Kazuha Toyama

Kazuha Toyama
Profile
Japanese name:	遠山 和葉 (Tooyama Kazuha)
English name:	Kirsten Thomas
Age:	17
Gender:	Female
Date of birth:	unknown
Relatives:	Detective Toyama (father)
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: Chapter 185 Anime: Episode 118
Appearances:	Chapters: 172 Chapters: 5 Episodes: 90 Movies: 8 OVAs: 5 Specials: 2 Openings: 36 Closings: 7
Keyhole number:	Volume 19
Actors
Japanese voice:	Yuko Miyamura
English voice:	Gwendolyn Lau

Kazuha Toyama (遠山 和葉 ,Tooyama Kazuha), also known as Kirsten Thomas in the Funimation dub, is character in the manga and anime Detective Conan. She is a childhood friend and the romantic interest of Heiji Hattori.

Background

Kazuha and Heiji Hattori have been close friends since childhood. Their fathers work together at the Osaka Police station, where Kazuha's father, Chief Detective Toyama is a subordinate and close friend of Heiji's father, Police Chief Hanzo Hattori.

At one time in their youth, Heiji had had the unfortunate idea of locking themselves together with a set of old handcuffs which had no key to unlock it; as a result they involuntarily had to spend time together even on some rather intimate occasions (i.e., bathroom visits) before the cuffs could be removed. As a reminder of this 'closeness' and for good luck, Kazuha fashioned two identical lucky charms, each incorporating a chain link from the cuffs, which she and Heiji have been wearing ever since. At some later point, Kazuha added a picture of Heiji into her own charm pouch.

After Heiji had met Conan and discovered his true identity, he talked about him so frequently and enthusiastically to Kazuha that she became convinced that Heiji was in love with a Tokyo girl named 'Kudo.' When Heiji invited Conan, Ran and Kogoro to Osaka, Kazuha spied on them, believing Ran to be 'Kudo.' At an okonomiyaki restaurant, when Heiji got up for a moment, Kazuha sat down in his seat and warned Ran to back off him, at which point Heiji returned, the misunderstanding was cleared up, and Heiji laughed at Kazuha's behavior. In their next meeting, Kazuha continued to treat Ran coldly, pointing out that Ran and Heiji's clothes had coincidentally matched the last few times they had been together. In response, Ran immediately changed clothes, after which point the girls became much friendlier.

Personality and Skills

Kazuha has a hot temper and can be highly critical of people around her. Moreover, she is highly confrontational and unafraid to let others know of her dislike. This trait leads to frequent shouting matches with Heiji, but it also allowed her and Ran to forge a strong friendship despite the fact that Kazuha, believing that Ran was Heiji's new girlfriend, took an initial deep dislike to Ran out of jealousy. Affection and approval are apparently much harder for her to express, most significantly with regard to Heiji; she is perfectly aware of her feelings for him and, after a few initial attempts to deny it to Ran, openly discusses her love for Heiji with her. However, even when a good opening appears to discuss her feelings with him, she instead panics and does her best to pretend that she and Heiji are 'only friends.'

She also has a marked belief in spirits, good-luck charms, and other superstitions. Right from her first experience, she displayed her belief in the importance of hers and Heiji's omamori, charms which Kazuha made to protect her and Heiji from harm. And indeed, during the same case, Heiji lent Conan his omamori, and the metal inside the charm stopped a knife blade that would have killed Conan. On subsequent cases, Kazuha is quick to attribute mysterious shadows and strange events to ghosts and other malignant spirits, which usually sends Ran into a panic as well.

Despite her fearfulness, Kazuha is also a 2-dan in aikido, and has exhibited her skills in taking down several criminals, including Ki'ichiro Numabuchi.

Relationships analysis

• Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama

Kazuha has been best friends with Heiji since they were very young. Often times they act more like a couple then like friends, though they both deny having any such relation with each other. Kazuha tends to be somewhat overbearing and extremely protective of Heiji, and has no problems in chasing off any potential female who may show some interest in him.

