The Dangerous Melon Field

Chronology
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Episode 1121 (Int. Episode 1179)
Information
Title:	The Dangerous Melon Field
Japanese title:	あぶなすぎるメロン畑(ばたけ) (Abuna Sugiru Meron Batake)
Original airdate:	April 27, 2024
Broadcast rating:	6.3%
Filler case:	#417
Season:	TBD
Manga source:	TV Original
Case
Cast:	Conan Edogawa Kogoro Mouri Ran Mouri
Case solved by:	Kogoro Mouri (via Conan)
Next Conan's Hint:	Fluorescent tape
Staff
Director:	Yasuichiro Yamamoto Nobuharu Kamanaka
Screenplay:	Akatsuki Yamatoya
Storyboard:	Masaki Ozora
Episode director:	Minoru Tozawa
Animation director:	Masatomo Sudo (supervisor) Keiko Sasaki
Character design:	Masatomo Sudo Masanori Hashimoto (sub-character) Hiroshi Ogawa (design works)
Voice Cast: Minami Takayama as Conan Edogawa Rikiya Koyama as Kogoro Mouri Wakana Yamazaki as Ran Mouri Otoya Kawano as Manabu Inose Hiroshi Shirokuma as Kazuki Kumagai Eiji Miyashita as Kanta Shikado Nobuyuki Kobushi as Takezo Arai Junichi Sugawara as Police officer
Music
Opening song:	Unraveling Love ~Sukoshi no Yūki~
Closing song:	You & I

The Dangerous Melon Field (あぶなすぎるメロン畑(ばたけ) ,Abuna Sugiru Meron Batake) is the 1121st episode of the Detective Conan anime.

Cast

Characters
Conan Edogawa Kogoro Mouri Ran Mouri

Gadgets

Gadgets
Voice-Changing Bowtie Stun-Gun Wristwatch

Case

Situation

A commonplace day at the Mouri Detective Agency kicked off rather quirkily - A melon farm owner, whose name is Kazuki Kumagai, requested Kogoro to ascertain the culprit behind a melon field theft incident. Initially, Kogoro took the affair exceedingly solemn, yet after learning some details to it, his exhilarating jubilant turned into substantial grieve and fury. That is, there would be three potential culprits:

The three "suspects".

It has exceptionally strong legs. The males have antlers that fall off and regrow each spring – Namely, Deer It is known for its reckless charges. It can run at speeds up to 45 kilometres per hour – Namely, Boars It has dexterous hands. When hunting prey underwater, it looks like it is washing its hands – Namely, Racoons

Having known that the "culprits" who might steal the melons were wild animals, Kogoro's indignation cascaded to an immeasurable extent; entrusting this type of affairs to the great-detective Kogoro Mouri is truly a humiliation, in his outlook. Eventually, Conan and Ran managed to convince Kogoro to stay. Consequently, Kumagai ushered him at his melon field and treated them with some of his finely grown melons. As the Mouri family enjoyed the melons, Kumagai proclaimed that not only do his melons possess exquisite netting on the melon peel, but are also very sweet - a result of his earnest nurturing upon the melon; one can cost over ten thousand Yen.

Midst the conversation, three other fellow melon farmers cropped up and took over the speech: Kanta Shikado, Takezo Arai, and Manabu Inose. They all owned a piece of farmland which also specialised in melon farming; yet, all of them echoed the fact that Kumagai's melon, in particular, were of the best of all. Even though they seem to treat each other as rivals, based on their claims, the competition was not negative at all. Shikado thus explained to the Mouri family the reason behind Kumagai's success: his melons possess a refined netting pattern which was deliberately manipulated via fertilisers and water levels; as a result, melons with uniform netting are generically sold with higher prices, outweighing the sweetness of the melon itself.

Kogoro trying to catch the mischievous racoon.

