pureconancommentary

[pureconancommentary]

They've had Conan with them for about 2 months, and with the 'confirmed' timeframe being half a year, this amount of money would be more than enough for whatever it costs to keep a child. Even we had a year. And if it were 4 years... it'd honestly still probably cover the utilities, food, and whatever extra he'd be using. That's not even considering the extra income from Conan actually getting cases solved. (When it's a hired case that gets payment, not the incidental murders that just happen in Conan's presence.)

[pureconancommentary]

Compromise is the best option, however... That obviously doesn't happen. Agasa was probably going to be the one to make the call on if it's dangerous, since Shinichi tends to need his help. ...But before we get that danger, we get a new fake child adding another layer to dealing with the organization.

[pureconancommentary]

So, from Shinichi's perspective: My parents told me I'm not good enough to accomplish my goal, are saying they'll take care of it for me, and it makes me feel ashamed and angry.

He might have been thrust into a small body, and views obtaining the cure/beating the organization to be a necessity... but he also views it in general as something he was in the middle of working on. For a lower stakes example, it's like you're trying to work a difficult jigsaw puzzle, and someone comes in and says 'oh, I know how to work this and can finish it for you if you want'. It's his long term project, and he doesn't want it just 'taken care of'. With Shinchi's early manga ego, even if it worked out, he'd never be able to shake the feeling of not being good enough, danger be damned. He just needs to get good enough to deal with every potential problem.

His parents are the ones logically in the right. The way he acts right now will get him killed, and he hasn't honed his detective mindset enough to take in all the information he needs when in a tense situation. But, for his emotions and mental state, he needs to keep working on his own problem. (Even if he probably doesn't think of it that way, he's just comfortable enough shouting out what he can feel he wants.)

(And he wants to stay and continue his relationship with Ran, of course. Why he's in Japan instead of moving to America in the first place is probably because he already knew he didn't want to leave and let that connection fade. Even though now, he's the only one who's going to feel like they're still close together.)

[pureconancommentary]

The whole problem with Shinichi (at this point) is how he responds to clearly dangerous situations without thinking things over. He's good at leaping into action, but not stopping to think about the full situation, nor does he have any contingencies. There were many points in this scenario where he was forced to wait, and he could have directed some thought at the details. 'That dude is dressed so weird, why do that when it's so attention grabbing? Even if your face is covered, people would be taking note of where you go... maybe there is a reason?' or even 'Actually, how did they come to connect Kudo Shinichi to Edogawa Conan? Sure, there's a chance they found out I wasn't dead, but how would they connect a case I solved with my own voice to old man Kogoro? Shouldn't they have assumed I just hadn't died? It doesn't sound like they know other people have shrunk, so how did they figure out I'm Kudo Shinichi?'

I can concede that, there is a point where you just have to accept that what's happening is happening, even if you don't know how. But when you're sitting in a small space under the floor waiting for two people to wake up and think you escaped, maybe that would have been a good time to try and logic some stuff out? There were so many points that shouldn't have made sense, and there was a distinct choice to just keep blindly rushing along. He's a protagonist, so of course he'd be fine, but as a detective? Yeah, no wonder he barely passes, he essentially just followed the trail without looking around to take in the full picture.

Also where did the couch Shinichi was sitting on go?

[pureconancommentary]

'Of course, I was intending to make a more intimidating entrance once Yukiko had you safely captured in the temporary hideout, but then she called me and said you'd almost caused a major traffic accident, so we had to change our information dumping for after the recapture when you woke up from being drugged. That was daring, but really tactless and dangerous, you know.'

'Hey, I'd just been told someone suspicious knew my identity and then had a gun shoved in my face, I had to do something.'

'...Including endanger other people just to give you an escape route? Instead of... thinking and processing your situation? Or even consider that she can't drive without watching the road and would probably use both hands? You had plenty of time to think if you'd kept your head cool- You know what, never mind what I said about barely passing as a detective, it sounds like you failed step one long before the test even started. Geez, Agasa said you had a reckless streak, but if we'd known it was that bad, we probably would have had Yukiko drug you when you got in the car...'

[pureconancommentary]

How did you keep your glasses on under that mask?

