Conan O’Brien has just found out about Detective Conan — specifically, Japan’s so-called “Conan Town” — and he might be heading to Japan to collect some perks.
O’Brien did a segment on his show last Thursday, explaining the basics of Detective Conan to his uninitiated audience. He pointed out that he first appeared on television in 1993 when he took over as host of Late Night on NBC, while the Detective Conan manga did not hit the pages of Weekly Shonen Sunday until January of 1994. He facetiously pointed out similarities between his own persona and that of Jimmy Kudo, a.k.a. Conan Edogawa.
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“He’s a man who is trapped in a child’s body and solves crime. Okay? Man trapped in a child’s body? Conan? Hello?” he waved his hand. “Think about it, Detective Conan is clearly a rip-off.”
O’Brien was pretty self-deprecating in his comparisons, even going so far as to photoshop a childhood photo of himself into a Japanese schoolboy uniform.
“He has distinctive hair, as do I,” O’Brien said, counting off the list on his fingers. “He always wears a suit, as do I. Again, man trapped in child’s body. Plus, if that’s not enough, this is a picture of me as a schoolboy! That’s how I dressed, and I solved crimes! I solved a lot of crimes back then.”
O’Brien went on to marvel at the popularity of Detective Conan, which has never found quite the same traction in North America as other manga and anime series. North American publications have retitled the series Case Closed to avoid confusion, presumably with titles like Conan The Barbarian and, perhaps, O’Brien himself.
Now that the two worlds have collided, however, there is room for some serious cross-over. As O’Brien explained, the Japanese city of Hokuei in Tottori Prefecture has become known as “Conan Town” among the locals. The late night host feels that he deserves a piece of that real estate, asking for 3 trillion yen (about $27 billion).
“Today, I got a reply,” he said. O’Brien showed a Facebook post by Hokuei’s mayor, responding to the skit and inviting him to visit.
“If you want the money, come visit Conan Town,” it read.
O’Brien applauded the mayor for getting in on the joke, before doubling down himself. He demanded that the town’s most popular laundromat be renamed in his honor. He also wanted a key to the city, and “a key to the homes of everyone in a 20 mile radius.” Finally, he asked the mayor to change the statue of Detective Conan so that it shared his infamous red haircut.
“Do all that, plus 3 trillion yen you owe me, and I’m on my way!” he proclaimed.
