On Ranpo’s Feelings For Poe
While a lot has been said about Poe’s borderline canon crush on Ranpo, less has been said on Ranpo’s feelings on Poe, so here are my thoughts as a biased Ranpoe fan.
For starters, Ranpo tells Poe that he’s the only person to ever challenge him as a detective. Now, on this statement, I myself would personally put Dazai on the level right below Ranpo, which Ranpo seems to acknowledge himself, so I’m not sure if Ranpo isn’t mentioning Dazai because Dazai has never challenged him being on the same side or if he actually considers Poe to be better than Dazai in that subject? He is able to keep up with Ranpo pretty well in chapter 54-56.
I do think it needs to be noted that Ranpo runs off of pure logic, while Poe, being a writer, runs off of creativity, two typically contrasting forces. So while Poe may not have the skills of observation and deduction Ranpo has, he can best him in other ways.
In the few days between the destruction of the Moby Dick and Kyouka’s party, Ranpo went out of his way to find Poe’s contact information and invite him to the party. Granted in the manga he ignores him, but in the anime Ranpo manages to pull Poe into the group when Kyouka cuddles Karl. This shows that Ranpo’s initial impression of Poe was good enough that he wanted to keep contact so Poe could continue challenging him.
In chapter 55, Ranpo shares Mushitaro’s dislike of mystery novels, but yet is eager for Poe to bring him his mysteries. He also outright refers to Poe as his friend later on in the chapter.
Non-canon section: Both Wan and the anthology have chapters that can basically be summarized as “Poe has an over-the-top scheme to impress Ranpo but fails. Poe is dejected, but Ranpo assures him that he wants to spend time with him regardless.” There’s also this Bungo Tales skill animation where Ranpo is walking with Yosano and gets distracted when he notices Poe and an acorn falls on his head.
Ranpo has continuously gone to Poe for help and assistance since meeting him. While this could be seen as Ranpo taking advantage of Poe’s skills (he talks over and lowkey dismisses Poe when he brags to Fukuzawa about his off-screen accomplishments in chapter 80), it can still be said that Ranpo trusts Poe enough to aid in protecting the Armed Detective Agency (aka Ranpo’s family).
While it may seem one-sided at first, it’s clear that Ranpo considers Poe a friend and someone who can challenge him and who he can rely on. Ranpo sees himself as leagues above everyone else, so the fact he’s willing to put Poe even remotely close to him is like, Ranpo’s way of respecting someone?
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