Ai Haibara and Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya

Mitsuhiko and Haibara hearing the radio.

Relationship analysis

Mitsuhiko develops heavy romantic feelings for Ai, and Ai is aware of this. Ai uses his feelings to her advantage when she needs him to do something, but she also does admire his courage during missions the Detective Boys must perform and respects his feelings. She also in some episodes showed more confidence with Mitsuhiko than with Ayumi or Genta. Their "love" could be called "puppy love". Unlike the AyumixConan relationship, because of how enigmatic and ambigious Ai can be, it is unknown whether or not Ai has romantic feelings for Mitsuhiko too. In the AyumixConan relationship, it is obvious that Conan has no feelings for Ayumi beyond sisterly love. Does Ai only feel brotherly love for Mitsuhiko? Mitsuhikos mental age seems to be a problem on the first sight, because he is a real child, completely in contrast to Ai. Ai is often irritated by the childish behaviour of the Detective Boys. However, in this regard she clearly has more problems with Ayumi and Genta, because Mitsuhiko of the three ones is cleverest and ripest. He could already solve several riddles without Conans help, and two cases clear up because of which Conan has failed. In the remaining cases with the Detective Boys it is mostly he who gives the deciding ones instruction, so that Conan can solve the case. Moreover, is on him reliance if danger threatens. He has released Ai and Conan also without help from Genta and Ayumi already from dangerous situations, and Ai has saved once even the life. A reoccurring element in the MitsuxAi relationship is Conan; he is usually secretly observing their "moments" and poking fun at Ai interest in Mitsuhiko while she rolls her eyes and makes some sarcastic comment. Is ConanxAi more believeable as a romantic relationship than MitsuxAi? Read on...

Moments

Mushrooms, Bears, and the Detective Boys (Manga Volume 27 file 10 and 28 Files 1-2, Episode 212-213)

This is the first episode that Mitsuhiko shows affection for Ai. While she goes into one of her adult-like rants about something very random, such as Adam and Eve and the forbidden apple, he watches her and blushes as he does. Conan notices this and asks "What's wrong? Why are you making that face?" and he gets defensive at first but then says "Haibara-san's words are harsh but deep down she's kind, smart, mature and...very mysterious, don't you think?" Conan becomes serious and says "No, Mitsuhiko, don't choose her." Haibara hears him say this and tilts her head in confusion. (It's assumed that Conan says this because he knows the REAL truth about Ai, that she's an adult and will never be interested in him. However, he could have also said it because he is also attracted to Ai and doesn't want Mitsuhiko to get in his way. Either way, he says it to spare Mitsuhiko's feelings.)

Later in the episode, Genta gets lost while they are searching for a certain kind of mushroom and Ai makes Conan pair up with Ayumi and tells Misuhiko to come with her to go look for him. Conan gets a dark look on his face and says "Be careful, Haibara." because they are in hunting territory and humans are often mistaken for animals and shot by accident. Ai smiles in a very genuine way and says "Thank you for worrying about me." Conan scoffs and says "Whatever." Mitsuhiko feels left out and looks from one to the other repeatedly. When they start searching, Mitsuhiko remembers this and asks "What is your relationship with Conan?" when she gives him a confused look he goes on to say "You two often go off into a corner and talk about things normal children don't understand. It's like you two only understand each other...like you're in your own little world." Ai brushes him off and says "You're wrong. It's not as romantic as it seems." (This can also be interpreted two ways. Ai could have said that to mean that she actually DOES have feelings for Mitsuhiko that may edge over just friendship and she's brushing his question off to let him know that he doesn't have to worry. Or, she could have said that in a forlorn way, meaning that she WISHES her relationship with Conan was more romantic but it can't be.)

In episode 213, Ai falls to the ground because she twisted her ankle when they were running away. Mitsuhiko immediately runs to her side and cuts his towel into strips to wrap it around her ankle like a bandage. Ai is conspicuously delighted by his natural intelligence and says he is amazing. Mitsuhiko blushes and then looks down and says "Actually, I sprained my ankle when I was camping with Conan-kun once and...Conan-kun...he showed me this. He knows everything. He's the one that's amazing. I'm not even close to being like him..." Ai feels bad and after a pause she smiles and says "Stupid...the most important thing is that you have this knowledge and can use it after learning it. Right now, you're my amazing rescuer. Thank you." Mitsuhiko blushes and carries her from the mountain. The scene ends with her gazing at his reddened face intently. Ai throws on the return journey a dreamy Look on Mitsuhiko. Conan looks rerum at them, and seems to know what goes forward in her. As a result she blushes and turns round fast.

Episode 276

A fruitless singer wants to kill his manager. Mitsuhiko sees through the plan and can nearly solve the case. However, besides, he makes mistake, so that Conan solves in the end the case. During his conclusions smiles Ai at Mitsuhiko, and draws the attention of him nicely to his mistakes. If Genta or Ayumi want to clear up a case, and, besides, give partly big nonsense of himself, is substantially less friendly Ai.

