In a recent interview with Bunshun, Gosho Aoyama revealed that he nearly ended Detective Conan manga due to persistant interference from the editorial department.
This revelation comes on the heels of Aoyama’s recent feature on the NHK documentary Professional: Shigoto no Ryuugi, which highlighted his creative process.
Aoyama shared that before Detective Conan transitioned to an animated feature film in 1997, he was on the brink of quitting the serialization in Weekly Shonen Sunday.
The intense pressure to come up with new cases weekly and the constant demands from the higher-ups in the editorial department had pushed him to his limits.
“It’s really tough coming up with new cases every week, isn’t it? Plus, the higher-ups in the editorial department were constantly telling me to do this or that, which I really hated. So, I decided to take a break with my assistants and we all went to Las Vegas.“
Aoyama had firmly decided to end the serialization upon his return from the trip.
However, a crucial phone call from the editorial department while he was still in Las Vegas changed everything. The call informed him that the animated movie adaptation of Detective Conan had been approved.
This development reignited Aoyama’s passion and commitment to the series as he always had a strong passion for movies, particularly animated films.
This wasn’t the first time Aoyama talked about the editorial interference and pressure.
In the Gosho Aoyama 30th Anniversary Book, published in 2017, Aoyama recounted a particularly disheartening incident during the serialization of Yaiba (1988-1993).
When an editor criticized a character’s facial expression, Aoyama asked the editor to demonstrate the desired look. In response, the editor crumpled up the storyboard paper, set it on fire, and threw it at Aoyama.
Aoyama made his debut as a manga artist with Chotto Mattete, which was published in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday in winter of 1987. Shortly after that, he began Magic Kaito in the same magazine. Magic Kaito protagonist Kaito Kuroba later appeared in Case Closed.
Between 1988 and 1993, Aoyama created the series Yaiba, which ran for 24 volumes. Later, he would release other manga series in single volumes, such as Third Baseman No.4 and Gosho Aoyama’s Collection of Short Stories.
Aoyama also designed the characters for the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter in the 1994 video game Live A Live.
Aoyama began serializing Case Closed in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on Jan 19, 1994.
Source: Bunshun