Karasuma Group

Black Organization
Profile
Japanese name:	黒の組織 (Kuro no soshiki)
English name:	Black Organization
Boss:	Anokata
Active Members:	Gin Vodka Vermouth Korn Chianti Bourbon
Deceased Members:	Atsushi Miyano Elena Miyano Akemi Miyano Tequila Pisco Calvados Rikumichi Kusuda Arrack (Conan Special) Yoshiaki Hara (Movie 5) Irish (Movie 13)
Former Members:	Sherry (Ai Haibara) Ki'ichiro Numabuchi Generic (Conan Special)
Undercover Agents:	Rye (Shuichi Akai) Kir
Extended Canon Agents:
Aliases:	The men in black
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: Chapter 1 Anime: Episode 1
Appearances:	Chapters: 232 Episodes: 90 Movies: 8 Specials: 1 Openings: 32 Closings: 2

The Black Organization (黒の組織 ,kuro no soshiki) serves as the main antagonist in the series. It is a secret syndicate that commits a number of crimes for various reasons which range from blackmail to robberies to assassinations. The members of the organization are given code names based on alcoholic beverages. The leader of the Black Organization is unseen and unheard of and is known only through text messages. Their boss's phone number follows the tune of the children song Nanatsu no Ko (七つの子 ,lit. Seven children); the number is #969#6261. The true name of the Black Organization is unknown. The first members to appear were Gin and Vodka, who were responsible for Shinichi Kudo's transformation in the first place.

Members

Current

• Anokata: The leader of the Black Organization. His identity, gender, age, and location are all unknown; only a few things are known about him. He is respectfully referred to as "that person" (ano kata) by lower ranked members of the Black Organization.
• Gin: A high ranking Black Organization executive official who seems to specialize in coordinating deals and assassinations. He is one of the most frequently reoccurring Black Organization characters. He is shown to be intelligent and very acute, and his long silver hair and sweeping trench coat give him a distinctive appearance. He forced the drug APTX 4869 on Shinichi, and his favorite car is the Porsche 356A.
• Vodka: Gin's secretary and assistant, he is another frequently reoccurring Black Organization character. He wears a hat and sunglasses at all times. He is less intelligent compared to his boss Gin whom he often is seen working with.
• Vermouth (Sharon Vineyard/Chris Vineyard): A mysterious actress from America with exceptional disguise and voice changing abilities that allow her to pose as anyone. Like Gin, she is a Black Organization executive member. She is hated by a number of the members of the Black Organization, but due to the fact that she is their boss' favorite, she is untouchable and they are unable to do anything to her. It is unknown where her loyalty lies, as she often protects Conan and calls him a "silver bullet", implying that she believes him to be capable of bringing down the Black Organization. She also does not seem to age.
• Kir: Operates under alias of Rena Mizunashi, a TV reporter. Her true name is Hidemi Hondou. Like her deceased father, she is actually a member of the CIA who infiltrated the Black Organization. Her brother, Eisuke Hondou, was not aware of this since Hidemi pretended not to know him after she went undercover.
• Chianti: A professional sniper who has been seen to take orders from Gin. She has a fiery and impatient personality. She, like all members of the organization, loathes Vermouth.
• Korn: An elderly yet professional sniper who has been seen to take orders from Gin. His speech is characterized by short phrases with many pauses.
• Bourbon: A newly established organization member who has great deduction and intelligence gathering skills. His public name is Tooru Amuro. Kir said he has recently been dispatched to search for Sherry. Gin has said that Bourbon hates Shuichi Akai much more than he does and that he is a man who follows his own rules, much like Vermouth.

