Yusaku Kudo

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Yusaku Kudo

Yusaku Kudo Profile.jpg

Profile
Japanese name: 工藤 優作
(Kudou Yuusaku)
English name: Booker Kudo
Age: 37-38
Gender: Male
Relatives: Yukiko Kudo (wife)
Shinichi Kudo (son)
Statistics
First appearance: Manga: Chapter 49
Anime: Episode 43
Appearances: Chapters: 59
Chapters: 3
Episodes: 38
Movies: 3
OVAs: 3
Specials: 1
Openings: 12
Closings: 3
Keyhole number: Volume 22
Actors
Japanese voice: Hideyuki Tanaka
English voice: Randy Tallman
John Swasey

Yusaku Kudo (工藤 優作 Kudou Yuusaku?) is the father of Shinichi Kudo and, along with his wife Yukiko, is one of only a few characters to know he is Conan Edogawa. He is also a world famous novelist and the creator of the popular Night Baron series.

Background

Yusaku Kudo was already noted for his sharp intellect and deductive abilities at a young age. He met Inspector Juzo Megure and became a good friend and valuable adviser to him in solving very difficult cases.[1] While he often assisted the police, Yusaku's primary aspiration was that of a writer. As a young novelist quickly attracting acclaim in his early twenties, he encountered the girl whom he resolved to marry: Yukiko Fujimine, an already famed and beautiful actress. While taking her out in an expensive restaurant to make his proposal, he was involved in a murder case which he solved brilliantly, and right afterward proposed to a startled Yukiko - which she accepted. (Twenty years later, his son Shinichi would become involved in a follow-up of the exact same case, but unlike Yusaku he wouldn't be able to profess his feelings to his own love.)[2]

Instead of pursuing a career solely with the police or as a detective, Yusaku's detective stories have won international acclaim, especially his novels involving the character called Night Baron, who has become a popular cultural item. He prefers to be known as a novelist, despite multiple demonstrations of a Mycroftian tendency to solve a case before Shinichi reaches the same conclusions. In the course of his career, he also encountered the first Kaitou Kid and struck a sort of competitive friendship with him; it is implied that Yusaku knew Kid's identity, but chose to chase Kid only during heists in order to foil the theft and no further.[3]

After Shinichi becomes Conan, Yusaku learns from Agasa what occurred and stages an elaborate false kidnapping to drive home to Conan what the stakes are if he is caught by the Black Organization. He offers to take Conan to a new life in America, but understands when Shinichi refuses due to a desire for independence and feelings for Ran - though Yuusaku doesn't expect that resolve to last.[4] He and Yukiko occasionally check up on Conan, but seem content to respect Shinichi's wishes to pursue the Black Organization without their help.

Personality

Yusaku Kudo possesses a very sharp intellect and observation skills, traits which his son inherited, though Yusaku's own abilities remain more well-honed. He demonstrates in multiple cases an ability to operate one step ahead of both Shinichi and criminals, but he chooses to not get involved unless Conan appears unable solve the case alone in time to save the intended victim.[5][6][7] His success as a novelist is to a large part based on his keen understanding of the criminal mind, as his most famous recurring character is a criminal. While he is an excellent author, he will occasionally blow off his editors in order to do other things, such as travel with Yukiko.[4] He is very laid back and calm, never seen to lose his temper. Some might think him too laid back, as he often took his son to crime scenes before Shinichi was eleven,[1] and showed no concern over six-year-old Shinichi dragging Ran and Agasa into a potentially dangerous area of town to investigate a code.[8] The only time he has been shown to be caught off-guard or stressed by a situation is after the false kidnapping, when Shinichi alerts Yusaku's editors to his location and they force him to make up for missing his deadlines.[4] His less tolerable personality traits include a certain cockiness and a very bad touch at making humor.[5]

Yusaku loves to read, and is the one who compiled the massive library of mystery fiction Shinichi read as a child. His love of Sherlock Holmes is briefly explored in the non-canon 6th movie, 'The Phantom of Baker Street', wherein Yusaku and Agasa helped develop one of the Cocoon VR modules as 19th Century London and included Holmes, Watson, and Irene Adler as non-playable characters modeled visually after Yusaku, Agasa, and Yukiko, respectively.

