Junichi Iioka

Junichi Iioka
Profile
Gender:	Male
Date of birth:	September 6, 1945 (80)
Place of birth:	Tokyo Metropolis, Japan
Position:	Story editorSeries organizer Screenplay
Years active:	1975-present
First name can also be written Jun'ichi. Last name can also be written Ioka or Īoka.

Junichi Iioka (飯岡 順一 ,Iioka Jun'ichi), born 6 September 1945, is a Japanese screenplay writer famous for his participation in Detective Conan. He is the series organizer of the main Detective Conan anime.

Biography

Junichi Iioka used to work for Tokyo Movie (東京ムービー), in which he was in charge of literary affairs. In 1987, he left the company and worked at Koyama Shunichiro (小山 峻一郎)'s office WORDS. Iioka is currently freelance.

Photo of Junichi Iioka taken in 2000.

Iioka has been involved with the Lupin the Third (ルパン三世) series for over 35 years since its first TV broadcast in 1971. Yet after episode 19 Elusive Mist (霧のエリューシヴ), he ceased his job in the anime, instead, he began editing the draft of its manga. He has remarked that "Lupin is not just about hard action, and it is not just about works with difficult themes. There is plenty of laughter, it's silly and humorous, with social satire. There is a bit of lyricism, and the action is strong. I think we need to make more Lupins like that".

Furthermore, he composed the lyrics for the theme song of Tensai Bakabon (天才バカボン); however, there was no notion of copyright at the time, and he sold it for only about 20,000 to 30,000 yen. Whilst writing screenplays for animation works, he actively hires writers of detective dramas and other works aimed at general audiences, as well as mystery writers. Outside of animation, he has also produced the documentary The Hopi Prophecy (ホピの予言), which was directed by Miyata Yuki (宮田 雪).

Ever since 1996, Iioka has been serving as story editor for both Detective Conan anime and movies. In 2010, he started writing individual screenplays. The first case he wrote was Episode 558: The Trap of the Rooftop Farm; all screenplays he wrote in Detective Conan were co-written with other screenwriters. Starting 2023, Iioka began co-serving as the position of story editor with Yukie Koyake.

Style analysis

Junichi Iioka's main job in the Detective Conan anime is coordinating the screenplays, especially the anime-original ones. As such, he hardly ever writes any individual plots/screenplays in the anime; oftentimes, he collaborates with newcomer screenplay writers who have just joined the production team, ensuring the story progresses smoothly and there is no awkward character development that is eventually broadcast on TV. The emphasis is placed on the concreteness and consistency of the tricks, and the scriptwriters are thorough that anime-original episodes do not end up being a fantasy.

“	The first animation work I participated in was produced by Mr. Iioka. At my age, Conan is basically my last work, so I hope to complete the last work with Mr. Iioka.	„
— Yoshio Urasawa

In 2025, screenwriters Akatsuki Yamatoya and Yoshio Urasawa mentioned in their interview that Iioka formulated the restriction of the limited characters that can be utilised in a pure anime-original script. Moreover, the recent phenomenon of the rapid release of anime-original sequels in a short period of time is actually Iioka's project - his preferences, and normal screenwriters have no right to decide the promotion of sequels.

Scenarios written

Number of case scenarios written: 11 (11 episodes)

• The Trap of the Rooftop Farm with Yu Kaneko (Episode 588)
• The Super Narrow Shop Crime Scene with Yu Kaneko (Episode 634)
• The Man Who Fell Slowly with Nobuo Ogizawa and Yusuke Takeda (Episode 708)
• The Rainy Bus Stop with Yuki Notsuka (Episode 841)
• The Secret of the Celebrity Couple with Yuki Notsuka (Episode 856)
• The Security System's Pitfall with Yuki Notsuka (Episode 860)
• The Whistling Bookstore with Yuki Notsuka (Episode 868)
• The Company Dissolution Party with Chisato Matsuda (Episode 987)
• Troublesome Kindness with Chisato Matsuda (Episode 999)
• The Lost Article That Smells Like a Case with Chisato Matsuda (Episode 1009)
• Stakeout with Chisato Matsuda (Episode 1015)

Other works in Detective Conan

Movies

Participation in: 28 movies

Movie	Title	Original airdate	Role	Note
1	The Time-Bombed Skyscraper	April 19, 1997	Story editor
2	The Fourteenth Target	April 18, 1998	Story editor
3	The Last Wizard of the Century	April 17, 1999	Story editor
4	Captured in Her Eyes	April 22, 2000	Story editor
5	Countdown to Heaven	April 21, 2001	Story editor
6	The Phantom of Baker Street	April 20, 2002	Story editor
7	Crossroad in the Ancient Capital	April 19, 2003	Story editor
8	Magician of the Silver Sky	April 17, 2004	Story editor
9	Strategy Above the Depths	April 9, 2005	Story editor
10	The Private Eyes' Requiem	April 15, 2006	Story editor
11	Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure	April 21, 2007	Story editor
12	Full Score of Fear	April 19, 2008	Story editor
13	The Raven Chaser	April 18, 2009	Story editor
14	The Lost Ship in the Sky	April 17, 2010	Story editor
15	Quarter of Silence	April 16, 2011	Story editor
16	The Eleventh Striker	April 14, 2012	Story editor
17	Private Eye in the Distant Sea	April 20, 2013	Story editor
18	Dimensional Sniper	April 19, 2014	Story editor
19	Sunflowers of Inferno	April 18, 2015	Story editor
20	The Darkest Nightmare	April 16, 2016	Story editor
21	The Crimson Love Letter	April 15, 2017	Story editor
22	Zero the Enforcer	April 13, 2018	Story editor
23	The Fist of Blue Sapphire	April 12, 2019	Story editor
24	The Scarlet Bullet	April 16, 2021	Story editor
25	The Bride of Halloween	April 15, 2022	Story editor
26	Black Iron Submarine	April 14, 2023	Story editor
27	The Million-dollar Pentagram	April 12, 2024	Story editor
28	One-eyed Flashback	April 18, 2025	Story editor

OVAs

Participation in: 1 OVA

OVA	Title	Original airdate	Role	Note
3	Conan, Heiji, and the Vanished Boy	March 12, 2003	Story editor

Other notable works

Anime

• 2001 Nights: Producer
• Ashita no Joe 2: Literature manager
• Cat's Eye: Series organizer
• Lupin III: Story editor, Screenplay producer, Screenplay supervision, Scenario director, Screenplay, Literature manager, Layout
• Many others including Golgo 13, Mankatsu, Saint Tail, and Soccer Fever.

References

1. 飯岡順一 - Wikipedia
2. Junichi Iioka - Anime News Network
3. Detective Conan Staff Listing