Shuichi Akai
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| Shuichi Akai | |
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| Japanese name: | 赤井 秀一 (Akai Shūichi) |
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| Age: | 27?[1] |
| Gender: | Male |
| Relatives: | Masumi Sera (younger sister) ??? (brother) |
| Occupation: | FBI Agent |
| Nicknames: | Shuu (Jodie) Dai-kun (Akemi) Akai-kun (James) Silver Bullet (The Boss & Vermouth) |
| Aliases: | Rye Dai Moroboshi Subaru Okiya |
| First appearance: | Manga: File 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 Shūichi) is an FBI 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
Background
Shuichi Akai is an American of Japanese descent and member of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, on special assignment in Japan to capture Vermouth. His superior is James Black and his partner is Jodie Starling.[2] He had infiltrated the Black 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 Black 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]
Infiltration of the Black Organization
Five years prior to the current time-line, FBI agent Shuichi Akai infiltrated the Black Organization using the alias Dai Moroboshi as a mole and dated Akemi Miyano, one of their low-ranking members, in order to meet Shiho Miyano and use her influence to get into the Black Organization.[6] Although at first he was simply using Akemi as a tool, they both fell in love with each other. Akai distinguished himself as an agent and two years prior to the current time-line received the codename Rye and was called to work under executive agent Gin. The FBI laid a trap hoping to capture Gin at a warehouse where the meeting was supposed to take place,[6] but the Black Organization discovered Akai's true allegiance and Gin never appeared.[7]
Personality
Akai is a tenacious but stoic 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". He looks forward to opportunities to hunt the Black Organization down and get revenge for Akemi. While usually professional, he often acts independently of the FBI, and even his boss James Black has trouble getting ahold of him. Shuichi gets along well with Conan, who share many personality traits.
James Black says Akai is an introverted person who doesn't easily get close to people and he has become even more closed off since Akemi's death.[8] He doesn't often say what he is thinking. Shuichi has an unhealthy tendency to prioritize his missions above the emotional wellbeing of his friends, coworkers, family, and love interests.[9] Conflict between his missions and the interests of those he cares about has lead to significant sorrow for him[10] and others.[11]
Shuichi prefers to plan secretly, and will readily trick his friends and coworkers, even injuring them, if helps the success of his missions.[12] Shuichi is often forgiven for these transgressions because his judgment is usually sound and his plans work out well.[13] Shuichi's secret plans, while strategically robust in the short term, often cause emotional problems for others that he does not fully appreciate.[14]
Even though he means well, Shuichi is notably clumsy at trying to comfort and connect with others. As Okiya, his technique to approach Haibara leaves her terrified of him, and repeated contact only intensifies her loathing. Despite his social awkwardness, Shuichi is not unempathetic; he gives Jodie some hope by leaving her a message in his own handwriting, and leaves her a very roundabout hint about his identity after knocking her down even though he cannot reveal the truth to her yet.
Appearance
Akai is a tall man of Japanese descent with short wavy hair. His trademark features, by which people close to him have identified him are his eyes which have permanent bags underneath them that make him appear sleep deprived. Other characters often describe him as evil eyed or having a sharp gaze. His eyes are blue in the manga (like every other character) and green in the anime. He and Masumi Sera presumably more closely resemble their mother then their father. The second trademark feature is his knit cap, which he is always shown wearing. When he was younger he had a grey fedora which Masumi now wears herself. Up to one year ago, he had very long waist length hair, which he cut after the death of Akemi Miyano "to freshen up." Akai is left-handed. He is a heavy smoker and his favorite drink is bourbon.
His outfit is a grey jacket on top of a collared black shirt, black pants, shoes, and his trademark black knit cap.
Abilities
Intelligence
Akai is capable of thinking on par with Conan. He once set up a sniper ambush at a nearby building, knowing that the Black Organization will come and try to kill Kogoro. He also mentioned that he knew that "making them think the FBI set up the transmitter was the priority." [15]
Firearms and Sniping
Akai, is the most capable sniper shown so far, to the point of shooting a small piece of gum out of Gin's hand from about 700 yards away, which is a lot more than the range of Black Organization's professional snipers Chianti and Korn. He also managed to get a shot on Gin from the same distance. [16] Akai is good at handling shotguns as well; he accurately shot Vermouth from the hip faster than she could aim at him with her subcompact pistol. He is a sharpshooter with a handgun as well, capable of busting a moving car's tire from a speeding car with just a single shot. [17]
Driving
Akai is a skilled driver. He can overtake many cars quickly in heavy traffic conditions and drift around a u-turn.[18] He drives a Chevrolet C1500.
