is an Italian-Japanese anime television series produced by RAI and Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Based on the character

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, almost all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic dogs. The show featured regular appearances of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

–

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

style technology, adding a 19th-century

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

atmosphere to the series. It consists of 26 episodes and aired between 1984 and 1985.

Production

The series was a joint project between Japan's Tokyo Movie Shinsha and the Italian public broadcasting corporation RAI.

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

worked on six episodes in 1982 until problems with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate led to a suspension in production. By the time the issues were resolved Miyazaki had turned to other projects, and thus the remaining series was directed by Kyōsuke Mikuriya. The show was finally aired in 1984. The same year, before their television debut, a film version of two of the episodes directed by Miyazaki ("The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" and "Treasure Under the Sea") edited together was released alongside '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' in Japanese theaters, entitled ''Meitantei Hōmuzu Gekijouban''. Another film, compiling "Mrs. Hudson Is Taken Hostage" and "The White Cliffs of Dover" episodes was released in 1986 alongside '' Laputa: Castle in the Sky''. Episode 3 of the series, "A Small Client", actually aired in the United States before it aired in Japan, as it was dubbed into English in 1982 (possibly commissioned by either TMS or RAI) and was broadcast on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

in November 1983 under the title ''The Adventure of Sherlock Hound''.

Music

Two pieces of theme music are used for the Japanese version: The opening theme is "Sora Kara Koboreta Story" ( "Story Spilled From the Sky") and the ending theme is "Thames Gawa no Dance" ( "Dance of the Thames River"), both performed by the Japanese duo, Da Capo. The series' international versions had a single piece of theme music for the opening and ending credits. The frequent soloists are Joe Farrell on

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

s and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(in his final recording) and

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...

on vibes. This English theme is not included on the UK DVD's from

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

, instead instrumentals of both the Japanese opening and ending themes were used.

Characters

; :; Elio Pandolfi (Italian) : Just like his original incarnation, he has a genius intellect and is extremely knowledgeable in multiple fields. He keeps a cool and logical head despite the situation. Unlike his original incarnation, however, his only drug habit is smoking a tobacco pipe. He keeps his apartment a mess and is regularly conducting chemical experiments that lead to clouds of noxious fumes. He also seems to have feelings for Mrs. Hudson, as does the rest of the male cast. He drives a

Benz Velo The Benz Velo was one of the first cars, introduced by Carl Benz in 1894 as the followup to the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, Patent-Motorwagen. 67 Benz Velos were built in 1894 and 134 in 1895. The early Velo had a 1L engine, and later a engine gi ...

. ; :; Riccardo Garrone (Italian) : Hound's loyal companion, he is a trained doctor who returned to England shortly before meeting Hound. He tries his best to help Hound as he can, but has difficulty at times keeping up with Hound, both mentally and physically, being a bit overweight. ; :; Cristina Grado (Italian) : Hound and Watson's landlady. In most adaptations, Holmes's long-suffering landlady is shown as middle-aged or older, but in this version she is a young comely widow and a love interest of many, including Holmes, Watson, and Moriarty (mostly Holmes), and given the first name . Her late husband Jim was a pilot and Hound finds her contacts in the world of aviation useful; many of the local aviators are also former buddies of Mrs. Hudson's late husband and/or have strong romantic feelings for the caring gentle-natured Mrs. Hudson herself, and so they are always eager to assist in any way she asks. Mrs. Hudson displays a serenely-dignified and level-headed personality comparable to Hound's; she can also be quite quick and resourceful herself when need be, plus she appears to be both an experienced high-speed driver and a crack shot with a revolver. Miyazaki actually wanted to present her as the real brains of Baker Street, running rings around both Hound and his enemy Moriarty, but he was overruled. ; :; Mauro Bosco (Italian) :Hound's archenemy. Unlike the rarely appearing

mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

donnish Moriarty in the books, this Moriarty is portrayed as working personally on his plans without any sort of support network and frequently encountering Hound and his allies, being the main antagonist in the majority of the episodes. Still an intellectual, he is a master inventor, often the one responsible for the

steam punk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

technology seen in the show, including his personal "steam car", a tractor and tank combination rather than a car. His plans can occasionally be very complex or outlandish that rely on one questioning or linking together unusual acts, which is often how Hound figures out what Moriarty is up to. Sometimes he acts as a mercenary to other criminals who are after what he normally wouldn't steal. ; :; Angelo Maggi (Italian) :One of Moriarty's henchmen, created for the show. Smiley is tall, lanky, has something of a limited intellect, a thick Cockney accent and a positive attitude. In the episodes directed by Hayao Miyazaki, he is colored a pea green, while in other episodes, he's medium brown. Before working for Moriarty, he and George/Todd were members of the Bengal Pirates that appeared in the first episode, though they escaped being arrested with the rest of the crew. ; :; Maurizio Mattioli (Italian) :One of Moriarty's henchmen, created for the show George/Todd is small and squat, has a negative outlook on the situation, and is usually the first to criticize Moriarty or his plans. Early in the series in the English dub he is inconsistently called either George or Todd, sometimes within a single episode, eventually settling on Todd, though in the Japanese version he's only ever called Todd. The two are often used for comic relief. Before they worked for Moriarty, he, along with Smiley, was a member of the Bengal Pirates that appeared in the first episode, though they escaped being arrested with the rest of the crew. Director

modeled the appearance of the character Todd on Kazuhide Tomonaga, the animation director for the series ; :; Enzo Consoli (Italian) : As Hound's go-to guy in the police force, he's also the first to call on Hound for assistance on a case. Though he is a well-meaning and passionate police officer, he's not the most attentive of people, and he also has a hotheaded and impulsive nature as well. He is usually assisted by several policemen in trying to catch and arrest Moriarty, but they always fail at trying to catch him and they seem to always end up landing themselves into comedic situations similar to that of the Keystone Cops.

Releases

DVD

In 2002, Pioneer Entertainment released the series on DVD (Region 1, NTSC format). 6 volumes or 'Case Files' were released. Each disk was double sided with the Japanese version on one side and the English dubbed version on the other side. On February 1, 2010,

released the complete series on DVD (Region 2, PAL format) in the United Kingdom as a

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

exclusive set. It has since become available in other outlets. It only contains the English dubbed version. This release also lacks the episode title cards, though the episodes are listed on the DVD case and menus. Discotek Media released the series in a complete, unabridged DVD box set with English and Japanese versions on September 30, 2014.

Blu-ray

On November 21, 2014,

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

released the restored complete series on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

(Region A, Japanese language only) in Japan as a 4-disc set. On November 29, 2022, Discotek Media released a Blu-ray of the restored series for North American home video based on the Bandai HD transfer, including both the Japanese and English dubs, restored promo clips, and a restored rare English dub of the pilot.

Episodes

''Note: B = episode number by broadcast order, Y = episode number by YouTube order. The original air date listed is that of Japan, the first country to air the show.''

References

External links

* * *
TMS Entertainment Official Channel
{{authority control 1984 anime television series debuts Animated television series about dogs Aviation television series Bandai Visual Geneon USA Italian children's animated action television series Italian children's animated adventure television series Japanese children's animated action television series Japanese children's animated adventure television series Manga Entertainment Nautical television series Sherlock Holmes pastiches Anime and manga based on Sherlock Holmes Television series about talking animals TMS Entertainment TV Asahi original programming Steampunk anime and manga Steampunk television series 1986 films 1984 films Children's television series about talking animals Adventure franchises