Wataru Takagi
| Wataru Takagi | |
|
| |
| Japanese name: | 高木 渉 (Takagi Wataru) |
|---|---|
| English name: | Harry Wilder |
| Age: | 26[1] |
| Gender: | Male |
| Date of birth: | Unknown |
| Relatives: | Unnamed nephew[2] |
| Occupation: | Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Detective |
| Status: | Alive |
| Aliases: | Takao[3] |
| First appearance: | Manga: File 171 Anime: Episode 21 (prototype) / Episode 66 (official) |
| Appearances: | Chapters: 332 Episodes: 562 Movies: 20 OVAs: 5 Specials: 12 Openings: 39 Closings: 10 |
| Keyhole number: | Volume 20 |
| Japanese voice: | Wataru Takagi |
| English voice: | Doug Burks (FUNimation) Christopher Bevins (Bang Zoom!) Diego Klock-Perez (Macias Group) |
| Drama actor: | Yuichi Tsuchiya |
Wataru Takagi (高木 渉 Takagi Wataru) is a police sergeant and detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police District's Criminal Investigation First Division and the love interest of Miwako Sato.
Contents
- 1 Background
- 2 Personality
- 3 Appellations
- 4 Plot overview
- 4.1 Actor's Apartment Case (Manga: 170-172, Anime: 102-103)
- 4.2 Treadmill Murder Case (Manga: 208-210, Anime: 146-147)
- 4.3 Innocent Suspect Case (Manga: 231-233, Anime: 156-157)
- 4.4 Sato's Father Case (Manga: 267-269; Anime: 205-206)
- 4.5 Police Escort Murder Case (Manga: 296-298, Anime: 240-241)
- 4.6 Sato's Omiai Case (Manga: 328-330, Anime: 253-254)
- 4.7 American Kidnapped Man Case (Anime: 258-259)
- 4.8 Parade Bomber Case (Manga: 366-368, Anime: 301-302)
- 4.9 Serial Bomber Case (Manga: 369-373, Anime: 304)
- 4.10 Missing Ring Case (Manga: 404-406, Anime: 358-359)
- 4.11 Takagi's Last Case (Manga: 450-452, Anime: 390-391)
- 4.12 Jewel Robber's Suicide Case (Manga: 484-486, Anime: 401-402)
- 4.13 Group Date Kidnapping Case (Manga: 511-514; Anime: 431-432)
- 4.14 Fake Wedding Case (Manga: 535-537, Anime: 449)
- 4.15 Genta's Shot (Manga: 567-569, Anime: 477)
- 4.16 Sato's Ring Case (Manga: 576-578, Anime: 487)
- 4.17 Hammer Man Case (Manga: 625-627, Anime: 530-531)
- 4.18 Whistling Killer Case (Manga: 670-673, Anime: 534-535)
- 4.19 The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Manga: 804-808, Anime: 681-683)
- 4.20 A Missing Item Case (Manga: 869-871, Anime: 748-749)
- 4.21 A Killer in Ramen Ogura (Manga: 930, Anime: 828)
- 4.22 Wataru Date's Notebook (Manga: 1079-1081, Anime: 1109-1110)
- 5 Non-canon plot overview
- 6 List of disguises used
- 7 Relationships analysis
- 8 Character popularity
- 9 Name origin
- 10 Different looks
- 11 Quotes
- 12 In other languages
- 13 Trivia
- 14 Gallery
- 15 See also
- 16 References
Background
Wataru Takagi is a newcomer to the Tokyo Police Criminal Investigations Division 1, having transferred after the bomber case about three years ago but by the time Shinichi Kudo first established his reputation as a detective, about two years ago.[4] His mentor was a senior agent called Date, who died one year before the present timeline. In his last moments Date entrusted Takagi his notebook, which had a ring for his girlfriend Natalie Kuruma hidden. He kept Date's notebook as a personal motivation to be just as good as Date. It was first a year later he realized that Date's girlfriend was Natalie, but it was too late to give her the ring, because she committed suicide soon after Date's death. He was first introduced in an Anime original case at an on location film set.
Ever since his joining the force, Takagi (like so many of his other colleagues) has harbored romantic feelings for Miwako Sato. While Sato appeared to have taken a liking to him as well, Takagi was easily discouraged by the way she dealt with other male colleagues, including their superior Inspector Megure (though in that case it was more a daughterly affection to a father figure, since Sato's father had died when she was very young).[5][6] In time, thanks to several severe incidents - and despite the interference of the other officers in the department, chiefly Ninzaburo Shiratori -, their professional relationship grew more personal,[7][8][9][10] and finally Sato and Takagi shared their first kiss after he had been hospitalized in the course of a difficult case[11] and kissed the second (and third!) time in Episode 683 when he almost died in a bomb accident.