Deceased

• Tequila: An agent with the same rank as Vodka who seemed to primarily deal with programmers. He was a giant man who spoke with an Osakan accent. He was unintentionally killed in explosion in Episode 54 and Manga Volume 12.
• Pisco: An elderly executive agent who was also the chairman of a car company. He was killed by Gin in Episode 178 after being caught on camera performing an assassination. He discovered Haibara was Sherry, but was unable to inform anyone before he was killed.
• Calvados: A sniper infatuated with Vermouth who shot himself after being crippled by Shuichi Akai in Episode 345.
• Akemi Miyano: Shiho Miyano's older sister and Shuichi Akai's girlfriend. She was a low ranking member of the organization and completed a billion yen robbery as part of an agreement to release herself and her sister from the organization. The organization reneged on the deal and she was killed by Gin in Episode 128 and in Manga Volume 2.
• Atsushi Miyano: Haibara's father and Elena's husband. He headed the APTX 4869 project before Shiho Miyano took over. Both he and Elena died for some reason which Pisco called an accident while Shiho was young.
• Elena Miyano: Haibara's mother and Atsushi's wife. She was of British origin and was known within the organization as "Hell's Angel". She worked the APTX 4869 project before Shiho Miyano took over. Both she and Atsushi died for some reason which Pisco called an accident while Shiho was young. She left some mysterious tapes for Shiho.
• Rikumichi Kusuda: An agent sent to infiltrate Haido Central Hospital to discover the whereabouts of Kir. He killed himself when Akai was hot on his trail. (Episode 498)
• Ethan Hondou: A CIA agent who infiltrated the Black Organization. He committed suicide to protect his daughter Hidemi Hondou from being uncovered as a CIA agent.
• Yoshiaki Hara: A movie only agent killed by Gin in Movie 5
• Irish: A movie only agent killed by Chianti in The Raven Chaser.
• Arrack: A non-canon special manga agent who committed suicide from Conan Special: Volume 26.

Former

• Sherry (Ai Haibara/Shiho Miyano): A high ranking biochemist who worked on APTX 4869. She boycotted her work after her sister was killed and was awaiting execution. She escaped when she took an APTX 4869 she had smuggled in with her and shrunk to her 6~7 year old body. She has been living with Professor Agasa and has been working on an antidote to the APTX 4869.
• Rye: The codename of Shuichi Akai, he was an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the Black Organization. His allegiance was discovered and he was rejected by the organization. His prowess led the organization to view him as the FBI's trump card.
• Ki'ichiro Numabuchi: A serial killer whom was slated to be the original test subject for the APTX drug before he escaped. Later escaped and is now in custody for murders he has committed, mostly in fear of the Black Organization sending agents after him.
• Generic: a non-canon special manga agent who is an old friend of Sherry who considers her as his sister. He used the Apoptoxin medicine to shrink his own body and entered the school where Haibara is. He lost his memory due to his own memory removal gas in Conan Special: Volume 26.

Organization structure and divisions

There are many divisions in the Black Organization which are roughly grouped into three categories: Internal Division (内部活動部隊), External Division (外部活動部隊), and General Oversight (全体監視役). The divisions are unrelated to relative ranking among members.

Boss File:Anokata 60px.jpg Anokata

General Oversight Gin Vodka

Internal Division External Division Unknown Drug Development Software Development Reconnaissance Operations Fundraising Unknown Sherry (escaped) Atsushi Miyano (deceased) Elena Miyano (deceased) Tequila (deceased) Yoshiaki Hara (deceased) Vermouth File:Tooru Amuro 60px.jpg Bourbon Rikumichi Kusuda (deceased) Irish (deceased) Assassination Robbery Chianti Korn Ki'ichiro Numabuchi (arrested) Calvados (deceased) Akemi Miyano (deceased) Pisco (deceased) Rye Kir

Rank

Agents who excel at their work and make their way up the ranks are given alcohol codenames. Even within codenamed agents there are further rank divisions.

Executive agents

So called "Executive agents" are the highest ranked codenamed agents within the Black Organization under the boss. They can command many other codenamed agents. Even for other executive agents, killing one without express orders from the boss would result in a loss of standing.

• Gin
• Vermouth: Also the boss' favorite
• Pisco

Codenamed agents

Agents who have excelled beyond the rank and file member enough earn recognition and an alcohol codename.

