Wataru Takagi

This article is about the character Wataru Takagi. For the voice actor of the same name, see Wataru Takagi (voice actor).

Wataru Takagi
Profile
Japanese name:	高木 渉 (Takagi Wataru)
English name:	Harry Wilder
Age:	~26
Gender:	Male
Nicknames:	Takagi-kun (Sato) Takagi-niisan (Ayumi)
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: File 171 Anime: Episode 21
Appearances:	Chapters: 332 Episodes: 560 Movies: 20 OVAs: 5 Specials: 12 Openings: 39 Closings: 10
Keyhole number:	Volume 20
Actors
Japanese voice:	Wataru Takagi
English voice:	Doug Burks
Drama actor:	Yuichi Tsuchiya

Wataru Takagi (高木 渉 ,Takagi Wataru) is a police sergeant and detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police District's Criminal Investigation First Division.

Background

Wataru Takagi is a newcomer to the Tokyo Police Criminal Investigations Division 1, having transferred after the bomber case about three years ago but by the time Shinichi Kudo first established his reputation as a detective, about two years ago. His mentor was a senior agent called Date, who died one year before the present timeline. He first met Shinichi's alter ego Conan during the investigation of the murder of actress Isami Nagakura, accompanying Inspector Megure and helping to expose the trick with the identical rooms.

Ever since his joining the force, Takagi (like so many of his other colleagues) has harbored romantic feelings for Miwako Sato. While Sato appeared to have taken a liking to him as well, Takagi was easily discouraged by the way she dealt with other male colleagues, including their superior Inspector Megure (though in that case it was more a daughterly affection to a father figure, since Sato's father had died when she was very young). In time, thanks to several severe incidents - and despite the interference of the other officers in the department, chiefly Ninzaburo Shiratori -, their professional relationship grew more personal, and finally Sato and Takagi shared their first kiss after he had been hospitalized in the course of a difficult case and kissed the second (and third!) time in Episode 683 when he almost died in a bomb accident.

Personality

While he is initially self-conscious and bumbling, Takagi is a dedicated member of the Tokyo Police Force and shows promise as a good officer as the series progresses. He is one of the few officers who trusts Conan's judgments the most, listening to him at case scenes to find important evidence and sometimes even letting Conan take the lead in their investigation (the case with Sato handcuffed to the wrong suspect in the bathroom being a good example).

Takagi has a strong intuition and sense of justice, and is very honorable. He has a strong drive to protect others, partially based in his profession as an officer, and partially based on a self-sacrificing trait in his personality. He is always very polite, even when alarmed, and defers to the judgment of his partner Miwako Sato not only because she is his senior, but because he truly respects her.

His hobbies are playing the maracas and following the international wrestling scene, being a fan of wrestlers such as Bruiser Brody and Keiji Mutoh, and recognizing a move that Ran does as the "Shining Wizard," a finishing move of Mutoh's.

Relationships analysis

Family & Friends

Sato and Takagi

Miwako Sato

His affection for Sato is a driving force of his character development. While his insecurity and comical outside interference regularly get in the way, he slowly manages to win her heart through his dedication, honesty and sincerity - traits Sato had also admired in her late colleague Jinpei Matsuda. Sato finally kisses Takagi after he has been severely wounded while protecting others.

Conan Edogawa

Takagi has come the closest of any of the Division One members to finding out Conan's true identity. In the Tokyo Tower Bomber Case, while they waited for the elevator bomb's clock to run down to give the final clue to stop the greater crime, Shinichi, as Conan, told Takagi that he would answer Takagi's questions about his real identity "on the other side." Takagi has also come to acknowledge Conan's sharp mind and intellect, taking Conan's observations seriously and even allowing him to accompany him to question suspects, most notably during the New Scar and the Whistling Man Case where he has the rest of the Detective Boys remain in the car.

Detective Chiba

Takagi and Chiba always work together on murder cases. Chiba is also the only male officer in their department who has had no obsessive crush on Sato, and in fact supported Takagi in his romantic endeavors on several occasions.

Wataru Date

Date was Takagi's mentor and close friend who passed away in a traffic accident. As the pronunciation of his name was the same as Wataru Takagi's, Takagi and Date were nicknamed "the Wataru brothers" (ワタル・ブラザーズ).

Character popularity

• eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Takagi placed 14th in the poll with 46 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.

• In honor of the release of the 15th movie, Quarter of Silence, the official Conan movie website held a popularity poll for the top 10 Detective Conan characters. Takagi placed 10th out of 10.

• In honor of the release of the 800th manga chapter, Shonen Sunday held a popularity poll/contest containing 91 Detective Conan characters to choose from. Takagi placed 10th overall with 226 votes.

Name origin

Takagi is named after his voice actor: he was originally a nameless character. In Episode 66, when Megure asks Takagi to check the bloodstains on the roof, his voice actor Chafurin adlibbed the name "Detective Takagi" during the recording session.

Different looks

Takagi's "Before" Appearance (Episode 26)

Takagi's "Middle" Appearance (Episode 147)

Takagi's "After" Appearance (Episode 626)

In other languages

Language	Given Name	Family Name
Japanese	渉 Wataru	高木 Takagi
English	Harry	Wilder
Catalan	Wataru	Takagi
French	Wataru	Takagi
German	Wataru	Takagi
Vietnamese	Wataru	Takagi
Arabic	Not given	تاكاجي　Takaji
Korean	형선 Hyung Sun	신 Shin
Finnish	Wataru	Takagi
Thai	วาตารุ	ทาคางิ

Trivia

• Despite debuting in On Location, TV Drama Murder Case it isn't until the Karaoke Box Murder Case that Takagi is credited and referred to by that name.
• Takagi's appearance seems to have changed. His old hairstyle included a spikier fringe compared to the current one as well as a darker skin tone.
• Takagi drives a Nissan Skyline.

See also

• Characters