Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Heiji Hattori's profile

Harley Hartwell, known as Heiji Hattori (服部 平次 Hattori Heiji) in the original Japanese anime and manga, is a character of the anime and manga Case Closed, known in Japan as Detective Conan (名探偵コナン Meitantei Conan?).

Harley/Heiji is voiced by Ryo Horikawa in the original Japanese and Kevin M. Connolly in the English dub.

Hattori Heiji (Harley Hartwell)
Case Closed (Detective Conan) character
First appearance Diplomat Murder Case
Created by Gosho Aoyama
Voiced by Japanese: Ryo Horikawa
English: Kevin M. Connolly
Profile
Age 17
Gender Male
Known relatives Heizo Hattori (father)
Names of Harley Hartwell
Commonly used Japanese name Heiji Hattori
Kanji 服部 平次
Revised Hepburn Romanization Hattori Heiji
Name in English version Harley Hartwell

Character Information

Heiji is the son of Martin Hartwell (服部 平蔵 Hattori Heizō)[1] and Shizuka Hattori (服部 静華 Hattori Shizuka) née Shizuka Ikenami (池波 静華 Ikenami Shizuka)[2]. Both parents are expert in martial arts[3][4] and very traditional Japanese at heart.

Heiji (age 17) is known as the Detective of the West, while Shinichi Kudo is known as the Detective of the East [5], and has been a rival of Jimmy since "The Diplomat Murder Case"(#48&49) [6], where he was first introduced in the anime. As confirmed by Caitlin Glass, Harley is from Canada in the English adaptation of the show. However, in the English Manga, he is still from Osaka and the story still takes place in Japan. However, after Heiji finds out about the truth of Conan Edogawa being Shinichi Kudo in Holmes Freak Murder Case [7], the two detectives occasionally work together to solve cases, and Heiji once said "We're like brothers, we can share anything," in the original version. There is still some competitive feeling between them throughout the series, however, but the two eventually become good friends, as do their friends, Ran (Rachel) and Kazuha.

His deductive skills are from his father, who is the chief of police of the Osaka Prefectural Police Department[8], while his good humored character and skill in kendo comes from his mother. His favorite fictional detective is Ellery Queen[9].

He vaguely resembles Shinichi, only with darker skin, and sharper features. He has a childhood friend and love interest, Kazuha Toyama. Kazuha constantly worries over Heiji, even giving him a lucky charm with the words "Don't forget me idiot!" written on it. Ran teases Heiji and Kazuha, mainly because they remind her so much of herself and Shinichi. Despite his obvious crush on Kazuha, Heiji never actually realize it so far[10], unlike Shinichi, who realizes his own feelings for Ran and had actually planned to propose to Ran in one case[11]. He is able to ride a motorcycle, and in fact owns one [12].

The sport he likes to play is kendo, and he also has a rival named Okita in the kendo tournament who oddly looks like Shinichi Kudo and Heiji Hattori as a mix who comes in episode 263[13].

Name

The name "Hattori" comes from the historical figure Hattori Hanzo, a ninja of the Iga Clan from Hyōgo Prefecture in Western Japan. Hattori Hanzo was the head of Shogun Tokugawa's secret police force. His first name, Heiji, comes as a reference to a detective named Zenigata Heiji, who essentially caught the criminals by throwing coins. Another famous anime character that shares the name is Inspector Zenigata from Lupin the 3rd.

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