Work(ed) under Gin

• Vodka: Tequila and Vodka are approximately the same rank
• Tequila: Vodka and Tequila are approximately the same rank
• Chianti
• Korn
• Rye

Work(ed) under Vermouth

• Calvados

General

• Sherry: Known to be highly ranked but it has not been stated if she was an executive agent.
• Kir
• Bourbon

Non codenamed agents

• Akemi Miyano
• Ki'ichiro Numabuchi
• Rikumichi Kusuda
• Yoshiaki Hara

Unknown if codenamed

• Atsushi Miyano
• Elena Miyano

Modus operandi

The Black Organization commits crimes such as illegal deals, blackmail, robberies, and assassinations to raise money for research. It tries to eliminate anyone who has knowledge of their existence and threatens to expose their inner workings, including members who have become a liability, such as Akemi Miyano. They will dispose of even senior members like Pisco without hesitation to protect their secrets. Ai Haibara thought Conan would be killed before he could be “studied” so it seems like the Black Organization’s first priority is to stay hidden. The organization often destroys evidence via fire or explosion and Haibara warns that they will not hesitate to kill family and friends of a target to protect the secret of their existence.

The Black Organization members all tend to wear black outfits, which Akemi says is supposed to resemble crows. So far, at least all senior members have been shown to carry guns and wear body armor under their clothing when out.

For an as yet unrevealed reason, nearly all the Black Organization's members (with the exception of the boss) use code names based on alcoholic drinks: hard liquors for men and wine or wine-based cocktails for women. Also it would appear the organization is also fond of detective fiction and classic literature. Examples include the APTX 4869 pun on Sherlock Holmes, the computer password Shelling Ford- a prototype name for Sherlock Holmes, a computer virus called Night Baron named after a character from mystery writer Yusaku Kudo’s novels, and mission codenames relating to the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

The Black Organization often conducts business at the shipping yard, as the shipping yard has hosted multiple Black Organization appearances. They aren’t afraid of putting operatives in very public positions like famous actress (Vermouth) or television announcer (Kir).

Both Gin and Vermouth were shown to be resistant to Conan's tranquilizer needle and knockout gasand subsequently both readily shot themselves in order to continue to stay awake. This may show that they have trained themselves to resist knockout effects to prevent capture and cope with pain.

History

The Black Organization’s main research project, of which APTX 4869 is a part, has been around for at least half a century. The Black Organization has historical ties to America before the current storyline. Evidence for this is the involvement of the FBI and CIA in counter operations. Also, Jodie mentions that her father in the FBI was investigating Vermouth as Sharon Vineyard 20 years ago.

Goal

As of now, the Black Organization's main purpose and goal still remain unknown. What is known is that they are recruiting talent in biochemistry and computer science and funding research using the proceeds from their crime. Currently, the only sources of information Conan can rely on to learn the true intentions behind the Black Organization are former agent Sherry, the CIA's undercover member Kir, and Black Organization related cases.

It is known the Black Organization has involvement with computer viruses (Night Baron); however, the main purpose of their computer science research may be something other than virii and related to their biochemistry research. Whatever it is, it prompted the coerced programmer Suguru Itakura to say that he didn’t want to complete his program “for the sake of humanity”.

Quotes

"Kudo-kun? You would probably never even dream that you are already part of a project the Black Organization has been working on already for half a century." - Haibara

"We can be both God and Devil since we are trying to raise the dead against the stream of time" - likely Vermouth

"You can’t rush things. Humans can never go against the stream of time. If man forcibly tries to change that there will be punishment" – Haibara

"No, I can't finish it... I won't. That program must not be completed, not for the sake of my vision but for humanity" - December 22nd journal entry from Itakura's diary

Speculation about the Black Organization's goal

Immortality/anti aging

One possibility is that the Black Organization's research, especially APTX 4869 development, is trying to create a therapy which will cause immortality, stall or reverse the effects of aging, or extend a human's lifespan.

Shiho Miyano said that, in developing APTX 4869, she didn't intend to create a poison, which suggests that APTX 4869 was originally developed with a different goal in mind. It probably was just a useful side effect that the current prototype kills while leaving no trace in the victim’s body, and was thus employed as a poison - a usage which Haibara detests. Additionally, APTX 4869 is nicknamed the "incomplete detective" by the Black Organization, which means its true purpose has not yet been achieved.

