Sherlock Holmes (2014 TV series)


Sherlock Holmes, also known as Puppet Entertainment Sherlock Holmes, is a Japanese puppetry television series written by Kōki Mitani and produced and broadcast by NHK. The puppets for the series were designed by Bunta Inoue.
The first series, consisting of 18 episodes, was broadcast on Sundays from 12 October 2014 to 15 February 2015 on NHK Educational TV. The first six episodes were previously broadcast on NHK General TV in March and August 2014. A special programme titled was aired on 5 October 2014, and a segment titled "Sherlock Holmes Award" was broadcast on 28 December 2014. Each episode was rebroadcast on the following Friday. The programme received the Japan Sherlock Holmes Award on 22 March 2015.
The series is based on the Canon of Sherlock Holmes, with characters and events adapted to a fictional London boarding school, where a teenage Sherlock Holmes investigates various incidents with his roommate John H. Watson. There are no murder cases, and some characters appear in situations or stories where they did not feature in the original works.
Some episodes began being rebroadcast from 22 February 2015. The production of new episodes was announced on the official programme website and on the "Sherlock Gakuen" website. Staff member Kunio Yoshikawa stated that an English-language version was also planned for production and broadcast.
On 1 June 2015, NHK announced that a new series, titled Holmes and Watson Mystery – , would be broadcast on Thursdays from July to September 2015. The series featured John H. Watson providing commentary on Holmes's deductions, and also included rebroadcasts of some episodes from the first series.

Premise and character adaptations

John H. Watson, a boy who transfers from Australia to a fictional London boarding school called Beeton School, becomes the roommate of Sherlock Holmes. Although Holmes has a reputation as a troublemaker, he possesses sharp powers of observation, and together the two solve the various incidents that occur at the school at the request of teachers and pupils.
The name "Beeton School" is derived from Beeton's Christmas Annual, the magazine in which the character Sherlock Holmes first appeared, as well as from Eton College.
In the series, Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as an eccentric but intelligent pupil who lives in room 221B of Baker House, one of the houses of Beeton School. He frequently sleeps during lessons and receives poor marks, particularly in literature, philosophy and astronomy. Teachers regard him as a troublemaker, but he demonstrates exceptional deductive reasoning skills and blows a party horn when thinking deeply.
John H. Watson is a transfer student from Australia and Holmes's roommate. He has a strong sense of justice and records their investigations in a notebook called the "Watoson Memo", which is published in the school paper, the "Strand Wall Poster". Initially disheartened after a leg injury forces him to retire from playing rugby football, Watson regains his confidence through the case of Jefferson Hope and comes to understand Holmes.
Mrs Hudson serves as the housemother of Baker House. She is cheerful and enjoys singing and baking cookies. She is the only character who calls Holmes by his first name, Sherlock. After Holmes helps her out of trouble in "The First Adventure," she develops a motherly affection for Holmes and Watson.
James Moriarty is the tall, blond deputy headmaster of Beeton School. He has a dual-natured appearance: the right side of his face appears calm, while the left looks stern. He oversees the school and maintains strict discipline, particularly towards Holmes, whose independent behaviour often frustrates him.
Mycroft Holmes is a sixth form student of Dealer House, the elder brother of Sherlock, and the founder of the Diogenes Club within the school.
Irene Adler is the school nurse who is romantically involved with Headmaster Ormstein but later becomes involved with art teacher Godfrey Norton. Her elegance and charm captivate both male teachers and pupils. She occasionally assists Holmes in his investigations and is known to playfully snap her fingers at his nose.
Gordon Lestrade is a pupil of Cooper House with a mod-style appearance. He serves on the school's life guidance committee but helps Holmes with cases that teachers disapprove of, particularly those opposed by Grimesby Roylott, the teacher responsible for student life guidance.
Langdale Pike acts as Holmes's informant. He is quick and resourceful, though notoriously stingy. He partly fills the role of the Baker Street Irregulars through a group of mice that gather information for Holmes.
Sherman, a taxidermist in The Sign of the Four, is reimagined as a female pupil who loves animals and speaks in a boyish manner. She cooperates with Holmes in his investigations.

