DCUniverseAficionado

I do? Thanks! It's not Kuroda (obvious red herring + confirmed by Gosho); it's not Kansuke (red herring + confirmed by Gosho on multiple occasions); it's not Matsumoto (if he was, by now, Shinichi/Conan would be done—I think he even got a chance to see Shiho/Ai (File 804–File 808/Episode 681–Episode 683) + we see him three years after File 78–File 80/Episode 18—unless he escapes or Shinichi/Conan lets him go for some reason, or Gosho has DC take over 4 years (unlikely, given that Ran states in File 882 that it hasn't even been a year since just before File 1), he can't be it); and it's not Heizo, Heiji's father (he should've figured out what Heiji was up to with Shinichi/Conan and had chances to meet Shinichi/Conan and observe his intelligence—punching his son may be extreme, but it was done to catch criminals (it's not like he needed to do that—why not just let such a difficult case go? He seems pretty secure in his position), and then there's the matter of his wife, Shizuka... what would her position be, if her husband was Rum, especially with her speech to the culprit of her intro case (File 276–File 278)?). Taka'aki (Koumei) seems a good choice, but his friendship with Kansuke would be pointless, and then there's the fact he's noticed how intelligent Shinichi/Conan is probably more than any other police officer, given Shinichi's/Conan's camaraderie with the Nagano detectives. In File 898, Agasa plays a trick on the DBs by putting vinegar in four cups and pretending one has lemon juice—this "cheating" is the subject right before Rum is revealed. Perhaps there is no artificial eye—maybe all the people thought to be him, described by various Organization members, were just body doubles who had a prosthetic eye... this was done to further throw off people in the matter of Rum's identity. Beyond the fact that Rum has appeared, I just can't think of who it could be, after I've eliminated all those suspects... I'll ponder it some more, and then get back to you.

Ah, but Gosho said Rum had already appeared by September 2014. You must mean something else. True, but Subaru pressing that part of his neck that was always covered while he spoke, a beeping sound being made, due to it, and his voice suddenly being Shuichi's is about as close to official confirmation you can get without reading File 894–File 898, and Dimensional Sniper came out around the time the first images and spoiler info about File 894 were coming out. We really haven't had something about Rum since Kuroda last appeared (File 920) and was last mentioned (File 925)—but that's if you count focus on a red herring character (Even Gosho, through Shiho/Ai, has said he's too obvious and hasn't done what Rum would do (File 925)). Technically, the case just covered in the anime (File 906–File 908/Episode 792 and Episode 793) gets everyone who just watches anime on par with what the manga readers know of Rum—we'll definitely reach Kuroda's introduction before Movie 20 comes out, and maybe even reach his last actual appearance before then (File 920). Remember, the anime was on Steamy Relations (File 856–File 858/Episode 740 and Episode 741) when Scarlet Showdown started being released—Shuichi/Subaru didn't appear between File 843/Episode 723 and File 894/Episode 781. No significant info about Rum has been revealed since File 908/Episode 793, so as long as Gosho starts to dive into it in the manga (or has made plans to) by then, he has a pretext to work him into the film. Most likely, the movie will come out on Saturday, April 16th—since 2008, every DC movie has come out on the Saturday of the third week of April—Rum case or not, we'll be getting spoilers when it's hitting theaters in Japan. If it is a Rum case that we start getting spoiler images of, that Friday, we may get them even sooner, and also sooner—actual pictures taken of the relevant info by people in theaters. I know, right? Normally, it's 10-13 cases behind. It may climb back up to 8 or even 9 with all October being AO episodes, but this is the closest the anime and manga have been together in... ever?... ah, those elusive dates of release for DC files released before 2004... By then, we'll probably have already gotten the Zombie case, and will, then, be getting whatever case is due next in the anime... wow, just thinking about that... Last year, at this time (October 3rd, 2014), Midnight Crow (MK File 31–MK File 33) was in the process of coming out, and the most recent case in the manga was Scriptwriter Murder Case/Three First Discoverers, the most recent manga cat adapted to anime... I guess time can fly, even with DC. You know it—no vital info about the BO was revealed in Countdown to Heaven or The Raven Chaser. Any info about the boss' number two in Movie 20 would be groundbreaking. Yeah, it's quite a long shot... but why not hope? Did anyone think Subaru's identity was going to be revealed when Movie 18 was in the works? Just watch the trailer for The Raven Chaser... now that's false advertising—and Movie 18's trailer made it sound like Shuichi was being targeted by the sniper... you know, the supposedly dead Shuichi... and the end of it had the sniper verbally taunt Shinichi/Conan with something like, "The game's over, detective...", which he never said, in the movie. He just kept calling Shinichi/Conan a brat. Have your BS detector on when the trailer for Movie 20 comes out... I'm eager for the poster, as well. Movie 13's had skull-Gin looking at a bleeding Shinichi/Conan with the outline of Shinichi, who was bleeding just the same... wonder what Gosho has in mind... he did make a reference to working on it, in an AC hint.

