Mary Sera
| ??? | |
| Japanese name: | ??? |
|---|---|
| Age: | Looks approximately middle school aged according to Conan |
| Gender: | Female (assumed by Conan) |
| Relatives: | Masumi Sera (unknown relationship) |
| First appearance: | Manga: File 875 Anime: Episode 756 |
| Appearances: | Unknown child Appearances |
| Japanese voice: | Atsuko Tanaka |
An unknown child of middle-school age who appears to be a girl with light hair was shown hiding in Masumi Sera's room. The child's eyes have a remarkable resemblance to those of Shuichi Akai and Masumi Sera.
It's possible that "Mary" ("メアリー" in Japanese) is the child's real name, as stated in File 928.
Appearance
The child appears to be a female of middle school age (12-15) with light colored, curly, neck length hair. The child has eyes similar to those of Masumi Sera and Shuichi Akai. In her appearance in File 877, she was shown wearing a high-neck pleated top, hoodie jacket, and hat.
Plot overview
The Red Woman Murder Case (Manga: 875, Anime: 756)
Masumi asks Conan to find her cellphone by calling it with his. He does so and Conan notices the call background screen is a child who looks like Masumi with eye bags similar to those of the Akai family members. Masumi never mentioned having a younger siblings earlier, so Conan suspects Masumi was intentionally trying to show him the child for some reason.
Romance Novelist Murder Case (Manga: 876-878, Anime: 759-760)
When Ran, Sonoko, and Conan visit Masumi's apartment, the child is shown opening Masumi's door as Conan, Sera, Sonoko, and Ran rush to investigate a crime. It is implied she was hiding in Masumi's bedroom while the other three were in the dining area because Masumi asks Conan not to enter her bedroom. The child later goes downstairs to the scene of the crime where she is seen by Conan. After the case is solved, the child is shown examining Conan's bug along with Masumi. She says that it is still early to trust him, and asks Masumi to introduce her as "her little sister from outside the territory (領域外の妹 ryōiki-gai no imōto)", should Conan question her in the future.
Shogi Tournament (Manga: 899-902, Anime: 785-786)
The child is interested in Shukichi's Shogi match, and is shown to be happy for the first time once he wins.
Poolside Case (Manga: 903-905, Anime: 787-788)
The child is waiting for Conan to visit her and Sera in their hotel room. She expresses her still-lingering concern of trusting Conan, even though she thinks he is bright enough. Her talk with him alone is put on hold, however, because Ran and Sonoko have invited themselves in accompanying Conan in order to enjoy the hotel's pool.
Movie 18
She is only shown two times at dawn under her hotel bed's blankets.
A Killer in Ramen Ogura (Manga: 928-9XX, Anime: ???)
Masumi Sera is at Ramen Ogura with Conan, Sonoko and Ran. Ogura asks Masumi (mistakingly calling her "Mary") if she's going to take the same food to her apartment again. Conan implies that Masumi could be giving food to someone she's letting stay in her apartment, making a clear reference to the unknown child, but she jokes saying that it's for her secret boyfriend.
Identity
The child's relationship to Masumi Sera is unknown. Sera testifies that she has two older brothers: Shuichi Akai and an unknown middle brother living in Japan.[1] Masumi only started claiming to have a "younger sister from outside the domain" after the unknown child coached her to use that cover story if Conan asked about her.[2][3][4] She says her father is dead, and her mother lives overseas in America. Masumi says she doesn't have any more relatives close enough to depend on.[5] She is currently being financially supported by a friend of her father's. If Masumi has told the truth, minus what she said about having a "younger sister from outside the domain", that leaves relatively few options for the child's identity assuming the child is related by blood somehow to Masumi.
Fan speculation
The child is an adult shrunken by APTX 4869
The unknown child acts like an adult despite apparent middle-school age. When Masumi and the child speak, the speech honorifics are not those appropriate for an elder Masumi talking to a younger girl. Instead, they appear to indicate the two are on equal levels, or even reverse with the child expressing greater seniority.
The secrecy surrounding the child and Masumi's attempts to get her to trust Conan, whom Masumi knows is a shrunken Shinichi, might be indications that Masumi is trying to get the child help about an APTX 4869 problem. At that point in time Masumi did not know Conan has relations with any of the other Akais, including Shuichi.
The child appears to be sickly and is often seen coughing. She may have ingested an earlier prototype of APTX 4869, which caused side-effects not present in the current revision of the drug.
In anime, the voice actor for this character has a deep female voice, which resembles a middle-aged woman.
Akai family mother
One possibility is that the child is the mother of Masumi Sera and Shuichi Akai, shrunk by a drug like APTX 4869. There are currently five known members of the Akai/Sera family: a deceased father, a mother, a son who resembles the father, and Masumi Sera and Shuichi Akai, who presumably resemble the mother. Her eyes and features are similar to those of Masumi Sera and Shuichi Akai as noted by Conan, and so she presumably looks like the mother of the family. Sera seems to recognize Conan Edogawa to be Shinichi Kudo despite him having such a young appearance, and if she does indeed recognize him she is not surprised by his appearance, which could imply that she is aware of age regression and the drugs which cause it; and perhaps even looking into it because her mother was affected by such a regression.
In anime, the voice actor for this character has a deep female voice, which resembles a middle-aged woman.
Middle brother
Along the same lines as the mother theory, another option for the child's identity is the middle brother of the Akai family shrunken by some drug such as APTX 4869. The child's appearance as a girl may be misleading similar to how Masumi is mistaken for a man, something the child is taking advantage of in order to conceal his true identity. Although the eyes are similar to Masumi's and Shuuichi's, the light colored curly hair sets the child apart from the other two in appearance. Contradicting this, Conan believes the child looks very similar to Masumi[6] which suggests the child does not look like the Akai father and by extension the middle brother.
The child said to Sera that he\she is still a long way from trusting Conan[7], while the middle brother approves of Conan over the phone: "If it is him [Conan], there is no problem."[8]
Gallery
The unknown child in file 899
See also
References
- ^ Manga Volume 82, File 11 (872), pg 3: Red Woman. "We're three siblings: My two oldest brothers and me, their little sister!"
- ^ Manga Volume 83, File 6 (878), pg 16: "The Phone, the Sea, and I" She requests Masumi call her the younger sister from outside the domain if Conan asks
- ^ Manga Volume 83, File 7 (879), pgs 2-3: "Detective's Master" Conan asks about the girl and Masumi uses the "younger sister from outside the domain" explanation as she was instructed. Conan notices the discrepancy between this and her earlier statements which didn't mention a sister.
- ^ Episode 759 1min 41sec Crunchyroll translation: "If she has two brothers and doesn't know of her relatives, then who is that young girl I saw on her phone that looks just like her?"
- ^ Manga Volume 83, File 4 (876), pg 3: "The Romance Novelist"
- ^ Episode 759
- ^ Manga Volume 83, File 6 (878), pg 16: "The Phone, the Sea, and I"
- ^ Manga Volume 81, File 10 (860), pg 16: "The Smell of Kerosine"
