Kabukichou Sherlock – 12 – One for the Cats

As one could have reliably predicted, Sherlock ends it’s first half by following up its most serious, hard-hitting, emotional episodes with one of its weakest, a calm after the storm, if you will. All of the detectives are feeling down since Moriarty was hauled away for murder, but Mrs. Hudson has a new case for them: Pipe the Cat is missing and possibly catnapped. The reactions of the detectives mirror my own enthusiasm for the case.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cats, especially comically huge ones like Pipe, but watching the detectives chase after him wasn’t particularly thrilling, nor is Sherlock’s innovative solution to catching him: a trail of strawberries. The detectives and Irregulars celebrate the retun of Pipe with a big party that raises everyone’s spirits somewhat, and while Irene leaves Sherlock’s life, Watson becomes his official assistant. With Jack gone, I wonder what overarching case will occupy the second half—and if Moriarty ever gets out of prison.

Kabukichou Sherlock – 11 – Hiding in Plain Sight

Before returning to the alley, Kabukichou Sherlock goes back to the night of poor Alex Moran’s murder. James visits her in her room, planning to help her sneak out of the house to meet his friends at the Detective House. We learn “Moriarty” is just a nickname for the East Side.

On the West Side, he’s James Moran, son of the Ward Mayor and Alex’s twin brother. James is delayed by their father (who is hosting a Christmas party), and by the time he catches up in the tunnel between West and East, Alex is already dead. From that night, James swore the murderer would pay.

Back to the alley, where Irene reveals she indeed faked her death. She, James and Sherlock get Watson caught up. When it was determined Jack wanted the USB, they let him believe Irene succumbed to her injuries, then used Watson as a “hook” to bait him.

Kyougoku Fuyuto is the one who tried to get the drive from Watson, and Sherlock intentionally frayed their friendship so that Watson would be more likely to steal it. But Kyougoku isn’t Jack, nor was he willingly working on his behalf.

For the rest of the reveal, Sherlock breaks out his rakugo routine, this time on the stage at Bar Pipecat. He doesn’t have to get far into his story before one detective after another realize how Kyougoku was compromised by love, fed Peyote, and manipulated by the real Jack, turn around to find that Maki-chan, who had been sitting at the bar, has vanished.

Sherlock continues his rakugo while he and Watson race to the spot where they believe they’ll run into Maki-chan, who is, in fact, Jack. A psychopath who murdered and took what he himself desperately wanted, but didn’t have: female reproductive organs.

Once Sherlock’s explanations make it impossible to continue his “Maki-chan” persona, Jack cracks, revealing his true voice and sick, twisted personality. Sherlock makes sure to catch his ravings on a voice recorder, wrapping up the case with a nice neat bow.

Only it seems Jack won’t get to face a trial by jury, as James can’t stop himself from slitting his throat. Mind you, Jack tries to fight the compulsion for revenge, but the final provocation from Jack was that he ate the part he cut out of Alex, as was his M.O.

By murdering Jack in cold blood, James no doubt faces criminal charges for murder himself, unless of course the assembled witnesses to the crime all agree it was a justified killing. I’m leaning towards him spending at least some time behind bars.

I honestly didn’t suspect Maki-chan in the least…until the scene of her in bed with Kyougoku. What at first looked like a virgin having his first ride was actually the effects of the Peyote, while Maki-chan’s brief smirk of satisfaction was a sign something else was afoot.

That said, it wasn’t until Sherlock’s rakugo began that I realized Kyougoku was being used by Jack, and the pieces began to fall snugly and satisfyingly into place. Very nicely done.

Kabukichou Sherlock – 10 – The War They Left for Us

John Watson is haunted by the death of Irene Adler. He’s constantly looking at his forearm which she grasped with her blood-soaked hand. The blood was washed away, but he can still feel it on his skin. She tried to tell him something, but all we heard was “Jack.”

Ever since then, Watson is visited upon by a ghost—the ghost of Irene. We see her body in the morgue, so the show is pretty insistent that she is, in fact, dead. Her ghost seems to imply Moriarty did it, and Sherlock is next, but Sherlock just wants to be alone.

We spend the whole episode all swept up in Watson’s suspicions, which might just curdle into paranoia by the time he’s openly accusing Moriarty of being Jack the Ripper. Moriarty laughs it off and then shares the joke with the whole gang, but we share Watson’s continued gut feeling that something is not quite right about Moriarty.

Even when Watson chases Moriarty, who is following Sherlock and even pulls a knife menacingly, it’s Watson whom Sherlock begins to suspect. He told Moriarty about Irene’s hideout, because he believed and still believes the kid can be trusted. Compared to him, Watson is a stranger. Still raw from the loss of Irene, Sherlock banishes Watson from his sight..

While sharing another drink at the bar (Watson drinks a lot this week, adding to his unreliability), Kyougoku Fuyuto proposes a way for Watson to get back into Holmes’ good graces: unlock the USB drive and find the proof about Jack’s identity. The first warning sign is that Fuyuto “knows someone” who can crack the password, so all Watson has to do is steal it from Sherlock and give it to him.

Perhaps sobering up a bit in the process of finding the drive (Sherlock hid it in a baggie in a can of peaches), Watson also gets cold feet about handing over the drive, but Fuyuto insists…with a knife. Turns out Fuyuto is obsessed with being the one to catch Jack, perhaps out of a need to prove to Maki that he’s worth marrying? In any case, a struggle ensues, interrupted by Moriarty and Sherlock, the latter of whom thanks Watson.

Was the whole plan to expose Fuyuto’s true colors? Is Irene really dead, or was her death faked to draw out Jack? Like Watson this week, I thought I was on to something about Moriarty, but now…I’m not so sure about anything!

