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Sherlock Hound (名探偵ホームズ, Meitantei Hōmuzu?, released as either Famous Detective Holmes or Detective Holmes in Japan) is an anime adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series of novels where all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic animals, the majority dogs, such as Holmes and Watson. The show featured regular appearances of Jules Verne-steampunk style technology, adding a 19th-century science-fiction atmosphere to the series. It consists of 26 episodes aired between 1984 and 1985.
The series was a joint project between Japan's Tokyo Movie Shinsha and the Italian TV station RAI. Six episodes were directed by Hayao Miyazaki while the rest were directed by Kyosuke Mikuriya. In 1984, a film version of two of the episodes directed by Miyazaki (The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle and Treasure Under the Sea) was released alongside Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in Japanese theaters, entitled Meitantei Hōmuzu Gekijouban.
The opening theme is "Sora Kara Koboreta Story" (lit. "A story that fell from the sky") and the ending theme is "Thames Gawa no Dance" (lit. "Dance of the Thames River"), both performed by the Japanese group, Da Capo, with Tokuko Miura writing the lyrics for both the opening and ending theme, Ken Sato composing the music for the opening, Norimasa Yamanaka composing the music for the ending and Ryo Fukui arranging both the opening and ending themes. All of the background music was composed by Kentaro Haneda with some themes based on the opening and ending themes. In the English version, the songs are instrumental and so replace the vocals.
[edit] Trivia
- Sherlock Hound is also the title of a series of unrelated Holmes pastiche books by Brenda Sivers, also featuring anthropomorphic dogs.
- Though the series aired in Japan first, the initial recording of the series was in English.
- The episodes in English portray Watson calling Sherlock by his English last name, which is Hound. However, if one watches the Japanese version of Sherlock Hound, the characters and the intro all say that Sherlock Hound's real last name is Holmes. Even Watson calls him "Holmes".
- Hayao Miyazaki directed the early episodes but work was suspended due to problems with Arthur Conan Doyle's estate. By the time they were sorted out Miyazaki had turned to other projects.
- An interesting innovation was the character of Mrs. Hudson. In most adaptations, Holmes' long-suffering landlady is shown as middle-aged or older, but in this version she is a widow in her 20s and a love interest of many, including Holmes and Moriarty. Her late husband was a pilot and Hound finds her contacts in the world of aviation useful. 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.
[edit] Episodes
- The Four Signatures
- The Crown of Mazalin
- A Small Client (directed by Miyazaki)
- Mrs. Hudson is Taken Hostage (directed by Miyazaki)
- The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (directed by Miyazaki)
- The Green Balloon
- A Sacred Image Disappears
- The Speckled Band
- Treasure Under the Sea (directed by Miyazaki)
- The White Cliffs of Dover (directed by Miyazaki)
- The Sovereign Gold Coins (directed by Miyazaki)
- The Stormy Getaway
- The Runaway Freight Car
- The Coral Lobsters
- The Golden Statue of the Great Burglar
- The Secret of the Sacred Cross Sword
- The Adventure of the Thames Monster
- The Adventure of the Three Students
- The Rosetta Stone
- The White Silver Getaway!
- The Disappearance of the Splendid Royal Horse
- Disturbance, The World Flight Championship!
- The Secret of the Parrot
- The Bell of Big Ben
- The Priceless French Doll
- The Missing Bride Affair
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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The works of Hayao Miyazaki |
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Tokyo Movie Shinsha
RAI
Geneon
