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Translation of the PASH interview with M27's Director

I translated the interview with M27 Director Nakaoka Chika in PASH's April issue, as well as a few of the questions from the Scriptwriter Ookura Takahiro's interview. (Raw from the DCEN Discord.)

Key new information:

There's a scene that reveals why Kudo Shinichi and Kaito Kid look similar.

They decided to save Hakodate's best nightscape for an "important scene" (that isn't the Kid vs. Heiji swordfight). Additionally, Heiji will be saying an impactful line, and Nakaoka would like everyone to pay attention to Heiji's feelings leading up to him saying that line.

Per Nakaoka, Aoyama said that Okita and Kazuha know each other's faces, but aren't any closer than that. (Also, they have a conversation in the movie.)

Ookura is fond of Ran's role because of the way Ran enthusiastically supports Kazuha in the movie.

Translation under cut.

Preparing For Battle

What will be the plot of Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram, which will be released next month…?

Gather hints from Director Nagaoka and scriptwriter Ookura’s stories!

A new truth regarding Kid, not yet shown in the original series, will be revealed.

As the release date of The Million-Dollar Pentagram draws ever nearer, new information drops by the day. What no doubt drew everyone’s attention the most was the tagline on the main visual- “At last, it will be revealed. ‘The truth regarding Kid.’” It appears as though in this movie, a “secret” that has yet to be shown in the original series will be revealed.

Please also draw your attention to Hattori Heiji, who stars in a movie for the first time in seven years, and how his confession to Kazuha will turn out. We hope you look forward to the release! ♪

Staff Interview 01: Director Nakaoka Chika

Q. When did you receive the offer to be the director of Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram?

It was after The Scarlet Bullet (Detective Conan Movie 24) ended. Aoyama-sensei was the one to nominate me- it was already decided that Kid would appear at that time, and as he quite enjoyed The Fist of Blue Sapphire (Detective Conan Movie 23), he likely nominated me thinking “Well, it’s a Kid movie, so better go with Nakaoka!” I definitely felt the pressure, but I was also determined to do my best.

Q. In this movie, Hattori will be part of the main cast along with Kaito Kid, correct?

I learnt that Heiji would be a main cast member at the same time I learnt that Kid would appear, but my first thought was- “So they meet at last!” In the original manga and the anime series, Kid and Heiji have shared the stage in Fairy Lips (Anime Ep. 983-984 Kid vs. Koumei: The Targeted Lips). But in the movies, even if they’ve appeared in the same one, they’ve never met without Kid being in disguise. So I realized that this would be the first time they would actually talk.

Q. Their swordfight, as shown in the currently-revealed previews, left quite the impression on me.

As the movie takes place in Hakodate, and Hijikata Toshizō appears as an original character, we decided fairly early on to include a swordfight. Aside from the Kid vs. Heiji swordfight revealed in the PVs, there’s actually so many swordfights you might think- isn’t this a bit much?! We did decide, “Let’s go with something related to katanas,” but honestly I never thought we’d show so many katanas in the end (lol).

Q. Please tell us the inside scoop on the Kaito Kid vs. Hattori swordfight scene.

We decided we wanted to have an action scene somewhere where you could see Hakodate’s nightscape, but we wanted to save the well-known nightscape for an “important scene”. So, we had Kid and Heiji fight with a lesser-known nightscape as their backdrop.

Q. As the movie takes place in Hakodate, Hokkaido, did you go visit in person?

Yes! It was my first time in Hokkaido, so I was very excited for it. And when I arrived, I truly felt once again that Hakodate valued history deeply, from the way they kept old buildings in great repair. I understood at a glance why Hijikata-san valued the land so deeply. It also felt rather special that Mount Hakodate was visible no matter where you were.

Q. What are you keeping in mind with this movie as you bring Edogawa Conan to life?

I keep in mind that it’s always Edogawa Conan who discovers the important things when it comes to mysteries. While Kid and Heiji are the main cast in this movie, I’d still like the protagonist to play a big part. Also, this is just related to Conan, but the way Takayama Minami-san would act out Conan’s expressions left a big impression on me. She would question my lines and ask things like, “What is Conan feeling in this scene?” And her feedback was all amazingly sharp- it made me think, “I’d expect no less from Conan-kun!” (lol). Sometimes my heart would thump as I answered.

Q. Could you tell us what you think we should focus on in the movie?

Definitely the katanas. As the main motif, they appear quite a bit, and I investigated them quite a bit- I put lots of care into it. There’s also a scene where Heiji says a line I’d want everyone who loves Detective Conan to hear. His entire atmosphere changes when he says that line- it was so amazing, I couldn’t stop smiling after the recording. Please look forward to it! I’d also appreciate it if you’d pay attention to Heiji’s feelings until that point.

