K.O.R.N wrote:The good thing is Conan has come closer to BO than he did 10 years ago. His goal of making Kogoro a famous detective has a meaning behind it. And now, Kogoro has accepted the offer to look into the Kouji case, a case that is directly related to BO. This, as a result will attract BO and so that's one way Conan can learn about BO's moves and such. And Kogoro, a very suspicious figure, as noted by Gin, and possibly Rum also knows that Kogoro will investigate this case later on, and now is on the move. And through this Kouji case, coincidentally he gets to know that Rum was the culprit behind it. Plot convenience, sure, but he just knew some more info from BO. Most recently, Shinichi's identity appears on the news, and it's worldwide news. Thus, this will definitely draw BO closer to him, as a way to lure them out. BO's motto is to hide and maintain the secrecy of the organization at all costs (explains why MPD doesn't know of them at all and only top secret agents, or international agencies know about their existence. Against such a mysterious organization like this, drawing them out of their cave is an excellent strategic move from Conan. The step he's at now is still gathering info, before he and his allies launch a final attack.
Upon reading 1006 today I have strong hope for further plot progression, because of several reasons.
You know, I had a discussion with Jd- a while ago and he mentioned something interesting. Back when Kir was brought back to the BO, there were a number of people who thought this is a really huge deal and that surely means we're close to the end cause it's like she's this Wedge of Steel™. And it was similar with later spots in the series as well (I for example thought we're like really close to the final act after the Red Shirts case). Those times were then, and here we are now. Now there are some people (or at least there used to be) who are very certain we're closer to the end cause we're dealing the Number 2 of the org and that sounds like a really big deal.
We could point at various points throughout the manga and say to ourselves that now we're closer, or there was some major progression, but the way this manga functions at its core is that it's really mostly an illusion. Or at least, it's an illusion until it finally happens for real. And hey, maybe you're right and this time it happens for real, buuuuuuuut it could also be an illusion, again.
I do want to address on two specific points, though.
Against such a mysterious organization like this, drawing them out of their cave is an excellent strategic move from Conan.
He isn't actively doing that, though. So I'm not entirely sure it's strategic as much as it's "accidental". Besides, they were drawn out various times in the past, yet he didn't really use the opportunities to do anything other than find the means to go back to the status quo.
The step he's at now is still gathering info, before he and his allies launch a final attack.
For how long has he been at this "gathering info" stage? You can say he's been gathering info since he heard Vermouth messaging the boss. (whatever happened with that thread anyway?). Or even before that, with that Itakura thing that happened even before the Vermouth confrontation. Which basically goes back to what I said earlier. He's not really made much progress. Stuff might be happening every once in a while, but just because stuff happens doesn't mean it goes anywhere.
Conan can still be gathering info for the next 10 years, and we can say 10 years from now that he's still at that stage before he launches that final attack. To me this type of argument just seems apologetic at this point and gives the manga more credit than its due, instead of recognizing the storytelling and the nature of this manga for what they actually are.
(I also don't think Conan is really gathering info at this point as much as he's just sitting on his butt while info is conveniently thrown at his doorstep every once in a while.)
DCUniverseAficionado wrote:Meaning the plot is changed and/or up-in-the-air week to week, and there's no long-term planning?...
No, meaning that various aspects of this plot were made up as the series went along. For example Akai was not originally envisioned to have a sister (pretty much all the Sera related stuff was definitely made up later); it wasn't originally envisioned that Conan would sit in a car next to Vermouth and she'd text a message to her boss; it's very doubtful it was envisioned that there'd be so many childhood love interests, or spies in the organization from various agencies.
Yes, there's totally long-term planning for the major mystery at hand for the next 5-7+ years (though the content in said mysteries amounts to far less than that, but there's a whole lot of filler in this series), there's just a lack of long-long-term planning. (it does probably exist with some minor elements, but not the stuff we usually have to deal with)
...or have the sheer length + narrative/character choices just taken 2007–present DC to a point where even just a constructed (whether it's considered well constructed or not) puzzle doesn't seem like a puzzle that was built/constructed at all, but rather, nothing more than a series of loose, coincidental connections that have been dragged out (a mile wide) yet rushed (an inch deep), to the point that the overall product becomes mediocre or worse?
If a proposed puzzle doesn't seem like a puzzle, doesn't that mean it actually isn't a puzzle and the proposition is wrong?
I don't necessarily believe 2007 is the best year to take a note of, to be honest. It's right after the confrontation with Vermouth that it feels like Gosho is taking a step back and planning his next step, cause for the next 60 chapters, Conan is busy thinking about a cellphone number/address and the plot stands in its place.
In why it doesn't feel like there's some major puzzle construction going on in this series, it's because Gosho doesn't really give any real hints (in the manga) about the biggest mysteries in the manga. The boss mystery hasn't really progressed since the Vermouth confrontation. If this series were a smart gigantic puzzle, surely we should have gotten more on that front (instead we just know who isn't the boss cause Gosho shoots down suggestions in interviews every once in a while) (and yes, I'm aware of that lip service line after the Scarlet showdown about Vermouth's connection to the boss, but no, it's not enough in my view to reconstruct the boss mystery as a puzzle). Same for something Shadow pointed out in the cbox. After 10 years we hardly know anything more about the BO than previously. We know it has more spies in it, and we know it has some member named Rum in it, but its goal, its infrastructure, anything that makes it a little bit more than "evil dangerous criminal organization with some weird drug and software" has gone untouched. If this were a puzzle, we should have gotten something.
Instead we're just doing the same thing we've done since the Vermouth stuff, basically. Focus for an extended amount of time on one specific BO member and their identity/allegiance.
The un-puzzleness of this series also goes hand in hand with its storytelling too. Conan conveniently comes across important stuff or characters due to... convenience and coincidences. If this series was more cleverly constructed, the reliance on coincidences to make stuff happen wouldn't be necessary. It would all fit together (like a puzzle).
We wouldn't need such a silly scenario as Conan and Haibara coincidentally coming across Gin's car in the middle of the city, or Shinichi and Ran managing to encounter Akai across the world several times in their lives, or Conan encountering Yumi and Naeko in the middle of the city just when Naeko gets a call from her friend (whom Conan also conveniently know), who happens to work at the same floor as Yumi's boyfriend who just happens to be the brother of the FBI agent who lives in Conan's house. (and then later on have Conan once again conveniently encounter Yumi and help her solve a case and then conveniently he's nearby listening to Yumi repeating Kouji's name just so Haibara can hear it so she can tell Conan that it's a name that appeared on the APTX victims list).
If this series truly were such a well constructed puzzle (or a puzzle at all), there would be no need for things to transpire in this manner.
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