Black Star (Part 1)

Chronology
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Magic Kaito Chapter 23
Information
Title:	Black Star (Part 1)
Japanese title:	ブラック・スター（前編） (Burakku Sutā (Zenpen))
Original release:	April 14th, 1999
Shōnen Sunday issue:	#20/1999
Volume:	4
Pages:	18
Anime adaptation:	Episode 219: The Gathering of the Detectives! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou Kid Magic Kaito 1412 Episode 6: Black Star

Black Star (Part 1) (ブラック・スター（前編） ,Black Star (First Part)) is the 23rd chapter of the Magic Kaito manga and the third chapter of the fourth volume. It was written by Gosho Aoyama, drawn by him and his assistants and originally appeared in the Shōnen Sunday issue #20/1999, released on April 14th, 1999. It's the first and so far only direct crossover between Magic Kaito and Detective Conan in the former's manga series, chronologically set before the latter series, introducing Shinichi Kudo, inspector Juzo Megure and Haido in Kaitou Kid's world.

Characters

Introduced

In order of introduction:

Detective Konno
	Police detective of the Minato Police Department Inspector Nakamori's subordinate

Futoshi Takarada
	Tower owner

Sujio Hosokawa
	Takarada's assistant

Yoichi Sensui
	27 years old Birth date: June 2nd Policeman Single

Shinichi Kudo
	High school detective from Beika

Juzo Megure
	Inspector of Beika Police Department

Featured

In order of appearance:

Characters
Kaito Kuroba Konosuke Jii Toichi Kuroba (Mention/Panel background) Aoko Nakamori Akako Koizumi Keiko Momoi Ginzo Nakamori Saguru Hakuba (Mention/Panel background) Akako's assistant

Heist

Station Clock Tower
	Clock tower where Kaito and Aoko first met as kids

Settings

Introduced

In order of introduction:

• Tokyo
  • Beika Ward
    • Haido
      • Haido City Hotel (Background)
  • Ekoda Area
    • Clock tower across the train station

Featured

In order of appearance:

• Tokyo
  • Minato Ward
    • Shiba Park
      • Tokyo Tower
  • Ekoda Area
    • Ekoda High School
• England
  • London (Mentioned)

Plot

Prologue

A nightly scenery atop Tokyo Tower is seen by Kaito Kuroba, who checks out a skyscraper in the distance surrounded by an army of policemen. Konosuke Jii appears and pleads with the young man to refrain from this night's heist, reminding him of his late father, Toichi Kuroba. Kaito just brushes these requests aside and dresses up as Kaitou Kid, followed by a flashback story.

Kaitou Kid's new announcement

One peaceful morning at Ekoda High School: Kaito Kuroba is reading the current newspaper and is happy about the ease he operates thefts as Kaitou Kid as, with his phantom thief alter-ego now gaining more and more female fans. Aoko Nakamori then appears behind the newspaper to tear it up and give Kaito a rant about how it's all about Kid and he is being unjustifiably celebrated, even though he brings back everything that was stolen by him, from which she concludes that Kid is only in it for the publicity. Her classmate Akako Koizumi joins the discussion and admits that she particularly likes this cheekiness of Kid and that she thinks that this is cute, met by protest from Aoko. Akako also mentions that Kid has announced a new target: The clock tower in front of the old train station. Keiko Momoi now also joins the conversation and says that Kid should be free to take the tower, since it's supposed to be relocated to an amusement park anyway, but Aoko seems to be more agitated by the current theft than usual, as she seems to have important memories associated with this tower. Akako tries to warn Kaito that Lucifer told her that he would be captured this time if he does not refrain from this mission, which Kaito only counters by saying that he is not the Kaitou Kid.

Trouble at the clock tower

The scenery changes to the top floor of the clock tower in question, not all too long before Kid's announced time: Inspector Ginzo Nakamori once again orders his people to be extremely careful and that everyone who wants to enter or leave the building should be checked. Meanwhile, Nakamori's assistant, Detective Konno, doubts Kid's sincerity, since he would need a crane to steal an entire tower clock, but Nakamori insists that Kid will do just that when he says he will. Futoshi Takarada, son of a former mayor of this district, who was responsible for the construction of the tower and bequeathed it to his child, says that Kid is only interested in the hands of the tower clock, not the whole clock, most likely targeting the precious diamonds that are inset into the smaller hand. The policemen regret that Saguru Hakuba was unable to be there to assist them as he was unavailable due to an unresolved case in London, which makes inspector Nakamori furious, who's certain that they are fine on their own.

