Wataru Takagi

For Takagi disambiguation see Takagi.

For Wataru disambiguation see Wataru.

Wataru Takagi
Profile
Japanese name:	高木 渉 (Takagi Wataru)
English name:	Harry Wilder
Age:	26
Gender:	Male
Relatives:	Unnamed nephew
Occupation:	Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Detective
Nicknames:	Takagi-kun (Sato) Takagi-niisan (Ayumi)
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: File 171 Anime: Episode 21
Appearances:	Chapters: 332 Episodes: 560 Movies: 20 OVAs: 5 Specials: 12 Openings: 39 Closings: 10
Keyhole number:	Volume 20
Actors
Japanese voice:	Wataru Takagi
English voice:	Doug Burks
Drama actor:	Yuichi Tsuchiya

Wataru Takagi (高木 渉 ,Takagi Wataru) is a police sergeant and detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police District's Criminal Investigation First Division.

Background

Wataru Takagi is a newcomer to the Tokyo Police Criminal Investigations Division 1, having transferred after the bomber case about three years ago but by the time Shinichi Kudo first established his reputation as a detective, about two years ago. His mentor was a senior agent called Date, who died one year before the present timeline. In his last moments Date entrusted Takagi his notebook, which had a ring for his girlfriend Natalie Kuruma hidden. He kept Date's notebook as a personal motivation to be just as good as Date. It was first a year later he realized that Date's girlfriend was Natalie, but it was too late to give her the ring, because she committed suicide soon after Date's death. He was first introduced in an Anime original case at an on location film set.

Ever since his joining the force, Takagi (like so many of his other colleagues) has harbored romantic feelings for Miwako Sato. While Sato appeared to have taken a liking to him as well, Takagi was easily discouraged by the way she dealt with other male colleagues, including their superior Inspector Megure (though in that case it was more a daughterly affection to a father figure, since Sato's father had died when she was very young). In time, thanks to several severe incidents - and despite the interference of the other officers in the department, chiefly Ninzaburo Shiratori -, their professional relationship grew more personal, and finally Sato and Takagi shared their first kiss after he had been hospitalized in the course of a difficult case and kissed the second (and third!) time in Episode 683 when he almost died in a bomb accident.

Takagi is among the investigators who receive the most near fatal experiences. That includes, among many things:

• Handcuffed to the window of a burning warehouse.
• Trapped in a tower containing a countdown bomb.
• Held hostages and shot by the criminal.
• Tied on a plank on a roofless two story building containing a countdown bomb, while the temperature outside is -20 Celsius degree.

Although at some point, Takagi briefly develops PTSD, he nevertheless relentlessly pursues justice, even if it endangers his life.

Personality

While he is initially self-conscious and bumbling, Takagi is a dedicated member of the Tokyo Police Force and shows promise as a good officer as the series progresses. He is one of the few officers who trusts Conan's judgments the most, listening to him at case scenes to find important evidence and sometimes even letting Conan take the lead in their investigation (the case with Sato handcuffed to the wrong suspect in the bathroom being a good example).

Takagi has a strong intuition and sense of justice, and is very honorable. He has a strong drive to protect others, partially based in his profession as an officer, and partially based on a self-sacrificing trait in his personality. He is always very polite, even when alarmed, and defers to the judgment of his partner Miwako Sato not only because she is his senior, but because he truly respects her.

His hobbies are playing the maracas and following the international wrestling scene, being a fan of wrestlers such as Bruiser Brody and Keiji Mutoh, and recognizing a move that Ran does as the "Shining Wizard," a finishing move of Mutoh's. In summary, his hobbies involve a lot of martial arts and sports.