But no other movie before it spoiled the manga before the manga files that revealed the truth came out. By watching Dimensional Sniper, you could be spoiled on one of the Bourbon arc's longest questions (it went unanswered even longer than the "Who is Bourbon?" question) if you didn't watch Episode 509–Episode 704. I'd say a lot of people on this site and DCTP put the answer to the question together, but I can't comment on other DC fan sites.

Like a Heiji case should, right?

Reposted from DCTP: If Shuichi/Subaru is the middle brother, I don't think Masumi knows his secret identity. The only purpose of Masumi lying about having a second brother and his description is to drag the plot (is that bad? that's up to you—plus, Gosho's been doing it for awhile). So she'd be lying to Ran, Sonoko and Yumi whenever the topic of her family, and thus, her brother, came up? This is to deceive Shinichi/Conan, mainly, right? Because he's with them? For what purpose? Did she hear Yumi talking about her boyfriend and just happen to think of a fake description that matched Yumi's description of Shukichi on the spot because Shinichi/Conan is in the room? Hadn't he already been sufficiently convinced that he had a second brother, even when she first said she had one. Other than tricking us, and shattering many head canons and rendering so much fan art non-canon, unlike what was the case with Masumi, what would be the point? I know she's waiting for "the time" to come (File 846) before revealing her past connection to him and Ran, at least—her lies about MG (likely her mother) are fairly simple: just say she's in America while hiding her in her apartment... but making up a family member ex nihilo goes beyond both of those. I guess your explanation as to why mostly fits. She wouldn't know that Shinichi/Conan is working together with Shuichi/Subaru—who wouldn't tell her what he was up to or where he was, explaining those two statements of hers about him, as well as who he was working with/trusts—and thus, wouldn't have a reason to tell him who she was really talking to. Though, why would he let on that he knows Shinichi/Conan? Wouldn't that make it more likely that Masumi would find him out, which he clearly doesn't want?... though we still don't know what his response to her in File 861 consisted of. However, this is not my main problem. This is a pointless mystery—all three possibilities have been zeroed in on: Shukichi, someone else who wears round glasses, has a stubble, dresses messily, and has the same favorite phrase he does, or Shuichi/Subaru—it's not suspenseful, and the plot isn't moving anywhere... it isn't even being hinted as to what this middle brother question is going to lead to. No matter who the middle brother is, we may be left, more or less, where we were when Masumi was introduced, but with Shukichi, there's a new character that'll be added to the mix—I just want him to play a role beyond being a red herring in this pointless mystery, even if he isn't the middle brother—with Shuichi/Subaru? It's even less of a change, in fact—he and Masumi still will have not talked and she will still be in the dark about the BO—essentially, the middle brother question will be even more pointless if it turns out that he's actually Shuichi/Subaru. Why create a red herring character for a situation/question that lacks the stakes of previous situations (Vermouth arc, for example), when you just could've told the readers that Masumi knew that Shuichi/Subaru was alive and was in contact with him? Again, unless Shukichi is going to be a part of the main plot, there's no Jodie option for him (government agent) as the red herring character—he's just a smart shogi player who happens to be Yumi's on-again/off-again boyfriend, and who MG and Shuichi/Subaru just happen to like so much that they, characters who are typically very serious, will get happy enough, in the former's case, to creep out Masumi. Being a fan of Bourbon isn't the same as being a fan of a Shogi player—one's a drink, an inanimate object, and the other's a person. Unless involving him in the main plot was part of Gosho's game plan all along, having him turn out to be just a red herring will make this pointless mystery even more pointless, and could easily send Shukichi the way of Ariade... and that's a waste. Then, from earlier today: I've thought over this question, again, and it really does seem like Gosho is heading for a twist where Shukichi is revealed to be a red herring, and Shuichi/Subaru is revealed to be who Masumi's been in contact with since File 856. Masumi has no reason to tell Shinichi/Conan that she's been in contact with Shuichi—since he hasn't told her what he's up to—and the times she isn't in contact with Shuichi/Subaru (all the times outside of Steamy Relations (Files 856–858), Bumper Brawn (Files 859–861) and A Killer in Ramen Ogura (Files 928–930), where she is clearly in contact with someone) but claims to be in contact with her second brother could all be faked (texting/even calling MG, or just pretending to talk to a person over the phone). She could've made up everything about her supposed middle brother so no one questions why she's in contact with her supposedly dead brother—even the description she gave to Yumi could've been faked... she just could've been surprised because, coincidentally, her made-up description matched Yumi's real one of Shukichi. I'll say it again, though—I don't like this twist. It will provide no character development or plot advancement—it'll just show that Shuichi/Subaru has been in contact with Masumi since File 856. Gosho didn't need to put this mystery in here—I'll feel better if Shukichi plays a role in the Rum arc plot, but I'll still feel sore about how Shukichi somehow isn't the middle brother... for me, at least, it fits quite well. I guess I've seen too much fan art... I won't be surprised if this happens... but I'm not looking forward to it. I just hope that Gosho's pulling a "fake people out into thinking its a fake when its really not" when it comes to Shukichi being the middle brother.

