Fridge Brilliance
Fridge Brilliance
- The Hounds of the Baskervilles allusion/reference/whatever in the London Arc of the show. In Hounds of the Baskervilles, Watson is unaware that Holmes had actually been with him at the estate the entire time and is understandably upset when he finds out, as Ran is when she discovers Shinichi was at London with her.Ran: I did so much research, and was worried to death about your stuff... Wasn't that stupid of me?Watson (in Hounds of the Baskervilles): ‘Then my reports have all been wasted!’ My voice trembled as I recalled the pains and the pride with which I had composed them.
- When Shinichi was chasing Ran after the confrontation at the phone booth also in the London Arc, and he manages to grab her arm, it was somewhat strange how Ran, a karate expert, didn't escape from him by yanking her arm out one way or another, but then it makes sense... it was because she didn't want to. The one grabbing her was Shinichi, the guy she loves and she almost never sees, so she wants to stay with him no matter what.
- Billionaire Birthday Blues is actually set up in a way that suggests very strongly that it's leading towards a The Butler Did It. You notice her absence in certain scenes when the murder(s) took place... as well as the fact that, out of anyone in the house, she has the most obvious motive. However it becomes a huge subversion
- In the early days of the series, Conan would wear the bow tie suit thing all the time. I've never really thought of it since lots of cartoon characters wear the same thing every single day until rewatching the part where he says that his old primary school clothes is the only thing that fits him now. He had the outfit because he was turned into a kid and had nothing else to wear for a while.
- Also note that Conan attends Teitan Elementary School, the same one as little Shinichi did, so as long as they didn't change the uniforms, he'd fit just fine.
- Teitan Elementary School doesn't have a uniform. When he says "old primary school clothes" he just means clothes that he wore when he was primary school age. It's also fare to mention that in the early seasons, a lot of characters had Limited Wardrobe, not just Conan.
- Teitan Elementary doesn't have a uniform... anymore. There are translations that turn the phrase into "old primary school uniform", so it's not a huge step to think that the school used to have a uniform and Conan expected it to still have the same uniform, but meanwhile Teitan had become a plainclothes school.
- Also note that Conan attends Teitan Elementary School, the same one as little Shinichi did, so as long as they didn't change the uniforms, he'd fit just fine.
- As noted on the main page under Call-Back, the killer's room in "The Forgotten Bond" has a picture of Tatsuya Kimura from "The Karaoke Box Murder Case" on the wall. This isn't just an Easter Egg for observant viewers; both episodes are instances in which the Asshole Victim wasn't actually as much of a Jerkass as the killer believed. Nice Foreshadowing.
- The reasons for the opposing opinions of ShinRan's (Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri) parents on a relationship for the two: Yukiko and Yusaku are for it, but Eri and Kogoro are somewhat against the idea. Why you may ask? While it may be due to the current situation of their own marriage status (The Kudos are still Happily Married, while the Mouris are an estranged married couple), it may also have to do with their views on one of the two parties. For Ran's parents, they are probably fully aware of Ran's anguish of not seeing Shinichi for such a long time, and they can't see their daughter being with a guy like that; Shinichi's parents, actually know why Shinichi is "missing" and are fully aware of their son's intense love for her.
- Another contributing factor is that Kogoro and Eri often see Shinichi's negative traits. The flashback in "Shinichi Kudo's Childhood Adventure" shows him keeping himself and Ran out on a school night. When they're seven. No adults around. Eri was understandably upset. And when Shinichi reverted back to his original form, he practically admitted that he saw Ran's underwear. Right in front of the girl's father (who even vowed to judo flip him upon hearing his comment). So, while they both acknowledge Shinichi isn't as horrible as most guys, they both have a hard time understanding how Ran could fall in love with someone as tactless and reckless as Shinichi. They aren't the only ones.
- Usually whenever Shinichi and Heiji have a deduction battle, it's the former who often wins. There's also another area Shinichi has better deductions in than Heiji: His romantic feelings for his childhood friend. While Heiji has currently acknowledged his love for Kazuha, it took him sometime in the series to figure out that he loved her (i.e. in one case when he was jealous of Kazuha's supposed flirting with another man, he "deduced" that he was jealous because it was like someone was stealing his subordinate.)
