Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Box art of the video game for the PSP
探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ
Genre	Detective, Mystery, Comedy
Game
Developer	Artdink
Publisher	Bushiroad
Genre	Adventure
Platform	Playstation Portable
Released	JP December 16, 2010
Manga
Written by	Bushiroad
Illustrated by	Sorahiro Mizushima
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Comp Ace
Original run	May 2010 – January 2011
Volumes	2
TV anime
Directed by	Makoto Moriwaki
Written by	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Music by	Satoru Kousaki
Studio	J.C.Staff
Original run	October 7, 2010 – December 23, 2010
Light novel
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Overture
Written by	Hideaki Koyasu
Illustrated by	Natsuki Tanihara Keiichi Ishikura
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Imprint	Dengeki Bunko
Original run	December 10, 2010 – ongoing
Volumes	1
TV anime
Studio	J.C.Staff
Original run	January 2012 – ongoing
Anime and Manga Portal

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ, Tantei Opera Mirukii Hōmuzu^?) is a media franchise owned by the Japanese trading card game company Bushiroad. It consists of an Internet radio drama, released in December 2009; an anime adaptation by J.C.Staff, the first season of which aired between October 7, 2010 and December 23, 2010;^[1] a manga adaptation serialized in Comp Ace from 2010; a visual novel PlayStation Portable game, released in Japan on December 16, 2010; a trading card game tie-in with Bushiroad's Weiß Schwarz; and a light novel series published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko label. A second anime season was announced by Bushiroad via Twitter to begin airing in January 2012.^[2]

The series is a homage to the detective fiction genre, and the four female leads are named after famous fictional detectives: Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, Hercule Poirot and Cordelia Gray.

Plot

Set in a futuristic world, there exist "Toys" which grant people superhuman abilities. This is responsible for a wave of crimes and necessitates employing Toy-using detectives to help solve them. Opera Kobayashi runs a detective agency, Milky Holmes, staffed by four aspiring young girl detectives who attend the Holmes Detective Academy, and each girl possesses their own unique Toy.

Characters

Milky Holmes

Sherlock "Sheryl" Shellingford^[3] (シャーロック・シェリンフォード, Shārokku Sherinfōdo^?)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori

The leader of Milky Holmes, named after Sherlock Holmes. She's known to be particularly clumsy but is always caring. Her Toy gives her telekinesis.

Nero Yuzurizaki (譲崎 ネロ, Yuzurizaki Nero^?)

Voiced by: Sora Tokui

An obnoxious girl with a hefty appetite, named after Nero Wolfe. She speaks with the masculine term 'boku'. Her Toy allows her to control machines.

Hercule "Elly" Barton (エルキュール・バートン, Erukyūru Bāton^?)

Voiced by: Mikoi Sasaki

A very shy girl, named after Hercule Poirot, who is easily embarrassed. Her Toy gives her superhuman strength.

Cordelia Glauca (コーデリア・グラウカ, Kōderia Gurauka^?)

Voiced by: Izumi Kitta

A blonde girl who often gets delusional concerning the relationship within the group, named after Cordelia Gray. She tends to get rather delusional whenever she is scared. Her Toy allows her to see and hear things others cannot.

Kamaboko (かまぼこ, lit. Fish Paste^?)

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono

A stray cat the girls find and keep inside the attic.

Opera Kobayashi (小林 オペラ, Kobayashi Opera^?)

Voiced by: Shūta Morishima

He is said to be the person who taught the Milky Holmes. His name is based after Yoshio Kobayashi. In the PSP game, he lost his Toy much the same as the Milky Holmes.

Gentlemen Thieves

Arséne / Henriette Mystere (アルセーヌ / アンリエット・ミステール, Arusēnu / Anrietto Misutēru^?)

Voiced by: Satomi Akesaka

The leader of the Gentlemen Thieves whose Toys can cast illusions. She is currently undercover as the Student Council President at Holme's Academy. She craves strong opponents such as Sherlock to fight against, so when Milky Holmes lose their Toys, she strives to help them to return to their most powerful states so they can satisfy her. Named after Arsène Lupin, her toys is the toys of Resplendence.

Stone River / Souseki Ishinagare (ストーンリバー / 石流 漱石, Sutōn Ribā / Ishinagare Souseki^?)

Voiced by: Takuma Terashima

A stern man who battles with a katana. His Toys allow him to immobilize an opponent. Undercover as a school janitor. Named after Ishikawa Goemon.

Twenty / Kai Nijuuri (トゥエンティ / 二十里 海, Tuenti / Nijuuri Kai^?)