After the "rivals" of Kumagai had left, Kogoro began to delve into the investigation with regards to the melon field theft. Kumagai told him that installation of infra-red camera footages (slightly more advanced than the normal ones) was ubiquitous within the region; electric fences and scarecrows were also in use to enhance the security of the melon field - however, it did not impede thief from stealing the melons. Electric fences were cut, and the scarecrows were severely sabotaged. While discussing whether the there would be a racoon or some sort, Inose's squealing voice kicked in palpably - Apparently, there was a racoon sweeping across Kumagai's melon field at discretion.

After etching a considerable effort snatching the culprit racoon, they were able to blast it away. Sequentially, a scream seemed to had come from one of the adjacent melon fields. As everyone darted towards it, they discovered the lost-of-conscious Manabu Inose collapsed upon a smashed melon. Kogoro deduced that Inose still manifested some vitality; hence, he urged others to call an ambulance.

Assault
	Location: Kazuki Kumagai's melon field Victim: Manabu Inose Age: 49 years old Injury: Blunt-force trauma Suspects: Kazuki Kumagai, Kanta Shikado and Takezo Arai

Kogoro began his investigation thereupon - a crude-and-straightforward theft case had escalated into an intentional assault case. After a thorough inquiries with all suspects in the region, Kogoro obtained a fairly puzzling case overview: Inose and Shikado were at odds over a girl named Yukie at a certain bar at times; Arai borrowed an unneglectable fortune from Inose, some portion of his melon farmlands were also rent from Inose; Kumagai also happened to be insulted by Inose on an occasion when he precisely had just started planting melons.

Kogoro reviewed the scenarios captured by the security cameras. Nothing queer seemed to appear within; Conan discovered a notable detail that might be useful for solving the case: the people who appeared within the camera footage were solely Kumagai and the Mouri family, along with Arai who discovered Inose at that melon field. Neither the culprit show up in the footage, nor did the victim Inose turn up. Ran later pointed out something out of ordinary as well, there were some faint movements within the shrubs nearby the melon field, according to the image captured by the security camera (it did not seem like a person either).

Kogoro inspecting the camera footage with Kumagai.

Returning to the melon field, Kogoro greeted the local police who was analysing the crime scene. The police recognised Kogoro right away and granted him with a big-warm welcome. The police then disclosed that the victim Inose only had one distinct injury on his shin; in other words, no struggles were made before the assault. Afterwards, Kogoro, Ran, and Conan were genuinely having a ball on drinking the peculiar melon soda. As Conan drank the melon soda, he contemplated the case and reviewed all aspects of details pertaining to it. Swiftly, he detached with Ran and Kogoro, dashing away, wanting some final confirmation just so he could solve the case entirely. He then discovered a movable iron cage left on side of the melon field greenhouse, with some meticulous inspections, he found some fairy-like matter embedded on it. On the pillar of the greenhouse, he noticed that there were some tape wrapped around it, and a dirt hole visible on the ground. Leaving the greenhouse, an empty truck came into his sight, with further evaluation, he noticed a pet carrier on the back of the truck - and that was exactly what he was looking for.

People

Kazuki Kumagai
	38 years old Melon farmer

Kanta Shikado
	43 years old Melon farmer

Takezo Arai
	43 years old Melon farmer

Manabu Inose
	Victim (shoved - injured) 49 years old Melon farmer

Yukie
	Bar Snack Nanako owner's assistant

Nanako
	Bar Snack Nanako owner

Police Officer
	Police officer

Resolution

  Show spoilers »

Conan calls everyone under Kogoro's name for the purpose of solving the perplexing cases. He tranquillised Kogoro as usual and began the deduction. Conan first indicates clearly the whole story of Kogoro's presence: he was requested to investigate a melon theft case, but then it seemed to have shifted into trapping to assault. Nonetheless, Conan says that the two incidents are in fact connected.

Incident #1: Melon Theft Case

The consecutive melon theft that have bothered Kumagai for so long is in fact caused by Manabu Inose (i.e. raccoons are not the ones to be blamed). He is the person that qualifies for the culprit of the thefts; for example, he has a hunting licence and is also a part of the hunting club (he also has a gun and licence to trap), meanwhile he goes by the name "Animal Professor"; as such, he was the one who cut the fences and destroyed the scarecrows.

