Startold

Then, why not change the season format itself? The wiki uses the DVD seasons because it was voted a few years ago, but nearly nobody still buys the DC DVDs (not to mention these DVDs don't even follow the real episode order). If we change the season format as 1 year = 1 season, then the Episode list becomes a real TV guide, and the question is solved.

Nearly nothing after the first ten chapters is part of Gosho's original plan. Everything else was either thought by Gosho who then talked about it to his editors (the main plot of the Haibara Arc, which Gosho had prepared beforehand in case the manga got successful-- which it did), or was asked by the editors (creating Kazuha and establishing her as Heiji's love interest, creating a cool female high-school detective who could be popular).

Exactly. The animation staff didn't know at that time, and probably still don't, how many years the series would continue. The editors didn't know either. Gosho didn't know either, he just kept writing the scenario of the series as he was drawing it. Sera wasn't planned in Gosho's mind, he had to add many cases in order to let her incorporate the main storyline. That's why he never answers the questions about Conan's length, may it be when he was asked in the first Super Digest Book, or in the last one. A few years ago, Gosho was saying that the manga will not exceed 100 volumes. Starting from 2013 or so, he started saying that it could exceed 100 volumes. So even if what Ikeda said in episode 500 was true at that time, it may have become false. So claiming that the series will end between volume 114 and 115 just because of that one non-canon line Shuuichi says at the end of one episode is a bit far-fetched. ^^"

Ah, I totally agree with you on this point, but if the editors didn't force Gosho a little bit, we would maybe never have had great characters like Vermouth, or great storylines. Their action is not entirely bad either. And unlike in some countries in the world, manga is not considered an art in Japan. When manga artists go to countries like the US, Italy, France, Germany, etc., they're also surprised by the warm welcome they are given. In Japan, even if they are popular (which is Aoyama's case), they aren't really "artists", they are money-makers who must obey to whatever his editors say. That's sad, but that's how it work. And that's also why entirely blaming Gosho for what wasn't good in the Bourbon arc isn't that a great idea. Yeah, I have searched for some polls. "Conan is always the 5th, 4th or 3th most viewed show in Japan." --> Top 10 most watched shows last week: 1) Sazae-san 13.1 2) Chibi Maruko-chan 8.4 3) Detective Conan 7.2 4) One Piece 6.9 5) "Tomoo" Anime Special 5.8 6) Dragon Ball Super 5.2 7) Yokai Watch 4.4 8) Go! Princess Precure 4.1 And Conan would be around 10.5 if we counted the people who record the show. It's been like this since 1996. The ads before, inside, and after the episode produce a big income of money. This "golden" time slot would do worse ratings if Conan was replaced by another anime, so the broadcast company has no reason to do that. Keep in mind that Conan had a broadcast ratings of 10% when MK1412 aired before Conan. Conan was then the second most watched show in Japan. "The Japanese women, who represent nearly 60% of the show's viewers, don't want Conan to end." --> If you want to know who watches an anime series, you just have to look at the ads before, inside and after the episodes. On 10 ads who are broadcasted between the first part and the second part of an episode, 7 of them are going to be about dishwashers, gadgets to cook, etc.. These ones are intended to be for the Japanese women, which are an enormous part of the Detective Conan watchers. In the Super Digest Books' polls "Who is your favorite character", Shinichi and Conan nearly always rank first. In SDB 40+, Shinichi had 601 votes, and Conan 535. On this top 10 "favorite character" poll, there are 7 men and 3 women. The men voted for Haibara, Ran and Masumi. It's also probable that women voted for Ran because some of them see themselves as Ran. As you can see in the anime, Ran is depicted as the perfect, responsible, kawaii, intelligent and sweet Japanese teenager. That's not for story purposes-- that's a way for the editors to make adolescent girls/pre-adult women like her. That's why on the SDB 50+ "Most kawaii Detective Conan character poll", Ran had 582 votes. Even though Shinichi won in the SDB 40+ poll, it's usually Conan who wins the first place, because Japanese women find him cuter. In the SDB 70+'s poll "Top 10 characters you want to date", there are 6 men characters. Shinichi and Heiji rank first, because the Japanese women voted for them (667 and 368 votes each). That's not a coincidence either if the most popular Conan cases are not the ones mystery-oriented (12 million hostages), but romance-oriented. Even in the SDB 70+'s poll for the "coolest case", the London Case was 4th. In the SDB 80+'s poll "Top 10 characters you want to be married with", Shinichi, once again, was 1rst, with 2556 votes. 8 characters out of 10 were males. It's no surprised the ad in Japan in order to sell volume 87 was "The case were everything started... Shinichi and Ran's first meeting <3 <3<3" There was a project called "Cool Japan" which was done by researchers which showed which series the Japanese want to get strangers to know in order to let them understand how cooll Japan is. Conan was 9th, with 30% of the votes. Because the Japanese know that Conan is not just a mystery anime, it's also (and mainly) a Japanese national icon. When female teenagers were asked "Which anime should be part of "Cool Japan" ?", Conan ranked 2nd, with 48% of the votes. It ranked 5th with 36% of votes among Japanese women in their forties. Conan never once made it in the males top 5. "Conan is the Shounen Sunday's source of income" --> Conan is the best-selling series of the Shounen Sunday, selling more than 140 million volumes. Even after 80 volumes, it still sells 500 to 600.000 volumes, which is way better than most mangas. Without Conan, the Shounen Sunday, which sells less and less magazines each year, would (nearly) die. "Conan is way too popular to end in the next years" --> Even if the poll was done in 2000, Conan ranked 10th on the best animes of all time. Conan ranked 9th as best anime character. In the 2005 TV Asahi poll, DC ranked 6th as best anime. In a 2008 survey, when asked "Which anime character would you like to become", Conan ranked 5th. In the 2012 "TokusatsuAnime Hero Poll", Conan ranked 6th as Best Male Hero, and Ran ranked 16th as Best Female Hero. Erm, wasn't Ikeda talking about the Clash of Red and Black? Gosho never knew how many years his manga would run, that's why he invented the story while drawing it. Since he doesn't have many meetings with the production team, and since even if the series was halfway through he wouldn't tell anybody, there's no real reason why we should take what Ikeda said in episode 500 seriously. Not to mention that several changes occured in the storyline after the Clash of Red and Black. The editors extended DC by telling Gosho to put a female detective-- which led to the Serakai Family "Arc". By just asking for a new character, they managed to extend Conan maybe three years that what was planned, so the 500 "hint" isn't really valid anymore. When episode 500 came out, I don't remember anyone saying "Oh, that means Conan is halfway through!". It was interpreted as a hint that the Clash of Red and Black was going to be finally over, because that's what the Japanese were asking themselves. They don't care for the main storyline, many don't even know that Conan is actually Shinichi Kudo. You didn't, I just said that the Shounen Sunday would die if Conan ended in the next few years. Yeah, but we aren't talking about the same thing. If you're talking about the manga, yes, it will end. But Detective Conan as a franchise? Nah; I said that because of what Balthazar said earlier, that the production team would adapt the manga's end as soon as it will be out. The Conan manga will be finished one day, but when it'll be finished, the anime will probably continue forever. With only filler flashback episodes, and remastered/re-runs. There will be new Tokubetsu Hen volumes, new movie adaptations... because it makes too much money. My thinking is that if the editors don't mess with Gosho's story again, the Rum Arc could be 5 years long, and then, another 5 years long arc. That makes Conan ending between 2025 and 2030. But if they decide to mess up again with what Gosho had planned, it could go on until 2035/2040, as you said.

