The Scarlet School Trip (Japanese: 紅の修学旅行, Kurenai no Shūgakuryokō) is the 290th story arc in the Detective Conan manga by Gosho Aoyama. This story arc was highly anticipated by fans because it commemorates the release of the 1000th chapter of the manga series. The story focuses on Shinichi Kudo's return to his original form in order to join a school trip to Kyoto, which ultimately leads him to become involved in a series of mysterious murder cases related to the Tengu legend.
Publication and Production
The first chapter of The Scarlet School Trip story arc was published as chapter 1000 of the Detective Conan manga. The arc ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine from issue 37–38, released on August 9, 2017, to issue 43, released on October 4, 2017, with a total of six chapters. Those chapters were later compiled into two tankōbon volumes, namely volume 94, released on December 18, 2017, and volume 95, released on October 18, 2018 in Japan. Volume 94 itself became one of the best-selling manga of the first half of 2018, ranking 14th. In North America, Viz Media localized and published both of these volumes on April 8, 2025 and July 8, 2025 respectively.
Anime Adaptation
The Scarlet School Trip story arc was adapted into Detective Conan anime in two one-hour special episodes, namely episodes 927 and 928. The first episode, titled Bright Red Arc (鮮紅編), aired on January 5, 2019, and the second episode, Red Love Arc (恋紅編), aired on January 12, 2019, through the Nippon Television Network System. This was the first time in three years since the Conan and Ebizo's Kabuki Jūhachiban Mystery special in 2016 that the series aired one-hour specials for two consecutive weeks. Both episodes received fairly high ratings, with Bright Red Arc earning 9.1% and Red Love Arc earning 9.2% in the Kanto region of Japan.
For these special episodes, the animation team conducted direct research in Kyoto to gather reference material, including photos and videos, in order to reproduce famous landmarks such as the Kiyomizu Stage (Kiyomizu Butai) realistically. The opening theme song for these episodes is "Barairo no Jinsei" (薔薇色の人生) and the ending theme song for episode 928 is "Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai" (きみと恋のままで終われない いつも夢のままじゃいられない), both sung by Mai Kuraki. As an additional special, Mai Kuraki herself also appears as a cameo in this anime adaptation. Episode 927 was directed by Yasuichiro Yamamoto, while episode 928 was directed by Minoru Tozawa and Akira Yoshimura.
Synopsis
Thanks to a series of APTX4869 antidotes given by Ai Haibara, Conan Edogawa is able to temporarily return to his original form, Shinichi Kudo, in order to join a school trip to Kyoto together with Ran Mouri, Sonoko Suzuki, and his other classmates. Haibara sets the condition that Shinichi must wait eight hours after the antidote's effect wears off before he can take the next dose.
Meeting with Keiko Kurachi and the Mysterious Cipher
At Kiyomizu Temple, Shinichi meets Keiko Kurachi, a famous actress and an old friend of his mother, Yukiko Kudo. Keiko, who is in Kyoto together with her university colleagues for a film titled Crimson Shura Tengu, asks Shinichi for help in solving a mysterious cipher. The cipher was sent to the film's screenwriter, Taro Nishiki, by their deceased friend, Michio Dekuri, who committed suicide some time earlier by jumping from the Kiyomizu Stage. Besides Nishiki and Keiko, this film production group consists of actor Shinya Ihaya, director Mineto Mayama, and composer Riki Agata.
A Series of Murders
That night, after Shinichi and his friends part from the film group, Nishiki is found dead in his hotel room. On the ceiling of the room there is a pool of blood resembling the "blood ceiling" (血天井, chi-tenjō) at Yogen-in Temple, complete with bloody footprints leading to the window, as if the perpetrator were a flying creature. In Nishiki's pocket a new cipher and an aralia leaf are found, which are often associated with Tengu. Not long after, Agata is also attacked by a Tengu-like creature in his room, but he survives.
The next day, while Shinichi and the others are having lunch together with the film group, a group of people wearing Tengu masks suddenly appears and causes a commotion in the street. It turns out they were hired by someone to divert attention. When the commotion dies down, they return to the restaurant and find Ihaya dead on the front veranda, with a wound on his neck and the same bloody footprints.
Case Revelation and Climax
With the help of Heiji Hattori, who comes to Kyoto, Masumi Sera, and Shinichi's father, Yusaku Kudo, Shinichi succeeds in solving the ciphers that were left behind. The ciphers turn out to refer to place names in Kyoto, and when put together, they reveal messages of murder. They realize that the actual perpetrator is Riki Agata, who wants revenge for the death of Michio Dekuri. Agata believes that Nishiki, Ihaya, and Mayama deliberately omitted Dekuri's name from the film credits because they looked down on and ignored him.
On the last day of the school trip, Agata tries to kill his final target, Mineto Mayama, at the Kiyomizu Stage. However, Shinichi and Heiji's plan is already mature. They have prepared a mattress under the stage so that Mayama survives the murder attempt. Agata, who is trapped, finally confesses and is arrested by police who have been disguised as visitors. After the arrest, it is revealed that there was a major misunderstanding. Dekuri's name had actually been included in the film credits, but because of a layout error on the producers' side, his name did not appear. His friends had planned to surprise Dekuri and Agata by correcting that error at the premiere, but Dekuri committed suicide before that happened.
Shinichi and Ran's Relationship
After the case is solved, in the midst of a relieved atmosphere, Shinichi stops Ran and asks about her feelings, recalling the moment when he confessed his love in London. In answer, Ran pulls Shinichi's necktie and kisses his cheek. Shinichi is about to return the kiss, but the effect of the APTX4869 antidote begins to fade, and he is forced to run away in order to hide his transformation back into Conan. He is then given a ride on a motorcycle by Heiji back to Tokyo. On the way, Ran sends a text message to ask about the status of their relationship, and Shinichi replies firmly that they are now officially dating.
Characters and Cast
The Scarlet School Trip arc presents a large number of characters, both from the main series and new characters for this case.
Regular characters who appear include Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, Sonoko Suzuki, Masumi Sera, Heiji Hattori, Soshi Okita, and Momiji Ooka. From the Kudo family side, Yukiko and Yusaku Kudo also appear to help solve the ciphers. Ai Haibara and the Detective Boys also appear in the opening scenes. In addition, this episode marks the first canonical appearance of Fumimaro Ayanokoji, the Kyoto police superintendent, along with his pet squirrel.
For this case's characters, those who play the crew of the film Crimson Shura Tengu are Keiko Kurachi (actress), Mineto Mayama (director), Taro Nishiki (screenwriter), Shinya Ihaya (actor), Riki Agata (composer), and Michio Dekuri (original story creator). The names of these characters are inspired by various types of Tengu in Japanese Shinto belief.
Release in Other Regions
In Taiwan, The Scarlet School Trip was released in theaters on November 20, 2020 by Muse Communication, as a substitute for the delayed screening of the 24th film due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In South Korea, the film was released in theaters by CJ ENM on January 27, 2021. In Thailand, TIGA released it in SF Cinema theaters on January 3, 2021.
References
Detective Conan World Wiki. "The Scarlet School Trip." Detective Conan World.
Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia. "The Scarlet School Trip." Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas.
Wikipedia. "The Scarlet School Trip." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
TEGASIAN. "Detective Conan: The Scarlet School Trip, Episode Spesial Penuh Misteri dan Romansa." TEGASIAN.