The de-aging effect that occurred when Shinichi and Haibara took APTX 4869 probably indicates the main intent of the drug's development. After Pisco saw Haibara shrink back to her child form, he commented that he was impressed she had developed the drug to that point, implying that de-aging is in the right direction. Supporting this is Haibara’s line, "Kudo-kun? You would probably never even dream that you are already part of a project the Black Organization has been working on already for half a century." APTX 4869 is the only known intersection between Shinichi and the Black Organization; meaning that Shinichi's de-aging made him relevant to the Black Organization's project.

According to Haibara’s description about APTX 4869, the drug activates telomerase, an enzyme which can increase the number of times a cell can divide, and therefore affect a cell's lifespan and “reproductive potential”. The goal of this might be to revert all non-neural cells to a "youthful", high reproductive potential state.

Besides APTX 4869, Vermouth's unnatural youth is another indicator that the Black Organization may be involved in research towards extending lifespan, halting aging, or rejuvenating the body. In addition, Shiho Miyano’s name was on the raffle list for the immortality arrows in the mermaid case in Fukui.

Raising the dead

There is a possibility that the Black Organization may be trying to develop a method to revive the dead. Suguru Itakura's diary contained a quote by one of the Black Organization's agents, most likely Vermouth: "We can be both God and Devil since we are trying to raise the dead against the stream of time" The original purpose of APTX 4869 might be to raise the dead. Agasa and Conan later wondered if the line meant that the Black Organization was trying to create zombies. Once when Conan asked Haibara directly what APTX 4869 was meant to do she replied, "It's a nostrum to raise the dead. I wonder if that answer is satisfactory?" It may be her comment was a bluff intended to provoke Conan into revealing what he had been up to rather than a serious statement of the purpose of the drug.

Known Black Organization targets and contacts

This is a list of people related to the Black Organization either as targets or contacts who are not main characters.

Unnamed Weapons Smuggler

Gin and Vodka blackmailed an unnamed company owner who had been smuggling guns for over 100 million yen in cash. After Vodka received the briefcase of cash, he returned the film evidence of the business' gun smuggling. Vodka may have intended to kill the man when the transaction was complete as he began to draw his gun, but it could also have been in response to the company owner's remark the Black Organization does even worse things than gun smuggling. The man escaped when Gin assaulted Shinichi who had been spying on the transaction and Vodka was distracted.

Akemi Miyano and the billion yen robbery gang

Under alias Hirota Masami, Akemi Miyano pretended she was school girl from Yamagata (13). She gave the fake name of her robbery accomplice she was looking for to be Kenzou Hirota. Her accomplice “still” lived in Nerima, Tokyo. Masami’s other giant accomplice Akira Hirota pretended to be the elder brother from Kyushu of the man they were looking for. He had connections at a Pachinko building. He was murdered by a drink laced with cyanide the org had said was sleeping pills. Akemi was killed by Gin at the shipping yards.

Unnamed woman

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An unnamed woman exchanged 400 million yen for information about gold worth more than 400m yen with Gin and Vodka on a bullet train's dining car. Instead of information, the org packed a case with explosives to get rid of her because the exchangee woman was no longer useful. Note the anime replaced Gin and Vodka with lookalikes in the corresponding episode.

Hideaki Nakajima

Hideaki Nakajima, age 27, Mantendo corporation game development section who designed a mystery video game about Mouri. He was in a University boxing club and has issues with creditors. He made an exchange with Tequila, giving Tequila a list of highly skilled programmers in the world in exchange for a large amount of money. One of his coworkers wanted to kill him for revenge, but Tequila was killed instead by accident.

Shigehiko Nomiguchi

Shigehiko Nomiguchi, age 56, and a politician, was Pisco’s target. He was bribed (although not stated by whom, possibly by the Black Organization) and was going to be arrested and divulge information. Therefore he had to be eliminated. Pisco managed to successfully kill him by dropping a chandelier on him, but due to Conan's interference, the police discovered it was a murder and not an accident like the Black Organization hoped it would be ruled.

