Created in the late 19th
century by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, arguably the greatest fictional detective ever, remains as popular as ever. And there’s probably no other fictional
character that has been adapted and re-interpreted in more ways than him. This is just a testament of his timeless appeal (also, he’s on public domain).
I myself have been a Sherlock
Holmes fan ever since I read his original literary adventures as a kid. And acting on that fandom, I’ve also
deliberately looked into as many Sherlock Holmes adaptations and reimagings as
I could, and I’ve come to like several of them as well. The most recent example of such is Case File nº221: Kabukicho, also known
as Kabukichou Sherlock.
The 24-episode anime original re-imagines
Sherlock Holmes as a brilliant weirdo who loves rakugo (a form of Japanese
verbal entertainment) and who aspires to be a rakugoka (one who performs
rakugo). He is a member of the Detective’s
Row House, a group of detectives operating from and mostly within the Shinjuko
ward’s east side – i.e. the Kabukichou red-light district. A cabaret bar called Pipe Cat serves as their
base of operations, and its owner, Mrs. Hudson, is the one who introduces them
to clients and assigns their cases. Whoever
solves the case first wins the cash bounty.
Meanwhile, a peculiar experience has brought Dr. John H. Watson into
Kabukichou, and he hopes Sherlock Holmes can help him make sense of it. As usual of this character, he ends up becoming
Holmes’ partner, playing the “straight man” to his oddball genius.
Except for the ending (more on
this later), I love everything about Kabukichou
Sherlock. It’s one of the most fun
Sherlock Holmes re-imaginations I’ve ever encountered. Thus, it ended up tying Beastars as my favorite new show of the fall 2019 season (note: it also ran through the winter 2020 season).
However, it wasn’t always that
way. In fact, in the beginning, I
actually didn’t like it. I deemed it the
worst among all the new anime I picked up at the start of the fall 2019 season. I thought it was bizarre in an offputting way. When revealing how he managed to solve the
mystery, Sherlock Holmes transforms into a goofy (and bad) rakugoka. Mrs. Hudson is a transvestite. James Moriarty is Sherlock’s teenage friend. Jack the Ripper is out there committing a
string of murders. There’s much reliance
to zany twists and humor. Now, I
appreciate zany, but I felt it was too zany for my liking. I actually considered dropping it after the
pilot.
But then, I decided to watch at
least one more episode, and I was glad I did.
I don’t know what exactly happened, but everything clicked for me while
watching the second episode. I guess I
really enjoyed that episode’s unique spin of “The Adventure of the Red-Headed
League”, and the chemistry between Holmes and Watson became evidently endearing
to me. Moreover, it struck me: Sherlock Holmes
has always been known as an eccentric. So
even though this manifests differently with this anime’s version of the
character, he’s displaying eccentricity nonetheless, and thus, his characterization
is appropriate. In relation to this, the
original Sherlock Holmes had also been fond of conducting dramatic stunts when
revealing his solutions. So, this
version’s odd practice of using rakugo to reveal how he solves his cases is only
in line with that. Hinging on these
realizations, the other aspects of the show started working for me. I began to like its creative vision and all
its zany elements.
Soon, I found Kabukichou Sherlock to be a funny,
clever, and entertaining re-imagination of Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed its references to the source
material as well as its fresh ideas. I got
invested on its storylines – which are sometimes wacky, sometimes smart, but
always engaging – and was impressed by its well-executed twists-and-turns. Even though I was familiar with the source
material that I could predict how the overarching plot would turn out, the
writing did a great job in making me seriously consider – or, at least, root
for – a different direction. Thus, there
was still emotional impact when that thing I predicted did happen.
Most importantly, I grew to care
for its characters – both the new ones and the re-imagined ones. The Kabukichou gang embodies a wonderful sense
of community and kinship that serves as the emotional core of this show. Thus, when terrible things occur to upset
that sense of community and kinship, there’s genuine heartbreak to be felt.
Unfortunately, for such a great
show, it doesn’t have a great ending. The
final story arc is pretentious, as it gets a bit too ambitious for its own
good. It sets up hyped mysteries, but in
the end, it’s unable to deliver satisfying – let alone, mind-blowing – explanations. In fact, the show ends with a couple of plot
threads left untied (unless there’s a second season, which I doubt).
And yet, the poor finale didn’t
exactly ruin the show for me. First of
all, even BBC’s Sherlock – probably
the greatest Sherlock Holmes re-imagining ever (if we don’t count House M.D.) – didn’t always make sense. It was just so terrific and stimulating, that
we could easily forgive it whenever its conceits felt like borderline fantasy. And I guess that’s also true with Kabukichou Sherlock. Secondly, even though the ending is dumb and
disappointing in the cerebral sense, it does succeed in being emotionally
moving. The heart saved the show when
the intellect failed it.
In the end, as another
re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes, Kabukichou
Sherlock or Case File nº221:
Kabukicho is delightful, interesting, and notable. It has solid animation, lovable characters,
and a rewarding narrative (except the ending).
For the most part, it is a terrific comedy, a poignant drama, and a
gripping thriller rolled into one.
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