Takagi is among the investigators who receive the most near fatal experiences. That includes, among many things:
- Handcuffed to the window of a burning warehouse.
- Trapped in a tower containing a countdown bomb.
- Held hostages and shot by the criminal.
- Tied on a plank on a roofless two story building containing a countdown bomb, while the temperature outside is -20 Celsius degree.
Although at some point, Takagi briefly develops PTSD, he nevertheless relentlessly pursues justice, even if it endangers his life.
Personality
While he is initially self-conscious and bumbling, Takagi is a dedicated member of the Tokyo Police Force and shows promise as a good officer as the series progresses. He is one of the few officers who trusts Conan's judgments the most, listening to him at case scenes to find important evidence and sometimes even letting Conan take the lead in their investigation (the case with Sato handcuffed to the wrong suspect in the bathroom being a good example).[12]
Takagi has a strong intuition and sense of justice, and is very honorable. He has a strong drive to protect others, partially based in his profession as an officer, and partially based on a self-sacrificing trait in his personality. He is always very polite, even when alarmed, and defers to the judgment of his partner Miwako Sato not only because she is his senior, but because he truly respects her.
His hobbies are playing the maracas[13] and following the international wrestling scene, being a fan of wrestlers such as Bruiser Brody and Keiji Mutoh, and recognizing a move that Ran does as the "Shining Wizard," a finishing move of Mutoh's.[14] In summary, his hobbies involve a lot of martial arts and sports.
Appellations
Plot overview
Actor's Apartment Case (Manga: 170-172, Anime: 102-103)
Takagi makes his debut in the Manga series.
Treadmill Murder Case (Manga: 208-210, Anime: 146-147)
This is the first case to show detective Takagi’s romantic affection for a female police officer, Miwako Sato.
Initially, Takagi is tasked with the mission of recording the Detective Boys' testimonies regarding the events at the Blue Castle. Just as they're about to begin, the children notice his untidy clothing and wonder if he doesn't have a girlfriend. Agasa offers to introduce to him his cousin's granddaughter, but Takagi awkwardly declines, stating that he has already had someone that he likes, right before detective Miwako Sato enters the room. Takagi keeps blushing, and his unnatural manner in front of Sato makes the Detective Boys think that she is really his girlfriend. However, both of them denies that this is true. Takagi wonders why Sato didn't go to assist Inspector Megure in the bank robbery case, and learns that the bank manager, together with his wife, will arrive at the Police Headquarter. Sato asks Takagi whether he has heard anything from her friend Yumi. He silently recalls Yumi's words, about what Sato told her when she was drunk, that the person she likes is someone from the first investigation division, who may very well be Takagi himself.
The bank manager, Keizo Masuo, comes by himself and decides to call his wife. During the phone call, Takagi and the others suddenly hear the wife's scream. He, Sato, Conan and Keizo rush to Keizo's house and find his wife's dead body. The person to be in charge of this murder case is Inspector Ninzaburo Shiratori, a police officer who has just been promoted recently. When Sato sarcastically suggests that Shiratori may as well consider her "a possible wedding match", Takagi misunderstands and begins to suspect that the person whom Sato said she has feelings for is none other than Shiratori. He keeps thinking of unreal scenarios with Shiratori and Sato being together, and isn't able to fully concentrate on the case.
Later, with the help from Conan, the trick and the identity of the killer are uncovered, and the case goes to an end. After turning down the invitation of Shiratori, Sato invites Takagi to go out and have ramen for dinner, to which he accepts happily. Unexpectedly, a drunken Megure comes up and asks them to go for a drink with him at the bar, and Sato immediately approves of the idea despite the invitation to Takagi earlier. Because of this, Takagi suddenly suspects that Sato's love interest is in fact Inspector Megure, and declines the offer.
The case ends with a depressed Takagi lying on the table and being unable to do anything, even though he still hasn't taken the Detective Boys' testimonies yet.
Innocent Suspect Case (Manga: 231-233, Anime: 156-157)
Sato's Father Case (Manga: 267-269; Anime: 205-206)
Police Escort Murder Case (Manga: 296-298, Anime: 240-241)
Sato's Omiai Case (Manga: 328-330, Anime: 253-254)
American Kidnapped Man Case (Anime: 258-259)
When Conan is telling the police officers present about the Panda colors of the Police Cars, and that the younger generation may not know this information about their black and white cars, Takagi asks himself, "What generation is this kid from?"
