Created in the late 19thcentury 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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