Plot overview

Relationships analysis

Character popularity

  • eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Yusaku placed 15th in the poll with 45 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.[9]

Name origin

Yusaku's name comes from Shunsaku Kudo (protagonist of the TV Drama Tantei Monogatari (Detective Tales) and actor Yusaku Matsuda (who portrayed Shunsaku Kudo).

Different looks

Yusaku's "Before" Appearance (Episode 43)
Yusaku's "After" Appearance (Episode 621)

Quotes

"You are going to regret it, if you underestimate girls."

Trivia

  • Yusaku often solves a case before his own son, Shinichi.
  • His first name, translates to, "make abundance".

In other languages

Language Given Name Family Name
Flag of Japan Japanese 優作 Yusaku 工藤 Kudou
Flag of US English Booker Kudo
Flag of France French Yusaku Kudo
Flag of Germany German Yusaku Kudo
Flag of Vietnam Vietnamese Yusaku Kudo
Flag of Saudi Arabia Arabic يوساكو Yosako كودو Kodo

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Manga Chapter 204: The Initial Call
  2. ^ Manga Chapter 260: The Memorable Place
  3. ^ Manga Chapter 573: Setting Sun
  4. ^ a b c Aoyama, Gosho (1995-07-18). "File 1" (in Japanese). Detective Conan. 6. Tokyo: Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-123376-7. 
  5. ^ a b Manga Chapter 218: The Last Station
  6. ^ Manga Chapter 752: A Troublesome and Difficult Case
  7. ^ Episode (English #99-102: The Cornered Detective)
  8. ^ Manga Chapter 572: Broad Daylight
  9. ^ "『名探偵コナン』 人気投票結". eBookJapan. 2011-05-12. http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/special/conan/vote_kekka2.asp. Retrieved on 2011-05-15. 
Main Characters
Protagonists Shinichi KudoConan EdogawaRan MouriKogoro Mouri
Detective Boys Ai HaibaraAyumi YoshidaMitsuhiko TsuburayaGenta Kojima
Family & Friends Hiroshi AgasaSonoko SuzukiEri KisakiYusaku KudoYukiko KudoHeiji HattoriKazuha ToyamaYoko OkinoSumiko KobayashiTomoaki AraideMakoto KyogokuShizuka HattoriJirokichi SuzukiEisuke HondouAzusa EnomotoSubaru OkiyaMasumi SeraShukichi HanedaSakurako YoneharaRumi WakasaMomiji OokaMuga Iori
Tokyo Metropolitan Police District Juzo MegureWataru TakagiMiwako SatoNinzaburo ShiratoriYumi MiyamotoKazunobu ChibaNaeko MiikeKiyonaga MatsumotoInspector YuminagaShintaro ChakiHyoue KurodaKenji HagiwaraJinpei MatsudaWataru Date
Osaka Police District Heizo HattoriGinshiro ToyamaGoro Otaki
Nagano Police District Kansuke YamatoYui UeharaTaka'aki Morofushi
Other police districts Sango YokomizoMisao YamamuraJugo YokomizoChihaya HagiwaraFumimaro Ayanokoji
NPA and Public Security Bureau Rei Furuya (Bourbon)Hiromitsu MorofushiYuya Kazami
FBI Shuichi AkaiJodie StarlingJames BlackAndre Camel
CIA Hidemi Hondou (Kir)Ethan Hondou
MI6 Mary SeraTsutomu Akai
Black Organization The BossRumGinVodkaVermouthChiantiKornShiho MiyanoAkemi MiyanoElena MiyanoAtsushi MiyanoTequilaPiscoCalvadosRikumichi KusudaKi'ichiro Numabuchi
Magic Kaito Kaito KurobaKaitou KidAoko NakamoriGinzo NakamoriMidoriko NakamoriToichi KurobaChikage KurobaKonosuke JiiKeiko MomoiAkako KoizumiSaguru HakubaSnakeKaitou Corbeau
Others "The Criminal"Hideo AkagiRyusuke HigoTakahiro SanadaScar AkaiKohji HanedaKamen YaibaAmanda Hughes