Parade Bomber Case (Manga: 366-368, Anime: 301-302)
Serial Bomber Case (Manga: 369-373, Anime: 304)
Missing Ring Case (Manga: 404-406, Anime: 358-359)
Takagi's Last Case (Manga: 450-452, Anime: 390-391)
Jewel Robber's Suicide Case (Manga: 484-486, Anime: 401-402)
Group Date Kidnapping Case (Manga: 511-514; Anime: 431-432)
Fake Wedding Case (Manga: 535-537, Anime: 449)
Genta's Shot (Manga: 567-569, Anime: 477)
In the anime, episode 477, at 11:50, Takagi is heard speaking numbers in French. In one of the Japanese Audio/English subtitles, his words are translated as "eins, zwei, drei," which is German, but he is actually saying "un, deux, trois." The victim was German, and Agasa says that when the dying victim (who spoke German, English and Japanese) was asked who the culprit was, he answered in his native tongue. Megure then turns to Takagi, who starts counting in French. Agasa then corrects him, saying "That's French," and then proceeds to count from one to eleven in German, solving the case. This exchange does not take place in the manga. This could suggest that Takagi is bilingual in French and Japanese (or at least took French in school).
Sato's Ring Case (Manga: 576-578, Anime: 487)
Hammer Man Case (Manga: 625-627, Anime: 530-531)
Whistling Killer Case (Manga: 670-673, Anime: 534-535)
The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Manga: 804-808, Anime: 681-683)
Takagi is kidnapped by a mystery man misunderstanding he is Wataru Date who made his daughter commit suicide. Around a year after the death of his friend and mentor Date, Takagi discovered that a suicide victim Natalie Kuruma was Date's girlfriend. Since the police investigation assumed that she killed herself due to having been dump, Takagi concluded that Natalie didn't know that Date had passed away in a traffic accident and decided to contact Natalie's next-of-kin to inform them of the truth. Since Natalie's parents had passed away, Takagi contacted the one who claimed her possessions, a colleague from English conversation school and old friend, Ryusaku Fuemoto. But due to that Natalie had never told her family her boyfriend's family name and because Date and Takagi had the same given name, Ryusaku mistook Takagi as the boyfriend who dumped Natalie, and lured him to Hokkaido. Police officers including Superintendent Matsumoto and Inspector Megure find their way to save Takagi with Conan's help. Sato saves Takagi on time before the bomb under him exploded.
A Missing Item Case (Manga: 869-871, Anime: 748-749)
Takagi sees Sato is hesitates when thinking about that she's expecting some lost. Takagi thinks that she might be pregnant. The thing Sato was actually missing was her red badge which is given to all officers in the 1st Division. The whole pregnancy situation was a huge misunderstanding.
A Killer in Ramen Ogura (Manga: 930, Anime: 828)
Takagi and Sato put on disguise to catch the culprit at a ramen shop. It's again stated that they're sexually active, as Sato tells Takagi that she plans to work out *intensely* that night to burn out calories (implying that she wants to have sex with him) and is mad when he misses the point of her remark.
Wataru Date's Notebook (Manga: 1079-1081, Anime: 1109-1110)
Non-canon plot overview
Prior to manga appearances
Takagi was originally introduced as an anime only character to assist Inspector Megure as well as Conan with the solutions to cases. He was inserted into both Manga canon episodes as well as TV originals. He appeared in 23 episodes spanning 20 cases before the anime adaptation of his first official Manga appearance aired.
On Location, TV Drama Murder Case (Anime: 21)
Takagi's first appearance in the anime series.
TV Station Murder Case (Manga: 102-104, Anime: 31)
The first Manga canon episode to feature Takagi despite him still being an Anime Original character at the time.
Lupin III vs. Detective Conan
When Lupin III arrived in Japan to steal a jewel called the Cherry Sapphire, Inspector Zenigata of the ICPO asked to use some of Inspector Megure's officers as part of a plan to prevent the theft. After seeing Miwako eagerly volunteer to join Zenigata's team (as Lupin was her first love), Takagi took part in the operation as well. However, at the scene of the planned crime, it was revealed that Takagi was actually Lupin, who had replaced Takagi after stealing his clothing and identity. After the heist, Yumi Miyamoto and Naeko Miike discovered the real Takagi stripped, bound and gagged inside a parking garage.
List of disguises used
In one case, Parade of Malice and Saint, he wore a disguise that by remarkable coincidence resembled Jinpei Matsuda, Sato's late partner.