At the same time, on the ground level, Kaito has already knocked out a policeman named Yoichi Sensui and adapts his appearance and identity by wearing a costume modeled after him. Meanwhile, Takarada and his assistant Sujio Hosokawa have joined the crowd that has gathered in front of the tower to watch the spectacle of Kid's heist. It turns out that Takarada has already sold the diamonds from the clock hand, as their value has risen dramatically since Kid's announcement and replaced them with simple imitations. Aoko and Keiko are also present in the crowd, even if Aoko is the only one who protests against Kid's actions, instead of cheering him on like the rest. Meanwhile, Kid himself, still disguised, meets with a group of police officers at the entrance and brings them his top hat and cape, explaining that he has seen a suspicious figure from his patrol car. The troop leader informs inspector Nakamori, who wants a detailed description of the suspect and asks "Yoichi" to come upstairs. Akako, who is also somewhere in the crowd in front of the tower with her butler, feels a strong presence emanating from one of the helicopters above, which resembles Kaito's but isn't him according to her.

Shinichi reveals himself to the police.

In the meantime, the costumed Kid is asked for identification by the police, who are also asking about his ID number. He instantly quotes it completely, which exposes him as the Kaitou Kid - thanks to a tip that a mysterious boy gave to the police: Criminals often try to memorize a wide variety of things about the impersonated person during an identity theft that a normal person usually would not remember. Kid flees into one of the tower's air ducts, but the officers are dangerously close behind him. The boy who gave the tip switches to the police radio, but his face is still covered by a helmet. He appeals to the police officers to follow his instructions, since the thief they are hunting is now trapped like a mouse. As always, Nakamori takes this interference from third parties negatively, taking up contact with the helicopter and reaching his colleague inspector Juzo Megure from the homicide squad, reprimanding him that he's in the wrong jurisdiction. He inquires about the boy who is with him, who now finally takes off the helmet and reveals himself to be the high schooler Shinichi Kudo, a detective...

Continuity

• The flashback in this and the following chapter happen some time before the main plot of Detective Conan, when Shinichi Kudo was already a renowned high school detective, but not shrunken to the form of Conan Edogawa yet. This would place the events of the flashback story of "Black Star" sometime between the "Aquarium Murder Case" (Manga: 882-884, where it's said that Tropical Land "opens soon" while it was already open in "Kaitou Kid's Busy Day Off" from Magic Kaito chapter 4) and The Heisei Holmes (Manga: 1).
• The framing story, on the other hand, happens concurrently to the events of "Chance Meeting" (Manga: 156) from Detective Conan.
• The students of Ekoda High School wear their winter uniforms (October 1st - May 31st) in the chapter.
• It is waning moon 🌘 (last quarter) during the night in the framing story of this chapter.

Real Life Models

Clock tower across the old train station

The unnamed clock tower Kaito Kuroba and Aoko Nakamori had their first meeting in front of and which is the focus of Kaitou Kid's heist during this chapter is based on the clock tower of the Koriyama Public Hall in Koriyama City, located in the Fukushima Prefecture, with the main differences being that the upper part was changed to the place where the bell is integrated and a bigger clock face. The clock was removed for a long time until it was reintegrated into the tower in 1998, possibly inspiring Gosho Aoyama to his story in 1999.

• 

  Clock tower of Koriyama Public Hall.

• 

  The old train station clock tower in Chapter 23.

Crossovers

Detective Conan

• The whole plot of this and the following chapter is a direct crossover between Magic Kaito and Detective Conan, putting both of their protagonists into a battle of wits.

PLAYBACK EPISODE

The Treasured Edition of each Magic Kaito volume contained some short comments by Gosho Aoyama about every chapter. The one about this and the following chapter was:

"The first confrontation with the one and only Shinichi Kudo! In this story, Kaito says: "The inspector couldn't catch him even if he used a satellite system!" But really, it's kind of surprising that he hasn't caught him before, isn't it?! (grin) Shinichi is firing a pistol? Akako wants to use magic to get rid of Shinichi? Little Kaito is flirting with Aoko? What a crazy story! (grin) Well, the scene in which Akako uses her magic powers was cut from TV syndication, but it was restored for the DVD, so everyone who wants to watch it, can do so now. ♥ Oh yeah, the title "Black Star"! I believe there are some readers who wonder why this gemstone served as the namesake of the story even though it's just mentioned in passing at the end. That's because Kaitou Kid himself is the "Black Star" after all ★ – hence the title! ♪"

Adaptations

• Detective Conan Episode 219: The Gathering of the Detectives! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou Kid
• Magic Kaito 1412 Episode 6: Black Star

Differences

• These chapters do not fully reveal that the clocktower heist is a flashback from Kid, immediately preceding the events of "Kaitou Kid and the Black Star" (Manga: 156-159), until the very end. The anime adaptation of Detective Conan reveals it from the start, as it begins by playing the opening scene of episode 76 from Kaito Kuroba's and Aoko Nakamori's perspective, followed by quick shots of Kaitou Kid's notice from that episode and the Black Star itself.
• The episode of Magic Kaito 1412 shares and also retcons elements of Shinichi Kudo's timeline by changing this episode's present tense into Spring 2015 and the Clock Tower Heist the year before.

See also

• Manga
• Magic Kaito Volume 1-5
• Magic Kaito