The Detective Boys squad, and why people seem to hate them

[El Huesudo II]

A common sight for me, while browsing places related to the Conan fanbase, is people hating on the Detective Boys squad.

And I wonder... why?

I actually like the little mofos. They kinda bring a little bit of normalcy to the entire setting - they are little children behaving like little children would. Well, OK, they're precocious, they're nosey, and they tend to get in the way of other people and to say just the right thing to make a situation uncomfortable/awkward. But that's expected of children.

On the other hand, we have a bunch of teenagers acting like seasoned adults (hell, Shinichi/Conan is pretty hardboiled most of the time); and a bunch of adults acting like teenagers (no, guys, getting piss drunk and/or focusing on relationships is NOT what you're supposed to do 24/7).

The DB are, in that sense, some of the characters that bring a breath of fresh air for the willing suspension of disbelief - oh, look, characters who act like normal people their age would. At least something is fine in that world.



So, what do you guys think about the DB? Like them? Hate them? Why?

[ShinRan4ver]

I don't think people have problem with Ayumi.

Mitushiko is OK, I have no real problem with him since he admitted that Conan is better than him in the Mushroom & Bears case .

Genta though I hate A LOT, episode 188 enough said, getting main character shot= #1 on my Hate(#2 is Kaito for ending of Movie 14 but that's not manga so I still like manga Kid) list.

The other episode DB hater bring up would be episode 82 when glory hungry DBz screwed up Conan's plan and almost got themselves,Conan and TWOMIX burned to death.

As stated above aside from my Genta hate I don't have any problem with DBz but Episode 571-572(Haunted Warehouse) is one of my favorite episode because Conan put the arrogant DBz(who resorted to cheating) back in their place.

[Anaine]

Agree with ShinRan4ever.

Don't have anything against Ayumi and Mitsuhiko, but Genta aaaargh
Why? Because he's mostly stupid and getting in the way, and not in a funny way, not in a cute way, just in a damn annoying way.
With that said, I don't hate him I just try to ignore him

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I like the DB. They are not particularly complex characters, but as a group do a good job of keeping the central plot point fresh: Shinichi has been turned into a kid, which is undesirable. They also are the primary protagonists that make and keep the "child world" plausible and interesting. It is the detective boys and their misadventures that lead to cases in a wide variety of environments, like school, movie theaters, bathhouses, remote places encountered by camping, etc. Mouri Detective Agency and other groups typically don't have the breadth of location and situation that Detective Boys cases do. Detective Boys cases also have a higher tendency to deviate from the usual murders: codes, non death mysteries, kidnappings, etc. Finally, they take a plot role that adult characters can't plausibly take: they are not secretive and they can be impulsive, do dangerous, silly, and illogical things, and come to zany conclusions. It's a breather from the adult/detective style of thinking.

For me, I look at what they do as a group for case creation and plot rather than nitpick over their individual characters.

[El Huesudo II]

I like the DB. They are not particularly complex characters, but as a group do a good job of keeping the central plot point fresh: Shinichi has been turned into a kid, which is undesirable. They also are the primary protagonists that make and keep the "child world" plausible and interesting. It is the detective boys and their misadventures that lead to cases in a wide variety of environments, like school, movie theaters, bathhouses, remote places encountered by camping, etc. Mouri Detective Agency and other groups typically don't have the breadth of location and situation that Detective Boys cases do. Detective Boys cases also have a higher tendency to deviate from the usual murders: codes, non death mysteries, kidnappings, etc. Finally, they take a plot role that adult characters can't plausibly take: they are not secretive and they can be impulsive, do dangerous, silly, and illogical things, and come to zany conclusions. It's a breather from the adult/detective style of thinking.

For me, I look at what they do as a group for case creation and plot rather than nitpick over their individual characters.

Yes, how could I have forgotten this. They're the ones that bring in the possibilities. The ones that make the show not yet another police procedural / mystery thriller.

Genta though I hate A LOT, episode 188 enough said, getting main character shot= #1 on my Hate(#2 is Kaito for ending of Movie 14 but that's not manga so I still like manga Kid) list.

The other episode DB hater bring up would be episode 82 when glory hungry DBz screwed up Conan's plan and almost got themselves,Conan and TWOMIX burned to death.

but Genta aaaargh
Why? Because he's mostly stupid and getting in the way, and not in a funny way, not in a cute way, just in a damn annoying way.
With that said, I don't hate him I just try to ignore him

Butbutbutbutbutbut

they're KIDS

I mean, what do you expect them to do? Follow orders from someone "their age"? Being reasonable and thinking ahead? Come on. That would ruin their believability.

Also, without them screwing up, the episode setting loses its spice. In the first example you give, Conan not getting shot would have made the rest of the episode pretty dull and the-same-as-usual (and would've rendered a rather OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIIIIIIIIIT moment with Ran later on, totally nonexistent). Also, Conan being all calm and collected while literally bleeding to death established him pretty much as Mr. BAMF in that episode.

And as for the second one, dude, they're kids. Conan trusting a bunch of 7-year-olds to follow a plan through is a kinda stupid mistake to do. But it also made the resolution hilarious.

[Anaine]

Butbutbutbutbutbut

they're KIDS

I mean, what do you expect them to do? Follow orders from someone "their age"? Being reasonable and thinking ahead? Come on. That would ruin their believability.

Also, without them screwing up, the episode setting loses its spice. In the first example you give, Conan not getting shot would have made the rest of the episode pretty dull and the-same-as-usual (and would've rendered a rather OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIIIIIIIIIT moment with Ran later on, totally nonexistent). Also, Conan being all calm and collected while literally bleeding to death established him pretty much as Mr. BAMF in that episode.