Relationships analysis
Miwako Sato
His affection for Sato is a driving force of his character development. While his insecurity and comical outside interference regularly gets in the way, he slowly manages to win her heart through his dedication, honesty and sincerity - traits Sato had also admired in her late colleague Jinpei Matsuda. Sato finally kisses Takagi after he has been severely wounded while protecting others.
Conan Edogawa
Takagi has come the closest of any of the Division One members to finding out Conan's true identity.
In The Man From Chicago, Episode 258-259, When Conan is telling the police officers present about the Panda colors of the Police Cars, and that the younger generation may not know this information about their black and white cars, Takagi asks himself, "What generation is this kid from?"
In the Tokyo Tower Bomber Case, while they waited for the elevator bomb's clock to run down to give the final clue to stop the greater crime, Shinichi, as Conan, told Takagi that he would answer Takagi's questions about his real identity "on the other side."
Takagi has also come to acknowledge Conan's sharp mind and intellect, taking Conan's observations seriously and even allowing him to accompany him to question suspects, most notably during the New Scar and the Whistling Man Case where he has the rest of the Detective Boys remain in the car.
He also fully supports Takagi's relationship with Sato, at one point orchestrated a plan to foil Shiratori's attempt of an arranged marriage with Sato. When asked for reasons, he didn't answer, but quietly relate the experience with Ran's relationship.
Kazunobu Chiba
Takagi and Kazunobu Chiba always work together on murder cases. Chiba is also the only male officer in their department who has had no obsessive crush on Sato, and in fact supported Takagi in his romantic endeavors on several occasions.
Wataru Date
Date was Takagi's mentor and close friend who passed away in a traffic accident. As the pronunciation of his name was the same as Wataru Takagi's, Takagi and Date were nicknamed "the Wataru brothers" (ワタル・ブラザーズ). He is very loyal to his late friend's memory, as demonstrated when he tried to clear out misunderstanding around the death of Date's girlfriend. And he feels guilty in not living up to what he believes was Date's last wish; Giving Natalie a ring hidden in the notebook. He couldn't give her the ring, because Natalie had committed suicide soon after Date's death.
Other
In the non-canon 16th movie, "The Eleventh Striker," Takagi mentions that he saw a football (soccer) game with his nephew, but does not give a name. This implies that he has at least one sibling.
Character popularity
- eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Takagi placed 14th in the poll with 46 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.[34]
- In honor of the release of the 15th movie, Quarter of Silence, the official Conan movie website held a popularity poll for the top 10 Detective Conan characters. Takagi placed 10th out of 10.[35]
- In honor of the release of the 800th manga chapter, Shonen Sunday held a popularity poll/contest containing 91 Detective Conan characters to choose from. Takagi placed 10th overall with 226 votes.[36]
- He ranked 9th in the SDB 80+'s poll "Characters you want to marry the most", with 446 votes.
Name origin
- Takagi is named after his voice actor. In the anime he was originally a nameless character called "Detective A" who would appear in the background in some episodes.[37] However while recording for episode 66, Megure's voice actor Chafurin adlibbed asking Detective A "What's your name?", to which Takagi's voice actor mistakenly responded with his own name and replied "It's Takagi".[38] While this ad-lib was not kept in for the airing, the name stuck and is used in this episode and beyond. Gosho included the name Wataru Takagi since it is also the name of a Detective created by Kenzo Kitakata named Yoshibumi Takagi where only the first kanji in the surname is similar (高 - Taka).
Different looks
Quotes
| “ | It doesn't matter whether it's a petty or a major crime, all crimes are unforgivable! | „ |
| “ | Every murderer makes at least one mistake. | „ |
| “ | Sometimes the proof is in what’s not actually there. | „ |
— From Mouri Kogoro (aka Conan) Episode 392 | ||
| “ | The way I see it, no matter the situation... No one’s dream can benefit from killing another person! | „ |
| “ | It’s certainly not right to lie, but you need to hold those who force others to lie accountable. | „ |
| “ | But what you did is still a crime. No matter how unforgivable of an opponent. There’s no way to fix it with an apology! | „ |
In other languages
| Language | Given Name | Family Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
渉 Wataru | 高木 Takagi | |
 Arabic |
واتارو Watāru | تاكاجي Takāji | |
 Bahasa Indonesia |
Takagi | Wataru | |
 Catalan |
Wataru | Takagi | |
  Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) |
涉 Shè | 高木 Gāomù | |
 English |
Harry Wataru |
Wilder/Takagi[39] Takagi |
|
 Spanish |
Wataru | Takagi | |
| Spanish (Latin America) |
Not given Wataru |
Torres Takagi | |
 Finnish |
Wataru | Takagi | |
 French |
Wataru | Takagi | |
 German |
Wataru | Takagi | |
 Italian |
Wataru | Takagi | In the anime, Takagi is pronunced like "Takaji" |
  Korean |
형선 Hyung Sun | 신 Shin | |
 Russian |
Ватару Vataru | Такаги Takagi | |
 Thai |
วาตารุ Wātā-ru | ทาคางิ Thā-khāngi | |
 Vietnamese |
Wataru | Takagi |
Trivia
- Despite debuting in On Location, TV Drama Murder Case it isn't until the Karaoke Box Murder Case that Takagi is credited and referred to by that name.
