So a few thoughts I had on recent plot developments. They aren't really anything new, but I did try to back them up with more evidence than what I've seen thus far...
What we know about the middle brother:
He recognizes Conan and is aware of his deductive abilities.
He is very intelligent.
He is younger than Akai.
He changed his surname.
He doesn't look like Akai or Sera.
Masumi doesn't know where he is, and he is in the middle of an "important job."
I think the identity of the middle brother is Amuro Tooru. I've done some thinking about it, and this is the only one which to me makes any sort of sense. The only other option is a new character, which would render this whole theory moot. But let's assume that the middle brother is someone introduced in the Bourbon arc. I highly doubt its Date or Morofushi; there haven't really been any hints that there's more to them than what they seem to be. The most obvious choice is Haneda, and that's exactly why I think it isn't him; it's just too perfectly convenient. Even the name is designed to remind us of Akai :"Shuukichi." Plus he has seen Conan's deduction skills, and is very smart like the middle brother. And the cherry on top is that he was introduced shortly before we found out about the middle brother's existence. It all looks like a huge red herring to me, just like Okiya being Bourbon was.
Now, it could be Amuro for a variety of reasons. First of all, he doesn't look anything like Akai or Sera, so that fits what we know about the middle brother. He's very intelligent, obviously. His surname isn't 'Sera', which is to be expected since the middle brother changed his name after graduating high school. I think its interesting that he refuses to tell Sera his location, which would be consistent with him being in the BO and not wanting to let her know. Finally, he knows Conan and is aware of his detective skills.
I think its very telling that until now Gosho has made sure that Sera and Amuro never meet each other. They're rarely both involved in the same case, and in the rare occasion that they are they never see each other. Why is it that Gosho insists on keeping them apart? In Detective Nocturne Amuro sees Sera, but she doesn't see him. His question, "Why here?" upon seeing her seems to indicate that he knows who Sera is. The fact that he showed up as Scar Akai in front of her in the following case strongly implies he is aware of her connection to Akai. This could all be explained as Amuro knowing Akai's family members since he would want to know info on his enemy, but what if it runs deeper than that?
On that note, Amuro's hatred for Akai is something to think about. Its obviously very personal, since Amuro is so convinced that that only he can kill Akai, and he strongly wants him dead. What is the motivation behind this hatred? Akai infiltrated the Black Organization only five years prior to the current timeline. What did he do to Bourbon to inspire such animosity? There was speculation before that it might have to do with Akemi, but Gosho confirmed in a very recent interview that it doesn't. So what's up? A deep personal betrayal by his brother about something could explain this, something that could have predated Akai's infiltration of the Organization. (This is pure speculation, but maybe it might have to do with Akai's dead father? Maybe he had to kill him for one reason or another, which led to Amuro hating him? Its been done before with Kir and her dad.)
Also, apparently Gosho refused to answer a question on whether or not Amuro's hair and skin color was natural. I find that quite intriguing. Why would Gosho avoid answering such a seemingly trivial question. It obviously points to the fact that this could be an important plot point. Maybe it hints to the fact that his original skin color and appearance was more similar to Akai and Sera?
I could see a few potential holes in this theory, but they could be explained away by a detailed flashback of Amuro's past. The one thing that bothers me most is this:
It seems to imply that the brother has fair skin, which obviously contradicts it being Amuro. Still, if Amuro was in disguise at the time or whatever...I don't know. This seems to be the biggest issue.
On the topic of the mystery child, I think its Sera's mother.
Obviously a lot of people have said this before. I don't have much evidence, but I think its important to note that Sera's mother has been mentioned several times since her early appearance, even though the mentions weren't exactly plot relevant... still, Sera has asked Ran before to confirm the truth of what she said about her mother, to which Ran thinks something along the lines "Have I even met her?"
We knows that Sera has met Conan in the past. Since Ran seems to remember things about Sera as well, it is highly likely that Shinichi and Ran were together when they met Sera in the past. Sera seems to be focusing on nudging Conan in the direction of investigating the mystery child, going so far as to show a picture of her to Conan deliberately. If she's doing that, than she probably expects Conan to be able to connect the dots about a certain something. If she wants Conan to recognize the person in the picture, it would only be possible if he had met her before. What if it was her mother whom Conan had seen before, now shrunken down to the form of a child? Also, if the child is shrunken, that would explain how Sera was able to figure out Conan's identity before even coming to Japan at all.
It also worth noting the child has Sera and Akai's eyes, as the mother would be expected to have since they look like her. Finally, according to translators Sera seems to be speaking to the child in a respectful manner, as if the child is older than her. Of course, for all this to work the child has to be a girl.
So yeah, just some stuff I was thinking about. Any rebuttals or counterarguments are welcome.
We don't even see Amuro or Okiya,while they are supposed to be the central part of this arc.I'm starting to miss Okiya cooking curry XDXD
you made my day