Unrelated to this post, but WordPress made the decision that the admin theme that I used to use, Sakura, is getting retired, which I had picked prior to their decision because it’s pink and had a Japanese name, which I felt was the perfect aesthetic for me looking at my site. And unfortunately, I’m not really liking any of the themes that are left. Switched to Default for the time being so that WordPress doesn’t force a change itself, but I’m upset because the theme looks so good!
For context, below is a screenshot of what the Sakura theme looks like. Just…uh…ignore the YouTube tab. I listen to music when I write.
Like, I’m literally just using the Default scheme because I don’t like how any of the other themes that haven’t been retired look. Unless they introduce a new color scheme that I think captures the same kind of vibes that Sakura had, I’m just sticking to the default theme.
I don’t even know why I’m telling you guys this, you won’t even notice a change since this is completely on the admin side. Maybe I got way too attached to an admin dashboard theme color compared to a normal person. Just…man, RIP Sakura. One of the best admin dashboard themes, in my opinion.
…wait, this isn’t a rant post about WordPress making decisions? Damn, I thought it was.
Anyway, welcome to today’s episode of “Sara Revisits the Show She First Watched When She Was 11”. Yes, I absolutely refuse to stop bringing that fact up. If I have to live knowing that I first watched this series when I was 11, you do too. So, what do we have on our watching block this time?
EPISODE 12: Ayumi-chan’s Abduction
Anime Original or Manga Sourced?: Manga sourced, Chapters 81 through 83
Is this my first time experiencing this story?: No
Ah, yes. This episode. Now I remember what we’re dealing with here. This is certainly going to be a fun episode to write about. It sucks that I’m going to have to try and stay tight-lipped about the ending of this episode, as I think it’s one of the funniest endings in the series by far…at least if we only use episodes that I’ve seen recently. There may be examples of episodes that have a funnier ending than this one that I just don’t recall off of the top of my head, but trust me, you’re going to want to watch this episode once you’re done reading my writeup so that you can understand exactly why I say that.
Anyway, the episode begins with Conan providing a deductive explanation regarding how someone messed up their hiding spot, sounding like one that you wouldn’t expect to hear from an elementary schooler…only to end off with the childishly obvious “I can see you”. Shrunken high school detective, everyone.
As it turns out, Conan is a menace when playing hide and seek (detective themed) with genuine first graders, if that scene in this episode (as well as Genta’s complaint afterward) are any indication. Again, shrunken high school detective. However, after using the newly minted Detective Boys Badge to tell Ayumi to get over to where the boys are. They decide to do another round, with Genta being the seeker. Conan himself ends up hiding in the lap of an older man who’s reading a newspaper. I never really did hide and seek when I was younger, is this considered as a valid strat? Or would Conan’s strat here be considered cheating?
Anyway, there’s two things that occur with this newspaper and Conan. Not only does Conan use his saliva to make a hole in the newspaper to look through to the other side. Rude, that dude was reading that. 
However, Conan also notices a story in the newspaper that talks about a criminal that’s been kidnapping little girls and killing them. Ayumi comes over looking over the newspaper, and while she’s reasonably scared of the fact that there’s a murderer out going after little girls like herself. However, she feels like she has nothing to worry about with Conan nearby, as she feels like he’ll always protect her.
…oh yeah, I think this was the case in the manga that fully cemented the whole “love shape” that was in the league prior to that person joining them, just in case that case with the gold wasn’t solid enough proof already. Yeah, I know my name censorship here isn’t really necessary, but I want to try and reflect what knowledge I knew at the time that I originally watched this episode. I forgot if I did that in the past or not, but if not, screw it, I’m doing it now.
Anyway, Genta comes upon the hiding spot, and finds Conan. While Genta also heard Ayumi, Conan manages to buy enough time to get Ayumi to go find another hiding spot. Genta also manages to find Mitsuhiko, with Mitsuhiko joining Conan on the bench, where we get the conversation that shows that Mitsuhiko has a crush on Ayumi.
Ayumi herself does find another hiding spot…the trunk of a stranger’s car.
Okay, that has to be an illegal hide-and-seek strat, right? There’s no way that’s considered a legal strat, right? Again, I never really played hide-and-seek as a kid, so I don’t know what’s legal strat versus illegal strat. Not even a fault of the series, as this is just what jump-starts the case, I just never really had this childhood experience. My childhood experience was more like…swings and the monkey bars. Well, I know swings for sure. I can’t fully recall anything else, though.
After Conan and Mitsuhiko’s conversation, we also get to see Conan tuning up his Solar-Powered Turbo Skateboard! While it’s not a common gadget of Conan’s in the manga, it’s a regular part of Conan’s arsenal in anime original content. Especially the movies. I cannot wait to start talking about the movies.
Of course, despite how hard Genta looks, he can’t find Ayumi in her new hiding spot…though it probably doesn’t help that the car literally drove off. The episode then follows Conan, Genta, and Mitsuhiko as they use Conan’s badge to communicate with Ayumi, while using the skateboard to try and catch up with the vehicle that she’s in. She makes discoveries in the trunk that give the impression that she ended up with the person behind those little girl murders. And while the skateboard breaks after running into the car, the truth about the men in the car comes to light.
Damn it, my insistence on not talking about the ending is also preventing me from talking about the post-credits scene. I’d say that for what the kids did, it’s a pretty fair exchange. It really sucks that I can’t go into more details about it, but trust me, it’s great.
This is another banger from classic Detective Conan, and I’m glad that it got adapted, even if I have my complaints about its adaptation order. As for next time…oh, we finally get to touch a case from a volume that up until now you probably thought was forbidden…as well as getting to read me rage over decisions TMS made!
Also, sorry for no episode screenshots this time, I’m still too distraught about the fact that I’m going to be losing the WordPress Sakura admin dashboard theme.
Previous Post: Episode 11
Next Post: Episode 13 (October 7th, 2026 at 12 PM [PDT])
Return to the Sara Watches Detective Conan – Manga Sourced Episodes page
Leave a comment