Detective Conan: Using Hypnosis to Become a Hidden Ace on the Black Side

[Pure Black, No Defections, No CP] The protagonist, Red Gingham, didn’t take the A drug. He’s simply a child with a relatively mature personality. Although he is also a young master of the Black Organization, its inner workings are darker and more tense overall. There is none of the indulgence you’d find in a daycare; instead, its members distrust, exploit, and counter one another.

The Black and Red sides are evenly matched, and neither side loses its wits. There are no fantastical elements; everything will be explained as scientifically as possible. This is not a power fantasy, nor is it a traditional “everyone’s favorite” story in which both sides dote on the protagonist. (I honestly can’t understand how a character can be adored by both opposing sides while remaining firm in their loyalties.)

Even when there are feelings involved, they are all one-sided crushes. (The protagonist is a child, so leave him alone.) The story focuses on outsmarting opponents; the protagonist is not a fighter. The Black side is loyal to darkness, not to any particular person, but that also means there is a possibility of a power grab.

The A drug’s seemingly immortality-granting effects mean that even if the undercover agents know all the organization’s crimes, they can’t take it down in one fell swoop. They can only quietly watch the progress of the drug research.

Somehow, word of the drug’s shrinking effect reached the higher-ups, so they sent Red Gingham, who was already a child, to infiltrate the Red side.

He is to monitor and observe the physical condition of those who have shrunk after taking the A drug, to aid future drug development, while also providing Gin with reliable intelligence to prevent those Silver Bullets from interfering.