Rum Arc Discussion Thread (Plot + Characters)

[dccd]

The way in which Gosho hands his place to Rumi(by twisting words and giving Rumimore screen time.) it's evident that Iori is a big-shot.

Regarding your Iori-thoughts:
First of all: Some example for "twisting words" plz.
I dont quite get that but I try:
So you state that with "giving Rumi more screen time" / putting Rumi in the focus of things
...this tells us that Iori is a big-shot, because he isnt getting as much screen time as Rumi / isnt as much as her in the focus?

I agree with that logic (person not in focus is important) but I disagree with the person you choose.
Furthermore you have to think then that he used APTX / Silver Bullet to keep his youth regarding the case 17 years ago.
I wont dig in this deeper since it will open up again the discussion about him being a main-plot related character.


Other point regarding the dying message:
I think that from a criminal-literary point of view there is pretty much only one option left:
The solution of the dying message presented to us is actually wrong. The dying message isnt Rum = Asaka.
The reason for this that in criminal literature you never will get the (right) solution of a cryptic dying message directly after you the hero
of the story discovered it. But here we have exactly this. Conan and Akai solve it 2 chapters later / even in the same case with the Rum-arc being only 50 chapters old.
So the only logical conclusion is that the solution is actually wrong since this isnt how criminal literature works with no twist being there in the end.
This would also explain the "C not K"-problem.
So yeah, I state that the true dying message is not Rum=Asaka.


Other point regarding of when Gosho actually made up the Rum-arc:
As far as I see this wasnt discussed too deeply yet.
Its obvious that no reader can actually say this for sure since we cant mindread, but I try to explain my logic and point out some possible hints.

To me the main person of the Rum-arc so far is Mary.
She is the one being hunted by the bo and it seems that it will all result in a big clash between Conan&Co vs BO.
So I think that Marys first appearence pretty much marks Goshos first thoughts about the Rum-arc.
But when did Mary "appear" for the first time?
If you look up here you will get CH 875. This appears to be right since about 20 files later the actual Rum-arc starts with Rum being mentioned in the sms.

To me this is wrong.
Mary actually was mentioned the first time in CH 771 P3. [ Sera: But my moms breasts ... ]
I also state that Mary was the one speaking to Sera in CH 800.
(Shuichi doesnt make any sense and I doubt that it is Shukichi too. If you compare it to 1000-1005, you kinda see Sera being in connection with Mary the exact same way via those small headphones)
Its actually remarkable that he let Sera live in a hotel from her very first appearence.
This actually leads to me thinking that he had the Sera+Mary-combo in his mind from the very beginning.

So yeah:
I would even go that far and state that Gosho had the Rum-arc made up by the time he let Sera appear the first time (CH768).
So I think that there might be some possible clues even between 770-900 and not only from 900+.

So if you see 770 as the actual start of the Rum-arc its really interesting to see who is introduced in a 6-chapter-case about 10 files later.

Just some thoughts ...

[Zerozaki4869]

By Twisting words, I meant " A Womanly Man" to "A woman who is as strong as a Man", thus eliminating a person who has one Rum-description and acts out of ordinary, who if Rumi showed no supposed one-eyed vision was bound to become a Rum suspect, much like Wakita and Kuroda.
Now I agree with your analysis, but I'm not discarding Rum=Asaka for the sake of complexity. To be precise the events required to make a Rum=Asaka solution are very improbable to occur as I've mentioned in my first post.
What I think is Gosho is making Rumi look like Asaka and thus making her a Rum suspect(due to Rum=Asaka) analysis. But it suddenly frees Iori of all suspicions. So what does it mean? Gosho wants to keep Iori free of all the suspicions. He's giving Iori a free role to fill.

If Rum isn't Asaka and neither Kuroda and Wakita looks to be Rum, one possible explanation is Rumi=Asaka and Iori=Rum.

But if Rumi is really Asaka then why did she flee? Why she's so evidently running around, her name is already in Police records(due to her help in 10 year old robbery case) and in Media(due to Golfer case), when stuff relating to Kohji case is being unearthed? Why her name is so similar to Asaka?

As if she's searching someone? She is locked onto Conan and from her telling smile in the newest chapter and APTX list we can think, she knew stuff about APTX V2's side effects and has connected the dot that Conan is Shinichi. IUIf I'm not mistaking she's searching Asaka and thinks Asaka is Rum, the one eyed giant. Thus she was glaring at Kuroda thinking he's Rum.

So the only spot which I can let Iori fill is Asaka, Iori being womanly would fit the profile. As for the age, it's not noticeable to point the difference between a 30 and a 37 year old man, when bot live healthy lives.(Like How Akai being 32-33, passes off easily as Subaru being 27)

[Haibara & Aika ryona]

So, we had a new character called Asaca, after that we will have a new character called heineken. heineken is really an old, and very cheap; so heineken in anime will be for any single small character that doesn't importart. And then, because Sherry Account become for no one, then a new character will appear called Sherry, and the same will happen. Million Episodes will spends for nothing.

This is my scenario for upcoming story

[Kor]

So... here's a proposition for a Gosho thing.

There aren't that many players in an arc, and by the resolution, the number of players decreases even more.

In the Vermouth arc for example, not only was it revealed that Vermouth was disguised as Araide, but Vermouth is both Chris and Sharon.
Same for the Bourbon stuff: Okiya is a guy we already know, and Bourbon is both Amuro and scar Akai (most of the time).

Can't really apply it to the Kir stuff cause there you had Eisuke, Kir and... that's about it.

So obviously by the end of the Rum stuff, various characters will turn out to have been several different players. My other point is that adding the butler or the maid (or maybe even Katsumata) to the mix (in which we already have Kuroda, Rumi and Wakita, plus Mary to a lesser extent), you end up with a bit too many cooks. Way more cooks than has ever been the case. In fact, the most key players Gosho had in a completed arc is 3, with Sera, Okiya and Amuro (and then later it turns out Sera is pretty much irrelevant to the entire ordeal beyond serving as a suspect for a while).
Is it possible Gosho is going for something more complex this time around with tackling way more characters than usual? Totally possible, but at least based on past examples, that's not how Gosho handled those arcs so far.

To me the main person of the Rum-arc so far is Mary.

Have to disagree with this analysis, at least based on what has happened with this character so far. As things currently stand, you can remove Mary from the manga and things would be exactly the same. Same probably applies to Masumi too.
It's two characters the narrative tries to tell us are somewhat a big deal, but they so far haven't done anything.
I'm sure eventually Mary will do something that may seem important, it's just that so far she didn't and we haven't even been told how she fits into all of this or how much she knows, so I can't really agree she's the main person of anything.

[Zerozaki4869]

I don't know much about the maid, but both Iori and Katsumata appear to be relevant.
Iori is a butler with a difference. He's a capable body-guard, a good sleuth/stalker, more or less capable of concealing his presence, etc. Now he fits one of Rum description and matches Asaka's profession.

Now if we try to do a bit brain-storming about Rum, Katsumata comes up as a good fit. Rum has three body descriptions but his body descriptions only work if his face is not seen by people. An old man's face can't be a strong man's or an womanly man's face. We don't see Gin, Vodka, Bourbon and even Vermouth wearing make-up/disguises during intra-BO meetings. So we can deduce that Rum doesn't show his face to the people he's meeting, else people would have not given the three descriptions and they would have noticed his bad eye. But that's not the case, on the contrary Haneda Kohji was killed by Rum and he left a dying message(or the mirror broke accidentally as "U MASCARA") and left a good part of his killer's name. So Rum's social name when romanized does contain "U MASCARA".
Now Chikara is a Shogi player who often gets photographed. He's a great chance of killing both Amanda and Kohji as he could earn their trust without raising any red-flags. If he's Rum he would also like to hide his face as Shogi players are very popular and he doesn't want low ranking BO members to learn of his social identity.

[Kokuriko]

So... here's a proposition for a Gosho thing.

There aren't that many players in an arc, and by the resolution, the number of players decreases even more.

In the Vermouth arc for example, not only was it revealed that Vermouth was disguised as Araide, but Vermouth is both Chris and Sharon.
Same for the Bourbon stuff: Okiya is a guy we already know, and Bourbon is both Amuro and scar Akai (most of the time).

Can't really apply it to the Kir stuff cause there you had Eisuke, Kir and... that's about it.

So obviously by the end of the Rum stuff, various characters will turn out to have been several different players. My other point is that adding the butler or the maid (or maybe even Katsumata) to the mix (in which we already have Kuroda, Rumi and Wakita, plus Mary to a lesser extent), you end up with a bit too many cooks. Way more cooks than has ever been the case. In fact, the most key players Gosho had in a completed arc is 3, with Sera, Okiya and Amuro (and then later it turns out Sera is pretty much irrelevant to the entire ordeal beyond serving as a suspect for a while).
Is it possible Gosho is going for something more complex this time around with tackling way more characters than usual? Totally possible, but at least based on past examples, that's not how Gosho handled those arcs so far.

Speaking of "the usual pattern Gosho suppossedly handles his manga" , I also have my own version (warning: massive wall-of-text)

Spoiler:

1. Vermouth arc (Files 238 - 459)
⦁ The first link that set it in motion was Sherry herself and the fateful meeting with Gin's car in File 238.
⦁ The first big hint to Vermouth - the newly confirmed BO agent as a master of disguise was given in File 287.
⦁ Jodie the suspect (first mentioned in File 258), Shuichi Akai the mysterious character and Vermouth herself were presented and officially confirmed by Sherry in Case Files 287-289.

There are 3 notable things :
- Vermouth's objectives weren't stated at the beginning, the best we got was at the end of File 242 : "a few things" she wanted to clear up. Later we had learnt from the pictures in her appartment and Itakura's case (Files 377-380) that she was after both the software and Sherry's life. Considering Conan our MC didn't have much resources at that time, the reveal of Jodie's past and Ran's trip down memory lane lent him a big help & some valuable data (Vermouth, Boss's number, Akai/Jodie/James working for FBI and being Conan's new allies) that were used in Kir arc.
- Vermouth's true identity was unknown until we had passed the second half of the arc. Sharon & Chris story, Jodie's past acted as hints to explain Vermouth's and Jodie's motives, as opposed to Araide's involvement which served as a red herring. Their showdown in Case Files 429-434 concluded their own part of the story at that time, but also introduced some major pieces regarding the BO.
- The transition from Vermouth arc to Kir arc was subtle with overflowing yet disjointed details throwing at readers (example: the Mermaid case). With questions that couldn't be answered by these hints only, Conan was forced to stand still.
*Side-note: The Mermaid case (Files 279-283) could be observed as another hint for "young woman disguising herself as a senior to cover her own secret of immortality" aka Sharon=Chris gimmick. Not that I pay much attention to it, I'm not Gosho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Kir arc (Files 499 - 621)
⦁ The event that triggered it was a tracking device sticking at a wrong place which was totally coincidental, but understandable given Conan's situation after Vermouth arc.
⦁ The identity of Kir and her mission were instantly revealed in Files 500.
⦁ There was no suspect, only a sudden introduction of the new BO agents followed by their own methods of handling the missions (you know, being sneaky and resilient and distrustful of everything to the point of paranoia - BO style^TM)
⦁ Kir/Rena, Eisuke Hondou the mysterious kid and Kusuda Rikumichi were the most focused characters of this straightforward arc.

There are 3 notable things :
- Kir's objective was stated right at the beginning and Conan knew about it.
- Kir / Rena / Hidemi's true identity as a BO agent was revealed first, and later as a CIA spy starting from File 595.
- The transition to Bourbon arc was Kir herself. But I think we should focus on the connection between Vermouth arc and Kir arc : all the major chess pieces appeared in the former played their own part in the latter, with Conan as the greatest force in our side, Kir as our false King and Akai as our most valuable piece at that point. After successfully gaining the new ally Kir, Conan finally had SOME decent sources to prepare for the enemy's next move.

3. Bourbon arc (Files 622 - 898)
With Kir's warning, the readers welcomed a new male (thank goodness) BO agent. The second half of the arc (started from File 825) was pretty much straightforward. AND SO Gosho added some spices by introducing more characters with dubious backgrounds and screentimes (Subaru, Masumi, Mary, Shukichi, Amuro, Elena, etc.) for fun, of course, and definitely maybe not for the next arc.
⦁ The first reveal of Bourbon/his missions was Kir's own lines in File 622 (track down Shiho) and hints from other BO agents in File 703 (verify Akai's death at Raiha Pass). The interesting thing was that the readers were informed sooner than Conan about Bourbon's missions but later we learned that Conan also hid the real truth behind Akai's death from us readers.
⦁ The dramatic event signifying Bourbon's opening act was Scar Akai's appearances in Case Files 677-679 and 700-704, that captured FBI's, Conan's and BO's attentions (except Vermouth, to no one's surprise)
⦁ The Gundam-inspired trio were confirmed as Bourbon suspects simultaneously in File 800, even though their debuts were not : Subaru - Case Files 622-624; Masumi - Case Files 768-770; Amuro - Case Files 793-795.

There are 3 notable things :
- Bourbon's objectives were informed almost right away thanks to Gosho's fanboy love for Char Aznable, because *everything* must revolve around Akai - Akemi/Haibara, Amuro, Akai's family, FBI, BO, etc.
- Bourbon / Amuro / Reifirst revealed himself as a BO agent in Files 823+824 and later was found out by Akai & Conan as an NPA agent. DEJA VU I've just been in this place before ♪
- The transition of this arc to Rum arc was overshadowed by the anticlimax in File 897, according to some readers, hence the negative feedback. Not only we've gained more allies, more infos, we also have more unresolved issues at hand (just...the whole Akai's family, Bourbon/Scotch/Rye, Haibara's family and the APTX 4869/Silver Bullet research) and some vague clues (Kusuda's gun and the Nanatsu no Ko song).

Rum arc (Files 898 - )
This arc is too much for me at the moment. But at least there are some important details:
⦁ Haibara's comment on Rum's rumored physical appearances (File 906)
⦁ The murder case from 17 years ago (Files 950-953), which is the only credible clue to Rum's identity so far
⦁ The three suspects and their times of debut : Kuroda - Case Files 913-915, Rumi - Case Files 966-968, Wakita - Case Files 975-977
⦁ Conan's detective skills and Haibara's existence are acknowledged by Kuroda and Rumi

Another thing, in File 432 the BO realized Shinichi (Heiji in disguise) who should have died from APTX the poison is still alive.

And now we have the public uproar of Shinichi solving a case in Kyoto. If the BO put these together plus the new information from that Kudo freak they should figure out Shinichi's identity and his address --> Akai will definitely be in a riskier situation than Conan, but that's not my concern. Plus I have nothing to complain about the ShinRan ship progress. It's the next step to advance Rum arc.

tl;dr After taking notes of most important parts in these arcs I can see that there are some apparent similarities/parallels between these 4 arcs (Vermouth/Kir/Bourbon/Rum) : backstories and seemingly unrelated cases are drawn first, then the expositions kick in.

+ Vermouth arc and Kir arc : female members, one is so-called boss's favorite/one is a spy, the opening in both arcs occured by chance
+ Kir arc and Bourbon arc : both are spies, identities + missions are informed early, having two different parts (for Kir arc: before and after the accident; for Bourbon arc: before and after the Bell Tree express). Now looking back Rei being a spy isn't much of a surprise.
+ Bourbon arc and Rum arc : 3 suspects for each arc, male members, one is 2nd-in-command-or-some-sort/one is a spy, featuring an extensive cast
+ Vermouth arc and Rum arc : two major BO members, mysterious backgrounds/motives due to lack of information, (possibly) unrelated cases that give hints to their identities

Maybe Gosho does intend to follow some pattern when he's drawing Rum arc and what I've presented are simply pure coincidences. But for now, I'll stick with the three major suspects that Gosho shows us in File 1005 : Kuroda, Wakita and Rumi. If Rum arc is indeed similar to Vermouth arc, I expect some of these things might happen :
- Another twist to the "U MASCARA" message. The whole case is fishy, just like the rumors about Rum.
- A sticky situation that requires doppelganger trick and diversion at play. There's a high possibility that both Conan and Mary will act as Haibara's substitutes.
- A straight-out large-scaled confrontation between different parties. Ran might be involved, but I'll leave that issue to Vermouth. Plus Ran has plot armour, unlike Akai.

[dccd]

Really well written and enjoyable to read.

About Vodka: Didnt he saw Heiji unmasking himself later in that case and therefore he didnt care about "Shinichi"?

PS: So whats your Rum-pick btw?

[MeiTanteixX]

Speaking of "the usual pattern Gosho suppossedly handles his manga" , I also have my own version (warning: massive wall-of-text)

Spoiler:

1. Vermouth arc (Files 238 - 459)
⦁ The first link that set it in motion was Sherry herself and the fateful meeting with Gin's car in File 238.
⦁ The first big hint to Vermouth - the newly confirmed BO agent as a master of disguise was given in File 287.
⦁ Jodie the suspect (first mentioned in File 258), Shuichi Akai the mysterious character and Vermouth herself were presented and officially confirmed by Sherry in Case Files 287-289.

There are 3 notable things :
- Vermouth's objectives weren't stated at the beginning, the best we got was at the end of File 242 : "a few things" she wanted to clear up. Later we had learnt from the pictures in her appartment and Itakura's case (Files 377-380) that she was after both the software and Sherry's life. Considering Conan our MC didn't have much resources at that time, the reveal of Jodie's past and Ran's trip down memory lane lent him a big help & some valuable data (Vermouth, Boss's number, Akai/Jodie/James working for FBI and being Conan's new allies) that were used in Kir arc.
- Vermouth's true identity was unknown until we had passed the second half of the arc. Sharon & Chris story, Jodie's past acted as hints to explain Vermouth's and Jodie's motives, as opposed to Araide's involvement which served as a red herring. Their showdown in Case Files 429-434 concluded their own part of the story at that time, but also introduced some major pieces regarding the BO.
- The transition from Vermouth arc to Kir arc was subtle with overflowing yet disjointed details throwing at readers (example: the Mermaid case). With questions that couldn't be answered by these hints only, Conan was forced to stand still.
*Side-note: The Mermaid case (Files 279-283) could be observed as another hint for "young woman disguising herself as a senior to cover her own secret of immortality" aka Sharon=Chris gimmick. Not that I pay much attention to it, I'm not Gosho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Kir arc (Files 499 - 621)
⦁ The event that triggered it was a tracking device sticking at a wrong place which was totally coincidental, but understandable given Conan's situation after Vermouth arc.
⦁ The identity of Kir and her mission were instantly revealed in Files 500.
⦁ There was no suspect, only a sudden introduction of the new BO agents followed by their own methods of handling the missions (you know, being sneaky and resilient and distrustful of everything to the point of paranoia - BO style^TM)
⦁ Kir/Rena, Eisuke Hondou the mysterious kid and Kusuda Rikumichi were the most focused characters of this straightforward arc.

There are 3 notable things :
- Kir's objective was stated right at the beginning and Conan knew about it.
- Kir / Rena / Hidemi's true identity as a BO agent was revealed first, and later as a CIA spy starting from File 595.
- The transition to Bourbon arc was Kir herself. But I think we should focus on the connection between Vermouth arc and Kir arc : all the major chess pieces appeared in the former played their own part in the latter, with Conan as the greatest force in our side, Kir as our false King and Akai as our most valuable piece at that point. After successfully gaining the new ally Kir, Conan finally had SOME decent sources to prepare for the enemy's next move.

3. Bourbon arc (Files 622 - 898)
With Kir's warning, the readers welcomed a new male (thank goodness) BO agent. The second half of the arc (started from File 825) was pretty much straightforward. AND SO Gosho added some spices by introducing more characters with dubious backgrounds and screentimes (Subaru, Masumi, Mary, Shukichi, Amuro, Elena, etc.) for fun, of course, and definitely maybe not for the next arc.
⦁ The first reveal of Bourbon/his missions was Kir's own lines in File 622 (track down Shiho) and hints from other BO agents in File 703 (verify Akai's death at Raiha Pass). The interesting thing was that the readers were informed sooner than Conan about Bourbon's missions but later we learned that Conan also hid the real truth behind Akai's death from us readers.
⦁ The dramatic event signifying Bourbon's opening act was Scar Akai's appearances in Case Files 677-679 and 700-704, that captured FBI's, Conan's and BO's attentions (except Vermouth, to no one's surprise)
⦁ The Gundam-inspired trio were confirmed as Bourbon suspects simultaneously in File 800, even though their debuts were not : Subaru - Case Files 622-624; Masumi - Case Files 768-770; Amuro - Case Files 793-795.

There are 3 notable things :
- Bourbon's objectives were informed almost right away thanks to Gosho's fanboy love for Char Aznable, because *everything* must revolve around Akai - Akemi/Haibara, Amuro, Akai's family, FBI, BO, etc.
- Bourbon / Amuro / Reifirst revealed himself as a BO agent in Files 823+824 and later was found out by Akai & Conan as an NPA agent. DEJA VU I've just been in this place before ♪
- The transition of this arc to Rum arc was overshadowed by the anticlimax in File 897, according to some readers, hence the negative feedback. Not only we've gained more allies, more infos, we also have more unresolved issues at hand (just...the whole Akai's family, Bourbon/Scotch/Rye, Haibara's family and the APTX 4869/Silver Bullet research) and some vague clues (Kusuda's gun and the Nanatsu no Ko song).

Rum arc (Files 898 - )
This arc is too much for me at the moment. But at least there are some important details:
⦁ Haibara's comment on Rum's rumored physical appearances (File 906)
⦁ The murder case from 17 years ago (Files 950-953), which is the only credible clue to Rum's identity so far
⦁ The three suspects and their times of debut : Kuroda - Case Files 913-915, Rumi - Case Files 966-968, Wakita - Case Files 975-977
⦁ Conan's detective skills and Haibara's existence are acknowledged by Kuroda and Rumi

Another thing, in File 432 the BO realized Shinichi (Heiji in disguise) who should have died from APTX the poison is still alive.

And now we have the public uproar of Shinichi solving a case in Kyoto. If the BO put these together plus the new information from that Kudo freak they should figure out Shinichi's identity and his address --> Akai will definitely be in a riskier situation than Conan, but that's not my concern. Plus I have nothing to complain about the ShinRan ship progress. It's the next step to advance Rum arc.

tl;dr After taking notes of most important parts in these arcs I can see that there are some apparent similarities/parallels between these 4 arcs (Vermouth/Kir/Bourbon/Rum) : backstories and seemingly unrelated cases are drawn first, then the expositions kick in.

+ Vermouth arc and Kir arc : female members, one is so-called boss's favorite/one is a spy, the opening in both arcs occured by chance
+ Kir arc and Bourbon arc : both are spies, identities + missions are informed early, having two different parts (for Kir arc: before and after the accident; for Bourbon arc: before and after the Bell Tree express). Now looking back Rei being a spy isn't much of a surprise.
+ Bourbon arc and Rum arc : 3 suspects for each arc, male members, one is 2nd-in-command-or-some-sort/one is a spy, featuring an extensive cast
+ Vermouth arc and Rum arc : two major BO members, mysterious backgrounds/motives due to lack of information, (possibly) unrelated cases that give hints to their identities

Maybe Gosho does intend to follow some pattern when he's drawing Rum arc and what I've presented are simply pure coincidences. But for now, I'll stick with the three major suspects that Gosho shows us in File 1005 : Kuroda, Wakita and Rumi. If Rum arc is indeed similar to Vermouth arc, I expect some of these things might happen :
- Another twist to the "U MASCARA" message. The whole case is fishy, just like the rumors about Rum.
- A sticky situation that requires doppelganger trick and diversion at play. There's a high possibility that both Conan and Mary will act as Haibara's substitutes.
- A straight-out large-scaled confrontation between different parties. Ran might be involved, but I'll leave that issue to Vermouth. Plus Ran has plot armour, unlike Akai.

Nice. This is a well put overview.
I never noticed the parallels between Vermouth's stunt and the mermaid's immortality secret. Thanks for this valuable reference.

Ultimatelty, Rum arc has embodied a lot of elements from both Bourbon arc and Vermouth arc(from the nature of its mystery to the style of its hints), and if Rum is later gonna hunt spies, then the Kir arc influence might show itself if it becomes another Clash(where strategists are at each other).

[S.Vineyard]

Great overview, Kokuriko.

I've actually forgotten about the Mermaid Case. And yeah, the Immortality Theme + the Disguises really looks like a reference to Vermouth, similar as Gosho spread various hints about Akai's disguise (For example, Genta's Dad and the Glasses.)

This also reminds be about the theory that Gosho's inspiration for Vermouth was Josephine Balsamo from the Arsene Lupin Novels.

[TanteiSpain]

It is possible that the name of wakasa rumi means:

WAKASA RUMI ----- I M ASAKA RUM

Turning the "w" to a "m", so you have a challenge between wakasa and rum and this explain why wakasa have been uploadig the info about the 17 years old case?

[dccd]

"Im Asaka, Rum."

Yeah, somewhat simple but actually "genius".

Welcome btw!

[Kor]

I came up with a sillier one last year.

Rum has one eye. Eye = I. Rumi is Rum with an I.

As for the W in Wakasa, W=double. Hence Rum(i)'s also a double agent.

You may throw your shoes at me now.

[MeiTanteixX]

I came up with a sillier one last year.

Rum has one eye. Eye = I. Rumi is Rum with an I.

As for the W in Wakasa, W=double. Hence Rum(i)'s also a double agent.

You may throw your shoes at me now.

So in this joke, is "Wakasa Rumi" meant to be a hint from Gosho that Rumi is double-agent Rum?

[K.O.R.N]

This is my Rum Suspect Map. The dilemma is, I don't think Rum has NEVER appeared, because Rum Arc has been progressing for more than 100 chapters. I think Rum is ONE of these suspects, but I'm not 100% certain whether one of these suspects is Rum's real face or a disguise of Rum.

I really suspect Chikara, because of his limited appearance. And if he's Rum, he could be after Kouji, because Kouji was killed the night just before the tournament began. People say Rum is one of the 3 suspects at the end of chapter 1005 (Rumi/Wakita/Kuroda) but I don't think any of them is Rum...

[nzanon]

I, too, think that Iori is unlikely to be Rum, or even involved in the Rum plot. Aoyama likes grouping his characters into plot threads / subplots.

On the one hand, we have the BO arc characters - the actual BO member (e.g. Bourbon) + their disguises (Scar Akai) and red herrings (e.g. Okiya Subaru). They appear in key chapters that deal with the overarching BO plot.

Interspersed with the BO plot there are a number of subplots. These chapters feature their own characters that do not appear in BO arc chapters, with a few extremely rare exceptions:

Heiji stories - Kazuha, Hattori Heizo, Otaki Goro, their Osaka friends (NB: I do not include Heiji due to him being Shinichi's partner-in-crime)

Kaitou Kid stories - Kaito, Aoko, Nakamori, Jirokichi (NB: The one exception being Kaitou Kid's appearance in the Bell Tree Express - even then, he was unrelated to the BO plot and BO characters)

Metropolitan Police Detective Love stories - Takagi, Sato, Chiba (NB: The one exception being Takagi/Sato's brief cameo in Ramen So Good It's to Die For 2. I also don't count Yumi due to her link with Shuukichi)

I consider Momiji and Iori to be part of the Heiji subplot. I agree with Kor, in their post above, that mixing “Heiji story” characters into the overarching Rum arc (which already has upwards of 7+ definite characters) is too messy and convoluted.