Okiya is Akai theory

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Subaru Okiya's true identity is actually FBI Agent Shuichi Akai in disguise after faking his death with CIA Agent Hidemi Hondou's and Conan Edogawa's help. This theory article compiles clues and logical arguments that Okiya is really Shuichi Akai.

Suggestive evidence that Okiya is Akai

Okiya and Akai have similar appearance and habits

Okiya and Akai have similar faces

Subaru Okiya and Shuichi Akai have a similar face shape and similar heights. When Ran Mouri kicked Okiya’s jaw, it was clear Okiya was not wearing a mask. Akai looks similar enough to Okiya that a wig and glasses are the only props needed for his disguise. He could have also had his hair straightened and dyed as well. It is unclear if Okiya has the Akai-like cheekbone lines due to his hair covering that part of his face. Akai probably wears glasses with an incorrect prescription so he is forced to squint on purpose like Genta’s dad did in the "Boar Scroll" case. Akai and Okiya both share the habit of putting their hands into their pockets.

Also, they both tend to wear long sleeved business-like ensembles with high collars. The high collars may be to conceal some identifying feature or necklace rather than simply being Okiya/Akai's fashion preference because, in chapter 811, Haibara attempted to look under Okiya's scarf to confirm Okiya's identity.

Okiya and Akai are both left handed

Examples of Akai's left handedness

• Akai prepares to attack one of the bus jackers with his left hand. (289)
• Akai's handgun in is his left waist-high pocket meaning it must be drawn with his left hand. (354)
• Akai's handling of the rifle indicates a left handed preference. He holds it with a left handed style grip, puts the rifle over his left shoulder while keeping his finger on the trigger, and pumps the rifle in a flashy way using only his left hand. (434)
• Akai uses his left eye to look through the scope with his left index finger on the trigger and his right hand stabilizing which is the same way Gin, who is known to be left-handed, is holding his rifle. (504)
• Akai uses his left hand to pull back a curtain. (599)
• Akai uses his left hand to pull out can of coffee, open it one handed, and pick the can up when he drops it. (600)
• In episode 552, a photo of Akai is used for the "next Conan hint" which is left-handed.

Examples of Okiya's left handedness

• Okiya is brushing his teeth with his left hand. (638)
• Okiya rips a paper out of his notebook and writes on it with his left hand. (639)
• Okiya pushes up his glasses with left hand. (640)
• Okiya is holding his glass of bourbon with his left hand. (640)
• Okiya knocks away a knife using his left hand. (666)
• Okiya is using his left hand to hold the spatula while stir-frying onions. (691)
• Okiya is holding Conan's glasses in his left hand. (755)

Conan trusts Okiya despite Haibara's misgivings

Conan is paranoid; his trust around Okiya would be out of character for him if there wasn't a good reason for it. He didn't trust Jodie Starling even though he knew that she was probably an FBI agent unless she could prove that Dr. Araide was Vermouth. Conan easily lends Okiya the keys to his house. Conan also trusts Okiya to help in cases that put him in close contact with both Ai Haibara and him, like switching out the gasoline in a container for water to solve a case, or calling him to pick up everyone when Agasa’s car broke down, etc… Also, Conan doesn’t mind the fact that Okiya is around Haibara.

Conan lied to Haibara about why he trusts Okiya

"A Holmes fan can't be a bad person!": this is a poor excuse. There was an entire murder case where all the suspects were Holmes fans. Conan didn't trust any of them. The password for the APTX data in "Reunion With the Black Corps" was “Sherringford” – one of the names Sir Arthur C. Doyle considered for his protagonist before choosing “Sherlock Holmes”, a likely indication that someone in the Black Organization is a fan of the detective. Conan’s knowing expression when he lets Okiya stay next door clearly shows he has another reason for why he trusts Okiya.

Haibara suspects Okiya to be someone, most likely Dai

During a car chase, Okiya said the line "Don't make that kind of face" which caused Haibara to remember that Dai Moroboshi said something similar to that in the past. After realizing this, Haibara's attitude towards Okiya changes and she begins to think about who he might really be. She allows herself to be alone with him at one point showing that she thinks he is not likely to be harmful to her. When Okiya falls asleep, Haibara takes the opportunity to try to remove his scarf and look at his collar/neck area. This indicates Haibara has decent idea of who he might be. Haibara knows Akai fairly well through her sister Akemi, and perhaps more directly as Akai's infiltration mission was to get close to Shiho in order to use her prestige to gain the Black Organization's trust.

