Masumi Sera
| Masumi Sera | |
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| Japanese name: | 世良 真純 (Sera Masumi) |
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| Age: | 16-17? |
| Gender: | Female |
| First appearance: | Manga: Chapter 768 Anime: N/A |
| Appearances: | Chapters: 112 Episodes: 73 Movies: 2 Specials: 1 Openings: 15 Closings: 7 |
| Cases solved: | ? |
| Keyhole number: | Volume 73 |
Masumi Sera (世良 真純 Sera Masumi) is a self-proclaimed high school detective and practitioner of the martial art Jeet Kune Do. After making a mostly correct deduction during a murder case, she transfers to Ran's high school class. She seems to know that Conan is a detective.
Contents
- 1 Background
- 2 Personality
- 3 Plot overview
- 4 Speculation
Background
Sera is a high school detective and skilled at Jeet Kune Do, the martial art founded by Bruce Lee. She can fight in the same level as Ran. She transfers to Ran and Sonoko's class at Teitan High. Since three years ago, she'd been living in America with her parents. She claims she'd rather live in Japan where she was born and raised, so she came to Tokyo and is currently living in a hotel.
Personality
Sera has a "cheery, sociable, boyish" personality[1] and is well liked by her classmates at Teitan High. On their first meeting, Sera fails to correct Sonoko's mistaken impression that she is a man and even makes it worse by declaring that Ran is "his type".[2] On another hand, Sera purposefully lured a hostage-taker into a sniper's sight with a smile, hoping he would be shot without showing any apprehension about the man dying a presumably messy death in front of her. Sera is especially quick minded, coming up with clever plans and adapting them to sudden changes rapidly. Sera seems to be prone to dramatics like most detectives are, but perhaps to a lesser degree than Shinichi or Hattori as she bluntly says who the criminal is without preamble. Although she has crime scene experience[3], Sera seems to be less skilled as a detective than Conan, apparently missing a critical clue that was necessary to understand how the murderer's setup worked, although Conan opines that Sera purposely made an error in order to test him. Her catchphrase may be "case closed".
Plot overview
Sera's Introduction (Manga 768-770)
Sera first met Sonoko, Ran, and Conan on a bus after she was mistaken for a groper. After Sonoko declared Sera was the groper, Sera and Ran got into a fight, with Sera's Jeet Kune Do holding even against Ran's karate. Conan and Sera cleared up the misunderstanding by pointing out the real groper. Sonoko then mistook Sera for a boy, an impression which wasn't helped by Sera declaring that Ran was "his type".[2] Sera and Ran both discovered they were heading to the same hotel, about which Conan is less than pleased.
Sera finds out the hotel she is staying at doesn't have a room available and complains at the front desk. A man then falls into the parking lot and dies. Conan runs to the source of screaming while Sera told the guard to watch the elevators before running to the roof. She immediately declares the crime to be a murder, giving her reasoning. She then reveals her name, Sera, that she is a detective, and knows Conan is a detective as well.
Inspector Megure is not pleased to have another high school detective underfoot but lets Sera and Conan investigate regardless. After listening to the suspect testimony, police observations, and examining the crime scene, Sera announces that she has solved the case.
However, Sera's deduction leaves out a critical detail; Conan is therefore forced to use Shinichi's phone to call his own, give Inspector Megure Conan's phone, and speak through Shinichi's as Shinichi using the voice-changer bow tie. Shinichi figures out the detail that had Sera stumped, although a look she gives Conan as he runs off suggests her omission was possibly intentional, and once during the phone conversation she tries to trick Shinichi into admitting that he is physically present at the crime scene instead of being explained the details by Conan and Megure.
The following day, Sera transfers to Teitan High School, surprising both Ran and Sonoko. She was rather popular at school surrounded by students asking her questions about herself.
