Shuichi Akai

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"Akai" redirects here. For other uses, see Akai (disambiguation).

Shuichi Akai
Profile
Japanese name:	赤井 秀一 (Akai Shūichi)
Age:	31-32 27 as Subaru
Gender:	Male
Relatives:	Tsutomu Akai (father, deceased) Mary Sera (mother) Shukichi Haneda (younger brother) Masumi Sera (younger sister) Akemi Miyano (cousin, deceased) Shiho Miyano (cousin) Elena Miyano (aunt, deceased) Atsushi Miyano (uncle, deceased)
Occupation:	FBI Agent
Nicknames:	Shu (Jodie) Dai-kun (Akemi) Akai-kun (James) Silver Bullet (The Boss & Vermouth) Shu-nii (Masumi) Niisan (Shukichi)
Aliases:	Rye Dai Moroboshi Subaru Okiya
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: File 287 Anime: Episode 230
Appearances:	Chapters: 97 Chapters: 4 Episodes: 80 Episodes: 2 Movies: 4 OVAs: 0 Specials: 1 Openings: 22 Closings: 4
Cases solved:	6(5 as Subaru)
Keyhole number:	Volume 37 Volume 60 (Subaru Okiya)
Actors
Japanese voice:	Shuichi Ikeda

Shuichi Akai (赤井 秀一 ,Akai Shūichi) is an FBI agent and a major figure in the battle against the Black Organization. He once assumed the identity of Dai Moroboshi (諸星 大 ,Moroboshi Dai) and infiltrated the Organization, where he was given the codename Rye (ライ ,Rai). During this time he made enemies with Gin and became romantically involved with Akemi Miyano. He is the older brother of Shukichi Haneda and Masumi Sera.

Background

Shuichi as "Dai Moroboshi" during his infiltration of the Black Organization.

Shuichi Akai is a British American of Japanese descent, originally from England, and is a member of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, on special assignment in Japan to capture Vermouth. His superior is James Black and his partner is Jodie Starling. He had infiltrated the Black Organization under the name Dai Moroboshi - and the codename "Rye" - as a mole and dated Akemi Miyano, one of their low-ranking members, to feed information to the FBI. In order to facilitate the latter, and later because he had genuinely developed feelings for Akemi, Shuichi saw himself forced to break up his then on-going relationship with Jodie. Later on, his cover in the Black Organization was accidentally blown by his colleague Andre Camel, and when Akemi was killed, he declared her murderer, Gin (with whom he seems to have had some tensions even before his exposure), his personal enemy.

The Disappearance of His Father

17 years prior to the current timeline, Shuichi's father, named Tsutomu Akai got himself involved in the murder case of Kohji Haneda and Amanda Hughes and disappeared. In his last message he instructed his family, Shuichi, his pregnant mother Mary and his younger brother Shukichi, to hide in Japan, but Shuichi, determined to investigate his missing father, convinced his mother to let him study in America. After he left Japan, his younger sister Masumi was born. Shuichi didn't get to meet her before he returned to Japan after seven years in the states, but Shukichi sent him pictures of her. After he had finished school, he joined the FBI.

Infiltration of the Black Organization

Five years prior to the current time-line, FBI agent Shuichi Akai infiltrated the Black Organization using the alias Dai Moroboshi as a mole and dated Akemi Miyano, one of their low-ranking members, in order to meet Shiho Miyano, a high-ranked member codenamed Sherry, and use her influence to get into the Black Organization. Although at first he was simply using Akemi as a tool, they both fell in love with each other. Shuichi distinguished himself as an agent and two years prior to the current time-line received the codename Rye and was called to work under executive agent Gin. The FBI laid a trap hoping to capture Gin at a warehouse where the meeting was supposed to take place, but the Black Organization discovered Akai's true allegiance and Gin never appeared. He broke up with Akemi to protect her and he lost contact with her after the mission to capture Gin failed. Two years later Akemi got killed by the organization to cut loose ends.

Personality

Shuichi is a tenacious but stoic agent. Even in personal matters, he remains cool, even detached, from anyone, but his redeeming value is a great sense of loyalty to anyone he knows. He is a skilled and relentless pursuer and detective, qualities which have labeled him the number one enemy of the Black Organization and earned him the nickname "Silver Bullet". He looks forward to opportunities to hunt the Black Organization down and get revenge for Akemi. While usually professional, he often acts independently of the FBI, and even his boss James Black has trouble getting ahold of him. Shuichi gets along well with Conan, who share many personality traits. Despite that he has American citizenship, he still considers England as his home country.