Kabukichou Sherlock – 09 – Not Who They Seem

Irene has a target on her back now courtesy of Jack, who wants the egg USB drive back. It’s decided that she should stay with Sherlock for the time being for her own safety, which means Watson has to move out.

The episode plays on Sherlock’s obvious attraction to Irene, as well as Irene’s general fitness as a domestic partner—she even gets him to eat ordinary food! She also has fun teasing him, because apparently when it comes to women Sherlock is thirteen years old.

The same goes for Kyougoku, who his head-over-heels in love with Maki-chan and has a plan to woo her that’s straight out of a middle-schooler’s mind.  He places her on an impossibly high pedestal and showers her with gifts, including a diamond ring to hold her hand, but all Maki-chan wants is a boyfriend with whom to go on ordinary dates.

Maki gets her wish, and they eventually end up in a hotel, where Kyougoku presumably learns Maki’s secret down below. The outcome of this particular plot is ambiguous and not particularly compelling. That the success of Kyougoku’s plan somehow inspires Watson to serve as a lookout for Irene (once Sherlock’s place is ransacked and they move her to a former yakuza hideout)—it’s a bit thin, motivation-wise.

Much is made this week about him having nothing to do, which makes you wonder whether he’ll ever bring up his case with Sherlock, or if it’s a running gag that he never will. Matters are made worse by the fact Watson is terrible at keeping Irene safe. On her first night in the theater, she gets stabbed, while Sherlock runs after a decoy. He’s not even a good doctor, as he fails to administer any kind of first aid, but just kneels beside her, gawking.

It isn’t until later, when Sherlock gives word that Irene has died of her injuries, that Watson realizes Moriarty—who was with Irene just before he arrived—shouldn’t have known where Irene was. Many clues in this and previous episodes point to Moriarty as Jack. I’m also not convinced Irene is really dead. Sherlock may just be saying that in earshot of Moriarty because he’s already pegged the kid as the culprit.

Kabukichou Sherlock – 08 – Adult Swim

Irene doesn’t know the password for the USB drive, so it seems like she and Sherlock will part ways for a time…only for her to end up at Bar Pipecat, ordering the other detectives to do chores and maintenance while Mrs. Hudson is laid up with a bad back (or as she calls it, “that time of the month”). When a new client comes in whose ex is trying to gain custody of their young daughter through blackmail, Irene decides to take the case, picking Watson as her partner.

When the girl’s mother suffers a fainting spell, Sherlock is left to babysit her, and while things start out rough at first (rice bowl with fried egg and a chocolate bar? NO GO) the two come to a sort of truce. Meanwhile Irene proves an astute investigator and gatherer of information, making more progress than all the other detectives and locating the blackmailer ex’s home, at the night swimming pool right next to the district’s famous Elephant.

Turns out the guy is a serial blackmailer, manipulator, and trafficker of underage women—a super bad dude. A woman Irene used to co-star with, who is also being blackmailed, ends up giving Irene the clue she needs to find the safe containing all of the compromising information, including the client’s.

At this point Sherlock joins the investigation (his rakugo is quickly dismissed by Irene as too slow), and the two end up sharing a tanning bed as a hiding spot, only for the blackmailer to be murdered by the actress in a crime of passion. Irene lets her get away, since she’s suffered enough, but when she returns to her hotel room, Irene finds the actress’s ear in a box. Jack the Ripper has apparently made Irene his next target.

Kabukichou Sherlock – 07 – The Itchy Wives

The nature of Kabukichou Sherlock’s setting and cast is that it can go just about anywhere and focus on anyone it wants, and has to its credit been doing so. But we’re back to the titular detective this week, in an episode that dusts off a couple more very familiar names: Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft, and the beautiful, brilliant Irene Adler.

In this alternate universe in which Holmes hangs out in Kabukichou, Tochou looks way different (and more expensive), and Tokyo is split in two, instead of lines for the next iPhone, there are lines for the latest version of the AI wife doll. Oh, and the ward mayor lost a USB drive containing sensitive information, and believes Adler is the one who stole it.

Mycroft knows his brother well, and so knows the best way to get him interested in a case he’d rather not take is to sweeten the 15-mil deal with a rare rakugo trading card he desires. Still, Sherlock sends Watson in to deal with Adler as a kind of useful idiot. I was also a bit skeptical that Adler’s boyfriend hadn’t previously consulted with many doctors before building so many wife dolls.

As for those dolls, dear lord, it’s never explained why Irene is okay with having them not only resemble her, but stored in closets in her soon-to-be-former house. I guess she’s not going to stand in the way of progress and profit, huh? In any case, Watson gets a text that the USB is under the skirt of he French version of the “Wives of the World.” Turns out Sherlock was there, in disguise.

After a quick rakugo sesh to detail how he deduced that, they check the USB, and it’s video footage of the two of them sneaking around Irene’s house. In other words, she played them both. She’s at the bar (Mrs. Hudson is an old friend) and tells Sherlock the USB is already safely in France, but better luck next time, and departs.

After stewing for a bit, that next time comes far sooner for Sherlock. As she’s waiting for a taxi, Irene is accosted on the street by a thug demanding the USB at knife-point, but Sherlock arrives in time to rescue her. In the moment she’s in his arms he snatches the real USB drive from her pocket, realizing she’d worked too hard on the fake never let it out of her sight.

In another twist, Sherlock hands the damaged fake USB to Mycroft, and when Irene comes by wanting the real one back, Sherlock plugs it into his laptop and asks Irene for the password. If thugs are being hired to accost her, there just may be something more important on it than revenge porn.