[SPOILER DISCUSSION] File 1,061–File 1,066: The FBI Serial Murders

[MeiTanteixX 184]

Detective Conan File 1061-1066 Review/Discussion

The information in File 1065, followed by File 1066 reveal drastically changed my viewpoints on Rum and the road map to Rum's resolution.

Starting from File 1065, we learned that Rum's 3 inconsistent descriptions were deliberate rumors that Rum spread to hide his true appearance and identity and that only prosthetic eye was correct. The conclusion I came to from this vital information update is that Rum might possess mainly 1 of these 3 descriptions and that he spread the other 2 rumors along with it so that if by chance any member got a look at him and spread what they witnessed, the truth would be camouflaged among 3 indistinguishable rumors. Meaning that Rum (as a man) would mainly be either a “stocky man”, an “effeminate man” or an “old man”.

 

Then came the 2 vital information that connect with File 1066, which is that Rum has changed his face and uses a silly name.

 

Here is where the major shifts starts, since we get what is in my opinion undeniable indications that Rum is indeed Wakita (amongst the 3, as SDB BLACK+ indicated, without foulplay).
Rum was seen silhouetted mentioning in his recurring polite speech style the "nostalgic story" from 2 years ago during Rye's exposure,...

 

...which was soon after followed by an old man sitting in the same car as Rum, recalling the same incident that Rum did, being revealed to be the old man from that Rye loyalty test incident and is shown to clearly possess the one feature that is true about Rum, a prosthetic eye (depicted/revealed in the same way as Kuroda's), and that old man is revealed to be Wakita Kanenori without a wig, moustache, buckteeth and eyepatch.

 

 

If that wasn't enough, we got another File 1008 situation, where the side-note of File 1066 states that he is "the man with the silly name" (despite the story not even clearing up directly how "Wakita Kanenori" is a silly name), which is essentially handing out the confirmation to the reader that Wakita Kanenori is Rum (similarly to how we got a Boss identity confirmation in the side-note without the story directly addressing it as such).

 

That being said however... We ended File 1066 with Team Conan just starting to learn about the new hints "changed his face" and "uses a silly name", just before the aforementioned reveal. We got no sign of resolution whatsoever to the Rum mystery. And when it comes to build-up towards the mystery climax, we had none of Gosho's traditional case setup where all the suspects/players in the overarching mystery comes together as the titular antagonist's goals takes the spotlight and the detective (Conan) has pieced the mystery behind antagonist's identity together.

 

To me, this was the biggest indicator that Wakita being Rum is being treated as nothing more than just a "surface reveal" to a more crucial twist/reveal regarding Rum that is being saved for Conan to solve, leading to a future proper Rum mystery resolution (like the Halloween ship case and Mystery train case).

This reveal also surfaced another important indication, that further supported this notion. Rum's old man appearance was used completely undisguised/unaltered as he directly approached a potential traitor (Rye) 2 years ago, which is contradictory to the established behavior/M.O of Rum, where he not only conceals his voice with a voice changer, but even goes as far as to spread misleading rumors of himself, all in order to hide his identity. This further makes it seem like the old man appearance is nothing more than a disguise from the very beginning, which further goes in line with the established information in File 1065 that Rum has changed/disguised his face. So despite Rum seemingly looking to be an “old man” (as according to the descriptions), the truth is still very much likely to be far from that with the new info from Vodka (like for example, an “effeminate man” who has disguised his face).

Therefore, I'm seeing this as merely the beginning towards a real Rum climax, where Rum's/the old man's real identity and face is gonna be revealed (which might happen during the "main event" that Gin foreshadowed in File 1062).

 

Basically, we have resolved the "Bourbon arc"-formulated part of the story, and are potentially venturing into the "Vermouth arc"-formulated part of the story.

This is where I’m seeing Iori Muga, the "exceedingly impatient", seemingly english-influenced effeminate butler with a polite speech style, fitting in as the end-goal twist of being Rum’s true identity (through Kohji’s dying message) for Gosho. 

There naturally will rise questions of how he manages his time as a butler for the Oooka household (to surveillance the Haneda family that the Oooka are connected with) and as a sushi chef (to watch over the detective who might be investigating the Kohji case), but due to lack of information on both ends (Wakita's and Iori's work schedules), it's something left to explore. Iori Muga could have been given the free time by Momiji (who is clearly portrayed to respect him and his input) to be able to spend those days in Tokyo disguised as “Wakita Kanenori”, as far as we know.

 

Overall however, I truly enjoyed this case as a whole. File 1066 was definitely my favorite chapter of this case and I'm very happy about the twist (and especially its delivery) that the old man from Kir arc was Rum all along. It made this whole “BO vs Camel” focus way more worth spending time on, and I can only look forward to what’s in store in the actual “main event”. 

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

On 12/17/2020 at 6:07 PM, MeiTanteixX said:

The conclusion I came to from this vital information update is that Rum might possess mainly 1 of these 3 descriptions and that he spread the other 2 rumors along with it so that if by chance any member got a look at him and spread what they witnessed, the truth would be camouflaged among 3 indistinguishable rumors. Meaning that Rum (as a man) would mainly be either a “stocky man”, an “effeminate man” or an “old man”.

