Canon
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Canon refers to information that is considered "official" by a fictional universe's fanbase. In the Detective Conan fandom, canon refers to the official storyline and its characters, settings, and events. In many parts of the fandom and on this wiki, the word "canon" is used as a shorthand to refer to a subset of all Detective Conan works: specifically the information, storylines, settings, and characters found in the manga and information given by Aoyama Gosho in interviews. Other material is considered to be "non-canon", "extended canon", "anime/movie only", or "fanon".
Contents
Definition and background
Canon is a concept used to define what material is considered by fans to be officially part of a fictional universe's storyline. In works that have multiple contributors, such as Detective Conan which has the manga by Aoyama Gosho and many spinoffs and adaptations written by other authors, defining canon can be difficult. Sometimes the creators of the fictional-universe will outright define the scope of the canon (e.g. Star Wars), other times fans will decide based on practical considerations. Detective Conan's canon is the latter fan-defined type because it is overwhelmingly pragmatic, given the genre and story construction of Detective Conan. In addition, the various creators, including Gosho, have said relatively little about is and isn't canon.
Detective Conan canon is defined as the information, storylines, settings, and characters found in the manga and information given by Aoyama Gosho in interviews. There are two main practical reasons for this:
- The first is that the manga is self contained. Gosho has designed the manga story so that all mysteries in the manga can be solved using only information from the manga; knowledge of anime-only episodes, movies, etc. is not required to arrive at the correct conclusion. For instance, only characters who appear in the manga are potential suspects for the Boss of the Black Organization. It is extremely rare for useful clues for the major mysteries to show up in anime-only episodes or movies, and even when they do, those clues usually appear only after many decisive hints have already been revealed in the manga.[1]
- The second reason is that only the writer of the manga, Aoyama Gosho, knows the true solutions to all the mysteries. Thus, only the information and stories written by Gosho can be reliably expected not to contradict the story at a later point. For whatever reason, Gosho has only shared the solutions to the major mysteries with the editors who manage him and a few loved ones. That means other authors making adaptations are forced to make assumptions. The consequence of this incomplete information sharing is that mistakes happen in the adaptations. Alterations or omissions in the anime have introduced serious plotholes that create logical inconsistencies or remove clues so that cases are harder or impossible to solve. Even absent outright contradictions, non-canon episodes and movies can also create implications that lead to illogical conclusions.[2][3]
This relatively restrictive definition of canon excludes a considerable amount of authorized adaptation material (anime-only episodes, movies, etc) from the what is considered the "official storyline". That means sometimes character backstories or certain events that have not been re-explained in the manga are left in limbo. To reclaim this lost material, some fans classify information into canon tiers. The top tier is the strict definition of canon given above, sometimes called manga canon to distinguish it from the other tiers. All the information from the anime and movies that does not contradict the manga canon makes up the second tier: anime/movie canon or extended canon.
Non-canon
The following sources of information are considered to be non-canon and are not considered to be part of the official storyline by default:
- TV original episodes (AOs)
- Movies[4]
- OVAs
- Detective Conan Special
- Video games
- Drama specials and series
- Novels
- Modifications made by foreign adaptations of Detective Conan, such as name changes
- Any change in the TV episodes that makes them different from the original manga, including additional anime-original scenes, dialogues, and information.
- The older version any manga panels which was changed between release in Shonen Sunday and Volume release. The published Volume version is assumed to reflect Gosho's true intent because it is the corrected version.
Although the movies are confirmed to be non-canon, Gosho Aoyama has said in interviews that he's deeply involved in the creation of them and advises the writers.[5][6] There have been many times where biographical details, facts, and characters from movies are later incorporated into the manga stories.
Non-canon information that has become canon
Certain elements from non-canon sources have been upgraded into canon when they were re-introduced into the main manga by Gosho Aoyama.
Characters
Wataru Takagi
Wataru Takagi was first introduced in On Location, TV Drama Murder Case as an unnamed police detective that had accompanied Inspector Megure on the scene. For a time, this character only appeared in episodes that have Haruo Ogawara as the animation director. The character's name is first given as "Detective Takagi" in the credits for the Karaoke Box Murder Case despite his face not actually appearing on-screen. Although the Karaoke Box Murder Case was based on a manga story, Takagi does not appear in the original. Takagi receives his first manga canon appearance in the Actor's Apartment Case.
