"Akai's return?" Arc Discussion and Poll

[Nyarl]

Also, the bomb was placed beside the left of Akai's face, yet he has a burn on the right side of his face.

Spoiler:

Something must be up with that...

I think the bomb would leave a bit more (heh, less) than a burn scar anyway... I doubt there was much of a head left for the police to check against dental records.

I doubt the burn is from the gun shot... Rena was aiming more at the center of his forehead. More likely he was hit by hot debris from his exploding truck.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

...making Conan improvise on the spot. But somehow I think this file will make Akai and Conan have as little contact(if any) as possible unless it's going to end with Conan wondering who is in his house.

Conan doesn't know "Akai" is there yet, so if "Akai" isn't a friendly and watches Conan act too intelligent for his age or if Conan associates with the FBI, "Akai" could become suspicious. If Eisuke could figure out Conan = Shinichi without having met Conan in person yet (he already suspected it before he met Conan), Bourbon can probably also put 2 and 2 together after seeing Conan in action. After all the B.O. focus on investigating Sherry, it would be nice for a change to see some attention focused on our detective protagonist and the Mouri detective agency. If Bourbon is "Akai," he'll need an excuse like amnesia for why he doesn't remember the details of the FBI, or else he will have to slip away before Jodie, James, and Camel get a chance to ask him any questions. If he's a baddie, "Akai" probably tried to lead Jodie away from everyone so he could kidnap her or kill her, but when she was stopped by James and Camel, he followed her to the bank.

Concerning the case, it could be like the bus-jacking one where Conan must figure out how the criminals are going to escape and foil their plan. They take the cell phones and close the shutters so the people inside can't communicate with the people outside what the plan is. Maybe the robbers will make everyone put on ski masks so the police can't distinguish the criminals from the civilians. Also, I thought it was odd that a lot of people had umbrellas considering it was only lightly snowing. Maybe umbrellas will play a roll later. I am not sure if the guy who got shot is an accomplice or not.
Can someone clarify the line "If there is someone you know or brought along they will be brought here too." (Or post a raw?) The translation seems rather awkward. Does it mean that the criminals want to simply collect everyone in one place or do they want people to get into groups with people they know?
It would be interesting if the Professor went and got Okiya to help after Conan secretly placed a call out.

On another note, Akai and Jodie make a great comedy couple with Jodie's quirky and childishly assertive personality infringing upon Akai's for deadpan one. After reading that James and Jodie like celebrating birthday parties, I had an image of a drunk Jodie lopsidedly stuffing a birthday cone hat on Shuu's head, clinging to his arm, and serenading him with an off key happy birthday. The other image that came to mind was Genta defeating the criminals a la "Wario Waft" from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[Last_Resort]

Crap that whole burn mark thing cant be real is making me think that that really isnt akai.
i mean if this is just gosho's plan (and thats not akai) then its damn good bc everyone wants akai alive.
i dont think akai can be both okiya and bourbon. they are supposed to face off against each other
also i think akai deliberately stopped all contact with his previous acquaintances so he could use this opportunity to talk with jodie
this was not akais set up in my opinion. there is too much left to chance.
the only way the robbery could be a set up is if thats a fake akai.
cuz the bo has the power to set up a bank heist at a moments notice akai does not
where did he get that burn mark tho? it could be bad fake make up but vermouth would know better so...
then again to fool gin he many have had to stay in the burning car for a while so maybe he got it then
he seems to surprised to see jody doesnt he?

[Nanatsu no Ko]

Crap that whole burn mark thing cant be real is making me think that that really isnt akai.
i mean if this is just gosho's plan (and thats not akai) then its damn good bc everyone wants akai alive.
i dont think akai can be both okiya and bourbon. they are supposed to face off against each other
also i think akai deliberately stopped all contact with his previous acquaintances so he could use this opportunity to talk with jodie
this was not akais set up in my opinion. there is too much left to chance.
the only way the robbery could be a set up is if thats a fake akai.
cuz the bo has the power to set up a bank heist at a moments notice akai does not
where did he get that burn mark tho? it could be bad fake make up but vermouth would know better so...
then again to fool gin he many have had to stay in the burning car for a while so maybe he got it then
he seems to surprised to see jody doesnt he?

You're right. It seems the only thing we have to go off of on whether Akai or Okiya is in a disguise or not is Ran kicking Okiya. Nothing they've said (or haven't said) can say one way or the other at this point. But I would never underestimate chance meetings; look at how often Conan shows up to murders and murder scenes, you'd think he'd show up to a suicide once in a while... (besides murderer's attempting suicide).

[Girl19]

I voted for: Okiya is Akai and "Akai" is Bourbon.

However, the idea that Vermouth is Okiya did cross my mind several times.
Or she could be this new "Akai" too, who knows!

[Tenken]

Here's another topic on this chapter 8) :
http://forums.dctp.ws/viewtopic.php?t=980.0

Can someone clarify the line "If there is someone you know or brought along they will be brought here too."

The sentence itself is odd: can you actually bring someone you don't know along? Notice the "or". Whomever you bring with you must be someone you know, right? So there was no need for the robbers to say "or". But in this case, they did.

When I read it, I thought: perhaps the robbers had already kidnapped some innocent ppl. and they asked "to bring those here".

