Importance of Ran as a character

[doublemoonlight]

hmmm lets see with Ran  Shinnich would've got shrunk and then he will have NO home... NO way of solving cases... and thus NO way of meeting BO... yeah...

Even if he could use Agasa there is only so much cases professor can encounter then a detective.

[phreak_91]

hmmm lets see with Ran  Shinnich would've got shrunk and then he will have NO home... NO way of solving cases... and thus NO way of meeting BO... yeah...

Even if he could use Agasa there is only so much cases professor can encounter then a detective.

If you put it that way, Ran was important originally.  What I'm saying is that her importance as a character has gradually gotten less and less. Besides, everyone knows that Conan is a murder magnet.  It doesn't matter who he's staying with, the cases will just happen around him.

[Kleene Onigiri]

hmmm lets see with Ran  Shinnich would've got shrunk and then he will have NO home... NO way of solving cases... and thus NO way of meeting BO... yeah...

Even if he could use Agasa there is only so much cases professor can encounter then a detective.

If you put it that way, Ran was important originally.  What I'm saying is that her importance as a character has gradually gotten less and less. Besides, everyone knows that Conan is a murder magnet.  It doesn't matter who he's staying with, the cases will just happen around him.

If you put it that way, a lot of characters lost their importance. :V
Satou was almost never seen again till recently. Takagi isn't doing much either.
Agasa is not mentioned much either, usually just driving around the DBs.
Haibara is also not doing much besides being paranoid because of her stalker :V
So if you say "recently, Ran wasn't important in the plot", then almost no character was Besides FBI + BO suspects.

[phreak_91]

hmmm lets see with Ran  Shinnich would've got shrunk and then he will have NO home... NO way of solving cases... and thus NO way of meeting BO... yeah...

Even if he could use Agasa there is only so much cases professor can encounter then a detective.

If you put it that way, Ran was important originally.   What I'm saying is that her importance as a character has gradually gotten less and less. Besides, everyone knows that Conan is a murder magnet.  It doesn't matter who he's staying with, the cases will just happen around him.

If you put it that way, a lot of characters lost their importance. :V
Satou was almost never seen again till recently. Takagi isn't doing much either.
Agasa is not mentioned much either, usually just driving around the DBs.
Haibara is also not doing much besides being paranoid because of her stalker :V
So if you say "recently, Ran wasn't important in the plot", then almost no character was Besides FBI + BO suspects.

You're right, and I think that is something that should be changed.  Some of those characters deserve more then that, especially Haibara.
What I am really saying, though, is that Ran isn't really important to the plot now.  As moonlight said, she had to be there in the first place because Conan needed somewhere to stay to get his cases.  But ever since then, she has been mostly cast in the form of the girlfriend who just sticks around and doesn't really do much.  Her importance as a character has dwindled to almost nothing, except for the few shinran moments that are thrown in.   This has pretty much been going on the entire series, not just recently.  Yes, there are a few times when she actually does something for the plot, but when you think about it, that's only like 10 episodes out of 600.  I don't really see a way for her to get a major role in the plot either, unless she either figures out Conan's identity permanently, or dies.

[Vylash]

hmmm lets see with Ran  Shinnich would've got shrunk and then he will have NO home... NO way of solving cases... and thus NO way of meeting BO... yeah...

dude, it's kogoro's house, ran doesn't really matter there

there would be not much romance and irony in the show anymore,

what?

[IHKF]

hmmm lets see with Ran  Shinnich would've got shrunk and then he will have NO home... NO way of solving cases... and thus NO way of meeting BO... yeah...

Even if he could use Agasa there is only so much cases professor can encounter then a detective.

..... Does it occur to you that Shinichi has PARENTS that could send somebody over to LIVE WITH HIM IN HIS HOUSE in the meantime? XD He would be able to solve cases and everything just fine.
Not to mention why couldn't he temporarily move in with Agasa himself? He won't HAVE to run into him, he'll still go to Teitan elementary school and still meet the DB, and Haibara would just be living with both, thus her ability to tease him even more! XD

Nothing much would change living arrangements wise without Ran there.

[Stopwatch]

However when his parents find out about him being shrunk there would be no reason for him to stay in Japan, he would move to America almost certainly (though he would probably still meet the DB in some of their earliest appearances), I think it would change the plot an awful lot.

[IHKF]

However when his parents find out about him being shrunk there would be no reason for him to stay in Japan, he would move to America almost certainly (though he would probably still meet the DB in some of their earliest appearances), I think it would change the plot an awful lot.

Well he may just be a hopeless teen boy and refuse to go just because it's his parents. XD

But he may choose to stay in Japan because that's where the BO is, and possibly because he doesn't want his parents in danger. As it is he has to worry about Ran and Kogoro NOW. But to bring his FAMILY into it is another thing. XD

[Vylash]

However when his parents find out about him being shrunk there would be no reason for him to stay in Japan, he would move to America almost certainly (though he would probably still meet the DB in some of their earliest appearances), I think it would change the plot an awful lot.

Pretty sure he'd stay in japan to get his body back...

[phreak_91]

Wait, I thought that his parents already knew that he was shrunk, and that they knew from very early on... 

[IHKF]

They did know from early on but if Ran didn't exist he may be forced to contact them just a little sooner.... which probably doesn't have much to do with much! XD

[Misztina]

Three years ago we discussed something similar, I stick to my opinion:

"Ran Mouri/Mouri Ran... who is she? If you asked that question before the 42nd or the 49th volume we would have said, she is the main female character, Shinichi's love interest and so on, etc.

But after it... after nearly 14 volumes she has lost her title. There were of course major issues during these last volumes, let's not forget that she was a sort of a link between Conan and Eisuke, in addition there was the Shirigama(or what) case, which was about her, but...

Her characters became plain. She is the good-hearted, naive girl, who can sometimes kick some a** if she shows up. She seemes to become a dream-like girl, an aim to Shinichi to reach and not an active character.

Of course now I thought, after she met Okiya that there might be a possibility for her to become something...but again (I may be very impatient) when was her last suspicion about him at all? And will it ever lead to somewhere? (Probably yes, but...)

Clearly DC is a shounen manga, but the before and after Halloween cases and female roles differ. Even Ai has a weirder role than she used to have.

I miss somehow the feelings of the pre-Halloween files, where the supposedly main characters had important roles.

I have somehow this feeling that even if Ran gets into center position (not in soccer XD;Wink her character might stay a bit flat as how it is now. Because, I accept the fact that she cannot take a big role in everything, it was okay that she didn't appeared in FBI-BO showdown at all, but in my opinion even if she has less roles, she could show some "interesting" things from her, not only the usual: "I'm nice, but kick ass if it's needed". A character doesn't have to play a major role in the plot to show something."

[xUntouchedHopex]

Ran is one of the most importants characters for me, everyone in DC has a role to play, Ran's role is discovering Conan's real identity and protect him(and being saved by conan...), also to wait for Shinichi, to help him sometimes to solve cases, and she is sometimes implied with the BO,and obviously she protects Haibara and the DB and everyone, she takes care of Kogoro and Conan and she is friend of Kazuha, Heiji and Sonoko. She isnt  perfect like everyone says, she is sometimes clumsy and a little bit tomboyish, and she cries a lot, she is a very complete character.

[Stopwatch]

...the last thing you just said (the 'reason to exist') derailed everything before it

[phreak_91]

Ran is one of the most importants characters for me, everyone in DC has a role to play, Ran's role is discovering Conan's real identity and protect him(and being saved by conan...), also to wait for Shinichi, to help him sometimes to solve cases, and she is sometimes implied with the BO,and obviously she protects Haibara and the DB and everyone, she takes care of Kogoro and Conan and she is friend of Kazuha, Heiji and Sonoko. She isnt  perfect like everyone says, she is sometimes clumsy and a little bit tomboyish, and she cries a lot, she is a very complete character. And Ran's reason to exist is TO LOVE AND BEING LOVED BY SHINICHI!! Isnt that enough important!?

Well, yes.  The thing is, though, that the sorts of things that are mentioned in your post happen very rarely.  Actual plot episodes are rare in this anime, and episodes where Ran is heavily involved in them are even rarer still .