Conan seems to know about Okiya’s address despite having never met him

In the "Red, White and Yellow" case, Conan seems to recognize the address Okiya was staying at despite never having met Okiya before. This reaction would make sense if Akai told Conan where he was living while in disguise. While Okiya must have lived there long enough though for the landlord's son to recognize his flower watering habits, the passage of time in Detective Conan is difficult to judge. Also, Okiya watered the plants everyday when no one else did previously, which means the kid could notice when the garden improved after a few days of care.

Ran feels like she has seen Okiya before

Ran feels like she has seen Okiya from somewhere. Ran has met Akai three times that she can remember: once in New York City, in a restaurant, and another time after the "Suguru Itakura" arc. Ran's hunches are also reliable; in the "Shirigami" case Ran acted abnormally around the fake Shinichi despite not consciously knowing the reason.

Okiya and Akai use similar expressions

Okiya and Akai sometimes use similar expressions. Okiya at one point admonishes Haibara "not to make that kind of face". Akai has used that line twice before, once to Conan in Clash of Red and Black and once as Moroboshi Dai in Haibara's past. Both Akai and Okiya refer to the Black Organization members as wolves.

Okiya hints to Jodie that things may not be as they seem

When Okiya runs into Jodie at the department store and knocks her down, he tells her, "The division of fault is 50/50. You also bear some of the blame for neglecting to pay attention to your surroundings". It's not a throwaway line. As this occurred during Jodie's chase for "Shuu", aka Scar Akai, one can surmise that Okiya's intention may have been to hint, "I'm right here".

Smiled at Masumi Sera

During the mystery train ride, Yukiko and Okiya retrieved unconscious Masumi Sera. When Okiya and Sera was alone, Sera whispered 'Shuu-nii' during her knock-out and Okiya had smiled at this, implying that he is her brother, Shuichi Akai.

Literary device inspired arguments

Although not strictly "in-universe" evidence, inductive arguments can be made in light of Gosho Aoyama's literary devices and authorial tendencies.

"Subaru Okiya", "Dai Moroboshi", and "Shuichi Akai" are all references to Mobile Suit Gundam character Char Aznable

The “Akai” (meaning red) part of Akai’s name refers to Mobile Suit Gundam character Char Aznable’s nickname “Red comet”. “Shuichi” is a reference to the voice actor of Char Aznable, Ikeda Shuichi (who incidentally became Akai’s voice actor too). Dai Moroboshi, the alias Akai used while he was undercover in the Black Organization, comes from part of Char's real name, Casval Rem Deikun, with "Dei" pronounced as "Dai" (ダイ) in Japanese. In Moroboshi (諸星), the first kanji can be broken up into 言者 which when pronounced as げんしゃ (gensho) sounds very similar to the word for "phenomenon" (genshou). The second character (星) means "star". Moroboshi, read as "Star phenomenon" references falling stars or maybe comets. “Subaru Okiya” is a pun on Char Aznable’s real name which is キャスバル “Kyasubaru” (romanized as 'Casval').

Subaru Okiya was the "red guy"

In the Red, White, and Yellow case, Subaru Okiya was the "red guy" possibly referencing "Akai" which means red.

Mystery train

The mystery train arc gave many hints that Okiya is Akai. As pointed out earlier, he smiled at Sera when she mentioned Akai. The second one was when Haibara was about to take the drug and return to her adult form, he barged into the hallway and said, "Just as expected of sisters, I can read all your moves", implying that he knew Haibara's sister very well. This could not have been possible if he were just a graduate student living in Conan's house. However, Akemi Miyano was Shuichi Akai's girlfriend, and so it is possible that he was referencing the fact that he was Shuichi Akai. The third hint was revealed when Bourbon was about to capture Sherry, but someone throws a hand grenade from the corridor, causing the plan to fail and the carriage to explode. The silhouette shown is a person who looks like Akai but has on Okiya's clothes and Sera's hat. This gave almost concrete proof that Akai changed back to his original appearance to throw the grenade and at the end of the chapter, Subaru Okiya opens one of his eyes for the first time and they are shown to look exactly like Akai's.

