about the situation at the department store. He is referring to Bourbon. He says that like Vermouth he is very secretive. But, Rena says that she heard that he is looking for that scientist who escaped the organization (Sherry/ Haibara).Then Vodka says that Bourbon hates Akai, even more than Gin does. Then Gin says that Bourbon didn't believe that Akai was dead from the beginning because he(Bourbon) thinks he's(Bourbon) the only one that could kill him(Akai).
Put simply, Bourbon and Vermouth are keeping their plans secret, even from each other for the most part.

Bourbon

A dark skinned light haired man makes an appearance at a case that Conan, Ran, and Kogoro get involved with. His name is Amuro Touru, and he claims that he is a detective. He says that he wants to be Kogoro's apprentice and go on cases with him. So he got a job at Poirot, the restaurant under the Mouri Detective Agency.
This is Bourbon. He has suspicion that Kogoro may have a connection to Sherry because of the case involving Rena Higashi.

In a following case, when Conan gets kidnapped, and Sera, Subaru (Akai) and Amuro(Bourbon) are helping Agasa, Haibara, Kogoro and Ran, Subaru hangs out of Hakase's car and sees Amuro who's driving in the car next to them with Kogoro and Ran. Amuro also sees him, and they both look at each other. (Akai knows that Amuro is Bourbon but Bourbon doesn't recognize Akai.)
Amuro also sees Sera when she saves Conan, and then he thinks to himself "Why is she here..."
So, he must know Sera from his connection with Akai.

As Subaru drives off with Haibara and Hakase in his car, he puts an ear piece in. At that point, Amuro gets a phone call and Sera turns on an ear piece she has in her ear as well. Then we see Vermouth talking on the phone saying, "Anyway, it seems we can trust you...You're going to keep your promise to me right? Bourbon?". So, it is set up to make it seem as though bourbon could be any of those three, but she is in fact talking to Amuro. Subaru is almost definitely listening in on that call, and Sera probably is too. (The promise being that he'll help with Sherry.)

Sera, while walking home with Ran and Sonoko, sees the man who seems to be Akai Shuichi, and runs after him. This is Vermouth disguised as Akai, because Bourbon wants to see if Akai is really dead, by seeing the reactions of people close to him(Akai).

As cases continue, Bourbon occasionally offers his assistance. However, he is really trying to use Kogoro, since he is a detective, to gain leads on where Sherry may be. (Gin knows there may be some connections to Beika, since the case with Rena that occurred there.)

On a later case taking place during a camping trip the Detective league takes in the mountains, Haibara ends up having to take the temporary antidote for the APTX poison in order to save Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi. The kids take a picture of her in her adult form, because they want to show it to Detective Mouri and have him find her so they can thank her for saving them.
This wouldn't be a problem except, she was wearing a ring the the kids had received as a pass to board a train for a special mystery tour in a few weeks. So, because of that, she can be seen wearing it in the photo the kids took of her as Sherry as well. The kids send the photo to Kogoro, and Bourbon sees it on his computer.
So, the black organization plans to capture Sherry on that train, and kill her.

The Bourbon Arch

Conan and the detective boys get asked to investigate a strange tenant of the apartment building of one of their classmates. However, when they arrive at the apartment it has been burnt to the ground. That case is resolved but one of the other tenants of that apartment building, Subaru Okiya, a graduate student of engineering, or so he claims. It is actually Akai Shuichi in disguise. He intended to live in that apartment inconspicuously, but since it burnt down, Conan has him stay in his house next door to Agasa, where he can also keep an eye on Haibara.
Ran comes in contact with Okiya when she goes to Shinichi's house to clean. Conan tells Ran not to mention Shinichi's name around him. Shuichi doesn't know Conan is Kudo at that point, but finds out soon. Ran feels something strange about Okiya (as she has met him before in New York, as Akai Shuichi). At the end of that case, Okiya is seen drinking Bourbon (Hinting at Akai's identity). Also, just before that, it is learned from Rena who makes a call to Jodie, that they should look out for a knew member of the black organization who is supposed to be very smart, and great at obtaining information, who's code name is Bourbon.
This is the beginning of Bourbon's investigation into whether or not Akai is really dead. He is infiltrating the Black orginization, like Rena is, and like Hondo, and Akai did previously, but Bourbon (Furuya Rei) is with a different organization, the 公安警察の俗称, or the Secret Police. He has a grudge against Shuichi and the black organization, due to the death of someone close to him from the same orginization as him, who was killed by the black organization, when he infiltrated them, with the code name Scotch.
It is at this point that Vermouth probably meets with Bourbon to ask for his help in investigating Conan and Haibara (because the organization still wants Sherry dead. *NOTE: the organization doesn't know that Kudo and Sherry are Conan and Haibara. Only Vermouth knows, but is keeping it secret for some reason.) This is in exchange for her helping Bourbon investigate Akai's death. Bourbon also has secrets on Vermouth related to her relation to the big Boss.

