Moriarty The Patriot: New Manga Part Starts Jan 2025

The August issue of Jump SQ magazine, by Shueisha, reported that the serialization of Moriarty the Patriot(Yukoku no Moriarty) manga’s second part will begin in the magazine’s January 2025 issue. It will be released on December 4, 2024. The storyboards are done by Ryosuke Takeuchi, while the illustrator of the manga is Hikaru Miyoshi.

Jump SQ or Jump Square was created after the fall of Monthly Shonen Jump, another Shueisha-owned monthly manga magazine that closed down in 2007. Moriarty The Patriot ran on Jump Square till December 2, 2022. As of today, it has a collection of 19 volumes!

The story of William is a spin-off of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original masterpiece Sherlock Holmes.

Moriarty is Sherlock Holmes’ arch-rival

Moriarty the Patriot focuses on Sherlock Holmes’s formidable rival William James Moriarty. There have been many adaptations of Sherlock Holmes characters over the years and through generations. The new “justified-villain” trope has created many masterpieces that give us a different perspective on a villain’s mind, reasonings, and desire. Hiyoshi wanted to make Sherlock and Moriarty’s personalities different than the ones that are generally associated with them. Moriarty as a “gentle criminal” and Sherlock as a “rowdy detective” can be a unique touch in a sea of adaptations.

In the manga, the protagonist and his brother Louis are orphans. They are adopted by Albert Moriarty, the eldest son of Earl Moriarty. They live in 19th-century London where the class system has become very rigid. The poor in the society are extremely marginalized and treated inhumanely by the rich. All three of them share a burning hatred for the British aristocracy.

They conspire and kill Albert’s horrible biological brother, the real William James Moriarty, and destroy the family estate. They vow to bring an end to the British class system together. The protagonist Moriarty, Louis’s older brother, takes William’s name and identity in the public eye.

Moriarty The Patriot Hates The Rich

The slogan “Eat The Rich!” takes a human form in William James Moriarty, sweet and pleasant on the outside, a cunning mastermind on the inside.

In the manga, the most important aspect of the likeability of Moriarty’s character is his distinct hate for the ultra-rich and the nobility. During the late 19th century, the British Empire had dominated the world. But, their own society was being torn apart by classism.

Moriarty and his brother faced extreme cruelty at the hands of Albert’s biological family. Consequently, this sparks a deep-seated abhorrence of the rich in the latter’s heart. So he started the annihilation of the high class with the murder of his own family. This backdrop encourages us to re-examine Moriarty’s reason for violence.

He wants to rid the society of vile individuals who misuse their wealth and influence. He hunts down nobles who hurt commoners and kill lower-class children for pleasure. These instances provide more context into Moriarty’s particular character in Moriarty The Patriot manga. He is a true ‘patriot’ who wants to rid his nation of evil in society. He wants a better and healthier community for the innocent and the deserving. Another interesting twist to the story is the way revenge is carried out in the manga.

Moriarty and his brothers give the poor victims a chance to “right the wrongs”, if you may. In this way, Moriarty is a consultant not only for the police department but also for people seeking justice. The “revenge murder” is justified through the previous cruel acts of the perpetrators that range from literally toying with people for fun, treating their workers like garbage, and worse, even hunting humans for sport.

He meets the detective extraordinaire Sherlock Holmes when he’s trying to kill the noble who is hunting humans like game animals. Then, Sherlock, through his ‘Science of Deduction’, guesses a third-party involvement. This piques the interest of Moriarty and he locks his attention on to him. Thus, begins the infamous cat-and-mouse chase between Sherlock Holmes and William James Moriarty.

Moriarty is An Anti-Hero In The Manga

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Moriarty is considered to be inspired by Adam Worth, a real-life crime boss. In the stories, Sherlock also likens Moriarty to a head spider at the center of a web and gives him the infamous title “Napolean of Crime”. This title is believed to be derived from Worth, who was referred to as so by a Scotland Yard officer.

However, the Moriarty in the manga is more of an ‘anti-hero’ and unlike Doyle’s diabolical criminal lord. Moriarty The Patriot truly sheds a different light on his character. Whatever he does, he does it to bring justice to the victims when the police fail or hesitate to do so. Thus, Moriarty is an anti-hero, someone who extracts justice through extreme measures that tend to be illegal in the eyes of the law.

Doyle’s Moriarty was made to be Sherlock’s arch nemesis, equally cunning and intelligent. But he wasn’t given any virtues to begin with. He does crimes because he can. He makes others kill for him and controls a large network of ruthless criminals because he can.

He feels powerful that way and there is no conscience on him. The manga’s Moriarty is vastly different. To illustrate, after Moriarty meets Sherlock and finds his equal, he does go after him initially. He curates crimes to attract the famous detective’s attention. Now, this is where the similarity ends. The purpose behind the pursuit of Sherlock’s attention is different here.

Moriarty in the manga preselects aristocrats or rich, horrendous people to murder. The more elaborate murder he sets up, the more Sherlock finds it and writes about it. By doing this, Moriarty hopes to create awareness among the masses that someone is standing up to the upper class. He wants the commoners to unite against their evil masters.

Other Adaptations

• There are three novels written by Yosuke Saita for the Moriarty The Patriot franchise.
• The manga adaptation of the above-mentioned novels titled ‘Yukoku no Moriarty: The Remains’ recently ended. Shueisha is set to release its third volume on August 2.
• The manga has also inspired a series of theater musicals and two stage plays.
• There is an animated TV series adaptation of the same name. It ran from 2020 to 2022 with a total of 26 episodes.