Rebuttals of arguments that Okiya is a member of the Black Organization

Okiya drinks a bottle of bourbon - Akai likes bourbon whiskey

Okiya was drinking bourbon at the end of the Paper Airplane case and when hacking Kogoro's PC. A similar situation was used to misleadingly hint that FBI agent Jodie was Vermouth when she drank sherry. Also FBI Agent Andre Camel noted that bourbon is Akai's favorite drink.

Okiya is smart and detective-like just like Bourbon - but so is Akai

According to CIA agent Kir, Bourbon is a smart detective-like fellow who excels at gathering information. Akai is also smart and a decent detective as well. He managed to find James Black in the "P&A" case although it wasn't stated how he did it. In the "Black Impact!" case, he figured out Kogoro Mouri would be a target well in advance. In the Kir arc, Akai uncovered the identity of Ethan Hondou as a CIA agent. He noticed Kir was faking her coma while she was being kept in a the hospital. Akai could deduce the FBI's plan to escape with Kir just by seeing the three identical vans and secretly adapted it in order to return Kir to the organization.

Okiya triggers Haibara's Black Organization senses - Akai does too

Akai's presence causes Haibara to react badly although she never explicitly says Akai has the scent. It isn't surprising since he infiltrated the Black Organization before with the alias Dai Moroboshi where he received the codename Rye and worked under Gin. Akai's presence frightens Haibara in the "P and A" case and also in the "Contact with the Black Organization" case. In both cases, there were no other Black Organization operatives around that could have caused Haibara to feel the aura.

Conan doesn't want Okiya to learn much about Shinichi - because Conan is paranoid even around allies

Conan hid all his pictures and family albums and told Ran not to talk about Shinichi around Okiya. As stated before, Conan is a paranoid person even when he is pretty sure the people he is cooperating with are allies. He didn't trust Jodie right up until Vermouth revealed herself. Conan is purposefully limiting the number of people who know information that could get everyone around him killed. The Black Organization has gotten the better of the FBI in past cases and the Black Organization probably spies on the FBI heavily - proven when they quickly found out about Camel's involvement in a case before it became public. Thus if it isn’t necessary, Conan would probably prefer that the FBI doesn’t learn his true identity.

Ran has the feeling she shouldn't talk about Shinichi with Okiya - because Akai is scary

Ran has the feeling she shouldn't talk about Shinichi with Okiya. Akai is a intimidating person – he is described as an evil-eyed man by Conan. Also, Akai seriously frightened Ran during their first meeting in New York which would lead to negative association. Also, she may be picking up on Akai's curiosity towards Shinichi which simply makes her nervous after Conan warned her about it.

Okiya gave a cryptic answer why his favorite color is black - because Akai worked in the Black Organization

Okiya declared that his favorite color is black, "because it covers things inside me that I don't want known", although he hates the color for the same reason. The reason for this is Akai worked in the Black Organization as a mole, and he probably had to commit quite a few crimes in order to gain enough trust to progress up the Organization’s ranks. Being undercover is very stressful. It’s no surprise why Akai would hate the color black too. Also Akai is generally a cryptic sort of person.

"Conan is letting Okiya stay at his home to spy on him" - too dangerous for Conan to try

Haibara told Conan that she thought he was using her as bait in order to spy on Okiya. This doesn't make sense because Conan would be putting everyone he cares about in danger. Conan would absolutely not let a potential Black Organization operative live near Haibara since, as neighbors, they have a high chance of meeting. The Black Organization operative would quickly figure out Haibara was Sherry, and anyone who knows her would be murdered. Also, by letting Okiya live in the house, it is certain that Okiya will find out Shinichi is alive. Conan himself told Okiya that Shinichi was alive when loaning his house keys out. If Okiya were a Black Organization agent, that would mean an inevitable death sentence for everyone Conan knows, including Ran, because the Black Organization would want to erase everyone who might know Shinichi was still alive and what he was investigating since Shinichi may have left compromising evidence behind. Basically, the Black Organization agent living next door is a death sentence.
Conan previously acknowledged that his house would be one of the best places to spy on Haibara and him from. It stands to reason that he might consider an ally like Akai living there a bonus, especially since the new agent Bourbon has been activated, despite the risk that Akai will figure out that Conan is Shinichi.

