TML

I'm sure most of us are rooting for this to happen, but as I mentioned before, the producers of DC are saving the best for last - in other words, waiting until such time they decide to end the series before introducing the ultimate antidote for this drug. Getting Conan permanently back to Shinichi will inevitably take the air out of the series, so the producers are purposely delaying this event.

Looking at this from another angle, I think Shiratori's past pursuit of Sato somewhat resembles Corvax's pursuit of Sylvia in the BBC film Muzzy in Gondoland (and its sequel, Muzzy Comes Back). In Muzzy, both Corvax and Bob loved Sylvia, but Sylvia didn't love Corvax. Corvax used some rather malicious tactics in an attempt to gain Sylvia's favor (including using his computer to produce carbon copies of Sylvia), but they all backfired, and in the end, not only did Sylvia & Bob get married and have a child, but Corvax also got locked up after kidnapping Sylvia's child.

I have picked Kogoro to be the "sacrificial lamb" in the event someone needs to be sacrificed while battling the BO. However, in the event that he does survive, what he needs to do is check himself into rehab and stay there for a long time.

Even if Ai does love Conan, I seriously doubt she would tangibly declare it. Ai probably knows that any romantic feelings she may have for Conan will not be reciprocated (for reasons we know very well), so if she openly declared her love for Conan to him, it could very well alienate him from her (the two depend on each other for protection/survival to a significant extent - if one of them gets found out the other will be in jeopardy as well).

I have also learned that attempting to pursue someone you love is futile if this love is not reciprocated, and if you act maliciously in the process. In Detective Conan, this was the case was Shiratori and Sato, although Shiratori eventually realized that his pursuit of Sato was based on a misunderstanding from his past. Looking at it from another angle, I think Shiratori & Sato somewhat resembles Corvax & Sylvia from the BBC film Muzzy in Gondoland (and its sequel, Muzzy Comes Back). In Muzzy, both Corvax & Bob loved Sylvia, but Sylvia hated Corvax. It seems that part of the reason for Corvax's love for Sylvia not being reciprocated was that Sylvia may have been turned off by Corvax's sometimes malicious behavior. Corvax tried various tactics in response to Sylvia's rejection of him - cloning her from the computer (his malicious attitude was especially evident during this process, as the cloned copies of Sylvia also hated him), kidnapping her baby daughter Amanda after she married Bob, etc. - but in the end he got himself locked up for the kidnapping. [On a side note, when watching Muzzy I was rooting for Corvax to be with Sylvia instead of Bob until the very end, unlike DC where I was rooting for Takagi to be with Sato instead of Shiratori.]

I recently saw a comment on another website that "Japanese broadcasting rules require you to end your series at episode 999..." Is that really true? If it were, then it would imply that at the current pace of 40-45 episodes/year, the Detective Conan anime series would be forced to end sometime between 2018-2021, which is 22-25 years after the first episode.

BTW, for those of you who say she'll stay in hiding: I believe that if any high ranking BO members were captured alive (which may very well happen), they will almost certainly give away information on their "traitor," and after the police learn about what Conan/Shinichi went through, it shouldn't take much effort for them to find out Ai's true background. I said "accessory to murder" which is different from murder alone. My point is that she created the drug which was then used by the organization to kill people, which IMO amounts to accessory to murder (by definition, an accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal). While it may be true that she was "forced," that does not mean she is legally exempt from prosecution.

Let me remind everyone that it is generally not a good idea to arrange meetings with people you only know online. There have been many documented cases of people arranging to meet online "friends" who turned out to be dangerous people. Remember that famous New Yorker cartoon from 1993 with the caption, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."? Everyone should bear that in mind when dealing with people in online forums and the like.

When thinking about Ai's potential future, I've been wondering one thing: Could she be prosecuted for her past affiliation with the Black Organization? IMO, the fact that she created that drug which was used by the BO to kill people is probably more than enough grounds to try her at least for many counts of accessory to murder (one count for each instance the drug was used to kill people).

I also have to point out that even if Ai decided to stay shrunken, she would almost certainly become a "misfit" among the Detective Boys (and among Teitan Elementary School students in general) if/when her true background becomes widely known. Additionally, the administrative staff at Teitan ES may also not want to keep her around under those circumstances.