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio

A crafty magician who uses various English words and attacks using cards. He is wildly perverted and constantly shows off his erect nipples to the chagrin of the students. His toys allows him to disguise perfectly. Undercover as a teacher. His name is based after Edogawa Rampo's The Fiend of Twenty Faces.

Rat / Jiro Nezu (ラット / 根津 次郎, Ratto / Nezu Jiro^?)

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono

A young boy with a Flame Toy used for lighting various explosives. Undercover as a classmate. Named after Nezumi Kozō.

Genius 4

Kokoro Akechi (明智 小衣, Akechi Kokoro^?)

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjō

The leader of Genius 4 (known as G4 for short), a police investigation unit. She is a bossy girl who looks down on Milky Holmes since they lost their toys. She smacks Sherlock with a golden mask whenever she calls her "Kokoro-chan". Her name is based on Edogawa Rampo's Kogoro Akechi.

Tsugiko Zenigata (銭形 次子, Zenigata Tsugiko^?)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro

A spunky green haired girl. Her name is based on Zenigata Heiji.

Hirano Hasegawa (長谷川 平乃, Hasegawa Hirano^?)

Voiced by: Ryōko Shintani

A polite girl who can deal a sleep-inducing karate chop. Her name is based on Hasegawa Heizō.

Saku Tooyama (遠山 咲, Tōyama Saku^?)

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura

A soft spoken girl who wears headphones. She appears to have a thing for retro technology. Her name is based on Tōyama Kagemoto.

Rei Kamitsu (神津 玲, Kamitsu Rei^?)

Voiced by: Susumu Chiba

The head of G4. His name is based on Kyōsuke Kamitsu.

Media

Anime

An anime adaptation of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes by J.C. Staff aired between October 7, 2010 and December 23, 2010 and was also streamed by Crunchyroll. A special episode aired in August 2011.^[4] The opening theme is "The Answer Is One! Not!!" (正解はひとつ!じゃない!!, Seikai wa Hitotsu! Janai!!^?) by Suzuko Mimori, Sora Tokui, Mikoi Sasaki and Izumi Kitta, while the ending theme is "Instinct Doubt" (本能のDOUBT, Honnou no DOUBT^?) by Faylan. The ending theme for the TV special is "Party Party!" (パーティーパーティー!, Pātī Pātī!^?) by Mimori, Tokui, Sasaki and Kitta. A second anime season will begin airing in January 2012.^[2]

Episode List

Each episode is named after a famous detective novel.

