The villain from Sherlock Holmes is re-framed as a righteous young avenger out to deliver his own delivish brand of karmic justice, the law be damned.
Is Moriarty the Patriot good?
Moriarty the Patriot feels like it has the potential to be a greatly thought provoking anime, and this first episode certainly wasn’t a bad start. Moriarty is a character with a gray morality: he catches and executes-by-proxy a rich predator with an eye for young boys. It’s suitably edgy and doesn’t really frame Moriarty as anything other than a champion of the people, a cosmic avenger, but sooner or later, the show has to question his sense of justice if it’s going to go anywhere. Just like in Death Note, Light begins by preying on criminals, only to become consumed by his power, Moriarty’s fall could be just as spectacular. I particularly like his character design: a blonde, attractive young man, with blood-red eyes. This is definitely one to keep an eye on: a story that could build itself into something really special.
Anime like Moriarty the Patriot
Moriarty the Patriot director Kazuya Nomura’s previous project was Run with the Wind and if this ends up being anywhere near as good as that, then I can’t grumble. Run with the Wind, an anime about running and so much more, is the kind of story that keeps me watching anime after all these years.
Now, I must admit, I’ve never been one for the Sherlock Holmes-type stories, but even I know there’s been any number of gender-flipped and anthropomorphic Sherlock anime over the years (that I simply haven’t seen). I remember being impressed by the gothic atmosphere of Black Butler, another pretty-boy anime set in Victorian England, whilst the way that Moriarty is happy to play judge, jury and executioner suggests that we’re in for journey down a rather dark and vengeful path, perhaps a bit like Monster (and well, Moriarty looks a bit like Johan, doesn’t he? Even more so in promotional art where he’s holding a gun to his head in a strangely suicidal pose.)
How many episodes does Moriarty the Patriot have?
Moriarty the Patriot will have 24 episodes in total, but they will be split across 2 seasons. This first season will have 12 episodes, and the second season, which is set to begin in April 2021, will also have 12 episodes.
Leave a Reply