I still kinda hate the fact that Ran was depicted as a "damsel of distress" by some fans because she's always kidnapped, always cry at multiple times, never involved in the main plot and is crying for Shinichi.
Let me tell you straight: The majority of the episodes and all of the movies that depicts Ran being always kidnapped is actually a TV original episode or a non-canon movie/episode.
294-295: The Smash of Determination and Love? A TV Original.
554-555: Stork Mystery Tour? A TV Original.
818-819: Kogoro's Pursuit of Rage? A TV Original.
It's not always Gosho Aoyama who draw her character as weak and always needs to be saved, it's the other DC anime episode writers who worked on them!
Old Detective Conan movies do Ran justice, with her still being a badass gal, with a tinge of kindness. I noticed that some new ones only had her as a person who just tags along in the plot because that's not a Detective Conan without her in the picture, sometimes serving as Conan's inspiration to go on and be a badass cone like a trophy wife. She has her moments, but she's not like as before where she's actually involved in a case like a main character that she is supposed to be and not some side character who was just virtually there as a placeholder.
I just hope that she will be more involved in the plot of the next movie, I still like her badass kicking with her father Kogoro on Movie 23 in a dress.
Ran Mouri is a complex character, which is unfortunately, reduced to a damsel-in-distress character who cried for Shinichi by not only the anime and movie script writers, but also some people in the fandom community, especially those who are toxic fans of the series.
Her potential as a well-written character was tarnished and ruined, compared to Ai Haibara, who is according to some fans, has more character development and more interesting than Ran.
Yeah, Ai Haibara is a great character, but remember, she only got the good character development in the movies and series because she's from the dark side who turned good, and she's totally involved in the Black Organization shit. I get it, you like her because she's cool and smart, and you don't like Ran because she's stupid to be fooled over Conan's glasses and shit.
But I found Ran Mouri more interesting, not because she's one of the main characters, but how she could be a great character if she's well-written.
Trust me, I've seen plenty of snide comments about her even in these years, I just tried to be polite and not start a fight.
And the fact that Ran is emotional proves that even a strong woman can have some emotional distress and moments. A strong woman is also a woman who also sheds tears and feel emotions when something bad comes in her way, but she will still combat them with a positive outlook.
Remember, Ran's childhood isn't that great, her parents were separated, her father's a gambling drunkard even though he's protective over her at times, and she's a struggling girl who at a young age, had to take the reins of being the matriarch of the Mouri Family when Eri left. It's a surprise that she's still as happy and kind as ever even under her bad experiences in her childhood, she never gave up and still looks at the bright side of things. Not all people managed to do that.
In terms of how she was still "clingy" to Shinichi... How would you feel if the one who is always by your side since the beginning suddenly disappeared?
Remember, humans are by nature social creatures. Most people crave some level of intimacy, companionship, and lasting connection with others. Of course, if that person is a constant in their lives and that person suddenly disappeared, those resulting feelings of loss and sadness can start to build up to the point where they start to overshadow every aspect of their daily lives.
Ran was like any other person who had lost a loved one, who had always disappear and appear like a bubble, as Shinichi had never told her the real reason why he had to not show up personally. When someone goes missing and unaccounted for, the family members left behind are on a perpetual mission to clarify the fate of the missing individual. They contemplate all the possibilities, but the finality of the death of a loved one is elusive and they constantly vacillate between hope and despair. The grief process is not initiated since there is no dead body. (Taken from https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-021-00675-7)
And since she knew he's still alive, she will still clinging on to the hope that Shinichi is still alive and just solving a case somewhere, that he is just busy with his 'ongoing case' and can't come home.
Her only rock besides Sonoko is Shinichi, her childhood friend. Sonoko is a great friend to her, but Shinichi was the one who she leans on when her parents separated. Of course, she tends to get used to Shinichi being a constant in her life after all these years. In fact, she was there when Shinichi was left alone by his parents at the age of 14. And when he had disappeared at that day to Tropical Land, her little world had shattered. Her constant companion had been vanished suddenly as it was, and she was not prepared for it, leaving a hole in her heart, which a 'pathetic' little child was trying to fill it with his comforting childish presence.
And besides, if we think about it, we could assume that Detective Conan is majority in Conan/Shinichi's POV as we see Conan's adventures since he's the main focus of the story, like how Hannin no Hanzawa-san is in Hanzawa-san's POV of the events. To Conan/Shinichi, Ran needs to be protected from any danger, especially involving the Black Organization. That's why she is not involved too much in the plot, besides the occasional stuff involving random murders. She was chosen not to be involved by Conan's business without her knowledge, compared to Haibara, who from the start, know how the Black Organization works since she was raised there her whole life. If Ran had Ai's role, of course, she'll be involved.
As much as he was impressed and trusted Ran's karate skills, he knew that Ran sometimes has weaknesses in terms of using her skills, since he had known all about her. He was worried that if Ran was caught off guard for a second, she's bound to be in danger. Ran was not involved because of Conan's decision not to include her, to protect her by making her feign ignorance.
