Television series

Moriarty the Patriot

Name: Moriarty the Patriot
Genre: Anime, Crime, Mystery
Released: 2020
Cast: Sōma Saitō, Chiaki Kobayashi, Makoto Furukawa, Satoshi Hino, Takuya Satō

Crime

A gleeful reinvention of Sherlock lore that makes Moriarty the protagonist: a brilliant nobleman secretly orchestrating chaos to dismantle Victorian society's rotten class system. It's stylish crime strategy wrapped in intellectual sparring, with genuine warmth between brothers beneath the scheming. For fans of morally complex antiheroes and shows that know exactly how entertaining it is to root for the wrong side.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like villain-centred stories where a brilliant, polite schemer's reasoning is the pleasure, and you enjoy a Victorian Sherlock-adjacent world seen from the wrong side of the magnifying glass.

Skip it if you want Holmes-style detective puzzles solved on the page, since the mysteries here serve a larger political scheme and the dense class-politics talk can feel slow.

What it asks of you: Twenty-four half-hour episodes that build patiently, with long talky stretches in drawing rooms and a steady demand that you track who is lying to whom.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch2006

A brilliant outcast discovers supernatural power and builds an underground army to reshape the world through strategy and manipulation. Same intoxicating blend of elaborate plans, charismatic villainy, and the seductive logic of 'necessary evil.'

But The mecha battles can feel disconnected from the psychological core, and the pacing falters in the middle stretch. Melodrama occasionally overwhelms subtlety.

Death Note2006

Genius teenager with a god complex plays an addictive game of moral chess against an equally brilliant detective. That same electricity of watching a charismatic villain construct an empire while someone hunts them.

But The second half loses momentum as it retreats from its own premise. Some viewers find the constant internal monologuing exhausting rather than engaging.

The Owl House2020

A young outsider systematically dismantles an authoritarian regime from within, using wit and alliances instead of power. Shares Moriarty's theme of using intelligence and connection to topple corrupt hierarchies, but with genuine heart.

But It's animated and marketed to younger viewers, which can make it harder to take seriously at first. The tonal shifts between comedy and darkness aren't always smooth.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Moriarty the Patriot

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Great Pretender2020

Both center on charismatic men building found families while systematically dismantling hierarchies, but Great Pretender believes in redemption and fun where Moriarty believes in sacrifice and revolution.

A con artist recruits a band of beautiful misfits to steal from the corrupt rich across the globe. It has Moriarty's pleasure in clever schemes and remaking society from below, but trades cerebral plotting for stylish improvisation and genuine joy.

But More comedy-heist than psychological thriller; if you want sustained tension and moral weight, this is too breezy. The anime art style shifts inconsistently.

Psycho-Pass2012

A surveillance state enforced by a mysterious system; crime fighters and criminals alike question whether the system itself is the real enemy. Moriarty's cold-eyed critique of society finds kinship here.

But Philosophical monologues sometimes overwhelm plot momentum. Second season loses the first's sharp focus.

Monster2004

A man hunts down a monster he himself unleashed, exploring how good intentions curdle into complicity. Deep, humane character work and moral ambiguity that cuts deeper than Moriarty's stylish scheme-spinning.

But Deliberately slow pacing and a runtime of 74 episodes. Requires genuine patience and commitment.

Steins;Gate2011

Brilliant young outsiders solve an impossible problem through ingenuity and sacrifice, trying to game a system larger than themselves. Shares the intellectual problem-solving and moral weight, though with more warmth.

But Heavy exposition in early episodes. The time-travel logic can become frustrating if you're paying close attention.

The Midnight Gospel2020

A man travels through bizarre worlds having profound conversations about meaning, death, and systems. Wildly different tone, but similar interest in characters thoughtfully examining why the world is broken.

But Only eight episodes of 25 minutes each—brief. Meditative rather than plot-driven; some find it aimless.

LINK CLICK2021

Two friends with reality-bending powers work with precision and sacrifice to fix people's problems while uncovering a larger conspiracy. Clever problem-solving and genuine emotional stakes beneath the mystery.

But Pacing becomes scattered in the middle. Some plot threads feel abandoned or underdeveloped.

Les Misérables2012

Both ask whether you can build a better world through systematic dismantling of the old one, but the musical interrogates Moriarty's certainty and finds only moral exhaustion.

A revolutionary examines whether violence and upheaval are justified to tear down an unjust society, then asks harder questions about the cost of that upheaval. Same Victorian-era setting and same ideological struggle, but with Tolstoy's unflinching humanism.

But A slow-burn four-hour epic without modern pacing. Dense with social philosophy; not for viewers wanting light entertainment.

Revolutionary Girl Utena1997

Both use a protagonist's intellectual mastery of a corrupt system to question whether that system can be reformed or must be destroyed from within; Utena suggests the answer is weirder than either option.

A young genius operates within a rigged system designed to crush outsiders, manipulating the rules to expose its own corruption. Utterly strange surrealist anime that shares Moriarty's interrogation of inherited power, but through symbol and abstraction.

But Deliberately cryptic and dreamlike; if you want literal clarity, you'll be frustrated. Visually experimental to the point of alienation. No straightforward plot exists.