Contains spoilers, especially for the recent chapters.
Have you ever shipped two characters who you just know will be together by the end but take a long, loooong time to get together even if their feelings are mutual?
I have. And it’s just frustrating!
One of those pairings that I have been waiting for to be together is Detective Conan‘s Kudo Shinichi x Mouri Ran.
The series started on that day the childhood sweethearts went to Tropical Land.
Perhaps one of the factors why I’m frustrated is because Gosho Aoyama-sensei can actually write good love stories, as seen by some stories on some cases. Inspectors Takagi Wataru and Sato Miwako also have a pretty good romantic development themselves, if you ask me. As with some others (Sonoko, Shiratori, Chiba, etc). Then again, Shinichi’s problem — shrinking and all — is the main cause of the delay, I guess.
Many holidays, birthdays, morbid and not-so-morbid cases has passed. It’s already 2017, nearing 2018, and dear Conan is still a first grader.
With more than 1000+ chapters and 800+ episodes, we’ve only seen a few times when Conan actually turned back to Shinichi. The other times are even flashbacks. With the series’ floating timeline, there’s a lot of time that passed ever since the last development. Anyway, I made some kind of timeline of some happenings though it’s not exhaustive.
- E853-854; Files 921-924 (Memories from Sakura Class) – Flashback of when Ran and Shinichi were in kindergarten, when he started liking her.
- E473; Files 570-573 (Kudo Shinichi’s Childhood Adventure) – The first time he called her “Ran” when they were young.
- E162; Files 204-207 (The Locked Room in the Sky) – When they were 15, they flew to New York together.
- E286-288; Files 351-354 (Kudo Shinichi’s New York Case arc) Continuation of what happened after E162. The two had a ‘romantic’ ride to Broadway. New York is also where Ran
encountered Vermouth for the first timerealized she’s in love with him. - E772-773; Files 883-884 (Kudo Shinichi Aquarium Case) Flashback of when they went to Beika Aquarium. She dropped her new cellphone because of Shinichi and he promised he would replace it. He did.
- E1; File 1 (Roller Coaster Murder Case) – They went on a date to Tropical Land.
Then, Edogawa Conan was born. - E170-171; Files 234-237 (The Blind Spot in the Darkness) – Shinichi got jealous of Araide-sensei. Ran asked Araide-sensei to lend him his sweater for her to use it as a pattern. Of course, she’s making it for Shinichi.
- E188-193; Files 251-260 (The Desperate Revival arc) – Ran stars in a play and she supposedly had Araide-sensei as her partner, but Shinichi, being able to turn back to normal, snatched the role from the said doctor.
- E228-229; Files 305-307 (The Murderous Pottery Class) – She sent him a cup with a message at the bottom of it: “I’m waiting for you. *heart*“
- E268; Files 331-334 (The Truth Behind Valentine’s) – He ate the chocolate she made for him and took a picture of her to send it from the Shinichi phone as a proof that he came even when she didn’t see him in person.
E270; Files 335-337 (The Forgotten Memento from the Crime) – “If I said how I feel about her, she would miss me even more… All this time, I’ve been breaking her heart by keeping her waiting, yet I still can’t appear before her eyes. I never want to see her cry anymore, even if it means I no longer exist in her heart. How immature of me, right?” — Conan to Haibara- E516-517; Files 616-617 (Furinkazan) – She decided to confess but chickened out by the end.
- E618-621; Files 743-752 (Holmes’ Revelation) – The infamous London arc where the confession happened.
Actually, even with the two of them apart (at least mostly from Ran’s part?), their feelings are still strong for each other. Many times Shinichi as Conan saved Ran from trouble, even at the expense of his own life. Ran thinks a lot about Shinichi, too. Both get reminded of the other even in littlest things. They’re both just usually tsundere about their feelings for each other, but they’re so obvious that people around them knows the truth even when they deny it.
Anyway, when the manga hit the 1000th chapter mark, Gosho-sensei graced us with the return of Conan as Shinichi for their trip. Ahh, the trials Conan had to endure just for Ai to give him some of her antidotes. While on the trip, he also experienced lots of challenges because of the limited time of effectivity of the said medicine. Anyway, as usual, they got involved in a murder case. Somewhere along the way, Ran and others encountered Okita Soushi and they had this scene.
Sonoko, being that lovely friend, snapped a picture of the two and sent it to Shinichi who, of course, got bothered by it.
Jealous Shinichi is so adorable! Because of his jealousy, he finally confronted her and asked that question that not only him but the whole Detective Conan fandom has been waiting for to be answered!
Yes, yes. As someone in Tumblr pointed out, Gosho-sensei gave this scene to us four times. FOUR TIMES. From four different angles! And, of course, he’d like for the other characters to see this moment, too.
Finally, in that historic chapter (1004), there goes the answer. Given to us four times. I thought we’d have to wait till the last chapter, but it’s great that Gosho-sensei thought otherwise! He made the couple official before what feels like the beginning of the end of the series!
See? IT’S FINALLY OFFICIAL! HOORAAAAAY! (Now, Heiji, who noted that Shinichi has set the bar high, should do his best with his confession to Kazuha.) It’s amusing how ch1008 is entitled “See! ♥” (though there’s really something more to see in that chapter), as if to assure the readers again that it’s not a dream.
The whole DCMK fandom
Uhhuh. Now I’m looking forward to how things will develop. Personally, I’d like for Ran to know the truth about Shinichi, about the existence of the Black Organization. There’s danger in knowing them, yes, but I’d like for her to be aware of this great peril that her boyfriend is facing. She may be able to help in one way or another, too. If I were her, I won’t like to be kept in the dark. I hope she finds out the truth soon!
For now, as Gosho-sensei is on hiatus, I’m going to read/watch the parts I skipped (because I prioritized reading/watching those which serves to advance the plot). With the last chapter being like that, I’m so hyped to see what happens next! There may be more actions from the Black Organization, Amuro, Akai, and Sera! Plus Yukiko and Yusaku are there! (I just love it whenever they appear.) YAAAAAY!
Treasure Box 