#mk answer

[dcmkanswers]

What are your thoughts on Nakamori Aoko? And about her role in MK?

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I'm torn, because her role as a character could be good, but it's insultingly underutilized.

Her personality is fine. Strong side being that she's known Kaito long enough to not get chased off by his real less than stellar personality, and she fiercely supports the police because her father is on the force, giving her an overall 'talk shit get hit' attitude towards criminals. Pretty loyal, too. Vulnerable side stemming from the fact that her father works too much and it seeming that none of the people close to her overtly support her -(which I say in a wordy way because Kaito does support her, but he'd die of embarrassment if he did it in an obvious way)- leaving her alone with some self esteem issues. ...Which may also have something to do with why she's friendly around new people, for better or worse. Altogether, she initially comes across as strong willed, but actually gets hurt easily. She could be a complex character to work with...

If she ever got any focus outside of being a convenient tool for Kaito in his heisting.

The Sun Halo chapters gave a lot of potentially good ideas, and then essentially tossed them into the trash because the writing had to stick to a three chapter format. KID and Aoko kidnapped together by another criminal, KID injured, Akako and Hakuba getting in contact to find them with magic and detective work, etc. But the biggest tease was the idea of Aoko realizing that Kaito might be KID. An idea that's been in MK fans minds for as long as the series has existed, build up by Ginzo suspecting Kaito while Aoko defended her friend, the knowledge that Aoko has a personal dislike of the thief and shows that anger every single time she sees KID, probably the most complex subject regarding Aoko that people like to mull over.

And it's just. Given half a chapter, a few frames of her questioning things in her thoughts, and then dropped. Given a handwave and implied to be ignored.

I could go into other details, but the best way to sum it all up at once is to say that Aoko is someone trying very hard to do and be good, and the narrative works even harder to just constantly cut her down behind her back. She 10000% deserves better than what she's being given in MK, moreso than pretty much any other character, because at the moment she's just a slow burn tragedy with her protag friend lying to her and using her as much as he can get away with, and that he will continue to get away with because of main character privilege.

[dcmkanswers]

Thank you for your answer... Um... What do you think Kaito gonna do if he know that his dad still alive? and chikage didn't tell him?

I think he'd ask if Chikage knew about it first before getting mad at her for not telling him about Toichi. And as bad as it is that Kaito's main motivation for being KID is meaningless, we don't actually know if Chikage knows Kaito's motives to begin with. ...Or even if Jii knows why.

...There's a solid chance that the only thing anyone really knows about why he decided to take up the mantle is that he said he'd become KID after learning that Toichi was indeed the original KID. They might not know that he intended to draw out Toichi's killer, much less that he succeeded in doing so.

And if that's the case, then I doubt he'd get too angry at Chikage, whether she knew Toichi was alive or not. The big question is whether or not she knew the circumstance surrounding Toichi's stage death and if she knew KID being in the public eye was more dangerous than just irritating the police.

As far as how he'd react to the big bombshell... it'd depend on the actual news/circumstance. If Toichi just showed up and said 'hey son, surprise, I'm alive', I think Kaito would punch him on the grounds of thinking it's some messed up lie. And after realizing that it's really Toichi, would probably still be angry, hurt, maybe slightly happy somewhere under that, all those messy feelings of someone who got hit hard by a loss and then learned it was a big lie. Might distance himself/pull away from everything. And even if his motive for being KID wasn't tied into the 'his dad was murdered' story, I doubt he'd want to continue being KID. (Unless it could be written in a way that he claims the identity for himself entirely separate from his dad, maybe with things like Jirokichi's challenges, someone else trying to use KID's name when the thief seemed to have disappeared for a while, general fan response, maybe commentary from his classmates. It could be done well, though maybe not by Gosho.)

Of course, there's also the idea of Toichi being alive, but, say, kidnapped. Or comatose. Or other reason that it was easier to believe he was dead, even without proof, and maybe information about what happened only being found recently. Which would shift the motive from revenge to rescue, and have the bonus of Kaito probably being more okay with still moonlighting as Kid from time to time, especially if Pandora became less about Toichi and more Kaito's personal mission.

[dcmkanswers]

What do you think Aoko gonna do if she know that Kaito is Kaitou KID?

If Sun Halo gave us anything, it gave us brief insight into just that. Because within the case, while highly suspecting Kaito of being Kid for a short time, she kept her suspicion entirely to herself and was quietly checking the similarities that she noticed between Kaito and KID.