Appellations

Picture	Name	What they call Wataru	What Wataru calls them
	Miwako Sato	Takagi-kun Takagi Wataru Takao-kun	Sato-san Satoko-san
	Juzo Megure	Takagi-kun Takagi	Inspector Megure (Megure-keibu) Inspector (Keibu)
	Ninzaburo Shiratori	Takagi-kun	Shiratori-san
	Kazunobu Chiba	Takagi-san	Chiba
	Yumi Miyamoto	Takagi-kun Detective-san (Keiji-san)	Yumi-san
	Naeko Miike	Takagi-san	-
	Kiyonaga Matsumoto	Takagi Takagi Wataru	Managing Officer (Kanrikan)
	Hyoue Kuroda	-	Managing Officer (Kanrikan)
	Wataru Date	Takagi	Date-san
	Goro Otaki	Takagi-san	-
	Eri Kisaki	Takagi-kun	-
	Rei Furuya	-	Amuro-san Amuro Tooru-san
	Subaru Okiya	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	-
	Jodie Starling	-	Jodie-san
	Andre Camel	-	Andre Camel-san
	Hidemi Hondou	-	Mizunashi Rena

Picture	Name	What they call Wataru	What Wataru calls them
	Conan Edogawa	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji) Takagi-san	Conan-kun
	Ran Mouri	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Ran-san
	Kogoro Mouri	Takagi Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Mouri-san
	Shinichi Kudo	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Kudo-kun

Picture	Name	What they call Wataru	What Wataru calls them
	Ai Haibara	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Ai-chan
	Hiroshi Agasa	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Agasa-san
	Genta Kojima	Takagi	Genta-kun
	Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Mitsuhiko-kun
	Ayumi Yoshida	Takagi-niisan	Ayumi-chan

Picture	Name	What they call Wataru	What Wataru calls them
	Kaitou Kid	-	Kaitou Kid Kid
	Arsène Lupin III	-	Lupin Lupin III (Lupin Sansei)

Picture	Name	What they call Wataru	What Wataru calls them
	Heiji Hattori	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Hattori-kun
	Kazuha Toyama	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	-
	Katsumasa Ogura	-	Manager Ogura (Ogura-tencho)
	Sakurako Yonehara	-	Sakurako-san
	Sayo Ohashi	-	Ohashi-san
	Masumi Sera	Detective Takagi (Takagi-keiji)	Sera-kun
	Yoko Okino	-	Yoko-san Okino Yoko
	Ryusuke Higo	-	Higo Ryusuke
	Eisuke Hondou	-	Hondou Eisuke-kun
	Genji Kojima	-	Genta-kun's dad (Genta-kun no otōsan)
	Suguru Itakura	-	Itakura Suguru-san
	Chianti	Cute boy	-

Plot overview

Actor's Apartment Case (Manga: 170-172, Anime: 102-103)

Takagi makes his debut in the Manga series.

Treadmill Murder Case (Manga: 208-210, Anime: 146-147)

This is the first case to show detective Takagi’s romantic affection for a female police officer, Miwako Sato.

Initially, Takagi is tasked with the mission of recording the Detective Boys' testimonies regarding the events at the Blue Castle. Just as they're about to begin, the children notice his untidy clothing and wonder if he doesn't have a girlfriend. Agasa offers to introduce to him his cousin's granddaughter, but Takagi awkwardly declines, stating that he has already had someone that he likes, right before detective Miwako Sato enters the room. Takagi keeps blushing, and his unnatural manner in front of Sato makes the Detective Boys think that she is really his girlfriend. However, both of them denies that this is true. Takagi wonders why Sato didn't go to assist Inspector Megure in the bank robbery case, and learns that the bank manager, together with his wife, will arrive at the Police Headquarter. Sato asks Takagi whether he has heard anything from her friend Yumi. He silently recalls Yumi's words, about what Sato told her when she was drunk, that the person she likes is someone from the first investigation division, who may very well be Takagi himself.