I'd shake my head at Gosho if after 11 years, the next suspicion arc ends like the other 3—especially with the confession, and all that I mentioned about this period of DC, in terms of her suspicions, now, having differences from her suspicions, before. I know we've likely got over 2 arcs before the end, but... Again, early file inconsistencies—she does remember that bath, though —and I think she's in denial about the whole thing, as well; to face the truth that Shinichi is lying to her and deceiving her is something she doesn't want to do. She's subconsciously connected the two, and even wished that he was Shinichi (File 379), but after the confession, she keeps avoiding him, because she thinks she'll crash back to reality. Why? Because she can't escape the feeling that Shinichi isn't being honest with her. I personally think it would've been better if Desperate Revival happened much later on in the series (any point after Holmes' Revelation, especially), and Ran knew Conan's identity from then on. Whether something else will happen in this case to add to Ran's suspicions is up in the air... as is the matter of Heiji's confession—the topic hasn't even come up. It could've been that they both haven't talked about it since File 912, and it'll only come up again when they're in a more iconic place (which is what Heiji is waiting for).

No; we've gone without a suspicion arc for 11 years—for literally over half of the series, up to now. It's not like Ran wants him to leave, and Kogoro... well... $^$... The bad parents card can be played, if necessary, but it was only really an issue for the first couple Volumes... after that, Gosho thought that was enough, moved on, and hasn't looked back. It's probably not even going to come up again. (Ready to be quoted in case it does )