It would be interesting if the Professor went and got Okiya to help after Conan secretly placed a call out.

That would be realllly interesting I'm actually looking forward to a pivotal meeting between Akai and Haibara, but so bad Gosho kept her out of the bank
But I'm sure they'll call the police instead of Okiya.
In one chapter, Okiya did mention he doesn't like to involve with police, didn't he?

The worst Gosho could do is letting "Akai" disappear at the end of this case without revealing anything. But I hope that won't be the case

[mysterygirl]

I chose the first choice, but I'm leaving my mind open.  I won't be surprised if this Akai is a fake, an Akai faking the burnt mark to be on the opposite side, Okiya wearing an Akai disguise who is really Akai anyways, or an Akai who lost his memory.

Oh, and I love the Bourbon is both Okiya and Akai answer so they're having a B.O. party at Shinichi's house. >D HAhahahaha... 

[Hydok]

I'm actually looking forward to a pivotal meeting between Akai and Haibara, but so bad Gosho kept her out of the bank

The worst Gosho could do is letting "Akai" disappear at the end of this case without revealing anything. But I hope that won't be the case

And there has to be a reason that Gosho kept her out of the bank...
I don't know.
This whole thing reminds me of that (whatever chapters it was) with "Kudo has amnesia"...
Supposed to be dead, but out wandering around without a care in the world... Didn't react to Jodi at all...
Besides *falls back on everyone's observation*, he still doesn't look quite like Akai...

I voted for KID just because...

[kirite]

What if Eisuke is involved in this whole thing, maybe he is pretending he is Akai 

Then Yukiko and Vermouth has nothing on Eisuke xD.

And "Akai" will trip a lot  .

And there has to be a reason that Gosho kept her out of the bank...
I don't know.
This whole thing reminds me of that (whatever chapters it was) with "Kudo has amnesia"...
Supposed to be dead, but out wandering around without a care in the world... Didn't react to Jodi at all...
Besides *falls back on everyone's observation*, he still doesn't look quite like Akai...

I voted for KID just because...

Oh gawd if that "Shiragami-sama" case is foreshadowing of anykind for this current case I will have to hurt someone. 

[uytki]

I vote for: One of them is Vermouth
I think Okiya is Vermouth, and Conan knows it, but he has nothing to worry because he knows that Vermouth won't do anything bad to him.
That "Akai" in chap.677 is clearly not the real Akai, because if that the case then Gosho is really stupid.
Akai is still alive and he's hidding somewhere.

[Kristantei]

I vote for: One of them is Vermouth
I think Okiya is Vermouth, and Conan knows it, but he has nothing to worry because he knows that Vermouth won't do anything bad to him.
That "Akai" in chap.677 is clearly not the real Akai, because if that the case then Gosho is really stupid.
Akai is still alive and he's hidding somewhere.

If Vermouth was disguised as Okiya why would Conan want his childhood photo albums hidden. Conan already knows that Vermouth knows his secret. Not to mention that, why Conan would let someone who was a member of the BO stay in his home so close to Haibara? That would just heighten the possibility that Gin or someone else from the BO would follow her. Remember, that they are keeping a close watch on Vermouth now. Most of the time she's in the back of Gin's car.

[uytki]

If Vermouth was disguised as Okiya why would Conan want his childhood photo albums hidden.
Conan already knows that Vermouth knows his secret. Not to mention that, why Conan would let someone who was a member of the BO stay in his home so close to Haibara? That would just heighten the possibility that Gin or someone else from the BO would follow her. Remember, that they are keeping a close watch on Vermouth now. Most of the time she's in the back of Gin's car.

Why would Conan want his childhood photo albums hidden ?
You answered this question already. He doesn't want to hide it from Vermouth, but from the others BO members.

Why did he let Vermouth stay in his house ?
Because by letting a BO member stay close to him, he could have a chance to watch for the BO's trace.
People say "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer".

[Knighthart]

Tell me something, does Akai already know that Conan = Shinichi ? When I read it before, I don't think Conan ever mentioned about this thing to Akai. Except of course, if he already explained it to the FBI at first.

But you know, if Akai doesn't know that Conan = Shinichi, the part where Conan try to hide his old photo album is quite understandable.

The sentence itself is odd: can you actually bring someone you don't know along? Notice the "or". Whomever you bring with you must be someone you know, right? So there was no need for the robbers to say "or". But in this case, they did.

When I read it, I thought: perhaps the robbers had already kidnapped some innocent ppl. and they asked "to bring those here".

To whom?
Anyway, I also find that quite odd. . Looking at your explanation, there is also one strange thing that occured in the this chapter that contradict with their statements. To put it shortly, if they ask to bring someone (whether it's someone they knew or something like that), why would they close the bank's door.

. . Or, they might saying that they will abduct everyone the hostages knew to that bank. But, for what ? Why would they kidnap more hostage if what they want is money (it is bank robbery after all).

Also, about the burn mark. . .  You know, if you look at KID and his disguise, it's not that hard to cover his face with a disguise mask. It's conan's world after all. Kihihihiihihhihihih.

[kirhidemi]

many of you guys telling that AKai is bourbon hehehe..  ;)

[Rellik]

wat? akai is bourbon.