Note that this is only a masquerade of what's going to be done next; he first pretended to stole the melon, and as the shipping date approaches, he properly launches his plan of sabotaging Kumagai's melon fields.

Incident #2: Melon Assault Case

Inose releasing the boar from a cage.

After that, Manabu Inose vandalizes Kazuki Kumagai's fields in the hopes his crops would be destroyed before harvesting season. He later planned to release wild animals so they would rampage through Kumagai's fields, by using his expertise in hunting. He first parked a truck filled with raccoons and boars in a not-so-noticeable place as preparation. He then managed to release the raccoon (he specifically chose a blind-spot in which it is out of reach by the security cameras), whereupon he pretended to scream, drawing attention so his plan could work out as he intended. While the Mouri family were deceived and engrossed in seizing the racoon he released, Inose heaved the boar to the area desired. This is the most effective way to harm Kumagai as a tinge damage upon the melon field may result in millions of Yen in losses.

However, his plan failed when the wild boar he released and starved for several days rammed through him instead of the melons, causing him to fall and go unconscious. The boar then dug a hole in the ground and escaped.

After the big reveal, the police officer receives a call from the local hospital saying that Inose regained consciousness, and the three other farmers decide to come see him and knock some sense into him, but promise they will help him with his crops, as jealousy was most likely the cause of his wrongdoings. Sleeping Kogoro however reveals that the case is not finished!

Incident #3: ???

Later at night, a black van stops in front of the fields and five thieves come out and prepare themselves to steal Kumagai's melons, but the lights turn on and they are intercepted by Kogoro, the police and the three farmers, who decide to beat them. Conan reveals that "Sleeping Kogoro" had noticed a suspicious black van earlier that day passing by the melon field area; whilst he also saw fluorescent tape on the greenhouse's pillar, and since neither Inose nor the animals would need to use it, it was most likely used by robbers who wanted to come at night.

Attempted Theft
	Location: Kazuki Kumagai's melon field Victim: Kazuki Kumagai Age: 38 years old Objects: Melons Culprits: A group of masked thieves

Just as the group of thieves are being arrested, the three farmers become rather motivated and uttered, "We're gonna show you how farmers fight! Our battle has only begun!"

Aftermath

The case ended flawlessly under Conan's supervision. On another morning at the Mouri Detective Agency, Kogoro receives a phone call - this time it is an affair related to the theft case of abalone from fishing harbour. Kogoro outspokenly accepts the affair, while Ran and Conan's face are filled with happiness, since a fishing harbour sure sounds more fun than a melon field!

Trivia

• The suspects have names related to wild animals :
  • Manabu Inose (猪瀬 学) comes from boar (猪 ,inoshishi) ;
  • Kazuki Kumagai (熊谷 一樹) comes from bear (熊 ,kuma) ;
  • Kanta Shikado (鹿戸 貫太) comes from deer (鹿 ,shika) ;
  • Takezo Arai (新井 猛三) comes from raccoon (洗熊 ,araiguma).

Arai explains how melon netting is formed.

• Knowledge about melon netting cited in this episode: A melon's netting can be grown deliberately by controlling the fertilizer and water levels. This causes the flesh to grow faster than the rind, resulting in cracks on its surface. The melon secretes a substance called suberin to repair the cracks like a scab.

Quotes

• Hilarious remark - Conan "goes to the bathroom":

Ran Mouri: Conan-kun, where are you going?
(毛利蘭「コナン君どこ行くの？」)

Conan Edogawa: The bathroom.
(江戸川コナン「ちょっとトイレ。」)

Kogoro Mouri: But the bathroom is that way.
(毛利小五郎「トイレはあっちだろ。」)

In other languages

Language	Title	Translation
Arabic	مزرعة الشمام	Melon Farm
French (Subbed)	Un champ de melons trop dangereux	A too dangerous melon field

See also

• Current Season