Moriarty the Patriot, Volume 3: 04/22/21

The English translation of Moriarty the Patriot, Volume 3 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi released in the second week of anime's second season. While the anime is jumping right into the Irene Adler plot, volume three instead revisits the relationship of Louis and William Moriarty.

Louis who was of frail health as a child is no longer as delicate. He has grown tired of being left out of his brothers' exploits. The Conan Doyle source material being repurposed for volume three is The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902). Rather than a paranormal dog, the monster is another aristocrat who is hunting people for sport. In this case, the prey are street children.

As I'm reading and watching the series simultaneously, I have to say I prefer the anime's restrained approached when it comes to the on-going atrocities of the ruling class. The violence perpetuated on the Baskerville estate is so twisted that the art is fetishizes the villains. I prefer the timing of the anime where the focus is moving to the government itself where Mycroft and Albert are working. I'm curious to see the fallout when William and Sherlock come to this realization or are forced to acknowledge it.

Volume four in English translation releases July 6, 2021.

Four stars

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