Interviews in 2007

This page lists interviews in 2007.

Magic Kaito Volume 4 Interview

Date: March 15, 2007
Published in: Magic Kaito Volume 4

  Show spoilers »

Raw:

Translation: (from German)
Some stuff is pretty dated (like the questions about the release of volume 5), so the most interesting things are still that...

• ... he confirms (again) that Akako Koizumi's magic isn't canon to Detective Conan
• ... he ponders about a Kaitou Kid prison break story
• ... Conan Edogawa will appear in Magic Kaito someday

---

Please excuse the long break...! Have fun with the bonus material!

Bonus Material Part 1 - Interview with Gosho Aoyama
We were talking with master Aoyama while he was working on the Omake!!

Kaitou's clothes are difficult to draw!!

Q: Which of the stories from volume 4 do you like the most?
Aoyama: Hm, "Black Star", where Kaito and Shinichi confront each other.
Q: What's the most difficult for you when drawing Kaito?
Aoyama: It's really bothersome to draw his costume... (laughs)
Q: And what do you enjoy the most?
Aoyama: Oh, I always have a lot of fun...! In Detective Conan, I always draw the hunter. Now it was just fun to draw the hunted one for once.
Q: What is the image of such a phantom?
Aoyama: He's just like ghost who suddenly appears; a daredevil and a thief who's got style. I'm imagining Arsène Lupin. (laughs)

Volume 5 will be released... during this century!!

Q: Can we hope for an appearance by Conan?
Aoyama: Someday he will appear. This will be fun!
Q: Are there any other stories you'd like to draw?
Aoyama: I dream about a prison break, but who would throw a student into prison...? This causes quite a headache for me... (laughs)
Q: When will volume 5 be released?
Aoyama: Who knows?! Maybe during this century! (laughs)
Q: Do you want to leave a message for the readers of Magic Kaito?
Aoyama: I'm really sorry that you had to wait 13 years for volume 4... Hahaha... During the time volume 1 was released I was only 4 or 5 years older than Kaito, but by now the age difference is way bigger. This doesn't make it any easier to come up with good stories. (laughs) I'm grateful for every kind of support!

Speech bubble of Gosho Aoyama's self-caricature: "Hello, I'm Aoyama! After finally managing to complete the fourth volume, I was convinced to draw some bonus pages. Have fun!"

Bonus Material Part 2 - Wow! Volume 4 is out now! We congratulate!!
A greeting by the voice actors of the anime Kaitou Kid!

Kappei Yamaguchi
Voice of Kaito Kuroba

Born May 23rd in Fukuoka Prefecture. Also voices Shinichi Kudo in the original version of Detective Conan.

You've got an email by Kappei Yamaguchi:
Yippee! That's what I waited for! Magic Kaito, volume 4!! It's been 13 years!! This took way too long, Aoyama-sensei! But good things come to those who wait. What's missing now is just an anime for this volume!! ☺
K@ppei Yamaguchi

PS: Don't you dare to change the cast!

Minami Takayama
Voice of Aoko Nakamori

Born May 5th in Tokyo. Also voices Conan Edogawa and was married to Gosho Aoyama.

On a day in January 2007, during dub recording for Detective Conan...
Takayama: "Congratulations, Aoyama, that you've managed to complete the fourth volume. You've waited a really long time for that, isn't it, dear readers?"
Iwai: "Do we go eat something when the recordings are done?" (Yukiko Iwai, voice of Ayumi!)
Takayama (with Conan's voice): "Wait, I'm still busy."
Iwai: "Really? I'm sorry. By the way, congratulations for the release of the fourth volume of Magic Kaito!"
Takagi: "Yes, it's really cool!" (Wataru Takagi, voice of Genta)
Takayama: "Okay... I will read the volume, too. Everyone who's starting with the fourth volume should also get the other three! ♥"

Topics: "Black Star" Special in the "Conan" TV series!
"Black Star" was part of a 2-Hour-Detective Conan-TV Special that ran in January of 2001. Its name was: "Atsumerareta Meitantei! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou Kid". ["Gathering of Detectives! Shinichi Kudo vs. Kaitou Kid"] There's a magnificent scene during which Kid gets confronted with Shinichi Kudo. Because the adaptation was set in Conan's world, the magic scene with Akako was left out.

Bonus Material Part 3 - Targets and Counter Measures
Kid's motives have been seen through! There's nothing in the way of an arrest now!

