Wataru Takagi

This article is about the character Wataru Takagi. For the voice actor of the same name, see Wataru Takagi (voice actor).

Wataru Takagi
Profile
Japanese name:	高木 渉 (Takagi Wataru)
English name:	Harry Wilder
Age:	~26
Gender:	Male
Occupation:	Police Detective
Nicknames:	Takagi-kun (Sato) Takagi-niisan (Ayumi)
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: File 171 Anime: Episode 21
Appearances:	Chapters: 332 Episodes: 563 Movies: 20 OVAs: 5 Specials: 12 Openings: 39 Closings: 10
Keyhole number:	Volume 20
Actors
Japanese voice:	Wataru Takagi
English voice:	Doug Burks
Drama actor:	Yuichi Tsuchiya

Wataru Takagi (高木 渉 ,Takagi Wataru) is a police sergeant and detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police District's Criminal Investigation First Division.

Background

Wataru Takagi is a newcomer to the Tokyo Police Criminal Investigations Division 1, having transferred after the bomber case about three years ago but by the time Shinichi Kudo first established his reputation as a detective, about two years ago. His mentor was a senior agent called Date, who died one year before the present timeline. He first met Shinichi's alter ego Conan during the investigation of the murder of actress Isami Nagakura, accompanying Inspector Megure and helping to expose the trick with the identical rooms.

Ever since his joining the force, Takagi (like so many of his other colleagues) has harbored romantic feelings for Miwako Sato. While Sato appeared to have taken a liking to him as well, Takagi was easily discouraged by the way she dealt with other male colleagues, including their superior Inspector Megure (though in that case it was more a daughterly affection to a father figure, since Sato's father had died when she was very young). In time, thanks to several severe incidents - and despite the interference of the other officers in the department, chiefly Ninzaburo Shiratori -, their professional relationship grew more personal, and finally Sato and Takagi shared their first kiss after he had been hospitalized in the course of a difficult case and kissed the second (and third!) time in Episode 683 when he almost died in a bomb accident.

Personality

While he is initially self-conscious and bumbling, Takagi is a dedicated member of the Tokyo Police Force and shows promise as a good officer as the series progresses. He is one of the few officers who trusts Conan's judgments the most, listening to him at case scenes to find important evidence and sometimes even letting Conan take the lead in their investigation (the case with Sato handcuffed to the wrong suspect in the bathroom being a good example).

Takagi has a strong intuition and sense of justice, and is very honorable. He has a strong drive to protect others, partially based in his profession as an officer, and partially based on a self-sacrificing trait in his personality. He is always very polite, even when alarmed, and defers to the judgment of his partner Miwako Sato not only because she is his senior, but because he truly respects her.

His hobbies are playing the maracas and following the international wrestling scene, being a fan of wrestlers such as Bruiser Brody and Keiji Mutoh, and recognizing a move that Ran does as the "Shining Wizard," a finishing move of Mutoh's. In summary, his hobbies involve a lot of martial arts and sports.

Plot overview

Actor's Apartment Case (Manga: 170-172; Anime: 102-103)

Takagi makes his debut in the Manga series.

Treadmill Murder Case (Manga: 208-210; Anime: 146-147)

This is the first case to show detective Takagi’s romantic affection for a female police officer, Miwako Sato.

Initially, Takagi is tasked with the mission of recording the Detective Boys' testimonies regarding the events at the Blue Castle. Just as they're about to begin, the children notice his untidy clothing and wonder if he doesn't have a girlfriend. Agasa offers to introduce to him his cousin's granddaughter, but Takagi awkwardly declines, stating that he has already had someone that he likes, right before detective Miwako Sato enters the room. Takagi keeps blushing, and his unnatural manner in front of Sato makes the Detective Boys think that she is really his girlfriend. However, both of them denies that this is true. Takagi wonders why Sato didn't go to assist Inspector Megure in the bank robbery case, and learns that the bank manager, together with his wife, will arrive at the Police Headquarter. Sato asks Takagi whether he has heard anything from her friend Yumi. He silently recalls Yumi's words, about what Sato told her when she was drunk, that the person she likes is someone from the first investigation division, who may very well be Takagi himself.

