Black Organization (Case Closed)

The nihongo|Black Organization|黒の組織|kuro no soshiki serves as the main antagonist in the anime/manga series Case Closed ("Detective Conan"). It is a syndicate that commits crimes such as illegal deals, blackmail, robberies, and assassinations. The first members to appear were Gin and Vodka, who were responsible for Shinichi's(Conan's) transformation in the first place.Ever since the organization transformed Shinichi into a grade-schooler, they have been looking for Shinichi to finish the job that their poison failed to do.

Members

Current

*Gin A high ranking BO official. He forced the drug APTX 4869 on Shinichi and his favorite car is the Porsche 356a.

*Vodka Gin's lackey.

*Vermouth (Chris Vineyard/Sharon Vineyard) A confusing actress. Sharon was friends with Kudo Yukiko until her apparent death. She is apparently the favorite of the leader of the BO and is therefore untouchable despite a lot of the BO hating her. She refers to Conan as Silver-Bullet Kid implying she believes him capable of bringing down the BO. She has protected Mouri Kogoro for this reason. It is very unclear where her loyalty lies. She also has knowledge of a disguising trick taught to her and Yukiko by Kuroba Toichi, The original KID the phantom thief.

*Kir Operates under the guise of Rena Mizunashi, a TV reporter. Her real name is Hidemi Hondou. Like her deceased father, she is a member of the CIA; Her brother, Eisuke Hondou, was not aware of this since Hidemi pretended not to know him after she went undercover.

*Korn

*Chianti

*Numabuchi Kiichiro (In custody. Ran away from BO before experimentation of the drug were performed by him) (**Revealed in Episode 290(Volume 35) as well as in episode 118-Manga Volume 19)

* Bourbon A new Black Organization member mention by Rena Mizunashi that has only appeared in the manga and has a power of a detective.

*Anokata '(that person)' (the boss, currently unknown)

Deceased

*Tequila (killed in explosion in Episode 54 and manga volume 12)

*Calvados (shot himself after being crippled by Shuichi in Episode 345)

*Pisco (killed by Gin in Episode 178)

*Akemi Miyano (killed by Gin in Episode 128 and in manga volume 2)

*Kusuda Rikumichi (suicide)

*Arrack (suicide in Conan Special volume 26 - manga only)

Former

*Sherry (Ai Haibara) (since Episode 129)

*Rye (Shuichi Akai, supposedly killed by Kir with a gun which Gin forced her to do so to gain the BO trust.)

*Generic (Gen is the old friend of Sherry who considers her as his sister. He used the Apotoxin medicine to shrink his own body and entered the school where Ai is. He lost his memory due to his own memory removal gas in Conan Special Volume 26 - Manga only)

Undercover (CIA & FBI)

*Rena Mizunashi "See Above"

*Shuichi Akai "See Above"

Information

In episode 54, Conan encounters a tall, built member of the organization named Tequila, however, he is killed in an explosion before Conan can gain any information.

In episode 128, the Black Organization planned to have a billion yen heist. Gin and Vodka were the members that made a plan to rob 10 billion yen. Conan stops the two again from stealing the yens, who escaped. After the episode, the organization introduces a member named Shiho Miyano, also known as Sherry, the creator of APTX-4869. After the organization killed Akemi Miyano, Shiho's older sister, the organization makes an imprisonment for Sherry. In order to escape, Sherry takes her poison, and her body shrinks. The organization finds out that Sherry has betrayed them, and needed to be destroyed. Later, Sherry lives with Dr. Agasa under her alias Ai Haibara.

In episode 176-178, Conan encounters Gin and Vodka again. Ai is kidnapped and confined to a wine cellar, but turns into an adult after the wine spills on her. Despite wearing glasses and janitor clothing, Gin and Vodka recognize her and shoot her repeatedly until Conan appears. He shoots Gin with his needle, but Gin doesn't fall asleep. He tells Ai to jump into the chimmey, and Vodka shoots at him, but he gets away. Gin purposely shoots himself in the arm due to trying to stay awake. Inside, Pisco almost kills her, but Conan rescues her after Pisco accidentally causes a fire. Gin kills Pisco for failure before he's able to tell him the truth about Shiho. Worried that the organization is after her, Ai decides to leave the city.

In episode 118, Conan encounters a member named Numabuchi who is hiding out, but is eventually found. He tries to stab Ran, but stabs Conan instead. Mitsuhiko actually has an individual encounter with the runaway Numabuchi in episode 290, but Conan and the police arrive before he's capable of doing anything to him.

In episodes 309-311, Conan manages to arrange contact with Vodka of the organization, and goes to confront him in a trap, however, Gin arrives and realizes it's a set up. He and Vodka leave before Conan is able to find out more information about the BO. Though, prior to the meeting, Conan does manage to obtain information from their original contact's diary that reveal a bit of the BO's dark intentions.