Production

Development

Following the broadcast of The Three Musketeers from 2009 to 2010, Kōki Mitani planned to adapt The Brothers Karamazov into a puppetry production. Although a long-time admirer of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Mitani was initially reluctant to adapt them for puppetry due to the difficulty of conveying investigative details through puppet performance. He was also concerned that it might be too late to produce a Sherlock Holmes adaptation, given the enduring popularity of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the acclaim already received by the modern series Sherlock.
Mitani initially considered creating a puppet closely resembling Sidney Paget's famous illustrations of Holmes, but abandoned the idea because tall puppets are difficult for puppeteers to manipulate. He ultimately decided to set the story in a fictional boarding school called "Beeton School", reimagining Sherlock Holmes as a fifteen-year-old schoolboy. Although many incidents occur within the school, the series contains no murders, and the same puppets are reused throughout.
According to Mitani, as the story progresses, viewers gradually come to understand the reason the series is set in a school. All four of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels — A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Valley of Fear — are dramatised in the puppetry. Mitani has stated that this may be the first adaptation to dramatise all four novels within a single series.
At a press conference in March 2014, Mitani remarked that only true Sherlockians would enjoy the series. Although this comment attracted criticism, he later clarified that what he meant was that genuine Sherlockians possess a sense of playfulness and open-mindedness that allows them to appreciate any adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes canon, and that the source material is rich enough to inspire creative derivative works.
Mitani also emphasised the importance of John Watson's role as a storyteller, calling it a brilliant invention by Arthur Conan Doyle. He described Watson as possessing warmth and passion that Holmes lacks, and expressed admiration for Martin Freeman's good-natured portrayal of Watson in Sherlock. In 2007, Freeman appeared in the stage play The Last Laugh, based on Mitani's play University of Laughs.

Puppets and sets

Mitani stated that anything performed by a human can also be performed by a puppet. The puppets used in the series were designed by painter Bunta Inoue. To emphasise Holmes's intelligence, Inoue designed the character with large ears and a broad forehead, while also giving him a distinctive nose reminiscent of the original illustrations. Mitani provided Inoue with detailed guidance on the puppets' appearance. For instance, the designs of Sir Henry Baskerville and Stapleton, characters from the episode based on The Hound of the Baskervilles, were modelled on Prince William and Woody Allen, respectively.
Inoue explained that he aimed to make the puppets appealing to children and to inspire them to create their own doodles. He also served as a judge for an illustration contest featuring this series and The Three Musketeers, held in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, in September 2014. The faces of the puppets are generally expressionless, with emotion conveyed primarily through lighting effects, similar to techniques used in Noh and Bunraku theatre. The hair of male puppets is painted in bright, carousel-like colours, while shibori dyeing techniques are used for the hair of female puppets.
As the series is produced in Japan, washi paper is frequently used in the construction of sets and props, including bags, tea sets, and lanterns illuminated by LED lamps. Washi is also used for trees and interior decorations, often combined with cheesecloth and nonwoven fabric to create a natural and warm atmosphere. Nonwoven fabric is particularly valued for preventing light reflection during filming. The overall appearance of the set resembles that of a dollhouse, with the cloister modelled on that of an abbey in the Cotswolds. The design team also drew inspiration from the stained glass at the Sherlock Holmes Museum and the architecture of St Pancras Station when constructing the set.
Beeton School features a four-house system, with each house represented by a distinct colour: dark red for Archer, dark blue for Baker, green for Cooper, and grey for Dealer. These colours are reflected in the pupils' uniforms. Holmes wears the dark blue uniform of Baker House and displays a clock and a pair of compasses on his left chest, while Watson continues to wear the pale brown uniform of his former school. In Inoue's original sketches, Holmes carries a cane topped with a skull, and the words "Sherlock Holmes" are inscribed on the soles of his shoes using the stick figure characters from The Adventure of the Dancing Men.