We ended File 1066 with Team Conan just starting to learn about the new hints "changed his face" and "uses a silly name", just before the aforementioned reveal. We got no sign of resolution whatsoever to the Rum mystery. And when it comes to build-up towards the mystery climax, we had none of Gosho's traditional case setup where all the suspects/players in the overarching mystery comes together as the titular antagonist's goals takes the spotlight and the detective (Conan) has pieced the mystery behind antagonist's identity together.

 

This reveal also surfaced another important indication, that further supported this notion. Rum's old man appearance was used completely undisguised/unaltered as he directly approached a potential traitor (Rye) 2 years ago, which is contradictory to the established behavior/M.O of Rum, where he not only conceals his voice with a voice changer, but even goes as far as to spread misleading rumors of himself, all in order to hide his identity. This further makes it seem like the old man appearance is nothing more than a disguise from the very beginning, which further goes in line with the established information in File 1065 that Rum has changed/disguised his face. So despite Rum seemingly looking to be an “old man” (as according to the descriptions), the truth is still very much likely to be far from that with the new info from Vodka (like for example, an “effeminate man” who has disguised his face).

Therefore, I'm seeing this as merely the beginning towards a real Rum climax, where Rum's/the old man's real identity and face is gonna be revealed (which might happen during the "main event" that Gin foreshadowed in File 1062).

 

This is where I’m seeing Iori Muga, the "exceedingly impatient", seemingly english-influenced effeminate butler with a polite speech style, fitting in as the end-goal twist of being Rum’s true identity (through Kohji’s dying message) for Gosho. 

There naturally will rise questions of how he manages his time as a butler for the Oooka household (to surveillance the Haneda family that the Oooka are connected with) and as a part-time chef (to watch over the detective who might be investigating the Kohji case), but due to lack of information on both ends (Wakita's and Iori's work schedules), it's something left to explore. Iori Muga could have been given the free time by Momiji (who is clearly portrayed to respect him and his input) to be able to spend those days in Tokyo disguised as “Wakita Kanenori”, as far as we know.

 

Overall however, I truly enjoyed this this case as a whole. File 1066 was definitely my favorite chapter of this case and I'm very happy about the twist (and especially its delivery) that the old man from Kir arc was Rum all along. It made this whole “BO vs Camel” focus way more worth spending time on, and I can only look forward to what’s in store in the actual “main event”. 

 

Well, if one deems all three descriptions being fake a negative, then this is a potential fix.

 

Yeah, it's like Black Impact or Mystery Train in that way... sure, there was a confrontation, and we did get new info and confirmations, but this was no Rotten Apple, Clash of Red and Black or Scarlet Showdown—the Kōji case didn't come up at all... and many of the important players of this arc weren't even referenced in passing—the Rum arc equivalent of such arc-climactic cases is still to come.

 

It may be as simple as Rum truly being an old man and counting on assumptions that he'd never show his face to do the work for him... but since the truth of the Kōji case, as well as the truths of Rumi, Hyōe and Tsutomu have all yet to be revealed, it seems unlikely Goshō single out Rum to be the only one without a twist amidst all the revelations and twists that are to come—it seems unlikely he'd play it straight with Rum from now, onwards, and have him being Kanenori as the sole twist.

 

Given the context of this arc, this must be a major operation to flush out the NOCs within the BO. And who knows? We may also get additional revelations about how Hiromitsu's/Scotch's cover as a NOC was blown, and that event may prove to be key information. After all, given how important Hiromitsu/Scotch is to Rei/Bourbon, how his death ultimately drove the events of the Bourbon arc, and how he was referenced in the very file Rum was first mentioned in as one of the three NOCs that drive the BO's internal perception that they have a spy problem (the motivation behind a big event intended to deal with such an infestation), it doesn't seem likely to me the ASACA song case (954–957/866–867) was the last time we'll see him in DC (and that's saying nothing of how Gosho has him on the brain after working on Wild Police Story). Also, Taka'aki/Kōmei has now been brought into the main plot (and bringing Kansuke and Yui with him, by extension), so we'll need to see just how he's going to factor into this arc's endgame. Maybe how Hiromitsu's/Scotch's cover was blown can give us additional details about Rum's identity and/or the Kōji case.

 

Well, we now know that Kanenori/Rum is driven to Iroha Sushi by a chauffeur and bodyguard (of course, we don't know if it's every time, some of the time, or if this was a rare exception to how Kanenori/Rum usually arrived). It'd be quite the dramatic irony for Rum, after serving Momiji, to then lounge and sit back in a fancy car as she would, on his way to another service job, of all things. (btw, you mentioned on DCTP that he could potentially have two phones like the butler culprit from 1,009–1,012/952–954... if Muga was Rum, he'd have three—the black phone with a white square (his phone as Kanenori Wakita), the black phone without a white square (his phone as Muga Iori) and a white phone (the phone he used to call Gin and the other BO members in 1,061–1,066)... for comparison, Rei/Bourbon has only one phone, which he uses for both BO and NPA business—a white phone with a black spade).

