/rant
Hattori could have been done wrong. It could have come off as: Oh look, let me insert some bad-talking black Osakan in who thinks he's better than Shinichi into the series and then humiliate him. Think that he couldn't? That precious Gosho would never do such a thing?
Perhaps you've never heard of Magic Kaito. Or maybe just haven't seen Hakuba Saguru. His characterization basically consisted of being British (which should be an occupation, not characterization. but it became a stereotypical characterization instead of actual character development), trying to get the girl and thus being the rival to the hero. To add insult to injury he was then shown to be the son of a big head in the police, thus the unstated accusation: he's a spoiled rich boy who gets all the access to crime scenes he ever wants so he can play detective. His good looks nabbing all the ladies also has added to the process of being turned into a villain (see Melina Pendulum on Femme Fatales, it works the same way here only in male form). And then in Detective Koshien it was heavily implied if not shown that Hakuba is not as good a detective as the other Japanese detectives. Thus, Japanese=Superior! It's only b/c he's half-Japanese that he's any good!
Hattori, being Japanese, was not subjected to such blatant attacks. There were humorous elements added to his character, poking fun at the region but without the intent of defaming him entirely. His funny accent, oh haha he doesn't talk like he's from Tokyooo~! And his hot headedness! (I've had a Japanese person from Tokyo explain to our class how the accent sounds so much more harsh than the standard dialect). Of course, Japanese racism is still present in Hattori needing to tell to everyone and have it explained every time he shows up, "He got his dark skin from his grandfather!" As if that were terribly important, wouldn't want to find out he was Korean or anything, right Japan? 8D
But nonetheless because of his popularity, Heiji was not given the Hakuba treatment. He was given actual development, including his own girl, some badass sword fight scenes, some even more badass motor cycle scenes, and being best friends with the main character and the yin to his yang. (No homo, Gosho's not into that)
It could have been done wrong, I'm glad it wasn't.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying that all Japanese people are racist, I just think Gosho possibly is. I'm kind've sensitive toward that topic. I live in America. In the south. It's a big topic, s'all. I've thought about it a long time and had to get it out. And I'm not saying Detective Conan is all around bad, either. It has its limitations like any other series. I like Hetalia, so. Yeah. Racism. Lemme tell you about it. XD
Perhaps you've never heard of Magic Kaito. Or maybe just haven't seen Hakuba Saguru. His characterization basically consisted of being British (which should be an occupation, not characterization. but it became a stereotypical characterization instead of actual character development), trying to get the girl and thus being the rival to the hero. To add insult to injury he was then shown to be the son of a big head in the police, thus the unstated accusation: he's a spoiled rich boy who gets all the access to crime scenes he ever wants so he can play detective. His good looks nabbing all the ladies also has added to the process of being turned into a villain (see Melina Pendulum on Femme Fatales, it works the same way here only in male form). And then in Detective Koshien it was heavily implied if not shown that Hakuba is not as good a detective as the other Japanese detectives. Thus, Japanese=Superior! It's only b/c he's half-Japanese that he's any good!
Hattori, being Japanese, was not subjected to such blatant attacks. There were humorous elements added to his character, poking fun at the region but without the intent of defaming him entirely. His funny accent, oh haha he doesn't talk like he's from Tokyooo~! And his hot headedness! (I've had a Japanese person from Tokyo explain to our class how the accent sounds so much more harsh than the standard dialect). Of course, Japanese racism is still present in Hattori needing to tell to everyone and have it explained every time he shows up, "He got his dark skin from his grandfather!" As if that were terribly important, wouldn't want to find out he was Korean or anything, right Japan? 8D
But nonetheless because of his popularity, Heiji was not given the Hakuba treatment. He was given actual development, including his own girl, some badass sword fight scenes, some even more badass motor cycle scenes, and being best friends with the main character and the yin to his yang. (No homo, Gosho's not into that)
It could have been done wrong, I'm glad it wasn't.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying that all Japanese people are racist, I just think Gosho possibly is. I'm kind've sensitive toward that topic. I live in America. In the south. It's a big topic, s'all. I've thought about it a long time and had to get it out. And I'm not saying Detective Conan is all around bad, either. It has its limitations like any other series. I like Hetalia, so. Yeah. Racism. Lemme tell you about it. XD