Masami Hirota

Masami Hirota, age 61, Nanyo University professor. He is a professor whom Haibara’s sister Akemi Miyano had contact with and was probably close to as she borrowed his name when coming up with an alias. He was sent an APTX 4869 disk when it was mixed up for a disk of pictures. The Black Organization intended to kill him, but he was killed by an unrelated person first. (180)

Ki'ichiro Numabuchi

Ki'ichiro Numabuchi is an assassin who escaped the Crow Corps before they could test APTX 4869 out on him when they decided he was useless. He then escaped from prison after that. He first showed up in Osaka in chapters 187 and 188 (The knife through wallet on heart murder case) where he is a suspect in a serial murder case. He is innocent of these particular crimes and was being starved in a shack by the real serial killer who wanted to frame him. He tries to stab Conan with a kitchen knife while escaping, but Heiji's good luck charm luckily blocks the blow. He took driving lessons at a seminary 20 years ago but failed. He appears again in chapters 358 - 360 (Mitsuhiko’s disappearance case). When he escaped from the police (again) in a forest in Gunma, we find out he apparently lived by the forest when he was younger and liked fireflies.

Suguru Itakura

Suguru Itakura, age 45, apparently famous CG graphic designer/games system engineer. (377-383) He probably owns Itakura studio. Three years previous, he stopped developing CG and a particular program due to poor eyesight. Two years ago Tequila showed up at his office to say he was interested in the particular “system software” Itakura stopped developing. One year later, he was later forced to finish the program with a year deadline. Itakura didn’t want to complete the program “not only for his eyesight but for the sake of humanity.” (380) He stayed in New Beika Hotel where he was killed by an unrelated party. He kept a diary and noted Vermouth had a cat around when he talked to her. (V39-6) Conan pretending to be him was told to put the disk in locker 1012.

Souhei Dejima

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Souhei Dejima, age 54, is Haibara’s father’s childhood playmate. He hasn’t seen Atushi Miyano for thirty years, which means they were friends until their twenties. He has lived in the house that Professor Miyano inherited from his father (Haibara’s grandfather) for thirty years. Professor Miyano and his wife Elena stopped by after Akemi was 4 or 5 years old (and they were in the organization) to tell Dejima something important but Dejima was out so he never got to say what it was. Souhei Dejima was being watched by the Black Organization. Much later, Akemi hid tapes of her and Haibara’s mother in the toilet and afterwards the Black Organization came to investigate secretly. (423)

Yasuteru Domon

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Yasuteru Domon is a politician hard on crime whom the Black Organization attempts to assassinate after the events of the Ding Dong Dash. The FBI believed the boss ordered the assassination of Yasuteru Domon who wasn't even part of the Diet yet because he was hard on crime and had a chance of becoming the next Prime Minister. The Black Organization ordered Kir to arrange an interview with him in exchange for suppressing information that his father was under suspicion of having an extramarital affair 20 years ago. The Black Organization planned the timing so that it could be blamed on female gang leader Kiriko Busajima who had been accused of hiring a hitman to kill him before. The assassination plot was called off because Yasuteru Domon decided to stop running for office when the information was about to come out anyway. The Black Organization had not realized that this information was enough to get him to stop running for office.

Touji Funemoto

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Touji Funemoto is a young boy who bore witness to Rena Mizunashi's motorcycle accident. Vermouth confronted and interrogated him to figure out how much he knew. (553)

Plot timeline

The beginning

Shinichi is given APTX 4869 after being caught eavesdropping.

In episode 1, Gin and Vodka go on a roller coaster at Tropical Land to observe an individual that they have a transaction with (the man they have business with is to pay them, in exchange for proof of his weapon smuggling). They are delayed as they are counted among as suspects in a murder case, which is solved by Shinichi Kudo. Later that night, Vodka completes the transaction, unaware that Shinichi followed him.

Gin, in turn, sneaks up behind the teen detective and knocks him unconscious with a pipe. Vodka is about to shoot him, only for Gin to remind him that the police are still around and proposes to use an untested poison on him as it will leave no trace in an autopsy. They leave Shinichi for dead, unaware that the poison reverted his body to the age of a seven year old kid. The transformed Shinichi (now going by the name of Conan Edogawa) seeks to gain a lead on the two men.

Exchange on the bullet train

In volume 4, file 033-035 (manga version only), Conan encounters the two men responsible for his condition on the Shinkansen bullet train. After eavesdropping with the microphone, he learns their codenames (Gin and Vodka) and their plan to blow up the train to eliminate a business partner. He fails, however, to apprehend them, but he will get them.

