Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to Sherlock Hound, which most recently obliterated my expectations via its first Hayao Miyazaki-directed episode. Sherlock Hound has been a gripping and visually splendiferous experience from the start, but with Miyazaki and a great number of his future Ghibli associates attached, the show bloomed into film-tier aesthetic brilliance, offering countless sequences of vivid action and character acting.
Nearly all of the episode’s key positions were filled by long-time Miyazaki associates, from animation director Yoshifumi Kondo (Whisper of the Heart) to director of photography Hirokata Takahashi (Castle in the Sky). And of course, Miyazaki’s own storyboards served as an ideal venue for all these artists, bringing Sherlock’s world to life with more energy and cinematographic allure than ever before. In the escapades of Moriarty and his associates, we saw shades of classic Lupin III, as well as Miyazaki’s abiding love of great and clamorous machines. In the gestures of Sherlock’s tiny employer, we glimpsed the carefully observed body language of My Neighbor Totoro’s heroines. Miyazaki is globally renowned for his film work, but through Sherlock Hound we see that he and his team could spin gold even amidst the mercenary conditions of television animation.
Of course, a great work of anime is more than just a list of famous names. Collectively, this team feels perfectly at home in Sherlock Hound’s whimsical reality, elevating the often dry elaboration of Doyle’s stories into rip-roaring adventures. Doyle’s mysteries are here adorned in clackety-clacking machinery and feverish chase scenes, bedecked in all the passions of their adaptors, but still emanating the fundamental narrative pull of his own imagination. It’s a marvelous fusion of talents, and I’ve surely raved about it to the point of tedium by now, so let’s not waste another moment. Onward, into the continuing adventures of Sherlock Hound!
Episode 4
In spite of its overall bounty of animation, only that one cut of Sherlock and the gang racing for the train was actually featured in the opening, meaning we’ve still got all these other spectacularly realized setpieces to look forward to. Kinda hoping we get that plane-catching adventure this time, but I’m very much on board for any of these capers!
“Mrs. Hudson is Taken Hostage”
Oh my god, what an amazing first image. We see our good friend Moriarty up to his old tricks again, this time wearing a goddamn chimney as a disguise as he creeps across a rooftop. Truly he is a master of both trickery and invention
Frankly, like most other things in the original stories, Moriarty’s original menace was conveyed almost entirely through exposition. And beyond that, he only appeared in one story, the same story in which he died – there’s simply not that much original material to work with when it comes to the full nature of Holmes’ nemesis, so it falls to any given adaptation team to flesh out his character in their own way. And of course, for this Miyazaki-helmed work of quasi-steampunk, quasi-Lupin adventure, you want Moriarty’s strengths to play into the strengths of the world you’re designing – thus, Moriarty is reframed as both a master tinkerer and an imposing physical specimen, allowing the threat he represents to be articulated visually, through his aggressive movement and array of machines
Having been twice foiled by Holmes, Moriarty is officially sick of this shit, and is planning an operation to take down Holmes directly
As always, I appreciate the wild cacophony of background objects adding all this lived-in texture to Moriarty’s hideout. They even animate a fly lazily wandering between him and his minions, a nice artisanal touch
Moriarty’s expression work is so devilishly exaggerated, too. His massive nose that almost overwhelms his eyes feels like a precursor to later designs like the witches of Spirited Away
Moriarty has zeroed in on Holmes’ weakness: his crush on Mrs. Hudson
At the apartment, Holmes has made a royal mess with his chemistry set, and appears to be almost sleep-walking, stating “my brain would begin to rot without work.” I’m happy to see we’re getting more of this side of Holmes – rather than a generally accomplished and theoretically dashing heroic figure, the Holmes of Doyle’s stories is largely driven by obsession, and tends to fall apart whenever he doesn’t have a clear and enticing task before him. It’s always clear that the brilliance which shines so brightly in the course of his deductions has essentially replaced his ability to live any sort of normal life