Granted, suspicion isn't knowing, but it gives me the feeling that, had she quietly picked up enough clues to put it together, she'd have a more quiet reaction than people would expect. Probably asking herself why he might be KID, why not tell her, remember how he's reacted to when KID's been mentioned and understand why he wouldn't tell her. And after that, it's debatable if she'd simply wait and watch KID more closely/not react as violently about him, or if she'd drop hints of knowing to Kaito. I doubt she'd confront him about it right away, unless something came up. People tend to make her more reactionary, because of how she gets riled up in the moment by Kaito (or when her dad put Kaito down by insinuating he's a criminal), but she really does tend to take action without voicing her feelings. The 'please go on a date with me' to prove Kaito's innocence, the 'Kaito should ski with someone as good as him, so I'll pair up with someone else who's in the same boat as me', or just. Sun Halo slowly backing up from 'it's the thief who makes my dad work so hard and look stupid and will probably try tricking me too' to 'wait something's wrong, is he hurt' to 'he does feel a lot like Kaito', to the point that she keeps that thought afterwards and assumes Kaito would still be hurt after the heist, and instead of trying to poke and see if he is, she instead tries to be gentle with his suspected injury.

But. I suppose that would be more if she realized the truth for herself.

If we assume something more dramatic, like KID being outed as Kaito irrefutably... after the events of Sun Halo, I still think she'd protect him and basically say that they'll talk about it later. Or if he confesses, she wouldn't be surprised. Might still get emotional, he was hiding it because of how she'd react and it might mean a lot to her that he'd actually admit that he's KID to her directly, and she'd definitely want to know why. But I don't see her ever getting as angry as people think she will. She's angry at KID because she thinks he's just messing with the police, and more directly her own dad, but she has questioned his motives before and would more likely be concerned about her friend more than angry at this thief identity.

[dcmkanswers]

Toichi's "poker face" lesson always bothered me. It sounds so unhealthy. What is your opinion on it?

I also think it's unhealthy, even more so when you're teaching that mindset to a small child. Many societies including Japan already have a problem with allowing boys and men to show emotion, and show signs of it being a problem for their mental and emotional health. And that's basic societal pressure, not your most beloved parental figure going out of his way to hammer it in that you should be unreadable even if something goes wrong.

The actual lesson is okay if it were to, say, an apprentice. Don't act too excited just because something goes right and don't panic when something goes wrong or else the audience loses faith in your abilities as a performer. But an actual child won't understand the nuance in the lesson, and it's especially destructive when you turn it into a life lesson. It becomes not sharing anything important with people, good or bad, which may or may not have been the intention. Toichi was Kid, so he may truly have been trying to make it so that enemies wouldn't pick up anything about Kaito. But it's super unhealthy to grow up wanting to adhere to that sort of mindset, especially if your life is pretty normal. Especially if you go along with headcanons that Kaito isn't actually good at the Poker Face concept, which could make him even more disappointed in himself. He doesn't know how to keep others from telling if something's wrong or such, so it's a lot easier to just make sure no one is close enough to notice any difference.

Outside of the chapter one lesson, the full quote we hear later is less about 'whether you have something good or bad happen, don't let others catch on' and more akin to generally respecting the 'audience' and maintaining composure during a 'show'. (Or battle, whatever analogy you want.) Which would have taken it down from an all around life lesson and made it for specific instances. Unfortunately, Kaito treats the world at large as an audience, and the respect idea is sometimes set aside, so. RIP Kaito, he decided his dad's advice meant he needed to become a tsundere.

[dcmkanswers]

Hey! In your opinion, do you think Toichi Kuroba is dead or alive? As initially in MK it reads as toichi is dead though as MK has continued it has gone onto question if he is dead or not.

As there has been the character Kaitou Corbeau who is really either Chikage or Toichi. If Chikage why does he use her dead husbands face, and if Toichi then how is he still alive and why has he been dormant for so long.

(Sorry if I have gotten anything incorrect, I have only watched the animes of MK and it had been a while since I have watched 1412)

Gosho has said in a few places that Toichi is alive. One is in the Treasured Edition for Magic Kaito volume 5, which adds commentary to the chapters. He mentioned during the Corbeau commentary section "I will never forget the staff's face when I told them Actually, Touichi is alive". (x) Another is in Super Digest Book 80+, where someone asked about the mystery of Kaito's father being killed, and Gosho answers that he didn't get killed. (x) And the one that brings up the most questions about whether or not he's put actual thought into the idea of Toichi being alive, someone asking about how Kaito would react, and Gosho saying that it's fine because he doesn't know. (x)

I'd prefer if he wasn't, because I feel like keeping him dead would be a stronger story. But it's unavoidable that Gosho considers Toichi alive and will probably write it in to the MK manga at some point. I will say, the 1412 anime was made right at the same time the Corbeau chapters were coming out. As far as the manga was concerned, there wasn't any hint that Toichi may be alive up until that heist. The 1412 anime, though, immediately put the black version of Kid in the first episode, heavily implying that Toichi may be alive. As far as the manga is written, Corbeau using Toichi's face is the only hint that's popped up, and there's no continuity, so attention hasn't been brought to it again.

