DCUniverseAficionado

How do you figure that? Even during the middle brother's introduction, Shinichi/Conan didn't talk or think about the middle brother—he's been far more concerned about MG. Whatever he thinks about the middle brother, we don't know—he's never addressed the subject. Shukichi could be a red herring, you know? I'd rather he not be, but it's certainly a possibility.

Given that Shukichi typically appears once every year to every year and a half, we're probably going to have to wait until late 2016 or even 2017 for him to appear again, unless Gosho breaks the pattern, which he hopefully will. I was hoping for something more than hints—they were stronger than the one at the end of the Shogi case—but that's all we're getting, for now, apparently. Still, the only way Shukichi isn't the middle brother is if Masumi was lying about having a second brother (the why of that would have to be explained, as well), meaning that she was in contact with Shuichi/Subaru, or if Gosho introduces a Shukichi clone—these two options are the only way to get around Masumi's description of her middle brother to Yumi in File 928.

It took seven years for Subaru to be revealed as Shuichi—I think that's Gosho's limit for putting the answers to questions on hold. It's a 21-year-old plot—of course it's slow. No one wants that, but that's what Gosho's doing. He's choosing to let the middle brother and MG questions remain unanswered. Given that Rum is the Boss' #2, we're getting close to the top, in terms of BO members—Gosho could introduce more high ranking members, but the fact that we're in an arc about the second-in-command of the BO means we may finally get some major developments, or, at least, bring us closer to the end. I'm hoping it will—really, that's all we can do. We have moved on from Bourbon to Rum—we just have so little info... it was like this when the Bourbon arc started, and speculation abounded about who Bourbon was.

Since Shuichi's in the FBI, connections to it must supercede ones to MI6, else Shuichi would be in MI6. Really looking like MG's name is Mary, with that name embroidered on Masumi's handkerchief... else, Masumi is a fake name and Mary is her real name. Shinichi/Conan knows the name, though.

Yeah, the part-timer theory looks good—still, the other two are still in the running.

Greetings! The same to you! Believe me, you aren't the only one.

You should probably post this on DCTP's equivalent thread, if you haven't, already.

You do know I went back on this, right? No offense taken.

I'll say it again—even if you're right, why is it even there? Why would they put something like that there if they considered how things may change in the future? It's no more far-fetched than every other speculation on when DC will end... You're probably joking, but I'll say this if you're not: Gosho Aoyama is 52. Odds are, he'll live for another 30 years, maybe even just 20, or as much as 40. Odds also are you'll outlive him. Most extreme-case scenario is he'll die before finishing the series.

Even so, why is it even there? Why would they put something like that there if they considered how things may change in the future? It's no more far-fetched than every other speculation on when DC will end...

Episode 495/File 595, actually. If we do it like this, then Episode 500/Files 603–604 would be 6 Episodes out of 10 and Files 9 and 10 out of 15. Shuichi Ikeda said, "We're just passing the midpoint." 6 out of 10 and 9 and 10 out of 15 are already past the midpoint.

Clash of Red and Black—Manga/Anime: Files 585–590, Files 595–609/Episodes 491–504. Episode 500 was the anime adaption of Files 603–604. Episode 500 is Episode 10 out of the 14 that comprise Clash, while Files 603 and 604 were the 15th and 16th files out of the 21 that comprise Clash. Episode 500/Files 603–604 are not the halfway mark of Clash of Red and Black. Again, Shuichi Ikeda said: "We're just passing the midpoint." If this isn't about the series, itself, then what's it doing here? Why did the anime staff even have him say that if they didn't know when DC was going to end? Wouldn't it have been better for him not to say such a thing, if they didn't know? And, yet, they had him say that. As for the rest of your post... well, at least I know more about Detective Conan in Japan, so thanks for the info!

I guess this case just doesn't have enough info in the first file for one to solve him/herself. Until more info is revealed, this kind of speculation is all we have. What I'm sure of is that the hose was either used as the murder weapon or part of the culprit's plan to hide something that would expose him/her. Maybe a bit too broad of a statement, but, again, there's too little info at this point. But this hose... it's become an overnight sensation. Never before has an inanimate object been so popular, on this site, that I've heard of.