Aside from Gin and Vodka being the most reoccurring members, a female member introduced late into the series named Vermouth also starts to play a huge role in the series. She makes her first appearance in episodes 176-178, but her talents aren't revealed until episode 230. She disguises herself as a doctor named Araide and is one of the few characters that learns who Conan really is. In one episode she is saved by Ran and Shinichi from falling through a fire escape, and keeps his secret unknown from the rest possibly because of this reason. She disguises herself as two well-known actresses, Chris Vineyard and Sharon Vineyard. It is noted several times in the series that she is a master of disguise, who trained with Shinichi's mother in the past.

In Episode 394, Conan figures out the boss's number, but Haibara warns him not to call it because it is "Pandora's Box", Conan then thinks he can get officer Takagi to figure out who the number belongs to. But then Haibara warns if he does, officer Takagi will be killed.

In episode 345, many identities are finally unveiled: Vermouth is revealed to be Dr. Araide, Chris Vineyard, Sharon Vineyard, and the silver-haired serial killer in Shinichi's New York Case; Jodie Saintemillion is revealed to be an undercover FBI agent working towards capturing Vermouth, who killed her father when she was younger; Akai Shuichi is confirmed to be an FBI agent, and one with great skill too--enough to make the boss of the Black Organization believe that he is their "Silver Bullet." Near the end of the episode, it becomes clear that Vermouth's purpose was to seek and eliminate Sherry, but her attempts are thwarted by several people: Shinichi/Conan, Jodie Saintemillion, Akai Shuichi, and even Ran. When she becomes cornered, she takes Conan hostage and drives away into a forest. There, she makes a call to her boss (still nameless), and to her surprise, Conan was recording the entire conversation. In order to preserve the organization's secrecy, she sprays sleeping gas in the car, putting both herself and Conan to sleep. She claims that this would be a duel--whoever wakes up first will win. Vermouth does indeed wake up first, but does not kill Conan. Instead, she just crushes his recording device. Ultimately, the only clue Conan gained from this whole ordeal is the ringtone that the boss uses; this is mentioned in episode 425 as well, although its importance has not yet been revealed.

Although Vermouth often comes off as evil and malicious, her allegiance is actually rather ambiguous. She chooses to protect both Conan/Shinichi and Ran, most likely because they let her live back in the New York Case when she was disguised as the silver-haired serial killer. At the end of the episode, she could have very well killed Shinichi, but instead she lets him live and even drapes her coat over his sleeping body so he wouldn't get cold. It seems that she wishes for the Black Organization to be taken down as well--for she believes that Kudo Shinichi is their true "Silver Bullet."

In episode 425, the Black Organization introduces three new members, Chianti, Kir, and Korn, who first make their introduction in the 16th Opening episodes before their actual appearance in the series. Episode 425 is also the first to show the most BO members in one episode. Chianti and Korn are introduced in the very beginning of episode 425 as highly trained assassins that Gin recruits after seeing their sniping skills. Kir is first introduced to Conan and the others as a news reporter (Rena Mizunashi) and a friend of Yoko Okino's, however, she is revealed as a member of the black corps later on. After encountering FBI during her mission, Kir tries to flee, but gets knocked unconscious and crashes, resulting in her getting taken by the FBI agents. She appeared in the 17th Opening as part of Gin, Vodka, and Vermouth's group, and Opening 18 alone, which foreshadowed that, despite her injuries, she would play a huge role in the series(which she has during the course of the anime and manga). In the manga, Heiji Hattori mentions she has been seen in Osaka before.

In episodes 462-465, the BO reveals some information about Kir and Eisuke's father. Eisuke appears to be linked to the BO, as Conan notices similarities between him and Kir, and he also appears to be gaining info on the secret behind Kogoro's cases. In addition, Vermouth is revealed to be linked to another murder case. In the following episode 466, Conan tells Ai and Agasa that the boy involved in the previous case told a mysterious man(more than likely Kusuda Rikumichi, as they have the same outer appearance, though, his face is shadowed) that he had seen Kir before.

In episodes 484-485, Conan investigates more on Eisuke and belief that he and his father may have a possible link to Rena Mizunashi and the Black Organization. This later leads to further investigations in episode 491-494 with a possibility that Eisuke and Rena are related when they watch a video tape from years ago.

The Black Organization tends to kill anyone who stumbles upon their secret, however, as of now, the Black Organization's main purpose and goal still remains unknown. Currently, the CIA's undercover member Kir, as well as the Boss's ringtone, appear to be the only source of information Conan and the FBI can rely on to learn the true intentions behind the Black Organization. Although their goal still remains unknown, there is a hint of possibility (through secret documents that Conan managed to obtain in episode 309) that they are planning to "raise the dead".

Other Members:In episode 425, the only new members to have appeared and lived are Kir, Chianti and Korn (other new members have usually died in the episode of their appearance, such as Tequilia, Pisco, Akemi, etc). In Opening 16, there are a few other members that are silouetted behind Gin, Vodka, and Vermouth. Only Chianti, Korn, and Kir are shown close-up later in this opening animation, and properly introduced in episode 425. Currently, a new member named Kusuda Rikumichi has been revealed, but died in the same volume of his appearance.