TOP SECRET - For use against Kaitou Kid
File from the second division of the police headquarters

TOP SECRET - Kaitou Kid's targets and other aims

• Blue Birthday - sapphire
• Green Dream - emerald
• Crystal Mother - topaz
• Red Tear - ruby
• Black Star - black pearl
• Golden Eye - chrysoberyl
• Dark Knights - black opal
• Blue Wonder - aquamarine

Kaitou Kid, international criminal number 1412, targeted works of art and gems from the best museums in the world. If one looks at his latest targets, a new pattern arises. Kid seemingly goes for the largest gems in the world now. He prefers objects with colors in their names. Nobody knows why this is the case, but there's no doubt that it will help in the arrest of Kid. Furthermore, Kid, who traveled around the world in the past, seems to concentrate on gems in and around Tokyo currently.

Ginzo Nakamori: Hahaha! I have analyzed Kaitou Kid's modus operandi for three days and nights. This information is top secret!!

Analysis 01: Different colors
Two of the gems Kid targeted were blue. But the "Blue Wonder" wasn't chosen by Kid himself. Jirokichi, general adviser for the Suzuki financial corporation, challenged Kid to get the gem. So we can assume that Kid aims for gems with different colors. Pink or rose should be a possibility too in the future...

Analysis 02: Future targets
We surmise that Kid wants to steal all the largest gems on Earth step-by-step. So he will choose gems he wasn't targeting in the past. These would be, among other things, diamonds, garnets and lapis lazuli. A diamond is very probable. He already targeted Europe's biggest diamond in the past, but...

Assessment: The largest diamond in the world with a yellow or pink color could be Kid's next target!!

Saguru Hakuba: We would surely catch him if I was present! But I don't have any time!

There are countless gems in a lot of different colors, so there is no sure way to make a prognosis. More than two hundred gems in different colors are part of the Aurora collection in New York alone that cause the building to sparkle. "Red Tear" is classified as a ruby, but actually, only red corundums as classified as rubies. "Red Tear" would actually be classified as a sapphire. A lot of gems which are part of the same type get different labels and because of this, no safe prediction can be made.

Bonus Material Part 4 - The curtain rises for master Aoyama's cat, Kaito-kun!!
Kaito-kun's Gallery
How well can a cat named Kaito disguise itself?

Image captions from upper right to bottom left:

• Together with my rival Conan...
• Congratulations for the release of volume 4!
• Kaito Kuroba: He can't compare to me!
• During summer you wear a kimono.
• I'm cuddly!
• Of course I'm not scared of heights.
• Tee-hee! Disguised as a pumpkin!
• During winter you have to wear warm clothing.
• Buzz! I'm a bee!
• Together with my treasures!
• Aoko Nakamori: He's a million times more cute than Kaito!!

Look forward to more adventures with Kaitou Kid!!

Urusei Yatsura Interview

Date: September 18, 2007
Published in: Urusei Yatsura Volume 21

  Show spoilers »

Source: https://conan-4869.net/post-19866

Raw:

いや、私事で恐縮なのですが、私の描く「名探偵コナン」めがたらたらと連載10年を越え、コナンの宿敵である黒ずくめの組織のメンバーもかなりの人数を出しました。ジン、ウォッカ、テキーラ、シェリー、ベルモットetc..
そう、こいつらの名前はお酒なのです。そして唯一残っている有名で、名前にしてクールなのは「ラム」のみ・・・
しかしこの名は日本中の・・・いや、今や世界中のまんがファンの心に刻み込まれ、皆、悟っております・・・この名を名乗っていいキャラは誰であるべきかと・・・ なにより私自身が・・・ 使えねぇ─── ぜってぇ使えねぜ！！
そのくらいこの鬼娘は、衝撃的に誌面に登場し、そのキュートな顔と、セクシーボディーと破壊的な電撃とけなげな心でファンの心を魅了し、今もなおそのド真ん中に降臨し続けているのであります！恐らくこれからも・・・手塚先生のアトムのように・・・
・・・ま、いずれ使っちゃいますけどね・・・
・・・その時は笑ってやってください・・・
・・・トホホ・・・(笑)。

The poster also had this to say about things from much later
in the Conan series like Rum and volume 85 (Scarlet Series)

ラムは作者にとって思い入れの深いキャラ。いやそれだけでなく、世界のファンのためにも使えない。

でも、いずれ使っちゃうかもしれないとのことなので、その時は笑って許してあげましょう・・・

ラムはカクテルのベースなどに使われるアルコール度数の高い蒸留酒。今のところジン、ウオッカ、テキーラなどこの手のアルコールは全て男性に使われている。

一方で、女性に付けられるコードネームはシェリーやベルモット、キールなど、全てワインの一種かワインが含まれるカクテルである。

法則どおりならラムは男性に付けられるべきだが、もし名探偵コナンで使われるのなら、これまで慎重に使用を保留してきた人気ヒロインの名前となるだけに、適当なキャラには使い難いのではないかと考えられる。