The bank manager, Keizo Masuo, comes by himself and decides to call his wife. During the phone call, Takagi and the others suddenly hear the wife's scream. He, Sato, Conan and Keizo rush to Keizo's house and find his wife's dead body. The person to be in charge of this murder case is Inspector Ninzaburo Shiratori, a police officer who has just been promoted recently. When Sato sarcastically suggests that Shiratori may as well consider her "a possible wedding match", Takagi misunderstands and begins to suspect that the person whom Sato said she has feelings for is none other than Shiratori. He keeps thinking of unreal scenarios with Shiratori and Sato being together, and isn't able to fully concentrate on the case.

Later, with the help from Conan, the trick and the identity of the killer are uncovered, and the case goes to an end. After turning down the invitation of Shiratori, Sato invites Takagi to go out and have ramen for dinner, to which he accepts happily. Unexpectedly, a drunken Megure comes up and asks them to go for a drink with him at the bar, and Sato immediately approves of the idea despite the invitation to Takagi earlier. Because of this, Takagi suddenly suspects that Sato's love interest is in fact Inspector Megure, and declines the offer.

The case ends with a depressed Takagi lying on the table and being unable to do anything, even though he still hasn't taken the Detective Boys' testimonies yet.

Sato's Father Case (Manga: 267-269; Anime: 205-206)

Takagi was attacked with a blunt object while talking with Sato on the phone about the Shushiro case.

Serial Bomber Case (Manga: 369-373, Anime: 304)

Miwako and Takagi about to kiss.

Genta's Shot (Manga: 567-569, Anime: 477)

In the anime, episode 477, at 11:50, Takagi is heard speaking numbers in French. In one of the Japanese Audio/English subtitles, his words are translated as "eins, zwei, drei," which is German, but he is actually saying "un, deux, trois." The victim was German, and Agasa says that when the dying victim (who spoke German, English and Japanese) was asked who the culprit was, he answered in his native tongue. Megure then turns to Takagi, who starts counting in French. Agasa then corrects him, saying "That's French," and then proceeds to count from one to eleven in German, solving the case. This exchange does not take place in the manga. This could suggest that Takagi is bilingual in French and Japanese (or at least took French in school).

The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Manga: 804-808, Anime: 681-683)

Takagi kidnapped.

Takagi and Sato's second kiss.

Takagi is kidnapped by a mystery man misunderstanding he is Wataru Date who made his daughter commit suicide. Around a year after the death of his friend and mentor Date, Takagi discovered that a suicide victim Natalie Kuruma was Date's girlfriend. Since the police investigation assumed that she killed herself due to having been dump, Takagi concluded that Natalie didn't know that Date had passed away in a traffic accident and decided to contact Natalie's next-of-kind to inform them of the truth. Since Natalie's parents had passed away, Takagi contacted the one who claimed her possesions, a colleague from English conversation school and old friend, Ryusaku Fuemoto. But due to that Natalie had never told her family her boyfriend's family name and because Date and Takagi had the same given name, Ryusaku mistook Takagi as the boyfriend who dumped Natalie, and lured him to Hokkaido. Police officers including Superintendent Matsumoto and Inspector Megure find their way to save Takagi with Conan's help. Sato saves Takagi on time before the bomb under him exploded.

Non-canon plot overview

Prior to manga appearances

Takagi was originally introduced as an anime only character to assist Inspector Megure as well as Conan with the solutions to cases. He was inserted into both Manga canon episodes as well as TV originals. He appeared in 23 episodes spanning 20 cases before the anime adaptation of his first official Manga appearance aired.

On Location, TV Drama Murder Case (Anime: 21)

Takagi's first appearance in the anime series.

TV Station Murder Case (Manga: 102-104, Anime: 31)

The first Manga canon episode to feature Takagi despite him still being an Anime Original character at the time.

Relationships analysis

Family and friends

Sato and Takagi.

Miwako Sato

His affection for Sato is a driving force of his character development. While his insecurity and comical outside interference regularly get in the way, he slowly manages to win her heart through his dedication, honesty and sincerity - traits Sato had also admired in her late colleague Jinpei Matsuda. Sato finally kisses Takagi after he has been severely wounded while protecting others.