- Expanding further on that, the detectives' way of confessing their feelings for their respective love interests matches their personality: Shinichi is more logical and thoughtful, so he waits until getting confirmation that Ran is interested in him, for example, in the very first chapter/episode, Shinichi was about to confess his feelings for Ran when she made a comment indicating she liked him romantically (she said she was joking, but it later turned out she was right) and made attempts to confess to her when he got his body back, now knowing that Ran really likes him; Heiji is more Hot-Blooded and impulsive, so when he realizes his feelings for Kazuha off-screen,note Heiji is now making faster attempts to confess to her in a proper setting, even though (unlike Shinichi/Ran), he's unaware if she feels the same thing at this point.
- As noted under Social Services Does Not Exist Kogoro still has custody of his daughter and presumably Conan despite the fact that they are routinely exposed to mentally damaging events, often as a result of following him on investigations. This raises a few eyebrows until you remember three things. 1) Kogoro never deliberately exposes them to the things they witness, which would factor into an investigation if it took place, 2) He is close to Inspector Megure who is a high ranked officer that could keep an investigation away or influence it enough to get a case thrown out, not to mention being a character witness for Kogoro and being aware of 1, 3) Eri is a successful lawyer that doesn't mind her daughter living with him and even seems to prefer it so she would likely be willing to fight such a case if it came up.
- The series often plays up the fact that Ran is tormented by Shinichi's absence from her life, despite the fact that Ran is shown to be much more mature and emotionally stable than the mindset needed for this kind of personality. She does occasionally have moments where she unloads her sadness but that is to be expected for a stable person like her. But this kind of emphasis does make sense when you think on how she has grown up. Her parents separated when she was at most seven years old and before that they were frequently fighting with each other. Her mother moved out and she essentially takes care of her father, who can be charitably called unreliable. She isn't seen to have any friends besides Sonoko and flashbacks to her childhood don't show her with any friends beside Sonoko or Shinichi. Shinichi on the other hand she has literally known since they were children and they have known each other well enough for him to be aware of all of these details in depth. Given all these factors it is easy to see why she misses him so much. He isn't just the boy she is in love with, he is the boy that was always there for her when she needed him. Having someone like that just disappear from your life and not see them for months at a time, only to have mere minutes to spend with them, would be traumatic for anyone.
- In fact, in some of the OP and ED animations, Ran is shown nude either in full body (without anything showing), or implied by showing a close-up with bare shoulders. This is showing her vulnerability from being kept apart from Shinichi for so long.
- This also doubles for Shinichi. He often describes Ran as his "most precious person in the world". Why? Well, like Ran, he didn't have that many friends growing up; the kids, and some teachers were put off by his arrogant attitude. Sonoko hardly likes him, and initially wanted to pair Ran up with a different man. When he was about 14, his parents left him in their Big Fancy House to go to America. Like he was for Ran, she was a constant figure in his life. She never left his side since they were kids.
- This post
shows that, in separate moments, Shinichi/Conan and Haibara compare themselves to sharks, but for different reasons. - The 15th movie is Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence; A quarter is 15 minutes.
- Kir is a cocktail using red wine and blackcurrant liqur. Most of the rest of the Black organizations female members uses a type of red wine as their alias, not the name of a drink. But consider that Rena Mizunashi is a double agent, and suddenly, it fits very well.
- In the Kaitou Kid episode with the Blush Mermaid, it is a little odd that Kid doesn't make an appearance in the room with the tank, as he usually at least makes a cameo appearance before the police, but then I realized from Magic Kaito that Kaito is petrified of fish. Of course Kid wouldn't make an appearance in a room with fish, what if one jumps up at him, he would for sure lose his Poker Face. His goal was to get in and out as quickly as possible, which means doing it as quickly as possible.
- In the 20th movie The Darkest Nightmare, the character Curaçao gradually loses things that symbolize her allegiance with the Black Organization. Namely, her black wig she used to disguise herself to infiltrate the Police Headquarters, and her black eye contact lens, both times revealing her white hair and white eye in the process. As colors is one of the primary themes of the movie, it symbolizes her Character Development from a ruthless BO agent (black) to a decent normal person (white) as she spend her time while being amnesiac with the innocent Detective Boys. Moreover, her actions in the the beginning of the film results in the deaths of three NOC agents infiltrated within the BO, two men and one woman. At the end of the film, she sacrifices herself to save the Detective Boys, which consisted of two boys and one girl, respectively.
- Ran remembering the New York case from a year ago during the "Chinatown Deja Vu in the Rain" murder makes sense not just because of the environment — Rain or Ran's health — catching a fever, but the murder — circumstances aside, both cases have one thing in a common — the murder of an actor/actress and the culprit committing said murder act out of love. Discrepancies notwithstanding, this is a deja vu moment, indeed.
