Shout Out / Case Closed

• Perhaps the most often-recurring one in the whole series: Shinichi/Conan's chin-stroking tic is a direct reference to Toshiro Mifune (Gosho Aoyama being a huge Akira Kurosawa fan, with Sanjuro his all-time favorite).
• One of the mysteries taking place at a mansion has No Celebrities Were Harmed versions of famous detectives.
• Jodie Starling is most likely named after Jodie Foster and the character she played in The Silence of the Lambs, FBI agent Clarice Starling. She also sports glasses that appear to be directly from the movie.
• The biggest Shout-Out of all is Shinichi and his environs; judging by names one can safely say he has been living in London rather than Tokyo. ("Beika" Street, "Haido" Park, restaurants "Café Poirot" and "Columbo", etc...)
• Just about all of the characters have Theme Naming from various famous detectives; some of the victims and suspects also have had names reminiscent of The Shinsengumi or Jidaigeki big names.
  • Invoked In-universe with Ai Haibara. According to the Professor in the original translations in the mid-The '90s, the 'ai' is from american private detectie V.I. Warshawski - the 'vi' is flipped upside down. 'Haibara' uses the kanji for "Gray", which is from British private detective Cordelia Gray ^note (the novel, subsequent series and tv show "An Unsuitable job for a woman"); her English dub name is 'Vi Graythorn' in order to keep the inspirations accurate. However, according to a 2014 interview with Aoyama-sensei, the 'AI' is a mirror image of 'IA' - the initials of Irene Adler. VIZ media stuck to same-intial names in the early translations, so her english manga name Anita Hailey comes from Anna Katherine Green - the first american mystery writer - and a homonym of the word 'Hero'. Her code name, 'Sherry' is because sherry is the favourite liquor of Shunsako Kudo, hero of the japanese tv series Tantei Monogatari.
• Movie 5 has Ran actually copy a trick from Die Hard, hoping it works like in the movie.
  • The runaway train/train wreck in the climax has shades of Silver Streak, albeit with an 1890s British steam locomotive.
• Hattori Heiji may well be related to Hattori Hanzō, especially considering how good he is at Kendo.
• In volume 17, Kogoro exclaims 'Hellooo Nurses!' most likely referencing Vaudeville or Animaniacs.
• In The Twenty Year Old Murderous Intent: The Symphony Serial Murder Case (episode 174/volume 23), Ran could be seen emulating a famous scene in Titanic (1997) and shouting "I'm the king of the world!".
  • Lampshaded by Kogoro and Conan, who were watching her and expressing concerns that her actions are Tempting Fate and the cruise ship might end up sinking. (it didn't sink; murders took place instead)
• Episode 471 is a Whole-Plot Reference to Speed; a Mad Bomber seeking revenge on Kogoro rigged his rental car to explode if it goes below 20 kph. Unlike in the film though, the passengers weren't killed for leaving the car and the vehicle itself doesn't explode thanks to the bomb squad aboard a car carrier continually running the wheels.
• The beginning of episode 608 has a commercial for a fictional chocolate-brand filmed in the style of 24, complete with Picture-in-Picture, a digital clock and beeping sounds.
• An entire story in the 63rd tankoubon is a shout-out to Initial D. Why so? First, the case happened in Gunma in a place named Mt. Fuyuna^note Takumi's home course is named Mt. Akina; that place is based on a real-world place named Mt. Haruna.. Second, the 'legend' is named Fuyuna's Silver Ghost^note Bunta/Takumi in the AE86 is known as Akina's White Ghost.
• In episode two, the dub changes the kidnapped girl's name from Akiko Tani to Michelle Tanner.
• Akai Shuuichi and Okiya Subaru's names are references to Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam, which Gosho Aoyama is a fan of. Masumi Sera and Tooru Amuro also have their names taken from there. These names are hints towards Okiya's actual identity, how Sera is Akai's sister, and that Amuro is The Rival to Akai.
  • And then there's how Akai Shuuichi's dead girlfriend Akemi Miyano is voiced by his seiyuu's real life wife.
• More than once, Conan is seen reading the actual Shonen Sunday magazine.
• In episode 494, a book named Paprika together with another book named The Secret Garden is briefly shown.
• In the episode 792, Ai make a reference to Lum of Urusei Yatsura.
• The naming scheme of the criminal gang in Episodes 775-776 is probably inspired by Reservoir Dogs, only with parts of the face instead of colors.
• Episodes 727-728, "The Treasure Chest Filled With Fruit", centers around a cooking show that parodies Iron Chef.
• The case of the Red Horse is a Shout Out to the Poirot novel The ABC Mysteries. Conan even relates the plight of the antique shop owner to that of Arthur B. Cust, who were both hypnotized into thinking they were serial murderers.
• One instance of Artistic License – Law Eri pointed out in the movie at the end of chapter 986 (episode 902) is that the main character kept shouting "OBJECTION!" in front of the judge. In a case of Continuity Nod, the plot of the movie is based from an earlier case (chapters 264-266/episodes 199-200), complete with the protagonist's name being a thinly-veiled anagram of Eri Kisaki.
• In case 1022, the superhero Kamen Yaiba has been inducted into a multinational team called The Azengers. It also mentions a detective drama called Detective 48.

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