Akako Koizumi
| Akako Koizumi | |
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| Japanese name: | 小泉 紅子 (Koizumi Akako) |
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| Age: | 17 |
| Gender: | Female |
| Occupation: | Ekoda High School Student Witch |
| First appearance: | Magic Kaito Chapter 6 Anime: OVA 1 |
| Appearances: | Episodes: 1 OVAs: 1 Specials: 5 Openings: 3 Closings: 1 Episodes: 14 Episodes: 9 Magic Kaito Manga: 9 Magic Kaito 1412: 6 |
| Japanese voice: | Megumi Hayashibara (Episode 219 and OVA 1) Miyuki Sawashiro (Magic Kaito Special) Eri Kitamura (Magic Kaito 1412) |
Akako Koizumi (小泉 紅子 Koizumi Akako) is a character in the manga and anime franchise Magic Kaito, as well as the anime franchise Detective Conan.
Contents
Background
Akako is a teenage witch of considerable power who attends Ekoda High School alongside Kaito Kuroba, Aoko Nakamori, and Saguru Hakuba. Due to her considerable beauty and magical charms, she is very popular among the male student body.
Akako does not appear to have any living parents or adult guardians. She lives in a solitary Western-style mansion in a secluded, wooded part of Ekoda City with a strange, demonic-looking servant as her only company.
Personality
Akako is typically very vain and haughty, and delights in using her magical charms to ensnare every man who crosses her path. Those who can defy her charms, such as Kaito Kuroba, frustrate as well as interest her. She also dislikes many of her female peers on principle, viewing them as rivals for attention and adoration.
Beneath this arrogant exterior, however, Akako does possess a softer side. Though her interest in Kaito was once rooted in an obsession with controlling him, it eventually grew into a more complex relationship that may well be genuine (if one-sided) love. In addition, despite her claiming that human life means nothing to her, she could not bring herself to kill Kaito, or even allow him to be captured, when she had multiple opportunities to do so.
As is stereotypical of haughty female characters in anime and manga, Akako possesses a stereotypical "Ohohoho" laugh.
Skills
Akako's magic can be incredibly powerful, and often revolves around complex rituals. These rituals have allowed her to create voodoo dolls, entrance other human minds, and even summon demons to do her bidding. She also possesses many magical artifacts, including a mirror that can answer questions, a crystal ball that can predict the future, and a broomstick that she can fly on.
The Magic Kaito 1412 anime gives Akako additional abilities, such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis, which she may or may not possess in the manga.
Akako also appears to be a competent skier, whether or not this is another magically-acquired skill is unknown.
Appellations
Plot overview
Akako enrolls at Ekoda High School, becoming a classmate of Kaito Kuroba and Aoko Nakamori. On Saint Valentine's Day, all the boys want chocolate from her, but Kaito: knowing that the only one in the world who can resist her is Kaitou Kid, Akako realizes that her classmate is the phantom thief. She then uses a voodoo to attract Kid and win his heart using magic, but she fails and the thief runs away.
During a school trip to a ski slope, after telling Aoko that she likes Kaito, Akako forces him to ski with her. She attaches a magic sticker on the boy's back, casting a spell by which (according to her) Kaito will fall in love with her, but she fails again and Kaito ends up skiing with Aoko.
Akako then decides that she has to kill Kaito: after his death, it will be true that all men love her. She gives a cursed necklace to Ginzo Nakamori, but the inspector is unable to kill Kaitou Kid, who runs away. Akako waits for him on Tohto[1] Tower, but her feelings for Kaito prevents her from killing him.
When Saguru Hakuba suspects that Kaito is Kid, Akako disguises herself as Kaitou Kid to protect her friend's secret and fend off Spider as well in which she fails to do so with Spider but is able to trick the police and Hakuba that Kaito is not Kaitou Kid. Later on, she tries to use her magic to prevent the police and Shinichi Kudo from arresting Kid, but her assistant stops her before using her powers publicly. Kaitou Kid still manages to escape.
Relationships analysis
Family and friends
Kaito Kuroba/Kaitou Kid
Akako's relationship with Kaito is a complex one. Though she despises him for being the only man that can defy her many charms and potions, she also finds his independence and confidence to be attractive. Thus, her interactions with him often alternate between schemes to control him (and on one occasion, kill him) and genuine attempts to keep him away from particularly dangerous heists.
Aoko Nakamori
Akako sees Aoko as a rival for Kaito's affections, and will sometimes belittle her looks and (lack of) maturity. Despite this, she is often caught off-guard by Aoko's overwhelmingly friendly demeanor.
Other
Servant
Akako is often assisted in her spellwork by a hideous, unnamed servant who seems to be the closest thing she has to an adult guardian. The servant usually lavishes praise on Akako, who in turn often insults him for his ugly appearance and empty compliments. For his part, the servant seems to genuinely adore Akako, though he will also comfort her in times of distress, and once warned her against using magic in public, a warning that Akako immediately obeyed, despite the fact that Kaito's freedom (and possibly life) were at stake.[2]
Lucifer
When she desires knowledge, Akako will sometimes perform a ritual to summon a demon named Lucifer. It is not known if this is, in fact, the Biblical Lucifer and ruler of the Judeo-Christian Hell, though it should be noted that Akako treats Lucifer with little respect and is quick to dismiss him once he answers her questions.
Name origin
The name "Akako" means "red child". This contrasts with Aoko Nakamori's first name, which means "blue child".
Different looks
File:Akako DC.JPG Detective Conan (episode 219). |
Trivia
- She is modeled after the Evil Queen, the main antagonist in the fairy tale Snow White.
- Akako's anime voice actress for appearance in Detective Conan, Megumi Hayashibara, also provides the voice for Ai Haibara, and with the similarities between Magic Kaito and Detective Conan this serves to reinforce the love triangle theme revolving around the central character.
- In both the manga and TV Special, the three cobras attached to Akako's headband and magical costume are able to adjust their emotional expressions by themselves to match with Akako's.[3] However, this is not the case in the anime series Magic Kaito 1412.
Gallery
Akako as Kaitou Kid.
Akako in her Egyptian-looking magic outfit from OVA 1.
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See also
References
- ^ File:Spelling of 東都.jpg
- ^ Magic Kaito Vol. 4, Ch. 4
- ^ Manga (must pay close attention): Volume 1, Chapter 6; Volume 2, Chapter 1 (headband only); Volume 2, Chapter 4. Anime: A Witch Sheds No Tears, Love on the Ski Slope on Christmas Eve (headband only), and OVA 1