• Kazuha Toyama and Ran Mouri

Despite having rather different temperaments and personalities, Kazuha and Ran have several things in common, including: proficiency in a martial art, fathers connected to police work and detective work, and detective-obsessed childhood love interests. Kazuha was initially cold and rude to Ran, suspecting her of being interested in Heiji. However, thanks to Kazuha's frankness and Ran's accommodating nature, the girls quickly overcame this misunderstanding. They have since become close friends and seem to regard each other as confidantes, since they are in similar romantic situations: Ran and Shinichi cannot confess their feelings for each other, as Shinichi is, aside from telephone calls, physically absent from her life, and Kazuha and Heiji cannot confess their feelings for each other due to their own stubbornness and irascibility. While Conan/Shinichi and Heiji are on cases together, Ran and Kazuha almost always spend the time together, and when Kazuha visits the Mouris in Tokyo with Heiji, she is shown to share Ran's bed.

Plot overview

Main Article: Kazuha Toyama Appearances.

Introduction

Soon after Heiji Hattori made Conan/Shinichi's acquaintance, he invited Kogoro, Ran and Conan to Osaka. Several times throughout the day Ran felt herself being watched by a pair of malevolent eyes. At lunchtime that day, a girl sat down and, to Conan's horror and Ran's bafflement, addressed Ran as "Kudo." She warned "Kudo" to stay away from Heiji, who soon returned and sets her right. Heiji introduced her as his childhood friend Kazuha and introduced Ran as Kudo's girlfriend- which Ran hotly denied -, whereupon Ran asked them if they are together, which Kazuha and Heiji hotly denied in turn.

Subsequent Appearances

Since her introduction, Kazuha has accompanied Heiji in the majority of his appearances. The two frequently visit Tokyo and stay at the Mouri residence, and Kazuha accompanies Heiji on several cases. Because of this, she has from time to time been in great danger. She was almost killed by the Spider Mansion murderer because she found a BB gun bullet that the criminal had used in his setup; only Heiji's arrival chased the murderer away before Kazuha was strangled. Later, in the Mermaid Island case, Heiji nearly fell off a cliff during his investigation. Kazuha saved him, but overbalanced and fell off the cliff herself. Heiji jumped after her, managing to grab her wrist with his left hand and a jutting branch with his right. However, the branch began to bend, so Kazuha stabbed Heiji's hand in an attempt to make him let her go and save himself. Despite the wound, Heiji did not let go, and managed to save the both of them. He still bears the scar on his left hand, and has been known to mock Kazuha about it.

Kazuha saves Conan from Heiji's jealous rage, which she unknowingly caused by flirting with another man.

In a later case, Heiji and Kazuha were kidnapped by a corrupt lawyer in an attempt to force Heiji to crack a code. When he wouldn't comply, the lawyer decided to kill them both. Heiji asked to be allowed to say a few last words to Kazuha, claiming he had to tell her something he had wanted to say for a long time. This, it turned out, was a ploy to distract the lawyer, but when it failed, Heiji, with a gun to his head, told Kazuha that "I meant it when I said my last words were for you" and promised, if they survived, to tell them to her "until you're sick of hearing it." Afterward, when she asked him what he was going to say, he panicked and insisted that he had wanted to tell her that her ponytail had been tickling him while they were handcuffed together.

Trivia

• The name 'Toyama' comes from Edo period "police detective" Kagetomo Toyama, aka Toyama no Kin-san, while Kazuha comes from one of Gosho Aoyama's assistants.

• Kazuha and Eri Kisaki are the only recurring female characters who wear their hair up.

• The kanji for Kazuha's first name mean 'Japanese Leaf.' Her last name, Toyama, means 'distant mountain.'

See also

• Characters
• Kazuha Toyama Appearances