James Black & Sera

[Belmot 6]

In the episode East vs West, James Black looked like he knew exactly who Sera was. Anyone else think James knows who Sera really is? I think I might just be imagining things.

[Schwa 11]

Yeah that James! Acting TOTALLY suspicious. I haven't read the manga, so I don't know if anymore has happend on that matter. From appearance alone Sera resembles Akai, if I had to guess she would be his sister. She also seemed to know a lot about Conan, and she reacted suspiciously from the mention of the FBI.

Anyways onto your main topic. Yeah, I definitly think James knows something we all don't.

[Akazora 293]

Ever since that manga chapter came out, I've always been suspicious of James Black's prior knowledge. I'm sure he probably knows who she really is, though I'm still not entirely sure what his direct role is. Assuming Sera is Akai's sister, maybe Black is helping her in her search?

[Parkur 165]

lol i thought this was a pairing thread

[CarpetCrawler 280]

Considering he has more F.B.I. experience than Jodie or Andre, yes, I believe he knows fully. On the most recent podcast we discuss this actually. I feel like he knows full well who Sera is.

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

Considering he has more F.B.I. experience than Jodie or Andre, yes, I believe he knows fully. On the most recent podcast we discuss this actually. I feel like he knows full well who Sera is.

I lean this way too because of what he said, but I refuse to get off the fence because not trying to stop her seems reckless.

[dcfan4869 18]

If James Black knows who Sera is, then the question "Why does he keep this fact a secret?" comes to light.

[Belmot 6]

I thought I was the only person that thought so.

[Schwa 11]

lol i thought this was a pairing thread

LOL

Hey who knows, they might be a cute couple?

[kirite 23]

lol i thought this was a pairing thread

I think I love you.

Anyways it could be that Sera is also undercover atm (chasing Akai by joining BO, or something else) so he doesn't want to blow her cover.

[Schwa 11]

Anyways it could be that Sera is also undercover atm (chasing Akai by joining BO, or something else) so he doesn't want to blow her cover.

Wow I didn't even think of that.

[Moustauch 31]

Totally unrelated, but at first I thought this was a shipping thread, and I was about to give my two cents on why this would make sense, but then I read the first post and went "Oh." and gave up.

[Belmot 6]

I would think James would know about Akai's family members, shouldn't he?

[detectiveRJB 15]

If James Black knows who Sera is, then the question "Why does he keep this fact a secret?" comes to light.

Akai Ask him keep this secret!

[AT Hiker 1]

Well, if James Black is actually Ano Kata, then it would make sense. Anokata is described as overplanning, which means that revealing information that doesn't need to be revealed for a planned out purpose just wouldn't be done... not saying he is, but it would make sense...

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

Well, if James Black is actually Ano Kata, then it would make sense. Anokata is described as overplanning, which means that revealing information that doesn't need to be revealed for a planned out purpose just wouldn't be done... not saying he is, but it would make sense...

James is one of the few characters with a solid not-the-boss alibi. Near the end of FBI vs. the Organization, Gin received permission from the boss to change targets to Mouri Kogoro. At the time Gin's permission was received, James Black was driving a car with Conan and Jodie in it and thus would not be able to manipulate a cellphone while driving without Conan and Jodie noticing.

[AT Hiker 1]

James is one of the few characters with a solid not-the-boss alibi. Near the end of FBI vs. the Organization, Gin received permission from the boss to change targets to Mouri Kogoro. At the time Gin's permission was received, James Black was driving a car with Conan and Jodie in it and thus would not be able to manipulate a cellphone while driving without Conan and Jodie noticing.

I know where you are going with this, but at the same time, in that chapter, Gin had just located the listening device that Conan had left behind... and there is no proof that he didn't take it upon himself to just say that. It could be that the boss was contacted which rather nicely excludes James, but the boss may not have been contacted. Gin could have been relaying out instructions or hashing out details without actually calling the boss while the reception was muddled (I think that's the term that Conan used). All we have is Gin's conversation (that he knew was being listened to) in which he 'said' that he got permission from the boss.

