The Boss of the Black Organization

Ano Kata
Profile
English name:	That Person
Age:	Unknown
Gender:	Unknown
Date of birth:	Unknown
Relatives:	Unknown
Statistics
First appearance:	Unknown
Appearances:	Unknown
Actors
Japanese voice:	None as of yet

The mysterious boss, respectfully called Ano Kata (あの方 ,That Person) by his subordinates, is the leader of the Black Organization. The true identity and gender of the boss is still unknown, with only a few insignificant facts about them revealed in the manga's 19 year (and counting) run. Conan Edogawa, the FBI, and the CIA wish to uncover the boss and cause the destruction of the Black Organization.

Background

The boss appears to be the highest authority in the Black Organization. "That person" directs the Black Organization's activities and plans crimes to protect the Organization and advance its interests. The boss communicates to subordinates by text messages. The boss's contact phone number follows the tune of the children song Nanatsu no Ko (七つの子 lit. Seven children?); the number is #969#6261. The boss is responsible for promoting agents and deciding on their code names. The FBI think that only a few of the highest ranking executive agents like Gin or Vermouth could lead them to the elusive boss.

Personality

Little is known about boss's personality. The boss appears to be fairly ruthless, willing to dispatch senior agents who have been loyal to the Black Organization for many years for a single mistake. The boss is also described as overly cautious by Vermouth. Somehow, the boss can maintain loyalty and unity within the codenamed ranks despite many agents disliking or even outright wishing to murder certain others. The boss is known to give permission to agents who wish to pursue certain missions, such as Bourbon and Vermouth's plan to make sure Akai was truly dead.

The boss appears to be especially close to Vermouth who is described as "that person's favorite", much to the chagrin of her enemies and those who mistrust her. The boss is also close to Gin, who often acts as an intermediary between the boss and other agents. Gin usually takes the lead planning role in assassinations that the boss has ordered.

While the boss is likely highly intelligent, the boss has had several clear failures so far. Shuichi Akai and Hidemi Hondou were both given a codename by the boss despite being spies, and Akai successfully fooled the boss into thinking he was killed. While most agents follow the boss's orders, some agents have acted contrary to the wishes of "that person". A plan that was intended to create an "acceptable reason" to eliminate Akemi Miyano backfired badly when Akemi's ability was underestimated. As a consequence, the lead researcher for the APTX 4869 project, Shiho Miyano, ultimately defected and escaped. The boss has also unintentionally allowed Vermouth to undermine the Organization by protecting someone she thinks is especially dangerous: Conan Edogawa.

Plot overview

Before the current storyline

In Clash of Red and Black, James Black explained to Conan that capturing a high ranking member of the Black Organization who could lead them to the boss was the goal of Shuichi Akai's spy mission. After three years of infiltration, the boss gave the undercover FBI agent the codename "Rye" and ordered him to work under Gin. The FBI's plan to capture Gin fell apart when Akai's true allegiance was uncovered. In the two years since the mission failure, the boss came to regard Akai as a "Silver Bullet" - someone who is especially dangerous to the Black Organization.

Assassination of Shigehiko Nomiguchi and Pisco (Manga: 238-242; Anime: 176-178)

Prior to this confrontation with the Black Organization, it was unclear who or what authority commanded the codenamed agents of the Black Organization seen so far. Gin's discussion with Pisco about the planned murder of Shigehiko Nomiguchi revealed to Conan the existence of an authority figure referred to as "ano kata". Gin relayed that person's orders to Pisco: silence the politician Shigehiko Nomiguchi who was going to be arrested for bribery and use APTX 4869 if it was necessary. Pisco's act of murder was accidentally caught on camera, so the boss ordered Gin to kill Pisco.

The Boss recalls Vermouth (Manga: 429-434; Anime: 345)

Vermouth had secretly been executing a plan to kill Sherry without the Black Organization's knowledge. Someone discovered that Vermouth was up to something and Gin and Vodka were ordered to investigate an off-season Halloween party aboard a ship. Before Vodka was sent aboard the ship in disguise, Gin told him "not to hold back" even though Vermouth was "that person's favorite" and they had not been granted permission to kill her. At the party, a man that Vermouth blackmailed to murder a director began screaming someone called "Vermouth" was to blame. Later, the boss sent a message to Vermouth's phone informing her that her freedom was now being restricted and she was to return.

“	It looks like I have given you too much freedom. Come back to my side, Vermouth.	„
— The Boss orders Vermouth to return.

When Vermouth replied back, Conan noticed the sound of the keypresses of the boss's phone number sounded familiar. Conan later uncovers that the keypresses of the boss's phone number sounds like the beginning of the children's song Nanatsu no ko, and Conan deduces the boss's phone number is #969#6261. Haibara warns Conan of the danger of calling it, likening it to Pandora's box.

Assassination attempts on Yasuteru Domon and Kogoro Mouri (Manga: 499-504; Anime: 425)

The boss orders the assassination of Yasuteru Domon, who is a politician hard on crime. The FBI believed the boss was hoping to nip a potential obstacle in the bud because Domon may have a chance of becoming the next Prime Minister. When Gin discovers that the agent Rena Mizunashi, aka Kir, has been captured and a tracking device planted on her clothing, he asks the boss for permission to kill the last person to stay at her house: Kogoro Mouri. The boss grants Gin permission to leave Domon and target Kogoro. The assassination fails because of Akai's interference. Akai's attack made it appear that it was really the FBI who captured Kir and planted the tracking device. Domon coincidentally gives up running for office as well, making assassinating him unnecessary.