Muga's debut case (981–983/885–886) served as the perfect chance to survey things, if he is Rum—Momiji won't question why he's hiding his identity, for she sent him there, and she wouldn't want him recognized anymore than he'd want to be recognized... and neither Shinichi/Conan nor Heiji seem to have recognized Momiji's butler to be one in the same as the man with such a lack of presence from the blackout stabbing case at Poirot.

Also, Rum appearing as his true self (appearance-wise) around 80 files into his arc would be consistent (and much faster, actually) than Rei appearing as himself around 170 files into the Bourbon arc.

In terms of avoiding "the butler did it" cliché, in terms of just how fast the titular BO character would be introduced into the arc, and in terms of getting Shūkichi more involved in the main plot, Chikara would be the better choice—being introduced in the first file and case of the arc and having an established and recurring connection with Shūkichi suits him far better for those two aspects than Muga. Other than those two aspects, though? Muga's in the lead, in my book, in terms of there being a 4th suspect (that scene in 898/783 with Agasa deceiving the DBs by pretending one of those four mugs had different contents than the other 3 when it actually didn't, and then Shūichi/Subaru saying such deception is the basis for any mystery trick... one of the ways to explain it is there being a 4th Rum suspect... though it doesn't fit perfectly with the 4th suspect being disguised as one of the three—a better fit for such would be if the DBs had been presented 4 mugs, clearly observed that 2 of the mugs were different (Rumi and Hyōe), but were then tricked into thinking the remaining 2 mugs were different when they were actually the same (Kanenori and the 4th suspect)).

 

Yeah, and I like how the old man from CoRaB being Rum ties Rum and the Akais further together.

[MeiTanteixX 184]

2 hours ago, DCUniverseAficionado said:

Yeah, it's like Black Impact or Mystery Train in that way... sure, there was a confrontation, and we did get new info and confirmations, but this was no Rotten Apple, Clash of Red and Black or Scarlet Showdown—the Kōji case didn't come up at all... and many of the important players of this arc weren't even referenced in passing—the Rum arc equivalent of such arc-climactic cases is still to come.

I wouldn't personally go as far as using Mystery train as an example, since it still fullfilled the purpose of a climax, where it not only revealed the identity of the titular antagonist, but also built it up properly through the involvement of the relevant players and lead it to a resolution of the antagonist's activities up to that point (revealing Bourbon's disguise stunts and his goals) as well as resolving one of their goals (Sherry). This FBI serial murder case only revealed 1 thing... Rum's fake identity... and left everything else still pending a resolution (unlike Mystery Train).

 

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It may be as simple as Rum truly being an old man and counting on assumptions that he'd never show his face to do the work for him... but since the truth of the Kōji case, as well as the truths of Rumi, Hyōe and Tsutomu have all yet to be revealed, it seems unlikely Goshō single out Rum to be the only one without a twist amidst all the revelations and twists that are to come—it seems unlikely he'd play it straight with Rum from now, onwards, and have him being Kanenori as the sole twist.

Still feels like a stretch, since not that many seems to even know of the extent of Rum's secretive nature to begin with. Rye had only heard the name a few times, Sherry had only picked up the same rumors that most BO members have, and not even Vodka/Chianti knew that those rumors were created by Rum himself for the same purpose that he is hiding his voice. If even these codenamed members didn't know this, I don't think that Rum could, or even should, safely assume that the average BO member would expect for Rum to not show his face at all, after they're already mislead into thinking that people have seen his face (due to the existing rumors).

 

Quote

Given the context of this arc, this must be a major operation to flush out the NOCs within the BO. And who knows? We may also get additional revelations about how Hiromitsu's/Scotch's cover as a NOC was blown, and that event may prove to be key information. After all, given how important Hiromitsu/Scotch is to Rei/Bourbon, how his death ultimately drove the events of the Bourbon arc, and how he was referenced in the very file Rum was first mentioned in as one of the three NOCs that drive the BO's internal perception that they have a spy problem (the motivation behind a big event intended to deal with such an infestation), it doesn't seem likely to me the ASACA song case (954–957/866–867) was the last time we'll see him in DC (and that's saying nothing of how Gosho has him on the brain after working on Wild Police Story). Also, Taka'aki/Kōmei has now been brought into the main plot (and bringing Kansuke and Yui with him, by extension), so we'll need to see just how he's going to factor into this arc's endgame. Maybe how Hiromitsu's/Scotch's cover was blown can give us additional details about Rum's identity and/or the Kōji case.

It is quite alarming that we get the big Morofushi highlight in the same case as Rum seemingly looking into Bourbon's loyalty. If not Rum, I still hope that we get any kind of explanation as to how Scotch got exposed. Would definitely tense-up the drama between Bourbon and Rum if Rum, the fellow disciple under the same "teacher," was responsible though.