What is the meaning of Okiya's line about "I've known his face..."? - it was a secret message for Conan

In "Silent Clash", Okiya says something mysterious about seeing someone familiar from the Teito bank heist. It was a message for Conan. Conan knows from what Okiya said that he had seen scar Akai, and Okiya's comments that, "Actually, I happened to see him on that floor. Unfortunately, it seems he wasn't who I thought he was, so I didn't talk to him. I've known his face for a very long time... There's no way I could be mistaken". His quote can be parsed: "Actually, I happened to see that person who looked like Akai on that floor. This Akai wasn't the real Akai (since I'm the real one), and I didn't confront him. Being the real Akai, this scar Akai is obviously someone else..." Okiya is layering his conversation with a second meaning, confirming there is someone disguising as Akai for Conan's benefit, and Conan is surprised and nervous about the info since scar Akai is someone in disguise, possibly an operative from the Black Organization because they have the necessary information and motives.

Okiya said he had a promise to "her", the promise may be to Akemi

Akemi's last text message to Akai ends with an unknown P.S.

In File 810, Okiya mentioned that he had a promise with "her" that prevented him from forcing Haibara to do things against her will. In File 800, Vermouth stated she had made a promise with Bourbon, which would seem to suggest that Bourbon was Okiya. However, Akemi had left a still unknown P.S. in her last message to Akai. She had taken a big risk with her robbery mission, so it would be appropriate for Akemi to ask Akai to look after Shiho if the Black Organization betrayed her.

Literary device inspired arguments

Although not strictly "in-universe" evidence, inductive arguments can be made in light of Gosho Aoyama's literary devices and authorial tendencies.

Okiya's suspiciousness is over-exaggerated to trick people into thinking he is Bourbon

In many of his appearances, Okiya has been depicted as rather malevolent and suspicious. Gosho Aoyama often makes the culprit the person who would seem least likely to do it, whether through appearance, gender, or alibi strength. In this case, making Okiya seem very suspicious provides an emotional veneer of malevolence and draws attention away from clues indicating Okiya might not be Bourbon but Akai instead. This is further strengthened by the fact that he used the same tactic with both Jodie, Akai and Andre Camel, making them seem overly suspicious and have possible ties to the Black Organization but then revealing them to be FBI agents.

Rebuttals of theories that Okiya is someone else

Okiya is probably NOT a third party or new character

Okiya is unlikely to be a third party because he knows about Conan's tracking glasses and the detective badges. Conan has never used the tracking glasses in front of Okiya. A third party would not be privy to Conan's gadgets. The mechanism to operate Conan's glasses isn't obvious, so only someone who knows about their existence beforehand could recognize the glasses at Agasa's and figure out how to activate the tracking function. Shuichi Akai could have heard about the glasses in several ways. The first source is when James Black was kidnapped while he had Ayumi's detective badge. Conan used the badge to track down James Black. James was waiting to meet with Akai before he was kidnapped and drove away with Akai after he was rescued. Akai could have also heard about the tracking function from Jodie when Conan chased after Kir to prevent an assassination. Finally, Akai may also know about them from when Haibara borrowed the glasses to find Conan at the shipping yards at the climax of the Vermouth arc. He was present at the time and would have seen Haibara wearing them even though she has never worn glasses when Akai had seen her previously.

Okiya is NOT Yusaku Kudo

Okiya is unlikely to be Yusaku Kudo in disguise.

1. Okiya is left handed while Yusaku Kudo appears to be right handed based although he may be ambidextrous.
2. If Okiya was Yusaku, it doesn't make sense for Conan tell Ran not to talk about Shinichi in front of Yusaku. It is pointless because Yusaku already knows Conan’s secret and also knows Haibara's as well given that she was comfortable passing an antidote for Shinichi off to them during the London case. At the very least Yukiko knows.
3. Ran has the feeling she shouldn’t talk about Shinichi in front of Okiya. Why would Shinichi’s father, even in disguise, give her those vibes?
4. It seems unusual that Professor Agasa would not have felt like he knew Okiya from somewhere considering that Yusaku is a close friend and old neighbor of his.
5. Okiya gives Haibara the black org vibes. Yusaku was never in the Black Organization and it would require a conspiracy on the part of Yusaku to keep the knowledge of his dark past from his son.
6. Okiya seems to recognize Scar Akai. There is no known connection between Scar Akai and Yusaku although there definitely is one if Okiya is Akai. Similar to the above, it would require a conspiracy on Yusaku’s part which to date there is no evidence of.