Tequila at the Mantendo Convention

In episode 54, Conan encounters a tall, built member of the organization named Tequila. However, he is killed in an explosion before Conan could gain any information from him.

Runaway operative Numabuchi

In episode 118, Conan encounters a member named Numabuchi who rad run away from the Black Organization and was killing in civilians out of paranoia. He tries to stab Ran, but Conan blocks the knife instead. Mitsuhiko actually has an individual encounter with the runaway Numabuchi in episode 290, but Conan and the police arrive before he's capable of doing anything to him.

Akemi Miyano and Ai Haibara

In episode 128 (This particular incident occurred much earlier in the manga continuity during Volume 2 File 13-16), the Black Organization planned a billion yen heist. Gin and Vodka were the members that made a plan to rob 10 billion yen. Conan stops them. After the episode, the organization mentioned member named Shiho Miyano, also known as Sherry, the creator of APTX 4869. After the organization killed Akemi Miyano, Shiho's older sister, the organization imprisoned Sherry. In order to escape, Sherry took her poison, and her body shrank. The organization found out that Sherry has betrayed them, so Sherry lives with Professor Agasa under her alias Ai Haibara.

The first head to head battle

File:Sherry shot 1.JPG

Shiho shot by Gin.

In episode 176-178, Conan encounters Gin and Vodka again. Haibara is kidnapped by Pisco and confined to a wine cellar, but she drinks baijiu to turn into an adult and escape up a chimney. Gin and Vodka intercept her on the roof and shoot her repeatedly until Conan appears. Conan shoots Gin with his needle, but Gin sdoesn't fall asleep. He tells Haibara to jump into the chimney, and Vodka shoots at her, but she gets away. Gin purposely shoots himself in the arm due to trying to stay awake. Inside, Pisco almost kills her, but Conan rescues her after Pisco accidentally causes a fire. Gin kills Pisco for failure before he's able to tell him the truth about Shiho. Haibara decides to leave the city, Worried that the organization is after her, after which Conan implies that it will be alright for her to stay.

A new threat: Vermouth, and the carjacking incident

Aside from Gin and Vodka being the most recurring members, a female member introduced late into the series named Vermouth also starts to play a huge role in the series. She makes her first appearance in episodes 176-178, but her talents aren't revealed until episode 230. She disguises herself as a doctor named Araide and is one of the few characters that learns who Conan really is. In one episode she is saved by Ran and Shinichi from falling through a fire escape, and keeps his secret unknown from the rest possibly because of this reason. She disguises herself as two actresses, Chris Vineyard and Sharon Vineyard. It is noted several times in the series that she is a master of disguise, who trained with Shinichi's mother in the past.

Confrontation with Vodka

In episodes 309-311, Conan manages to arrange contact with Vodka of the organization, and goes to confront him in a trap, however, Gin arrives and realizes it's a set up. He and Vodka leave before Conan is able to find out more information about the Black Organization. Though, prior to the meeting, Conan does manage to obtain information from their original contact's diary that reveal a bit of the Black Organization's dark intentions.

The second head to head battle, and revealed allegiances

In episode 345, many identities are finally unveiled: Vermouth is revealed to be Dr. Araide, Chris Vineyard, Sharon Vineyard, and the silver-haired serial killer in Shinichi's New York Case; Jodie Saintemillion is revealed to be an undercover FBI agent working towards capturing Vermouth, who killed her father when she was younger; Shuich Akai is confirmed to be an FBI agent, and one with great skill too--enough to make the boss of the Black Organization believe that he is their Silver Bullet. Near the end of the episode, it becomes clear that Vermouth's purpose was to seek and eliminate Sherry, but her attempts are thwarted by several people: Shinichi/Conan, Jodie Saintemillion, Shuichi Akai, and even Ran. When she becomes cornered, she takes Conan hostage and drives away into a forest. There, she sends a text message to her boss (still nameless), and to her surprise, Conan was recording the sound of the boss' number being dialed. In order to preserve the organization's secrecy, she sprays sleeping gas in the car, putting both herself and Conan to sleep. She claims that this would be a duel--whoever wakes up first will win. Vermouth does indeed wake up first, but does not kill Conan. Instead, she just crushes his recording device. Ultimately, the only clue Conan gained from this whole ordeal is the phone number that the boss uses; this is mentioned in episode 425 as well.