[pureconancommentary]

If I have one gripe with Yuusaku's plan, it's this. He knows full well that the only reason he would have taken note of the watch was because Agasa was there for insider information. It wouldn't have even changed much about the situation, except that Yuusaku may have gotten hit with the needle before revealing the truth, and I guess he wanted to make sure he could see Shinichi's shock and confusion. As per this scenario, Shinichi still would have 'died', though - he only has one needle. Let him pull up the watch and then get 'shot' before he could use it, it'd make the message about how helpless he is more effective if you let him have access to everything he can and he still loses.

....Though, if it's because Yuusaku also knows his son might get annoyed enough to use the watch anyway, then.... That'd be fair. Cowardly, to not face the potential consequences that scaring your son might bring, especially when you're trying to teach him about the results of his impulsive actions. But. Fair.

[pureconancommentary]

There's a door across from the closet that's likely a bathroom, so it was arguably 50/50 that the closet would be the choice. So while this is where Shinichi gets caught, it would have been really funny for Yuusaku to pick completely wrong the first time before going '...okay, if not here, then the bathroom'.

[pureconancommentary]

The fun thing is the gum didn't come out of nowhere this time. Not just in the panel right before Shinichi needs it, but when the boy is saying goodbye to his mother.

[pureconancommentary]

Okay, but how many gadgets do you have on you that you never considered using in this dilemma? We know the watch has been there, so why didn't you use that on the woman after being reckless enough to hit the gas of the car? Do you have the suspenders, because they may have helped you actually escape from the second floor of the abandoned house. Or you could have put a tracker sticker on the floor next to the door of the room he was being kept in, and the chance that one of the two would have stepped on it is super high. The only current gadget I don't think had solid use in all of this would be the shoes, because there wasn't any moment that kicking something would resolve anything.

[pureconancommentary]

It's unlikely that having Yukiko come in after Agasa was in the plan, but whether it was or not, this is the second big moment where Shinichi was saved from impulsive actions by pure luck. In the house, he hadn't actually checked out/thought about the room he was in before deciding the refrigerator was the only hiding place, and only found the hidden storage space because the bottle he broke still had liquid in it and it dripped inside. He picked wrong, and would have been 'shot' when he was found. Here, he's only not seen because the only door in view opens at the right time.

Just saying, there's a reason this plan is happening. It's a test, and frankly, Shinichi's actually failed with almost every action he's taken. His plot armor is extremely strong here, on top of the fact that he's purposefully being fed the relevant information and chances to act.

[pureconancommentary]

Honestly, he probably should have had some feeling of this being odd here. He found the newspaper in the trash with the cutouts that told him the hotel, which is fine. But he should be asking why the torn off calendar page they cutout a date from wasn't in the trash. And should also probably be asking why they bothered to cut out the number while it was still on the wall and then tore it off. Obviously he still wouldn't know the kidnappers weren't actually bad, but there are things to question here. Also the bottle for his breakout conveniently being on the lower shelves for him to reach while tied up.

[pureconancommentary]

Boi, you're lucky Yuusaku is giving you wiggle room, because if they'd just pretended to leave for a minute to lure you out of hiding, you'd be caught so fast. At least wait longer than the door closing before coming out.

[pureconancommentary]

Like father like son... But please stop with the rascal=yarou thing, my brain keeps hitting a wall every time.

[pureconancommentary]

I don't know enough physics to answer my question on whether or not a child who can barely maneuver himself to hold a wine bottle could possibly have the strength to shatter it into sharp, rope-cutting pieces...

However I can point out that this place is extremely run down and wood is broken everywhere and possibly rotting, and therefore doubt that this bottle should be breaking so easily regardless. There was a cup in the same cupboard that probably would have been easier to break and less noisy.

(But since both were probably planted there by Yukiko and Yuusaku, maybe the bottle was fake anyway to ensure this little escape room setup could work.)

[pureconancommentary]

"A spooky rascal"? Spooky instead of creepy is one thing, but the idea of a character going around saying he's gonna kill some rando, a child, and possibly their own co-worker being called a 'rascal' is just-

*ahem* It's... not a good substitution for 'yarou' in any sense, let's just say.

[pureconancommentary]

Looking at this with context, I do wonder what the cue was to talk about this plan to bait Shinichi into his recklessness. I'd think either he was seen moving through the hole in the door or he didn't lie down in the same position he'd been in for our 'criminals' to know he'd woken up. And maybe either going to the door or bringing up the 'is he really Shinichi Kudo' told Yukiko to go into why the 'Black Organization' figured out he might have shrunk.