Aside from that, there’s a scene in the PV where Heiji is shocked at Kaito’s bare face- please don’t miss the scene that reveals why, “Hey, don’t Shinichi and Kid look kinda similar?”

Q. Please tell us what left an impression on you during your interactions with the movie staff.

It was my first time meeting Kanno (Yugo)-san, but I truly felt that all of the songs he composed for the movie were superb. The Million-Dollar Pentagram has aspects to it that resemble a period drama, so I requested that he include taiko drums in his pieces. Then, he created music reminiscent of a festival that hadn’t appeared much in Detective Conan before. It felt very fresh to me when I heard it for the first time.

Q. Did your experience with The Fist of Blue Sapphire and The Scarlet Bullet help you with this movie?

When it comes to the Detective Conan movies, the usual suspects are always present on the production crew. So I feel as though I’ve gotten the hang of things like everyone’s areas of expertise, such as what scenes would be best drawn by which person. So I always made sure to give the storyboarders and animators scenes that would allow them to bring out their own unique talents. I also think the way the Detective Conan movies use a surprising amount of CGI is also one of its unique points. We use so much, it makes me think- “I don’t think a normal series would use so much?” But it’s because it’s been used for so many years that when we join CGI with animation, we can judge that, “Ah, this much is alright.” I believe that The Million-Dollar Pentagram has managed that balance as well.

Q. On the flip side, what did you do for the first time?

We had a designer named Hama Yuuto-san join us for this movie. When I met him on a different project, I thought that he drew designs that made a big impression. He’s produced various designs in a superb manner for The Million-Dollar Pentagram as well. For example, I consulted with Hama-san regarding things such as the stained glass and Higashikubo Eitatsu’s katana’s [scabbard(?)]. I think it’s best to consult a professional designer when designing something rather than an amateur trying it, and as a large number of katanas appear in this movie, it also allowed us to differentiate them.

Q. Who would you like us to focus our attention on in this movie?

Among the guest characters, I would say Kawazoe. He’s a bit clumsy and scatterbrained, but he’s skilled at information gathering despite that. He was a fun character to bring to life. Among the main cast, I would say Heiji and Kazuha. What will happen with their love story? I’m sure there’s plenty wondering about that!

Q. On a side note, when the teaser visual was revealed, Okita went trending on X (formerly Twitter.) I think many look forward to his part in the movie.

We decided to include Okita as the movie takes place in Hakodate and includes Hijikata, but he’s certainly a super cool character. Though I can’t say much as it’s before release, there is a scene where Okita and Kazuha talk to each other. But I think in the original series they haven’t talked properly before, so I didn’t know how close they were- that’s why I asked Aoyama-sensei for information on what their relationship is like. He responded, “They would recognize each other, but that’s all.” I kept that in mind while having them talk.

Q. Finally, please leave a message to our readers waiting with anticipation for the release.

I believe you’ll see the movie in different ways if you watch it from a different perspective each time- for example, first from Kid’s perspective, then from Heiji’s, then again from Kazuha’s. Also, you’ll only be able to experience the mystery of where the treasure is the first time you see the movie, so I would appreciate it if you played the part of one of the detectives and tried to solve the mystery as you watch.

Staff Interview 02: Scriptwriter Ookura Takahiro

T/N: I was too lazy to translate the whole thing by the time I got to this point, but have a few of the questions I was actually interested in.

[...]

Q. So that’s why Okita will be appearing in the movies for the first time?

While I can’t speak in detail about it, in the end I appreciated that Okita was part of the movie cast. Please look forward to it.

Q. Speaking of first appearances, Detective Kawazoe will be appearing as an original character in this movie. How did you create his character?

As the movie takes place in Hakodate, we decided to have Inspector Nishimura appear- that’s when we realized that he would have a subordinate, something like what Detective Takagi is to Inspector Megure. Since we couldn’t make Inspector Nakamori into his subordinate, we created Detective Kawazoe.

Also, before we decided on the treasure-finding plot, we initially had him as a spy that Public Safety had placed into their ranks. There were some characters we created because we’d need more police officers if Public Safety made an appearance as well. But even after the plot changed and Public Safety no longer played a part, Detective Kawagoe remained. This is the inside scoop on his character creation.

[...]

Q. What other characters would you like us to focus on in this movie?

While Heiji and Kazuha are the main cast, personally I’d choose Ran. I must apologize, but I haven’t been able to make Ran shine in the scripts I’ve been in charge of until now. But in this movie, I felt it was easy to bring Ran to life. She supports Kazuha full steam ahead. I personally was a big fan of that (lol).

[...]

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