 

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Well, we now know that Kanenori/Rum is driven to Iroha Sushi by a chauffeur and bodyguard (of course, we don't know if it's every time, some of the time, or if this was a rare exception to how Kanenori/Rum usually arrived). It'd be quite the dramatic irony for Rum, after serving Momiji, to then lounge and sit back in a fancy car as she would, on his way to another service job, of all things. (btw, you mentioned on DCTP that he could potentially have two phones like the butler culprit from 1,009–1,012/952–954... if Muga was Rum, he'd have three—the black phone with a white square (his phone as Kanenori Wakita), the black phone without a white square (his phone as Muga Iori) and a white phone (the phone he used to call Gin and the other BO members in 1,061–1,066)... for comparison, Rei/Bourbon has only one phone, which he uses for both BO and NPA business—a white phone with a black spade).

Indeed, he would technically have three in total. Was mainly looking at it as "the butler" (Iori) being foreshdowed to have an additional phone used for yet another active fake role, so basically two phones representing two fake identities.

 

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Yeah, and I like how the old man from CoRaB being Rum ties Rum and the Akais further together.

Seemed like that was intended to be the actual highlight twist/reveal of this BO case, whereas the Wakita reveal was merely, as you had mentioned before, the beginning of sorts (like Vermouth/Kir during Reunion/Black Impact), or as I put it, a "surface reveal". Essentially, this is where the build-up towards a proper climax starts.

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

17 minutes ago, MeiTanteixX said:

I wouldn't personally go as far as using Mystery train as an example, since it still fullfilled the purpose of a climax, where it not only revealed the identity of the titular antagonist, but also built it up properly through the involvement of the relevant players and lead it to a resolution of the antagonist's activities up to that point (revealing Bourbon's disguise stunts and his goals) as well as resolving one of their goals (Sherry). This FBI serial murder case only revealed 1 thing... Rum's fake identity... and left everything else still pending a resolution (unlike Mystery Train).

 

My inclusion of it is based on the context provided by the remainder of the Bourbon arc after Mystery Train. That aside... it was more of a climax than the case that just wrapped up, yes.

 

20 minutes ago, MeiTanteixX said:

Still feels like a stretch, since not that many seems to even know of the extent of Rum's secretive nature to begin with. Rye had only heard the name a few times, Sherry had only picked up the same rumors that most BO members have, and not even Vodka/Chianti knew that those rumors were created by Rum himself for the same purpose that he is hiding his voice. If even these codenamed members didn't know this, I don't think that Rum could, or even should, safely assume that the average BO member would expect for Rum to not show his face at all, after they're already mislead into thinking that people have seen his face (due to the existing rumors).

In any case, it's clear he wants confusion and uncertainty. If the answer really is as simple as him being an old man, then said confusion and uncertainty was both the end and the means, rather than just the means—it'd be just the means if the old man is but a disguise.

In other words, if he's just an old man, then even such boldness as showing himself as he truly appears is a part of his strategy—a strategy that features him boldly showing himself and features him creating a mystique of uncertainty around himself. If not, then the mystique of uncertainty extends to never showing himself as he truly appears unless he's sure there's absolutely no chance he can be identified as the BO's 2nd in command.

 

31 minutes ago, MeiTanteixX said:

It is quite alarming that we get the big Morofushi highlight in the same case as Rum seemingly looking into Bourbon's loyalty. If not Rum, I still hope that we get any kind of explanation as to how Scotch got exposed. Would definitely tense-up the drama between Bourbon and Rum if Rum, the fellow disciple under the same "teacher," was responsible though.

Taka'aki/Kōmei may be the ace in the hole for Team Shinichi/Conan—the variable Rum might not expect... that moment of feigning ignorance about just who Rei is may have just saved the day.

 

45 minutes ago, MeiTanteixX said:

Indeed, he would technically have three in total. Was mainly looking at it as "the butler" (Iori") being foreshdowed to have an additional phone used for yet another active fake role, so basically two phones representing two fake identities.

 

Seemed like that was intended to be the actual highlight twist/reveal of this BO case, whereas the Wakita reveal was merely, as you had mentioned before, the beginning of sorts (like Vermouth/Kir during Reunion/Black Impact), or as I put it, a "surface reveal". Essentially, this is where the build-up towards a proper climax starts.

Just like that blogger lied about being 5 years younger than she actually was (918–920/814–815) is actually Goshō telling us there will be someone 5 years older than they claim to be? Since we're on foreshadowing like this...

For instance, now that we have the full context of the Vermouth arc, we now know the Mermaid case (279–283/222–224) was foreshadowing that Chris Vineyard and Sharon Vineyard were one in the same. 

And now we have a culprit who lied about being 5 years younger than they actually are... so therefore a major character in the arc will also claim to be 5 years younger than they actually are? Is it a truly that simple? What makes this true foreshadowing instead of coincidence? And what would be an example of an actual coincidence that could be mistaken as true foreshadowing from this current arc?