James Black says Shuichi is an introverted person who doesn't easily get close to people and he has become even more closed off since Akemi's death. He doesn't often say what he is thinking. Shuichi has an unhealthy tendency to prioritize his missions above the emotional well-being of his friends, co-workers, family, and love interests. Conflict between his missions and the interests of those he cares about has lead to significant sorrow for him and others.

Shuichi prefers to plan secretly, and will readily trick his friends and coworkers, even injuring them, if helps the success of his missions. Shuichi is often forgiven for these transgressions because his judgment is usually sound and his plans work out well. Shuichi's secret plans, while strategically robust in the short term, often cause emotional problems for others that he does not fully appreciate.

Even though he means well, Shuichi is notably clumsy at trying to comfort and connect with others. He is especially dense at recognizing the motives behind the feelings of others and thus how to modify his own behavior to improve relations. As Subaru Okiya, his technique to approach Ai Haibara leaves her terrified of him, and repeated contact only intensifies her loathing. Ten years ago, he was also cold to young Masumi on their first meeting, brushing Masumi's silly antics aside without realizing that she simply wanted him to smile and treat her kindly, though he most likely was simply in a bad mood, since he just had an intense argument with his mother, in which they traded physical blows, because of his plan to join the FBI after his studies to pursue the case of his father and because he had lied to her about that. Later that day, during the investigation of a case, Shuichi gives both Shinichi and Ran a task to help with the investigation, so Masumi approaches Shuichi shyly and asks for a task as well. Now Shuichi responds kindly and gives her a task that makes her feel important.

Despite his social awkwardness, Shuichi is not apathetic. He gives Jodie some hope by leaving her a message in his own handwriting, and leaves her a very roundabout hint about his identity after knocking her down even though he cannot reveal the truth to her yet. Eventually he also realized that Masumi was looking up to him, so he began to send her videos of him doing Jeet Kune Do.

Appearance

Shuichi is a tall man of Japanese descent with short wavy hair. His trademark features, by which people close to him have identified him are his eyes which have permanent bags underneath them that make him appear sleep deprived. Other characters often describe him as evil eyed or having a sharp gaze. His eyes are blue in the manga (like every other character) and green in the anime. He and Masumi Sera presumably more closely resemble their mother then their father. The second trademark feature is his knit cap, which he is always shown wearing. When he was younger he had a grey fedora which Masumi now wears herself. Up to one year ago, he had very long waist length hair, which he cut after the death of Akemi Miyano "to freshen up." Shuichi is left-handed. Ten years before the present timeline, Shuuichi still had short hair, which means he grew it out sometime during the next five years. He is a heavy smoker and his favorite drink is bourbon although he has recently taken to drinking scotch.

His outfit is a grey jacket on top of a collared black shirt, black pants, shoes, and his trademark black knit cap.

Abilities

Intelligence

Conan ft. Shuichi

Shuichi is capable of thinking on par with Conan. He once set up a sniper ambush at a nearby building, knowing that the Black Organization will come and try to kill Kogoro. He also mentioned that he knew that "making them think the FBI set up the transmitter was the priority."

Firearms and Sniping

Shuichi aiming with a Glock

Shuichi, is the most capable sniper shown so far, to the point of shooting a small piece of gum out of Gin's hand from about 700 yards away, which is a lot more than the range of Black Organization's professional snipers Chianti and Korn. He also managed to get a shot on Gin from the same distance. Shuichi is good at handling shotguns as well; he accurately shot Vermouth from the hip faster than she could aim at him with her subcompact pistol. He is a sharpshooter with a handgun as well, capable of busting a moving car's tire from a speeding car with just a single shot.

Shuichi uses Calvados' SPAS-12 shotgun to bring down Vermouth, an Arctic Warfare Magnum sniper rifle to shoot Gin, and Rikumichi Kusuda's Glock pistol to disable Rei's subordinates.

Akai is unusual in that he is "eye-bidextrous" while shooting. Like hands and feet, most individuals have a dominant eye they prefer to use when lining up a shot, but Shuichi is shown using both eyes at different times.

Driving

Shuichi is a skilled driver. He can overtake many cars quickly in heavy traffic conditions and drift around a U-turn. He drove a Chevrolet C1500 which was later bombed by Rena.

Martial Arts

Shuichi is also a highly proficient hand-to-hand combatant. Having extensive skill and knowledge of Jeet Kune Do, he taught his sister Sera much, who openly acknowledges him to still be much stronger than her.