- Shinichi/Conan knowing what to and what not to do when entering a murder scene despite not working for the police is because of how his father would bring him as a child to murder scenes to investigate. And given Shinichi's photographic memory, he is able to remember the proper police procedure.
- Chapter 1008 dropped a bombshell in regards to the true identity of the Black Organization's boss: Renya Karasuma, first mentioned in the "Gathering of the Great Detectives" case. In hindsight, however, it seems kind of obvious.
- Aoyama has gone on record as saying that the Boss's full name has been mentioned in the manga. Notice that he never said whether or not the Boss has actually appeared. After all, it would be rather strange if a man who's been said to be deceased for half a century to appear on screen, wouldn't it?
- Going by this, it also makes sense with regards to what Ai has said that the APTX-4869 is for: She claimed that it was supposedly meant to revive the dead. Now who would go so far as to develop a drug for something like that besides someone who was said to be 99 years old when he died 50 years earlier?
- This also explains why the Organization members wear all black. Crows ("Karasu" in Japanese) are black.
- And for the last clue (albeit one that's a reach): In English, a flock of crows is called a murder, fitting for a mystery series with a lot of it.
- It isn't all dubious creator hints, references, and circumstances: A lot more has been given to link Karasuma and the Black Org far before 1008. In fact, there was enough within the story itself to suspect him of being connected way back when he was first introduced, even without Aoyama's input: *
- The first concrete lead Conan gets on the Black Org is from Miyano Akemi, who tells him as she dies: "They like to wear black clothes that make them look like crows." While the line at first sounds like an simple comparison she's making to describe how they like to dress, it can also be interpreted as her telling him that the Organization dresses in black specifically to mimic crows. The latter, of course, turns out to be true. Later, when Conan figures out the phone number of the Boss, he's able to do so because the number pattern plays out the melody to the folk song "Nanatsu no Ko" - specifically, the first line, "Crow, why do you cry?" Both of these set up a thematic and deliberately created link between the Black Org and the symbol of crows.
- And of course, in Karasuma Renya's introductory chapter, over 700 chapters before we learn about his link to the Organization, we see his personal symbol—a crow—and hear about an organization he famously headed fifty years prior to the storyline, before Karasuma's "death" and the massacre in the house. This matches up perfectly with Haibara's internal dialogue from a prior case, stating that APTX 4869 (and thus, Shinichi) was a part of a research project of the Black Org's that had been going on for fifty years.
- In hindsight, the Sunset Mansion massacre was likely one of the earliest, if not the very first, Black Org-related crime. No wonder the case ended without a full explanation for what happened there: the story will likely be revisiting the massacre soon.
- Conan's name is more brilliant than it initially seems. "Conan" is an obvious reference to the man who created the most famous fictional detective. "Edogawa" is a reference to a famous Japanese author (Edogawa Ranpo) who created several characters that are referenced in Detective Conan (Kogoro Akechi, the Boy Detectives Club). But "Edogawa Ranpo" was just a pen name (Hirai Tarou was his real name), and he chose it as a reference to one of his favorite authors: Namely, the man who created the modern detective story. This leads to further brilliance regarding the identity of the Organization's boss. After all, what was Poe's most famous poem?
- In Episode 82, it is revealed that Conan's favorite karaoke song is "Break" by TWO-MIX. Conan knows he is tone-deaf and that his friends don't really like his singing, yet he insists on singing it. This makes sense if the audiences know the meaning of the song symbolizes Conan's inner struggle with hiding his real identity to Ran and making lies to not make her worry. Also, double as Fridge Sadness.Break my lies. Run after her again.
Save my heart. She's waiting for you to hug her.
Now, return to love. - In "The Sullied Masked Hero" episodes, when one of Teito Pro Wrestling superstars got arrested for murder and assault, Kogoro voiced his worry that mass media would brand Teito as "Ring of Death" or "Killer Wrestler". Then Teito's top draw Wolf Face / Ogami responds by saying that professional wrestlers all know how to take beatings. This can be both figuratively note and literally note speaking.
- In the "Family Restaurant Murder Case" note , the way that the couples all react to the suspicion that their partner is cheating differ based on their relationships:
- Shukichi and Yumi immediately escalate to screaming at each other because it was established back in the "Shogi Player Serial Murder Case" that Yumi is the jealous type and they've had conflicts like this before. Shukichi probably doesn't appreciate the apparent hypocrisy of his girlfriend cheating on him after giving him hell for suspicions in the past, and Yumi makes the first move and immediately gives herself Cross-Popping Veins because, well, that's how she responds when she thinks Shukichi's cheating.
