Detective Conan [Vol. 67?], File 699 (“Tomorrow is there…”) – This is a one-part chapter mainly about a Detective Boys case, and also tackles (but just a wee bit) the mysterious person who looked like Akai in the previous “Red Robbery” arc (files 677-679). This chapter also serves as a brief introduction to the next chapters (files 700-704) involving the Black Organization (BO) and the FBI. As usual, please proceed with caution: **WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD**
**SPOILERS START**
A QUICK SUMMARY OF “TOMORROW IS THERE…”… The Detective Boys (DB) are excited about the upcoming major soccer match the next day between their favorite teams. Unfortunately, the best players of each team won’t be able to participate in th game due to an injury and too many yellow cards. They meet an old man who is excited about the next day. A snatcher comes and takes his bag, but Conan manages to retrieve the bag (although the snatcher escaped). The rest of the DB help pick up the old man’s things and lottery tickets. As a thank you, he treats them all to dessert. They have a nice conversation, talking about his precious granddaughter, the upcoming soccer match, the resolution to an episode of a mystery drama, etc. Conan notices that the guy is acting a bit off, so they secretly follow him. Turns out he was planning to commit suicide by jumping on the train tracks and was just acting like he cares a lot about the next day. He was planning to do so to hopefully get some money from his insurance for his granddaughter’s heart surgery. Apparently, he also won the lottery but lost the ticket so he thought of the insurance money since he was desperate about his granddaughter’s financial situation. With Conan’s help, they learn that the lost ticket was actually inside the eyeglasses case he’s always carrying. He thanks them for their help and mentions that he was even planning to rob a bank out of desperation but was glad he didn’t. ^^;
With this, here comes the most important part of the chapter… The old man’s statement about robbing a bank reminds the DB that they saw a familiar face in the previous bank robbery case… Ayumi says it was the same guy that helped them out in the bus hijack incident before (episodes 230-231). Genta and Mitsuhiko remembers him too. However, Mitsuhiko notes that the guy did not have a right cheek burn then, but had one now when they saw him in the robbery case, and Ayumi remembers he wore a black knitted hat during the bus hijack incident… With this description, Conan realizes that they might be talking about Akai!
MY IMPRESSION… Such a cliffhanger, no? I was right about my assumption that Conan did not see the guy who looked like Akai during the previous robbery case. It was just the DB and Jodie-sensei who saw him. Hence, Conan was quite surprised to hear from the DB that they saw the guy from the bus hijack incident at the robbery case, and is quite convinced that it must be Akai they’re talking about. Although, I do wonder why Conan was that surprised about it… At the end of the Clash of Red and Black! arc, it seemed that he knew something was up. Ah, but the details are fuzzy in my head. I should probably re-read the previous BO/FBI arcs to refresh my memory. Anyway, I’ll throw in some guesses… Could it be because perhaps Conan thought Okiya might be Akai in disguise? Or maybe he wasn’t expecting Akai to surface anytime soon? Or perhaps he actually knew nothing about it and was really caught off guard about this info about Akai? Well, I’m merely guessing here… but I’m sure we’d know more about it soon.
File 699 is a one-part chapter case-wise, but the Akai and BO aspect of it will continue on to the next few chapters. I think it’ll be a divided into five chapters (which will probably be in files 700-704). I’m holding out on reading it because I want to read the chapters regarding Akai and the BO in one sitting. I’m also almost sure that Okiya and/or Bourbon will make an appearance on this arc. It’d be nice to see Rena again as well. As soon as this BO/FBI arc is done, I’m definitely going to post about it! It’s a case about Akai after all, my favorite FBI guy! ^^
I do believe that Akai is still alive, and I’m continuing to lean on the “Okiya is not Akai” theory. I’m still not sure if Okiya could be Bourbon, and I’m still hoping that Okiya is actually a new ally for Conan and that Bourbon is a different person. Either way, I’m very much looking forward to reading the next few chapters on this BO/FBI arc!
**SPOILERS END**
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detective conan is already at 699 chapters?! DX
that’s quite a long run..for a manga
Well, there are 2 possibility why Conan looked stunned :
1. Okiya is Shuuichi Akai. Conan didn’t expect BO knew that Akai is still alive that soon, or Akai opened his cover too soon.
2. Okiya is Bourbon. Conan realised that his judgement that Okiya was Akai was wrong.
@ nogizaka: Lol, yes. Though there’s a rumor it’s about to end soon… like in a couple of years or so.
@ Garfield: I agree, what you said are likely. The whole Okiya/Bourbon/Akai thing is almost driving me nuts! ^^;