Appellations
Plot overview
Timeline
Speculation
Identity of Shuichi Akai's younger brother
Relationships analysis
Family & Friends
Akemi Miyano
Shuichi Akai and Akemi Miyano were lovers while he was infiltrating the Black Organization. Akai's original mission was to date Akemi Miyano in order to meet Shiho Miyano. Akai used Shiho's influence to gain rank in the Organization, intending to become trusted enough to meet with high level agents so the FBI could capture one for questioning. As James Black later recalls, although Akai's relationship with Akemi was merely a stepping stone, Akai actually fell in love with Akemi, and considered her his real girlfriend. Because of this he broke up with Jodie Starling.
Sometime later, Akemi develops the suspicion that Akai really wasn't who he claimed to be. After Akai's expulsion, he confirms that he is an FBI agent to her. To Akai's surprise, Akemi doesn't seemed surprised by this, so Akai asks her why she never said anything about her suspicions that she was being used by him before, and Akemi hints it is because she loves him. Initially, the Organization couldn't do anything about Akemi because they needed the loyalty of her sister, but two years later they decided that the risk of her contact with Akai was too much. They decided to create a situation where they could eliminate her by having her do a bank heist she was supposed to fail. Sometime near the day of the heist, Akemi sent Akai a long text message, asking him if he wants to be her real boyfriend when she is finally free from the Organization. After the heist, Akemi is killed by Gin, and it is unknown how Akai responded if at all. Akai treasures her final text message, and keeps it in his phone many months after Akemi's death. The message also contains a P.S. which has not been revealed yet.
How Akemi and Akai met in the manga is unknown, but in the anime, Shuichi Akai originally met Akemi by an intentional accident. She accidentally hit him with her car when he deliberately walked into the street in front of her in order to be hit by her.[20] Akemi was concerned, 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 replied, while he told her his fake name: Dai Moroboshi. After this they began dating.
Jodie Starling
While Jodie and Akai's relationship had been viewed as mere colleagues, it is revealed later on in the series that Jodie and Akai had dated before about 5 years prior. However, after Akai infiltrated the Black Organization under the alias of Dai Moroboshi, he started dating Akemi Miyano in hopes of using her to attain information about the Black Organization. Despite this, Akai ended up falling in love with Akemi, leading him to break up with Jodie, stating that, "To be able to love two women at the same time…it’s not that handy a personality."[21] In spite of the break-up, Jodie still held strong feelings for Akai which never wavered as time passed and took his apparent death at Kir's hands especially hard, to the point of being reduced to tears.
James Black
James Black is the boss of FBI agents and Akai too.
Andre Camel
Andre Camel worked with Shuichi Akai before when he was an agent in the Black Organization and they meet together again in Clash of Red and Black.
Ai Haibara
When Haibara first met Akai, she thought he was a member of the Black Organization. Akai seems to know of Haibara's identity. Haibara knows him as Dai Moroboshi, her sister's boyfriend who betrayed the Organization.[22] Haibara should know Dai was a spy and FBI agent, after hearing an exchange between Bourbon and Kaitou Kid through a microphone[23], but she does not know him by the name Shuichi Akai. He made a promise with a certain woman to look after Haibara's welfare.[24]
Conan Edogawa
Akai and Conan gets along well and are capable of thinking on par with one another. In the short time they have worked together, Akai has come to respect Conan's intellect and deductive skills and speaks to him professionally. He is also aware that Conan and Shinichi Kudo are really one and the same person [25]. There is further speculation amongst fans that Akai has 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.
Masumi Sera
Masumi Sera is Akai's younger sister.
Black Organization
Gin
Shuichi Akai and Gin are rivals and hate one another. It is implied that they didn't get along even before Akai was exposed as an undercover FBI agent. Akai refers to Gin as "Koibito", which ironically means 'lover.' Gin killed Akai's love Akemi, so Akai thinks of Gin as his archenemy.
Bourbon
Shuichi Akai and Bourbon are stated to be enemies. It's been stated that Bourbon hated Akai more than Gin did. Bourbon believed himself to be the only one capable of killing Akai, and refused to believe that Akai was dead. Akai feels neutral toward Bourbon, saying that he is not someone that he wants as an enemy.
Character popularity
- eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Akai placed 12th in the poll with 53 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.[26]
- In honor of the release of the 800th manga chapter, Shonen Sunday held a popularity poll/contest containing 91 Detective Conan characters to choose from. Akai placed 7th overall with 415 votes.[27]
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.[28]
Different looks
File:Shuichi After.jpeg Shuichi's "After" Appearance (Episode 345) |
Quotes
| “ | Fear of death is worse than death itself. | „ |
— Said to Camel.[29] | ||
| “ | Don't make that kind of face... | „ |
Trivia
- Akai's voice actor, Shuichi Ikeda, is the real-life husband of Akemi Miyano's voice actress, Sakiko Tamagawa.
- Akai is left-handed.