In the next case Subaru is involved with, Haibara gets the feeling that she knows him(because he is Akai in disguise).

Summary of Mizunashi Rena, Hondo Eisuke Arch

Hondo Hidemi and her father, Hondo Ethan, were CIA agents who were posing as members of the black orginization in order to gain information on them. In order to protect Hidemi, Ethan killed himself, and they had to make the orginization think that Hidemi did it. In order to keep her brother safe, he wasn't told anything, and Hidemi began posing as Mizunashi Rena, a TV announcer. Hondo Eisuke her brother began searching for his sister and suspecting that Mizunashi Rena had killed her (not realizing that actually was her). He starts asking Mouri questions to try to get information to help him figure it out.(Actually, at first, he also thought that Kogoro might even be working with the black organization and hiding his sister) While Rena asked Mouri to keep an eye on Eisuke (Mouri doesn't know very much about the situation though).
During a confrontation with the black orginization, Rena, code name Kir, has an accident and is unconscious for a while. At that point, unsure of her identity, the FBI keeps her secretly at a hospital, while Eisuke and the black orginization are both searching for her.
Conan, the FBI and Eisuke eventually find out the truth of the situation, and when Rena regains consciousness, the FBI ask her to return to posing as a member of the black orginization in order to keep gaining information about them.

At the  end of the next case though. Rena is forced to prove her loyalty by killing Shuichi. Shuichi and Conan anticipated this and set up plan to fake Shuichi's death. A low ranking spy with the black organization killed himself in the last case. He also touched Conan's phone. So, they put his body in Shuichi's place. There's will be a body, found with a bullet hole in his head (because he shot himself) and his finger prints will be on Conan's phone, where Shuichi's should be. (but he covered his fingertips with glue in advance to hide his prints) Rena shoots Shuichi (Blood shoots out via a device made by Agasa) and blows up the truck with Rikumichi (the spy who killed himself) inside, and Shuichi escapes in Rena's car. Thus keeping the trust of the black orginization.

The FBI also think that Shuichi is really dead, except for James Black who noticed Shuichi's fingers, so they had to tell him.

Eisuke says he is moving to America because he wants to one day become part of the C.I.A like his sister and father.
Also, it is revealed that his reasons for apparently watching Conan suspiciously in the past were because he all along suspected that he might be Kudo Shinichi, and in the end, lures the truth out of Conan by saying he wants to take Ran to America with him because he has a crush on her. Conan has no choice but to tell him he is Shinichi.

The Truth behind the Hondo Family.

The next case involving Eisuke begins with no one being able to get a hold of him since the beginning of winter break. Before winter break, Ran said that he told her he found a clue a the Beika Center Hospital ( where Rena is). He said that he found one of his father's colleagues. Eisuke told Ran that someone at the hospital was using the same e-mail address as the boss of his father. And Eisuke knows the address because he could hear the key pad's tone when his father would send a message to it  and it sounded like the child's song "Nanatsu No Ko (Seven Children)" So, Conan knows that someone connected to the black orginization is there. Eisuke went to the hospital and showed a nurse the photo of his sister in order to find Rena, but seemingly got no information and left. But he was actually still hiding in wait there.

As Conan an the FBI investigate to try to find out which patient is actually a member of the black orginization, Mizunashi Rena regains consciousness. But she continues to feign unconsciousness. Conan is able to notice that and uses it to draw out the truth later.

