It has been running for 32 years and shows no sign of stopping — but Gosho Aoyama has now confirmed that the ending of Detective Conan is not just planned in his head. The rough storyboard for the final chapter already exists on paper. On 16 August 2026, Aoyama told a Nippon TV crew: “最終回のネームは書いてある” — “The final chapter’s ネーム (rough storyboard) has been written.” He added, with a laugh: “面白いよ” — “It’s interesting.”
What “ネーム” Means — and Why It Matters
In Japanese manga production, a ネーム (name) is the rough storyboard stage: penciled panel layouts, dialogue placement, and pacing — essentially the skeleton of a chapter before the final inking and artwork are added. It is the phase where the story’s structure is locked in. Aoyama is not saying the final chapter is drawn and sitting in a vault somewhere, but he is saying the creative decisions — how Conan ends, who did what, what the last page looks like — are committed to the page.
That laugh — “面白いよ” — is exactly what you would expect from a creator who has been dangling resolution in front of his readers for three decades. He knows we are desperate to find out, and he is clearly enjoying keeping the secret just a little longer.
The Nippon TV Interview
The disclosure came during a segment for Nippon TV’s 24-Hour TV Latest Information SP pre-show broadcast on 16 August 2026. The interviewers were SixTONES member Keisuke Kyomoto and singer Chanmina, both self-described Detective Conan fans, who visited Aoyama’s studio for the special. The conversation was reported by Oricon News (Japanese), Livedoor News, and Nikkan Sports. No English-language outlet had covered this statement at the time of writing.
Where the Series Stands
Detective Conan began serialisation in Weekly Shōnen Sunday (Shogakukan) in January 1994. Volume 108 shipped in April 2026. The manga follows genius high-school detective Shinichi Kudo, who is shrunk into a child’s body after being poisoned by a criminal organisation — and has spent more than 1,000 chapters methodically picking apart cases while keeping his identity secret from nearly everyone around him.
No publication timeline for the final chapter has been given. But the fact that the ending is already storyboarded means this is now a question of when, not if.
What This Means for Singapore Fans
Conan has a devoted following here that spans generations — the anime has been a fixture of after-school TV viewing across Asia for over two decades, and the annual theatrical films regularly perform well at Singapore cinemas. Knowing that Aoyama has the ending drafted is both exciting and, for long-time fans, probably a little bittersweet.
The series will keep going for now, and the annual films will keep coming — the 2026 movie was released in Japan over Golden Week and has since opened across Southeast Asia. But somewhere in Aoyama’s studio there is a sheet of paper with the last words Shinichi Kudo will ever say. That is not nothing. Keep up with more manga news as the final arc draws closer.