 

54 minutes ago, MeiTanteixX said:

Seemed like that was intended to be the actual highlight twist/reveal of this BO case, whereas the Wakita reveal was merely, as you had mentioned before, the beginning of sorts (like Vermouth/Kir during Reunion/Black Impact), or as I put it, a "surface reveal". Essentially, this is where the build-up towards a proper climax starts.

I always did think the Rum arc would provide quite an opportunity to subvert the Bourbon arc (Agasa's mug trick from the file Rum was first mentioned in being an early potential sign of that)—now that Goshō's revealed that the suspect who shares many similarities with Bourbon is indeed Rum, all before we've gotten into the other suspects and the Kōji case, it seems only natural he would have twists at the ready, twists that would likely involve Rum.

 

[MeiTanteixX 184]

48 minutes ago, DCUniverseAficionado said:

Just like that blogger lied about being 5 years younger than she actually was (918–920/814–815) is actually Goshō telling us there will be someone 5 years older than they claim to be? Since we're on foreshadowing like this...

For instance, now that we have the full context of the Vermouth arc, we now know the Mermaid case (279–283/222–224) was foreshadowing that Chris Vineyard and Sharon Vineyard were one in the same. 

And now we have a culprit who lied about being 5 years younger than they actually are... so therefore a major character in the arc will also claim to be 5 years younger than they actually are? Is it a truly that simple? What makes this true foreshadowing instead of coincidence? And what would be an example of an actual coincidence that could be mistaken as true foreshadowing from this current arc?

That is a part of the fun to explore, wouldn't you say? 

I almost wanted to bring up Shiragami case as an example of a coincidence, until I realized that the whole "two of the same person, where the real one is disguised as someone else" is straight up the whole Scar Akai & Subaru plot in Bourbon arc 

I do think however that relying on gimmicks and concepts that Gosho has demonstrated within cases of the arc in question serves as the most reliable approach in figuring out Gosho's mystery (based on his mentioned track record), regardless if it ends up being true or coincidence.

 

In this case however, I dare say that there are more than enough reasons for this special butler with a unique name box intro to be the man to suspect as being Rum, and by extension, the one who would need this conveniently fitting "name box deception" concept that Gosho used in this arc (that conveniently would make him the same age as the first person Gosho portrayed to be the one who comes the closest to being Rum, Kansuke).

 

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I always did think the Rum arc would provide quite an opportunity to subvert the Bourbon arc (Agasa's mug trick from the file Rum was first mentioned in being an early potential sign of that)—now that Goshō's revealed that the suspect who shares many similarities with Bourbon is indeed Rum, all before we've gotten into the other suspects and the Kōji case, it seems only natural he would have twists at the ready, twists that would likely involve Rum.

Now, as for predictions for when the "main event" could happen, I'm looking at it happening in another 5 volumes, seeing as there is now a pattern for major progressions/developments every 5 volumes (Vol 90: "ASACA RUM" [First Rum development since Kir's message], Volume 95: "CARASUMA" [Boss reveal & major ShinRan development), and finally Volume 100: first Rum reveal [Camel faking his death]). I could therefore see Volume 105 being our next landmark for major developments (like for example, Heizuha confession / Rum climax [true identity] / Kohji case reveals [i.e dying message continuation]).

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

6 hours ago, MeiTanteixX said:

That is a part of the fun to explore, wouldn't you say? 

I almost wanted to bring up Shiragami case as an example of a coincidence, until I realized that the whole "two of the same person, where the real one is disguised as someone else" is straight up the whole Scar Akai & Subaru plot in Bourbon arc 

I do think however that relying on gimmicks and concepts that Gosho has demonstrated within cases of the arc in question serves as the most reliable approach in figuring out Gosho's mystery (based on his mentioned track record), regardless if it ends up being true or coincidence.

 

In this case however, I dare say that there are more than enough reasons for this special butler with a unique name box intro to be the man to suspect as being Rum, and by extension, the one who would need this conveniently fitting "name box deception" concept that Gosho used in this arc (that conveniently would make him the same age as the first person Gosho portrayed to be the one who comes the closest to being Rum, Kansuke).

Indeed, the exploration... the search of "wherein lies true nirvana"... kudos (*rimshot*) if you know where that line is from.

 

Well, would you look at that... 

Shūichi Akai –> Shinichi Kudō

Bourbon –> Makoto Okuda

Subaru Okiya –> The Shirigami

Scar Akai –> Shifty Kudō

We even have the parallel of Shinichi and Shūichi taking on the identity of "a person who doesn't really exist", and Makoto and Bourbon stealing their identity—as well as the latter two's hatred for the former two over a misunderstanding.

The only wrinkle would be that Makoto and his father also took on the identity of the Shiragami—well, Yusaku pretended to be Subaru, so that's the closest we can get to smoothing it over.