Cooking

Jodie and Camel are shocked to learn that Shuichi can cook

Shuichi learned how to cook thanks to Yukiko Kudo.

Disguise

Shuichi learned how to act and properly apply his Okiya disguise by himself thanks to Yukiko Kudo and equipment from Professor Agasa.

Accordion

He apparently at one point held a part time job playing the accordion.

Appellations

Picture	Name	What they call Shuichi	What Shuichi calls them
	Mary Sera	Shuichi	Mom (Kāsan) Mother (Haha)
	Tsutomu Akai	-	Father (chichi)
	Shukichi Haneda	Niisan Shuichi-niisan	Shukichi
	Masumi Sera	Shu-nii Oniichan Akai Shuichi Aniki	Masumi
	Conan Edogawa	Akai-san Oniisan Akai Shuichi	Boy (Bōya)
	Ai Haibara	Moroboshi Dai That Akai person	That brown-haired girl
	Akemi Miyano	Dai-kun	Omae
	Yukiko Kudo	Shu-chan (Gosho's thought)	Yukiko-san (as Subaru)
	Hiroshi Agasa	Akai-san	-

Picture	Name	What they call Shuichi	What Shuichi calls them
	James Black	Akai-kun Moroboshi Dai Rye	James
	Jodie Starling	Shu Akai-kun Akai Shuichi	Jodie
	Andre Camel	Akai-san Akai-shan Akai Shuichi	Camel
	Subaru Okiya	Akai Shuichi	Okiya Subaru
	Rei Furuya	Akai Akai Shuichi Rye Snoop dog of the FBI (FBI no inu) That man	Bourbon Amuro Tooru-kun Zero Furuya Rei-kun Wolf (ōkami)
	Hidemi Hondou	Akai Shuichi	Mizunashi Rena Kir
	Ethan Hondou	-	Ethan Hondou NOC
	Scotch	-	Scotch

Picture	Name	What they call Shuichi	What Shuichi calls them
	The Boss	Silver Bullet	Their Boss (yatsura no Boss)
	Vermouth	Akai Akai Shuichi Silver Bullet	Vermouth Rotten Apple
	Gin	Akai Shuichi Akai	Gin Koibito (literally "lover", but the intended meaning is "old enemy")
	Vodka	Akai	-
	Chianti	Akai	-
	Rikumichi Kusuda	Akai Shuichi	Kusuda Rikumichi
	Calvados	-	Calvados
	Rum	-	Rum
60px	Curaçao	Rye	Curaçao

Picture	Name	What they call Shuichi	What Shuichi calls them
	Ran Mouri	Your brother (Oniisan; talking to Masumi) FBI person (FBI no hito)	Omae
	Eisuke Hondou	-	NOC's son (NOC no musuko) Brother (otōto; talking to Hidemi)
	Sonoko Suzuki	Shu-nii	-
	Shinichi Kudo	Akai Shuichi (movie introdcution) Pierrot Onii-san	Holmes' Apprentice-kun
	Genta Kojima	Guy (niichan)	-

Movies

Movie 18: Dimensional Sniper

Shuichi appeared in this movie as Subaru Okiya. At first he is seen watching the detective boys testing Professor Agasa's invention. Later after Masumi Sera gets shot, he is seen leaving the hospital, where she is hospitalized. After that he is seen involving himself in the sniper investigation. He is the one who shoot the suspect at the last part . We can see too that he turn off his voice changer and said to James "Roger" (了解 ,ryōkai) as signal that it's already finished.

Speculation

James Black's English background may have assisted the young British-Japanese Shuichi Akai in fast-tracking his way to a US citizenship and then enrolling in the FBI.

Relationships analysis

Family & Friends

Akemi Miyano

Shuichi Akai and Akemi Miyano were lovers while he was infiltrating the Black Organization. Shuichi's original mission was to date Akemi Miyano in order to meet Shiho Miyano. Shuichi used Shiho's influence to gain rank in the Organization, intending to become trusted enough to meet with high level agents so the FBI could capture one for questioning. As James Black later recalls, although Shuichi's relationship with Akemi was merely a stepping stone, Shuichi actually fell in love with Akemi, and considered her his real girlfriend. Because of this he broke up with Jodie Starling.

The last text message Akemi had sent Shuichi, before her death.

