Review of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

So yeah, I watched this show: Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. 2ch made a big fuss about it and although 2ch tends to often troll about rankings, I think they were being rather serious for this one. While I personally don't think this tops K-ON!!, it definitely left its mark this season. I'll keep this one shorter than the rest (hopefully) since I don't expect many of you to watch the show anyways after reading this.

Summary

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes follows four girls: Sherlock Shellingford, Cordelia Glauca, Hercule Barton, and Nero Yuzurisaki. The four of them attend Holmes Detective Academy and are the most popular students because of their teamwork and "Toys," to solve many detective and criminal cases. Toys are the supernatural powers in this show that each student at the academy possess. Sherlock's is a poltergeist ability, Cordelia has enhanced hearing and sensing, Hercule has super strenght, and Nero has the ability to control machinery. However, one day when they were pursuing the Phantom Theif Arsene and her minions, they suddenly lose their toys and their happy-go-lucky lives begin to take a 180 turn.

Review
Just from the image of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, this looks like another one of those typical moe shows except targeted at a younger audience. In essence yes, for at least the first half of the show. Now, if you were able to get past the first 5 episodes, this show is actually just a slapstick comedy. While the goal of each episode involves the four girls attempting to find any way to retrieve their Toys, it ends up being mostly an episode of the girls being completely gullible and desperate, which is what made the show really enjoyable. From freezing themselves in a freezer to jumping off a cliff, etc... At first I had the same impression that J.C. Staff may have been on crack on this one, but it turns out this show's budget was probably higher than their other works this season if not this year like Otome Youkai Zakuro (which was also not a bad series, though the plot is predictable/linear) or Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru. In fact, one could even say that Tantei Opera Milky Holmes had a budget greater than that of Bakuman, which many claim to be a 480p upscale to HD quality.

So what was the big deal about this show? Nothing really. It was a lot of fun however. I'd say at the end of the series this show went Final Fantasy/Dragon Ball Z style on the audience with some of the ridiculous effects though I am a bit disappointed with the fact that the show basically returned to where it started. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes really takes some time to enjoy its full value. This is probably the biggest underdog of the season and while nowhere near a perfect series, it definitely had the comedic value to warrant a recommendation and review. While there are definitely a number of shows that easily top the show in the comedy relief category, what is unique about this show is how gullible and desperate these characters are and that's where most of the fun lies.

Last but not least, Twenty is absolutely hilarious/disturbing in this show from beginning to end. So here is your "moe" fanservice:

Recommendation
As said before Tantei Opera Milky Holmes is not unique in its category. Many shows have done the cutesy moe comedy type show and have done it better, including the big names like Pani Poni Dash, K-ON!, and the classic Azumanga Daioh.
In fact there are other shows this season that provide better comedy, including The World God Only Knows and Shinryaku! Ika Musume. Of course, these are all titles that people who follow this season are likely watching already and so Milky Holmes is kinda left in the dust. Nevertheless, if you liked any of the above shows, this show is probably worth trying and by trying I mean get past the first 5 then start commenting. I think this show may actually be worth some time but one just needs to be open to the humor in this show.

Likelihood of US License?
The show was simulcasted on Crunchyroll. However, for a full US license where it is available on DVD, I find it unlikely simply because we're dealing with both a show that is underrated and simultaneously moe . In addition this is one show I personally wouldn't buy on DVD because it's really a one-shot deal and the re-watch value is relatively low overall. Though it is nice to see almost an entirely new voice cast crew in the industry for this show.