#i don't see why this kazunari kouchi-written special can't too

[marshmallowgoop]

Spoilers for the ninth Detective Conan OVA, "The Stranger From 10 Years Later."

Realistically, out-of-universe, I know it's little more than fanservice. It's a peek at what a popular recurring character's future could be, a snapshot of how things may turn out for him. But in-universe, I can't help thinking about the implications of 26- or 27-year-old Heiji's short cameo appearance in Shinichi's literal fever dream.

There's an immense level of detail to the entire scenario. The tree in the Kudo yard has grown taller, downtown Tokyo is littered with new buildings and renovated old ones, a high school teacher's face is lined with more wrinkles than he ought to have after a mere "few months." It's a vibrant, breathing world that Shinichi's imagined—one that indicates to me that he's deeply considered the possibility of never returning to his old life. He's walked by his home, in a body so small that he can't even unlock the gate, and thought to himself, "One day, that tree will tower over the fence, but I'll still be stuck as tiny Conan." He's ruminated about it, wondered and speculated and deliberated, how the city around him will change while he hasn't been allowed to, not in the way he wants.

And he's done the same concerning Heiji. And... it's positive. Immensely so.

Interviewer: For today, we'll be interviewing... The famous detective from Naniwa, Hattori Heiji-san! He has brilliantly solved numerous intricate cases and is now recognized all over Japan! He's even opened his own detective agency!

Or, at least, it is at first, anyway. It's quickly revealed that Heiji and Kazuha's relationship hasn't progressed in the slightest, which, while obviously not a particularly favorable outcome for either of them, does say something about Shinichi. Because you could argue that Shinichi envisions Heiji living the life that he himself so desperately desires. You could say that the true purpose of Heiji's appearance in this OVA is to accentuate the future that Shinichi craves but cannot have, not yet and never as himself, where he's the mastermind behind a thriving, well-renowned detective agency, where an interview with him is unquestioningly broadcast on a huge screen overlooking Tokyo streets, where busy passersby stop in place, look up, and listen to what he has to say.

And... where he's also popular with girls.

Heiji is known as "The Lady-Killer of Naniwa" in Shinichi's imagination, and especially early in the manga, Shinichi does explicitly enjoy that kind of attention (File 10, included as File 1 in Volume 2, spells this out directly).

Interviewer: I've heard that the young ladies have a certain nickname for Hattori-san... "The Lady-Killer of Naniwa."

But the fact that Heiji and Kazuha have gotten nowhere points me elsewhere. This isn't an idealized fantasy that Shinichi wishes he could have for himself in the slightest. Ran is his dream. The emotional heart of this special, the dominant, overarching tragedy, is how Conan's overwriting and erasure of Shinichi prevents him from being with his lifelong love. There's no way that Shinichi would ever imagine a "happy end" that's anything like what Heiji and Kazuha have going on in this OVA.

So, what does Shinichi's conception of 26- or 27-year-old Heiji mean? A few things:

Even in this nightmarish "bad end," Shinichi cannot conceive of a life without Heiji, just as he cannot conceive of a life without Ran. It's unthinkable.

Shinichi wholeheartedly believes that Heiji will be wildly successful in his career.

Shinichi wholeheartedly believes that Heiji is so attractive and good-looking that of course he'll be wildly popular with women. Undoubtedly.

tl;dr, Shinichi's thought about Heiji's future, and those thoughts are really essentially, "Yeah, there's no way that my boy Hattori isn't going to have his own fantastic detective agency one day, and also, he's a hunk, so he'll be called 'The Lady-Killer of Naniwa.'"

Seriously.

#detective conan #case closed #the stranger from 10 years later #shinichi kudo #heiji hattori #heishin #ramblings #shut up goop #i know i'm a broken record but you can't tell me that shinichi doesn't think highly of heiji #or that he could never be romantically attracted to heiji #even if it's vague i think this is the only time that shinichi has ever openly acknowledged the physical attractiveness of a guy #like c'mon he literally thinks heiji is so attractive that he'll be called 'the lady-killer of naniwa'??? i seriously cannot get over that #and sure this is just an ova and probably not canon but if some of the kazunari kouchi-written films are apparently getting canonized (?) #i don't see why this kazunari kouchi-written special can't too #it's canon in my heart in any case lol #anyway of course thinking highly of someone and that they're physically attractive #doesn't necessarily mean that there's any romantic attraction #and i never ever ever mean to discount the significance of platonic bonds or imply that they mean any less than romantic ones #i'm all about focusing on friendship first (which is why i rarely tag ships) #but at the same time it *really* rubs me the wrong way to see the argument that shinichi could ~never~ reciprocate heiji's affection #it feels a lot like 'well of course the desirable protagonist could never romantically love the dark-skinned boy' #and maybe that's unfair of me but i can't deny that that's how i feel #shinichi clearly has a lot of love for heiji and this ova shows that he finds heiji attractive #like... i really don't think it's as implausible as it's made out to be