憂国のモリアーティ

LIKE MY GAME REVIEWS THESE CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Life update: I am in a city 3 hours away for work this week. I brought my Switch but work has been so chaotic I haven’t gotten the chance to really sit down and game. Instead, I picked up a Crunchyroll subscription and used jimaku.cc for JP subtitles and started some shows instead. One of them is Moriarty the Patriot.

As a long-time Sherlock Holmes/anything Victorian England style fan myself, I’ve heard about and received recommendations about this show since it came out, but in the past few years I’ve shifted focus from anime to drama cd then otome gaming and haven’t been following anime at all.

My understanding is that this show is an adaptation of the manga. Given episode constraints a lot of the information/relationship building was abridged in the show, and the ending was changed as well.

Overall, this was a delightful return to anime. I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a lore fanatic, I especially loved how this show wove in various cultural references.

You start this show in the eyes of William/Liam Moriarty, who is the “second child” of the aristocratic Moriarty Family. The show does not shy away from using violent themes and scenes to catch your eyes quickly, as the grownup Moriarty punishes an aristocratic molester who kidnaps, rapes, and kills young boys from poorer families he crosses paths with. You start to get the idea he is some kind of vigilante. As a player of Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes game series this draws parallel to the decisions you get to make as Sherlock to either hand over the criminal to the justice system (which is not always just and favours the privileged class) or allow the victims to carry out their own form of bloody justice.

The next few episodes surprise you as William and Louis’ backstories are revealed: how they became adoptive children, abused, then finally able to replace the original family in order to achieve the dreams of the eldest successor of the Moriarty bloodline: Albert. My jaw was on the floor the entire time.

Albert is hands down my favourite character the entire show, because he is so sophisticated and sexy, aha, and voiced by Satou Takuya, what’s not to love. My least favourite colour is green but boy will I make an exception for him. I want all my fellow otome loving girlies to check out OVA2 if you decide to watch this series.

From a young age, William has an intense will to change the society and England as a whole – to “cleanse” this beautiful country of its evils and inequalities, through any means necessary. He is hopeful and pessimistic at the same time, both qualities in one man. He is obviously hopeful as he wouldn’t be doing what he is if he didn’t think change was possible. However, from the beginning he knew that only his death, and a lot of destruction, will the people wake up from continuing being slaves to this unjust society and a handful of “royal blood” aristocrats.

Sherlock was introduced rather late in the show with the two having a sparring match of the wits and immediately taking a liking to each other’s brains. Like the debut of the real character in the novel series, Sherlock’s first case was A Study in Scarlet with a few variations. Ultimately, he was put to the test to see if he will shoot Hope in order to learn the name of the “criminal mastermind”. Sherlock did not (though he kind of regrets it later on), and a satisfied William concludes he has passed the test. Had Sherlock proven himself someone who will reach his goal by any means, perhaps William would try to recruit him to his team instead of letting him play the “good guy” role who puts a planned end to the “criminal mastermind of London”.

The show then references a few other famous Sherlock cases including a variation of A Scandal in Bohemia which concludes with Irene Adler joining Team Moriarty under a new male identity James Bond with references of MI6 in the end of the anime. Bond became a strong supporting character of the crew in the future shows and was likeable.

A character that I felt was not necessary, however, was Milverton. Maybe he had more involvement in the manga (didn’t check), but in the entire show he just served to be an edge lord who wants to see good people turn evil and takes perverse pleasure out of it, then facilitates a meeting between Liam and Shelly then goes full clown moment gets shot and dies. There has got to be a better way to usher in the final showdown especially with William wanting to be caught. Just such an unnecessary character IMO and I groaned every time he appeared on screen.

Eventually the two main characters confront on London Bridge atop Thames River with them confessing their admiration for each other, and lamented on how they could have been friends in another timeline. Sherlock had wanted to save Liam even if Fred/Louis did not find and beg him to, but Liam concludes this is not possible, slashes Sherlock’s arm and disappears into the Thames water. Sherlock ensues.

The anime has similar but a more conclusive ending than the manga. From what I read the manga appears to have a post 3 year time skip period, with both Liam and Sherlock alive but in America (new arc?). In the anime, the two casually meet up as acquaintances in a mountain tavern in the Swiss Alps, and the show concludes.

Some people want a third season but I think this is the best place where they could have ended it. If anything they can release more OVA if there is more to milk out of this franchise but please do not go back and fix what is not broken and already complete.

Finally, it would not be an otome review blog if I didn’t go through the cast that would be familiar to many

William James Moriarty – Saitou Souma

Sherlock Holmes – Furukawa Makoto

Albert James Moriarty – Satou Takuya

Louis James Moriarty – Kobayashi Chiaki

Mycroft Holmes – Yasumoto Hiroki

John Watson – Ono Yuuki

Von Herder – Toriumi Kousuke (he is not even listed in the cast on MAL but the voice was so iconic and I confirmed it was him)

FINAL THOUGHTS

Art: 7/10 – Pretty

Voice acting/Cast: 9/10 – Saitou Souma wow!! Chef’s kiss

Plot: 7/10 – Enjoyable. Are there flaws? Absolutely? Do I care? no.

Verdict: 7/10

I would RECOMMEND this show if you

• Enjoy Victorian/European aesthetic
• Are here for the cast
• Am a fan of Sherlock Holmes/mystery
• Are not shy from some more mature (mainly violence) themes

It is by no means a masterpiece that leaves me thinking about where my life goes from here after completing the show, but it is a good fast-food esque pick-up and will bring you enjoyment!