Many thanks for the heads-up, Jimmy. I also posted this on DCTP: Just read the Souka Scan of File 928—many thanks to Fujiwara and the Souka team for doing this, and so quickly at that. The culprit may have attached an object with tape to the hose, and threw at the victim, and the impact killed her. The house was likely ransacked by the culprit before the hostess came back. The culprit may also have found a way to get her to return home by discreetly taking something from her and making her think she needed to go home. The culprit then followed her home, got her attention and killed her with the object attached to the hose. The tape was gone by the time the culprit threw the hose at Yumi, so it was likely removed. Another possibility is that the culprit used the hose to hide something, like evidence that has yet to be mentioned or even found. Or I could just be wrong on one count, or on both counts. The specific condiment may play a role, as well—vinegar, soy sauce, or pepper. The victim was a hostess, and the female suspect is a hostess (vinegar), as well. The younger male suspect is a "part-timer," (soy sauce) and the older male suspect is an "employee." (pepper) As for evidence... it's yet to be revealed (example: what caused the blunt-force-trauma that killed the victim)... unless some of you noticed something. Yumi's and Naeko's initial theory may be right, as Shinichi/Conan and Masumi responded to it with "........." (aka, deep in thought about something crucial that was just revealed), or it was just the use of the hose that caught their attention. The female suspect is the least suspicious, as Yumi and Naeko kept referring to the culprit as a he... but that should make us more wary of her, right?

I trust you have personal experience with Japanese viewers of the series, to make this statement that they don't want DC to end. Has there been polling? Do you have links to these numbers you're giving out? The money reasons are a very reasonable conclusion to make, but, again, I said DC has a range of 2020-2035, and it could very well be that in 2020, DC will end with Volume 114–115, File 1,198–1,218, if the Fake Patient Case/Kir Transport Case is the halfway point of the series, as Shuichi Ikeda's line in Episode 500 seems to indicate. Who said DC was ending in two years? I certainly didn't. There is no "if." Period. If Gosho lives and keeps Detective Conan going until he's 84 (the average life expectancy for Japanese men), then 2037 will be the end, for sure. And that's an extreme scenario. Thanks for the info, Jimmy—I knew Takagi was an ascended anime-original character, but I didn't know if Chiba was one or the other, and I didn't know about Azusa's origins, so thanks for clearing that up.

Well, he needs to address it—for both Shiho/Ai and Masumi, it's been there for over a hundred files. Probably in the last file. It could be the second, but that's less likely.

Odds are he will, but more likely in the third and final file of the case. The plot, save Kuroda, has pretty much been on break since Shukichi's and Rei's/Tooru's last appearance, so... I'd say we're due a re-ignition of the story.

I can't say how much or even whether they knew, but Shuichi Ikeda's line can't be referring to anything but the series, itself—I can't think of anything else that would've been at the halfway-point, at the time of Episode 500 (March, 2008). And he said the line after Jodie's voice actress said, "It's our 500th broadcast," and right after Minami Takayama said "Thanks, everyone!" Of course Gosho has aborted storylines (Fusae Campbell) or stories that he never wrote—it took him years to write the London case, for example. 18 of the 87 keyhole characters are case-specific (they don't appear after that). Shiratori's the only movie character to interest/catch Gosho's attention enough for him to be put in the manga. A lot of characters that appeared at least twice in the first 20 volumes (Joji Hatamoto, Takaya Mifune, Ayako and her fiance, Kazumi Sanada, and Shiro and Tomoko Suzuki (Sonoko's parents)) either haven't appeared since, or it took them a really long while to. It was apparent why all the case-specific keyhole characters were present at said specific case, but it's not clear why Sakurako keeps appearing (I'll consider the voice actress claim, but could it also mean that Gosho likes the voice actress enough to have her character play a role in the plot?). Thing with Sakurako is, she's appeared three times, which is more then any of the aforementioned characters, and all within the past 13 volumes. Barely any of those aforementioned characters appeared after the Conan arc, while Sakurako has appeared in the pre-Mystery Train and post-Mystery Train parts of the Bourbon arc and the Rum arc. Before Shiho/Ai was introduced, the gears that were the plot really didn't move. The only plot strand that carried on from the Conan arc was Tequila, which was brought up in Itakura's debut, and quickly morphed into one of the innumerable dangling plot threads of the Vermouth arc. The plot progresses differently, now, then it did before Shiho's/Ai's introduction. Being on a keyhole means that you're important to a specific case, you're a main character, or you have, at the very least, a somewhat strong connection to the main character—more often than not, the keyhole characters play some kind of role in at least a single case. The Blue Parrot bartender provided the hints for Shinichi/Conan to solve the case. Sakurako? She's noticed Shinichi's/Conan's intelligence. That's pretty much it, when you think about it. Yet Gosho keeps having her appear, as if she's a Chekhov's gun, waiting to go off. You could be right—Gosho could never have her play a role in the plot. As you keep reminding me, she's just a maid, who's voice actress Gosho happens to like... but is that really all she is? She's not apparently important to the plot, but is different from early recurring characters and case-specific characters who appeared on the keyholes. I just think it'd be a waste for Gosho to not have a recurring character play some kind of role in the story.

You mean presumenothing, right? I don't think that's a group—just one person.

You read my post, right? It could very well be that DC will end in June, 2020, given the possibility that Files 599–609/Episodes 498–504 are the halfway point of the series, given Shuichi Ikeda's comment at the very end of Episode 500: "We're just passing the halfway point." How long will you give DC before you say, "I'm out."?

As I thought. Here's hoping.