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Chekhov MacGuffin

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Posts posted by Chekhov MacGuffin

  1. Posted · Report reply

    The eye style changes to suit the mood. Manga artists (and anyone who draws quickly) learn to refine their styles to a few forms they can draw efficiently. The bigger pupil eye looks cuter, and so is the standard for characters who are supposed to look cute or normal. The smaller pupil eye (the so-called foreigner style) is used for characters who need to look mature or threatening. Gosho actually has a separate eye style for foreigners, but it is only used on background characters because it isn't very endearing. It is used in the New York case and some of the background FBI in Red vs Black.

    If you are talking art generally, in both western an eastern styles, eyes and pupils are drawn larger than they are in real life to both convey expression clearly and because it is more attractive.

     

    Because Japan is a very homogenous country racially speaking, that leads to some interesting style outcomes. Face shape is relatively emphasized. In a country where pretty much everyone has black hair and dark eyes, it isn't useful to describe someone's hair or eye color. Instead an asian might describe someone with a wide face or a narrow face. Gosho shows this very strongly, especially for the suspects who have a wide variety of face shapes.

    Asian artists have a much lower threshold for what is considered light hair. For instance, Haibara's hair color is "chapatsu", which is this color in real life. It's quite dark, yet an asian comic artist like Gosho uses white for it. A western comic artist would definitely draw that color with a dark grey color or even black and reserve white for blond and light brown.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Then at the end of the case we have Mary and Gin saying the same line about a demon (oni) sleeping in the darkness.

    I just realized that this was supposed to make Mary look suspicious. Here I was thinking it was kind of cool to have the same saying with different meanings.

    I get the feeling that Amuro and Vermouth's plan to deal with the singer wouldn't have him killed for sure unless the song was incriminating. Also, I have a hard time believing they are planning to just waltz in to his dressing room with a pistol planning to attack him right away. Wouldn't it make more sense for Vermouth and Amuro to fall back after getting the info so someone ready can set up an accident? The overt murder of another celebrity related to the Kohji case and Asaka would be highly counterproductive to sweeping the past under the carpet.

    Also just a reminder, it is still a mystery who keeps posting info on Kohji's case that someone keeps taking down. Does this mean the BO had a censorship and harmonizing division?

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Sudden Scotch death panel that probably provides some backstory clues when added to info learned later,

    Akai not shown definitely pulling the trigger (but there is blood splashes),

    Three red herring definitely-not-rum suspects,

    A conversation with Okiya funny enough to make Amuro go dot eyed,

    And a multi-disguise pileup.

     

    I am definitely digging this chapter. Hope the case is good!

  7. Posted · Report reply

    I've always wondered why all these information are only starting to leak out recently, for a case that happened 17 years ago.

     

    Because Gosho wants the mystery to unfold a certain way in order to be interesting; he is using different witness testimonies from the past one after another that the reader must untangle to uncover Rum's true form. Coincidental cases involving the past are the easiest way to approach the subject although it sacrifices some realism to have Conan run into one relevant case after the other.

    /Doylist answer

     

    Haneda Shuukichi's recent Shougi victories, especially his recent claim of all seven titles which made popular news, have suddenly forced people to recall the late Haneda Kohji. People involved in Kohji's death are thus prompted to act on their memories since it is on the forefront of their minds.

    /Watsonian answer

    • Upvote 1

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Well, this murder is obviously not the work of the BO because the MO doesn't match. I have a feeling per my prediction in the last thread we are going to hear about another side of Rum from a witness. The last case was feminine Rum; this one is either strong man or old man Rum.

     

    Like Azusa would ever say something arrogant like she was embarrassed to play a guitar around high-schoolers. Vermouth is going OOC there.

    I feel like this file could go in two directions:

     

    The case I want: Team Amuro and Vermouth versus Team Akai and Conan DOUBLE BATTLE DEDUCTION SHOWDOWN or...

     

    The likely option: Conan just making things awkward for everyone because he gets caught up in the case. Okiya really wants to investigate but is forced to lurk on the sidelines because Vermouth. That means Amuro plays as Conan's aide with Vermouth smirking.

     

    Seriously, covering Rum's rear has turned out to be a lot of work for the BO thanks to his murdering Kohji. I am surprised he got promoted.

    • Upvote 1

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Posted on the wiki in response the confirmation that there was probably a slight mistranslation in the early spoilers --> mirror with handle is really "hand mirror" and probably refers to Kohji's

     

    I can see how hand (hando) and handle (handoru) might have been confusing to rapid translators, just one letter difference if was spelled out in foreign sounds furigana. If it is the same mirror, that raises even more questions than two separate mirrors. We already know the case is weird because Kohji managed to have the time to turn on a sink, grab scissors, and then cut a mirror to leave a dying message (not to mention how he overheard some conversation about Asaka and Rum). If Kohji was in a similar situation to the victim from the latest cut glass case, then he must have known death was coming, so I guess he was cornered and knew it.