 

Which brings me to the point of which cases. Sure, the concept of Muga actually being 35 has a basis, but that case's only connection to Muga is that it's a direct continuation of a doubleheader of cases (909–912, 913–917/808–809, 810–812) that happened to feature Heiji, (in which, yes, there was a moment where Shinichi/Conan thought of Kansuke as a model for Rum). But are those two connections really enough for you to go, "yep, that's no coincidence"? Because for me, I'd need more to be confident in that as you seem to be.

 

Muga being Rum would resolve the potential problem of a mere butler coming off the way he did during his intro case, and reveal a deeper layer to many things, such as Shinichi/Conan deeming him a "Watson" to someone else's "Holmes."

But while there's enough info and implication for me to put Muga at the top of the 4th suspect list, I'd need more info about Chikara—with that new info, I'd think he'd either surpass Muga or be ruled out entirely. 

 

6 hours ago, MeiTanteixX said:

Now, as for predictions for when the "main event" could happen, I'm looking at it happening in another 5 volumes, seeing as there is now a pattern for major progressions/developments every 5 volumes (Vol 90: "ASACA RUM" [First Rum development since Kir's message], Volume 95: "CARASUMA" [Boss reveal & major ShinRan development), and finally Volume 100: first Rum reveal [Camel faking his death]). I could therefore see Volume 105 being our next landmark for major developments (like for example, Heizuha confession / Rum climax [true identity] / Kohji case reveals [i.e dying message continuation]).

Volume 101: File 1,070–File 1,080

Volume 102: File 1,081–File 1,091

Volume 103: File 1,092–File 1,102

Volume 104: File 1,103–File 1,113

Volume 105: File 1,114–File 1,124

 

My assumption is that there's at least one fairly pertinent development every 25 Files/3 Volumes (and by extension, every 50/75/100 Files). Assuming we're not launching into a big continuation after the 6 File case we just had, it'll probably be around 1,100 that we get another development/revelation.

[MeiTanteixX 184]

13 hours ago, DCUniverseAficionado said:

Indeed, the exploration... the search of "wherein lies true nirvana"... kudos (*rimshot*) if you know where that line is from.

Unfortunately not ^^;

Quote

Which brings me to the point of which cases. Sure, the concept of Muga actually being 35 has a basis, but that case's only connection to Muga is that it's a direct continuation of a doubleheader of cases (909–912, 913–917/808–809, 810–812) that happened to feature Heiji, (in which, yes, there was a moment where Shinichi/Conan thought of Kansuke as a model for Rum). But are those two connections really enough for you to go, "yep, that's no coincidence"? Because for me, I'd need more to be confident in that as you seem to be.

The point was rather that I have enough other reasons to suspect him as Rum, that these little nuggets only serves as more assurance, rather than the backbone of it all.

Spoiler

Story reasons:

- Alerting unique intro (friday 13th, never-done-before name-box), where he gets a full-on introduction (unlike his master) where a BO member (Bourbon), that Rum gets very involved with in the future, is present, as well as direct references to Wakita's (Rum's) intro, as a result of replaying the same case format (blood missing on suspects), through Conan ("Not again", as if replaying Rum's intro once more) and Takagi.

- Unresolved mysteries surrounding his characterization, where there's no expected explanation to his stealthy nature, skills, unique knowledge and strength for someone who is framed to be "just an irrelevant butler".

- Thematically fitting the leftover suspect role based on the 3 main Rum descriptions ("effeminate man"), that Rumi couldn't fill, as well as shown to be "exceedingly impatient" (counting seconds) as Rum was described to be, while also being revealed to have a link to the Haneda family (the family of the man who caused Rum's 17-year-old mess-up) through the Oooka household.

- Activities matching Rum's interest (involving himself with Kudo Shinichi)

- Conveniently fitting way where the dying message could implicate him as Kohji's killer and a Karasuma.

 

Outside of story reasons:

- Gosho constantly shows interest and hype for him, despite his "irrelevant" limited appearances (Animal Crossing / Sherry's soliloquy)

- Gosho used him "randomly" for comparison with Akai's age, along with Amuro (two major main plot characters), despite being just recently introduced (in Let's Talk Day 2017)

- Gosho called him "Sebastian" (in Animal Crossing for File 1002), which while on the surface looks like a Black Butler reference (due sharing the same VA) is from a Sherlockian perspective a Moran (Moriarty's no.2 / Rum parallel) reference.

- Gosho revealed that he always planned to introduce an Oooka to Kazuha's "Toyama" in the manga (before M21 story was planned), and he fully created Iori Muga from scratch. On the topic of the movie... a pretty obvious tell/trope is there to that there is more that meets the eye with him.

 

 

Quote

Volume 101: File 1,070–File 1,080

Volume 102: File 1,081–File 1,091

Volume 103: File 1,092–File 1,102

Volume 104: File 1,103–File 1,113

Volume 105: File 1,114–File 1,124

 

My assumption is that there's at least one fairly pertinent development every 25 Files/3 Volumes (and by extension, every 50/75/100 Files). Assuming we're not launching into a big continuation after the 6 File case we just had, it'll probably be around 1,100 that we get another development/revelation.