#	Title	Original air date
01	"Moving into the Attic" "Yaneura no Nyuukyosha" (屋根裏の入居者)	October 7, 2010
During an encounter with a group of Gentlemen Thieves, the ace detective group Milky Holmes suddenly lose their Toys, which give them special abilities. A month later they have since descended to being the worst student at Sherlock Holmes' Detective Academy. The Gentlemen Thief leader, Arsene, masquerading as the Student Council President Henriette, moves Milky Holmes into a less luxurious lifestyle inside an attic and gives them three months to recover their toys before they are expelled.
02	"A Pocket Full of Bread" "Poketto ni Pan o" (ポケットにパンを)	October 14, 2010
As the Gentlemen Thieves continue their crime spree, Milky Holmes are having trouble adjusting to the poorer life. Cordelia Glauca tries to convince everyone to be friends, but inadvertently makes things worse. Everyone's mood soon livens up when Sherlock Sherringford finds a stray kitten, naming it Kamaboko. When Kamaboko starts pilfering bread from the cafeteria, Milky Holmes are accused of stealing it. Wanting to protect the kitten, Cordelia takes the blame. In order to save Cordelia from expulsion, Milky Holmes investigate the crime scene, finding the true culprit and the reason Cordelia protected him. Learning the truth, Henriette revokes the expulsion and allows them to keep the cat.
03	"Terror in the Coffin" "Kanoke no Kyoufu" (棺桶の恐怖)	October 21, 2010
When Milky Holmes go to assist the guarding of a statue targeted by the Gentlemen Thieves, they are teased by the anti-Gentlemen-Thief force, G4, with false promises of getting their toys back. When Hercule "Elly" Barton fails the ridiculous ritual set by the G4 leader, Kokoro Akechi, Nero Yuzurizaki gets angry at her. When Arséne steals a fake statue, G4 try to follow them with a tracking device, but Milky Holmes accidentally breaks their computer when Cordelia gets scared. Still sad about earlier, Elly runs off so the others go look for her at the museum, where they run into the thieves who are trying to find the real statue. During the fight, Cordelia and Twenty get trapped in a sarcophagus, but the embarrassing noises temporarily gives Elly her toy back allowing her to get them out.
04	"The Secret of Baritsu" "Baritsu no Himitsu" (バリツの秘密)	October 28, 2010
Milky Holmes and G4 are informed about a girl named Irene Doala who went missing in the Yokohama woods. While searching for her, Sherlock and Kokoro become separated from their respective groups, winding up in a cave along with Irene. Irene explains she got lost while finding a treasure chest so she can stop her father's company from going bankrupt. When a bear attacks them on their journey back, Sherlock makes several failed attempts to rescue them only be coincidentally saved by an unexploded bomb. They are later found by G4 and returned home.
05	"A Case of the Missing Kamaboko" "Kamaboko Shissou Jiken" (かまぼこ失踪事件)	November 5, 2010
While trying to rescue Kamaboko from traffic, Elly is saved by two girls named Mary and Kate. They are revealed to be thieves, who attempt to kidnap Kamaboko, but are halted when Milky Holmes spot them and, mistaking them for detectives, invite them in. However, they soon manage to escape with Kamaboko, plotting to torture him due to his resemblance to their old boyfriend. As Milky Holmes search for him, Stoneriver, Twenty and Rat find Mary and Kate and fight against them for disturbing their territory, but are overpowered by their toys. Mary and Kate nearly take Kamaboko again, but change their mind when he saves them from one of Rat's bombs.
06	"The Princess's Substitute" "Oujo no Migawari" (王女の身代わり)	November 12, 2010
The Princess of Marlo, Claris, who bears a striking resemblance to Sherlock, doesn't want to get married to a prince in order to support their country. Wanting to be a normal girl, she runs off and finds Sherlock and offers to trade lives with her for a day. While Claris hangs out with the rest of Milky Holmes, Sherlock spends the day with her prince-to-be, Pero, who is a masochist with a catgirl maid fetish. As Claris contemplates staying in this new life, her identity is discovered by Henriette, who tells her to stop running away from her troubles. Getting the help of Milky Holmes, Claris gets to the church before Sherlock gets wed to Pero, revealing she will reach her dreams with her own hands. Pero reveals he had been trying to get her to put off the marriage, as he was in love with her grandmother, who he marries, connecting the two countries after all.
07	"The Sun's Playful Play" "Taiyou no Tawawamure" (太陽のたわわむれ)	November 19, 2010
Milky Holmes, along with Genius 4 visit a beach where it is rumored Baskerville hid his various treasures and researched a way to retrieve lost Toys. As the Gentlemen Thieves were also there planning to rob the place, Arséne joins them as Henriette. When it starts raining, they take shelter in a cave and decide to explore it, but get separated when they trigger some traps. After getting separated by a couple more traps, Sherlock and Nero learn what could possibly be the solution to regaining their Toys. However, they only end up finding a bunch of dolls in a vault which triggers another trap which fills the manor with cold water. With encouragement from Sherlock, Nero manages to get temporary control of her Toys, which heats up the water to hot spring temperature and reunites them with the others.
08	"Bouncy Girl" "Boyoyon no Onna" (ボヨヨンの女)	November 26, 2010
After being tricked by Kokoro with more false hopes of retrieving their Toys, Milky Holmes end up catching colds. Henriette spends the night nursing them back to help and ends up catching a cold herself. Milky Holmes decide to help nurse her back to health, and upon changing her clothes find her Arséne disguise, though they quickly pass it off as cosplay. Sherlock gives Henriette a rather dubious medicine that causes her Toys to go berserk, trapping everyone within a strange Momotaro-inspired illusion.
09	"MH's Tragedy" "MH no higeki" (ＭＨの悲劇)	December 3, 2010
One night, Nezu is attacked, leaving behind a 'dying message' supposedly saying 'M.H.', which leads Milky Holmes to become murder suspects, with Henriette giving them until the next morning to prove themselves innocent. When Milky Holmes seek wisdom from a Ouija board they found, a bright light shines and Cordelia, Nero and Elly are possessed by the spirits of their ancestors, Cordelia Gray, Nero Wolfe and Hercule Poirot, who were supposedly trapped within the Ouija board. However, their takes on their case aren't particularly helpful. Sherlock is then possessed by Sherlock Holmes, who identifies the culprit as Sherlock's kohai, Sonia. She attempts to escape but is stopped by Holmes and Rat, who had only been playing dead. The detectives soon take their leave, leaving behind a message for Milky Holmes saying their toys will return after a great trial, while Sonia is transferred to another academy.
10	"An Unsuitable Job for Milky Holmes" "Mirukii Hōmuzu ni wa Mukanai Shokugyō" (ミルキィホームズには向かない職業)	December 10, 2010
An exam is coming up, but Milky Holmes don't study for it since they assume their Toys will come back, resulting in complete failure. They then hear about a robbery by Arséne, assuming it is the trial Holmes mentioned, only to find Stone River, Twenty and Rat fighting amongst themselves. When the thieves turn their attention towards Milky Holmes, they are beaten easily due to their Toys not working, forcing Kokoro to rescue them from an explosion. Henriette becomes frustrated at Milky Holmes' lack of progress and sets fire to their attic, declaring them expelled from Holmes Academy.
11	"The Grand Yokohama Gorge of Fear" "Kyōfu no Gurando Yokohama Kyōkoku" (恐怖のグランドヨコハマ峡谷)	December 17, 2010
As Milky Holmes go their separate ways, Henriette becomes furious with disappointment and goes on a crime spree as Arséne. G4 briefly visit Sherlock, working at a ramen shop, before heading off to face Arséne. As Sherlock visits the other girls, Henriette hosts a broadcast saying Arséne has kidnapped her, willingly putting herself into a trap over Yokohama Gorge which could send her to her death. When G4 are defeated by the Gentlemen Thieves, Sherlock gathers together Milky Holmes and are given a ride by Irene to the gorge. While the others hold the thieves back, Sherlock dives after Henriette as she falls, which activates her Toys, along with the others. However, Henriette than changes into Arséne, revealing a plan she has wanted to fight against Sherlock at her true potential.
12	"The Return of Milky Holmes" "Mirukii Hōmuzu no Kikan" (ミルキィホームズの帰還)	December 24, 2010
With their Toys returned, Milky Holmes battles against Arséne, who uses her illusion Toys at their full potential, producing tangible illusions, culminating in a battle in the outer atmosphere. However, after running into her cleavage, Sherlock realizes Arséne is actually Henriette, though they appear to forget this upon crashing back down to Earth. Arséne decides to retreat and 'return' Henriette. Milky Holmes are thanked for their rescue of Henriette, only to discover their Toys have also disappeared as a result of the impact. However, Henriette postpones their expulsion and refurbishes their attic room, where they soon introduced to a transfer student named Mori Arty.
Special	"Farewell, Kokoro-chan. Long Goodbye Forever and Ever..." "Sayonara, Kokoro-chan. Rongu Gudobai Fōebā yo Eien ni..." (さようなら、小衣ちゃん。ロング・グッドバイ・フォーエバーよ永遠に…)	August 26, 2011
After some pushing by Irene and her father and a lack of support otherwise, Kokoro stubbornly quits her job as a police detective to become an idol. She soon finds the idol life draining and starts to miss her old detective life. When Henriette notices Sherlock's loneliness without her, she stages a statue theft in order to convince Kokoro to return to the force.