Conan Edogawa

Takagi has come the closest of any of the Division One members to finding out Conan's true identity. In the Tokyo Tower Bomber Case, while they waited for the elevator bomb's clock to run down to give the final clue to stop the greater crime, Shinichi, as Conan, told Takagi that he would answer Takagi's questions about his real identity "on the other side." Takagi has also come to acknowledge Conan's sharp mind and intellect, taking Conan's observations seriously and even allowing him to accompany him to question suspects, most notably during the New Scar and the Whistling Man Case where he has the rest of the Detective Boys remain in the car. He also fully supports Takagi's relationship with Sato, at one point orchestrated a plan to foil Shiratori's attempt of an arranged marriage with Sato. When asked for reasons, he didn't answer, but quietly relate the experience with Ran's relationship.

Kazunobu Chiba

Takagi and Kazunobu Chiba always work together on murder cases. Chiba is also the only male officer in their department who has had no obsessive crush on Sato, and in fact supported Takagi in his romantic endeavors on several occasions.

Wataru Date

Date was Takagi's mentor and close friend who passed away in a traffic accident. As the pronunciation of his name was the same as Wataru Takagi's, Takagi and Date were nicknamed "the Wataru brothers" (ワタル・ブラザーズ). He is very loyal to his late friend's memory, as demonstrated when he tried to clear out misunderstanding around the death of Date's girlfriend. And he feels guilty in not living up to what he believes was Date's last wish; Giving Natalie a ring hidden in the notebook. He couldn't give her the ring, because Natalie had committed suicide soon after Date's death.

Other

In the 16th movie, "The Eleventh Striker," Takagi mentions that he saw a football (soccer) game with his nephew, but does not give a name. This implies that he has at least one sibling.

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. Takagi placed 14th in the poll with 46 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.

• In honor of the release of the 15th movie, Quarter of Silence, the official Conan movie website held a popularity poll for the top 10 Detective Conan characters. Takagi placed 10th out of 10.

• 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. Takagi placed 10th overall with 226 votes.

• He ranked 9th in the SDB 80+'s poll "Characters you want to marry the most", with 446 votes.

Name origin

Takagi is named after his voice actor: he was originally a nameless character. In Episode 66, when Megure asks Takagi to check the bloodstains on the roof, his voice actor Chafurin adlibbed the name "Wataru Takagi" by accident during the recording session.

Different looks

Episode 26

Episode 147

Episode 760

Quotes

“	It doesn't matter whether it's a petty or a major crime, all crimes are unforgivable!	„

In other languages

Language	Given Name	Family Name	Notes
Japanese	渉 Wataru	高木 Takagi
Arabic	واتارو Watāru	تاكاجي Takāji
Bahasa Indonesia	Takagi	Wataru
Catalan	Wataru	Takagi
Chinese	涉 She	高木 Gaomu
English	Harry	Wilder/Takagi
Finnish	Wataru	Takagi
French	Wataru	Takagi
German	Wataru	Takagi
Italian	Wataru	Takagi	In the anime, Takagi is pronunced like "Takaji"
Korean	형선 Hyung Sun	신 Shin
Russian	Ватару	Такаги
Thai	วาตารุ Wātā-ru	ทาคางิ Thā-khāngi
Vietnamese	Wataru	Takagi

Trivia

• Despite debuting in On Location, TV Drama Murder Case it isn't until the Karaoke Box Murder Case that Takagi is credited and referred to by that name.
• Takagi's appearance seems to have changed. His old hairstyle included a spikier fringe compared to the current one as well as a darker skin tone.
• Takagi drives a Nissan Skyline,1966 Toyota Publica De Luxe [UP20-D].
• The name of the voice actor of Takagi is Wataru Takagi also.
• "Takagi" (高木) means "tall tree", his first name "Wataru" (渉) means "to cross".

See also

• Characters
• Wataru Takagi and Miwako Sato