Conan learns Eisuke had leukemia and was at a hospital in Tokyo with his mother for a surgery. That's when Conan realizes that Rena is his real sister and that his blood type must have been changed to AB. He got a bone marrow transplant from his sister. HLA, or the Human Leukocyte Antigen, is often easily a match with siblings. Upon treatment, Eisuke who's O type blood was being destroyed from the radiation was changed to AB type in order to receive the transplant from his sister. Also that's related to the scar Conan noticed on Eisuke's chest in the earlier case.


It seems that Akai Shuichi had a girlfriend who, a few months ago, in order to be kept quiet, was killed by the black orginization. And so, Shuichi seems to have a personal grudge against them. That girl herself wasn't to deeply involved with the orginization but Shuichi was getting close to her to find out about her younger sister who was a scientist deeply involved with the orginization. During a period of three years, from 5 years ago to 2 years ago, Shuichi was under the false name of Moroboshi Dai. He was given the code name Rye by the black orginization. He had well infiltrated them and was on an assignment with Gin. They hoped that if he could full even Gin that he would be able to make it all the way to their boss. Shuichi went to the meeting place and the FBI secretly stood by, but the black orginization never showed up. They seemed to realize that Shuichi was with the FBI. However, his girlfriend wasn't killed at that time because her sister was so important. The girl was given a job and if she completed it she was told that her and her sister could leave the orginization but if she failed they would be killed. Her job was a billion yen robbery. That girl was of course, Miyano Akemi, and the younger sister, Haibara.
The day before she went on that job that led her even to Detective Mouri's Office and to later be killed by the Black orginization, she sent a final message to Shuichi. It said "It seems I'll be able to leave the orginization so maybe I could really be your girlfriend. Akemi"

Eisuke enters the room and starts to attack Rena. It is at that point that a lot of information is uncovered and Conan and Shuichi devise their plan.


"The Company" Eisuke's father was part of is the C.I.A. Hondo Eisuke's father, who's name was Ethan Hondo, was a second generation Japanese-American who 30 years ago joined the C.I.A. Three years later he got married and seemed to be hiding out in Japan. That was to infiltrate and collect data on the Black Orginization. That's why he had the email address of the orginization's boss that Eisuke overheard the dial tone of. However, 4 years ago at an unused warehouse in Yokohama he was scouting out the area for the black orginization's next transaction (he was still posing as one of them). At that time Rena (who is also a CIA agent) was temporarily posing as a member of the black orginization but only to set up her father with a new partner, but she was bugged without realizing it and in order to protect her he killed himself and made it look like she killed him for betraying the orginization. So, from that point on she continued to pose Mizunashi Rena, the TV announcer and Kir the member of the black orginization.


As for why Conan knew she was a CIA agent beforehand.
Conan knew that she is someone who can tell if someone is lying based on breathing, heart rate and pupil dilation, because when she said thank you to him for saving her when she was interviewing the man targeted for assassination by the black orginization in the park, she had obviously seen through Conan's false identity and that sort of technique is common for CIA agents. Also the phrase she muttered around the black orginization "Our achievements never she the light of day, but our mistakes are quickly well-known", which is a common motto for the CIA. Also, when Vermouth knocked on her bike and asked if Kir was one of those, she was saying "are you a NOC", or CIA agent.


So, they agree that she will go back to posing as a member of the black orginization, and ans help the FBI as a CIA agent in their investigation. But they can't just had her back over to the orginization openly so they come up with a plan to make it seem like she escapes while the FBI is trying to transport her to an other hospital. (They were transporting her because the secret black orginization mole in the hospital had been caught and the orginization made some moves in order to locate Rena and were beginning to move in to take her away anyway, so Conan and Shuichi use that to their advantage)

Their plan works and Rena, whose real name is Hidemi, is back with the black orginization, who thinks she is one of them.
Eisuke knows that his sister and father were CIA agents and that they were after some orginization but that's all he knows. And, for now, his is being protected by the FBI. Also, that is who Rena asked Mouri to keep an eye on a while back.