    The new issues that arise is how Asaka got that mirror after someone else went to Kohji's room and had time to look over and photograph the crime scene. It could have been Asaka's mirror to begin with (so he was seen with it before the crime), but Haibara seemed to think is was Haneda's, keeping in mind that Elena nee Sera had one of those mirrors also and that the Hanedas and Seras seem to be close. I assume Asaka took the mirror in order to hide the dying message, and he was seen with it fleeing. For the photos to exist and Kohji to leave a message, Asaka must have lost control of the situation somehow. Was he distracted, or people forced their way in, or he was forced away from the scene? All I can think of is that this may be the situation that cost Rum his eye (assuming he is Asaka). Kohji inflicted the wound in desperation and bought himself some time to leave a message.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Ah, I just figured out what that mirror is for!
     
    It's the reason Hotta Gaito thought Rum was female. The mirror is an accidental feminine prop like in Sato's Omiai case in the Vermouth arc, there was a male suspect who wore his watch on the inside of his wrist and misled someone into thinking he was a woman that way. If you saw someone ambiguous holding a cute little hand mirror, your brain would go to girl.
     
    Or Rum is a sailor scout. That would explain it too.
    Submarine_Refection.png
     
    But seriously, I think I have Gosho's plan figured out now. We are going to have 3 Rum cases. Rum Case #1 is stars girly Rum. Next case we run into with Rum, maybe another flashback, a witness is going to come out and have a completely different idea, like he's a geezer. Then case 3, strong dude.

    • Upvote 1

  12. Posted · Report reply

     

    I'd say that's up in the air for now... given Hotta isn't exactly a reliable source.

     

    However if Asaka = Rum like Conan thinks, and is a woman, Gosho would finally be breaking the pattern he's used up until this point. There's nothing saying he can't break the mold. It's never been established as canon, just fan speculation... That being said given the consistency, I'd find this to be a little suspect at this point.

     

    I still think Rum will be man.

     

     

     

    *Agrees with everything Heliotropic said*

     

    I think we can take Sera's outburst as confirmation that Mary is momma Akai. I just wonder if Shuu knows though. Conan needs to have a interrogation over stew with Okiya. It seems that Conan lost momma Akai's trust for being careless with the bowtie. Or maybe she was just nervous because the gadget was pretty elite and that freaked her out a bit.

     

    On today's episode of Annoyed Gin gives a short comment on recent plot developments while Vodka drives him around for fun, it doesn't seem like anything very valuable came out of it. Gin bitches about people when they are not around like usual, and the revelation that Haneda Kouji's death connects to a mistake Rum made is not surprising. If anything, I think this explains how Kogoro has avoided more trouble so far. A unneeded celebrity death is not something the BO wants because it can't be kept down and the info barrel keeps springing leaks even decades after the fact. I'd be curious to know if Gin is willing to pressure Amuro for more info on Kogoro, assuming he even knows where Amuro is.

    Probably the MIB's cameo was mostly for movie hype. If we are lucky we will get more in depth stuff next chapter, but I suspect it will be another case where Conan spends the first part of chap 1 and the last part of chap 3 mulling over Sera's outburst and trying to put two and two together about Haibara's appearance.

     

    I wish Gosho would show the BO doing other things rather than just driving. Hanging out in a hideout, gun maintenance, drinking, observing deliveries, doing stakeouts, even just walking. Vermouth gets some variety, mostly to take advantage of her sex appeal, but none of the others do. It would be nice if there were some successful crimes to remind us the BO aren't totally incompetent.

    • Upvote 2

  13. Posted · Report reply

    How the trick works.
    (Pictures by JimmyKudoTV)
     

    Texts and phone.

    Fukuri probably called himself with the victim's phone to get texts and calls at the right time. There appears to be incriminating evidence on Fukuri's phone since he was rather protective of it.

    Shoes footprints, etc
    The footprints and shoes were preplanted after Fukuri murdered Hotta earlier in the day. Fukuri was the guy that Hotta was meeting with earlier most likely.

