#file 1129

The current case is a quite complicated, if you read last file could you give us your thoughts on it, who is the culprit.. also what about kazuha she is acting very strange this case

Last but not least, do you think the confession will happen or not

File 1129-1132 Review

Here's a promised early review of the recent big Osaka case that includes a case deduction. I have thoroughly been enjoying this serial murder case, as well as all the past references, character reappearances and the Heizuha confession plot that has been building through out.

Case Deduction

I think this serial murder is slightly more nuanced, in that there is not only one mastermind behind all the elements involved, but rather two.

I think the culprit behind the actual murders is Kuraishi Youka (the actress behind Ootsuka Kaede [Momiji role]). I suspect that she killed Narasawa (first victim) after fighting over Narasawa threatening to use Kuraishi's past conflict with the thugs 8 years ago (that lead to Anzaka killing a person and hurting his own reputation) into making Kuraishi give up her role so she could have a better chance with Anzaka.

Narasawa probably found out from Kakiwaki Ayari (second victim) that her love rival's (Kuraishi's) weakness was that she feels responsible for damaging Anzaka's reputation, and Kakiwaki was most likely the one who shared the screenshot of the news article (File 1132).

I suspect that Kakiwaki was killed because she figured out that Kuraishi was behind Narasawa's death, since Narasawa died soon after she shared that info about Kuraishi with her. Kakiwaki likely threatened that she would expose her unless she followed her demands, hence why she said to the police that she "has forgotten" [won't tell] who the love rival of Narasawa was unless it serves her (File 1130).

I also suspect however that the other layer behind killing Kakiwaki, and especially Nagakubo Nobuya, is that they might have had nefarious plans of orchestrating a death to not only boost the mystic and intrigue for the play, but also further their careers at the expense of Kuraishi and Anzaka, building on the marionette devil's curse (File 1129)

This would fit with how Kakiwaki was happily hoping for another murder to take place after Kabumoto (as if she has things in store) (File 1129).

So in short, this whole serial murder started with Kuraishi trying to protect Anzaka from the cast members who wanted to do him harm and she was planning to turn herself into the final victim (commit suicide), and I also suspect she was planning on framing Yoshiura for the murders, since she probably blamed him for not helping de-escalating the thug-fight Anzaka went through 8 years ago that hurt him and rather just filmed the whole incident (File 1132). Kuraishi might have also heard what Yoshiura said about himself, Nagakubo & Kakiwaki taking over the role of Heichi, Daigorou and Kaede (which was because he knew about Anzaka's deteriorating health from the incident 8 years ago that was gonna limit his activities) (File 1130) and it could have made her view him just as inconsiderate as the rest of the cast members.

This would explain why Yoshiura was always stuck in the bathroom with a bad stomach without alibi for all the murders (as if someone could have messed with his disgestive system) (File 1131) as well as why he was suddenly gone from the bathroom at the end of File 1132 (as if he could have been called to Naniwa Harukas observation deck to get framed for Kuraishi's suicide as she shows him the view from the top that he once showed her and Anzaka 8 years ago).

So now, at the end of File 1132, Conan and Heiji have ambushed Kuraishi as she is about to turn herself into the final victim and expecting Yoshiura to arrive and get framed for it.

Now, I think the tricky part of this case is that the Semaphore codes and phone messages left in the crime scene were actually not left by Kuraishi, but rather the only person who was mostly the first person present near the bodies, Anzaka Tenma (File 1132).

Anzaka immediately realized after Narasawa's fall that she was likely killed by his former schoolmate, Kuraishi, which is why he wanted to stop his mother from revealing that he was the first person to innocently encounter the crime scene (File 1132).

This explains why Nagakubo got the impression that Anzaka was first to arrive, but somehow pretended to arrive later (File 1130),... because just after fixing up Narasawa's body into a semaphore code, he ran up to the highest floor in order to drop her phone from the roof with the fake message from the Marionette devil (Kabumoto's curse), which Conan and Heiji later discovered (File 1129).

This also coincides well with Kuraishi's intense reaction to all the messages to the point of fainting and losing her cool, which made Heiji suspect that she is hiding something. All of her words so far while fearing Kabumoto's curse has directly been confessing that she has been responsible and that the murders will not stop unless she dies (File 1129-1131).

Anzaka's messages weren't however to scare her or give her guilt for the murders he predicted she would commit. I suspect that he predicted she was gonna kill Kakiwaki and Nagakubo right after Narasawa, and that she was gonna end all the murders with her as the final death (by suicide). This is why Anzaka wrote on the phone "two more to go" after Kakiwaki's death, and he wanted to convey with "from shimote" that when you gather all the letters of the semaphore codes ("E", "V", "I" and the predictable "L"), that you are supposed to read the message from the right (rather than stage right, as Heiji deduced), and so rather than "EVIL", he is trying to spell the message "LIVE" for Kuraishi, as in that she shouldn't commit suicide after Nagakubo's death (File 1132).

As for how Anzaka was able to leave a semaphore code using Kakiwaki's corpse despite her falling while he was asleep upstairs (File 1131), it's most likely due to the timing of her death getting fabricated. After Anzaka had discovered Kakiwaki dead on the ground (as he predicted), he formed the semaphore code with her corpse and then went upstairs to nap and asked Kuraishi to wake him up in 30 min.