Finding out about Eisuke's Family

Conan, Ran and Sonoko run into Hondo Eisuke at a hospital as he is searching for Mizunashi Rena by showing nurses a picture of his older sister. He tells Ran and Sonoko that she ran away 10 years ago and is looking for her. Conan knows he's actually looking specifically for Mizunashi Rena who was hurt and put in the hospital during the confrontation with the men in black, but he isn't sure why.

Sonoko sees the picture and says that she (the girl in the picture, Eisuke's older sister) looks like Mizunashi Rena. However Eisuke keeps insisting that she isn't. They check an old news broadcast that Mizunashi was in to compare to the picture.

When Eisuke was a kid he got hurt and got a blood transfusion from his sister. She said he is lucky because he has a type of blood that anyone can receive, so he should be careful. In other words he has the blood type that anyone can receive in a blood transfusion, type O. And since type O people can give to anyone but can only receive from other type O people that means that his older sister is also a type O person. However, Mizunashi Rena, in the video that they were checking to compare to the photo, states that she has type AB (because she is reporting at a place where many people got hurt by an explosion and nurses where looking for blood donors).

So Conan knows that Mizunashi Rena and Hondo Eisuke's older sister are different people.(Later it turns out that they actually are the same person because of something he finds out about Eisuke.) But that means that the reason Hondo Eisuke is looking for Mizunashi Rena is possibly because he thinks someone had her killed and took her place. The reason they did that probably has some connection to Hondo Eisuke's dad, a member of "The Company".


From what Eisuke tells them they then find out that as a kid Eisuke lived with his mother while she was a maid a a rich person's house. At that time his sister was studying abroad, but when she returned home on break she would live there with them. But his father live in Osaka for his job and he only saw him on New Year's. Then his mother died of an illness and he lived for a short while with his father in Osaka. But now, it seems that he's oversees on business. Eisuke now lives with a friend of his dad. His dad sends him a monthly allowance.

Eisuke needs to change his clothes at one point and without thinking starts to change in front of Ran. He says he was used to it because he always used to in front of his sister when he was little. Conan notices something at that point and tells Haibara that it seems he's hiding something else. That is in connection with why Conan knows that Rena really is his sister

Special Post: Interview with Aoyama Gosho 2013 about New Conan Movie

First, the original Japanese version of the interview can be found here.

http://www.cinematoday.jp/page/A0003661

This is an interview of Aoyama Gosho (creator of Detective Conan) and Shibasaki Kou (Actress, singer, and voice actress of a character in the new Detective Conan Movie)which was posted by Cinema Today.


The 17th installment of the Detective Conan movie series is called "Detective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea" and the trailers can be seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJHSR2pPS7k

 Data Collecting: Koyama Aki  Photo: Takano Hiromi  Translation: Richie Golden


With this film involving entire cooperation of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces things get really intense. There is a special guest performance this time by Shibasaki Kou who has read Conan since she was a student. As a mysterious female member of the defense force, Fuji Nanami is played as a cool character. Her magnificent performance which made it seem easy even after having not been a voice actress for about 7 years, was given the stamp of approval and said to be "very cool" by the original author Aoyama Gosho. The two of them are just meeting for the first time now, but have a connection through Conan. We talked about thoughts towards Conan distinctive of a reader, and the scrutinizing of particular points which is distinctive to an author.

■ A First Time Meeting, but an Association for Nearly 20 Years!

 Q: This seems to be your first time meeting but what are your impressions of one an other?
Aoyama Gosho (hereafter referred to as Aoyama): I've seen her on TV, on things like "Galileo" and such.
Shibasaki Kou (hereafter referred to as Shibasaki): Well, I bought one of the special volumes of the manga, which has a portrait of Mr. Aoyama doesn't it?
Aoyama: The one where I'm always being killed right?
Shibasaki: Right! There's like blood pouring out or something (laughs). Anyway, it really looks like you. It's just as I expected.

Q: Around what time did you first start to read Conan, Ms. Shibasaki?
Shibasaki: It's a vague memory, but I read it in Shonen Sunday. I think when it started getting serialized I had to have been in middle school. I think I started reading from the first story, or maybe the second one.
Aoyama: Oh wow! There's actually some people who watched it as a kid, and they have now become fathers and they watch it together with their kid.