Sometime later, Akemi develops the suspicion that Shuichi really wasn't who he claimed to be. After Shuichi's expulsion, he confirms that he is an FBI agent to her. To Shuichi's surprise, Akemi doesn't seemed surprised by this, so Shuichi asks her why she never said anything about her suspicions that she was being used by him before, and Akemi hints it is because she loves him. Initially, the Organization couldn't do anything about Akemi because they needed the loyalty of her sister, but two years later they decided that the risk of her contact with Shuichi was too much. They decided to create a situation where they could eliminate her by having her do a bank heist she was supposed to fail. Sometime near the day of the heist, Akemi sent Shuichi a long text message, asking him if he wants to be her real boyfriend when she is finally free from the Organization. After the heist, Akemi is killed by Gin, and it is unknown how Shuichi responded if at all. Shuichi treasures her final text message, and keeps it in his phone many months after Akemi's death. The message also contains a P.S. which has not been revealed yet.

How Akemi and Shuichi met in the manga is unknown, but in the anime, Shuichi Akai originally met Akemi by an intentional accident. She accidentally hit him with her car when he deliberately walked into the street in front of her in order to be hit by her. Akemi was concerned, and helped take him to the hospital, watching over him until he was better. When he woke up, he felt no anger over what she did, and even asked for her name, to which a very flustered Akemi replied, while he told her his fake name: Dai Moroboshi. After this they began dating.

Jodie Starling

While Jodie and Shuichi's relationship had been viewed as mere colleagues, it is revealed later on in the series that Jodie and Shuichi had dated before about 5 years prior. However, after Shuichi infiltrated the Black Organization under the alias of Dai Moroboshi, he started dating Akemi Miyano in hopes of using her to attain information about the Black Organization. Despite this, Shuichi ended up falling in love with Akemi, leading him to break up with Jodie, stating that, "To be able to love two women at the same time…it's not that handy a personality." In spite of the break-up, Jodie still held strong feelings for Shuichi which never wavered as time passed and took his apparent death at Kir's hands especially hard, to the point of being reduced to tears.

James Black

James Black is the boss of the FBI agents in Japan and therefore the boss of Shuichi. He was one of those who know that Shuichi was alive after Shuichi's fake death, but only because he saw the glue on Shuichi's fingers and would have otherwise also been kept in the dark. The two maintain close contact with each other up to present.

Andre Camel

Andre Camel worked with Shuichi Akai before when he was an agent in the Black Organization. Camel was involved in the plan to capture Gin two years ago, but he gave away the plan of the FBI when he saw a member of the organization disguised as an old man. Because of this, Shuichi's identity became known to the Organization. However, Shuichi does not seem to bear a grudge against Camel but worked together well. Camel is willing to help Akai in any way he can to redeem for his mistake.

Ai Haibara

When Haibara first met Shuichi, she thought he was a member of the Black Organization. Shuichi seems to know of Haibara's identity. Haibara knows him as Dai Moroboshi, her sister's boyfriend who betrayed the Organization. Haibara should know Dai was a spy and FBI agent, after hearing an exchange between Bourbon and Kaitou Kid through a microphone, but she does not know him by the name Shuichi Akai. During his time in the organization he became acquatained with Haibara, while she was still known as Shiho Miyano, through Akemi and make use of it to slip into the organization. He made a promise with Akemi to look after Haibara's welfare. She doesn't know that it was because of the relationship between Akai and her sister, that got her sister killed.

Conan Edogawa

Shuichi and Conan get along well and are capable of thinking on par with one another. In the short time they have worked together, Shuichi has come to respect Conan's intellect and deductive skills and speaks to him professionally. After FBI had capture Kir, he asked who Conan was, hinting that he suspected that there was more to Conan that meets the eyes. He is also aware that Conan and Shinichi Kudo are really one and the same person . There is further speculation amongst fans that Shuichi has figured out that Ai was formerly Sherry and (more than likely) learned about her research for the Black Organization and the two possible effects of APTX 4869.

Masumi Sera

Masumi Sera is Shuichi's younger sister. Masumi wasn't born yet when Shuichi went to America to study, so they first got to meet each other, when Masumi was seven. It's indicated at Shuichi cares for his sister. During the mystery train case, when Masumi was knocked out by Vermouth and hidden in her room, Shuichi (disguised as Subaru) carried her back to her own room. As he was about to leave he overheard her calling out 'Shuu-nii' in her sleep, which made him smile. And in the movie Dimensional Sniper he (as Subaru) was seen leaving the hospital, where Masumi was hospitalized after getting shot, hinting that he was visiting her. While she was unconscious, he left a bouquet in her room, which Ran and Sonoko find.

Shuichi's mother hoped that Shuichi would become a father figure to Masumi to replace their missing biological father. While Masumi was growing up, Shuichi would send her training tapes of Jeet Kune Do that she could practice after.

Akai family's middle brother

To avoid unintentional spoiling, please click the link for information on the Akai family's middle brother.

Allies

Hidemi Hondou

Hidemi is a CIA agent undercover in the Black Organization as Rena Mizunashi, codenamed Kir. She agreed to supply the FBI with information of the organization in return for her brother's protection. She, Akai and Conan worked out the plan to send Hidemi back to the organization and fake Akai's death.

Black Organization

Gin

Shuichi Akai and Gin are rivals and hate one another. It is implied that they didn't get along even before Shuichi was exposed as an undercover FBI agent. Shuichi refers to Gin as "Koibito", which ironically means 'lover.' Gin killed Shuichi's love Akemi, so Shuichi thinks of Gin as his archenemy.

Bourbon

Shuichi Akai and Bourbon are stated to be enemies. It's been stated that Bourbon hated Shuichi more than Gin did. Bourbon believed himself to be the only one capable of killing Shuichi, and refused to believe that Shuichi was dead. Shuichi feels neutral toward Bourbon, saying that he is not someone that he wants as an enemy. He even considers him one of 'the two best detectives' (the second one being Conan).

Bourbon's hate of Shuichi is explained in the manga: Between four years ago and two years ago, Shuichi was found by Bourbon, standing over Scotch's dead body holding a smoking gun. Ever since then Rei has blamed Shuichi and has sought out to kill him. In reality, Shuichi tried to stop Scotch from commiting suicide, but Scotch pulled the trigger on himself because he thought that his undercover operations were found out. To protect Scotch's secrets, Shuichi made it look as if he had killed him.

Unknown relationships

Kohji Haneda

A relationship between Shuichi and Kohji Haneda is unknown, but the case of Kohji's death made Shuichi an FBI agent.

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. Shuichi placed 12th in the poll with 53 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.

• 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. Shuichi placed 7th overall with 415 votes.

Name origin

Gosho Aoyama draws Shuichi as half of Char on his website

Akai's name comes from the Mobile Suit Gundam character Char Aznable, whose nickname was the "Red Comet" (赤い彗星 ,Akai Suisei), and Char's voice actor Shuichi Ikeda (who is also Akai's voice actor). Additionally, his alias, Dai Moroboshi, comes from Char's real name, Casval Rem Deikun (sounds like Dai-kun in Japanese). Moroboshi can also mean falling star, another possible allusion to Red Comet.

Different looks

Shuichi's "Before" Appearance (Episode 259)

Shuichi's "Middle" Appearance (Episode 345)

Shuichi's "After" Appearance (Episode 783)

Quotes

“	Fear of death is worse than death itself.	„
— Said to Camel.

“	Don't make that kind of face...	„

“	Don't get distracted by what's in front of you and pursue the wrong prey	„

“	The odds are 50/50 so we are on the same boat.	„

Trivia

• Shuichi is left-handed.
• Shuichi is a Jeet Kune Do practitioner who is three times stronger than Masumi. The three times is, again, a reference of Char's mobile suit being three times faster than the others.
• Shuichi Akai's voice actor, Shuichi Ikeda, is the real-life husband of Akemi Miyano's voice actress, Sakiko Tamagawa.
• In an interview in Singapore in 2016, Gosho confirmed that Akai and Akemi are cousins. It is stated at 34:23 in the audio link. This means that Elena Miyano is Mary's sister, as both are known to be British.

In other languages

Language	Given Name	Family Name
Japanese	秀一 Shūichi	赤井 Akai
Arabic	شوتشي Shūchi	أكاي Akāi
Bahasa Indonesia	Shuichi	Akai
Chinese	秀一 Xiùyī	赤井 Chìjǐng
French	Shuichi	Akai
Italy	Shuichi / Suichi	Akai
German	Shuichi	Akai
Korean	상윤 Sang Yoon	이 Lee
Malay	Shuichi	Akai
Thai	ชูอิจิ	อากาอิ
Traditional Chinese	秀一 Xiùyī	赤井 Chìjǐng
Vietnamese	Shuuichi	Akai

See also

• Characters
• Subaru Okiya
• Scar Akai
• Masumi Sera
• Mary
• Akai family's middle brother
• Akai family
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Black Organization
• Rei Furuya
• Rye (Alcohol)