When Kuraishi arrived to wake Anzaka up, the missing recording of Kakiwaki's scream from a previous play (File 1132) was then made to sound as if it was getting further away to mimic the scream of a falling person, from outside the balcony (for example, by making it so that the volume gradually gets lowered), and then followed by a landing "thud" sound, ultimately resulting in giving both Anzaka and Kuraishi an alibi for Kakiwaki's death. The framed certificate on the wall for the previous play might have been removed to not remind anyone about Kakiwaki's recorded scream amidst the police investigation.

Since Anzaka expected Kuraishi to come alone, I'm leaning towards Kuraishi being the one who fabricated the timing of Kakiwaki's fall and intentionally brought Heiji and Conan with her as witnesses for her and Anzaka to gain an alibi (File 1130).

As for Nagakubo's death, while Kuraishi most likely was scared by Kabumoto's curse, her plan was most likely exactly as Conan proposed, that she shouted to get Nagakubo's attention from the rooftop so he would lean on the railing that were corroded by liquid gallium and fall to his death (File 1132).

Confession

I predict that Kazuha is gonna be the one to confess her feelings to Heiji, as foreshadowed by how Osamu Kenzaki's fiancé Takeno Yuki proposed to him in Naniwa Harukas Observation deck, in order for Gosho to subvert the predictable planned confession attempts by Heiji that have constantly failed (File 1129-1131).

It's unfortunate that Momiji hasn't had an opportunity to be present through out this whole case, but since she was said to be busy with a Karuta match (File 1129), it's not unlikely that she could make an appearance in the resolution chapter just in time to interrupt Heiji from getting a chance to reply to Kazuha's confession.

Kazuha has however had other plans in mind. It seems like she has been planning to surprise Ran with something (File 1129), and though she got scolded for remaining involved with a case for that reason by her mother, and then later having her father Toyama Ginshiro appear sternly to also make sure she listens to her mother (File 1132), despite getting a little discouraged, Kazuha persistently goes ahead and tries to bring Ran to Naniwa Harukas observation deck (as planned by Heiji), as if her surprise for Ran can still be achieved over there.

From the way Kazuha has acted, it seems like her surprise for Ran is very detached from Heiji, so if she is ultimately gonna confess to Heiji in the resolution chapter, it's very likely gonna be a spur-of-the-moment confession like Shinichi's in London. In that case, it could mean that her surprise for Ran might get resolved after her confession to Heiji, and if the reply to her confession indeed gets interrupted by Momiji who arrives just in time after the Karuta match, then I could see all of this culminating into something like Momiji playing a role in Ran's surprise, like for example Kazuha and Momiji having planned a trip/event for Ran's upcoming birthday, since they are her friends. This would turn it all into a truly wholesome twist, and it could also set up an aftermath case where Momiji has to beat Kazuha into confessing to Heiji and get his reply before he gives his reply to Kazuha's confession, and subsequently more ShinRan developments and even a potential Shinichi reappearance.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this long case and I couldn't be more excited for the resolution. It's nice to finally have Ginshiro appear again (for the first time during Rum arc) after so long and I'm especially excited to find out what Kazuha's mother's personality and character is like after the recent reveal that she is an Ex-elite agent of the Osaka police's firearms control unit (File 1131).

I have not watched Movie 27 yet, since it's not available where I live, but if I have a lot to say about this highest-grossing DC film, I'll post something about it.

File 1129-1133 Predictions

As for the upcoming Osaka case, the main thing I'm definitely expecting is for Heiji and/or Kazuha to finally relay their romantic feelings to one another. It's gonna be a 5-chapter long case, so I do expect a serial murder, similar to Crimson School Trip (ShinRan confession/reply case), and of course, we can't have the Osaka duo appear without the Kyoto duo, especially after Momiji recently implied that she shouldn't wait any longer and start acting in File 1018.

I also expect that we get more Muga development/hints about his character and past, especially now, when we're potentially reaching the climax of Momiji's romantic endeavor and where we will only be left with the main plot-relevant side of his to progress (like Iori's Public Security past with Kuroda and his potential big secret identity as the main antagonist of this arc). This could mean that we might also get Kuroda interactions in the upcoming case (whether as a flashback or not), which is always a treat.

Gosho alluded to the appearance of "an important person who has remained mysterious up until now" in the upcoming case, which is very likely to be Kazuha's mother. This will also mean that we will finally have the official appearance of Heizo, Ginshiro & Shizuka (Heiji's parents and Kazuha's father) in Rum arc (who as of yet still hasn't appeared since Bourbon arc), which is clearly overdue.

If Kazuha's mother is finally getting introduced, then we could also get Momiji's parent(s) introduced, which would also bring forth more Ōoka household dynamics reveals, potential Haneda family-relation development and Former prime minister exposition (that could further hint to that he is the mysterious Falcon Elder).

If Gosho wanted to high-gear into the main plot as the following case after this, then it's also possible that Gosho could have Shinichi get involved in the case to aid Heiji, which could potentially tip off any unsuspecting observers (like Iori) of Shinichi's whereabouts and start Rum's Shinichi hunt in the awaited Rum climax soon after this case ends. For now, we only have Heiji, Kazuha, Ran and Conan confirmed as the cast of the upcoming chapter (according to AC). We'll have to wait for more teasers, but couldn't be more excited for what's to come.