English Dub Review: Moriarty the Patriot Season One Part One

 

Overview:

During the late 19th century, Great Britain has become the greatest empire the world has ever known. Hidden within its success, the nation’s rigid economic hierarchy dictates the value of one’s life solely on status and wealth. To no surprise, the system favors the aristocracy at the top and renders it impossible for the working class to ascend the ranks.

William James Moriarty, the second son of the Moriarty household, lives as a regular noble while also being a consultant for the common folk to give them a hand and solve their problems. However, deep inside him lies a desire to destroy the current structure that dominates British society and those who benefit from it.

Alongside his brothers Albert and Louis, the trio will do anything it takes to change the filthy world they live in—even if blood must be spilled.

Our Take(Possible Spoilers):

Moriarty the Patriot gives us a unique look at a villain from one of the most popular literary figures. We get to see almost everything from his point of view. The latter half of the season does kind of shift more to Sherlock’s point of view. But I think the show does a great job of setting up Moriarty’s motivations and why he does what he does.

To be honest I kind of get it and it’s scary to say I notice a lot of parallels to modern society. Sure we don’t have nobles but there will always be people above others taking from the less fortunate. Moriarty and his brother were penniless orphans until they were taken in by Albert Moriarty, so they have a first-hand taste of exactly how cruel society can be.

Albert wants to change society and goes to great lengths to do so. Even enlisting the help of the orphaned brothers to kill his corrupt family. That is how they get the names William and Louis Moriarty respectively. It’s a really unique path to go down with the story and I really like how everything plays out.

We know that Moriarty is ultimately the villain in this story but after seeing the people he helps it’s hard not to root for him. Whether it a noble who kills young boys, a noble who hunts commoners, or one who refused to help his gardeners’ sick child. They all get what’s coming to them because of Moriarty. It really shows how people can get a following if they help enough people. Is murder the best way to meet out justice? Definitely not but most times they are given little choice.

If you are as big a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories as I am this show is a must-watch. You might be thinking that since the series focus is on Moriarty that there isn’t much room for Sherlock. Well you’d be wrong, Sherlock gets plenty of screentime and this rendition of him is pretty interesting in my opinion. There is one arc where Sherlock and Moriarty even work together to solve a case. Their dynamic in that arc is really interesting, can you imagine Batman and the Joker working together?

I was wondering how the eventual dub of this would go. Would they have the actors do English accents or no? They went with it, and honestly, everyone does a great job. Aaron Dismuke as William does really well. I never got to hear him try any accents but he pulls it off really well. Emily Nieves plays William when he’s younger and I have to say she does a phenomenal job. We only get a little time with her as the young William but it leaves a huge impression.

Theo Devaney gets the role of Sherlock and I loved him. I looked him up and other than a few video games this seems to be his first big voice acting role. Mostly known for TV shows and movies I was really impressed. It’s hard to voice act but he did a great job of bringing a very popular character to life and did the character justice as well.

The opening and ending songs are fantastic and have been on my playlist for months. The opening song fits better with the Victorian setting than the ending song. The opening song is “Dying Wish” by Tasuku Hatanaka and trust me it fits the theme well. The ending song is “Alpha” by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION, and if it doesn’t get stuck in your head I’ll be impressed. I could listen to “Alpha” on repeat for hours so definitely give them a listen when you watch.

Production I.G brings this show to life and they do an amazing job. The action scenes, though few, are really well done and flow well. They brought the characters to life from the manga really well. I have always liked this studio and this show is just another reason why. Some of the little nuances they add when things are supposed to feel ominous are awesome. They will usually add a flash of red and even make the character being featured have monstrous features.

This is just the first part and there is more to come. Since they dubbed this I imagine they will dub the second part as well. I just hope we don’t have to wait as long. Moriarty the Patriot aired in the Fall 2020 season and we just now got the dub. I know Funimation is behind on a lot of dubs cause of working from home so I get it. I just hope we get to part two sooner rather than later. Definitely give this show a try if you are into mysteries or especially if you are a fan of the Sherlock Holmes mythos.