Ninzaburo Shiratori
Ninzaburo Shiratori was first introduced in The Time-Bombed Skyscraper and received his first canon manga appearance in the Treadmill Murder Case as Takagi's rival for Miwako Sato's affections.
Kazunobu Chiba
Kazunobu Chiba was first introduced in the anime version of The Final Screening Murder Case and received his first canon manga appearance in Sato's Father Case.
Azusa Enomoto
Azusa Enomoto was first introduced in The Mysterious Old Man Disappearance Case as a waitress at Café Poirot as a background character. She receives her name and first speaking appearance in The Deduction That Was Too Good. Her first canon manga appearance occurs during the Forgotten Cellphone Case.
Midori Kuriyama
Midori Kuriyama was first introduced in The Fourteenth Target as Eri Kisaki's secretary and received her first canon manga appearance in the Eri vs. Yukiko case.
Takahiro Sanada
Takahiro Sanada was first introduced in The Eleventh Striker as a new player on the Big Osaka soccer team and received his first canon manga appearance in the Kite-Flying Competition Murder Case.
Yuya Kazami
Yuya Kazami was first introduced as Amuro's PSB subordinate in Movie 20: The Darkest Nightmare and received his first canon manga appearance in File 998: Haibara's Lost Phone Strap Case.
Fumimaro Ayanokoji
Fumimaro Ayanokoji and his Chipmunk was first introduced in Crossroad in the Ancient Capital and received their first canon manga appearance in the Crimson School Trip Case.
Special Circumstances
Momiji Ooka and Muga Iori
Originally Momiji Ooka was a character created for Movie 21 for the purpose of being a love rival in the Heiji/Kazuha relationship. On the Movie 20 celebration on 04/15/2016, Aoyama decided to let Momiji briefly show up in the manga series so that her later appearance in M21 wouldn't seem too abrupt. Muga Iori was originally designed by Aoyama himself, however his original design was to be an old man, then later changed to a young man.[7]
Events
- Misao Yamamura was first promoted to inspector in The Raven Chaser, and this was referenced in the anime in The Witch Enshrouded by Fog, and then made it to the manga in the Kappa Murder Case.
Other
- The telescopic lens modification for Conan's glasses that was introduced in Countdown to Heaven has entered manga canon in the Unsmashable Snowman Case.
- The fact that Eri Kisaki is bad at cooking, introduced in Movie 2. [8]
- The fact that Kogoro has a great aim, introduced in Movie 2. [9]
- Ayumi and Ai enjoys wearing makeup in their spare time, introduced in OVA 11, and made it to the manga in File 939 - Lunch at the Department Store!.
Elements from other Manga that have become canon
Assorted characters, locations and plots from other Manga by Gosho Aoyama have appeared in and influenced the story of Detective Conan to a certain degree.
3rd Base 4th
- Kohnan High School from this Manga is established as the past alma mater of Yoko Okino[10], Akiyoshi Fujie[10], Ryusuke Higo and Teiya Asuka.
- The protagonists visit a baseball match between the two teams from 3rd Base 4th at Koshien, lead by Shigeo Nagashima and Kazuhisa Inao, with cameos by their supporting characters Yutaka Enatsu and her father, as well as the old coach of Kohnan High School. The final match from the last chapters of their own series is referenced as "one year ago" in Detective Conan, making it partly canon, too[11][12], but retconned in the way that Kohnan High lost it instead of winning like in their own series, wanting a rematch with Ohgane High School. This is probably due to the fact that it was played and won with magical sports equipment, rendering it non-canon to the world of Detective Conan, effectively placing 3rd Base 4th in a parallel world, with the rematch based on a "what if" scenario.
Magic Kaito
- The Tropical Land amusement park originally appeared in chapter 4 of Magic Kaito before becoming a central location in Detective Conan.[13][14]
- Kaito Kuroba and his phantom thief alter-ego Kaito Kid, Toichi and Chikage Kuroba, Aoko and her father inspector Ginzo Nakamori, as well as high school detective Saguru Hakuba and Konosuke Jii from Magic Kaito exist in the world of Detective Conan and regularly have guest appearances in the series. Gosho Aoyama ruled out the canonicity of Akako Koizumi and the existence of magic, though.[15][16]
- The Blue Parrot Pool Bar owned by Konosuke Jii also appeared as a crime scene, with Gosho himself confirming that it's supposed to be the same place as in Magic Kaito.
