From the perspective of someone who has never read the Holmes series Catch me if you can Mr. Holmes William James Moriarty Unless youve been asleep during English class as I have or just have been living under a rock again as I have youve definitely heard of Sherlock Holmes. But in case you actually dont know who or what Sherlock Holmes is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle published in 1892 featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes trying to correct social injustices by offering a new fairer sense of justice all written in the firstperson narrative by Holmes counterpart Dr. Watson. These stories were very well received and are known today as the staple of great detective fiction. So whats this anime series relation to the original Boyles Sherlock Holmes? Yuukoku no Moriarty or its English counterpart name Moriarty the Patriot is nothing short of a love poem to the original Sherlock Holmes series. But instead of taking an approach we see in other Holmesrelated media by adapting different stories from the original books or making noncanon stories around Holmes it takes an original take on the Holmes franchise by adapting an already preexisting story by making the villain more specifically William James Moriarty the protagonist of the story. Professor William James Moriarty is a criminal mastermind behind many of the evil that happens in London. Unlike many other Sherlock Holmes villains he goes undetected because he is never in direct contact with any of his accomplices. Holmes even acknowledges Moriarty as his equal and to quote Holmes in the novels he is a genius a philosopher an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless like a spider in the center of its web but that web has a thousand radiations and he knows well every quiver of each of them. Even though Conan Doyle the author of the original Sherlock Holmes series managed to create such a potentially great and compelling villain to the franchise Moriarty was left underutilized and only appeared in two chapters of the canon. But even in those two chapters Moriarty made his mark on the Holmes franchise by proving himself to be the most dangerous criminal Holmes has ever encountered for his intelligence and cunning nature that was rivaled by only Holmes himself. Under these circumstances what does any avid Sherlock Holmes fan do with some writing and drawing talent? This anime series is the perfect answer to that question. The series starts by introducing us to corrupt London where the rich stay on top while the poor get gutted and exploited by those same rich people and our antihero protagonist William. We begin to see Williams cunning wit when he acts as a consultant to the poor and rich even as a child. His soontobe brother Albert James Moriarty notices him and chooses for William to be his new adoptive brother after his father asked him to choose an adopted child to gain a better reputation within the firstclass you see where this is going? And because of this class divide William gets mistreated by his new family members but eventually gets his revenge by enlisting the help of and essentially manipulating the remaining Moriarty brothers to burn their house for the exploitation and mistreatment of the lower classes. Even though William did a terrible deed by murdering his adoptive family in cold blood was his motivations wrong? Thats the question thats brought up multiple times through the anime as he continues fighting for justice for the lower class soon the main driving force for the climax of the twocour series. Although I do not want to address anything more because this anime is truly spectacular and new watchers should go in without much of what goes on Production I.G does a nearflawless job of both being a perfect complement to the original tale and a great standalone series by outlying and highlighting James Moriartys origins motivations and builds up perfectly to the climax of the story we will get in the second season: the clash between the wits of Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty. The production value also heightens the tension with the great action animation and moving shots along with unforgettable facial expressions the theme colors of the backgrounds and characters blend in the dark red colors of cunning evil and the dark green glum of London setting the storys tone perfectly. And as someone who has never experienced the Holmes series himself minus a few movies I can confidently say this is all Ive ever wanted from a series like this. I will be eagerly waiting for its continuation in the spring hungry for more.