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| Sherlock Hound - Case File 1 | 
 enlarge | Directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Heipachio Tanaka, Kyosuke Mikuriya, Seiji Okuda, Takaya Mizutani
Actors: Hamilton Camp, Taichiro Hirokawa, Kousei Tomita, Yoko Asagami, Lewis Arquette
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Category: DVD
Buy New: $145.99
New (1) Used (3) from $49.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 98032
Format: Animated, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 125 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 013023172098
EAN: 0013023172098
ASIN: B00005UM2V
Release Date: February 26, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Meitantei Holmes (literally "Famous Detective Holmes," 1981) was the last TV series Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro) worked on, directing the first six episodes and writing scripts for some of them. Copyright disputes held up the Japanese-Italian coproduction until 1984, when it was continued with different artists. A few episodes relate to the original stories: "The Crown of Mazalin" is based loosely on "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet." But this canine detective acts more like a standard cartoon Good Guy than a calculating criminologist, and Professor Moriarty resembles Oil Can Harry from Mighty Mouse. The series invites the viewer to play Sherlock Holmes and pick out elements that Miyazaki would develop further as his personal style evolved in his features: the mechanic's daughter in "Small Client" is clearly the ancestor of Mei in Totoro. The English vocal cast turns in such uniformly drab performances (in affected British accents) that it's more entertaining to watch the Japanese version with subtitles. Suggested for ages 7 and up: Minor cartoon violence, tobacco use. --Charles Solomon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Famous Detective Holmes! October 18, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Or so the series is called in Japanese. Known around here as Sherlock Hound, this series was originaly produced in 1981 as a joint project between Tokyo Movie Shinsha and an italian studio called RAI. Hayao Miyazaki became involved, directing six episodes, and writing a few of those. Afterwards, probably after the ones covered in the first few volumes, the production was put on hold due to some conflicts with copyrights involving Sir Arthur Conan Doyles estate. But, in 1984, the next batch were released as planned on TV, with a different crew directing, writin and animating. So, these 5, and the first one of the next volume are all done by Miyazaki and a great group of creators.
For this first Case File disc, we get the first five episodes, which include: (I'll just use the Japanese titles, but they are different in the english dub.)
-'He's The Famous Detective!'
-'The Evil Genius, Professor Moriarty'
-'Little Martha's Big Mystery'
-'Mrs. Hudson is Taken Hostage'
-'Blue Ruby'
I won't waste your time with plot analysis for all five, because the Spotlight review features this. I will say that this is the japanese translation of the stories, and the reimageining of the characters. They are, of course, all dogs. And while some are direct stories out of the many books, some are new scripts. They both measure up, with the original scripts being full of crazy machines from Moriarty and flying and all kinds of great excitement (you can tell Miyazaki was inventing some of the flying bits).
The disc contains no features, unless you count it being dual-sided with the english dub on one side, and the original japanese on the other.
The dub is a little dry, sounding like a grown up interpretation of Holmes, with dry british accents and cliched voices (even I could do a better Watson impersionation), but all the japanese voices are spot on, with a correct and actual translation in the subtitles. You would do best to watch the original language tracks.
The quality is good, especially for an '80s TV series. And the sound is great. Sometimes the music is nearly muffled or even drowned completely, in typical Saturday morning flair. A bit annoying, contributing to it losing a star. The other factor being no special features (wasn't expectin much from a TV series, but this is the DVD age)
Overall, anime fans, cartoon enthusiasts, Holmes-a-maniacs, or adventure seekers of all ages will find this fun. If your looking to buy the whole series, there are no plans on making a boxed set, so start shelling out 27 dollars for all 6, because this is one to collect!
 Maybe an alien replaced Miyazaki? March 25, 2005
3 out of 18 found this review helpful
I found this to be thoroughly disappointing. The plot was
weak, dialog poor, dubbing dreadful, and the art was
low-to-average 1960s cartoon quality. At some spots,
my wife and I were laughing out loud at how unbelievably
bad the story and dialog were. Do yourself a favor, look
for more modern Miyazaki ... you'll be happy you did.
Some reviewers note that you can see some future Miyazki
characters and themes. While this is true ... it isn't
worth the time or money if you're not writing a biography
of him.
As far as the Sherlock Holmes mythos, we couldn't believe
the gaffes just in the first two episodes ("the game has begun"
instead of "the game is afoot"; "221 Baker Street" instead of
"221B Baker Street" (about 1/15 people make that mistake,
according to Google); having to be told that Watson had
visited Afghanistan rather than deducing it (see "A Study In
Scarlet"); "private detective" instead of "consulting
detective").
In summary, it wasn't merely bad, it was really most sincerely bad.
Alot of fun, especially the Miyazaki directed episodes! April 24, 2002
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is solid entertainment for kids and anime fans alike, especially those interested in the works of master anime director Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle of Cagliostro). He directed three of the five episodes (A Small Client, Mrs. Hudson is Taken Hostage, and The Blue Carbuncle)and his flair for great action and pacing (see Castle of Cagliostro) is especially evident in these episodes. The other two unfortunately lack that kind of energy and invention but are still fun. Sure the animation is a bit dated but the story, characterizatons and humor are still top quality. I personally prefer the Japanese language with English subtitles(you get the Japanese vocals for the opening and closing themes to boot) but the English dub is certainly decent in of itself.Overall, a must have for Miyazaki fans and for parents who want their children to watch wholesome yet inventive anime that's not the usual Pokemon-derived dreck.
Good anime, bad English dub March 3, 2002
This DVD was great! I watched Sherlock Hound as a kid, and had only good memories about it. I'm happy it came out on DVD! The only thing bothering me is the English version, which is very bad in my opinion. The actors are just plain, and the English accent, although a nice touch, doesn't add up to the whole thing. Better to watch it in Japanese! I know though that there is a French version which is excellent, and although there's probably not a very big market for anime in French, would it be so much trouble adding one more track on the DVD? Still, I recommend this cartoon to any Sherlock Homes fan, and any nostalgic young adults like me :)
 Sherlock Has Gone To The Dogs February 27, 2002
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes all of my life. I am not locked into tradition as some Sherlockians. I am open to new and different interpretations of the Great Detective. This DVD is a delight. True it takes several big liberties with Holmes, but that's OK. It is not intended to be a straight retelling of the Canon. The stories are well told and the Anime is very good. This disk can serve as an introduction to Sherlock Holmes for young children and as a pleasant variation on a theme for older Sherlock Holmes fans.
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