Kogoro Detective Agency Hostage Crisis (Manga 771-774)
Let's hear your brilliant deduction! (771)
According to Sonoko, Sera has become very popular at Teitan high for being "cheery, sociable, boyish, and cute...and on top of that, she is a jeet kun do-using female detective!"[4] One classmate compares her to Shinichi Kudo who has been taking a break from school. Sera tells inquiring classmates that she has been staying in America with her parents since three years ago, but "rebelled" because she would rather live in her Japan where she was born and raised. She sneaks up behind Sonoko and Ran after school because she wanted to speak to Conan at the Mouri Detective Agency. At the agency, Sera is unhappy to hear that Conan and the rest of detective boys are staying at Agasa's house and will be camping the following day. She settles for asking Kogoro if Conan is always at his side when he solves cases, hinting that she suspects Conan is the real brains behind "Sleeping Kogoro".
Just as Sera is about to walk out the door, three female mystery writers and a man enter the agency. After a moment of confusion, the man suddenly fires a gun into the roof and takes the detective agency hostage. His demands are that Kogoro figure out which of the three writers killed his sister at a ryokan one month ago. The quick thinking Sera sidles up to Ran and tells her to go for the man's gun after she takes his legs out. Sera's leg sweep sends to man to the floor, and Ran removes the gun from the man's hand with a kick; however, Sera leaps back when the man reveals he has bombs strapped around his chest and will detonate them if they try to stop him.
Meanwhile at Agasa's, Haibara is angry that Conan used Shinichi's voice to solve a case around the suspicious Sera. Conan's response is that Sera is familiar somehow, like they have met before or she looks like someone, and Conan feels she isn't an enemy. Meanwhile, Genta and Mitsuhiko told Conan they saw a high school student walking home with Ran, so the jealous Conan calls Ran's cellphone to hear about it from her.
The hostage taker man orders Ran to answer her phone, but Sera snatches the phone away and says hello to Conan (who is shocked that Sera is with Ran). Sera then tricks the hostage taker and keeps the line connected so Conan can listen in by closing Ran's Sea Cucumber Man cellphone strap in between the screen and keypad of the the flip phone.
Nickname Rules (772)
Sera asks a few insightful questions about the case; however the hostage taker man discovers Ran's phone is still connected. Under gunpoint, Sera steps in front of Ran takes the blame, but Conan, using Shinichi's voice, says he ordered Ran to do it. Sera is mystified by why Shinichi is now on Conan's phone. Sera meanwhile spots a glint of light across from the detective agency and declares that the case will come to an end without Shinichi's help.
Possible Sniping (773)
Sera explains to Ran that she secretly kept the call to Conan connected so he could call the police and research into the case. While Sera is still surprised that Shinichi was on the other end of the line instead of Conan, she had initially hoped that Shinichi would somehow be able to talk down the would-be-murderer. She suspects that Shinichi has already figured which one of the suspects is the murderer in the ryokan case, but Shinichi is unable to reveal the truth because the hostage taker would then kill the named culprit and then himself. Sera's plan changed when she noticed the lights from the police snipers on the building across from Mouri Detective Agency. She explains to Ran in detail the names and functions of the various police divisions responsible for hostage situations, and tells Ran in a roundabout fashion that this situation will end with the hostage taker being killed by the police.
Sera launches a plan to bring the hostage taker into the snipers' range by telling him he should charge Ran's phone battery. Ran foils Sera's intentions by shutting the curtains, blocking the snipers' shot. To Sera's utter astonishment, Ran tells her that she doesn't want to see anyone die in front of her and declares that "Shinichi won't allow anyone to die. He absolutely wouldn't!"[5]
The book with unturned pages (774)
Sera and Ran take the opportunity to disable the hostage taker when he loses his composure and grip on the detonator after Shinichi tricks him into believing his sister committed suicide. Sera yells for the waiting bomb squad to secure the area. With the hostage taker arrested, Shinichi then reveals the true culprit. Sera realizes the mistake in her deduction and explains the correct timeline of events before the murder. Sometime soon after the conclusion of the case, Sera, walking with Ran and Sonoko speculates aloud that there must be some reason Shinichi left Agasa's before Ran could meet him there. She then exclaims that "due to what just happened, she really gets it", that Conan and Shinichi are on very good terms with one another, and that Ran "is tougher than Sera thought". Conan isn't sure what to make of these last comments.
