Kanenori Wakita

Kanenori Wakita
Profile
Japanese name:	脇田 兼則 (Wakita Kanenori)
Age:	56
Gender:	Male
Date of birth:	unknown
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: Chapter 975 Anime: Episode 894
Appearances:	Chapters: 33 Chapters: 3 Episodes: 24 Movies: 2 Openings: 3 Openings: 1
Keyhole number:	Volume 97
Actors
Japanese voice:	Shigeru Chiba

Kanenori Wakita (脇田 兼則 ,Wakita Kanenori) is a sushi chef at Beika Iroha Sushi in the manga and anime franchise Detective Conan. He has relatively good deductive ability, a "true Tokyoite" personality, and an injury to his left eye.

Background

According to himself, Wakita is a drifter who doesn't work in one place too long. He wanted to work the prep line at Beika Iroha Sushi but can't safely wield the knife until his left eye heals. He is currently serving customers.

Personality

Kanenori Wakita is a true edokko ("child of Tokyo") and has the stereotypical personality: forward, confrontational, and fond of justice and sushi.He has notably decent deductive skills as shown in his first appearance. He has loved mysteries since childhood, is a fan of Kogoro's, and even wants Kogoro to take him to a murder scene.

Appearance

Wakita has a strong build, short black hair, a toothbrush mustache, prominent buck teeth, and soft medical dressing over his left eye.

Appellations

Picture	Name	What they call Kanenori Wakita	What Kanenori Wakita calls them
	Kogoro Mouri	Wakita-san	Master Kogoro (Kogorou-shishou) Okyaku-san (Customer or Sir) My Neighbour Mouri Kogoro (Watashi no rinjin Mōri Kogorō 私の隣人 毛利 小五郎) Sleeping Kogoro-sama (Nemuri no Kogoro-sama)
	Conan Edogawa	Uncle (Oji-san) Wakita Kanenori-san

Picture	Name	What they call Kanenori Wakita	What Kanenori Wakita calls them
	Iroha Sushi Chef		Boss (Bosu ボス)

Plot overview

Interchanged Betting Ticket Case (Manga: 975-977, Anime: 894-895)

Wakita correctly guesses which horse Kogoro must have bet on to cause him to visit Beika Iroha Sushi and order the highest quality servings. He also deduces it is very out of character for Kogoro. Conan, worried about Rum, wants to know what happened to Wakita's eye. Wakita offers, "Horrible stuff, that was! Wanna see?" which is hurriedly rejected by the hungry Mouris.

Wakita turns out to be a fan of Kogoro's and wants to know about Kogoro's cases. Kogoro tells him about the recent zombie murder, leaving out certain embarrassing details. A pickpocketing case then coincidentally falls into their laps. Wakita challenges Kogoro to a deduction contest: a race to figure out which customer stole the lady's million yen winning ticket first. Wakita cleverly and decisively comes up with excuses to keep all the suspects from leaving the sushi bar when they try to leave to avoid being accused. Although disappointed he won't get to see Kogoro in action, Wakita is also first to propose a solution, which is very, very nearly close to correct. Conan darts Kogoro to put the case to rest decisively. Wakita is impressed and asks to be Kogoro's disciple in exchange for discounts on sushi. Kogoro accepts, but it isn't clear if the response was serious.

Rumi Wakasa's Neighbor Murder Case (Manga: 980, Anime: 896-897)

He is seen reading a Nichiuri newspaper, but it's not showed what article he is reading. He comments that 'this one is quick-witted'.

Crimson School Trip Case (Manga: 1005, Anime: 941)

After the case is solved, Wakita is seen reading an article that mentions Shinichi's involvment in the case. In the anime, this was adapted in the Search for Maria-chan! case.

Missing Maria Higashio Case (Manga: 1008, Anime: 941-942)

He is seen talking to Professor Agasa, claiming that he came to deliver a sushi in his neighborhood, but couldn't due to a mass of paparazzi surrounding Shinichi's house. After he finished his conversation, he is seen reading an article in his phone, where the blogger who claimed that she saw Shinichi was nothing but an illusion, calming down the uproar about Shinichi.

Speculation

  Show spoilers »

Temporary eye injury

The fact Wakita still has aspirations to work at the sushi counter implies his eye wound is not permanent. The soft absorbent medical gauze he wears is typical of a temporary cover meant to promote healing than a permanent solution like a true eye-patch or darkened glasses.

