Baijiu

A bottle of Baijiu

Baijiu (Chinese: 白酒; pinyin: báijiǔ), or shaojiu (烧酒) is a Chinese distilled alcoholic beverage. The name baijiu literally means "white liquor," "white alcohol" or "white spirits". It is a temporary antidote for APTX 4869, temporarily reverting Shinichi Kudo and Shiho Miyano to their teenager forms. Unfortunately it only appears to work once.

Etymology and production

Baijiu is often mistakenly translated as "wine" or "white wine," but it is actually a distilled liquor, generally about 80 to 120 proof, or 40-60% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Baijiu is a clear drink usually distilled from sorghum, although sometimes other grains may be used; baijiu varieties produced in southern China are typically made from glutinous rice, while those from northern China are generally made of sorghum, wheat, barley, millet, or occasionally Job's tears.

The japanese translation is パイチュウ (Paichuu). However, it appears in Volume 10/File 2/Page 9 (File 92, Heiji's introduction) and Volume 24/File 10/Page 9 (File 241, Haibara in Haido City Hotel) as 白乾児 (pronounced パイカル, or Paikaru).

APTX antidote

The baijiu gave Conan and Haibara a limited time (maybe 15 to 30 minutes) reversion to adult form. Unlike Haibara's later temporary antidotes, it took a considerable time for it to begin to work, and only then after making their respective colds much worse. The transformation and reversion are heralded by repeated bouts of sharp chest pain centered over the heart which become more frequent as the transformation draws near. In the short time Conan and Haibara were in their adult forms, they were unwell, sweating, and breathing heavily. After the reversion back to child form, both Conan and Haibara seemed more taxed and ill than they started.

The baijiu antidote seems to be one time use only, as Haibara says that the body builds a resistance to the baijiu that makes it no longer work. Additionally, it may only work when the drinker is sick and thus has a weakened immune system as both Conan and Haibara used it while sick with colds. Haibara speculated there was some enzyme in the baijiu which enabled the change.

Case of the murdered diplomat and Library Murder Case

Heiji Hattori gives Conan a cup of baijiu as a remedy for his cold, causing Conan to change back into Shinichi in the middle of a murder case investigation. He manages to solve the case and escapes before changing back into Conan.

Later Conan tries to use the baijiu to change back but finds it no longer works.

Reunion With the Black Corps

Haibara drinks baijiu at Conan's prompting in order to escape the locked alcohol storage room Pisco had trapped her in at the Haido City Hotel. She is able to scale the chimney in her adult form to leave the locked room. Her half-drunken left-behind bottle is noticed by Vodka, but neither he nor Gin realize its purpose. After being confronted by Gin on the roof, she falls back down the chimney and turns back into Haibara. Pisco sees her reversion, but is unable to tell anyone before Gin kills him.