Anime Review: Sherlock Hound

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Now here's an old gem - Sherlcok Hound is a fantasy reinterpretation of Conan-Doyle's world-famous detective in animal form. Created by Hayao Miyazaki(of Ghibli fame) and Kyosuke Mikuriya(Ulysses 31), it's a child-freindly action-adventure series featuring pirates, rogues and mysteries.

The 5 disc complete series contains all the episodes produced for the show, but it's important to know that the series is comprised of two entirely distincty runs - the first 6 episodes, helmed by Miyazaki and Mikuriya, and another 20 created by another studio.

The reason for the split is down to the Conan-Doyle estate reportedly being somewhat vexed by the treatment of the detective, and so production was stopped. It was only after a cinematic screening of two episodes edited into a short for the Nausicaa release that the public demanded more episodes.

Subsequently, the 6 episodes were shuffled into the series, and for those who want to know which episodes they should be watching out for, here's the list:

Episode 3 - A Small Client
Episode 4 - Mrs. Hudson is Taken Hostage
Episode 5 - The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
Episode 9 - Treasure Under the Sea
Episode 10 - The White Cliffs of Dover
Episode 11 - The Sovereign Gold Coins

(with thanks to Daniel Thomas.org for the info)

Created in 1981, the series is predictably a little dated, with a stilted dub to match. It's actually quite charming in short bursts, but it's a little hard to recommend to anyone other than very young children, Miyazaki completists or nostalgia junkies. Subsequently it's very hard to score - for general anime fans this should score a 4, but for the right market it's probably an 8, if not higher. (You'll note I scored it in the middle at 6!) 

If you enjoyed classics such as Dogtanian or Around the World in 80 Days, then this should be right up your alley. Others may want to sample it before parting with their cash.

Sherlock Hound is available exclusively from HMV.

- Ross Liversidge

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