Yuko Ikezawa (Case Closed)

Yuko Ikezawa (Asako Dodo) is a minor villainess from "An Idol's Locked Room Murder Case", episode 1.03 of Case Closed (original airdate January 22, 1996, manga volume 1: Files 6-9). She was a snobbish pop singer and the rival of fellow pop star Yoko Okino, the two having started their careers around the same time. Prior to the episode's events, Yuko became furious when Yoko landed a lead movie role she was vying for.
Wanting to frighten Yoko and look for something to create a scandal for her, Yuko stole the spare key to Yoko's apartment from her dressing room and began regularly breaking in to search through her things, while also sending Yoko photos she took while following her and making anonymous phone calls to her to scare her.
When a dead man (later identified as Yoko's ex-boyfriend Akiyoshi Fujie) was found in Yoko's apartment, Yuko was brought in for questioning after one of her earrings was discovered under a sofa by Conan Edogawa. Upon arriving at the scene, Yuko immediately denied being the killer and pointed a finger at Yoko, mocking her rival receiving the movie role she'd wanted and boasting of how her career would be destroyed after the media branded her a murderer, laughing as she did so.
However, Conan was able to deduce that Yuko hadn't been completely truthful; she knew where the bathroom was and that a Statue of Liberty figurine Yuko had was a cigarette lighter, despite claiming to have never been in her apartment before. Caught, Yuko revealed how she had been stalking Yoko for the past two days and how she had been attacked by a man she didn't recognize (later revealed to be Akiyoshi himself) when she broke into the apartment earlier that day and fought against him before fleeing. In the end, Akiyoshi's death was revealed to be a suicide. He had mistaken Yuko for Yoko due to the two of them being similar from behind and he took her frighted reaction as a rejection and decided to killed himself in a matter that would frame Yoko for murder. When the truth was reveal, Yuko hung sadly with her head, perhaps in guilt for her role in the tragedy. Yoko decided not to press charges against Yuko out of sympathy for her.
== Trivia ==
* Yuko Ikezawa is the first true villainess in the Detective Conan franchise (without a Freudian excuse)
* In the English dub, Yuko is voiced by Gwendolyn Lau.
* Asako Dodo also provided the voice of evil conspirator Eiko from a Season 4 episode of Case Closed.
* Gwendolyn Lau (Yuko's English dub actress) also voiced Case Closed villainess Hitomi Sasaki.
Category:1990s
Category:Anime Villainess
Category:Brunette
Category:Bully
Category:Callous
Category:Deceiver
Category:Evil Laugh
Category:Manga Villainess
Category:Show Business
Category:Thief
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Jealous
Category:Fur
Category:Fate: Karma Houdini
Category:Stalker