Yeah, that is true and they do indeed bring variety in the possible cases for Conan. I've never thought of it that way. But I still feel that when they mess up, it's mostly gentas fault and he is always messing up because of some stupid thing like eel or his own glory (okay maybe I'm exaggerating a bit)
But the rest of the group I have no problems with, I think Mitsuhiko and Ayumi are cute, perhaps if Genta had been less stupid he wouldn't be as annoying. But I guess someone has to be the annoying one 

[MaitreDétective]

At the beginning I liked the DB. In their first appearances,  they were funny, they enabled Conan to have some character development and had colorful personalities (Genta the tough one, Mitsuhiko the scaredy cat and Ayumi the cutie)
But now they are completely useless, they do silly things, they are annoying, they seem dumber than before and their personalities are blank

[User 4869]

Here we go again. *Skip*

[D.]

I personally like Genta. i like the way he handles things. Come one these kids are supposed to be first graders!! I think that Genta is the best first grader character. No one would expect a first grader to make decisions on a logical, non-bias manner.

[Commi-Ninja]

I don't care for them, and I don't care for children in general.  Ayumi and Genta are irritating, and Mistuhiko is alright depending on the situation.

[ShinRan4ver]

Butbutbutbutbutbut

they're KIDS

I mean, what do you expect them to do? Follow orders from someone "their age"? Being reasonable and thinking ahead? Come on. That would ruin their believability.

Also, without them screwing up, the episode setting loses its spice. In the first example you give, Conan not getting shot would have made the rest of the episode pretty dull and the-same-as-usual (and would've rendered a rather OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIIIIIIIIIT moment with Ran later on, totally nonexistent). Also, Conan being all calm and collected while literally bleeding to death established him pretty much as Mr. BAMF in that episode.

And as for the second one, dude, they're kids. Conan trusting a bunch of 7-year-olds to follow a plan through is a kinda stupid mistake to do. But it also made the resolution hilarious.

Not saying those are not reasonable, just don't try to make me feel sorry when Genta get run over by a truck, I am not shedding a single tear.

p.s Was it necessary to advance the plot? Maybe. Does it make me hate Genta any less? No way.

[El Huesudo II]

Not saying those are not reasonable, just don't try to make me feel sorry when Genta get run over by a truck, I am not shedding a single tear.

p.s Was it necessary to advance the plot? Maybe. Does it make me hate Genta any less? No way.

...Whoa.

I dunno. Genta doesn't seem to me like a character that deserves hate for being stupid. Hell, he's even had a few sparks of competence once in a while. Not to mention he's a freaking 7-year-old.

I'd be sad if he gets run over by a truck.  ;_;

If Genta deserved hate for being stupid, then Andre Camel would deserve it much more, then. I mean, his mistake pretty much caused almost everything bad that's happening on the plot right now. Had he not opened his big mouth... who knows? Maybe Akai would still be an insider? Maybe Akemi wouldn't have had to die? Maybe Kir wouldn't be suspected of treason? Maybe Bourbon wouldn't have been activated? I mean, his little mess-up is the gift that keeps on giving. But do people hate him for that? Not that I know of. Hell, I like the guy, he's sorta funny.

[sonoci]

Essentially, when it comes to fiction, I'm like Chek in that I don't look at their character/personality, per se, but rather what their purpose is. I rarely hate/dislike characters. The only times I do is if they go against or don't accomplish what their original purpose is.

For the DB, their purpose is essentially to spice up the "child world" and (as Chek said) provide a variety of cases. Do they do that? Yes. Then do I dislike them? No.

Individually, Ayumi is supposed to be the girl of the three (obviously). Her purpose is to be a source of love shenanigans and keeping the friendship of the group together. Does she do that? Yes. Then do I dislike her? You can see where this is going.

Mitsuhiko is supposed to be the smart one (excluding Conan of course). When Conan's not around, he's the one to pull out the facts that help with the case, and - usually - he's the one to keep a level head. Does he do that? Yes.

And finally, Genta is supposed to be the impulsive one and - gauging his actions throughout the whole of the series - he's supposed to be the one that annoys people. It almost seems like he was created to draw away dislike and annoyance from other characters in order to let them shine. For that reason, I like Genta. Why? He fulfilled his purpose and did exactly what Gosho intended him to do. So, for every time someone doesn't like Genta, it's actually more of a success for him than anything.

At least, that's the way I see it.

[KainTheVampire]

I don't care for them, and I don't care for children in general.  Ayumi and Genta are irritating, and Mistuhiko is alright depending on the situation.

^

[blackribbon]

I guess I have a soft spot for them because of the books I read when I was young. There's a famous Austrian author, Thomas Brezina. He writes a lot of detective stories for children. My favourite series was "Die Knickerbocker Bande" (The Knickerbockers Gang). It was about four children between the ages of 10 and 13 who solved crimes. I don't quite remember if there were actual murders (but there definitely were some attempted ones); I think the crimes were mostly thefts, robberies, smugglings and kidnappings, but the stakes could get quite high, and it was really interesting. The transition from this to Conan was quite natural.

Anyway, even though the characters in the books were older, the DB just remind me of that "kids solve crimes" trope I liked so much.

These days, however, I'm a bit ambivalent. On the one hand, DBs usually means that Ai will be there too, and she's my favourite character, so of course I'm not opposed to her being around.

On the other hand, their cases are often filler, and I'm a bit tired of filler. So, it's less that I dislike them and more that I dislike for what they stand.

As for the DBs individually, I like Mitsuhiko, I'm kind of indifferent about Ayumi and I dislike Genta.