He only said he liked her voice actor, and that he chose her himself, iirc. Nah, Conan ending would be the worst thing to happen for many Japanese, actually. The basic Japanese families don't want Conan to end. They watch the series every week since it began airing twenty years ago, it's one of their favorite shows, and it's deeply rooted in their culture. The company which produces Conan, TMS, doesn't want Conan to end. Conan is one of their main source of income since 1996,and the Detective Conan movies make way too much money to be ended. Conan is always the 5th, 4th or 3th most viewed show in Japan. The Japanese women, who represent nearly 60% of the show's viewers, don't want Conan to end. The series always ranks on top of the "anime series the Japanese women never want to see ending". The editors and the Shounen Sunday don't want Conan to end. Conan is their best-selling series, and one of their main money income. Ending Conan in two years would be like killing the Sunday. The movies make more and more money each year, and each movie since movie 16 has made more money than the last movie. And the main purpose of the Conan anime since 1997 is to advertise the movies. No DC anime, no movies (or at least no yearly movie). No movies, no money. And that's not the goal of the editors. And not to mention Conan is a national icon, it's like Dragon Ball Z, it's too big to die. Everyone in Japan knows Conan. When the G8 summit took place in Japan, flyers with Conan on them were given to advertize the summit. The main people who want the manga/anime to end are the non-Japanese fans, and the editors don't care about them-- Japan is their main market, and the money they make outside of Japan is only a bonus. That's why there are so many episodes about the Japanese culture, and why the DC anime can hardly be understood outside of Japan: the show's main goal, outside of advertising the movies, is to accompany the Japanese people in their everyday life. And the Japanese don't want this, to end. So actually, when (or "if"?) Conan will end, its manga end will be advertised in the Shonen Sunday, in order to make more money than the years before, by hyping the fans. It's what the Shonen Jump did for Naruto. But even if the manga ends, the anime will probably continue, and add as much fillers as possible in order to postpone the "final" showdown in the anime. It's highly possible that the anime will continue even after the end of the manga as "flashback cases", because nearly no other anime which isn't already airing nowadays could do as good ratings as Conan. Even if Conan had a broadcast rating of 4%, it would still still be in the top 10 most watched animes.

It's the Super Digest Book 40+.

Ah, thanks for clearing for it up. I remember Gosho saying that the case in the bank (Detective Boys vs Robber Group) was loosely based on the 300 million yen robbery case (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_million_yen_robbery). Does someone know when and where he said that?

I remember Gosho telling that a bus had actually been hijacked in Tokyo a few weeks after chapter 289 was released (http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/The_Mysterious_Passenger). But I doubt the hijackers were actually inspired by the manga. In 2010 or so, a group of teenagers from Thailand used a trick they had learned from Detective Conan, draining blood from a corpse so that the corpse gets less heavy.

The assistants draw everything in the background (the houses, the cars, the bystanders in the streets, etc.). For example, the kids who are taking a nap in file 921 weren't drawn by Aoyama, but by his assistants (Abe, Ohta, Kubota...).