Okiya is NOT Kaitou Kid

Okiya is unlikely to be Kaitou Kid since there is no evidence suggesting this is the case. Kid doesn't give Haibara the dark vibes in "Kichiemon's Crazy Mansion" case or Kirin's Horn case when he is disguise or in his full Kaitou Kid regalia. Plus, it would require Kaito Kuroba juggle three personas: his own, Kid's, and Okiya's as well. That would be near impossible as Kaito has his own life in Ekoda, and Okiya spends more of his time in Beika. On top of that, during the mystery train arc, it was revealed that Kaito had disguised himself as Hiruka Sumitomo. But even tough we saw Okiya perform several actions, she was continuously in the presence of the other suspects, Conan and Kogoro.

Scar Akai is not the real Akai

Scar Akai is right handed, not left handed like Akai

Scar Akai used his right hand to fire a handgun, to hold his umbrella and to hand back a cellphone. It is unlikely Scar Akai is simply using his right hand because he injured his left. In the "Teito Bank Heist", he easily escaped the duct tape binding his hands, yet probably did not use the same method that Jodie used because there was still duct tape over his mouth. It doesn't make much sense for him to put the duct tape back over his mouth again afterwards. Removing the tape with only one hand, especially if it's his off hand, would be difficult especially if robbers are watching him. (His eyes were covered so Scar Akai couldn't be sure that no one was watching until the robbers pretended to be hostages which would give him only a few minutes to escape.) Switching handedness after head trauma does not appear to have been documented in scientific literature.

Scar Akai's behavior does not make sense if he is Akai

Scar Akai doesn't appear to have lost his memory

If Scar Akai is the real Akai, one must assume he either has his memory or he doesn't have it. If he has his memory, Akai would absolutely not wander around in the open since it puts Hidemi (Kir) at risk with no gains to be made from doing so. The Black Organization's actions in the "Thirteen Red Shirts" case demonstrate the danger.

If Akai does not have his memory, then it is plausible Akai would walk around in the open without knowing the danger he is in, however Scar Akai's actions strongly suggest his memory is still intact. He seems to be stalking the FBI by appearing before them: something he would not do if he had lost all of his memory. Further emphasizing the point, Akai also apparently left a warning message to Jodie on her drink coaster during the events of the thirteen red shirts case. If perhaps Scar Akai recognized the FBI a little and felt comfortable enough to leave Jodie a message, it is strange that he would not speak to the FBI agents since Scar Akai is clearly capable of speaking. Scar Akai also appears to recognize Chianti.

These contradictions are resolved if Scar Akai is someone else in disguise as Akai and is trying to gauge from the FBI's reactions whether the real Akai is dead or not.

Scar Akai is faking inability to speak in front of the FBI

Scar Akai has avoided speaking in front of the FBI. Jodie assumed he lost his voice at first, but it was later proven that Scar Akai is capable of speaking when he returned a phone. One may assume that Scar Akai became deaf but this does not explain why when Jodie called out to him and grabbed his arm, he didn't react at all. Deafness contradicts with his correct and prompt compliance with the robber's vocal demands at the Teito bank heist and the bomber's demands at the Beika dept store. If Scar Akai was deaf, he wouldn't have been able to solve the red shirts case because he wouldn't have been able to read the receipts to see the time of purchase. Even if Scar Akai could lip read, if he was deaf he wouldn't have been able to figure out the bank robber's plans and know it was safe to remove his duct tape.

A more reasonable explanation is that Scar Akai is not Akai and avoided speaking because he is unable to imitate Akai's voice.

Gin's actions suggest that he doesn't think Scar Akai is the real Akai

Since Gin called Kir in the "Thirteen Red Shirts" case, he has held a gun to her head the entire time. After Gin observes Scar Akai, he gives the order for Chianti to leave, and he lowers the gun from Kir's head. While Gin might not have wanted to shoot someone with an unsilenced gun in front of a busy department store that is filled with police, if he thought that Kir was a traitor who had helped Akai fake his death, Gin would not have lowered his gun since Kir may attempt to retaliate in some fashion now that her cover has been blown. The lowering of the gun is concession on Gin's part that he knows or strongly suspects Scar Akai isn't the real Akai.

See also

• Akai's fake death technique
• Scar Akai is Bourbon theory