Moriarty the Patriot

is a Japanese mystery manga series written by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ''Sherlock Holmes'' series. It focuses on the youth of Holmes' nemesis, William James Moriarty. An anime television series adaptation by Production I.G aired from October 2020 to June 2021.

Plot

In the late 19th century, the British Empire has become a global power. Due to the strict class stratification, the average citizen has little chance of successfully rising up to the top, where the despicable nobility rules over them all. After Albert Moriarty's family adopts two orphans, William James and Louis James, he learns that they share a common hatred for the corrupt British nobility with William James calling himself a "crime consultant". They scheme together to kill Albert's cruel blood related brother, also named William, burn down the family estate, and then start a new life together aimed at using illegal means to destroy the class system which had plagued the country for centuries. While enacting an elaborate scheme to murder a noble who was hunting commoners, William James Moriarty encounters Sherlock, who is able to deduce a third party was involved in the murder. This piques Moriarty's interest in Sherlock and leads him to frame Sherlock for murdering a count to test his abilities.

Characters

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:The middle Moriarty brother and a crime consultant. He possesses great intelligence and uses it to come up with the perfect crimes in hopes of ending the class system and reforming society. He helps victims of class-influenced crimes get their revenge by setting up a crime scene where their victims do the killing without leaving any evidence of their involvement behind. William was originally raised in an orphanage before being adopted by Albert and assumed the identity of the real William after he was killed through one of his crime schemes.
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:The oldest of the Moriarty brothers. He is the only true Moriarty of the brothers as he adopted William and Louis after witnessing how broken his real family is and came to believe in William's dreams of remaking society.
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:The youngest of the Moriarty brothers. He was raised in an orphanage alongside William. As a child, he suffered from an unknown illness and would have died until Albert's father was manipulated into getting him life saving surgery, curing his illness. He is devoted to William and obeys his every order.
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:Moriarty's rival, he is a consulting detective who helps Scotland Yard with criminal cases that they can't solve.
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:Watson is a veteran who was a combat medic in the First Anglo-Afghan War as well as Sherlock's flatmate who helps him solve cases.
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:An associate of William's who is a master of disguise and martial arts, including the deadly use of knives and firearms. He acts as William's spy and information gatherer and very rarely speaks unless delivering the information he has gathered. Despite his withdrawn personality, at heart he is quite gentle and kind, especially around children and hates when children are the victims of crimes.
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:Sebastian is one of William's associates. A career soldier who was encouraged to leave the army after he began turning to a life of crime. He is a firearms expert, able to hit his targets at quite extreme distances, especially with rifles and acts as William's soldier, bodyguard and assassin. He has expressed a willingness to sacrifice his own life if William requires it and believes in his dream of a better society.
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:Sherlock's older brother.
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:They were with Holmes before and now with Moriarty, a professional in espionage and disguise, now permanently crossdressing as a man.
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;Ms Moneypenny
:She works as a secretary for MI6, while also being a close associate of the Moriartys.

Media

Manga

The manga series, written by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi, began serialization in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Jump Square'' on August 4, 2016. The series ended its first part on December 2, 2022. As of August 2022, it has been collected in eighteen ''tankōbon'' volumes. The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media.

A manga adaptation of the novel spin-off series written by Yōsuke Saita titled ''Moriarty the Patriot: The Remains'' will begin serialization in ''Jump Square'' on March 3, 2023.

Volume list

Stage play

Two stage musical adaptations ran in Japan between 2019 and 2020.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced at the Jump Festa '20 event on December 22, 2019. The series was directed by Kazuya Nomura at Production I.G, with Tooru Ookubo designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. Gō Zappa and Taku Kishimoto were in charge of scripts, and Asami Tachibana composed the music. This is the first time for Kazuya Nomura to be a director of an anime adaptation of a manga work.

While the first episode was pre-screened on September 21, 2020, the first half of the series officially aired from October 11 to December 20, 2020, on Tokyo MX, BS11, and MBS. The first opening theme, "DYING WISH", is performed by Tasuku Hatanaka, while first the ending theme, "ALPHA", is performed by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION. The series ran for 24 episodes, with the second half of 13 episodes airing from April 4 to June 27, 2021. The second opening theme, "TWISTED HEARTS", is performed by Hatanaka, while the second ending theme, "OMEGA", is performed by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION.

Muse Communication has licensed the anime in Southeast Asia and South Asia, which was streamed on its Muse Asia YouTube channel. Funimation also acquired the series to stream on its website in North America and the British Isles. On August 13, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on August 15. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.

A 2-episode OVA project has been announced. It was released on April 27, 2022.

See also

* '' All You Need Is Kill'' - a light novel, whose manga adaptation was written by Ryōsuke Takeuchi.
* '' St&rs'' – a manga series written by Ryosuke Takeuchi.
* ''Kanshikan Tsunemori Akane'' - a manga series written and illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi.

Notes

References

External links

Manga official website

Anime official website

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{{HolmesFilms

2022 anime OVAs
Anime series based on manga
Comics set in London
Crime in anime and manga
Crunchyroll anime
IG Port franchises
Muse Communication
Mystery anime and manga
Production I.G
Sherlock Holmes television series
Shōnen manga
Shueisha manga
Television shows set in London
Tokyo MX original programming
Viz Media manga
Works based on Sherlock Holmes