I just realized that, even though I shared my thoughts on the first season Dub of “Moriarty the Patriot,” I never shared my thoughts on the second season! Time to correct that mistake.
As far as the returning cast go in Season 2, most of the are, I feel, on about the same level as before. The ones who I thought were better than the originals (like Aaron Dismuke) I see no reason to go back on, and the ones who I thought were good but ultimately not AS good as the originals (like Caleb Yen) did not necessarily do much to make me change my mind. There was, however, one key exception: Theo Devaney as Sherlock Holmes. I’m not sure if it’s because I grew more used to Devaney’s voice, or if it’s because of what happens in Season 2 and how much more of Holmes we see in it, but Devaney is now tied with Makoto Furukawa (the original voice for Sherlock) for supremacy. Both of them bring very different elements to the table, but still play the character just right.
The main thing that sets them apart for me isn’t so much the performances but more the writing itself. Holmes in the English Dub feels slightly more traditional than the Holmes in the Japanese original. In the Japanese version, Holmes’ lingo is littered with anachronisms, and he’s generally more casual and blunt. Devaney’s Holmes talks more like how you’d IMAGINE Sherlock Holmes to talk, so to speak, but he’s still playing basically the same character. In other words: the Japanese version is a more unique interpretation, on the whole, but Devaney’s Holmes is one I can almost imagine if I read the actual Conan Doyle stories. Like, his is a voice I can now say I would imagine when reading the original books, and it would not be unfitting. Being the big Holmes buff I am, it becomes more difficult to choose which I like more.
Now, let’s move on to the newcomers. I’m going to be a right old git and start with two that I think are problematic. First up, Natalie Van Sistine as Irene Adler and James Bonde. The problem with Sistine is very simple: as Irene Adler, she’s absolutely perfect. That is exactly the voice I would imagine Irene having, and I actually prefer her to the Japanese version in that role. BUT, once Adler becomes James Bonde - or when she masquerades as a man a the masked ball - I simply cannot buy for a second that anyone would hear that voice and not at least raise questions about the gender. That voice is clearly the voice of a woman’s, and while I know what Bonde is meant to represent and act as in this universe…let’s face it people, the actual physical situation is basically a Mulan story, and I don’t buy that anyone else would buy the disguise. The voice actress in the Japanese version, in my opinion, did a much better job differentiating the two characters, and you could legitimately forgive and believe Bonde to be the man he is. In this one, she/he sounds exactly the same in both parts, and it’s really hard to swallow, at least in my opinion. Maybe others feel differently.
A character of lesser note with a slightly similar problem is Harry, one of Milverton’s goons, voiced by Ciaran Strange. Harry…sounds like a girl. There is no other way to put it, he sounds like a girl. I have listened to his scenes over and over to try and convince myself otherwise, and it just doesn’t work. If I didn’t know the voice actor was a male, I would never guess it, and the same goes for the character. Evidently, Strange is actually a transgender, and his voice still has a great deal of femininity to it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but Harry in the Japanese dub has a much rougher, vicious sort of voice; he not only sounds male, he sounds like the psychopathic thug he is meant to be. Strange’s vocal work makes him sound, at best, like a twisted child, and I don’t think that works quite as well for this demented mercenary character. It’s not even that he does a bad job with the acting, per say, it’s just that the quality of the voice, in my opinion, does not match the character or the design. The same goes for Van Sistine as Adler/Bonde.
In direct contrast to both of them, the best newcomer, in my opinion, is Kayleigh McKee as Charles Augustus Milverton. McKee is evidently also transgender, but their voice is much more fitting for Milverton’s character. It is masculine-sounding, yet it has a light, slithering quality, befitting this snakish fiend. I hate to say “Milverton is a delight,” because…well…it’s Milverton, and “delight” is hardly a suitable word for him, but that’s also the best word I can come up with. MTP’s take on the character is probably my favorite, partially because it’s the only time I’ve come anywhere close to liking the guy (in a “love to hate” way, mind you) in any rendition, and McKee’s wonderfully evil vocals and performance are definitely on par with the original, if not surpassing them. The only thing I’d say the original has over McKee is the original is funnier, for lack of a better way of putting it: when Milverton meets his defeat, there’s a bit of humor to the scene in the original version, courtesy of the scoundrel’s reactions. Much of that humor feels lost in the Dub. I’m not sure if that’s really the actor’s fault, however, so take that as you will.
Jack Renfield, as played by Bruce DuBose, is generally on par with the original. I literally have one - AND ONLY ONE - nitpicking complaint about his Jack the Ripper: the laugh. In the scene where Renfield masquerades as the serial killer that has stolen his name, he lets out this maniacal laugh that’s meant to send chills into the hearts of those below. In the original, the laugh is raw, visceral, wild, and truly unhinged; I always got the feeling, with that laugh and his overall demeanor during that sequence, we were getting a hint of what the Ripper was like on the battlefield years ago. It’s a laugh you can believe striking terror into one’s heart. In the dub…I swear he’s doing the old-fashioned “bua ha ha ha” laugh, almost MAKING FUN of the whole situation, which, to me, doesn’t read as well: it’s more humorous than legitimately terrifying. I suppose neither is an invalid way of doing it, but I prefer the original. But hey, if that’s the ONLY issue I have? He’s clearly doing a good job. XD
The rest of the cast are about the same as ever. The child characters still usually don’t sound like children (except one), which at times is a bit odd, and the more minor players do a good job with what they are given, generally, but don’t necessarily go beyond the call of duty.
My overall opinion of the English Dub for “Moriarty the Patriot” is what it was before: this is a good dub, but not a great one. Some voices surpass the original performers, others never come close to their level, and a few are about the same, it’s really just a matter of linguistics then. Generally speaking, I prefer the Subbed version: it’s just more consistent in its quality, where even the actors I don’t like AS much as the English versions are still pretty darn good, and there are no strange inconsistencies from character to character. You can believe everyone is the age and gender they are supposed to be, at all times. The Dub has its moments, but it also has more flaws. Still, if someone wanted to watch the Dub for any specific reason, I wouldn’t tell them no, and if they decided to watch it instead of the Sub, I suppose I wouldn’t be upset about that.
Having finally seen the OVA episodes, I await to see that time - if ever - when those get dubbed. Once that is done (if it is done), I suppose that will mean the true end of the Moriarty anime. Thank goodness the manga is still ongoing…but that’s another story.