Video Site (775-777)
Sera stops Genta and Mitsuhiko outside of Agasa's house to ask them if they are acquaintances of Professor Agasa. The topic of Shinichi comes up when she talks to the two detective boys about the prior hostage case. Mitsuhiko mentions that Haibara told them to keep Shinichi's involvement secret. After asking about Haibara, Sera mentions that she saw Haibara in one of the professor's online videos. Next, Sera asks who is currently living in the Kudo house because she saw the curtains shift slightly. The detective boys tell her that Subaru Okiya has been staying there since his apartment burnt down.
Sera cryptically comments with a smirk on her face, "And here I thought that someone had just settled in without permission...But it seems I was just getting worked up over nothing..." while looking up at where Okiya Subaru is hiding.
At the end of the case, Sera is in her hotel room deleting various files. One of her deleted files was a still image from Agasa's video blown up to show Haibara reflected in Agasa's glasses. This indicates that she is not only keeping an eye on Conan but also on Haibara. "Delete... Delete... For data, at least is an easy task to accomplish...", were her words while she was doing it.
East vs. West Rematch (778-780)
The case opens with Ran talking to Sera about Heiji Hattori who is stopping by for a visit. Sera is curious whether Hattori or Shinichi is the better detective. After Hattori is introduced to Sera, Kazuha then calls Heiji and tells her that she is stuck at a restaurant because someone died and a foreigner is keeping everyone from leaving. Sera proposes Hattori and Shinichi (via Conan's cellphone) have a deduction match. At the crime scene, Sera becomes curious about the foreigner, Andre Camel who secured the area. The police and Conan reveal Camel is an FBI agent and Sera takes interest. Meanwhile Camel finds that Sera looks familiar, but can't quite place why. He takes a picture of her and mails it to Jodie and James Black who are waiting outside. Jodie and James Black think Sera resembles someone too, but only James Black correctly identified Sera as female.
Meanwhile Sera is busy helping with the case, asking questions and making comments about various deductions. Hattori nearly slips up with Conan's identity in front of her earning a pointed question from Sera, but Hattori rescues himself by saying he thinks of Conan as Kudo when Conan gets smug have hearing Shinichi's deductions over the phone. Sera doesn't seemed to be fooled though, her thoughts show that she seems to know Conan, not Shinichi, is the one solving the case while watching Conan come to his final conclusion.
EYE (781)
Conan, Heji, Sera, and the rest of the group return to the Mouri detective agency after the poisoning case at Danny's restaurant. Hattori reveals the case that brought him to Tokyo; he received a mysterious letter signed in the name of a person who was murdered in Karuizawa requesting an investigation. Sera takes an immediate interest in the case and wants to tag along, but Hattori refuses saying that the people he is visiting are only expected five people. Sera is peeved at being left behind.
Kogoro-san is a Good Man (787)
Sera is walking with Conan, Ran and Sonoko. While they wonder why Kogoro has been coming home late, Sonoko thinks he's found himself a mistress. Sera thinks that he is just investigating a case. When an old lady named Takae Kiritani comes, she claims that Kogoro has been helping her. Sera asks what he does for her to which she replies that its small things like helping around the house. Sera isn't seen again for the rest of the case.
Murder at Mouri Detective Agency (797-800)
During a murder case at Mouri Detective agency, after meeting Kogoro's new apprentice Tooru Amuro, Megure comments that the number of detectives around Kogoro has increased again, referring to Sera. Amuro takes interest in Sera. Later, Kogoro and friends go over to a suspect's apartment. Sera calls Ran after hearing about the murder on the news because she is worried about her and Conan. The call has an usual amount of static which alerts Amuro that there are listening devices present. Amuro abruptly hangs up Ran's phone on Sera. Meanwhile, Conan intentionally gets himself kidnapped by the primary suspect. After Ran enables calling again, Sera calls back immediately and is very upset because she was worried something had happened to Ran. Ran tells her that Conan has been kidnapped, and details to Sera the murder at Kogoro's agency. In order to figure out where the kidnapper is headed, Kogoro and Amuro search the apartment and decide to go to the address of one of the other suspects.