- Chiba and Naeko get very snarky and indirect with each other and their suspected cheating partners. The entire foundation of their 8-year will-they-or-won't-they arc was their inability to just directly talk to one another.
- Shiratori is more hesitant to actually start conflicts than the others. After all, Kobayashi-sensei is his true girl of destiny, why would he be concerned about losing her? However, he does get one highly venomous barb in against Chiba, just like how he used to constantly undermine Takagi back when he thought it was Satou he was after.
- Kobayashi-sensei doesn't ever conflict with anyone. This is one part her being the one of the six least prone to taking aggressive action in general (Yumi, Naeko, Chiba, and Shiratori are all cops and Shukichi is an at least semi-established Amateur Sleuth and a participant in the Akai family's battle with the B.O.) and one part Shiratori having directly told her that he's been in love with her since they were children and having already escalated to telling her "Koishiteru" ("I want to spend the rest of my life with you"). It's a bit implausible to accuse someone like that of cheating just because he had dinner with a work friend one time.
- In A Small Client case (manga volume 39), Kazuki gave Kogoro 5000 Yen as a payment for his help in looking for his mother. While 5000 Yen is not much especially regarding professional expert service, we have to keep these three things in mind: First, Kazuki, while a famous actor, is still underage, therefore unable to access his own bank account without his agency's supervision; second, Kazuki requests Kogoro's help while wearing dark shades and not being escorted by a bodyguard, meaning he visits a detective on his own and his agency has nothing to do with it; and third, Kazuki was raised by nuns in convent, which means he was probably taught the way of Christianity, such as giving what you have as a sense of gratefulness to those who help you. Now, think of Kazuki secretly saving money bit by bit because he wants to meet his mother, visiting a detective without his agency's knowledge, and giving all his savings to Kogoro, again without his agency's knowledge. Makes sense, right?
- There is a murder case in which the victim is a jerk food blogger who gains clout by publishing criticism against certain food and restaurants he does not like in his blog without any consideration or accountability, which drives some small restaurants out of business, and obviously results in many people bearing grudge against him. Many Western readers are probably appalled by such concept, as mostly food bloggers in Western world are nothing more than caustic reviewers or even influencers, and their words are merely opinions not to be taken without a grain of salt. But the thing is, food critics are being put on pedestal in Asia as they are perceived as people of sophisticated level of taste (whether they have actual cuisine knowledge or just bluffing by using fancy terms are completely irrelevant), and their opinions are taken very seriously, enough to put some small food joints out of business.
Fridge Horror
Fridge Horror
- Just how many murders have gone unsolved, victims of families left with no sense of closure, by the Black Organization?
- How many murders must go unsolved due to that are NOT linked to the Black Organization? Every murder in this world seems to be pulled off with elaborate tricks that completely fool the police.
- Followed by the above, how many innocent people have been jailed because of how planned out the elaborate trick was?
- How many murders must go unsolved due to that are NOT linked to the Black Organization? Every murder in this world seems to be pulled off with elaborate tricks that completely fool the police.
- The first time we see Shinichi shrink to Conan, he described what he was feeling like, "(my) bones are melting". Here's where it gets scary: What has the shrinking back and forth throughout the series done to the internal parts of his body?
- Possibly fridge brilliance as an infant has 270 bones but an adult only has 206 because they fuse together as the person grows. So if you reverted to a child some bones would split apart.
- As hilarious and awesome as Sera landing a kick on Kaitou Kid was, it takes a darker turn when you look at the whole thing from her perspective: Some strange man stun-gunned her, took her to an isolated area, and proceeded to strip her. Thankfully, Kaitou Kid would never cross that line and he did think Sera was a man like a lot of other people. But still, Sera probably thought Kaitou Kid sexually assaulted her.
- We know that the BO is fine with killing a person then killing the people they know just to stay hidden. While aboard the Bell Tree Express, Sera ran into Scar Akai. (Actually Vermouth in disguise) Not only did Scar Akai refer to Sera by her given name (Masumi), Sera responded by referring to Scar Akai as "Shuu-nii", proving that they had a very close sibling relationship. This means that at least Vermouth knows Sera is Akai's younger sibling. The question is, does the rest of the BO know this too, and if so are they going to go after Sera because she's Akai's sister?
