Detective Conan - The Ran Problem

For the past few months, I've been watching the mystery crime drama Detective Conan, known as Case Closed in the English release. For those unaware of the show, the simple summary of the plot is that it follows a child named Conan who is actually a high school detective who was poisoned by men in black. Instead of killing him, the poison shrunk him into that of a child, and ever since then he has been living with his childhood friend and crush, Ran Mouri, and her father Kogoro Mouri, who runs a private detective agency. Through Kogoro and others, Conan solves cases ranging from murders, bomb threats, and kidnappings.

    The series is over a thousand episodes long, half of which is non-canon filler that we will not be covering. We'll instead be focusing on Ran and to do so we should go over more about her. To start, she is the captain of her high school's karate club, deceptively strong, can be quite observant, and also has a crush on Shinichi, Conan's real identity which she comes close to exposing multiple times. She is also caring for her family, trying multiple times throughout the series to get her father and mother to reconcile and live together again. As it stands, while they are married, her mother and father live separately as they tend to argue when they are around each other.

    After saying all of this it may seem like the problem with Ran is that she is too kind or a bland good girl. But that's not what I consider a problem. It instead has everything to do with ghosts.

    There are multiple cases of criminals using disguises or myths to cover up their crimes as the work of ghosts. Or moments of mistaking someone for a spirit. These cases include but are not limited to the following: The Truth of the Haunted House, Teitan High School's Ghost Story, Furinkazan, Murderer Shinichi Kudo, The Witch Enshrouded by Fog, The Dream the Kappa Saw, Inubushi Castle The Ablazed Demon Dog, & The Guardian of Time's Sword.

    Ignoring the last one, there was a point in the episodes where Ran either sees the ghost or is told about the ghost and gets scared. Each time, by the end of the case, it is revealed that there was no ghost, further reinforcing that no matter how supernatural a crime seems, there is a logical answer. I had no issue with Ran or the other girls screaming at first, until The Guardian of Time's Sword.

    Keep in mind, that all the episodes listed were sourced from the manga and appeared in that order. Situations, where Ran screamed, included finding a dead body, seeing the silhouette of a samurai behind a screen during a thunderstorm, and being chased by a dog she believed to be on fire. Now explain why Ran, who is supposed to be strong and has taken down criminals before, is the first to suggest that the murderer is a ghost?

    Multiple cases prior showed that there were no ghosts or monsters involved and Ran is fully capable of defending herself and others. This shows a character that does not change over time, but it would be wrong to say Ran is the only one with this problem. Even when the main plot of the show progresses, the characters feel the same as when they were introduced. This is partly due to the time frame in which the show takes place, or rather, the floating timeline of the show.

    For instance, even though a year hasn't passed the characters have gone from using flip phones to that of smartphones. And if it really were less than a year, that would mean Conan would be solving a murder every day. Add holidays into that and it is hard to write down a proper timeline.

    More on track, people in real life change over time, if we're to assume that not much time has actually passed by then it should come as no surprise that characters haven't changed. This does not mean more of a person's character can't be revealed, as seen with Kogoro and a few others. But if there is nothing else to reveal, then the static characters have the potential to drag down the experience if their initial character traits are not well received, or are seen as conflicting or inconsistent.

    My personal pick for the most annoying static characters isn't actually Ran though, but instead is the Detective Boys. Credit where it is due they are children and act like it. Genta, especially, annoys me the most. In fact, I almost skipped the episode where his dad was a suspect because any episode devoted to Genta in any way is a ticket to annoyance.

    But why did I call this The Ran Problem if the Detective Boys are my best example of annoying static characters? Because Sera exists.

    Sera is a female character far later introduced into the series that was made in response to the highly popular tomboy detective girl who became a criminal and couldn't be reused. In many ways, she is similar to Ran in all the ways I described Ran earlier, with the exception that she doesn't scream at seeing a dead body. This may seem petty, but keep in mind dead bodies pop up around her, Conan, and Kogoro so often that the police have noticed and assume they are cursed.

    Add to the fact that Sera ties into the main plot of the series and provides a nice contrast to the other teen girls in the series, and it is a little wonder why I would say she is a breath of fresh air when previously all Ran, and to the same extent her friends, does is nothing.

    Now, Ran isn't completely removed from the main plot and none of this is to discredit Ran's popularity as a character. It is just a shame that a character who can break concrete poles and has been to an alarming amount of murders doesn't take more action. And I believe that, after the episodes in London, it wouldn't have hurt to show Ran trying to take an interest in Sherlock Holmes or detective work, in hopes of impressing Shinichi the next time they meet. But that talk gets more into head-cannon than I care to get into right now.

    Is it impossible to have a strong character that is scared of something? No, it isn't. Fears are normal and characters should have things they don't like, things that scare them, and things they like to believe. These things can make them relatable, and if they aren't there is always gap moe. A somewhat common thing in anime and manga, it is when a character has contradictory traits that make them likable. Take the scary-looking and uncaring delinquent, who has a heart of gold for cute animals, as an example.

    To conclude, I want to say Detective Conan isn't the only series with the issue of seemingly static characters and I understand that changing a character requires careful thought. To completely do a 180 with a character's personality requires equal degrees of justification. As it stands, whether the characters change at this point, I am still invested in the story and enjoy more characters than dislike.