Hooligan's Labyrinth (Episode 279-280)

The first MitsuxAi scene is on he bus after the Detective Boys and Professor Agasa have just finished watching a soccer/football game. Mitsuhiko is listening to the sports results of the next game on the radio and Ai, who is uncharacteristically interested in sports in this episode, puts her head against his to listen. He jumps away, stammers and blushes while she asks slightly impatient for the score. He quickly, with a red face, reports that it is zero to zero. As Conan watches in the background, Mitsuhiko goes on to say that the star player of the team they are rooting for is still playing but is playing badly. Ai, who has some sympathy for the star player, bows her head sadly. Mitsuhiko immediately tries to comfort her but she excuses herself and walks away with Conan's eyes on her.

"The Train Scene" is sort of iffy because it can be seen as an ConanxAi scene AND a MitsuxAi scene. After Conan figures out who the killer is and the police take him away, Conan notices that Ai is missing, Mitsuhiko and the others don't know where she is until they notice her standing on the platform on the other side of the train tracks like she's getting on a different train. Conan fears the worst and bolts up the stairs to try to get to her before she "escapes". When he gets there, she's no where to be found and he stands there, breathing heavily, screaming her name. When he's sure she's gone, she appears behind him and says "Why are you shouting?" Conan tries to save face but she already knows that he thought she had run away. She tells him, with slight irritation, that she was just searching for Mitsuhiko's portable radio that he lost earlier in the episode. This is a key moment for MisuxAi because this is the first time Ai ever goes out of her way to do Mitsuhiko a spontaneous favor. However, it can also be argued that Ai sees Mitsuhiko as nothing more than a little brother or friend because as soon as she tells Conan she was actually spending her time thinking about Mitsuhiko and not him or herself, she looks down and whispers "You told me. Not to run... Not to run away from fate." He stares at her and she meets his eyes with an intense gaze. "You'll protect me, right?" she asks him. Conan nods certainly. And just like that, Mitsuhiko is forgotten!

Mitsuhiko's Mystifying Forest (Episode 289-290)

This episode begins as a regular day. They're all doing community exercises outdoors to mark the beginning of summer and Ai notices, with deep concern, that Mitsuhiko isn't there. Mitsuhiko, as his sister calls him, is missing. The gang travels into the mountains to find him and again Ai voices concern by saying "What is it that made Tsuburaya-kun, the smart and considerate one, travel this far into the mountains?" It turns out that Mitsuhiko went into the mountains to find fireflies because he overheard Ai and Ayumi talking about how pretty they were and he wanted to surprise them. When he finally caught one, he couldn't answer his phone or it would get away, he ended up risking his life just to impress Ai because there were dangerous killers roaming the mountains also. Ai is astonished when she learns this and says "You did all that for me?" He blushes and nods. Conan notes that Ai is glad, and appeals to them to it. Nevertheless, she does not answer, but turns aside. Besides, she smiles and blushes easily. During the search for Mitsuhiko Ayumi supposes that he meets another girl on the beach. Ai this doubts; at that time knows or she presumably already anticipates that Mitsuhiko is in love in them. Nevertheless, it is easily put out of tune to Ayumis supposition. It could be maybe jealous Ai?

Festival Dolls Dyed in the Setting Sun (Episode 312-313)

Mitsuhiko ask/pulled Ai to go to the top of the stairs with him to be the empress and emperor of the photo.

Episode 374/375

The Detective Boys examine the case of a missing amateur astronomer whose skeleton they find. Mitsuhiko wants to maintain a star after itself, Ai and Ayumi name, when they the Detective Boys about stars and her discoverers.

The Super Secret Road to School (Episode 427-428)

The Detective Boys are looking for a missing girl who looks a lot like Ai . Ayumi says that the girl is popular among the girls but not among boys in her class. Mitsuhiko, however, blushes and says that boys like her too.

The Unsmashable Snowman (Episode 466-467)

Mitsuhiko grabs Ai's hand during the snowstorm to make sure she doesn't get lost, but it turns out to be Genta's hand instead and everyone looks embarrassed.

Later Ai shows Genta special attention when he falls in the snow and gets a nosebleed. Ai uses tissue to stop his nose from bleeding and holds his face while telling him to be careful next time. Mitsuhiko watches Ai walk away, blushes and exclaims "I'm so jealous of you, Genta-kun!"

Episode 481/482

The professor tells the horror story of a mountain witch to the children the children eats. Mitsuhiko explains as a result that he protected Ai and Ayumi with his life, if this mountain witch really appears. As a result Ai says smiling (and also slightly ironically) that she feels honoured that he can be eaten at her place. In the course of the action Mitsuhiko is very obliging to Ai and Ayumi. Ai Mitsuhiko responds in this result for the first time with "Mitsuhiko-kun", instead of with "Tsuburaya-kun" what is very confidential in Japan.