Rum?

Wakita is strong build, and 56 can be consider an old age, but there is nothing feminine about him. In file 1008, Rum messages Bourbon, stating that "Time is money", in English. In Japanese, however, this statement is said as "Toki wa kane nari", which can be rearranged to spell "Wakita Kanenori".

Hints Kanenori Wakita might be Rum

• He wears a patch over his left eye which may conceal a prosthetic.
• It seems he may be able to fit all three descriptions of Rum.
• He appears to have an interest in Sleeping Kogoro, just like Gin.
• Rum in text messages has twice used the English phrase "Time is money," which can be translated into Japanese as 時は金なり, whose Romanization "Toki wa kane nari" is an anagram of "Wakita Kanenori".
• He took an interest in reports of Shinichi Kudo's return and even tried to visit his house.
• He can be deceptive.
• His eye injury keeps him out of the kitchen of the restaurant, as his eye is not fully healed so he can't deal with knives. Which ensures that he can get out of the restaurant under the pretext of delivering food to customers.
• He is still wearing the eyepatch on his left eye despite saying that it will heal in his debut in the Nagano Snowy Mountain case.
• He completely snapped when the suspects started badmouthing Kogoro's actions after checking the victim's condition, something that Bourbon hinted afterwards that Rum is an impatient person.
• In the Nagano Snowy Mountain case, when the four (Amuro, Conan, Kogoro, and Wakita) were on the train to Nagano, Wakita said that he hated betrayal, which seemingly meant he sensed that Amuro betrayed him by sending him fake information about Shinichi's death (after breaking into Shinichi's house, Amuro had a discussion with Shinichi's parents about hiding Shinichi's real identity). What's more interesting, after the whole Nagano Snowy Mountain case had been solved, Taka'aki Morofushi came to them and pretended he din't know Amuro by shaking hands with Kogoro, asking him who these two men (Amuro and Wakita) were, although Amuro and Taka'aki had met before when Scotch was still alive. Presumably, Kuroda ordered Taka'aki to come (by calling him) to help Amuro by acting as a stranger to Amuro in front of Wakita so that Amuro's true identity as an undercover agent working for the NPA could be hidden, or even if Wakita was suspecting him of being so, this action could lead him to think otherwise, probably because Taka'aki believed if Wakita had suspected that Amuro was an NPA undercover agent, he would have thought Amuro had relationship with a person from the NPA such as Morofushi, but they appeared to be strangers. Before leaving, Taka'aki didn't forget to mention a saying which was similar to " time is money".

Hints Kanenori Wakita might not be Rum

• He says his eye injury is only temporary and expects it to fully heal.
• His interest in Kogoro and Shinichi may merely stem from his stated interest in solving mysteries or he needs some information on Kudou Shinichi for his own agenda.
• He served Highball to a customer, which contains whiskey, thus hinting he may be a Black Organization agent codenamed Whiskey rather than Rum.
• He said the horse Pirate's Spirit is a weak horse. Pirate's spirit is also a type of rum. This hints he may not think very highly of Rum.
• He's losing his patience against the suspects only because he admired Kogoro as a detective.
• The conversation between Kuroda and Komei in Nagano case wasn't made explicit. It could very well be a manipulation tactic of Kuroda (given he called from a different phone and called Kansuke first) to create trust deficit between Amuro and Komei, by implicating the former as the reason behind the latter's brother's death.
• He in his intro chapter said to Kogoro that he (Wakita) would be grateful to Kogoro if the latter takes him to murder case investigations. Which means that Wakita is looking for a person who is very likely to pop up at a murder scene, like a police officer. Which shouldn't be Rum's objective.
• Wakita's eye issue can also be totally fake. Given the fact the said claimed pimple in the eye allows him to get out of the kitchen to get on with his intel gathering job, it means his claimed eye issue allows him the privilege.

Trivia

Danpei Tange from Ashita no Joe. The hat obscures his baldness.

• Two October 2016 Sherry's Soliloquy hints indicate that Wakita's character is a homage to one-eyed boxing coach Danpei Tange (丹下 段平 ,Tange Danpei) from the 1968 boxing manga series Ashita no Joe.

Different looks

Episode 894

Episode 942

See also

• Characters