Visual Novel

A visual novel developed by Bushiroad was released on PlayStation Portable on December 16, 2010. Players play the role of Opera Kobayashi, who must train Milky Holmes to be great detectives and use their abilities to stop thieves. The game's second chapter will be released on September 29, 2011 from the PlayStation Store.^[5]

Other Appearances

The four main characters of Milky Holmes appear briefly in many different episodes of Cardfight!! Vanguard as cameos where they are simply shown in the background.

References

1. ^ "Bushiroad Confirms Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Anime". Anime News Network. 2009-12-10. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-10/bushiroad-confirms-tantei-opera-milky-holmes-anime. Retrieved 2010-09-30. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Milky Holmes anime gets 2nd season in January 2012". Anime News Network. 2011-08-20. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-08-19/milky-holmes-anime-gets-2nd-season-in-january. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
3. ^ According to Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Limited Edition (PSP game) released in Japan, "Sherinfōdo" is spelt "Shellinford", not "Shellingford"
4. ^ "Milky Holmes TV Anime to Get Special This Summer". Anime News Network. February 27, 2011. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-02-27/milky-holmes-anime-gets-tv-special-this-summer. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 
5. ^ "Detective Opera Milky Holmes 1.5 Demo Posted for Free". Anime News Network. August 25, 2011. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-08-25/detective-opera-milky-holmes-1.5-demo-posted-for-free. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 

External links

• Official site (Japanese)
• Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia