Conan Edogawa
| Conan Edogawa | |
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| Japanese name: | 江戸川 コナン (Edogawa KONAN) |
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| English name: | Conan Edogawa |
| Age: | 6-7 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Date of birth: | May 4th |
| Relatives: | Yusaku Kudo (father) Yukiko Kudo (mother) |
| Nicknames: | Cool Kid (Jodie Starling) Cool Guy (Vermouth) Silver Bullet-kun (Vermouth) |
| First appearance: | Manga: Chapter 1 Anime: Episode 1 |
| Appearances: | Chapters: 1114 Chapters: 6 Episodes: 1139 Episodes: 3 Movies: 29 Episodes: 5 OVAs: 18 Specials: 5 Openings: 60 Closings: 68 |
| Cases solved: | 200+ |
| Japanese voice: | Minami Takayama |
| English voice: | Alison Viktorin |
| Drama actor: | Nao Fujisaki Minami Takayama (voice) |
Conan Edogawa (江戸川 コナン Edogawa Konan) is the alias used by Shinichi Kudo in his shrunken form. Indeed, he took the appearance of a 7 year old boy after being forced to swallow a poison, a prototype called APTX 4869, by two men in black later revealed to be members of the Black Organization.[1] Besides his changed appearance, the poison did not inflict any other damage and therefore he still has the brain and mind of an adult. He's able to use his gifted powers of deduction to solve cases and eventually close in on the Black Organization in the hope of finding an antidote to the APTX 4869.
Conan is often treated as a separate character from Shinichi by fans, and often viewed as the main character of the series while Shinichi is viewed as a recurring character. He has become a popular figure in Japan and even appeared at numerous occasions in different anime series (i.e. mainly cameo appearances) as well as other medias.
Contents
Background
Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo's alter ego. He did not exist prior to the chain of events, involving members of the Black Organization, that led Shinichi to transform back into a child.
The Transformation
At the beginning of the series, Shinichi brings his friend Ran to Tropical Land, a local theme park, to celebrate her victory in the Metropolitan Karate Championships. He later ends up solving a murder case there.[1] As they are leaving, Shinichi witnesses a suspicious exchange between an unknown man and a man in black in a secluded area just outside the park. As he leaves her to investigate, Ran feels like she's seeing Shinichi for the last time (which will happen to have been somewhat of a premonition). While spying on the suspicious men, Shinichi does not notice another man in black, who knocks him out from behind and forces him to swallow a new experimental poison known as APTX 4869. They then leave him to die. However, instead of killing Shinichi, a rare side-effect occurred. It shrinks his body back to that of his six-year-old self.[2] In desperation and confusion, Shinichi heads back to his house and runs into his next door neighbor and close family friend, Dr. Hiroshi Agasa. After a few attempts at proving he's in fact Shinichi, he finally succeeds in convincing the Professor. The latter warns him he must keep his identity secret as the Black Organization will kill him and others associated with him should they learn the truth.[3]
Taking a new identity
Shinichi comes up with the alias Conan Edogawa after Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Rampo and pretends to be a distant relative of Agasa's who places Conan in Ran's care.[3] Ran's father Kogoro Mouri, owns a Detective Agency which may allow him to run into a case involving the Black Organization.
Creation of the Detective Boys
He is enrolled at Teitan Elementary to further protect his identity and makes friends with Ayumi Yoshida, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya, and Genta Kojima, who create the Detective Boys not long after.[4]
Solving cases
As Conan, Shinichi helps Ran's father solve cases by putting him to sleep and simulating Kogoro's voice using the special bowtie gadget Dr. Agasa made for him. By solving cases one after the other, he helps build up Kogoro's reputation who will later on be referred to as "Sleeping Kogoro". He also spends a good amount of time with his Detective Boys fellows and solves many small cases with them and sometimes in the company of Dr. Agasa. In some situations, when there's only Ran, Sonoko and himself, he will target Sonoko instead to solve the case at hand. Because of that, Sonoko eventually becomes another rather well-known "sleeping" detective though it's within a much smaller circle (the investigation team and her friends).
Plot overview
Initial pursuit
After Shinichi becomes Conan, he sets out to find the men in black almost immediately. At the suggestion of Agasa, he moves in with Ran and Kogoro, hoping that cases related to them come by. Pretty soon, a case involving a woman name Akemi Miyano (using the alias Masami Hirota) appears. Akemi robs a bank for the men in black in the hopes that they will free her sister from their organization. Conan is unable to realize the case's connection to the organization until after the men in black have shot Akemi and left her for dead for trying to double cross them. In her dying moments, Akemi warns Conan of the danger of the organization.[5]
Conan runs across the men in black again on a bullet train, this time learning their codenames: Gin and Vodka.
At a game convention, Conan meets a third man in black named Tequila, only to have him killed in an explosion meant for someone else.
Introduction of Ai Haibara
As the story progresses, Conan later befriends biochemist Ai Haibara. Haibara Ai or Ai Haibara grew up within the Black Organization and is a former member of it along with her sister.[6]
She is the creator of the APTX 4869 drug but took the drug in order to escape from the Black Organization. Conan has run into the Black Organization multiple times, but he fails in tracking them due to Gin's cleverness.
Meeting with the Organization
After Vermouth
The Phone Number of 'That Person'
After solving a case in a rich household, the culprit tells the phone number for the Leader of the Black Organization is the tune to the song of "Seven Children"
Returning Back To Shinichi
The First Comeback
Throughout the series Conan has returned back to normal. First he temporary returns to normal after drinking alcohol while infected with a cold.[7] He quickly turns back into Conan after solving the case. The next time was after taking the prototype antidote for APTX 4869.
Antidote Prototype
After two days, the antidote wears off and he becomes Conan again.[8][9] Much further into the series, Shinichi accidentally takes a prototype antidote for APTX 4896. The antidote wears off 24 hours later but he is given another one by Ai to keep his identity secret. After another four hours, he becomes Conan again.[10] Even farther into the manga during the london arc conan takes the antidote so he can go overseas, as his alias "conan edogawa" doesn't have a passport. He takes a spare one to avoid suspicion from ran, luckily he was able to get him a 3rd one for the return trip.
Personality
As Conan, Shinichi tries to behave like a child. He refers to Ran as "Ran-neechan" (nee-chan meaning older sister, a common nickname Japanese children give to teenagers and young adults they look up to), and refers to Shinichi as "Shinichi-niichan" (nii-chan meaning older brother). He also refers to Kogoro as "Oji-san" or "Occhan" (both meaning Uncle), although he also does this as Shinichi. As Shinichi, he refers to Conan as usually "Conan-kun" or the "Kid in the Glasses". Shinichi treats Conan as a seperate person completely, thinking for example, "changing back into Conan".
Conan remains very close to Ran, who in return is very protective of him. However, because Ran is unaware of his true identity, Conan often finds himself in awkward situations with her, such as when she confessed her feeling for Shinichi to him and when she made him bathe with her at a hot spring. Also, when Conan sees parts of Ran he not supposed to see, he has nosebleeds.
He will often speak in a child-like tone of voice when dealing with adults, but he often gets caught up in the current case and begins speaking like an adult and talk about things most children would be ignorant to. When this happens, he often tries to pass it off as "something [he] heard on TV".
Likewise, he makes no effort to hide his love for Sherlock Holmes and soccer, so if he talks about either subject in too much detail, he tries to escape suspicion by saying it was something Shinichi told him about. Although as the series has progressed the adults around him have become more used to his "being quite smart for a child", causing him to behave more like himself around them, he still tries to pass as a normal child. The only adults unaware of his true identity that Conan speaks normally around are the FBI and Inspector Kansuke Yamato of the Nagano Police.
Conan tends to act more like himself around the Detective Boys, even to the point that they find it odd when he acts like a child around adults. He will often play games like baseball with the Detective Boys, but he is too used to soccer to perform well. He will even try using soccer techniques such as kicking in games that do not call for it. Because he is unfamiliar with popular games and TV shows, Genta and the others tend to think of him as dumb. This annoys Conan so much that he will secretly watch TV in the living room after Kogoro and Ran go to sleep to get more "practice" in.