Q:As for Ms. Shibasaki, what would you say the charm of Conan is?
Shibasaki: Is it okay if I give my impressions completely as a fan (laughs). First of all, the pictures are very easy to get into and to follow. It's very characteristic and recognizable at a glance. But the mysteries to be solved are first-class. It deals with difficult cases that take time just as a TV drama would, so before you know it you're pulled into the world.
Aoyama: Such high praise. Thank you very much.

■Can kids really follow the extremely difficult historical subject matter of Conan!?

Q: This time in the world of Conan, you appear as the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Fuji Nanami right?
Shibasaki: As a fan, there's a somewhat selfish part to it isn't there? I interpreted it as it was convenient for me (wry smile) As the special guest this time, I got to participate as a character that only appears in this movie, so I thought I was lucky.
Aoyama: I also did the character design for Fuji Nanami. I drew it before I knew that Shibasaki would be playing the role, but they told me "we want her to be beautiful" and so I gave her thin eyebrows and sharp eyes like a soldier.
Shibasaki: Her eyebrows are cute aren't they! When I heard that her position was military personnel I worried a little about whether I could play the role properly, but I maintained a feeling of tension the whole time so I thought if I could expand on that then I could make it through somehow. And also, when I was recording, most of the other people had already recorded their lines so I could really use them as reference. I thought it would be difficult if it were a situation where no other voices had been recorded yet, but even Conan's voice was already added, so...
Aoyama: It was very well done. Nothing felt out of place! 
Shibasaki: But we did a lot of redoing. Like the way the song was sung, or matching the lines going with the melody, or getting a satisfactory intonation. So when you hear it after that's done it's okay, but sometimes you'd think "is this really good like this" when there was a feeling that it just didn't match up with the melody, and it would leave a feeling that it was just out of place and strange and so we would have to redo it.
Aoyama: So at those times you'd say something like "could we record that again?" That's amazing. As for me, if it were ok as it was I'd just be like "alright, it's good like this right?" (laughs)
Shibasaki: By nature, I'm probably a little self-conscious about my voice.  I felt some relief little by little. But when it's just my voice, I worry about if it came out clearly.  So we would test out listening to it afterwards.
Aoyama: You've got a voice unlike other voice actresses so I thought it was very nice. Very cool.

Q: In this movie, Fuji Nanami's role left a very hard and dynamic impression different from the other movie versions of Conan so far.

Aoyama: For this movie, from the time that the setting was decided to be the Aegis ship, I requested to the scriptwriter "Sakurai Takeharu" that they try to make it very realistic. So it became very much directed towards adults. Because even for me too, when it's more directed toward kids I don't find it as interesting. Having said that, midway through I started to worry about whether or not kids could also enjoy this movie, whether they could be brought along to see it. But in the movie Conan explains in a way that's easy to understand what you should look for or what you should think about, and so I think that it's contents can be enjoyable for children as well.
Shibasaki: I was also thinking "man, this is difficult" as I was working on it.

■What a Shock!! The announcement of the secret rule of Conan!!

Q: As for Mr. Aoyama, do you have any rules for when you're drawing Conan?

Aoyama: There's one rule I have which is "Conan must never cry."
Shibasaki: Does he cry this time?
Aoyama: Well, I'm not saying he cries.... But, there are people who are planning on seeing the movie so I have to keep it a secret (laughs).

Q: You played an active role in the Detective gadget that will appear this time too. Can you tell us anything about that?

Aoyama: I kept the names absolutely simple. Because if I didn't then it would be embarrassing. Something like "Ball Shooter" isn't embarrassing is it. "Kick-Power Reinforcing Shoes" isn't an embarrassing name, and also it's easy to understand. But those rarely get used. The most recent thing to get used was the belt wasn't it? But it won't get used from here on out. If something strange suddenly shows up then it would be weird, so it always has to be something that Conan can wear. But we've already used so many things, there's not much left besides and backpack.
Shibasaki: What about his hair?
Aoyama: Well, he's not Kitaro (laughs). (Kitaro is a famous character from a comic called "Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro" created by Mizuki Shigeru. Kitaro is a ghost who has many gadgets at his disposal, some of which being his hair which can be used for various things.)