Welp, there’s our second intro cut – Holmes and Watson storming down the stairs, only to be caught up short by Mrs. Hudson’s arrival
Mrs. Hudson is knocked out by sleeping gas and spirited away in a coffin. It’s actually quite a nice scheme, with a coffin presumably raising less suspicion than most similarly human-shaped compartments
“I can still smell some tranquilizer here.” Holmes’ chemical experiments reaping immediate dramatic dividends. This episode’s doing an excellent job of conveying the quick wits of both its dueling masterminds
Omigosh, Moriarty’s ransom note comes with a little self-portrait doodle, it’s adorable
“Don’t accuse me of killing her! My murders have never been successful before!” Moriarty and his goons are delightful
In true Lupin fashion, basically all of their discussions eventually devolve into them chasing each other around the room and smacking each other upside the head
Tall Minion has developed a crush on Hudson as well, and will brook no disagreements on their considerate treatment of their new guest
“If you behave, I won’t kill you.” A threat that’s significantly undercut by his polite offer of brandy or coffee
“If I have to stay here for a while, can I at least clean up?” Oh my god, she’s going to domesticate the lot of them. This episode is so good
In exchange for Mrs. Hudson, Moriarty asks Holmes to steal the Mona Lisa
Excellent outraged expressions for both Holmes and Watson as they hear this news. This episode is definitely lighter on incidental character animation than the previous one, with nothing like that staggering initial sequence at the bank so far, but what it lacks in total fluidity it significantly makes up for in strong storyboarding and expression work. To say nothing of how entertaining the base premise of “Mrs. Hudson is captured by Moriarty, but ends up swiftly running his house” is
And of course, Moriarty reveals the painting plot to Lestrade, hoping to get Holmes put away for good
Back at the hideout, Hudson has entirely cleaned up the place, and taken full command. “I’ll serve dinner shortly, so put your hat and cape on the rack”
She’s even compelled the other minions into politeness. A clean home begets clean morals, I suppose
I love all the incidental Moriarty-appropriate wall decorations they’ve put up, like his collection of fake mustaches, or his most impressive counterfeit bills
This episode is more than succeeding in making Moriarty adorable. His tearful thanks at dinner are immediately supplemented by a charming character acting display, as he nervously wails into his pillow while hoping for success in his scheme. This sequence is a case study in how animation can evoke personality and engender feelings of sympathy – he comes across so clearly as goofy, earnest, and vulnerable
Also more great background art. I like the deep violets they’re using to portray London at night
Damn, here we go. We get some impressive crowd sequences as we arrive at the art museum
Watson deploys rats into the crowd, allowing Holmes to steal the painting in the commotion
Love the setting for their handoff. The late afternoon light paints an ominous orange glow over the proceedings, while still highlighting the inherent beauty of this riverside venue. When you’ve got background artists this good, every scene feels so generous and inviting. The move towards CG-derivative background art may be economically necessary, but it sure does undercut many shows’ holism and beauty of aesthetic
Of course, the stolen painting was just a copy – Holmes merely made Moriarty think the painting was stolen, by covering it with a piece of paper
“Will you really cross this river to pursue me!?” “Dude, the river’s like three inches deep”
And in the end, Hudson shares a tearful goodbye with the scoundrels, having had an altogether delightful kidnapping
And Done
I kinda knew where that was going from the moment Mrs. Hudson awoke in captivity, and was more than happy to be proven correct. “Hostage swiftly forces her jailers to get their shit together” is an abidingly charming trope, and Miyazaki and company executed it with ample personality and flair. It seems like Moriarty and his goons are actually the staff’s favorite characters – their anxious buffoonery provides an ideal canvas for personality-rich character acting, making me almost feel sorry for the scoundrels. Holmes and his allies did fine work this episode, but Hudson and Moriarty undoubtedly stole the show. Excellent work, villains!
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