The Santa Claus of Summer
- The Aoshima sisters owned a lot of merchandise about famous pop idols, including a poster of Asuka Anzai, who is one of the two protagonists from The Santa Claus of Summer. Kogoro Mori recognizes her as an existing celebrity.[17]
Yaiba
- The ONY Corporation, a play on the real life company SONY, originally appeared in Yaiba.
- Michiko Kurogane and her children Yaiba and Moroha Kurogane exist in Detective Conan[18], as well as Soshi Okita, who is in love with Moroha and performs as a recurring kendo rival to Heiji Hattori.[19][20][18] Yaiba's arch-rival Takeshi Onimaru also appears as a regular human participant during a school kendo tournament.[20]
- Soshi Okita also knows about Onimaru, implying that something akin to the Oda Nobunaga tournament happened in Conan's world, too.[20]
See also
References
- ^ Note: More recent movies since Movie 18 have connected with ongoing storylines. In Movie 18, Okiya was shown speaking in Akai's voice for a single line. While decisive, this clue was very late relative the the number of major hints given in the manga and anime-adaptations.
- ^ *For instance, in Movie 13, the Black Organization attacked the Tokyo Tower with a military helicopter. This leads to strange questions about how they obtained such powerful military equipment at a moment's notice, and how they could fly it into the heart of Tokyo without attracting the attention of Japan's self-defense airforce or the US military stationed in Japan. In addition it creates a contradiction since the Organization is supposed to value secrecy, yet such a brazen and stunning attack would surely attract the entire world's attention and extremely potent law enforcement attention from many countries.
The problem only becomes worse in Movie 20 where the Black Organization manages to scramble a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. At the time of the movie's release, only the US military operated such craft. The closest base to Tokyo where they would be housed is about 400 miles away in Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture. For the Black Organization to gain control of a V-22 (there are less than 300 in existence), they would need intelligence and operations skills and resources that surpass those of world powers like China or Russia. - ^ Initially, the first four movies and manga disagreed about Kogoro's skill as a police officer and detective. The movies implied that Kogoro was lazy and foolish, but he had occasional flashes of brilliance and useful skills as an officer, like masterful marksmanship. In contrast, the manga implied he was thoroughly terrible as an officer. Eventually, Gosho adopted the idea that Kogoro could muster up some ability in particular situations.
- ^ Interview gab Gosho Aoyama am 22. Juli 2006 im Rahmen einer Pressekonferenz auf dem Comic-Salon in Erlangen
Interview with Gosho Aoyama on 22nd July 2006 at a press conference at Comic-Salon in Erlangen
Q: In einem der Kinofilme legt sich Sonoko eine andere Frisur zu(siehe Film 5). Wird sie diese Frisur auch in Manga bekommen?
Q: During one of the movies Sonoko got a different hairstyle (see movie 5). Is she also going to get this hairstyle in the manga version?
A: Die Filme und die Manga sind völlig getrennt. Im Manga wird Sonoko also ihre alte Frisur behalten.
A: The movies and the manga version are completely separated from each other. So Sonoko will keep her old hairstyle in the manga version.
transcript in German
translation credit to Aki-kun - ^ http://meitanteikonanplot.blogspot.se/2014/03/special-post-two-part-1-interview-with.html
- ^ http://detective-conan-news.blogspot.se/2011/05/2011-aoyama-gosho-interview.html
- ^ (Movie 21 guide book, information from FirefoxAPTX)
- ^ Super Digest Book 40+
- ^ Super Digest Book 40+
- ^ a b Volume 1, File 9 - 9
- ^ Volume 43, File 10 - 11
- ^ Volume 44, File 1 - 3
- ^ Magic Kaito Volume 1 - Contains the first appearance of Tropical Land in chapter 4.
- ^ Volume 1 - Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mori visit Tropical Land. The location becomes a recurring one.
- ^ Interviews#Magic Kaito Vol 5 Playback Episode
As I thought, Akako uses red magic ! (Fortunately Akako doesn't exist in Conan's world (laughs)).
translation credit to Startold and Yunnie - ^ Lets Talk with Gosho Aoyama Day#2018 DCTP Thread version
Q26: "How different are the Kaito and Kid from MK?"
A: "They're different, right? In MK he's the protagonist, and in Conan I try to make him look like cool and there's also Akako in MK."
translation credit to Spimer - ^ Volume 20, File 7 - 9
- ^ a b Volume 95
- ^ Volume 31
- ^ a b c Volume 94
