Warning! This review on Yuukoku no Moriarty Chapters two and three contain spoilers. If you haven’t seen the episodes yet, I recommend you watch them and then go back to read the review.
# 02-03 The Scarlet Eyes, Acts 1 and 2
Yuukoku no Moriarty Chapters two and three tell the story of the beginning of the association between Albert, William and Louis. The story of these three begins when they were younger. Both Louis and William were orphans who were admitted to the facility that Albert constantly attended. Williams’ genius caught the attention of the oldest of the Moriartys, but what caught him was his revolutionary vision and ideals. By having custody of both orphans, Albert wanted to find the revolution with them. The class system destroyed the elder’s spirit, but with William’s help, he overcame the first hurdle that stood in the way of his ideal. By getting rid of their family and creating a new one, the path opened up for them as allies, accomplices, and families, and all three tried to achieve their ideal.
Back to the past
Although I did not originally intend to put two chapters together, I think that was the best option in this case. We are facing a few chapters that complement each other to uncover the mystery of our protagonists’ past. Although we understood in the first episode that both William and Louis and Albert belong to the nobility, we also saw traces of their suspicion of this class division. In these two chapters we now have a much more elaborate and detailed picture of the origins of this criminal adviser.
William, whose real name we do not know, was originally a poor orphan. Despite the limitations of his ancestry, he was born with a genius that helped him always be on the right side. Instead of stealing or cursing his luck, he was full of brains and made his bread and butter and a good reputation through advice. Thanks to the latter, Albert became interested in him and discovered that his ideals were precisely aligned with his own even before he fully discovered them. This boy had a hunger for revolution and the brains for it, and so Albert offered him the tools.
The three boys worked together on a plan to achieve their ideal, but William is not naive and above all made sure Albert was loyal and determined. The lazy world the eldest Moriarty grew up in may have corrupted his spirit, which is why he was put to the test. His desire was to end the root of his immediate illnesses, and it is for this reason that he turned to William for help. This fact served to prove his commitment. At first it was Albert who offered William everything for his cause, so it was his responsibility to deliver the final blow. In order for things to work out the way they wanted, the real William had to perish and offer the orphan his identity. Eventually Albert was true to his own spirit and ended the life of his terrible brother and his unhappy parents.
While William’s job is only to be a consultant, I offer manual help for this job. In this way, they can really be considered full accomplices. The upside of this is that the plan was perfect and there was no evidence to incriminate them. It was a perfect crime that, ironically, doesn’t really make it a crime, without evidence there is no crime.
noblesse oblige
Although this anime is a story of puzzles and crimes to be solved, it is fortunate to have strong social criticism. The main criticism concerns the class division in Victorian London. As we know and it was explained to us in the second episode, this era was overshadowed by the class struggle. Those who had all privileges were the upper class, the nobles, they enjoyed status advantages. What is really indescribable about this situation is that these privileges came from the cradle, they are not earned on their own, but inherited. Social resentments were great while the population starved to death and suffered from illness and discrimination. The small handful that ruled enjoyed opulence.
It must be said that not every noble was bad, but the exceptions were just that, exceptions. Blinded by these birthrights, many of these nobles forgot one of the most important principles. noblesse oblige. The nobility undertakes, it is a judgment of conscience that speaks about the responsibility that the rich have towards people who have nothing. It is a responsibility because it is an obligation to take care of those who are in conditions inferior to yours by respecting your privileges. noblesse oblige It is similar to what we know today as social responsibility, it is the obligation and commitment that we as individuals have towards society. It is our duty to give back what has been given to us. It’s a rationale, but it’s very easy to forget.
It must be said that the revolutionary ideas of William and Albert are the obvious conclusion to so many years of noble tyranny. To forget their duty to the people and to indulge in excesses led to the downfall of the nobility. Don’t forget that the nobles made up only 3% of the population. Such an insignificant number had no solid base to hold onto when the revolution broke out. If the nobility had made sure from the start that they fulfilled their responsibilities, social grudges could have been allayed.
On top of all of this, it must be said that while Williams’ ideal is wonderful, it is only that, an ideal. It is difficult to overthrow social classes and create a world of equality for all. As long as there is human ambition, there will always be someone who tramples another. But that will be an issue for another time.
Young Moriarty
I think these chapters help us get a picture of William. As I said, although he is an orphan, I never limit him to using his abilities, which are known to be primarily intellectual. He cultivated his mind and became an advisor to everyone around him. His advice ranged from simple things like gardening to preparing medicine to methods of preparing a crime. It certainly shows origins as a criminal adviser.
We also saw a new side of Moriarty as someone who is extremely childish. His care for his brother Louis is wonderful, he takes care of him and protects him from aggression even when he has to endure the worst. It’s obviously not one-sided, Louis is also someone who stays loyal to William. He showed his courage twice perfectly, by standing behind Albert ready to stab him if he did anything against William, and by burning his face to cement his brother’s plan to become the only Moriartys surviving.
William James Moriarty is a man of ideals who is able to put his trust in those who win. His intellect cannot and should not be questioned, he is also someone who has an irresistible charisma. If you think about it too much, it’s almost a sociopath’s painting, with the only big aspect being that he feels socially responsible, which is why he has a desire to change the world.
Final comment
Yuukoku no Moriarty Chapters two and three were episodes filled with bubbling social concerns. Personally, I really enjoyed setting the stage and portraying a lazy company. Retelling class differences, accompanied by paintings, was like an excellent history lesson. That is another point that intrigues me after the story is told by those who won, and seeing the narrative through society’s resentment makes you feel empathetic to their struggle.
I have to reiterate my fascination with the use of shadows and the change in lighting in the top scenes, it’s something exquisite. The warping of Albert’s world as he increasingly despises the upper class is another touch he enjoys. It almost felt like a descent into madness that neatly ended in a red and black toned scene that finally brought peace to his mind by stabbing the real William. The change of scene from bleak to light completely captured the mental relief Albert had finally achieved.
Anyway, these were my impressions from the chapters: What do you think of these episodes? Do you think Albert made the right decision? What do you think would have happened if noblesse oblige would have been respected?
