Shuichi Akai
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| Shūichi Akai | |
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| Case Closed (Detective Conan) character | |
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| First appearance | Volume 29 |
| Created by | Gosho Aoyama |
| Voiced by | Shuuichi Ikeda |
| Profile | |
| Aliases | Dai Moroboshi, Rye |
| Age | 30s |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | Japanese-American |
| Occupation | FBI Agent |
Shūichi Akai (赤井秀一 あかいしゅういち ?) is a fictional character in Case Closed. He is an American of Japanese descent who wears a black tuque and smokes heavily. Shūichi Akai is a man of few words and his phrases are filled with euphemisms and metaphors to disguise his true motives. He first appears as a bus passenger during a bus hijacking case in volume 29 of Case Closed. He is a mysterious character who stalks Richard Moore's detective agency[1] for unknown reasons. Several scenes in the series imply that Rachel Moore has met him before[2][3]. His true motives and his identity are two of the biggest mysteries in Case Closed. He tries to avoid Anita Hailey of whom he has a photo on his pick-up truck dashboard.
In the anime, he is voiced by Shuuichi Ikeda, and his name is most likely a reference to one of Ikeda's earlier roles: Gundam's Char Aznable. Char is known under the nickname "the Red Comet" and the first kanji in Akai is 'aka' (red). His name could also be an homage to Akai-san, a mysterious character who appeared in one of Edogawa Ranpo's Akechi Kogoro novels: Nanimono [4] [5]
Contents |
[edit] Shūichi's Second Appearance
In volume 32, James Black is kidnapped by false policemen because he looks like Randy Hawk (in Case Closed, a famous, animal-loving, oil tycoon from Oklahoma). Conan saves him from the kidnappers, but James leaves with Shūichi Akai before the police's interrogation. James reveals that he knew all along that his kidnappers impersonated policemen. He states that he came to Tokyo because Shūichi specifically requested his help to track down his 恋人 ('koibito', lit.: loved being [1]). In japanese, the word 'koibito' is gender-neutral and most likely a codename for Shūichi and James' target. A notable metaphor Shūichi uses is that he want to make his koibito pay in 'tears of blood' (血の涙 'chi no namida') for having parted from him. James mentions that he is surprised that Shūichi cut his long hair. Shuuichi then states that he cut his hair to improve his luck (験直し 'gen-naoshi'). Shūichi Akai's haircutting may be a reference to what sumo wrestlers do when they retire, as gen-naoshi is sumo terminology. [2]
[edit] Rachel, Anita, and Shūichi
In volume 34, Rachel becomes very ill and falls unconscious. She has a flashback/dream sequence in which she remembers traveling to New York at some point in the past along with her friend, Jimmy and his mother, who were going to see a play in which Vivian's friend, Sharon Vineyard was directing.
When the play ends, Vivian sends them home in a taxi and says she'll catch up with them later, since Ran is coming down with some kind of illness. They are warned to be careful, since the NYPD has been after a dangerous serial killer that had had been seen in the area.
A few minutes later, the cab is driving through a dark alleyway when Rachel loses the handkerchief that Sharon had given her, which flew out the window and blew towards what looked like an abandoned warehouse. She becomes very upset because she considers it an important keepsake, so they stop the cab and Jimmy got out to get it. He goes into the building, but he does not return. Rachel is worried, so she gets out and follows him.
As she does not see Jimmy she begins to cry. An FBI agent appears along with a long-haired Shūichi, whom he refers to as 'captain'. Shūichi orders Ran to leave the area immediately. However, she goes into the building looking for Jimmy anyway. Neither realize that they are in the same building in which the serial killer is hiding. They are eventually confronted by the man on the fire escape of the building, but when he tries to shoot at them, he slips backwards and the scaffolding breaks. Before he can fall to his death, Ran and Shinichi catch him and pull him back up to safety. When he asks them why they saved him, Jimmy replies "I don't know why you would kill anyone, but a logical mind isn't needed to save a life." Rachel then collapses from a fever which had been getting worse, and Shinichi carries her away, warning the killer not to bother shooting at them, since the police who blocked the street would hear the shot (the gun did not have a silencer). It is later reported that the serial killer committed "suicide".
In volume 37, Conan and Rachel cross Shūichi in the streets of Tokyo. He states that Rachel is always crying and that she reminds him of "[...] a woman similar to [Rachel]...who kept up appearances, crying in the dark...a stupid woman"[6][7]. Rachel later tells Conan where she knows Shūichi from. Conan suspects that Shūichi had something to do with the serial killers death. Upon hearing that his comrade was from the FBI, Conan asks himself what FBI agents would be doing in Japan.