All I'm saying is that that 'solid' is a bit too permanent for the level of security that we have that it's not him. It's probably still not him (last name "Black"? Really?) since that would be too easy, but at the same time, Conan has used misdirection like that to lead Ran away from identifying his true identity. I mean really, how often does he "read" texts from his alter ego? Or pretend to talk to his elder self on the phone?

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

I know where you are going with this, but at the same time, in that chapter, Gin had just located the listening device that Conan had left behind... and there is no proof that he didn't take it upon himself to just say that. It could be that the boss was contacted which rather nicely excludes James, but the boss may not have been contacted. Gin could have been relaying out instructions or hashing out details without actually calling the boss while the reception was muddled (I think that's the term that Conan used). All we have is Gin's conversation (that he knew was being listened to) in which he 'said' that he got permission from the boss.

All I'm saying is that that 'solid' is a bit too permanent for the level of security that we have that it's not him. It's probably still not him (last name "Black"? Really?) since that would be too easy, but at the same time, Conan has used misdirection like that to lead Ran away from identifying his true identity. I mean really, how often does he "read" texts from his alter ego? Or pretend to talk to his elder self on the phone?

Contact with the boss usually goes by text message, so the reception problems aren't the same. Also, the bugging risk would be low if the text was encrypted or in code. Gin clearly stated he "just got the boss's approval" on 503 page 15. (Knightus version) If Gin is lying to his coworkers about contacting the boss, it would raise a whole bunch of questions about Gin in general...

[AT Hiker 1]

Sorry, reply from smartphone - but, Gin has gone ahead and used his own discretion more than once. Maybe not using the boss's name to do so, but he never had the boss's ok to poison Shinichi in the beginning of the series. He clearly seems to be a Lieutenant in the org at the very least. That means that he is trusted to use that personal judgement sometimes. This just may have been one of those times.

All I am stressing here is that sometimes it pays to not discount something until the proof is clearly spelled out. And while the circumstantial evidence is in favor of it not being Black, it is still only circumstancial.

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

Sorry, reply from smartphone - but, Gin has gone ahead and used his own discretion more than once. Maybe not using the boss's name to do so, but he never had the boss's ok to poison Shinichi in the beginning of the series. He clearly seems to be a Lieutenant in the org at the very least. That means that he is trusted to use that personal judgement sometimes. This just may have been one of those times.

All I am stressing here is that sometimes it pays to not discount something until the proof is clearly spelled out. And while the circumstantial evidence is in favor of it not being Black, it is still only circumstancial.

It's a bit better than circumstantial. For it not to be true, it would be require Gin to lie to his comrades about contacting the boss when there is no particular reason for him to. Lying about approval could backfire pretty badly if one of the other members brought it up in texts to the boss later; the boss might think Gin was breaking the chain of command by falsely using his name. There are already penalties in place for killing loyal members (see Pisco case), so I wouldn't be surprised if the boss instituted punishment for being upstart given the hierarchical nature of the Org. As you said, Gin has used his own discretion in the past, but not using the boss's name to do so. Why now?

Also the situation was a bit less clearcut than, say, killing the witness Shinichi, because Gin suspected Kogoro of cooperating with Sherry because of the trackers. Gin couldn't be sure the boss wouldn't want to come up with a plan to reveal Sherry's location or something like that instead of a straight kill.

[Belmot 6]

James black? The Black Organization leader? o_o NEVER!

[AT Hiker 1]

James black? The Black Organization leader? o_o NEVER!

Never? That's a long time there... He fits the pre-requisits... his name was mentioned in the manga prior to the interview in which it was revealed that Anokata was already in the manga, he's perfectly positioned to lead the assault against the black org, while ensuring that no real damage is done, he can keep easy tabs on the "Silver Bullet" (Akai), and he shares Conan's nickname of "Cool Guy" with Vermouth (and since Vermouth has a "special relationship" with Anokata, the sharing of nicknames does follow suit, and the fact that she's old enough to be her own mother means that she could have known JB when he was younger). Heck, when they first met, Ai said to Conan, "Does he make you feel strange" (No Group, but that's Sality's translation) so it looks like her Black Org Radar had a ping go off... Black is his last name, first name "James", a Holmes fan...