Sounds quite likely and promising ^^

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

On 12/19/2020 at 9:04 PM, MeiTanteixX said:

Spoiler

Story reasons:

- Alerting unique intro (friday 13th, never-done-before name-box), where he gets a full-on introduction (unlike his master) where a BO member (Bourbon), that Rum gets very involved with in the future, is present, as well as direct references to Wakita's (Rum's) intro, as a result of replaying the same case format (blood missing on suspects), through Conan ("Not again", as if replaying Rum's intro once more) and Takagi.

- Unresolved mysteries surrounding his characterization, where there's no expected explanation to his stealthy nature, skills, unique knowledge and strength for someone who is framed to be "just an irrelevant butler".

- Thematically fitting the leftover suspect role based on the 3 main Rum descriptions ("effeminate man"), that Rumi couldn't fill, as well as shown to be "exceedingly impatient" (counting seconds) as Rum was described to be, while also being revealed to have a link to the Haneda family (the family of the man who caused Rum's 17-year-old mess-up) through the Oooka household.

- Activities matching Rum's interest (involving himself with Kudo Shinichi)

- Conveniently fitting way where the dying message could implicate him as Kohji's killer and a Karasuma.

 

Outside of story reasons:

- Gosho constantly shows interest and hype for him, despite his "irrelevant" limited appearances (Animal Crossing / Sherry's soliloquy)

- Gosho used him "randomly" for comparison with Akai's age, along with Amuro (two major main plot characters), despite being just recently introduced (in Let's Talk Day 2017)

- Gosho called him "Sebastian" (in Animal Crossing for File 1002), which while on the surface looks like a Black Butler reference (due sharing the same VA) is from a Sherlockian perspective a Moran (Moriarty's no.2 / Rum parallel) reference.

- Gosho revealed that he always planned to introduce an Oooka to Kazuha's "Toyama" in the manga (before M21 story was planned), and he fully created Iori Muga from scratch. On the topic of the movie... a pretty obvious tell/trope is there to that there is more that meets the eye with him.

 

 

Spoiler

Chikara had no name box, yet still gave his name. To me, that's more understated and less obvious than a "???" name box.

 

But it's not just that one line from him that's the basis, right? It's also that taking notice of Shinichi/Conan moment.

 

My response to that is that Chikara's a 50-year-old shogi player who's good enough to be a match for Kōji's heir (Shūkichi)—someone with that occupation and talent could very well have been at Juke Hotel 17 years ago for that tournament. Being a butler of a family who has ties with the Haneda family isn't much of a counter-weight.

 

If Muga is Rum, then is he like Vermouth? Does his physical appearance not reflect his true age? Or is he actually in his mid 30s, and was in his late teens at the time of the Kōji case?

[MeiTanteixX 184]

1 hour ago, DCUniverseAficionado said:

 

  Hide contents

Chikara had no name box, yet still gave his name. To me, that's more understated and less obvious than a "???" name box.

 

But it's not just that one line from him that's the basis, right? It's also that taking notice of Shinichi/Conan moment.

 

My response to that is that Chikara's a 50-year-old shogi player who's good enough to be a match for Kōji's heir (Shūkichi)—someone with that occupation and talent could very well have been at Juke Hotel 17 years ago for that tournament. Being a butler of a family who has ties with the Haneda family isn't much of a counter-weight.

 

If Muga is Rum, then is he like Vermouth? Does his physical appearance not reflect his true age? Or is he actually in his mid 30s, and was in his late teens at the time of the Kōji case?

Spoiler

Didn't know we were comparing Chikara with Muga, but sure, I can play along.

It's certainly a reasonable prediction/suspicion, but far from a confirmed link. Chikara seems to be around Kohji's age, so the likelihood of them crossing paths are certainly high, but that doesn't confirm that Chikara had a chess interest on the side like Kohji, let alone that he participated in chess tournaments, or that he participated in that specific tournament from 17 yrs ago in a foreign country. So on that note, this very much established fact that Oooka & Haneda are connected is imo more than enough counter-weight (despite not being intended as such when I wrote it). 

I lean towards "no" until there is actual indications of that like in Vermouth arc (where they introduced a senior "Vineyard" for that sort of reveal). Would be no point in the whole "hiding 5 years from your age" angle if it's all fabricated (due to halted aging). I'm rather leaning towards Muga basically being a "Kyogoku Makoto" 17 yrs ago.

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

1 hour ago, MeiTanteixX said:

Spoiler

Didn't know we were comparing Chikara with Muga, but sure, I can play along.

It's certainly a reasonable prediction/suspicion, but far from a confirmed link. Chikara seems to be around Kohji's age, so the likelihood of them crossing paths are certainly high, but that doesn't confirm that Chikara had a chess interest on the side like Kohji, let alone that he participated in chess tournaments, or that he participated in that specific tournament from 17 yrs ago in a foreign country. So on that note, this very much established fact that Oooka & Haneda are connected is imo more than enough counter-weight (despite not being intended as such when I wrote it). 

