YUKOKU NO MORIARTY © 2016 by Ryosuke Takeuchi, Hikaru Miyoshi/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ Media will be releasing the English translations of Ryosuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi’s 2016 series “Moriarty The Patriot” starting this October.

The creative duo transport readers to 1866 London where a young boy the locals recognize as Master Moriarty tend to his errands along with the needs of some of the residents. He returns home with his older brother Albert but one of the servants there is angry towards Master Moriarty. While legally part of the family, the boy and his little brother Louis are lower class orphans. Thanks to the request of Albert, Lord Moriarty adopts them but they still receive ill treatment from the rest of the family. Little did those unkind members realize the true plans of Albert as he takes steps towards a battle against the ways of his society.

“Moriarty The Patriot” is sure to intrigue fans of Detective Sherlock Holmes as Takeuchi and Miyoshi give their own take of the iconic villain’s past. While many are familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, it is interesting to see a visualized one that will make it more accessible to readers. Both Takeuchi and Miyoshi have experience adapting dark and psychological stories into manga. Takeuchi storyboarded the manga adaptation of “All You Need Is Kill” and Miyoshi drew the “Psycho-Pass” spin-off manga “Inspector Akane Tsunemori”. Compared to their previous works, “Moriarty” differs as it is set in the 19th century, far from the science fiction series. Mentioned in the afterword in Volume One, Miyoshi researched the British Empire for about a year after finishing  “Akane” and getting the pitch from his editor. While he said he’s still learning, it seems that the studying paid off with the detailed illustrations of the locations that give a feel of the past. The manga has a level of complexity and mystery that one wants from anything relating to Holmes. While it is the nemesis taking the stage, it is interesting to see the more heroic deeds accomplished as it blurs the line between good and evil and question good and bad intentions.

As mentioned before, Volume One of “Moriarty the Patriot” will be out on October 6th, 2020. Check out VIZ’s webpage for more information. Interested fans can also check out both the original novel of “All You Need Is Kill” and the manga adaption Takeuchi worked on. “Moriarty the Patriot” already received an anime adaptation and it will be also airing in Japan next month.