法則を破りラムちゃんのような美少女メンバーに付けられるのか、ラムちゃんの名を汚さないようなイケメンにつけられるのか、組織の重要な役割を担うキャラに付けられるのか。今後の展開は楽しみである。

⇒85巻 緋色シリーズでバーボン編が一区切り。新たに組織のNO.2である”ラム”の登場が示唆され、ラム編が始まる。

Translation by: Yunniechan

Excuse me for being personal, but my series [Meitantei Conan] are continuing more than 10 years now, and a quite a lot of Conan’s enemies - BO’s members - had appeared. Gin, Vodka, Tequila, Sherry, Vermouth…
Right. Their names are all alcohol. And the only one name left, which sounds cool for a name is [Rum]….
But this name is carved in hearts of all Japan, no… whole world’s manga fans… And this character who has that name… I, for all, too…

I can’t use it! I’ll never use it!!

Once an Oni Princess suddenly appeared on a magazine page, and with her cute face, sexy body, and destructive lightning attacks stole the hearts of her fans. Even now she continues to live inside of them! And I believe she’ll continue in the future… Like Tezuka-sensei’s Atom…
…Well, one day I will use this name…
…You can laugh all you want at that day…
…Ohoho… :)

TN: Rum/Lum is a character from Takahashi Rumiko’s Urusei Yatsura

Akigoro Interview

Date: ??, 2007
Published in: ??

  Show spoilers »

Source: https://conan-4869.net/post-5412

Raw:

≪読み始めたとき小学生だった私も、今は大学生です≫

「ええ～っ。そんなに年月がたったのかあ、って改めて感じました。ファンが喜ぶものを描かなきゃと思いますね」

推理漫画「名探偵コナン」を小学館「週刊少年サンデー」に描き続けて１４年目。累計１億２０００万部発行の“お化け作品”は今月、５９巻目が発売になる。

物語は、高校生探偵・工藤新一が謎の組織に子供の体にされたあと、江戸川コナンと名乗り数々の難事件を解決しながら、組織を追う…。

「推理ものは、いろいろなジャンルが描けるから面白い。犯人がなにかの選手ならスポーツ界、俳優なら演劇界ってね。毎回、新しい世界に出合えるから、僕自身が新鮮な気持ちで描ける。大変だけど飽きなくていい」

テレビではアニメ化されて１１年目、１２月の実写ドラマ化も決まるなど、メディアミックスの成功例にもなっている。

「プレッシャーは、ないですね。プレッシャーを感じない方が、楽しいじゃないですか。へへへっ。それより、僕は勘が働くのですよ。勘で描いているので、ラッキーですね」

最新号は、色がテーマ。「色は、子供でもイメージしやすいのでね。話の入り口は、身近なものや、はやりものを取り入れています」

殺人をサラッと描くのは…

気になるのは、長期連載の弊害。どんどん話が難しくなっていくといったケースも少なくない。その点、名探偵コナンは１巻から同じトーンを維持している。コツは。

「専門的にならないこと。難しい言葉を使って、けむに巻くのは簡単だけど、読んでいる人にはわからなくなっていくからね」

題材の一つ、殺人には気を遣うという。「殺人を軽々しく扱うつもりはないが、読者が読み終わったあとで嫌な思いをしないように、サラッと流している。目標はシャーロック・ホームズ。うきうき読んでもらいたい」

週刊の連載回数は合計６２４回を数える。

「ネタがどうしても出なくて、１２時間近く打ち合わせるときがある。早いときは４時間で決まるのに…」

行き詰まった時は、すでに描いた事件の要素を組み合わせられないか考えたり、「ぷらぷら歩いたり、ＤＶＤ観たり。気分転換ですね」

最終回の構想はできている

インタビューは、都内の仕事場で行われた。机にセットされたＩＣレコーダーをみるや、すぐ手にする。

「ちっさい。今のはすごいですね」

これが青山である。何にでも飛びつき、おもしろがる。

鳥取県大栄町（現・北栄町）生まれ。子供時代は、山での探検ごっこに明け暮れた。

「だから、探検ものが描きやすい。コナンの動きは、僕の経験ばかりだから」

大学卒業後、美術教師を望んだ父に反対されたものの、「今では一番の応援者。帰省するたびに、サインを頼まれるよ」

最終回の構想はできている。が、終了はまだファンが許さない。

「期待は裏切りません」

孝行息子、コナンは続く。＝敬称略

（堀口葉子）

メディアミックスで広がる世界

出版調査の出版科学研究所（東京都新宿区）によると、漫画（単行本）市場は、テレビ化などのメディアミックス作品が売り上げを伸ばし、厳しい出版界のなか２００１年以降２５００億円規模を維持している（０６年は２５３３億円）。

牽引（けんいん）役の１つ、「名探偵コナン」は、日本テレビ系でアニメ番組となって１１年目。１５日からは「秋のミステリースペシャル」が全６話放送される。映画版は４月に１１作目「紺碧の棺」が公開され、現在１２作目の製作も決まっている。翻訳出版数は世界２２の国と地域にのぼる。鳥取県北栄町には記念館「青山剛昌ふるさと館」もあり、ファンの来場で賑わっている。

メディアミックス作品について青山は、「コナンが誤解されないよう、トリックの説明などは打ち合わせる。映画版では原画を描き込むなど参加した」という。

Translation by: Yunniechan

2007’s Autumn Interview [I started thinking about the last arc]
“When I started reading, I was just an elementary schooler but now I am university student" [I felt like ‘Ehh? Did so much time really passed?’ once again. So I should draw something that would make my fans happy.]

That’s 14th year (TN: 2007) after Detective Manga [Meitantei Conan] started publishing in Shogakukan’s [Shounen Sunday]. 120 mln. copies were sold and this month vol. 59 is out for sale.
Story follows high school detective, Kudo Shinichi, who had taken the name of Edogawa Conan after being turned into a child by some mysterious organization. He tries to catch the organization while solving different cases…

[Mysteries are interesting because you can draw them in different genres. If the criminal is a player, then it’s sports world, an actor - the world of theater, you see. Every time I’m drawing it with fresh emotions, because of a feeling I’m going to meet a new world. That’s hard but I don’t get bored]

It’s 11th year after TV anime started, and with live-action drama confirmed in December, this series are a good example of media mix.

[There’s no pressure. Rather than pressure, I think of it as fun? Hehehe. Besides, I’m more of intuitive person. I’m lucky to draw by a hunch.]
The latest issue had the color theme. [The color is easy for understanding even for children. I usually include things that are familiar and known to everyone into the cases]

Drawing murders without any doubts…
There are some negative effects about long-running series. Case are becoming to be more and more difficult with time. Meitantei Conan tries to keep the same tone since vol. 1.
[Don’t make it too professional. Using hard words and riddles is easy, but the reader won’t understand it]

One of the important things is to be considerate about crime.
[I’m not treating murders lightly, but in order not to disappoint my readers, I let it proceed without obstacles. I want them to read it eagerly.]

Right now there are 624 files.
[If I can’t come up with a story no matter what, I have around 12 hours to arrange my thoughts. Although sometimes I can decide it in 4 hours… When I got stuck, I start thinking if I can implement elements of stories I already drawn, go for a lazy walk, watch DVDs. Try to change my mood]

The interview was carried out in Tokyo workplace. After look at the IC recorder that was on desk, he immediately takes it.
[So small. That’s incredible now]
That’s Aoyama for you. He can be amused by everything. He was born in Tottori, Daiei-machi (now called Hokuei). He used to explore mountains all the time when he was a kid. [That’s why it’s easy for me to draw expeditions. Conan’s actions are all my experience.]

After graduating from the university, he refused to become an art teacher his father wanted him to be, but [now he’s my best supporter. Every time I return home, he asks for a sign]
I’m thinking about the last arc, but the fans won’t forgive me if I’ll end it now.
[I won’t betray your expectations]
His obedient son, Conan, will continue.

Media mix spreading in the world.
According to publications investigation carried by Research Institute for Publications (Tokyo, Shinjuku), manga (tankoban) market extends via media mix, such as anime serialization, and had maintained a 250 billion yen scale among the severe publishing world (253.3 bln yen in 2006)
One of the leaders, [Meitantei Conan] became an anime series on NTV 11 years ago. In 15 days [Autumn’s Mystery Special] would be broadcasted in 6 episodes. 11th movie, [Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure] will be out in April and 12th movie’s production had been decided.

It was translated and published in 22 countries and regions of the world. There’s [Aoyama Gosho’s Hometown Museum] in Tottori, crowded with fans.