English Dub Review: Case File nº221: Kabukicho “See you in Kabukicho!”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Sherlock explains what he could gather about Moriarty’s hypnosis of the escaped criminals, namely how they would kill themselves if their names were said by either the police or himself, or if Sherlock asked them specifically about Moriarty. But through those he found, Sherlock also uncovered a secret message in the names of those hypnotized: “Look into the eyes of the PE”, likely referring to the pink elephant statue that sits atop Kabukicho. This leads them to an apartment where, if Moriarty is alive, he’s likely waiting there. Watson also explains that Carlyle told him about her last conversation with Moriarty, namely that she told HIM that Alex had known about Moriarty killing their mother since it happened but trying desperately to stay alive to keep him on the right path. So Watson tells Sherlock that Carlyle told Moriarty that Alex told Carlyle all that. Easy enough to follow, right? Unfortunately it all went out the window when Jack the Ripper killed Alex and then later when Moriarty killed Jack.

Sherlock and Watson enter Moriarty’s hideout, only to end up locked inside. Moriarty then starts feeding them instructions to get out, with clues to help them get through each of the rooms to the end, where what awaits them is a rakugo stage, with Moriarty seemingly alive behind some glass to hear the show. So, Sherlock gives his memorial performance for Moriarty, who is revealed to…still be dead. But they do at least have proof that clears Sherlock of his murder charges. Sherlock and Watson mourn their friend and return to the row-house, with all the detectives continuing their own respective journeys.

OUR TAKE

So after all of this build up and speculation that Moriarty might still be alive and messing with Sherlock’s mental state and him possibly slipping of the edge, it all culminates…in a fucking escape room. Moriarty is still totally dead and Sherlock was never really at risk of becoming a serial killer, he’s just his awkward self, which makes all the tension about that feel kind of overblown. As I said previously, we probably should have had more time focus on Moriarty (god, take a drink every time I’ve typed that here)’s downfall and maybe use the last episode here to be about Sherlock trying to uncover all of this, certainly not the last three. It did end with a rakugo performance, which has been this show’s notable gimmick to set it apart from the dozens of other adaptations, so at least it feels somewhat like an ending only THIS adaptation could have. But still ends up being pretty anti-climactic.

I feel like this show took a bit too much influence from the BBC show, namely in how much it overhypes the rivalry between Sherlock and Moriarty…and the obvious queerbaiting they do between Sherlock and Watson, but that’s pretty minor. Heck, even the ending of this mirrors the last moments of the BBC show, though thankfully this last arc wasn’t about Sherlock’s secret sister playing the violin. But another unfortunate similarity it shares is that the mysteries, or at least this last one, require information that the viewer could not possibly have to reach a conclusion that feels totally ridiculous. Why the heck did Moriarty (take a drink) make this escape room? How did any of those cyphers or jokes about fish and mice add up? What was the point of any of this if it was only supposed to end with Sherlock doing more rakugo?

Sadly, these are questions we will probably never get answers to, though honestly, I’m kinda glad I don’t have to think about this show anymore…at least until the recently announced six part OVA about Moriarty (take a drink) comes out. This has probably been one of the longest holdouts of the dub delays. The first episode came out in October and the last episode, Episode 20, before the delays in March, but we’ve finally gotten to Episode 24. Likely long past the point anyone who cared about a Sherlock anime would still care, but we can at least say we made it to the end. But now we must look up all the clues from the past couple dozen of stories and try to piece together what exactly the answer to this mystery was, and also, why was this made? Who was this for? Find out in the Season Review.