Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rachel Moore, also known as Ran Mouri (毛利 蘭 Mōri Ran?)


Rachel Moore, known as Ran Mouri (毛利 蘭 Mōri Ran?) in Japan, is the 2nd protagonist of the anime and manga Case Closed, known in Japan as Detective Conan (名探偵コナン Meitantei Konan). Her Japanese name derives from Maurice Leblanc (From Mourisu Ruburan, according to Aoyama).

Rachel is a childhood friend of Jimmy Kudo. She is the daughter of private detective Richard Moore and Eva Kadan, a lawyer. Her parents separated when she was seven[1], and one of her biggest goals is to get them back together.

Rachel is the captain of the karate team of Teitan High School[2] and therefore is very powerful as demonstrated when she won her Regional Championship[3]. However, she gets easily frightened by the idea of ghosts or monsters because karate won't work on them. Besides that, she is also very lucky in gambling.

Rachel Moore and her father, as they appear in the manga

After Jimmy's disappearance, she meets Edogawa Conan along with Professor Agasa, who introduces him as a distant "relative" and asks if she wouldn't mind taking care of him at her house. She and her father practically adopt him, as Richard believes he is a good luck charm for helping him solve cases [4]. Rachel immediately comes to think of him as a surrogate little brother, without realizing that Conan is actually Jimmy. She also feels that Jimmy was very important to her.

In time, Rachel comes to suspect that Conan is actually Jimmy despite what her common sense would say, but he always manages to trick her and "prove" her wrong. This happens many times, and in one particular instance, she was so sure that her reasoning was correct until Jimmy (temporarily restored to his true age) appears at the same time as Conan (who was really Ai Haibara in disguise). Still, there seems to be a latent conviction remaining that Conan could indeed be Jimmy; this is hinted at by her increasingly trusting behaviour towards Conan throughout the series. Yet, mostly because of Sonoko's taunting, she also fantasies that Jimmy is with a brown/blond or strawberry blond-haired woman all the time - which is true to some extent, with the appearance of Ai Haibara in the series (though no romantic attraction is lost from Jimmy's side, as she occasionally imagines).Rachel is deeply in love with Jimmy and their feelings develop throughout the story.

Her greatest personality trait is that she is kind and genuinely cares for those she loves. She is described as being strong-willed and stubborn yet gentle. She also constantly tries to reunite her father and mother again - though with little success, thanks to the mutual stubbornness of both parents. She can be very brave and resourceful when she wants to be, and rescues Conan from trouble with her karate skills on occasion.

It is revealed in book 8 that she can play the piano well.(However, She just played Moonlight Sonata.) In addition, she appreciates fine art, is very good at cooking and household chores (unlike her mother), and looks after both Conan and her father. Mostly unbeknown to herself, she is sometimes popular with boys, making Sonoko jealous of her at some point.(But it is not sure because Sonoko might feel that.)

In chapters 350–354 of the manga and episode 286-288 of the anime, it is revealed that she and Jimmy had gone to the United States, New York at some point in the past to visit Jimmy's parents in New York. They meet his mother, and her actress friend, Sharon Vineyard, who is later learned to be Chris Vineyard in disguise, known as Vermouth in the Black Organization. Later that evening, Vermouth disguises as a serial killer to do work for the organization and is saved by Rachel and Jimmy who encounter her on their way back from a show. She had slipped and would have fallen to her death, but Rachel caught her arm and Jimmy helped her pull her to safety despite Vermouth's guise of a wanted serial killer that the FBI were apparently pursuing in the area. Due to this, she gives Rachel the nickname "Angel", and Jimmy the nickname "Cool Guy". Later in the anime/manga, Vermouth shows hesitance to kill Rachel and later Conan as well,[5] but whether or not it is because of any emotional attachment is unclear.


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