- One from the filler episode episode 829: A man who has just committed a murder is visited by a boy in the middle of the night who acts like he can read the mind of the man. Upon being exposed by the boy, he realizes that he has met the child before... and that the child looks like he hasn't aged at all from when they met 10 years ago. While we as viewers know about Conan and the context of the story, the store owner has no idea. To him, Conan is like a child ghost taken from a horror movie.
- From the Detective Koshien Arc — The horrifying possibilities of there being more Junya Tokitsus in the world. Detectives who make false deductions that sound plausible, but aren't right. Sending innocent people to jail.
- The horrifying fact that corrupt doctors who abuse their job and don't really care about patients exist in Detective Conan world; Yoshiteru Araide, Akira Morozumi, Mitsuo Shirai, and Kyosuke Kazato are four examples who more or less are shown in the series. One got iced for making too many Kick the Dog moments; one manipulated his own patient's sleepwalking condition to create an alibi and got caught red-handed trying to burn someone else's house; one got arrested after trying to shift the blame on Kogoro (his own patient!) who almost suffered a breakdown; the last one has tormented Ran who suffered an amnesia after a traumatic event and sabotaged her healing process, then tried to kill her after she slowly starting to regain her memories. He was apprehended only after Ran fully recovered her memory, including how she won Karate Interhigh Championship. There is a possibility that many others like them exist, we just haven't seen them yet.
Fridge Logic
Fridge Logic
- In the first case with the guy who killed himself with a knife in his back by leaping unto a knife from a chair. The knife was held by ice and it melted because blah blah blah... But why was he on his front when he was found!?
- It was a very large block of ice with the knife attached, and the blade wasn't all-in his back although he died just fine, so I think it's enough for him to roll over a bit after he stabbed himself in the back
- He probably just rolled over or something
- Conan has, several times, made deductions based on the idea that a certain action pertaining to the crime couldn't have been done by a woman, because a woman would not be physically strong enough to do it. He has spent his entire life as friends with a girl who can break stone, bend metal, and knock down doors with her fists, all without changing her facial expression. Yes, the idea that women are physically weaker than men is an example of Japanese Values Dissonance, but how do you argue that when one of the main characters is a woman stronger than many of the male ones?
- Medical evidence shows that men are stronger than women because after puberty, men develop larger muscles. As a result the average woman has 50% of the upper body strength of a man and 70% the lower body strength of a man, so what Conan is saying is scientifically correct not due to Values Dissonance. Also being able to break stone with your fists doesn't mean you'll be able to carry a dead body that can weigh up to 70kg.
- In the Moonlight Sonata case, Conan says something like "I don't think the average woman could do that." remarking on how the murderer carried the body outside. So I guess Ran is just supposed to be an abnormality.
- Data point: Ran's abnormality was recently lampshaded—unlike most women, her ring finger is longer than her index finger.
- I believe Ran does all that through Karate, which is technique based, not strength based. Doing the things she does is different than having the raw power needed to carry a body.
- Plus, Shinichi/Conan has studied the same fields as his idol, Sherlock Holmes, some which may include the bodies of men and women. So, he takes into account on what the average woman is capable of.
- This is particularly bad in the Moonlight Sonata case. Just being a man doesn't magically give you more strength. The killer was still every bit as skinny and waif-like as he would've been if he were a girl.
- When Shinichi/Conan is changing back and forth, imagine the considerable amount of body mass that would need to either burn into the air or be compacted down.
- One case had a hole in the alibi being that the killer went to get snacks for the group - but she didn't get ice cream because "They were sold out" and "Why would a store be sold out of ice cream in a blizzard?" Maybe it's a particular brand or flavour of ice cream? Maybe they were sold out? Or maybe, she could have just said "I didn't get any because it would melt in the car." And to think maybe she'd have gotten away if she didn't slip up.
- "A particular brand or flavor" objectively wasn't in question, it would be easy to prove whether or not they were actually sold out by just asking at the store (they weren't), and it did melt in the car... which is what gave the culprit away, because cars have this little thing called "air conditioning", so the ice cream melting proves that the culprit didn't drive all the way to the store and back.
Fridge Sadness
Fridge Sadness
- In Episode 82, it is revealed that Conan's favorite karaoke song is "Break" by TWO-MIX. Conan knows he is tone-deaf and that his friends don't really like his singing, yet he insists on singing it. This makes sense if the audiences know the meaning of the song symbolizes Conan's inner struggle with hiding his real identity to Ran and making lies to not make her worry.Break my lies. Run after her again.
Save my heart. She's waiting for you to hug her.
Now, return to love.
