Conan O’Brien Claims ‘Detective Conan’ Is Ripping Him Off

When you think about famous Conans, there are only so many things that come to mind. For some, Conan the Barbarian pops up, but others will gravitate toward comedian Conan O’Brien. That is, unless you are a fan of Detective Conan, and the TV host isn’t too happy about that one-up.

Recently, O’Brien hosted his latest episode of CONAN, and it was there the comedian called out the popular anime — as you can see above, the ginger star doesn’t go easy on the detective.

“I just found out that in Japan the first that comes up when you Google ‘Conan’ is an anime character named Detective Conan,” O’Brien explained to his audience, and no one seemed to know what the comedian was talking about.

As the comedian continues, he begins to point out a strange series of “coincidences” he sees between himself and the anime icon.

“He’s a man whose trapped in a child’s body and solves crimes,” the actor said before comparing their skinny legs, affection for suits, and ability to ask questions.

Jokingly, O’Brien claimed the famous franchise has been ripping him off ever since it began. The comedian noted the series began in 1994, just one year after O’Brien made his entertainment debut. Now, the host is asking Japan — not even the studio behind Detective Conan — for reparations to the tune of 3 trillion yen.

Of course, O’Brien is just playing with Detective Conan. Sure, the comedian may be famous, but not even he can test the might of anime in Japan. With over 200 million copies sold, Detective Conan‘s manga is a force to reckon with, but Shogakukan might be willing to let O’Brien cameo in the series if he asks nicely?

For those unfamiliar with Detective Conan (known as Case Closed in the United States), the series was originally created by Gosho Aoyama. The story follows high schooler detective Jimmy Fudo who works with the police to solve cases. When investigating a crime syndicate known as the Black Organization, he was poisoned. But instead of killing him, the poison reverts him to a child. Using his new childhood alias Conan and keeping his true identity a secret, he vows to solve more cases and eventually put a stop to the crimes of the Black Organization.

The series was first published in 1994 for Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday, and has since been collected into 98 volumes as of December 2017. The manga has sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and has been adapted into an anime series, films, OVAs, video games, and even had a crossover with another famous series, Lupin III. The anime was licensed as Case Closed in the United States due to copyright issues, and Funimation first launched the anime adaptation on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block with Westernized names but ended its run early.

So, do you think there is any validity behind this hilarious call-out? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!