Let me reiterate this point, if I haven't already done so elsewhere: Although most of us are rooting for Shinichi to permanently revert to his old self, this will inevitably take the air out of the series. As such, the producers of DC have deliberately delayed letting this happen.

Regarding Saguru Hakuba: It seems that the producers of DC currently have no plans to feature Hakuba more prominently, as evidenced by the following:

I remember seeing an episode (possibly numbered in the 70s or 80s) where at the end, Ran sees Shinichi as a hallucination or sorts when looking at Conan, and as a result kneels down to kiss him. What episode was that?

I believe that's episode 512 (The Broken Horoscope).

I haven't really cried during any episodes, but in retrospect, I believe episode 49 (Diplomat Murder Case, part 2) would have made me cry, albeit for reasons not related to Conan/Shinichi. Tonight I just watched a film titled "Aftershock" which I realized had some similarities with the plot line of the aforementioned episode. The film depicted one family's aftermath of the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake in China, where a mother, having lost her husband in the earthquake, had to pick either her son or her daughter to rescue, and chose her son, which was overheard by the daughter. The daughter ended up surviving as well, and for many years she refused to speak up about her past. In the mean time, her biological mother refused to move from her hometown, constantly thinking about her husband and daughter. Then, as the years passed, she gradually opened up about her earthquake experience, and after moving to Canada, finally decided to return to China to find her family in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. It was during the rescue mission that she encountered her brother by chance after overhearing him tell his earthquake experience. Thus, she and her mother are finally able to reunite and make up for their past misgivings. In the episode, Kimie's original husband was wrongfully incarcerated and died in prison and her daughter was adopted by a foster family, while she was ironically married to the very same person who framed her original husband without even knowing it. It was not until years later that she finally learned the truth: when her son brought a photo of his new college girlfriend to her new husband, Isao recognized her as Kimie's child with her former husband and spilled the truth to her, prompting her to murder Isao and frame his father. Although the plot line involving Conan's temporary transformation to Shinichi was sad, the story behind the case featured in this episode now seems sadder, after having watched the aforementioned film and considering the parallels between the film and the episode. In the episode, Kimie was able to find her daughter again and find out the truth about what happened to her husband, albeit in a manner which caused her to act criminally.

You can think however you please, but just remember that AiCon is less likely to be realistic than ShinRan.

Let me first remind everyone that DC, like many other animated TV shows, uses something called a "floating timeline" where characters always stay at the same age regardless of how many years have passed by in real life. In the US, there is a cartoon series called "The Simpsons" where the main characters have stayed in the same elementary school grade levels (4 and 2) despite the series going through four different US presidents (41 through 44). On the other hand, if the issue of Shinichi's studies were to be addressed, I would consider giving him an honorary diploma/degree upon learning of what he went through.

As for the second part of your question, I think the producers have reserved that for when they decide to permanently pull the plug on DC, since the event you mention will inevitably take the air out of the series...

I believe this topic is already well-discussed elsewhere on this forum. I recommend disabling this thread.

I think Shiratori's story is a textbook example of how relationships/personalities can go bad due to simple misunderstandings (making assumptions without asking a few simple questions to confirm or deny them). He should thank this young lady for tipping him off and sending him in the right direction.

Apparently the other Detective Boys have not heeded Shinichi's advice to Heiji: "In detective work, there's no winning or losing...there's no being superior or inferior...there is always one and only one truth."

I would abandon the "floating timeline" concept for DC, and instead make everyone age as appropriate.

If the appearance of the BO is contingent upon the contents of new manga chapters, I predict that we won't see another BO-related episode until 3Q2011 or later. However, I am looking forward to future developments with the BO, including new info/developments on Okiya, Scar Akai, etc.

This phenomenon is called "floating timeline" and it is not unique to Detective Conan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_timeline

I had to look up the dictionary/thesaurus to come up with this term, but I believe she is diffident. It seems that unlike Conan/Shinichi, Ai/Shiho has insufficient self confidence during times of crisis. She also tends to assume the worst with respect to most people she encounters.