Sera arrives at suspect's home on her motorcycle, but just misses Kogoro and the gang leaving. She hears the elevator descending and rushes back downstairs in time to follow Amuro's car. Meanwhile, the culprit has been driving around with Conan while Haibara has been directing Okiya's car towards them using the criminal tracking glasses. Okiya catches up to the kidnapper and relays what the car looks like to Kogoro. Amuro sees the suspect's car heading in the opposite direction so he quickly wheels around after it. Sera, who has been following Amuro's car this whole time, u-turns after Amuro and continues chasing. Amuro gets in front of the suspect's car and stops it. The suspect gets out of the car holding Conan at gunpoint, but Sera drives up onto the roof of the car. She swings her motorcycle around so that the rear wheel slams into the woman's face knocking her unconscious. With tears of relief, Sera squeezes Conan, happy he is safe. Amuro, Okiya, and Vermouth look on.
Meeting with Scar Akai (801-8??)
Speculation
Sera knew Conan and Ran's identities before they introduced themselves. Although she claimed to know Ran from Karate tournaments, she additionally recognized Conan as a detective. This may indicate Sera has done research or follows stories about Conan's achievements or that she has had direct or indirect contact with Conan and Ran. However, Ran and Conan didn't recognize Sera. Sera might be one of Ran's martial arts rivals, although Ran, did not recognize her. In file 771, it is revealed that she also knows Professor Agasa, although she calls him "Professor whatshisname". Furthermore, Sera seems to decipher Conan's identity from Chapter 779, Abe-chan, where she can predict that Conan would be able to solve this case, successfully.
Shuichi Akai's younger sister
Sera might be the younger sister of Shuichi Akai. Sera has bags under her eyes identical to Shuichi Akai's. Also, Masumi Sera's name is also incredibly similar to Mobile Suit Gundam character Sayla Mass (セイラ・マス, Seira Masu). Akai's name is derived from Sayla Mass's older brother's name, Char Anzable. Also, Conan said he has a feeling he had met her before.
| “ | Somehow I feel like we've met somewhere before, it might be that person resembles someone I know, that's why the feeling that we've met before is on my mind...[6] | „ |
Sera lived in Japan until three years ago when her family moved to America. This matches with the time when Akai was infiltrating the Black Organization. The family's move to America could be the FBI's attempt to protect them should something go wrong with Akai's mission. It's also interesting to note that Andre Camel and most likely James Black seem to recognize her from somewhere. On another interesting note, James Black was the first to recognize that Sera was a girl. Everyone else thought that she was a guy when they first saw her. Since James was Akai's boss, he would most likely know that Akai has a younger sister and what she would look like.
In 801, Sera chased after Scar Akai who appeared while she was walking with Ran in front of the Detective agency. Although Scar Akai hid before she could find him, she told Ran that she had just seen "someone she knew". She then thinks there is no way it was possible, which would make sense if she thought Akai was dead. This implies she isn't Bourbon, since Bourbon believes he is the only one who can kill Akai and that Gin failed to do so, hence he wouldn't think that it was impossible to meet Akai again in the street.
Sera has an interest in Conan and Haibara. While her interest is suspicious, if Sera is Akai's sister, the interest may come from the pictures of Conan and Haibara that Akai took back during the Vermouth arc. It is standard procedure in the US to send the personal belongings of the dead back to their families. If Akai mixed these pictures in with his own things when he took them out of his truck before meeting with Kir, it's possible they were overlooked when the FBI sent Akai's things to his family. If Sera was interested in finding out how and why Akai died, she would begin by researching the people in those pictures and those connected with them in hopes of finding clues.
- ^ Manga Volume 73, File 9, Page 3, "Let's hear your brilliant deduction!"
- ^ a b The Japanese pronoun used is gender neutral and can refer to either males or females.
- ^ Manga Volume 73, File 7, pg 3: "A Detective Just Like You, Little Boy"
- ^ Manga Volume 73, File 9, Page 3, "Let's hear your brilliant deduction!"
- ^ Volume 73, File 11, page 13, "Possible Sniping." Shinichi then begins to present his deductions over the phone and Sera wonders how he will manage to resolve this situation without bloodshed.
- ^ Manga Chapter 771: Let's Hear Your Brilliant Deduction! p.11