Q: Lastly, could you tell us a scene that you really liked?

Shibasaki: Well, I've only been able to seen it once, but when I did see it obviously I could here my voice in it so naturally that got my focus. If I were to watch it again I think there's a scene with Conan that would really move me. The sound in the movie is very strong and I thought it was amazing. For example, the scene where the Aegis ship is going to attack was really amazing.
Aoyama: I also drew some key-frames, and it's embarrassing to see them appear in the movie, which I think is like what you were saying right? The animators' style and mine are different so it's easily noticed. It wasn't so much that way this time, but... how was it? You couldn't you notice could you?
Shibasaki: No, quite the opposite... it was really cool!

Aoyama gave a signed and colored illustration of the rare combination of Conan, Haibara Ai, and (the seldom drawn) Phantom Thief Kid, as a present to the extremely happy Shibasaki. She seems to not have just been giving him a complement, but to truly love Conan. She said ecstatically "I'm going to definitely frame it and hang it in my room!" What's more, from the start and still now she excitedly said "I want to try doing a voice in the animation. Any small role is okay, and you don't have to pay me."


"Detective Conan Private Eye in the Distant Sea" opens April 20 nation-wide (In Japan).

Investigating Hondo Eisuke and who seems to be his father

Furthering the investigation into Mizunashi Rena, and Hondo Eisuke's true identities, motives, and relationship. As well as connection to the black organization.

Conan discovers a photo on a Mizunashi Rena fan page, that just happens to have a woman in the background that resembles Mizunashi Rena and who is carrying a bag of groceries, and also has Tsutenkaku in the background. So he thinks that there is a possibility that she might have used to live in Osaka, and so he requests Heiji's assistance. He asks him to have inspector Otaki to secretly check to see if any woman with the name Mizunashi or Hondo ever lived in Osaka and who might have gone missing at some point. That is because Conan thinks the Hondo appears to be searching for his sister or the enemy of his sister, in other words he believes that someone with the black organization murdered Eisuke's sister and is now posing as her after having plastic surgery. That would connect Eisuke's motives for looking for her, and the reason that Gin talked about Rena murdering some man named Hondo(someone also related to Eisuke and "Rena" that she had to kill when taking over "Rena's" identity ).

Inspector Otaki checks the school records in Osaka for the last 20 years but no one by the name Mizunashi Rena shows up. Also there were discovered to be two people around Tsutenkaku who had a picture from about 10 years ago that had a woman in them that looked like Mizunashi Rena (The picture Conan saw on the fan site) but it doesn't appear that there was anyone that knew her at that time. But there was a restaurant owner in Osaka that did know Hondo Eisuke. He would go to the restaurant with his dad. His dad was a quiet person and was call Hondo. (So, it appears to maybe be the person killed by "Rena" that Gin was talking about) His dad would sometimes go there with his colleagues from work but a few years ago he suddenly stopped showing up. The shop owner and Eisuke's dad got along well and would sometimes sit and talk even after the shop closed, but the 80 year old shop owner passed away from cancer so they (Conan and Heiji) don't know what those two (Dad and owner) talked about. But, the among colleagues that he met with where some foreigners. Also, he (Eisuke's dad) and the others were dressed in dark or black clothes, seeming like they might have come from the black orginization.

The shop owner also had a grandchild who went to college in Osaka and now runs a model shop in Tokyo, and Conan is going to try to get some information from him, but he also met Hondo when he was in Osaka so he might be under surveillance from the black orginization.

They find out a few things from the grandchild. One thing being that the man, while he was with 3 or 4 foreigners dressed in black, was heard saying "いよいよ潜る" which means "to dive deeper and deeper". The grandchild thought he was talking about scuba diving. Also, the foreigners said "Good luck" and "No pain, no gain".

They found out that the mans child was never there when he was with his business partners.

And that the man was hired by "The Company".

They got this picture which is apparently him and his son.