     
    Falling dishware trick.
    Takagi slammed his hand down right where the dish was set up to fall off the table. There was salt where he hit. The salt was probably heaped into a very tiny little pile under the dish to get it tilted just enough so the dish was already tipping just a bit. That means that only a small disturbance is needed to get the dish to fall. Given how this trick works with making eggs stand upright, I don't think it takes much salt. (you can blow the excess away)

    I'm not sure what Fukuri uses to get the table to vibrate. The easiest (and least evidence-producing) would be to get the door between the bedroom and main room to slam shut by using a temperature imbalance + draft caused by opening the front door. (It's pretty common in drafty houses for one door to slam shut under air pressure when another is opened.) Megure noticed the heater had been left on in the main room and the door to the bedroom had been closed. There was no sound of a slam though and the door appears to open the wrong way which leads me to believe the air pressure trick wasn't used for this first part.

    A second version is Fukuri taped a phone under the table and set it to vibrate in order to cause the vibrations he needed to tip the plate. He did so when he called it pretending to hang up on a prank call. He recovered the phone later, stuffed the tape in the wine bottle, and will simply pretend to have a second phone.

    Somewhat bizarrely there is some item pasted above the door when Kogoro and friends first enter the room. Neither of the former tricks explains why it is needed.

    j7LrtuQ.jpg
    The tape and whatever other small items used in the entrance trick that would be too suspicious for Fukuri to have on his person were then hidden in the wine bottle, raising the level of the wine.

    HbFDXpb.jpg

     

    The porch.
    The moving figure was created by dragging a blow-up dummy/tarp off the balcony using tape, air pressure, string, and the action of the guy's automatic convertible closing. The hot entry room and the cold open door of the porch generated an air pressure that detached the tarp when the door was opened it was then dragged over the side by the action of the convertable closing.
    Like some modern fancy-pancy Japanese toilets, convertibles often work on remotes. Howdunnit culprit dude can  activate the closing of the hood from inside the room and fallen drag the dummy/whatever off the the ledge. The car's placement outside is such that it falls and lands in the convertible. The closing of the hood hides it inside the vehicle.
    There is sticky residue was left above the porch door which Sera and Conan poke. The Tarp/dummy was probably mounted there with a tape where it was then pulled off by the air pressure/pulling of the convertible top.
    Conan heard the sound of part of the trick, a wind-like sound made by the car hood closing or the falling whatever rubbing up against the sides of the building. Setting up the car part of this trick (opening the hood and connecting thread) is probably why Sanbira took extra time to bring the hotel worker from downstairs back.

     

    I don't think I have this case 100% right but I think it's about 75% of the way there.

     

    Also I am 100% expecting some BO to show up in the last chapter, maybe a Vermouth recon in the lobby or Gin looking grumpy while Vodka drives him around. "We were going to kill Hotta but someone else got him first."

    I am still keeping my eyes peeled on the side characters like the bellhop.

    • Upvote 3

  14. Posted · Report reply

    I think Detective Conan is best in the Japanese manga detective mystery genre. I am defining the detective mystery genre as including 1) character(s) which are formally or informally detectives and 2) crime or other malfeasance that takes place under mysterious/non-straightforward circumstance that the detective(s) uncovers the truth behind using investigation and logic.
     
    I think the biggest competitors for the title of best Japanese Detective Mystery are the Kindaichi series, Detective Academy Q, and Q.E.D. (Disclaimer: I haven't read all of the Det.myst. series out there, like Gosick) There are a few others that might also technically qualify like Ouroboros, Demonic Detective Nougami Neuro, and the manga adaptation of Higurashi When They Cry but I think they are lacking the key element of detective mystery genre excellence: Fairplay mysteries -- mysteries that are reliably and consistently solvable by readers of they pay attention and puzzle it out.

     

    So out of the ones I mentioned above, I still think Detective Conan beats them out. Kindaichi is the weakest in my opinion with the flat characters being the number one problem, but it is also hurt by relatively low mystery variety, lack of a greater arc, and the mystery presentation style which involves way more panel hunting. Q.E.D. is a step up, similar to but better than Kindaichi. It also has much more variety. Detective Academy Q is my second favorite to DC, but I only know as far it has been translated. I like that there are a variety of detectives on a team, mysteries types, a greater arc. Conan does characters and mysteries better though and has better pacing within cases.

    • Upvote 1

  15. Posted · Report reply

    I guess Shinichi/Conan may do "dark" things because he sees an opportunity to bring down the Organization.

     

    I imagine this Black Organization woman being in a state of amnesia and easily manipulable because of it is tempting. He could apply psychological pressure by lying and threatening her subtly. Having seen so many criminals do it, I am sure he knows what strategies work the best. Conan's honorable nature might have to fight for supremacy when handed a BO woman who can easily be exploited if he is willing to let his morals slide just a bit.