To clarify Corbeau, though: Two people were involved, and Chikage was one of them. She was not the one who used Toichi's face, but she was the one who confronted Kaito on the rooftop and flew off during the second heist to make the police think Corbeau escaped. The only mystery is whether or not the old man who revealed himself to Kaito really was Toichi or if it was another magician that Chikage asked for help. And if it is Toichi, why is he allowing his son to become a target of both the police and the criminals after Kid... but that's a question for Toichi being alive in general, not just if he were Corbeau.

[dcmkanswers]

Hi 👋 . I like your perception about kaito, I think you understand his character very well. Can you flesh it out more?

It's difficult to try and talk broadly about a character without some direction, but let's see...

The biggest thing about Kaito is how he responds to people differently based on his mindset at the time.

Kid is the way people prefer writing Kaito. As Kid, he's being the cool protagonist who's trying to get revenge for his father. While he's in the mindset of successfully pulling a heist, he pays more attention to the people involved, sometimes gets invested in individual's problems and is willing to help as he goes. Kid is Kaito when he focused and at his best, personality-wise... IF he's the one planning the heist. If it's one of the Kid appearances that happen spontaneously, usually it's just the focused and direct action part of the persona. Kaito becomes Kid when he has a specific goal.

Everyday Kaito is the one people tend to have a harder time with. Nobody he seems to be friends with outside of Aoko, doesn't seem to go out of his way to hang out with anyone. Even when with Aoko, you'll find that she approaches him most of the time. The type of loner character who's not fully avoiding people - if he gets roped into hanging out with people, he'll engage with them - but he won't initiate without reason. On the street, he tends to ignore people. Unless something was happening to him or Aoko, he'd have no reason to be paying attention. He only seems to use magic when pranking people or in the few instances someone he knew was having problems and needed something nice. There isn't an in-between of showing off normal magic tricks.

When he's not doing cool things with goof moments just enhancing his likeability, base Kaito is harder to justify likeing for many. He has a good heart, but not great personality when all's said. Most of it looks like it can be traced back to how Toichi raised him, because the 'poker face' advice always seemed to come with a 'keep everyone at a distance' add-on that Kaito's definitely kept. Know how to help and do good, but don't show your heart to people wasn't going to be a nice looking combo unless you enjoy complicated characters.

[dcmkanswers]

If Akako knew what Kaito was fighting for, would she offer to help him research Pandora... or maybe contact Toichi's spirit, for the right price?

I doubt it. Akako has only shown interest in Kaito's life and freedom thus far; she doesn't show any signs of interest in his motivations for being Kid. It might be possible that she gets curious enough to ask Lucifer (because it's more likely than her asking Kaito directly), but it'd require a different focus on her part. From just Kaito to what Kaito's trying to accomplish - it'd probably take some specific event to get her to shift and ask more questions about the scenario.

If she did manage to get invested into wondering why Kaito is going around as Kid, she definitely wouldn't offer to help. Her personality is more the type to research it herself regardless of whether he'd like her to look into it. Then, if she found anything concerning, she'd give him a warning that he would most likely ignore - again not asking if he wanted any input in the first place. She's really not written as someone who would offer to help with Pandora, even with a 'for a price' caveat. If she were interested enough in helping Kaito, she'd already have researched his motivation, and if she thought something she learned needed to be shared, she wouldn't hold it over his head.

As for Toichi: I don't think she'd look into Kaito's family history on her own to know he's important to Kaito. For that situation, it'd be more likely for Kaito to throw an offhand question about whether she could contact spirits, and him taking it more seriously into consideration if she said she could. She might agree to do it if she can, but it's unlikely she'd be the one making an offer.

(I also think that she'd be pretty willing to use what magic she can, if Kaito were to ask something of her. Simply because he tries to avoid/ignore her the best he can, she'd know it must be important for him to actually ask her for anything. If she tried to get something from him for it [that didn't have to do with a magic cost to begin with], he'd be less likely to ever approach her again, which isn't what she'd want. She might act haughty sometimes, but that tones down a lot when she wants to help Kaito.)

[dcmkanswers]

How do you think Kaito would react to a vigilante like the Red Hood, who goes after "untouchable" criminals with lethal force?

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He’d probably consider them criminals themselves. Less because of ‘if you kill a killer, the number of killers is the same’ kind of logic, and more ‘no one person should make a unilateral decision to decide that death is punishment’. Kaito himself is willing to use some violence, but would prefer to leave the fates of criminals he deals with to the police.

But it doesn’t help that Kaito lives in a mostly realistic world, even with magic and gag manga tropes. No one’s really ‘untouchable’ for him. Even if someone were ‘above the law’, it’d be pretty simple to dig up dirt or lay a trap or reveal corruption to the public or something. The Detective Conan type of ‘DC criminals’ are just the type who just need to be outsmarted and outplayed. The other, more famous DC universe has a lot more going on.

Gosho characters might joke about not being a manga, but it is true that they at least don’t deal with... really any extremes. The main trope his series has to deal with is just new problems happening constantly. Which on Conan’s side of things comes with a body count, but that’s less because manga/comic and more because detective trope.