- Takagi's appearance seems to have changed. His old hairstyle included a spikier fringe compared to the current one as well as a darker skin tone.
- Takagi drives a Nissan Skyline,1966 Toyota Publica De Luxe [UP20-D].
- The name of the voice actor of Takagi is Wataru Takagi also.
- "Takagi" (高木) means "tall tree", his first name "Wataru" (渉) means "to cross".
- Takagi is the fifth character with most appearances on the anime, only less than the 3 protagonists and Inspector Megure; he has even more appearances than Detective Boys, Professor Agasa and Ai Haibara.
- He can recognise police moves like File 1079 etc.
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ Volume 36, File 10, Page 6: "Red Trap"; Takagi says that Sato is 2 years older than him (彼女は二つ年上で先輩なんだから...) In Conan Drill page 29, Sato is assumed to be about 28.
- ^ The Eleventh Striker
- ^ Undercover name in Ramen So Good, It's to Die For 2.
- ^ Manga Chapters 204-207: Shinichi's First Case, and Chapters 366-368: Parade Bomber Case
- ^ Manga Chapter 233: Countdown
- ^ Manga Chapter 269: Time's Up
- ^ Manga Chapters 267-269: Sato's Father Case
- ^ Manga Chapters 366-368: Parade Bomber Case
- ^ Manga Chapters 369-373: Serial Bomber Case
- ^ Manga Chapters 404-406: Missing Ring Case
- ^ Episode 683: The Life-Threating Broadcast of Love (entering the scene)
- ^ Manga Chapter 232: Finding Evidence
- ^ Manga Chapter 620: The Vanished Blunt Weapon
- ^ Manga Chapter 388: Wolf's Shadow
- ^ a b File 930 (Volume88)
- ^ a b Detective Takagi On the Run in Handcuffs
- ^ Detective Conan Super Digest Book 80+ Page 113
- ^ Episode 1130
- ^ a b [[Volume 90#Bourbon's Mission|File 955: Whereabouts of the Betrayal (Volume 90)
- ^ Episode 684: Froth, Steam, and Smoke (Part 1)
- ^ Captured in Her Eyes
- ^ Episode 558: The Interrogation Room
- ^ a b File 475 (Volume 46)
- ^ a b Episode 645
- ^ File 905 (Volume 86)
- ^ Chapter 1023
- ^ Episode 307
- ^ File 1023
- ^ File 1024
- ^ File 1079
- ^ Episode 301
- ^ Grabbing Karuta Cards in Dire Straits
- ^ A Killer in Ramen Ogura
- ^ "『名探偵コナン』 人気投票結". eBookJapan. 2011-05-12. http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/special/conan/vote_kekka2.asp. Retrieved on 2011-05-15.
- ^ "名探偵コナン「キャラクター人気投票」". www.conan-movie.jp. 2011. http://www.conan-movie.jp/camp_chara/camp15th_res.html. Retrieved on 2011-08-12.
- ^ "Shonen magazine detective conan official poll results published [magazine pic"]. eva. 2012-02-28. http://forum.dctp.ws/index.php?topic=8024.msg651566#msg651566. Retrieved on 2012-02-29.
- ^ "声優・高木渉が「PON!」に生出演 高木刑事＆元太の声で映画「名探偵コナン」をアピール". https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp. 2016-03-29. https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1603/29/news079.html. Retrieved on 2019-06-04.
- ^ "大河ドラマ『真田丸』に『コナン』の高木刑事が出陣中!? ベテラン声優・高木渉の人気にNHKも東スポも驚く！". https://otapol.com. 2016-01-17. https://otapol.com/2016/01/post-5345.html. Retrieved on 2019-06-04.
- ^ In the manga