 

 

Spoiler

Who else would be up for comparison? Chikara's likely the only other candidate who I think has a chance for the 4th suspect position. If Chikara Katsumata didn't exist, I'd be right there with you on the "4th suspect is Muga" train.

 

Even then, Muga just happens to be a butler for this family with a connection to the Haneda family. Even with Chikara's unconfirmed connection to the Kōji case, he already has a stronger connection based on one of the key points of this arc—shogi.

If, for instance, Momiji was a shogi player, just like Kōji, Chikara, Shūkichi and all the other shogi characters, then I'd flip my position on this point and agree that Muga has the stronger connection. 

 

 

1 hour ago, MeiTanteixX said:

I lean towards "no" until there is actual indications of that like in Vermouth arc (where they introduced a senior "Vineyard" for that sort of reveal). Would be no point in the whole "hiding 5 years from your age" angle if it's all fabricated (due to halted aging). I'm rather leaning towards Muga basically being a "Kyogoku Makoto" 17 yrs ago.

 

So at just 18, he was the 2nd in command? Does the inherited codename possibility come into play? Does his predecessor have a role to play in all this?

[MeiTanteixX 184]

47 minutes ago, DCUniverseAficionado said:

So at just 18, he was the 2nd in command? Does the inherited codename possibility come into play? Does his predecessor have a role to play in all this?

Right, that's the conclusion based on the theory. As Gosho said in SDB Black+ (in regards to very young age of codenamed members):

"what of it? (laughs)"

Could be, though I'm not really sure if Gosho plans on using that concept for Rum specifically anymore (since my original Wakita theory got debunked). Perhaps it's planned for Sharon/Chris ("mother" passing on the codename "Vermouth" to "daughter").

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

2 hours ago, MeiTanteixX said:

Could be, though I'm not really sure if Gosho plans on using that concept for Rum specifically anymore (since my original Wakita theory got debunked). Perhaps it's planned for Sharon/Chris ("mother" passing on the codename "Vermouth" to "daughter").

 

Well, that would certainly tie into BO origins (especially if Renya Karasuma is the current Vermouth's father).

The culprit of the Mermaid case had been pretending to be an old woman, just as her mother had. Goshō could go for a straight parallel and have the current Vermouth's mother have undertaken such duplicity when she was Vermouth, herself.

I suppose a counterpoint to there being a tradition of Vineyards disguising themselves as a single figure would be that the current Vermouth went to Toichi Kuroba to learn about the art of disguise, thus potentially implying she didn't have such high quality SFX/makeup skill beforehand, thus potentially implying the Vineyard family didn't have such high quality SFX/makeup skill beforehand... but as we saw with the Mermaid case, you don't have to be as good as the Kuroba family at it to pull such deception off.

[MeiTanteixX 184]

17 hours ago, DCUniverseAficionado said:

 

Well, that would certainly tie into BO origins (especially if Renya Karasuma is the current Vermouth's father).

The culprit of the Mermaid case had been pretending to be an old woman, just as her mother had. Goshō could go for a straight parallel and have the current Vermouth's mother have undertaken such duplicity when she was Vermouth, herself.

I suppose a counterpoint to there being a tradition of Vineyards disguising themselves as a single figure would be that the current Vermouth went to Toichi Kuroba to learn about the art of disguise, thus potentially implying she didn't have such high quality SFX/makeup skill beforehand, thus potentially implying the Vineyard family didn't have such high quality SFX/makeup skill beforehand... but as we saw with the Mermaid case, you don't have to be as good as the Kuroba family at it to pull such deception off.

Was seeing it more as a one-time codename transfer, but yeah, I guess that's possible too.

[Shreevatsa 14]

When will the next file be released? 

[MeiTanteixX 184]

On 1/1/2021 at 7:14 AM, Shreevatsa said:

When will the next file be released? 

January 27th. Spoilers can be expected at earliest 22nd. Preview for the next case will officially release 20th, and leaks for the preview will drop at earliest 15th.

[DCUniverseAficionado 252]

6 hours ago, MeiTanteixX said:

January 27th. Spoilers can be expected at earliest 22nd. Preview for the next case will officially release 20th, and leaks for the preview will drop at earliest 15th.

And then within 10 days of January 27th, we can expect an English translation of the full file.

[Kurara-chan 13]

I'm rather sad that Camel is still one piece despite almost drowned and burned. Killing a recurring character will bring suspense up, it's like they all have plot armors, the thrill is rather missing.

 

He need to take disguise! Cutting hairs is not enough for a person who fake death. 

 

RUM is changing his face and name did this mean disguise or did he actually take a plastic surgery? 

[MeiTanteixX 184]

3 minutes ago, Kurara-chan said:

RUM is changing his face and name did this mean disguise or did he actually take a plastic surgery? 

It's framed to be a disguise. Still up in the air what extent of disguise it is though.

[Aries Bless 18]

I have sometimes wondered if Tsutomu Akai is Gin. That he might have been captured and brainwashed by the organization.