Heishiro Bizen

Heishiro Bizen

Profile

Japanese name:

備前 平四郎
(Bizen Heishirō)

Age:

35

Gender:

Male

Occupation:

Restaurant "Takohei" owner

Status:

Dead

Statistics

First appearance:

Anime: OVA 3

Appearances:

Movies: 1
OVAs: 1

Actors

Japanese voice:

Hisao Egawa

Heishiro Bizen (備前 平四郎 ,Bizen Heishirō), age 35, is a character in the Detective Conan anime and movies. He was the owner of a takoyaki restaurant and an acquaintance of Heiji Hattori, until his murder in movie 7: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital.

Background

Heishiro Bizen's demise.

Heishiro Bizen was a 35-year-old Osaka native operating takoyaki restaurant "Takohei" (たこ平) in Neyagawa City, where Heiji Hattori and his family lives. His restaurant was in a low-rise apartment building with two signs with the restaurant name, a red lantern hung outside and metal sliding doors.

He was good friends with Heiji Hattori, a regular customer at the takoyaki place. Between the events of OVA 3 and movie 7, he turns 35 years old. While a talkative and amiable man in appearance, he was part of the legendary robber group Genjibotaru, responsible for many high profile heists. His alias in the robber group was Bizen no Heishiro (備前 平四郎), written the same way as his real name. Among the eight members, he was the fifth highest ranking member (although the "shi" in "Heishiro" means "four").

Appearance

Bizen was a bulky overweight man of average height. He had short brown hair with a small tuff jutting out in the middle of his forehead. He had a short black goatee. The rest of his jaw had a stubble while his arms were very hairy as well. He was shown wearing a white chef attire with a green apron. He wore Japanese sandals.

Personality

Heishiro Bizen was a jovial and talkative man, similar to the stereotype of the Osakan man. He treats people kindly, especially Heiji, who he often took care of and treated like a son due to him coming often. Despite him actually being a robber, he was most likely still a good person and may have had other reasons for being in Genjibotaru.

Appellations

Detective Boys Picture Name What they call Heishiro Bizen What Heishiro Bizen calls them Heiji Hattori Hei-chan The takoyaki guy (Takoyaki no occhan)

Plot overview

Conan, Heiji, and the Vanished Boy (Anime: OVA 3)

Takoyaki restaurant "Takohei".

After solving the case of the disappearance of Satoshi Moriguchi with Conan, Heiji goes to "Takohei" days later to talk about it to Bizen and the latter congratulates him for his success. He talks about how he wanted to have them come there to eat Bizen's famous takoyaki but that he ended up not having the time. Bizen tells him not to worry, that when they will actually come, he will serve them like kings. Both have a laugh about it, not realizing that Bizen would die before every being able to meet Conan and Heiji's friends in Tokyo.

Crossroad in the Ancient Capital (Anime: Movie 7)

At the beginning of the movie, at midnight, after having killed in the early night three fellow Genjibotaru members in Nishikunitachi City in the Tokyo Metropolis, Genjibotaru second-in-line "Benkei" travels to Osaka and goes to Neyagawa to "Takohei". While Bizen is finishing cleaning in the closed restaurant, "Benkei" surprises him and kills him by throwing a knife straight to his heart, leaving him no time to react. Bizen collapses dead in the middle of his restaurant. Later, Heiji starts an investigation to find the culprit who killed Bizen.

Relationship analysis

Heiji Hattori

Heiji was a regular customer at "Takohei" and they maintained a friendly relationship when he came. After his passing, Heiji felt deeply sorrowed and was in his room taking in the fact that his friend died and also discovering that he was secretly a robber. He later goes around Kyoto to investigate the serial murders and tells Conan that Bizen was someone he knew well. He had been going to "Takohei" on the way back from school since middle school and has been well taken care of by Bizen since then and thus has high respect for the restaurant owner, despite learning that he was a robber.

Trivia

• His restaurant's name "Takohei" combines the signature dish takoyaki and part of his first name "Heishiro".
• Bizen Heishiro (備前 平四郎) was a real-life samurai of the late 12th Century, likely from Bizen Province (actual Okayama Prefecture) like his last name. The real-life samurai however never used the particle "no" in his name and was simply called "Bizen Heishiro", not "Bizen no Heishiro". He was one of Minamoto no Yoshitsune's retainers,.
• Heiji wanting to bring Ran and Conan to a famous okonomiyaki restaurant in Magic File 4 is similar to how Heiji wanted to bring them to "Takohei" for takoyaki.

See also

• Genjibotaru
• List of notable movie characters