Fall 2020 Anime: Moriarty the Patriot

Synopsis

In the late 19th century, the British Empire nobility reigns while its working class suffers in their hands. Sympathetic to their plight, William James Moriarty wants to topple it all. Frustrated by the systemic inequity, Moriarty strategizes to fix the entire nation. Not even consulting detective Sherlock Holmes can stand in his way. It’s time for crime to revolutionize the world! (Source: Funimation)

Comments

In his book Save The Cat, author and scriptwriting consultant Blake Snyder argues that the “who” is never as interesting as “why”. When whodunit fictions treat the mysteries as a mere puzzle, whydunit treats them as the exploration of human heart. As a fan of detective mystery, I understand where this sentiment comes from. Not everybody loves puzzles but humans are always an interesting subject to discuss. What is their motive? What is their relationship? Why done it? Those are interesting questions to answer because they invite us to explore the human heart and show the dark side of human nature.

Which brings us to Moriarty the Patriot. The early part of the first episode feels like a straight-up whodunit mystery. Here, a noble William James Moriarty tries to solve serial murder cases that happen in town. His method is quite similar to what Sherlock Holmes usually does in his stories. Both Moriarty and Holmes reach the conclusion by collecting small clues that most people probably won’t notice. In a universe where he should be the villain, Moriarty acts pretty much like Sherlock.

It’s the latter half of the first anime that makes the story interesting. After he knows the culprit, Moriarty finally acts like Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes story. He chooses to give the culprit “justice,” but not in a way that’s expected to be. The first episode of Moriarty the Patriot feels like a classic whodunit. However, I can see the anime turns into a whydunit in the future episodes as we explore what is actually inside the head of a criminal genius named William James Moriarty.

In the novel, it was mentioned that James Moriarty isn’t really that different from Sherlock Holmes. It’s just they stand on the opposing side of morality. With that in mind, it’s not hard to reimagine the criminal mastermind as the detective himself: cold, fearless, and smart as Holmes ever does. By presenting the detective story from a criminal point of view, Moriarty the Patriot not only presents a classic detective story but also shows the dark side of the human heart. Moriarty the Patriot is clearly recommended for the detective mystery fans, though the story here is more like Dexter than the classic Sherlock Holmes.

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Screenshots and Trailer

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