Appellations
Although most people will call Conan by his name suffixed with -kun, or simply kid, a lot of the characters have different ways of calling him due to the special relationships they share. The following is a list of the different appellations for Conan (and the ones Conan gives in return) encountered in the series.
Relationships analysis
Family & Friends
- Ran Mouri
Conan and Ran share a brother/sister kind of relationship. He calls her Ran-neechan. Although Conan has yet to reveal his real identity to Ran, they do have a tight bond. They do a lot of activities together such as swimming, going to the movies or festivals, and more.
- Kogoro Mouri
Kogoro often seems to find Conan to be a nuisance when around or on a case as Conan would often do or say unexpected things and act out of his own will just as much as a child would do (often done on purpose by Conan to look this way).
- His parents
Conan's parents, Yusaku and Yukiko, like to push their child towards becoming an even better detective. They enjoy giving out challenges and sometimes without letting Conan know who's giving them: they disguised once to simulate a case and force Conan to discover their identities by his own means.
Yukiko loves to meddle in Conan's (and Shinichi's) love life as she will often make allusions such as Ran being her possible future daughter-in-law or Ai and Ayumi having feelings for Conan. He doesn't usually pay much attention to them.
Conan's mother helped him out once to keep his secret identity from being exposed to Ran by creating an alibi for him.
- Professor Agasa
Conan treats Agasa as a member of his own family, like an uncle. Due to the fact that they both share the secret behind Shinichi's transformation and knowledge about the Black Organization, Conan often comes to him when in trouble or seeking for help.
- Heiji Hattori
When they first meet, Conan and Heiji seem bound to become lifelong rivals. However, after discovering Conan's real identity, Heiji starts to act almost like an older brother towards him. Since then the two have become rather close friends, though Conan often seems to find Heiji more of an annoyance then anything, due to his dangerous habbit of calling Conan 'Kudo' when other's are present.
Detective Boys
- Ai Haibara
Ai Haibara is the third girl that seems to have somewhat romantic feelings for Conan/Shinichi, although she never truly admits it. Indeed, it is a mystery just exactly what she feels for him, whether friendship or otherwise. Some people, such as Conan's Mother and Gin, have stated that she has feelings for Conan. It could be said that, because of their almost equal level of intelligence as well as similarities in their pasts (i.e. both victims of the APTX 4869), she finds it easier to talk to him.
- Ayumi Yoshida
Conan grows to respect the little girl in his class for her sharp wit and observational skills, along with the other members of the Detective Boys. Although Ayumi clearly seems to like Conan, the latter does not return her feelings.
- Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya & Genta Kojima
Mitsuhiko sees Conan as a model, someone he looks up to. Genta, and more so Mitsuhiko, are often impressed by Conan's vast knowledge and incredible deduction skills.
They both become quite jealous of Conan whenever Ayumi shows gestures of affection towards him (usually a small kiss on the cheek). They would run after Conan shouting how "unfair" it is.
Law enforcement
- Police
With the exception of a few inspectors, most listen to the little clues that Conan points out. After a while, Conan gets the attention of the whole Tokyo police department for noticing things even pros miss.
- FBI
- Jodie Starling
- Shuichi Akai
Akai has been shown to respect Conan's detective skills. It may not take long before Akai figures out Conan and Shinichi are one and the same.
Black Organization
- Gin and Vodka
Even though Gin and Vodka do not yet know who's stopping their operations, Gin has been shown to be curious who "that guy" is, "that guy" being Conan. Gin has tried to catch a glimpse of Conan's face in a helicopter, but failed after Conan successfully downed the helicopter. Conan seems to have a very bitter hatred towards them, and this only increases as more people are targeted by the BO.
- Vermouth
Vermouth seems to has great personal interest in Conan, constantly calling him as the Black Organization 'Silver Bullet'. She also often protects Conan probably because when she was disguising as a serial killer in New York, she was saved by Conan (Shinichi at the time) and Ran.
