There are several anime that emphasize animated visuals with relatively ordinary story ideas, there are also anime whose storyline is good, but the visuals are not very interesting to watch. However, anime from Japan is one of the works of art and entertainment media that is currently loved almost all over the world, with its advantages and disadvantages. Many of the anime that are currently being released come from the popular manga, which is then adapted into anime, but some make original anime without any previous manga.
The anime discussed this time is Kabukichou Sherlock which is an original anime from Studio Production I.G which aired around October 2019 to March 2020. I found this anime while hunting for a mystery anime that was released several years ago for me to watch during my holidays, I always like anime mystery or detective genres such as Detective Conan, Death Note, Moriarty the Patriots, and other anime with similar genres, the anime I am discussing this time has 24 episodes where each mystery or murder case is completed in 1 episode.
Kabukichou Sherlock tells the story of an area in the Shinjuku district of Japan called Kabukichou where there are lots of bad incidents there like murders and people having problems with the law. The police and detectives there are busy with crime cases that arise all the time, so they need the help of private detectives Sherlock Holmes is the person the police need to solve the cases in Kabukichou.
When I first watched this anime, I liked the character design of Watson, and was disappointed with the appearance of Sherlock in this anime, because my expectations for Sherlock Holmes were high from the start when I watched anime related to Sherlock.
My expectations faded again when I found out that this anime was not that serious as the episodes progressed, there were many comedy elements presented by Sherlock with his strange behavior, and his actions when uncovering mysteries were something unique to me about this anime. Sherlock Holmes is indeed a strange and unique character, but in the Kabukichou Sherlock anime, he looks more eccentric and humorous with a style that I think is unique. Even though Sherlock in this anime is a little absurd, his deduction and analysis skills are still sharp with his eccentric style, but I just felt a little strange when watching the first few episodes until I finally got used to the uniqueness of Sherlock Kabukichou. Even though there are many comedy scenes, this does not make the mystery that Sherlock has to solve trivial, they are faced with Jack the Reaper, who from the start, the cases he faces are connected to each other.
There were some that I didn't expect that there would be a plot twist that was a bit surprising to Sherlock and Watson and everything connected to them. I enjoyed this anime even though at the beginning, I underestimated it because Sherlock's figure was below my expectations, but as the story progressed, I was waiting for Sherlock to reveal the mystery in the traditional Japanese Rakugo style (if I'm not mistaken). The appearance of Sherlock's nemesis in Kabukichou was the plot twist that I least expected and made my rating for the anime increase by tens of percent because the story of James Moriarty's meeting with Sherlock created an undeniable climax.
When I saw this anime, which is an original work from Production I.G, I imagined rich and indulgent visuals like Physho Pass, Haikyuu and Moriarty the Patriots, but when I watched Kabukichou Sherlock, I was not too satisfied from a visual perspective, even though the sparkling depiction of Shinjuku and Kabukichou was quite interesting and similar to the original but I feel the studio didn't maximize the visuals in this anime, this is just my personal opinion. Overall I like this anime even though there are some things I don't like, but this is just my personal preference, maybe it can be different from other opinions because I already think that Sherlock Holmes is a complex and maximalist figure, so when I see there is an anime with a Sherlock theme with a unique and distinctive version The Japanese elements will be more varied, because many anime with a Sherlock detective theme take European or Western elements.
Everything I wrote in this post is my personal opinion as a viewer of Kabukichou Sherlock, maybe if you watch it you will have a different opinion from me so we can discuss in the comments. I like anime with mystery and detective themes, the anime I am reviewing this time is one that I like even though there are some aspects that are lacking, but it is still suitable to add to your watch list if you are looking for anime references with a similar genre.