     

    FYI random people who wander in from the internet, Conan is not a pervert. He is a teenage detective who just wants leads on the secret society of criminals which gave him a drug that turned him into a seven-year old. This gang of criminals has been going around and murdering people for 20+ years. In this movie he finally gets one of their members at his mercy - he stumbles across one with amnesia. 

  17. Posted · Report reply

    This is a case where I am 100% going to panel by panel examine every single suspect, minor recurring, and background character expecting disguises. (Unexpected gloves, slippery glue fingers, pin cameras...) You all should too. After all, someone has just publicly announced that they are dragging a hugely famous detective who already has a rap for getting involved in BO cases (Gin almost got him killed for it), into an old BO case where one of their most important members' names showed up in a dying message. That's the sort of thing that should get the boss's or Rum's CYA attention. So why not send Vermouth to check it out? Rum himself might even appear, and given the primary suspect Asaka's androgynous appearance, they could absolutely pull off a disguise of either gender. I have been wondering since the last chapter why Gosho would choose that sort of design for Rum's character, rather than something more imposing. You'd think Gosho might have chosen a big manly face for the second to the boss to contrast with Gin and not an adult Eisuke. It's possible that Rum's appearance is a prerequisite for certain skills, like disguise.

     

    Also seriously, is the Black Organization going around and deleting these websites? Like, has Rum actually assigned a flunky to troll the web and hack/DMCA one every time it appears? Do they hit the internet archive and google's cache's too? If they are the ones' deleting it, does that mean they figured out the dying message? I suppose the boss would be smart enough to.

    If Conan knew these sites kept disappearing, wouldn't he download a copy? Or go look at the cache on his phone or on Agasa's computer? Why would he even keep visiting it more than once when it would be a risk that the BO injected a tracker and is scraping IPs? I think Gosho's age is showing here honestly.

     

    Also it looks like Conan has deduced silver bullet or something like it must exist.

     

    About the case itself, the one suspect pushing the elevator button with the hand holding the bulky camcorder is odd. That's a great way to damage a camcorder and isn't respectful towards the equipment. Also this case looks like it is a bunch of door activated traps used to make an alibi. Strings ahoy.

    • Upvote 1

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Did Conan know from the beginning that Akai was disguising himself as Subaru Okiya? and his plan all along? because when Eisuke Hondou told him that he heard that a FBI agent died Conan smiled and said everything is good. Furthermore Conan let him (Subaru) reside at his house like nothing?

     

    Adding on to everyone elses' answers, yes, but, I'm not sure Conan knew what Akai's disguise would look like at first. He knew Akai was living at Mokuba-sou; when the DB were discussing the fire and their friend, Haibara overheard Conan talking about the apartments under his breath and asked if Conan knew something about them since they were close to Agasa's. That said, when Conan first saw the suspects he wasn't immediately friendly to anyone. It wasn't until Okiya quoted Holmes that Conan suddenly warmed up to him. Even if Conan was 99% sure that Okiya was Akai, he probably planned to hang back until Akai gave him a clear sign so he could be 100% sure.

    • Upvote 2

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Interesting, Chek.

     

    Apologies for the "Haibara's Mother" comment, as I hadn't been paying proper attention.

     

    Now the question is, where had we seen him before? As per Gosho's postcard.

     

    I am pretty convinced at this point the Postcard was referring to Lum invader, who did cameo just before that postcard came out.

    • Upvote 2

  20. Posted · Report reply

    My gut instinct is that Rum is Asaka. He's 2/3 match in the image department just with that cruddy photo, long hair yet tough enough to be a bodyguard. The old man bit remains to be seen, but maybe he has an outdated speech style. It's also been 17 years since the incident, so plenty of time for aging/hair color change. No eyes visible is important too.

     

    Also we are getting close to the movie - 3/4 chapters to go depending on breaks. If Rum is going to appear in person in the movie, I think we will see a strong hint in the manga first. If the movie wasn't around the corner, I would be a lot more skeptical, but I see this as a last minute handout for the manga readers since the manga is supposed to be readable without seeing this extra stuff.

    • Upvote 1

  21. Posted · Report reply

    I'm crying inside.......

     

    They need to make up their minds before I drive myself insane.

     

    K1YuzOK.jpg

     

    <guess> Her eyes change color over the course of the movie as she remembers things. </guess>

     

    Also, checking the trailer it seems the main events of the Movie take place over a night and single day.

    The assassinations are probably chronologically the first events that take place.

