TML

I'm 100% positive about that. "Nee-chan" means older sister, while younger sister would be "imoto-chan." If Heiji was unaware of Ai's true age, he would have referred to her using "imoto-chan" instead of "nee-chan."

It is true that the way Heiji learned about Ai's true background is undocumented. However, the following serves as evidence that he does indeed know: -In the introduction to Movie 7, Heiji introduced the characters (up to that point) who know of Conan's true identity, and in the process of doing so, he mentions Ai and her background as an ex-member of the BO and the inventor of APTX-4869, and her shrinkage. -During the Desperate Revival arc, after Shinichi collapsed on stage upon solving a case, Ai (disguised as Conan) told Heiji what had transpired after Heiji left the hospital, and based on that, Heiji directed all people at the scene to remain silent about that particular case. -Before Heiji and Conan went to investigate Jodie, he mentioned Conan and Ai's incident with the BO at the Haido City Hotel, in which Conan had deduced the presence of another BO member, namely Chris Vineyard (Vermouth). He knew that they were going to investigate whether or not Jodie == Chris Vineyard, so he must have been told all the important details of the Haido City Hotel incident. -Heiji was a key participant in the head-to-head battle with the BO, and was well aware of the key elements of the plan, including Conan's plan to disguise as Ai to confront Vermouth. Afterwards, when Conan disguised as Ai again to "test the waters," Heiji thought to himself whether or not Conan was taking too much of a risk in what he's doing and whether or not he would allow Conan to do so if he were in Ai's shoes. -During the Shiragami arc, Heiji refers to Ai as a "little nee-chan" - note the use of "nee-chan" here: this implies that he knows that Ai is in fact older than she appears, even older than himself (18 vs 17).

Let me point out that in Chinese, the number 250, when read as 二百五 (er4 bai3 wu3), is an insult - if you uttered that phrase to someone, you would be calling them stupid. As such, be very careful with that number when you're speaking Chinese.

Choosing between having your cake and eating it - I think that in real life, Conan's desire to hide his true self from Ran while not letting her split from him is akin to having your cake and eating it too - in other words, I think that it would be infeasible in real life to keep your girlfriend/boyfriend if you need to hide from him/her at the same time.

I don't understand how Vermouth has been able to get away with hiding information about Conan, Ai, and APTX-4869. I think that in real life, if a member of an underground crime organization is hiding important information regarding one or more of the organization's targets, then the other members of the organization would surely press that person to reveal what he/she is hiding. In that case, Gin and the other members of the BO would have aggressively lobbied the Boss to press Vermouth on what she is hiding (even though Vermouth is regarded as a "favorite" of the Boss, I think in real life, if the Boss were told by others that she is hiding important information, the Boss would surely press her on what she is hiding), thus putting her under a lot of pressure to disclose what she knows, especially since that information pretains to important targets of the BO.

I wonder if Vermouth ever told Bourbon about the fact that there are survivors of APTX-4869 (it's very conflicting: on one hand, Bourbon is ostensibly targeting Sherry and wants whatever information helpful in finding her, but on the other hand, Vermouth had promised to Conan that she would leave Sherry alone).

It all depends on whether or not the producers want the series to continue far beyond this arc. If so, Bourbon will either be removed from the picture entirely or become Vermouth 2.0 (i.e. a confidant of Ai and/or Conan). If not, then a domino effect will probably ensue, possibly starting with Ai/Shiho being removed from the picture.

But it seems that those screams only occur when he shrinks, not when he expands.

In the Diplomat Murder Case, when Shinichi felt his heart beating, his body on fire, and his bones melting, he saw the handwriting on the wall and decided to flee from Heiji (and later Ran). I wonder why those two didn't pursue him more aggressively (i.e. do a room by room & hall by hall search for him), since they knew he wasn't well (I know this would have led to his identity being discovered then, but it just doesn't make sense logically: if your friend/acquaintance was not well and decided to flee instead of seek medical attention, would you allow them to flee without a chase?).

Only one such "yell" has been documented thus far: Ai's first transformation into Shiho. All other child to adult transformations do not have documented yells associated with them.

Try these songs: http://www.xiami.com/widget/0_363897/singlePlayer.swf http://www.xiami.com/widget/0_363908/singlePlayer.swf As a bonus, try identifying the original versions of these songs.

When Ai transformed into Shiho, did the other Detective Boys witness the transformation? If not, what prevented them from witnessing it? (I can't seem to figure this out merely by reading the Manga)

This is so unbelievable!

I think he will take it down, but I believe it's up to the producers to reveal when and how. If the producers wanted the BO to be defeated sooner, they would have done so already, but that would have brought the series to an end long before today.

If another main/recurring character were to be introduced, I hope it would be a love interest for an existing single character, as was the case with the love interests of Dr. Agasa & Officer Chiba.

My list: 1. Gin 2. Jugo Yokomizo 3. Kogoro 4. Reiko Kujo

In some cases, yes, but I think this is a by product of his personality and desires. First, when his parents proposed taking him overseas for protection and/or treatment, Conan decided to stay behind, not wanting to abandon his beloved Ran. Then, during the Holmes Freak case, Conan's detective nature made him do things that caught the attention of Heiji, eventually allowing Heiji to become the first person to put two and two together without Conan and/or his confidants saying anything first. Later, when Eisuke proposed taking Ran away, Conan was backed into a corner and thus had to "come out" in order to keep Ran for himself.

I'd say it's a deliberate act by the producers to keep things interesting. Although I support Takagi & Sato as a couple, I felt that once their relationship was cemented (by virtue of their first kiss, followed by Conan & Co. steering Shiratori away from them), that storyline was not as interesting as before. I think the producers want to wait until the series nears its end before they officially let Ran & Shinichi declare themselves a couple.

I think the reason why Ai/Shiho is holding back on info about the BO lies with the producers - they probably don't want to prematurely suck the air out of the series, which would probably happen if Ai were actively disclosing info on the BO to Conan.

Aside from herself, I think Ai smiles when her friends/acquaintances are happy. If I'm not mistaken, she smiled when the relationships of Sato/Takagi and Shiratori/Kobayashi were cemented.

I'd say that they are humans in the sense that they're not perfect. For example: (1) They failed to rigorously verify Shinichi's status. (2) Gin (and many other key members) failed to consider the alternate non-fatal effects of APTX-4869. (3) Pisco failed to keep himself "secret" from the rest of society. (4) Vermouth, despite finding out the truth about the potential side effects of APTX-4869 and identifying its two "survivors," has neither exterminated those survivors nor reported them (or the potential side effects about the drug) to the rest of the orgainzation. (5) The rest of the organization has failed to press Vermouth about what she knows and/or has done (or lack thereof). I could go on, but you should get the point by now.