In Episode 394, Conan figures out the boss' number, but Haibara warns him not to call it because it is "Pandora's Box", Conan then thinks he can get Detective Takagi to figure out who the number belongs to. But then Haibara warns if he does, Detective Takagi will be killed.

Although Vermouth often comes off as evil and malicious, her allegiance is rather ambiguous. She chooses to protect both Conan/Shinichi and Ran, most likely because they let her live back in the New York Case when she was disguised as the silver-haired serial killer. At the end of the episode, she could have very well killed Shinichi, but instead she lets him live and even drapes her coat over his sleeping body so he wouldn't get cold. She even kept her promise with Shinichi to stop her attempt on killing Sherry. For some reason, she seems to wish for the Black Organization to be taken down as well--for she believes that Shinichi Kudo is their true Silver Bullet.

The third head to head battle, and three new threats

Black Organization´s members.

In episode 425, the Black Organization introduces three new members, Chianti, Kir, and Korn, who first make their introduction in the 16th Opening episodes before their actual appearance in the series. Episode 425 is also the first to show the most Black Organization members in one episode. Chianti and Korn are introduced in the very beginning of episode 425 as highly trained assassins that Gin recruits after seeing their sniping skills. Kir is first introduced to Conan and the others as a news reporter (Rena Mizunashi) and a friend of Yoko Okino's, however, she is revealed as a member of the black corps later on. After encountering FBI during her mission, Kir tries to flee, but gets knocked unconscious and crashes, resulting in her getting taken by the FBI agents. In the manga, Heiji Hattori mentions she has been seen in Osaka before.

Eisuke Hondou, and the captured Kir

In episodes 462-465, the Black Organization reveals some information about Kir and Eisuke's father. Eisuke appears to be linked to the Black Organization, as Conan notices similarities between him and Kir, and he also appears to be gaining info on the secret behind Kogoro's cases. In addition, Vermouth is revealed to be linked to another murder case. In the following episode 466, Conan tells Haibara and Agasa that the boy involved in the previous case told a mysterious man (unknown, but sometimes thought to be Rikumichi Kusuda, as they have the same outer appearance, though, his face is shadowed) that he had seen Kir before.

In episodes 484-485, Conan investigates more on Eisuke and belief that he and his father may have a possible link to Rena Mizunashi and the Black Organization. This later leads to further investigations in episode 491-494 with a possibility that Eisuke and Rena are related when they watch a video tape from years ago.

Subaru Okiya, and "Bourbon"

Jodie calls Conan and tells him that she changed her number and cell phone. She also mentions that Rena Mizunashi reported a new member of the Black Organization (Code name: Bourbon) is investigating about Sherry (Ai Haibara). As Conan and Haibara investigate a normal case, Haibara feels that an organization member is around. The organization member which she felt is implied to be one of the innocent suspects, Subaru Okiya. Conan invites Okiya to live in the Kudo's house since Okiya's apartment was burnt. Okiya appears in other cases later on, including at the Haido mall where the rest of the Black Organization gathered to chase a rumored sighting of a scarred Shuichi Akai. In chapter 823, Bourbon is confirmed to be Tooru Amuro.

Manga to anime differences

The first season of Detective Conan, featured The Organization scarcely, due to the writers wanting to down play their presence. Two of the episodes at least, were altered heavily in light of it:

Episode 5, The Shinkansen's Bomb Case: The episode has Conan running into lookalikes of the men who drugged him. Volume 4 of the manga, however, it is the same guys. In fact, that story has him learning their code name (Gin/Vodka in the Japanese Version, Melkior and Kaspar in the English Version), which creates a continuity error in Episode 54, Game Company Murder Case, when Conan recognizes their names when Tequila speaks to them, despite the fact that he had never heard their names (in the anime) before that point.