    The night before the main events, the spy lady steals data and goes bowling for secret police in her car with the plate numbers 32.60. Amuro chases her while wearing a grey suit and tie. Third wheel Akai shows up during the car chase and eventually the mess leads to a shooting showdown on a bridge where a chain traffic accident has taken place. I guess the lady gets dumped overside here and washes up in Tohto Aquarium land. This is the scene where she stumbles in the alley while all moist-ish into the pretty light.

     

    No character has more than two outfits except Amuro and Vermouth. Conans' two are a white jacket with blue fringes and yellow shirt he is seen wearing at night in a car and during the climax of the film where things are blowing up, and a dark suit with red and yellow striped tie he has in daylight hours. Amuro switches out his suit for white jacket and pink shirt during the day of action. He wears this when tied to a pole with Kir in a warehouse. When fighting Akai on the Ferris wheel (yes those are ferris wheel cars in the background), he has a plain white tee. Akai wears the same outfit all the time, because he doesn't mind his own odor and doesn't care about what anyone else thinks apparently. Haibara has a blue collared something and a green button down blouse with ruffles. Vermouth has a periwinkle jacket with no necklace while hunting for the wayward agent, a catsuit when playing with Kir and Amuro, and then a darker purple suit with a necklace while staring at the explosions.

    • Upvote 2

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Has anyone considered the possibility that Haneda Kohji, not Asaca, was Amanda's killer? I have a feeling that Amanda may have been cooperating with the BO (at least in her final years) and hence why she hired Asaca (and Asaca agreed) to become her bodyguard. I can't think of any other reason as to why Amanda would hire Asaca, since she must have had very close links with the BO in order to even be in a position to see Asaca in the first place.

    I don't know about that theory, but I think there is more to the Kohji case since both sets of rooms were left in disarray -- something Haibara explicitly notes as not the BO's modus. Kohji even had time to leave a fairly elaborate dying message (breaking the mirror properly) even though APTX 4869 appears to be extraordinarily crippling very quickly. Yet if Rum is number two we should expect him to know how to play by the book right? Or did someone else rip through the rooms after the assassinations? Between this and Kuroda's oddly elaborate backstory and Akai's father's death, it seems there is a lot of set-up going on without answers yet.

     

    Rum looks like a lighter-skinned Takuya Mifune. I still think Rum is male per the codename rule.

     

     

    I like how Akai just opened his eye casually in front of the police, makes me think if he actually did it before and we're just seeing it now. And that last part was just hype.

    There have been almost no instances of scary shiny glasses since the reveal. Akai opening his eyes is what the glasses were hiding previously. /two cents

    • Upvote 2

  23. Posted · Report reply

    多分, その薬は私の父と母が作った薬、私は焼け残った資料をかき集めてその薬を復活させただけだから・・・

    父と母の研究所が火事になって、薬の資料と一緒に２人共焼死したのよ・・・組織の人たちからは不運な事故だったと聞かされてたけど・・・

    まぁ、私が本当に作らされていたのは、別の薬なんだけどね・・・

    There is some sort of horrible combination of passive tense and te form in that last line, which I presume is meant to be terribly evasive and leave the subject vague.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    While on the topic of the accuracy of translations, if anyone has a Japanese transcription of just the top half of page 4 (the 3 panels with haibara talking about her parents death and the drug), I would like to see it. The things said in these panels have significant implications:

     

    1) Whether the Miyanos has more than one project they working on. "An early prototype of a drug made by my parents" = implies multiple projects pretty clearly vs. "an early prototype of the drug made by my parents" = APTX definitely existed back then, one or multiple projects still ambiguous.

    2) The other drug from Haibara's thoughts.

    3) The identity of the "they", Miyanos or BO, who wanted Haibara to work on that other drug. They lead to very different theoretical outcomes because the two have different motivations, especially if we find out Elena is linked to MI6 via her sister. Also might resolve why the Miyanos left their daughters at the mercy of the Black Organization (They planned a mission for Shiho?)

    • Upvote 1

  25. Posted · Report reply

    One could argue jumping the gun before actually seeing it in the manga, but, in these cases and at this point, I have no objections if you do.

    We did jump the gun with Okiya, confirming him right after the mystery train case because of the heavy preponderance of evidence. I don't think that was an incorrect choice given that nobody was certain that a clash like the Scarlet Showdown would appear in the "near" term later. Shuukichi's identity is not as firm as Okiya's was back then because we are relying very heavily on the postcards for proof. The in-manga evidence for Shuukichi Akai is solid, but not slam dunk. Also, unlike Okiya, there is also no indication that Gosho is pausing the teases about Shuukichi's identity for now.

     

    A vote no is not a vote against Shuukichi being the middle bro, it's a vote to wait until a more appropriate time appears, perhaps when the plot takes a more definitive turn.

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