Episode 483

A restaurant owner in love disguises himself as a policeman to protect at night the woman in whom he is in love secretly. At last says Ai ironically that men can never show her feelings. Maybe she wants to indicate that she waits for the fact that a "man" confesses her his true feelings in her surroundings, Mitsuhiko or Conan. However, maybe she makes fun even only of a stereotype about men.

Red, White, Yellow, and the Detective Boys (Episode 509)

An apartment is burned down and three of the residences are suspected as the arsonists. While Conan tries to figure out who the culprit is, Ai holds onto him freaking out about her "sixth sense" with the members of the Black Organization. She suspects that one of the three is a Black Org. member. To get a better look at them, she asks Mitsuhiko to do her a favor. She puts her hands on is shoulders and says "Stay like that and walk backwards. That's all I need." Mitsuhiko blushes and then says "Walk backwards? Is there something behind me?" as though someone is pulling a joke on him. Ai holds his face in her hands and says "Don't turn around. You need to keep looking at me." He stammers "Y-yes." They walk backwards until Mitsuhiko says "Haibara-san, you're hurting me." because she's grabbing his shoulders too hard. She accidentally pushes him out of surprise and he falls to the concrete and scrapes his elbow. Ai is very much anxiously around Mitsuhiko when it pushes him mistakenly to ground. She bends to him down, and asks him whether he is injured.

Meiji Restoration Mystery Tour (Episode 518-519)

A young woman should be kidnapped together with Mitsuhiko. Ai jumps in the car and tries to pull the ignition key to prevent Mitsuhikos kidnapping. Besides, it itself is also kidnapped.

The Blue Spark of Hate (Episode 524-525)

Ai Mitsuhiko asks to do her one favour. He follows to this request with pleasure.

Episode 571/572

Ai complains because the children are so childish and admire only Conan instead of solving even cases. The Detective Boys take more trouble to look adult. Particularly Mitsuhiko, if Ai to him over here sees.

Episode 622

The children want to play to hide, however, Ai and Conan are still undecided whether they also want to join in. Their friends persuade the both, and Mitsuhiko packs Ai in her shoulders.

Episode 656

Ai is very furious on Genta. Mitsuhiko asks them to calm down again. When the children split themselves to find the missing Ayumi, starts looking Ai with Mitsuhiko.

Countdown to Heaven

Mitsuhiko tells Ran that he is in love at the same time in Ayumi and Ai, and, therefore, feels as a bad person. Ran comforts him, and advises him to be friends for the time being with both girls. With which of them it would be one day lovers, would appear if he is older. Mitsuhiko can be content with this answer for the time being.

Ai becomes with the escape by a car from an exploding building, flung from this. Mitsuhiko holds on them with whole strength, and preserves them in such a way to fall in the depth, and injured themselves fatally to. Besides, he says that he never lets alow to fall them.

The Phantom of Baker Street

Ai says that for her is cold. As a result Mitsuhiko takes off his jacket and gives them to her.

Full Score of Fear

Mitsuhiko instead of looking at Ayumi when they are singing he looks at Ai while he blushes. Their chorus coach says that he was singing bad because he was looking at Ai.

Strategy Above the Depths

Haibara makes fun of Mitsuhiko asking him to have a bath with her. He immediately blushes and faints to the floor.

The Private Eyes’ Requiem

The Detective Boys are in a fun fair. Genta is hungry, however, the children stand in a queue. Ai offers to keep the place for them. And Mitsuhiko wants to remain immediately with her to wait together with her.

Mitsuhiko daydreams about Ai Haibara.

A Secret Order From London

On account of some misunderstandings (also by Conans guilt) Mitsuhiko develops the "conspiracy theory" that Ai the child star Grace Aihara is, and that she was a spy of the MI6 who has spied out mafia, and had to disappear in Japan under false name.

When a black-dressed man and a black-dressed woman Ai and Ayumi obstruct the way, Mitsuhiko intervenes. He holds on the man, and says the girls that they should fast run away. Obvious he is ready to risk his own life to protect Ai, because he holds the man for a member of the mafia.

In the end Mitsuhiko tells Ai about his theory and shows also her the picture of Grace Aihara. As a result shows Ai him compared with so much trust that she confirms to him that in his theory more as a spark of truth is, while Ayumi holds his theory for nonsense.

At last Mitsuhiko dreams of being married one day with Ai.

Opening 31

Ai and Ayumi are afraid of a snake. Genta and Mitsuhiko want to protect the girls. Mitsuhiko chases away the snake, finally, while he them with a grimace frightened.

See also

• Ai Haibara
• Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya