What is bothering me for a long time...

[MDSH]

This is truly one of the most interesting theories I've read!  This is exactly why I joined these forums lol. Thank you!

[Maruku]

To the topic poster, I have only one qualm, well two, I guess. First off, just from evidence (or lack thereof) and a gut feeling, I think Okino Yoko is not the boss, but that's not the point I wanted to make. I think the "Irene Adler" of this series, as you tried to mention, is quite possibly Vermouth. She's the tricky one who's always foiling Shinichi's plans, BUT always keeping him alive from Moriarty (or Mouriarty lolz). Those kinds of connections make Vermouth the parallel to IA, not really Yoko.

PS: The "Mouri"arty idea is credit by Chekhov. Definitely agree with the idea that one of Mouri's relatives is a candidate for BO boss or at least membership. We do never see his family, and you know that Gosho likes to do wordplay. Anyway, good basis for an original BO boss, but even if that's how it was before, I think Gosho might've changed his mind.

[Dus]

Vermouth as Conan's Irene Adler? I don't think so. She's not really foiling Shinichi's plans basically she's working into his hands by now. If anyone qualifies for that title it would be Ai.
I agree with Chekhov that Yoko might've been intended as a member of the BO but her character had been split in twain and Vermouth was born.
Yoko Okino would also have worked as Kogoro's Irene Adler. Vermouth wouldn't. So maybe that role is now fullfilled by his ex-wife. Highly speculative, I agree. But it would make for a dramatic finish.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Vermouth as Conan's Irene Adler? I don't think so. She's not really foiling Shinichi's plans basically she's working into his hands by now. If anyone qualifies for that title it would be Ai.
I agree with Chekhov that Yoko might've been intended as a member of the BO but her character had been split in twain and Vermouth was born.
Yoko Okino would also have worked as Kogoro's Irene Adler. Vermouth wouldn't. So maybe that role is now fullfilled by his ex-wife. Highly speculative, I agree. But it would make for a dramatic finish.

We have a topic on who in DC is the equivalent of Irene Adler already.For Irene in the original Sherlock canon, Vermouth fits the bill to a T. It's hard to go wrong with pairing two disguising actresses.

[Yoshimi Kurosaki]

Hoo, hoo! I like this idea, so let me speculate a little.

Let's say that Yoko-chan is, in fact, Anokata, leader of the Black Organisation. We'll go through each of the mentioned cases.

Stalker Incident

• The fact that Yoko-chan, a seemingly unimportant character then and now, has remained a part of the show for so long is suspicious.
• The point about smoking is also relevant and the fact that the ashtray/lighter/cigarettes were even there is quite a hit to her reputation.
• Also, it can be easily assumed that she set everything up from the beginning. Being the leader would also mean being quite intelligent. If she completely understood that the drug was "experimental" and that it had never been used before, why wouldn't she check up on it? I don't think that Anokata just sits around all day giving orders, so it's highly possible that she would be in the field as well.

Nichiuri TV

• Yoko was the one who, quite literally, dragged Mizunashi Rena to meet Kogorou, and this could be for several reasons.
• If she knew that Conan was actually Shinichi by this time, perhaps she wanted to see if Kir picked up on anything.
• In reverse, if she suspected that Rena was actually undercover, she may have wanted her to get caught. Knowing Conan, if he picked up the B.O.'s scent, it wouldn't take long.

Vol.53 chap. 552 page 16

• By offering cases to Kogorou, she can check up on Conan all she wants.

Chap. 591 page 3

• It was stated somewhere, I think, that Anokata wouldn't set off any alarms with Haibara.

Chap. 595

• Like texascoffeegirl said in the initial post, when there are hints about the B.O., it isn't a coincidence.

Also, Yoko could be using the same method to stay young as Vermouth. We all know that looks can be extremely deceiving in this show...

Someone feel free to poke holes in this! I'd like to see more theories!

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Nichiuri TV

• Yoko was the one who, quite literally, dragged Mizunashi Rena to meet Kogorou, and this could be for several reasons.
• If she knew that Conan was actually Shinichi by this time, perhaps she wanted to see if Kir picked up on anything.
• In reverse, if she suspected that Rena was actually undercover, she may have wanted her to get caught. Knowing Conan, if he picked up the B.O.'s scent, it wouldn't take long.

Someone feel free to poke holes in this! I'd like to see more theories!

This was the one incident that convinced me Yoko Okino was probably pure. If the boss is extremely careful per what Vermouth said, then she wouldn't want Mizunashi Rena anywhere near a detective. The boss wouldn't just sit on someone of questionable loyalty, if she suspected Mizunashi Rena of being a traitor, the Org would have offloaded her or made her go through loyalty tests. We know the boss trusted her after the Hondou incident. While this operation does seem to be testing Kir a little, the boss must not have had enough residual doubts to place trackers on Kir (which would have alerted the org something was wrong when Kir stopped moving after she crashed her bike.)
If the boss knew Conan was Shinichi, Conan and Ai would be dead because of all the secrets they knew, or kidnapped if the boss wanted guinea pigs. There is no good reason to leave Conan out in the open free to pursue and mess up the Org's plans and tell anyone about the Org as he pleases. That's too much of a risk and not something a cautious person would choose to do.

[Dus]

If the boss knew Conan was Shinichi, Conan and Ai would be dead because of all the secrets they knew, or kidnapped if the boss wanted guinea pigs. There is no good reason to leave Conan out in the open free to pursue and mess up the Org's plans and tell anyone about the Org as he pleases. That's to much of a risk and not something a cautious person would choose to do.

There is ONE possible reason, but it is a bit of a stretch:
The original purpose of the BO was - and still is - something to do with immortality/reviving the dead. All the criminal activities were little more than a means to an end - originally. Unfortunately, they grew out of hand (I mainly blame Gin for that) and now the boss is actually hoping for a silver bullet as well.
I think it's also possible, that Conan was always meant to be a guinea pig.

You don't know that you're already part of BO project that has been started more than 50 years ago.

or something along those lines.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I think it's also possible, that Conan was always meant to be a guinea pig.

You don't know that you're already part of BO project that has been started more than 50 years ago.

or something along those lines.

But if you were the boss, why in the heck would you let your experiment run around and nearly get killed/put in danger every few cases fairly regularly, as well as screw up your plans and make allies with the FBI and all sorts of other bad things? It makes no sense and creates serious plotholes.

There is ONE possible reason, but it is a bit of a stretch:
The original purpose of the BO was - and still is - something to do with immortality/reviving the dead. All the criminal activities were little more than a means to an end - originally. Unfortunately, they grew out of hand (I mainly blame Gin for that) and now the boss is actually hoping for a silver bullet as well.

Why not set Gin up then? Gin still seems taking orders from he boss given the events of the Pisco case and the Vermouth arc climax. It doesn't make sense not to if you want to destroy your own Organization.

[Dus]

I think it's also possible, that Conan was always meant to be a guinea pig.

You don't know that you're already part of BO project that has been started more than 50 years ago.

or something along those lines.

But if you were the boss, why in the heck would you let your experiment run around and nearly get killed/put in danger every few cases fairly regularly, as well as screw up your plans and make allies with the FBI and all sorts of other bad things? It makes no sense and creates serious plotholes.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of these words anyway. Your thoughts on them?

There is ONE possible reason, but it is a bit of a stretch:
The original purpose of the BO was - and still is - something to do with immortality/reviving the dead. All the criminal activities were little more than a means to an end - originally. Unfortunately, they grew out of hand (I mainly blame Gin for that) and now the boss is actually hoping for a silver bullet as well.

Why not set Gin up then? Gin still seems taking orders from he boss given the events of the Pisco case and the Vermouth arc climax. It doesn't make sense not to if you want to destroy your own Organization.

We don't know the hierarchy of the BO. Let's assume it's divided into two parts: One half raises money with their criminal activities, the other half uses said money for research on APTX et alia. If Gin was set up, the other members (especially the ones loyal to Gin) might smell the rat and this could endanger the research half of the Organisation. So the boss might want to get Gin and the others (i.e. most of the members we've seen) out of the way but wants to keep the research going.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

You don't know that you're already part of BO project that has been started more than 50 years ago.

or something along those lines.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of these words anyway. Your thoughts on them?

The Syndicate's anti-aging/immortality/rejuvenation research probably has been going on that long (or for longer even). APTX4869 is a small part of the overall project which involves other aspects like stuff related to computers which explains Itakura and the Org's mission to obtain a disk of the names of the world's best programmers.
Corroborating this is Vermouth's condition. While it is likely Sharon is Chris is Vermouth, Sharon’s mother may also be Vermouth because she died in a fire on the day Sharon debuted (vol 35-1 page 2) which is similar to how Chris replaced Sharon. Sharon may not be Vermouth’s first alias. Vermouth would have to be 70-85 years old if Sharon's mom was the same person. It also likely means that APTX in its current incarnation isn’t the source of Vermouth’s apparent failure to age. Shiho’s parents and their experiments are too young to account for the timepoint. If Vermouth really is 70-85, then 50 years ago she would be 20 to 35, which matches her current apparent age, and therefore it would be a prime time for whatever chemical that messed with her aging to have started affecting her. I think Vermouth's condition probably relates to another piece of the anti-aging/immortality/rejuvenation research which the Miyanos later focused on and began developing APTX 4869 from.

We don't know the hierarchy of the BO. Let's assume it's divided into two parts: One half raises money with their criminal activities, the other half uses said money for research on APTX et alia. If Gin was set up, the other members (especially the ones loyal to Gin) might smell the rat and this could endanger the research half of the Organization. So the boss might want to get Gin and the others (i.e. most of the members we've seen) out of the way but wants to keep the research going.

But how would the boss then fund the research? I don't think such a dysfunctional group of people could have coordinated well enough to get things done and managed to keep the secret Org. I mean, there's enough problems as it is with rogue agents, Vermouth and Bourbon, doing their own thing and getting caught/nearly getting caught. 
I thought there was a section in the Conan drill where it did lay out the hierarchy. I'll have to take a stab at the translation and check sometime. Or lock Abs. in a dungeon with moldy bread and water and make him to it.

[Dus]

You don't know that you're already part of BO project that has been started more than 50 years ago.

or something along those lines.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of these words anyway. Your thoughts on them?

The Syndicate's anti-aging/immortality/rejuvenation research probably has been going on that long (or for longer even). APTX4869 is a small part of the overall project which involves other aspects like stuff related to computers which explains Itakura and the Org's mission to obtain a disk of the names of the world's best programmers.
Corroborating this is Vermouth's condition. While it is likely Sharon is Chris is Vermouth, Sharon’s mother may also be Vermouth because she died in a fire on the day Sharon debuted (vol 35-1 page 2) which is similar to how Chris replaced Sharon. Sharon may not be Vermouth’s first alias. Vermouth would have to be 70-85 years old if Sharon's mom was the same person. It also likely means that APTX in its current incarnation isn’t the source of Vermouth’s apparent failure to age. Shiho’s parents and their experiments are too young to account for the timepoint. If Vermouth really is 70-85, then 50 years ago she would be 20 to 35, which matches her current apparent age, and therefore it would be a prime time for whatever chemical that messed with her aging to have started affecting her. I think Vermouth's condition probably relates to another piece of the anti-aging/immortality/rejuvenation research which the Miyanos later focused on and began developing APTX 4869 from.

That's all very well, but Ai's choice of words made me think that Shinichi was shrunk on purpose. Unfortunately, we only got one - very enigmatic - hint towards that...

We don't know the hierarchy of the BO. Let's assume it's divided into two parts: One half raises money with their criminal activities, the other half uses said money for research on APTX et alia. If Gin was set up, the other members (especially the ones loyal to Gin) might smell the rat and this could endanger the research half of the Organization. So the boss might want to get Gin and the others (i.e. most of the members we've seen) out of the way but wants to keep the research going.

