Reiko Kujo
| Reiko Kujo | |
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| Japanese name: | 九条 玲子 (Kujō Reiko) |
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| Age: | 33 |
| Gender: | Female |
| Occupation: | Public prosecutor |
| Nicknames: | Madonna of Prosecutors |
| First appearance: | Anime: Episode 264 |
| Appearances: | Episodes: 7 |
| Japanese voice: | Rica Matsumoto |
Reiko Kujo (九条 玲子 Kujō Reiko) is a character in the anime franchise Detective Conan.
Contents
Background
Reiko Kujo is Eri Kisaki's beautiful and strong-willed rival in those courtroom battles where the two meet on opposing sides. She is a well known professional lawyer who has gathered a reputation as a successful, independent, feared and respected female prosecuting attorney in the Tokyo District Court, Criminal Division, Third courtroom, and, as a result of such, the nickname Madonna of Prosecutors (検察のマドンナ Kensatsu no Madon'na). She lives alone in an apartment and, during her break, trains in a sport center with a tapis roulant.
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Some years ago, she began her legal activity in the S.I.D. (Special Investigation Department), first division of the police headquarters for handling hostage situations such as kidnappings or hijackings. Five years ago, her head Takeshi Nezu, of whom she was clearly in love but not reciprocated, was the primary prosecutor in a case which started as an investigation into the Takeuchi Construction Company scandal, over some defective townhouse construction work, but they began to suspect it involved bribery on a political level and joined forces. But then the key deponent of their case, the construction design office's manager, who was actually Hiroaki Takeuchi's head, committed suicide and turned the case into a maze. They could have resolved the case on his testimony, but he suddenly changed his story entirely, which caused her to have no choice but to cease the prosecution. And then, Hiroaki married into Takeuchi Construction and became a key figure in the company. Replaced by Kenzo Katsuragi, her head ended up being reassigned elsewhere, in Tottori, with his wife Kayoko and their only child son, where he died two years later, on November 27th.
Kujo first met Kisaki when the latter took up the defense of Shinji Usami, who was being accused of the murder of Tsuyoshi Hirasawa, who slew Usami's young son Masaki by thoughtlessness. She became determined to beat Kisaki's winning streak and thus further her reputation by defeating the one defender who had never lost a case. However, it turned out that while Usami was involved in the crime in question, he was actually providing a cover for the true culprit, his ex-wife Masako Kameda, who was subsequently exposed and arrested.
Despite this defeat, with the help of Sasaki, her subordinate and the substitute prosecutor, Kujo vowed to humble Kisaki whenever a chance would present itself. However, she was always foiled by Conan's brilliance as a detective. In addition, a useful side effect of the confrontations between Kujo and Kisaki was that the latter's separated husband, Kogoro Mouri, would prepare to jump to his wife's defense in whatever way he could, even to the point of testifying as a witness in court.
Unlike Ran, Conan proves to know her very well at their first meeting. She should note that Conan has a keen sense of observation, telling him it during a check out on the crime scene for their next trial. But as always, Kogoro contradicts her, because for his ignorance all he observed were useless things.
It's very clear that Sasaki, who is also very similar to her former head, loves her. However, it's still unknown if she reciprocates his feelings.
Personality
Kujo is rather rash and eager to proclaim a defendant's guilt even with scant evidence at hand. Whether this stems from her personal drive to defeat Kisaki or from her profession is as yet unrevealed. The first time they meet the two women know each other by reputation. Whenever a case brings them together as opponents in the courtroom, Eri Kisaki and Reiko Kujo deal with each other on a strictly professional basis despite their intense rivalry. Each of them respects the other for her skills, however, and whenever a case turns against her, Kujo is fair enough to accept defeat and bring the true culprit to justice. Although some of these actions are dubious especially in the court, she remains professional and her relationship with Eri is cordial.
Kujo has a habit of twirling her pen around her finger when tense or in thought.
Appearance
Reiko appears to be a quite attractive woman, fairly tall, with a fair skin tone, dark violet eyes and a long black hair. Her eyes were green on her first appearance. Furthermore, she is usually seen wearing business suits whenever performing in the court. She is right-handed.
Her character design minorly changes for episode 489: no lipstick and slight hair alterations. However, in subsequent episodes, her original appearance has been restored.
Abilities
Intellectual abilities
Kujo is a calculating and intelligent individual who carefully analyses her case piece by piece and thoroughly examines the flow and situation of her prosecutions. However, she often lacks concrete evidence in her investigation which usually results a backfire whenever she states her conclusions.
Appellations
Plot overview
Courtroom Confrontation: Kisaki vs. Kogoro (Anime: 264-265)
Reiko investigates as prosecutor against Eri. The defendant is said to have killed a man on whom he has a grudge. When Eri wants to take Kogoro as a witness, Kujo takes her away from her. In the end, as usual, Eri won the trial.
Courtroom Confrontation II: Kisaki vs. Kujo (Anime: 297-298)
After Ran has invited her mother to a thermal bath, the next case is already waiting for her. As always, her rival Reiko Kujo is also represented. After several negotiations, the case is solved, thanks to Conan as Sleeping Kogoro.
Courtroom Confrontation III: Prosecutor as Eyewitness (Anime: 489)
She is the prosecutor against Hiroaki Takeuchi, who had been accused of Hit and Run incident with the death of a biker, Yasuyuki Matsukawa. However, the evidence suggests it was his wife, Mariko Takeuchi, who has committed the crime. Hiroaki calls her, telling to meet him, and he will tell her the truth. Accompanied by Mariko, she visits Hiroaki and sees him fall off his apartment balcony to his death.
Believing her questioning motivated his suicide, she quits her job as a prosecutor. But she learns from Eri the possibility it was a murder made to look like a suicide by Mariko. During the hearing, Conan tranquilizes Kogoro and, with supporting evidence, reveals Mariko to be the cause of the Hit and Run and that she murdered Hiroaki.
Due to this case, she has been given a six-month salary deduction as punishment and is on technical leave for a month, and Eri was grilled by the higher-ups as well. But, it looks like it's a good break for her. She hasn't been on vacation for a while now, then takes it nice and slow, having a safe trip and forgetting about the case. She's heading to Tottori. Her former head's third anniversary memorial is coming up, so she plans to visit his grave. She's back to her old self.
Courtroom Confrontation IV: Juror Sumiko Kobayashi (Anime: 606-607)
Different looks
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Gallery
Five years ago (episode 489).
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Name origin
Her name comes from Sakurako Kujo (九条 櫻子 / Kujō Sakurako), one of the main protagonist in the manga series Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation, where Sakurako is an osteologist investigating the deaths of different unsolved case victims with her passion for necrology and her collections of human and animal bones.
In other languages
| Language | Given Name | Family Name |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
玲子 Reiko | 九条 Kujō |
 Arabic |
ريكو Riko | كواجو Kawajo |
 Bahasa Indonesia |
Reiko | Kujo |
 German |
Reiko | Kujo |
 Italian |
Reiko | Kujo |
  Korean |
영주 Young Joo | 서 Seo |
 Thai |
เรโกะ | คุโจ |
Trivia
- She is clearly modeled after Ritsuko Usui, an Eri Kisaki's rival lawyer killed in Kogoro Mouri, Suspect, with the same voice actress.
- The two photos in her apartment are about Kudo Residence, but with an inverted orientation, then she is surely a Kudo family's acquaintance since Conan knows her very well.
- Sayoko Iwai, the Tokyo Regional Prosecutor of Public Safety Bureau in Zero the Enforcer, is clearly modeled after her.