Kir's promotion (Manga: 553-555; Anime: 464-465)

While the Black Organization searches for Kir who is in FBI custody, Chianti asks why Rena Mizunashi was promoted in the first place. Gin reveals that it was because she had uncovered a spy and confronted him. The spy, Ethan Hondou, overpowered and tortured her for information, but Rena remained silent. Although completely crippled, Rena bit Ethan's wrist to force him to drop his gun, and then killed him. The bite marks and Ethan's recording device coincided with her story, so the boss promoted her to the codename Kir in recognition of her loyalty and sheer savageness.

In truth, the boss had been fooled. Ethan Hondou was Kir's father and they both are CIA spies infiltrating the Black Organization. Rena had made a mistake and was about to be uncovered as a spy. Ethan, who had prepared appropriately ahead of time in case this happened, told Rena to tell the Organization she discovered he was a spy and tried to confront him. Ethan then committed suicide after maiming himself and his daughter to make it appear like the story Ethan had just explained.

Kir ordered to kill Shuichi Akai (Manga: 605-609; Anime: 502-504)

After the Black Organization retrieved Kir from the FBI, Gin is suspicious of how ineffective the FBI's plan was and that Akai didn't make a strong move. Gin thinks Akai is still hiding something and that doubt is relayed to the boss who concurs. The boss and Gin plan a test of Kir's loyalty. Meanwhile, an FBI agent becomes a suspect in a coincidental murder case. The Black Organization hears about it, and taking advantage of the FBI's distraction, Gin calls out Kir and tells her the boss's order. To regain the boss's trust, she is to call Akai out to meet with her and kill him. Kir meets with Akai at Raiha Pass and apparently kills him.

However, the boss has been tricked again. Akai and Kir conspired to fake Akai's death.

Bourbon's mission (Manga: 700-704; Anime: 578-581)

Bourbon is tasked with searching for the escaped scientist Shiho Miyano. After a misunderstanding, Vermouth informs Gin that she and Bourbon received the boss's permission to execute a second, secret mission. Bourbon verified Shuichi Akai's death by disguising as Akai and approaching his FBI colleagues.

Known canon information

Several details of the boss's personality and methods have been revealed in the manga canon.

• The boss uses the first few notes of the song Nanatsu no Ko to encode his/her phone number. The number is #969#6261, which was purposefully made non-functional by Gosho Aoyama to prevent prank calls. The number might have a Tottori area code; but it is uncertain because of the way the number, including the area code, was altered to prevent prank calls. It is worth noting that Ai Haibara reacts to the word Kurayoshi – a city in Tottori province, when she notices Shinichi Kudo had taken an interest.
• He/She uses alcoholic codenames for agents.
• The boss is very careful. Vermouth says, “The boss is always careful to the extreme. He’s the type to ruin the plan by overthinking it.”
• Vermouth is the boss’ favorite for an unknown reason and he/she allows her some degree of independence.
• The boss thought Shuichi Akai could become the Black Organization’s silver bullet. In that regard he/she's more like Vermouth than Gin who doesn't believe a single person who can take the syndicate down in one shot exists.

Gosho Aoyama's interviews

Gosho Aoyama has given several interviews concerning the boss.

Primary sources

The following interviews have had their primary sources located and the information has been confirmed.

• Aoyama specified that the name of the boss has appeared somewhere in the manga. It was not clarified whether the boss has appeared in person.
  

Transcript

The following interview accounts come from transcripts from fansites and blogs on the web and have not been independently verified. These are generally considered credible by fans.

• The Black Organization's formal name gives away the boss' name. "The Black Organization" is not the real name of the organization.
• Minami Takayama, Gosho Aoyama's former wife and Conan's voice actor, knows the boss' identity.
• Aoyama revealed that he didn't expect the Detective Conan series to last longer than three months. This indicates that the boss might have been hinted early in Detective Conan.
• The boss chooses the alcoholic codenames for the agents, but does not have one himself/herself.
• The boss is not Professor Agasa.

Speculations

• The Black Organization uses clever codenames, passwords, etc. based on mysteries and history. If the boss is behind the naming scheme then perhaps the boss has an interest in detectives and mysteries.
• The operatives dress in black, which Akemi Miyano says is supposed to resemble crows. This is probably an expression of the boss’s dress code preferences and may be symbolic. The boss may use the crow themed phone number Nanatsu no ko for the same reason.
• If the FBI's assessment of the boss is correct, the boss is a forward thinker. The FBI believed he ordered the assassination of Yasuteru Domon who wasn't even part of the Diet yet because he was hard on crime and had a chance of becoming the next Prime Minister.

Fan speculation has led to many theories concerning "that person's" identity, ranging from Vodka to Yusaku Kudo to even one of the Detective Boys after having taken APTX 4869. In a "Who is That Person" fan poll in Shonen Sunday, Professor Agasa was ranked the most likely suspect, while Gin was voted in a Case Closed FUNimation community poll.