But how would the boss then fund the research? I don't think such a dysfunctional group of people could have coordinated well enough to get things done and managed to keep the secret Org. I mean, there's enough problems as it is with rogue agents, Vermouth and Bourbon, doing their own thing and getting caught/nearly getting caught. 
I thought there was a section in the Conan drill where it did lay out the hierarchy. I'll have to take a stab at the translation and check sometime. Or lock Abs. in a dungeon with moldy bread and water and make him to it.

Maybe they already have sufficient funds because the research is almost finished anyway? It's curious that Gin killed Akemi shortly after Conan got shrunk. He should have known it would alienate Sherry and I doubt he'd kill another member without permission from the Boss (especially if she's the sister of someone rather important).
Lock abs. up! About the time the Conan Drill gets translated

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Dus, you may be interested in this because I see a lot of similarities in the points you are bringing up: Sherry is still on the side of the B.O. by sstimson

[Dus]

Dus, you may be interested in this because I see a lot of similarities in the points you are bringing up: Sherry is still on the side of the B.O. by sstimson

I've actually read that thread a while ago. It was a lot less informative to than I would have thought - it's hard to follow sstimson's train of thought 
It's almost impossible to make a plausible cause for Ai still being a member of the BO - way too many plot holes. But I guess you'd agree if I said she certainly knows a lot more than she admits to and that most things we know from her could also be a blatant lie. And this is one of the scenes where I just don't know what to make of her anymore.

[Yoshimi Kurosaki]

If the boss knew Conan was Shinichi, Conan and Ai would be dead because of all the secrets they knew, or kidnapped if the boss wanted guinea pigs. There is no good reason to leave Conan out in the open free to pursue and mess up the Org's plans and tell anyone about the Org as he pleases. That's too much of a risk and not something a cautious person would choose to do.

I agree with this, but there is also the question of why Vermouth would let him roam free considering that she apparently knows his true identity. Also, if Anokata is aware of Shinichi's personality at all, she could assume that he wouldn't tell anyone due to the threat of death to his loved ones. The B.O. is awfully daring, so I don't think that we can rule it out. Anokata may not be as cautious as we like to assume.

You don't know that you're already part of BO project that has been started more than 50 years ago.

or something along those lines.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of these words anyway. Your thoughts on them?

The Syndicate's anti-aging/immortality/rejuvenation research probably has been going on that long (or for longer even). APTX4869 is a small part of the overall project which involves other aspects like stuff related to computers which explains Itakura and the Org's mission to obtain a disk of the names of the world's best programmers.
Corroborating this is Vermouth's condition. While it is likely Sharon is Chris is Vermouth, Sharon’s mother may also be Vermouth because she died in a fire on the day Sharon debuted (vol 35-1 page 2) which is similar to how Chris replaced Sharon. Sharon may not be Vermouth’s first alias. Vermouth would have to be 70-85 years old if Sharon's mom was the same person. It also likely means that APTX in its current incarnation isn’t the source of Vermouth’s apparent failure to age. Shiho’s parents and their experiments are too young to account for the timepoint. If Vermouth really is 70-85, then 50 years ago she would be 20 to 35, which matches her current apparent age, and therefore it would be a prime time for whatever chemical that messed with her aging to have started affecting her. I think Vermouth's condition probably relates to another piece of the anti-aging/immortality/rejuvenation research which the Miyanos later focused on and began developing APTX 4869 from.

I think that this is a valid point. We really don't know why Vermouth doesn't age or whether or not it has anything to do with the Organisation's existence at all. At this point, considering Aoyama-sensei's incorporation of the Magic Kaito universe into the story, I'm not sure if the series will stay purely scientific. I think that I would be a little disappointed if it ended up being something involving the supernatural...

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I think that this is a valid point. We really don't know why Vermouth doesn't age or whether or not it has anything to do with the Organisation's existence at all. At this point, considering Aoyama-sensei's incorporation of the Magic Kaito universe into the story, I'm not sure if the series will stay purely scientific. I think that I would be a little disappointed if it ended up being something involving the supernatural...

You dont have to worry about the Magic Kaito Org and Pandora getting involved. Gosho himself confirmed in an interview somewhere that the two Orgs are not related at all. I'd link it but I'm not sure where I can find it again.