In other languages
| Language | Given Name | Family Name |
|---|---|---|
 Arabic |
شويتشي Shuuchi | أكاي Akai |
 French |
Shuichi | Akai |
 Vietnamese |
Shuuichi | Akai |
 Bahasa Indonesia |
Shuichi | Akai |
 Thai |
ชูอิจิ | อากาอิ |
 Italian |
Shuichi/Suichi | Akai |
 Korean |
상윤 Sang Yoon | 이 Lee |
 Malay |
Shuichi | Akai |
See also
- Characters
- Subaru Okiya
- Scar Akai
- Akai family
- FBI
- Rye (Alcohol)
References
- ^ Subaru Okiya's age
- ^ Manga Chapter 434: Rotten Apple 5
- ^ Manga Chapter 599: Akai's Past
- ^ Manga Chapter 677: The Fated Individual
- ^ Manga Chapter 504: Black Organization vs. FBI 2
- ^ a b Manga Volume 58, File 2, pg 9: "Akai's Past"
- ^ Manga Volume 58, File 2, pg 10: "Akai's Past"
- ^ Manga Volume 49, File 2, page 13: "New Order"
- ^ Shuichi's fake death, while preserving Kir and allowing her to pass info to the FBI, has caused significant dysfunction within the FBI who believe him to be truly dead. While Shuichi has been technically fulfilling the promise he made to look after Haibara's welfare as Okiya, he has executed it in such a way that Haibara was terrified of his presence and refused to be alone at the Agasa house when he was around.
- ^ Shuichi didn't inform Akemi he was an FBI agent despite being in love because it might jeopardize his mission (and his relationship). Even though Akemi figured out Shuichi was an FBI agent and wished to leave the Organization and date him seriously, she kept it secret from him either because she was not sure how he would react, or because she thought it could cause him harm. Thus, the infiltration mission was the root cause of their secretkeeping which prevented them from coming up with an exit strategy for Akemi in case the mission failed. The following chain of events led to Akemi's death.
- ^ Shuichi's faked death to save Kir's mission and get her to pass information to the FBI as well demoralized the FBI, especially Jodie.
Shuichi's infiltration mission required that he seduce Akemi even though he was dating Jodie at the time. When he fell in love with Akemi for real, Shuichi decided to break it off with Jodie. When justifying his decision to Jodie, he mentioned that he didn't want the onus of loving two women at once, but he also mentioned he thought the "sacrifice" was important to his mission to destroy the Black Organization. This implies that love was not the only factor in Shuichi's decision, he thought choosing Akemi over Jodie would help his mission -- perhaps because he was afraid he would be caught as a spy if anyone discovered his relationship with Akemi was fake. [1] - ^ FBI vs Org, Shuichi didn't tell the rest of the FBI he would cover Kogoro's agency. In Red vs Black, the return Kir plan and the fake death plan were both kept secret from the FBI. He ordered Camel to remove by force if necessary anyone who interfered which resulted in Jodie being knocked out. He later told Kir to hit Camel for real to make her escape look authentic.
- ^ In FBI vs Org, Shuichi was forgiven for covering Kogoro without telling his boss and for making the decision on his own to let the Black Organization leave without much resistance because he thought it might lead to a dangerous firefight downtown. In Red vs Black, Shuichi was forgiven after being told off for hiding his secret plan to return Rena to the Org.
- ^ In particular, his faked death had a major impact on the FBI and Jodie Starling. Bourbon was able to take advantage of the emotional confusion surrounding his death to approach the FBI for his own ends. Jodie's sorrow has reduced her effectiveness and led her to blunder into dangerous situations.
- ^ Anime Episode 425: Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches Out
- ^ Anime Episode 425: Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches Out
- ^ Manga Volume 85 File 4 Page 5
- ^ Manga Volume 41, File 7, page 14: "The Enclosing Surrounding Net"
- ^ Manga File 802, pg 10: "Don't make that kind of face..."
- ^ Episode 497
- ^ Manga Volume 65, File 3 (677), pg 5: "The fated individual"
- ^ Manga Chapter 802
- ^ Manga Chapter 824,[2]
- ^ Manga Volume 77, Files 3-5 (809-811)
- ^ Manga Volume 77, File 813 p.16 and File 814 p.3
- ^ "『名探偵コナン』 人気投票結". eBookJapan. 2011-05-12. http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/special/conan/vote_kekka2.asp. Retrieved on 2011-05-15.
- ^ "Shonen magazine detective conan official poll results published [magazine pic"]. eva. 2012-02-28. http://forum.dctp.ws/index.php?topic=8024.msg651566#msg651566. Retrieved on 2012-02-29.
- ^ In Moroboshi (諸星), the first kanji can be broken up into 言者 which when pronounced as げんしゃ (gensha) sounds very similar to the word for "phenomenon" (genshou). The second character (星) means "star". Moroboshi, read as "Star phenomenon" references falling stars or maybe comets.
- ^ Volume 78, File 602, Page 13
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