#cone zone

1) vs Kaitou Kid Manga Compilation (2004)

Published in 2004, this is an otherwise pretty straightforward omnibus of what KID cases were out at the time. Apparently, though, it’s within this volume that Gosho comments “実は秘密の深い理由がある” (There’s actually a deeply secret reason) when asked about their resemblance.

I am in the process of attempting to acquire this volume myself, so I’m curious to see if there’s anything more to it than that.

EDIT APR 17: I finally got the book in! There are four cases recorded in this book, and between each case they spend about 3 pages on “Conan vs KID Secrets.” Between the third (Twilight Mansion) and fourth (Air Walk), the theme of the “Secrets” corner is their relationship. Though it goes on to speculate that Toichi is the one that taught Yukiko magic (because it had not been hard confirmed yet) and mention each series’ mysterious organizations, the opening page of this corner talks about their similarities.

After the blurb speculates that Shinichi and Kaito might be distant relatives, there’s a comment from Gosho:

世の中には自分とそっくりな人が3人はいるって言うからね(笑)。まあ、一人のまんが家がそんなに違う主人公の顔を描けないって理由も確かにあるけど(笑)。実は秘密の深〜い理由が…お楽しみに！！

They do say that there are three people in the world that look like you, after all (lol). Though it’s also true that one mangaka can’t really draw their protagonist’s face all that differently (lol). But there’s actually a deeply secret reason… Look forward to it!!

2) Super Digest Book 30 (2003) & Super Digest Book 40 (2006)

Putting these two together for ease, because they’re mostly pretty short. Most SDBs have rapid-fire interviews with Gosho that are sometimes over 100 questions long.

First is SDB30.

Q11: Why do Shinichi and KID look alike? (新一とキッドはなぜ似ているの？)

A: I… I can’t say. (lol) (い･･･言えない。(笑))

Since SDB20 didn’t have a Q&A, and most KID-focused questions in SDB10 were just about KID being there at all (and one about him knowing Conan’s identity, but we’re not here to talk about that), there’s honestly not much to glean from this question either, except noting that it was before his comment in the vs KID compilation.

SDB40 is a little more interesting, though.

Q7: Are KID and Shinichi actually relatives? (キッドと新一って親戚なんじゃないですか？)

A: BADUMP (lol) (ドキッ(笑)。)

The reply is meant to invoke a heartbeat, like from being surprised or startled - or caught in the act. This’d be amusing on its own, but this isn’t the only question he answers this way. There’s a decent number of them, and they fall into three main categories.

◉Category 1: Shenanigans

Q54. Eri’s cat, Goro, was actually modeled on your cat Kaito-kun, right?

Q59. Are you actually the boss of the Black Organization?

Q66. Are you happy?

Q87. Have you ever felt like wanting to end Detective Conan?

◉Category 2: This Actually Happened

Q2. Were Shuichi Akai and Akemi Miyano lovers? (Vol 58)

Q31. Is Eisuke Hondou actually Rena Mizunashi’s younger brother? (Vol 58)

Q52. Toichi was the magician that taught Yukiko the art of disguise, right? (hard confirmed Vol 55)

Q64. When is the London arc happening? (Vol 71)

◉Category 3: Who Knows?

Q10. Will we be able to see Conan’s tears at the end?

It’s in this last category I probably would have placed the question about Shinichi and Kaito, in light of what came before. With hindsight, though, we can place it in Category 2.

3) Hayakawa Mystery Magazine (2011)

The June 2011 issue has a six page interview with Gosho in celebration of the anime’s 15th anniversary (and the release of M15, Quarter of Silence). Though the topics jump from Gosho’s own love of history to his feelings on Detective Conan, we’re only concerned with this one answer:

…Perhaps because Kaitou Kid was designed as a main character first, he and Shinichi Kudo resemble each other. (怪盗キッドの方が主役として先に発表されていたせいか、キッドと工藤新一は顔が似ている。)

Gosho: “Their resemblance is not just from my drawing habits, but because there’s a secret background. There’s no way someone that similar just exists. (lol) As for why they look alike, look forward to it, I suppose.” (「似ているのは執筆順のせいばかりではなく、裏設定があるからなんですよ。あんなに似ている人がいるわけないじゃないですか（笑）。似ている理由については、お愉しみに、ということで」)

This might be one of the most concrete answers he’s given to this question, largely because he also addresses the issue of his art style.

4) Interview in Singapore (2016)

Gosho featured as a panel guest at the November 2016 Singapore Writer’s Festival, during which he held a Q&A via interpreter. It is at this same interview that he point-blank reveals approximately three and a half years before the manga gives hard confirmation that Akai and Akemi are cousins after a fan asks him about it, but that is neither here nor there. Probably.

You can hear the question and response we’re concerned with at about 7:10 in this video. Some of the audio is definitely hard to pick out, but we can get the important bits.

Question: Is there a reason why Kaitou Kid and Kudo Shinichi look so alike?

Answer: ええ、それ？ちょっと、言えませんね。似てる理由はあります。(You want to know about that? I can’t really say. But there is a reason they look alike.)

Again, same answer. He’s nothing else if not consistent. It’s a smaller thing, but his delivery combined with the grammar (理由はあります。/There is a reason.) does make it sound like he wants to emphasize that it’s not a coincidence though.

BONUS: Kappei Yamaguchi’s Suspicious Comment

In August 2024, the fan event “Detective Conan Festival in Manga Kingdom Tottori” was held, featuring Conan, Ran, Kogoro, and Shinichi/Kaito’s seiyuus as guests. According to multiple fan reports of the event, Yamaguchi mentioned that he was told KID had a “secret backstory” when he was offered the role. A few reports also mention everyone holding their breath when he said as much, so it seems many people jumped to similar conclusions on what that statement might mean. I can’t begin to guess what motivated Yamaguchi’s comment, nor am I sure if it’s even safe to assume this is even about the cousins thing. But at the bare minimum, to him it must have meant something in the wake of M27.

Final Thoughts

This might not be every time the issue was brought up, but this is what I was able to find after some digging (and some painfully specific Japanese searches to get me back to a believable source).

The phrase 裏設定 (ura settei, translated as “secret background” throughout) often just refers to background info that is never mentioned in a concrete way in the work itself, but motivates the decisions that happen within it. In Yamaguchi’s case, perhaps it was just referring to the events of Magic Kaito as KID’s 裏設定 within Detective Conan. It’s difficult to apply that meaning to other uses of the word throughout this, though, like Gosho’s use of it in the Hayakawa Mystery interview.

So while I’m not sure what to think about Yamaguchi’s comment, I do think it’s entirely possible Gosho has at least considered the idea for a while, even if you could argue that he wasn’t always necessarily committed to the idea.