The bank manager, Keizo Masuo, comes by himself and decides to call his wife. During the phone call, Takagi and the others suddenly hear the wife's scream. He, Sato, Conan and Keizo rush to Keizo's house and find his wife's dead body. The person to be in charge of this murder case is Inspector Ninzaburo Shiratori, a police officer who has just been promoted recently. When Sato sarcastically suggests that Shiratori may as well consider her "a possible wedding match", Takagi misunderstands and begins to suspect that the person whom Sato said she has feelings for is none other than Shiratori. He keeps thinking of unreal scenarios with Shiratori and Sato being together, and isn't able to fully concentrate on the case.

Later, with the help from Conan, the trick and the identity of the killer are uncovered, and the case goes to an end. After turning down the invitation of Shiratori, Sato invites Takagi to go out and have ramen for dinner, to which he accepts happily. Unexpectedly, a drunken Megure comes up and asks them to go for a drink with him at the bar, and Sato immediately approves of the idea despite the invitation to Takagi earlier. Because of this, Takagi suddenly suspects that Sato's love interest is in fact Inspector Megure, and declines the offer.

The case ends with a depressed Takagi lying on the table and being unable to do anything, even though he still hasn't taken the Detective Boys' testimonies yet.

The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Manga: 804-808; Anime: 681-683)

Takagi is kidnapped by a mystery man misunderstanding he is Wataru Date who makes his daughter suicide. Police officers including Superintendent Matsumoto and Inspector Megure find their way to save Takagi with Conan's help. Sato saves Takagi on time before the bomb under him exploded.

Relationships analysis

Family & Friends

Sato and Takagi

Miwako Sato

His affection for Sato is a driving force of his character development. While his insecurity and comical outside interference regularly get in the way, he slowly manages to win her heart through his dedication, honesty and sincerity - traits Sato had also admired in her late colleague Jinpei Matsuda. Sato finally kisses Takagi after he has been severely wounded while protecting others.

Conan Edogawa

Takagi has come the closest of any of the Division One members to finding out Conan's true identity. In the Tokyo Tower Bomber Case, while they waited for the elevator bomb's clock to run down to give the final clue to stop the greater crime, Shinichi, as Conan, told Takagi that he would answer Takagi's questions about his real identity "on the other side." Takagi has also come to acknowledge Conan's sharp mind and intellect, taking Conan's observations seriously and even allowing him to accompany him to question suspects, most notably during the New Scar and the Whistling Man Case where he has the rest of the Detective Boys remain in the car.

Detective Chiba

Takagi and Chiba always work together on murder cases. Chiba is also the only male officer in their department who has had no obsessive crush on Sato, and in fact supported Takagi in his romantic endeavors on several occasions.

Wataru Date

Date was Takagi's mentor and close friend who passed away in a traffic accident. As the pronunciation of his name was the same as Wataru Takagi's, Takagi and Date were nicknamed "the Wataru brothers" (ワタル・ブラザーズ).

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. Takagi placed 14th in the poll with 46 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.

• In honor of the release of the 15th movie, Quarter of Silence, the official Conan movie website held a popularity poll for the top 10 Detective Conan characters. Takagi placed 10th out of 10.

• 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. Takagi placed 10th overall with 226 votes.

Name origin

Takagi is named after his voice actor: he was originally a nameless character. In Episode 66, when Megure asks Takagi to check the bloodstains on the roof, his voice actor Chafurin adlibbed the name "Wataru Takagi" by accident during the recording session.

Different looks

Takagi's "Before" Appearance (Episode 26)

Takagi's "Middle" Appearance (Episode 147)

Takagi's "After" Appearance (Episode 626)

In other languages

Language	Given Name	Family Name
Japanese	渉 Wataru	高木 Takagi
English	Harry	Wilder
Catalan	Wataru	Takagi
French	Wataru	Takagi
German	Wataru	Takagi
Vietnamese	Wataru	Takagi
Arabic	Not given	تاكاجي　Takaji
Korean	형선 Hyung Sun	신 Shin
Finnish	Wataru	Takagi
Thai	วาตารุ	ทาคางิ
Russian	Ватару	Такаги
Italian	Takagi	Wataru

Trivia

• Despite debuting in On Location, TV Drama Murder Case it isn't until the Karaoke Box Murder Case that Takagi is credited and referred to by that name.
• Takagi's appearance seems to have changed. His old hairstyle included a spikier fringe compared to the current one as well as a darker skin tone.
• Takagi drives a Nissan Skyline.

See also

• Characters