Current Status:Jodie calls Conan and tells him that she changed her number and cell phone. She tells him that Mizunashi Rena called them and told them that a new member of the black organization (Code name: Bourbon) is investigating about Sherry (Haibara Ai). As Conan and Haibara were in a middle of a normal case, Haibara feels that an organization member is around. The organization member which Haibara felt was Okiya Subaru. Conan invites Okiya to live in his house since Okiya's flat was burnt.

Appearances:Appearances consist of different members of the organization who are shown in each episode, and are not limited to flashbacks(mostly involving Conan's thoughts).

*Episodes: 1-2, 5, 13, 54, 128-129, 176-178, 230-231, 242, 269, 272, 286-290, 307-311, 345, 418, 425, 429-430, 462-466, 484-485, 491-504

*Movies: "Movie 5, Countdown to Heaven"

*Opening Animation: 5-6th/10-11th (Gin and Vodka), 13th (Vermouth, Gin, and Vodka), 15th (Vermouth only), 16&22 (All), 17th (Gin, Vodka, Vermouth, and Kir only), 18&23 (Kir only)

Manga To Anime:The first season of Detective Conan, featured The Organization scarcely, due to the writers wanting to down play their presense. [http://www.tv.com/case-closed/mystery-mastermind/episode/336019/trivia.html#notes] Two of the episodes at least, were altered heavily in light of it:

Episode 5, The Shinkansen's Bomb Case:The episode has Conan running into lookalikes of the men who drugged him. Volume 4 of the manga, however, it is the same guys. In fact, that story has him learning their code name (Gin/Vodka in the Japanese Version, Melkior and Kaspar in the English Version), which creates a continuity error in Episode 54, Game Company Murder Case, when Conan recognizes their names when Tequila speaks to them, despite the fact that he had never heard their names (in the anime) before that point.

Episode 13, The Strange Person Hunt Murder Case:In the episodes end, Masami runs into the criminal in charge the recent murders. She survives a gunshot wound thanks to Conan. The manga version, which is in Volume 2, the masterminds are Gin and Vodka.

Masami is actually Akemi Miyano, and stole the yen to buy her sister out of the organization. Upon refusal to give the location Gin (who has an idea where it is) shoots her. Conan arrvies shortly to try helping Akemi. He gives her his real name, and before dying she tell Conan the location of the yen.

The anime had to do a similar story in Episode 128 The Black Corps One Billion Yen Robbery Case in order to repair the storyline.

Additional Information

*All the Black organization's code names are types of alcoholic drinks.

*According to the English-language Case Closed Volume 1: The Secret Life of Jimmy Kudo, Gin's real name is "Kaspar" and Vodka's real name is "Melkior". In the English manga, these are explained as specific brands of the relevant drinks.

*Gin can't seem to remember faces he encounters or kills, which explains that he doesn't remember Shinichi.

*Members seem to get along fairly well most of the time. Gin and Vodka have a particularly close rapport. Gin is annoyed by Vermouth's teasing, but when on business they seem to get along alright. Chianti holds a hateful grudge against Vermouth because she believes Vermouth led Calvados to his death, indicating that Chianti has some sort of relationship with the deceased agent. Korn appears to be anti-social.

*The Black Organization commits crimes such as illegal deals, blackmail, robberies, and assassinations.

*In certain episodes the Organization kills their own members for certain reasons.

*Gin and Vodka are close to figuring out who is behind the attempts to stopping them (Conan/Shinichi)

*Vermouth knows Conan's intentions but does not really try to rat him out to the Organization when having the chance.Due to Shinichi having saved her life when he and Ran had visited New York.

*Vermouth is the only living member of the organization who learned that Ai Haibara is Shiho Miyano and Conan Edogawa is Jimmy Kudo. Pisco also knew Ai's identity, and unlike Vermouth, would've revealed it to Gin if he hadn't been murdered by him first.

*Although Vermouth's true appearance is a young woman, confirmed by Shuichi Akai in episode 345, it still does not explain why she does not appear to age--the very question that she never answered when Jodie confronted her about it.

*According to the Organization only the "Silver Bullet" can defeat/kill them, Vermouth believes that Conan/Shinichi is their "Silver Bullet".However everyone else thinks Akai is their greatest threat.

*So far, the youngest member still in the Organization is revealed to be Kir at age 27. Sherry is actually much younger, as her age was revealed to be 18, and her sister is in her early twenties. The oldest member was Pisco (currently deceased). The oldest living member so far appears to be Korn.

*Episodes 462-465 marks the first 4-part episode dealing with the BO without it being aired as a special(However, international airings outside Japan have separated each 2hr special dealing with the BO into 6 separate parts).

*Episodes 491-504 marks the longest BO arc to ever air, consisting of more than ten parts.

*During the course of the series, almost every member had some kind of individual contact with Conan/Shinichi; Gin in the episode 1 and episode 178 when Conan shoots him with his needle while hiding, Vodka during the course of episodes 309-311, Vermouth in episode 345, Kir in episode 425, Akemi Miyano in episode 128, Pisco in episode 178, Tequila in episode 54, Numabuchi Kiichiro in episode 118 and briefly in 290, and Kusuda Rikumichi in episodes 496-497.