Voice acting

For the selection of voice actors, Mitani asked the experienced actor Koichi Yamadera to voice Holmes, recognising that considerable acting skill was required to portray the complex character. Mitani has praised Yamadera for performing the role as if he were a boy who is naive and sensitive, despite not being so in reality.
As with The Three Musketeers, some voice actors perform multiple roles in the series. Masashi Ebara provides the voices of Jim Moriarty, Godfrey Norton, Aloysius Garcia, and Barnicot, while Yuko Sanpei voices Enoch Drebber, Helen Stoner, and Henderson.
In the episode "The Adventure of the Cheerful Four", actors Masachika Ichimura and Kenji Urai, known for their work in musical theatre, provide the voices for several puppets.

Music and opening theme

Kana Hiramatsu, a member of Spanish Connection, was responsible for the series' music. Nano, a singer and fan of the Sherlock Holmes series, performed and wrote the lyrics for the opening theme, "Scarlet Story", which is inspired by A Study in Scarlet. The song seeks to convey Holmes's inner struggles as he relentlessly pursues the truth.
The series is produced using prescoring, and projection mapping is employed in the title sequence to illustrate "The Adventure of the Dancing Men".

Playfulness

As with Mitani's other works, playfulness is a notable element of the series. For example, the episode adapted from The Sign of the Four is presented as a musical play; in The Adventure of the Speckled Band, each speckle on the snake is shaped like a crocus, the flower mentioned by Holmes in the original story. Additionally, Holmes's violin is placed on a shelf among his personal belongings near his bed. Some words and dialogue in the series appear to reference the modern series Sherlock.

Cast

Main characters

Other pupils

Archer House pupils

Baker House pupils

Cooper House pupils

Dealer House pupils

  • Tomohiko Imai as Henry Baskerville, who encounters a fearsome "Monster Dog" at the back of Beeton School
  • Yuko Sanpei as Enoch Drebber, a delinquent pupil frequently accompanied by Joseph Stangerson
  • Kōichi Yamadera as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's elder brother and head of the pupil council
  • Masanori Ishii as Wilson Kemp, who kidnaps Sherman in "The Adventure of the Dog's Language Interpreter"
  • Hiromasa Taguchi as Bartholomew and Theddaus Sholto, twin members of "The Treasures"
  • Daisuke Kishio as Joseph Stangerson, a friend of Enoch Drebber
  • Catherine Seto as Mary Sutherland, who asks Holmes to find Hosmar Angel in "The Adventure of the Missing Boyfriend"

Teachers and school staff

  • Yasunoti Danda as Charles Augustus Milverton, a history teacher
  • Masashi Ebara as Godfrey Norton, an art teacher
  • Baijaku Nakamura as Headmaster Ormstein
  • Kazuyuki Asano as Grimesby Roylott, chemistry teacher and life guidance advisor
  • Yuko Sanpei as Helen Stoner, a trainee chemistry teacher

Other characters

  • Masachika Ichimura as Jonathan Small, a mail carrier and member of "The Treasures" who attacks other members in "The Adventure of the Cheerful Four"
  • Kōki Mitani as Mr. Douglas, an American living behind Beeton School, appearing in "The Adventure of the Residence of Mr. Douglas"
  • Yasuko Fujino as Mrs. Douglas, suspected by Watson of murdering her husband
  • Takahiko Sakoda as Inspector MacDonald, investigating Mr. Douglas's murder

Animals

  • Toby and Sophy, dogs owned by Sherman
  • Baker House Irregulars, a group of mice corresponding to the Baker Street Irregulars in the original stories
Most of the animals in the series are voiced by Kōichi Yamadera.

Episode list

Series 1

Episodes 5 and 6 were originally scheduled for broadcast on 20 and 22 August 2014 by GTV but were postponed due to a landslide in Hiroshima. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" was broadcast as the sixth episode by GTV; ETV broadcast it as episode 11.
In "The Adventure of the Cheerful Four", the original story is adapted into a musical, featuring "Golden Slumbers (cradle song)", "Greensleeves", and "Agra Treasure". Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is also used. The phrase "Where does a wise man hide a leaf? In the forest." is quoted from "The Innocence of Father Brown".

