Il fiuto di Sherlock Holmes

Sure, sure, Meitantei Hound, or The Amazing Adventures of Sherlock Hound as it was so called, was a cartoon and because of this there's all the usual cartoon hi-jinks. Yes, animals that talk, mechanical devices that just couldn't have been made in 19th Century London, and the typical Japanese drawings, meaning, the cartoons doing over the top reactions.

But putting it down isn't what I wanted to do. This series was great. So it was loosely based on the Arthur Conan Doyle books (like, really loosely), but that's fine, because the characters and outlandish plots more than made up for it. The character traits of Holmes, or rather, Hound, are all there - Science experiments, the pipe, even the deer stalker hat. Watson, too, is just like his 1930's counterpart, Nigel Bruce, being the upper class Brit (with an American accent).

And of course there's the token bad guy, along with his completely useless henchmen, because that's what cartoon henchmen are for, right? Professor Moriarty is devious and cunning and just can't seem to outwit Sherlock Hound, whatever he may try. Moriarty gets away every time, much to the annoyance of Hound, along with his bumbling assistants, who can't do anything right.

Voicing Sherlock Hound, in English, is Larry Moss, and the late Lewis Arquette as Watson, and they do a bang up job, making the stories sound believable and is generally very well acted. The music, too, adds to the over all feel of the series. Not so much action and adventure, as mystery and excitement.

This series certainly has its appeal. The mystery, the slapstick, the romance. It's all here in The Amazing Adventures of Sherlock Hound, and makes for an easy watching cartoon that can be enjoyed even now, 20 years on. Of you get the chance I recommend that you watch it. You won't regret it.

As Holmes, and indeed, Hound said: 'Elementary, my dear Watson'.

I'm not quite old enough to really remember watching this show as a kid, but I feel like I did, the same way I feel like I watched Warriors of the Wind (movie) and Robotech. The only reason I thought about going back to it was that I heard that Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the first six episodes (for a detailed explanation of the origins of this show, go to Nausicaa.net). Well, I now own two of the videos (about eight to ten episodes), and while I can identify most of the ones that were done by Miyazaki, the rest of the episodes were great, too. The details in all the episodes are incredible, and the stories are well-paced and exciting. I especially love the Blue Carbunkle and Little Client episodes (both by Miyazaki), which are very touching, but I won't spoil them for you.

Here, (Sherlock Holmes) meets (The Absentminded Professor) meets (Magnum P. I.). It was love at first sight when I watched it for the first time in the beginning of the 1990s. Unfortunately, it was aired at 12: AM on our national television at the days of schools. So I used to run towards home, right after the end of the school day, and be very pleased whenever I managed to catch the episode entirely.

The atmosphere was just super, exploding with adventures and comedy. Still the main reason to enjoy was that directing. There were unforgettable dexterous moments, whether with the chases, or with the shocks of poor Prof. (Moriarty) whenever he fails; the best of them concerns him and some painting's theft. There were also wonderful creative ideas, such as that incredible car of (Hound).

Originally, the version I watched was the Arabic dubbed one, and really what an effort, and what a perfection. The Arabic voices were excellent: (Hound) is confident sedate most of the time, and droll for the rest of the time, (Moriarty) is totally mad and hysterically hilarious, not to mention the opening credits which is still in my mind with its Arabic lyrics after nearly 20 years. Now, thanks to the internet's wonders, I listened to the other versions of that memorable credits, and let me tell you, the Arabic one's cuteness wins, it goes like this: "Sherlock Holmes is a great detective, Sherlock Holmes you're the unique one..", and so on by a childish chorus.

Actually, I'm fond of (Arthur Conan Doyle)'s (Sherlock Holmes). He is searching for the truth by the power of logic, so smart, and so serious too. Therefore, with this copy of him, I got the pleasure of enjoying the comic side in him, or looking at him through totally another frame. There were more than "comic" (Holmes) along the way, for example: (Gene Wilder)'s (The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - 1975), or (Michael Caine)'s portrayal in (Without a Clue - 1988), or Disney's comic book character (The Sleuth "Sureluck Sleuth") who was doggy too, very dumb, and had (Mickey Mouse) to solve everything for him.. etc. But nothing was like (Sherlock Hound, the Detective), it was real laughable, full of action, and imaginative.

Maybe the only things to bother were the strange doggy ears of all the characters, in particular the love interest of (Hound) who got beautiful sight and strange ears. And (Hound) pipe; I know that it's one of the character's basic features in its novels, however why didn't they cancel it this round, as long as the show was made for kids?! Simply they could have said that he quitted smoking!

All in all, (Sherlock Hound) was exactly like its main character; sweet and genius. So the Japanese school of animation is the true "unique one".

I like anime very much, and I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes. When I first heard of Sherlock Hound quite by accident, I thought this looks interesting, so I gave it a chance despite me initially asking myself is it going to work. And I was surprised. Sherlock Hound is exciting, fun and definitely worth a watch. And as far as animated shows go, I think it is pretty underrated. The animation is very crisp, clean and smooth, with interesting character designs and ethereal-looking backgrounds, while the music is energetic, mysterious and beautiful. Sherlock Hound also benefits from some terrific writing that is both funny and intelligent, very clever and unique visual ideas and gripping story lines that do respectably with maintaining the spirit of the original stories while putting its own spin on it. And the characters are really engaging, with the title character clever and appealing and the villain appropriately menacing and interesting, and the voice actors do a great job. Favourite episode? Easy, The Blue Carbunkle- I admit I had high hopes for this as it is one of my favourite overall Sherlock Holmes stories, and it was everything the story was and more. Overall, terrific and pretty interesting to say the least. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is the last Anime TV series, Hayao Miyazaki was involved with.

It has similarities of his other works including independent heroines & flying machines.

The series takes place in an early 20th Century of a World of Dogs. Where all the greater beings are K9s while other animals are just ordinary. Takes place in England mostly. And just like in the Sherlock Holmes novels, it has mysteries and adventures with Hound(Holmes) and Watson.

Prof. Moriarty is the main villain of the series. He and Inspector Lastrade, both appear in the series a lot. Moriarty and Lastrade are much like Lupin and Zenigata, cause Moriarty always escapes easily and Lastade is determined to put him behind bars.

A lot of the episodes are well done. Hound is very similar to the human Holmes and Watson is still a trustworthy doctor. Plenty of adventure, humor, and interesting characters.

It's not 100% true to the original novels, but it does have plenty of anime like elements as well as European culture.

The ones done by Hayao Miyazaki are great. Course he only did 6 episodes of the series. Some of the other ones are great to watch too.

I recommend it to those who like old school anime or something related to Sherlock Holmes. It's rated 7 and up for Cartoon Violence and Use of Tobacco. But perfectly fine for kids to watch.