Shūichi keeps an eye on Anita (Ai Haibara) but tries to avoid her. In volume 42 of Case Closed, he reveals to Jodie that he cannot speak to "that auburn-haired girl" yet. He saved Jodie, Conan, and Anita by breaking Calvados' legs and shooting Vermouth who wore a bulletproof vest. It is then revealed that Vermouth was the serial killer in New York and that Shuuichi chased. It was because of the events in New York City that Vermouth nicknamed Rachel (Ran) "Angel" and Jimmy (Shinichi) "Cool Guy". Before Vermouth escapes, Shuuichi grazed her cheek with one of his bullets. The way he hits her makes it seem like Vermouth shed a "tear of blood". Therefore, she could be his target. However this is unlikely, because it is made clear that he shot her there to make sure that she was not wearing another mask. The reason he cannot speak to Anita may be that he has not completed his mission.
[edit] Codenames
In volume 48 of Case Closed, James reveals that Shūichi had a girlfriend who died. The verb James uses in Japanese ( 亡くなす 'nakunaru' [3]) unambiguously implies the physical death of a person. This excludes Vermouth and Anita that the fans long speculated could be his ex-girlfriend, because both are still alive. The girlfriend turns out to be Haibara's older sister Miyano Akemi. Shuuichi Akai proves to be a skilled marksman when he shoots Gin who is over 700 yards (640 m) away to save Conan and Kogoro from a certain death. He destroys the evidence in Gin's fingers and then identifies him as his target. He makes Gin 'shed a tear of blood' and calls him 'koibito'. It is notable that the furigana read as koibito, but that the kanji mean enemy ('shukuteki').[4]. The kana/kanji pun cannot be translated into english, but it implies that Gin's codename is 'koibito'. The fact that James used the correct kanji for koibito earlier, makes it clear to the readers that there are two distinct individuals who are called koibito. One who is Shuuichi's late girlfriend, another who is his enemy.
André Camel, another FBI agent, revealed new information to agent Starling about how Akai tried to infiltrate the black organization under the fake name 'Dai Moroboshi' (a reference to "the star of Aichi" in Slam Dunk) to find the head of the APTX4869 project, Sherry (Anita Hailey's codename in the organization), and how he ultimately failed. He pretended to date her sister Akemi Miyano. In the black organization, he received the codename Rye. However, his identity was revealed before he was able to contact Sherry and the plan had to be abandoned. Akemi Miyano's last text message to Shūichi implies that she tried to get Sherry out of the organization and that she really loved 'Dai Moroboshi'. She ultimately died at the hands of Gin, but the case was covered up as a suicide[8]. When Anita Hailey first appeared, the death of her sister was a subject of grief, and she blamed Conan for not having saved her[9]. As Conan first seriously attempted to catch the organization after her death, Shūichi's motivation to find Gin may be similar to Conan's.
[edit] Suspicious Death
In volume 58, Akai and Conan plan an elaborate scheme to reinfiltrate Kir in the organization. Gin forces Kir to kill Shūichi near the Reiha falls to prove her loyality to the organization. Shuichi is aware that it is a set-up, but he also realizes that Kir would be killed if he does not come. Before Kir kills him, they exchange the following dialogue:
Shūichi: "That you would go this far..."
Kir: "I was also surprised... that it went so smoothly..."[10]
The name of the place could be a reference to the Reichenbach falls, where Sherlock Holmes faked his death. Due to this and several significant inconsistencies[5], Shūichi Akai may not have died. It is widely held in the Case Closed fandom that a recently introduced character, Subaru Okiya (Japanese order: OKIYA Subaru), is actually Shuuichi. Mainly because the character's name is a clever pun on a part of Char Aznable's real name: キャスバル 'KIYASUBARU' (romanized as 'Casval'). Also because Conan hands the keys to Jimmy's house, even when he is suspected of being a new black organization member called Bourbon, after Okiya quotes Holmes: "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid?"[11][12]
[edit] References
- ^ Detective Conan,Volume 33, File 9
- ^ File 1, Idem
- ^ File 10, Idem
- ^ http://inat.cool.ne.jp/rampo/syosetu/tanpen/nanimono.htm brief japanese summary of Edogawa Ranpo's Nanimono
- ^ http://www.leratpendu.com/romanhor.htm#Nanimono in-depth french summary of Edogawa Ranpo's Nanimono.
- ^ Detective Conan, Volume 37, File 8
- ^ Meitantei Konan, Idem: 『思い出していたんだ。。。おまえによく似た女を。。。平静を装って陰で泣いていた。。。バカな女のことをな。。。』 translation: "It made me reminisce...a woman similar to you...who kept up appearances, crying behind my back...a stupid woman"
- ^ Case Closed, Volume 2, File 7
- ^ Case Closed, Volume 19, File 1
- ^ 秀一「まさかここまでとはな。。。」 キール「私も驚いたわ。。。こんなにうまく行くなんて。。。」
- ^ Detective Conan, Volume 60, File 5
- ^ The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
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