''A Room of Mystery'' (''Misteri no heya'')

A spin-off of the series broadcast by NHK Educational TV and NTT's Hikari TV from July to September 2015. Each episode features a first-series story followed by a quiz programme presented by puppet characters John H. Watson, Lestrade, and Langdale Pike.

Related programmes

Special programmes

A special programme,, was broadcast on 5 October 2014 by NHK Educational TV to promote the series one week before its ETV debut. The programme featured stage actor and YouTube personality Kōji Seto, who reported on the production of the puppet show, interviewed the puppeteers, and spoke with Holmesians at a cosplay event in Leeds, at the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and at the Sherlock Holmes Pub in London, showcasing their reactions to the show.
In July 2015, a promotional programme for A Room of Mystery aired, including additional interviews with Wataru Takagi, the voice of John H. Watson.

''Sherlock Holmes Award''

Another special programme, Sherlock Holmes Award, was broadcast on 28 December 2014 during the series' New Year break. Presented by Kōichi Yamadera, the programme featured an awards ceremony, interviews with Kana Hiramatsu, Daniel Harding, Nano, and Bunta Inoue, and a preview of upcoming episodes.

Mystery Quiz "Sherloc-Q!"

A short segment produced with the cooperation of the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club, navigated by animated versions of Holmes and Watson. It was broadcast after the main part of an episode and presented viewers with a multiple-choice quiz featuring three options.

''Studio Park kara konnnichiwa''

Kōichi Yamadera appeared on NHK's show Studio Park kara konnnichiwa on 13 November 2014, where he discussed his career as a voice actor and his role as Sherlock Holmes. He also performed an interpretation of a silent film by Charles Chaplin.

Events

From 30 November to 28 December 2014, an exhibition of puppets and sets from the series was held at Studio Park in the NHK Broadcasting Center, Tokyo, which included a workshop on operating puppets. On the final day of the event, Wataru Takagi, the voice of John H. Watson, participated in the workshop.
Bunta Inoue exhibited some puppets from Sherlock Holmes at Art Fair Tokyo, held from 20 to 22 March 2015. Additional puppets, including newly created ones, were displayed in various locations such as Yokohama and Kyoto throughout 2015. From July to September 2015, an exhibition of the puppets was held in Yokohama. Another exhibition, titled "Nippon Daaisuki Ten", was scheduled at Happoen, Tokyo, from 23 to 29 August 2015.

Media

DVDs

The series has been released on DVD by Pony Canyon:
  • Vol. 1 – released on 16 July 2014
  • Vol. 2 – released on 19 November 2014
  • Vol. 3 – released on 17 December 2014
  • Vol. 4 – released on 21 January 2015
  • Vol. 5 – released on 18 February 2015
  • Vol. 6 – released on 18 March 2015
A Blu-ray box set containing all eighteen episodes and bonus footage on three discs was released on 18 March 2015.

CD

A soundtrack CD was released on 16 February 2015. Nano's album Rock On, which includes "Scarlet Story", was released on 28 January 2015.

Novelisation

Novelisations of the series are published by Shueisha:
  • – published on 14 April 2014
  • – published on 5 September 2014
  • – published on 5 January 2015
  • – published on 5 February 2015

Guidebook

A guidebook providing information about the programme,, was published by Shogakukan on 4 October 2014.

A memorial book summarising all eighteen episodes,, was published by Shogakukan on 26 February 2015.

Other merchandising

A quiz book,, was published by Shufu to Seikatsu Sha on 21 November 2014. Although targeted at younger readers, it was written by professional mystery fiction authors, including Naohiko Kitahara of the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club. The book can be regarded as a form of pastiche, as it is not based directly on the Canon of Sherlock Holmes.
Model figures of Holmes, Watson and Irene Adler were released by De Agostini Japan on 9 October 2014.
Merchandise related to the programme, including T-shirts, mobile phone cases, tote bags and mugs, is sold on the official SUZURI website.