Born in London, raised in Chicago (the city of Al Capone, as he points out when his character is introduced...) he mimics some of the traits of S. Holmes arch nemisis... Born in England, Professor Moriarty is well traveled across the globe. Name of "James" as a first name (which is actually the name of Prof. Moriarty's brother, and then later stated to be Prof. Moriarty's name)... If he used an "air rifle" in the shape of a cane, it would be a slam dunk (almost) that it's him!

If we can just ignore the fact that JB already knows that "Sherry" is Ai (Ch. 435), because that would flat out prove that it isn't him, there is a lot of other evidence that it is him... unless, he has a reason to not just kill her that isn't revealed yet (she is the one w/ the knowledge of the drug, and could be the only one that can explain what happened w/ Vermouth and killing her would lead to Vermouth de-aging into childhood, or the only one that can resolve the age reduction that happened to her and Shinichi... or something).

Still, it's fun trying to figure out who Anokata really is.

To be on topic for this post though, yes, I think that JB does know who Sera is.

[Schwa 11]

Never? That's a long time there... He fits the pre-requisits... his name was mentioned in the manga prior to the interview in which it was revealed that Anokata was already in the manga, he's perfectly positioned to lead the assault against the black org, while ensuring that no real damage is done, he can keep easy tabs on the "Silver Bullet" (Akai), and he shares Conan's nickname of "Cool Guy" with Vermouth (and since Vermouth has a "special relationship" with Anokata, the sharing of nicknames does follow suit, and the fact that she's old enough to be her own mother means that she could have known JB when he was younger). Heck, when they first met, Ai said to Conan, "Does he make you feel strange" (No Group, but that's Sality's translation) so it looks like her Black Org Radar had a ping go off... Black is his last name, first name "James", a Holmes fan...

Born in London, raised in Chicago (the city of Al Capone, as he points out when his character is introduced...) he mimics some of the traits of S. Holmes arch nemisis... Born in England, Professor Moriarty is well traveled across the globe. Name of "James" as a first name (which is actually the name of Prof. Moriarty's brother, and then later stated to be Prof. Moriarty's name)... If he used an "air rifle" in the shape of a cane, it would be a slam dunk (almost) that it's him!

If we can just ignore the fact that JB already knows that "Sherry" is Ai (Ch. 435), because that would flat out prove that it isn't him, there is a lot of other evidence that it is him... unless, he has a reason to not just kill her that isn't revealed yet (she is the one w/ the knowledge of the drug, and could be the only one that can explain what happened w/ Vermouth and killing her would lead to Vermouth de-aging into childhood, or the only one that can resolve the age reduction that happened to her and Shinichi... or something).

Still, it's fun trying to figure out who Anokata really is.

To be on topic for this post though, yes, I think that JB does know who Sera is.

Holly crap you just opened my mind to a whole new possibility.

James Black being Anokata seems plausible. Though there are probably some loopholes we'll have to work around with him being FBI and leading the investigation against the BO.

Also he's like, a character who I wouldn't mind being Anokata. JB isn't really one of my favourite characters, plus he's in enough of a position to really spice things up.

Though, anything's possible.

[Dusty 1]

I think James Black knows. Its possible he met Sera before Akai infiltrated the organization, seeing that her move to America was most likely enforced by the FBI. He might of even met her before that.

[Charala97 23]

James black surely knows who Sera is. But, I think he didn't tell Jodie and Camel because he didn't want them to get all worked up after knowing Akai's sister. Sometimes, I feel he knows that Akai is alive and is watching them from somewhere. It only makes sense to me, because I don't think he is such a fool to let Akai go to Raiha pass unless he had some idea of what Conan and akai and hide I were planning.