Others
- Kaitou Kid
Before being shrunk, Shinichi had encountered Kid once during the Clock Tower heist, though they did not meet face-to-face. In their next encounter, however, after Shinichi had become Conan, Kid disguised himself as Ran in order to steal the Suzuki Black Star pearl. When Conan cornered him on the Suzuki cruise ship, Kid suggested that he'd stolen all of Ran's clothes to impersonate her, and left her naked on the deck. While this ended up being a bluff, Conan was shocked and infuriated. In subsequent encounters between Kid and Conan, Conan displays a much more intense desire to capture Kid. In several instances he appears to be able to 'sense' Kid's presence; knowing Kid is close by often causes Conan to behave far more frenetically. However, in several instances, beginning with the "Big Adventure in the Eccentric Residence" case, when Kid does Conan/Shinichi a favor, such as saving Genta's life in the aforementioned case, Conan reciprocates by halting his investigation just shy of capturing Kid, thereby allowing him to escape unhindered.
In the movies, it is implied that Kid knows Conan's identity; he even helps Conan maintain his cover by disguising himself as Shinichi so that a suspicious Ran would stop suspecting Conan. However, this has not been confirmed by Gosho Aoyama, nor has it been implied in the manga.
People who know Conan's real identity
There are only a few characters in the series who know Conan's real identity. None of them have ever betrayed Conan's identity to date. The main characters to know the secret are Hiroshi Agasa, Conan's parents, Heiji Hattori and Ai Haibara.
The 3rd and 8th movies also demonstrate that Kaito Kid knows Conan's identity and acts to protect it. However, this has yet to be backed up by the original artist, Gosho Aoyama, in the manga or (as would follow) the anime main series. Since the Detective Conan movies appear totally independent of the story development in the anime series, it is assumed that Kaitou Kid did not know of Conan's identity.
Gadgets
Quotes
General
| “ | I am Conan Edogawa, a detective. | „ |
| “ | There is only one truth! | „ |
| “ | Only one truth prevails! | „ |
| “ | (Talking to Haibara-san) After all, I'm the guy who's been breaking her heart by making her wait an eternity.. even though I'm always by her side. | „ |
Specific
Movie 1: Ran, If we die, we die together...
Trivia
- Conan, although a terrible singer , isn't tone deaf but actually has a perfect pitch. In Episode 11: The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case, he knows that the piano is in tune and deciphers a message at the end just by listening to the notes that are played.
- Conan's bad singing came to light as a joke after the anime began airing because Conan's voice actress Minami Takayama is also a singer. In Volume 15 of the manga, Takayama herself is kidnapped and Conan, who sounds similar to her, tries to take her place at a concert. However, Conan learns that despite having similar voices, they sound completely different when it comes to singing.[11]
- Despite Conan's inability to sing, Minami Takayama (his seiyu) is a well known singer.
- The Japanese word 'konnan' (pronounced the same as 'Conan') means 'difficulty' or 'distress.'
- Gosho Aoyama (and Shinichi, in the story) got the name 'Conan Edogawa' from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the famous Sherlock Holmes stories, and Edogawa Ranpo, a Japanese mystery fiction writer.
- Fun fact: The author known as Edogawa Ranpo got this pen name from a transliteration of "Edgar Allan Poe." Pronouncing Poe's name in a Japanese accent sounds like 'Edogawa Ranpo.'
See also
References
- ^ a b Episode 1: Roller Coaster Murder Case Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "episode1" defined multiple times with different content - ^ Aoyama, Gosho (1994-07-15). "File 2" (in Japanese). Detective Conan. 1. Tokyo: Shogakukan. p. 59. ISBN 978-4091233714.
- ^ a b Episode 2: Company President's Daughter Kidnapping Case. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "episode2" defined multiple times with different content - ^ Episode 4: The Coded Map of the City Case
- ^ Manga Chapters 13-16
- ^ Volume 18, File 178: Code Name Sherry
- ^ Episodes 48-49: Diplomat Murder Case.
- ^ Episodes 191-193: The Desperate Revival.
- ^ Volume 26, Files 3-7
- ^ Volumes 62-63: Files 647-654
- ^ Manga Chapters 144~146: Two-Mix Kidnapping Case