Episode 13, The Strange Person Hunt Murder Case: In the episodes end, Masami runs into the criminal in charge the recent murders. She survives a gunshot wound thanks to Conan. The manga version, which is in Volume 2, the masterminds are Gin and Vodka.

Masami is actually Akemi Miyano, and stole the yen to buy her sister out of the organization. Upon refusal to give the location Gin (who has an idea where it is) shoots her. Conan arrives shortly after to try helping Akemi. He gives her his real name, and before dying she tell Conan the location of the yen. (Note that in the manga, she was killed early on in the 2nd volume of the manga)

The anime had to do a similar story in Episode 128 The Black Corps One Billion Yen Robbery Case in order to repair the storyline.

Relation to the Organization from Magic Kaito

See also: Magic Kaito Organization

It is questionable if the Detective Conan's Black Organization and Magic Kaito's unnamed organization are the same organization. The member of the magic Kaito organization that claimed responsibility for killing Toichi eight years ago is referred to as "Snake", a nickname that doesn't fit in with the codenames of the Black Organization, suggesting they are two separate groups. This though may not be the case if Snake refers to Snake Wine, but because Kaitou Kid's origins have yet to be reexplained within the Detective Conan story, this is only speculation.

Additionally the members of the Magic Kaito Organization are looking for a magical gem called Pandora. The magical nature of Magic Kaito and its organization's search does not mesh with the non-magical setting of Detective Conan.

Trivia

• According to the English-language Case Closed Volume 1: The Secret Life of Shinichi Kudo, Gin's real name is "Kaspar" and Vodka's real name is "Melkior". In the English manga, these are explained as specific brands of the relevant drinks.

• Members seem to get along fairly well most of the time. Gin and Vodka have a particularly close rapport. Gin is annoyed by Vermouth's teasing, but when on business they seem to get along alright. Chianti holds a hateful grudge against Vermouth because she believes Vermouth led Calvados to his death, indicating that Chianti has some sort of relationship with the deceased agent. Korn appears to be anti-social.

• Vermouth is the only living member of the organization who learned that Ai Haibara is Shiho Miyano and Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo. Pisco also knew Haibara's identity, and unlike Vermouth, would've revealed it to Gin if he hadn't been murdered by him first. Conan told Akemi Miyano his real name as she died.

• According to the Black Organization only the "Silver Bullet" can defeat/kill them, Vermouth believes that Conan/Shinichi is their "Silver Bullet". However everyone else thinks Akai is their greatest threat.
• So far, the youngest member still in the Black Organization is revealed to be Kir at age 27. Sherry is actually much younger, as her age was revealed to be 18, and her sister is in her early twenties.

• Episode 129 indicates that the organization has numerous members. Later episode 502 shows that these members can include old members in their 70's or 80's. Episode 557 also shows that the organization has access to a large quantity of weapons and sends a large amount of its members depending on the mission.

• Episodes 462-465 marks the first 4-part episode dealing with the Black Organization without it being aired as a special (However, international airings outside Japan have separated each 2 hour special dealing with the Black Organization into six separate parts).

• Episodes 491-504 marks the longest Black Organization arc to ever air, consisting of more than ten parts.

• During the course of the series, almost every member had some kind of individual contact with Conan/Shinichi; Gin in the episode 1, manga chapter 33 on the bullet train, and episode 178 when Conan shoots him with his needle while hiding, Vodka in manga chapter 33 on the bullet train and during the course of episodes 309-311, Vermouth in episode 345 and while she was disguised as Araide, Kir in episode 425, Akemi Miyano in manga chapters 13-16/episode 128, Pisco in episode 178, Tequila in episode 54, Ki'ichiro Numabuchi in episode 118 and briefly in 290, and Rikimichi Kusuda in episodes 496-497.

See also

• Characters

In other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	黒の組織 kuro no soshiki
English	Black Organization
Bahasa	Organisasi Hitam
German	Die Schwarze Organization
French	L’Organisation des Hommes en Noir
Italian	L'Organizzazione Nera
Spanish	La Organización de los Hombres de Negro
Vietnamese	Tổ chức Áo đen
Arabic	المنظمة السوداء Al-Munadama Al-Sowda
Finnish	Musta Organisaatio
Thai	องค์กรชุดดำ