Ran's Suspicions 1st: File 26–File 29 (Monthly Presents Case; suspicions defused by Agasa calling Ran in Shinichi's voice) 2nd: File 131–File 257 (Magician's Suicide Case (File 131–File 134)—School Play Case (File 255–File 257); longest running period of Ran believing/being consciously aware that Shinichi is Conan—defused by Shiho/Ai disguising as Conan, Shinichi taking the first temporary antidote for APTX 4869, and them both appearing together in front of Ran) 3rd: File 479–File 483 (Suspicious Cellphone Case; suspicions defused by Shinichi/Conan using two identical phones and recording himself with Shinichi's voice) File 484–now — no suspicion arcs; Murderer Shinichi Kudo (File 646–File 651) and Kazuha's Charm Case (File 693–File 695) give Ran evidence in the form of Shinichi/Conan touching Heiji's charm in File 188 (Stabbed Wallet Case) and also the fact that Shinichi could not have escaped the cabin unless he was the size of a child after being locked in. Ran referenced their bath together in File 84 (Kogoro's Class Reunion Murder Case) in File 667 (Scar and Ginger Case) with an enigmatic look, complete with blushing, on her face, offered to take a bath with him, again, but then retracted her offer almost immediately. It's been nearly 20 volumes since the confession, but she still hasn't responded, even saying that she feels like she'll "crash back to reality" if she faces him... what else would make her do so but the fact that Shinichi has confessed to her before revealing his secret? It's almost as if she's subconsciously suspecting him. Speaking of which, Shinichi's/Conan's claim that he and Ran would grow apart if he confessed while he was still Conan hasn't proved true. In File 894 (Scarlet Showdown), she wants to watch the Macademy Awards with Shinichi/Conan because Yusaku has been nominated—when Kogoro points out that she wants to watch Shinichi's father win an award with Conan, she gives an "I see" of realization. Same goes for thinking Shinichi/Conan had solved the case in File 694/5. With this 11 year buildup—essentially the 2nd half of DC, up to now, going without a real suspicion arc, having so many subtle occurrences and Shinichi's confession, of all things—one can wonder if the next suspicion arc will be the last... here's hoping.

If you're looking for incidents of that nature, this is the place: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.651395024912454.1073741857.508258949226063&type=3

Pattern I noticed in DC: Conan–Kir Arc (Files 1–621) – Depth over breadth in plot-related cases, meaning there are fewer plot cases, but with a lot of plot in them. Bourbon–Rum Arc (Files 622–) – Breadth over depth in plot-related cases, meaning there are more plot cases, but with less plot in them. My point? MG has appeared in 6 of the 18 cases—in nearly the past two years—since her intro in October, 2013. Despite her appearing 1/3rd of the time, we still know so little about her, pretty much as little as we did when she first actually spoke (File 878). This is a multi-arc dangling plot thread that continues to go unanswered, and it is tied to Masumi's past meeting with Shinichi and Ran. Her knowledge of the fact that Shinichi is Conan and that she knows him has been alluded to, at least in the case of the former, since her introduction. The Bourbon arc was 3 and 1/2 years old when she was introduced—essentially, so many questions surrounding her have gone unanswered for 4 and 1/2 years... that's as long as it took for Bourbon's identity to be revealed.

I think her presence will start something that leads to Shinichi/Conan finding out something about Rum. I don't think she's an antagonist (like a BO agent or criminal), and that includes Rum. Like Shiho/Ai said in File 925, if Rum had seen her, he/she would've been after her, and Sakurako had plenty of chances to see her during Yumi's Love Story (File 847–File 849) and the Talent Blog Murder Case (File 918–File 920). You mean you don't expect him to be Rum at all, no matter what, right? I completely agree—given how he recognized Shinichi's/Conan's intelligence, saw Shiho/Ai, his personality, and the fact he has a girlfriend (who he first met when he fell asleep and drooled on her shoulder), pretty much rule him out. The man he played in the Meijin Match, though... why did he appear on that Volume's keyhole (85), when he only appeared for a few panels? He wasn't even really important, in terms of the case, like other one-case keyhole characters are. It's true that Shukichi beat him even with the little time he had to play, and Gosho could've just slapped him on the keyhole because he couldn't think of anyone else or because he liked how the character looked, but... Point is, the guy Shukichi beat in the Meijin match, Chikara Katsumata, is more likely to be Rum than Shukichi is.

Nothing lasts forever—eventually, a certain generation of anime watchers will come along who aren't interested, and the anime will end. Who's to say where anime will be when we're Gosho's age?

Not saying Gosho isn't capable of this, but that would be a waste of a character. He just likes her voice actress, one may also say, but isn't it possible that such a reason could motivate him to have her play a key part in the plot (at least at one specific juncture)? People kept wondering why Ariade kept appearing after his debut in Files 234–237... in Files 429–434, he was revealed to have been impersonated by Vermouth. Not saying that this specific twist is going to be used again, but the broad point of a seemingly insignificant character people wonder about the continued appearances of may very well apply.

If he is Rum, what's the point of his romance with Yumi? Would Rum really fall asleep and drool over someone's arm?

And that's not even mentioning Agasa's zombie joke in File 380.