Okay uhhh I'm watching the Detective Conan Sakura Flashback Arc and????? Honestly???? The biggest takeaway here is that Shinichi at his core just really really wants people to like him. Like, he explicitly gave his deduction about the sakura pin because he wanted Ran to be impressed?????????
Think about it. Lonely, isolated kid. Grows up on mystery novels and movies and stuff, raised by two very eccentric parents in a very big house. Definitely lonely. He wanted everyone to like him, so he tried his best to impress them in the best way he knew how: by showing off his intellect. And when his parents moved to America when he was, what, 13/14? I can only imagine that this would only exacerbate that loneliness
Like??? In a lot of pre-canon scenes we see him flaunting his skills and preening under the praise of others, absolutely adoring the spotlight. Never missed a chance to show off. Even in the Desperate Revival Arc, when he's finally in his own body for a bit, he doesn't do the sensible thing of hiding his presence - no, he gives a big dramatic reveal in front of the whole auditorium!
Shinichi grew up convincing himself that the way to get people to like him was by being really smart and doing things all lone-wolf, by being a Super Cool Detective Guy. And all the media attention he got fed into that belief, further proving to him that the way to get people to like him is by being this omniscient genius.
What's the reason he explained for why Holmes is so amazing (at least in the Episode ONE special)? Because everyone in the world knows who he is, he's famous and well-loved by millions of people
That's partly why it's so interesting to see his character arc of his time as Conan. He can no longer take credit for his own deductions. The spotlight and attention he used to crave has now become a dangerous thing, and he has to lay low. He can't be the famous Heisei Holmes anymore. And yet, people still like him. He's made more friends as Conan than he ever had as Shinichi. Sure, they all appreciate how smart and clever he is. But that's not the only reason they like him! And now that he's been stripped of all the extra fanfare, he's able to see for himself that with or without his intellect, people still like him!
Shinichi is finally able to see for himself that people really do like him - not for what he's capable of, but because of who he is. I mean, look at the Ran confession scene in episode 2, for crying out loud! He's always trying to impress her with how smart he is, but then he learns that instead it's actually his dependability and his kindness that she likes most about him!
Honestly it's just really nice to see that he's able to form deeper connections with people now that he's not constantly trying to impress them all the time
