Shuichi Akai
| Shuichi Akai | |
|
| |
| Age: | ? |
|---|---|
| Gender: | Male |
| Nicknames: | Shu (Jodie) Dai-kun (Akemi) Akai-kun (James) |
| Aliases: | Rye Dai Moroboshi |
| First appearance: | Manga: Chapter 287 Anime: Episode 230 |
| Appearances: | Chapters: 97 Chapters: 4 Episodes: 80 Episodes: 2 Movies: 4 OVAs: 0 Specials: 1 Openings: 22 Closings: 4 |
| Keyhole number: | Volume 37 |
| Japanese voice: | Shuichi Ikeda |
Shuichi Akai (赤井 秀一 Akai Shuuichi) is an F.B.I. agent and a major figure in the battle against the Black Organization. He once assumed the identity of Dai Moroboshi (諸星 大 Moroboshi Dai) and infiltrated the Organization, where he was given the codename Rye (ライ ). During this time he made enemies with Gin and Bourbon and became romantically involved with Akemi Miyano.
Contents
Plot overview
The Rotten Apple Case
During a visit in New York, Ran encountered a strange man apparently working for the FBI during his hunt of a serial killer aka Sharon Vineyard loose in the area.[1] More than a year later, this enigmatic young man appeared in Tokyo, surreptitiously observing her, Conan and Ai Haibara.
At first Conan suspected the man to be a member of the Black Organization he's pursuing - which is in fact a half-truth. The man was eventually revealed as Shuichi Akai, American of Japanese descent and member of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, on special assignment - the hunt for the very same organization - in Japan, along with his superior James Black and his partner Jodie Starling.[2] He had infiltrated the Organization under the name Dai Moroboshi - and the codename "Rye" - as a mole[3] and dated Akemi Miyano, one of their low-ranking members, to feed information to the FBI. In order to facilitate the latter, and later because he had genuinely developed feelings for Akemi, Akai saw himself forced to break up his then on-going relationship with Jodie.[4] Later on, his cover in the Organization was accidentally blown by his colleague Andre Camel, and when Akemi was killed, he declared her murderer, Gin (with whom he seems to have had some tensions even before his exposure), his personal enemy.[5]
Red vs. Black
Eventually, following the capture of Organization member Rena Mizunashi, he was introduced to Conan, and the two worked on a plan to re-introduce Rena, who was in fact a CIA mole, back into the ranks of the Organization. One condition of her reintegration, however, was that she should personally kill Akai, who had been declared the Organization's most dangerous enemy. Mizunashi lured him to an isolated spot for a meeting and shot him at point-blank range before incinerating his car with a bomb. Strangely, Akai seemed to accept his impending doom with great calm.[6]
Faked Death?
Several abnormalities surrounding Akai's death invite the possibility that Akai faked his death with Conan and Mizunashi Rena's help. Inconsistent details like disappearing blood trails are evidence Akai's body was tampered with by someone other than Kir, and Conan's reaction to the news of Akai's death is suspiciously subdued. The theory is that Akai's death was faked by using blank cartridges and blood packets with small detonators to simulate gunshots. When Kir moves to the front of Akai's truck to prepare the bomb, it creates a gap of time where Gin and Vodka cannot see Akai's body with Kir's camera. At this time, Akai switches places with Rikumichi Kusuda's body which had been dressed up beforehand to look like Akai. Akai escapes the truck before it explodes. Meanwhile Conan's will loan Jodie Starling one of his identical cellphones which has Rikumichi's fingerprints on it. She will think they are Akai's and when she goes to validate the identity of the body with the police, it will match Rikumichi's fingerprints and she will be fooled into thinking Akai died.
"Scar Akai"
Some time afterwards, during a stroll through Tokyo, Jodie encountered a man who looks exactly like Shuichi, but with a huge burn scar on the side of his face. Jodie was reluctant to believe that this man was Shuichi, and has not told anyone of her discovery, rather attempting to figure it out on her own. In the Detective Boys vs. Robber Group case, the man helped Conan defeat the robbery gang, though Conan himself didn't learn about his presence or involvement then.[7]
Subaru Okiya
One popular theory is that Subaru Okiya is Shuichi Akai. Okiya first appeared not long after Akai's apparent death. Okiya and Akai have many similarities, such as appearance and left handedness. Conan trusts him and ignores Haibara's reactions to him. Conan also seemed to know about the place where Okiya lived before they met. Ran also feels like she recognizes Okiya from somewhere. The name "Okiya Subaru" continues the pattern of puns on "Char Aznable" that "Akai Shuuichi" and his alias "Moroboshi Dai" follow.
Personality
Akai is a very professional agent. Even in personal matters, he remains cool, even detached, from anyone, but his redeeming value is a great sense of loyalty to anyone he knows. He is a skilled and relentless pursuer and detective, qualities which have labeled him the number one enemy of the Black Organization and earned him the nickname "Silver Bullet".
In the short time they have worked together, Akai has come to respect Conan's intellect and deductive skills. It may very well be the case that he might one day find out that Conan and Shinichi Kudo are really one and the same person. However, there is speculation amongst fans that Akai already knows Conan's secret, due to the fact that he figured out that Ai was formerly Sherry and (more than likely) learned about her research for the Black Organization and the two possible effects of APTX 4869.
Relationship Analysis
- Shuichi Akai and Akemi Miyano
Shuichi originally met Akemi Miyano by accident. She accidentally hit him with her car when he was walking in the street. Akemi was concerned over this, and helped take him to the hospital, watching over him until he was better. When he woke up, he felt no anger over what she did, and even asked for her name, to which a very flustered Akemi told him her name, while he told her his fake name: Dai Moroboshi. After this, both of them discovered they were in the Black Organization, and began dating. However, for Akai, there was a catch involved. To the FBI, Akai's relationship was merely a stepping stone, something to use to take advantage of the Black Organization, and to get information. However, as James Black later recalls, Akai had begun to fall in love with Akemi, and consider her his real girlfriend.
In Akemi's heart, she always felt that Akai (Dai,) really wasn't who he seemed to be. Later, due to a massive error by Andre Camel, Akai is discovered to be an FBI agent, leading to his exile from the Organization. When Akemi discovers this, she runs to him in tears, sad and angry, and afraid that Akai really had only used her to get information on the Organization. When Akai asks her why she never said anything about her suspicions before, Akemi basically hints it is because she loves him. After this, Akemi and Akai don't hear from each other for a long while, and Akemi's role in the Organization dwindles because they believe that she gave information about the Organization to Akai. After the successful bank heist, she is killed by the Organization. However, on the day of the heist, Akemi sent Akai a long text message, tell him that after the heist, when she is finally free from the Organization, if he wants to be her real boyfriend. Akai is never able to answer this, as she is killed by Gin. Akai treasures this text message, and it was even still in his phone, many months after Akemi's death.
- Shuichi Akai and Jodie Starling
Later on in the series it shows that Akai and Jodie used to go out in episode 563 and he broke up with her because he was going out with Akemi and didn't want to feel guilty about two timing them.
Name origin
Akai's name comes from the Mobile Suit Gundam character Char Aznable, whose nickname was the "Red (Akai) Comet", and Char's voice actor Shuichi Ikeda (who is also Akai's voice actor). Additionally, his alias, Dai Moroboshi, comes from Char's real name, Casval Rem Deikun (sounds like Dai-kun in Japanese). Moroboshi can also mean falling star, another possible allusion to Red Comet.
Trivia
- Akai's voice actor, Shuichi Ikeda, is the real-life husband of Akemi Miyano's voice actress, Sakiko Tamagawa.
