The show's strong points are also where they lucked out, Agatha Christie's mysteries and characters are just as enjoyable in Anime form as anywhere else. Poirot is the eccentric dandy who relies upon "the little grey cells" to solve his cases while the down to earth Ms. Marple is the country woman who uses "human nature" to resolve the mysteries that come her way. Each are a little reigned in, but nevertheless still very accurate versions of their book selves. Same for the plots, each a little simplified but still get to the core of the piece they're adapting.
The art is bright, simple, and colorful. Keeps things cheerful while everyone in the room is looking at a dead body. Y'know, for the kids? Also, the voice acting is terrific. As a big Hercule Poirot fan, I especially enjoyed the performance by Kōtarō Satomi as the Belgian super sleuth. He fits the character very well. Kaoru Yachigusa as Miss Marple does equally well and together really are the anchors of the show (as they should be) No English dub available, but it would be hard to compete with the performances of David Suchet and the late Joan Hickson, who owned the roles in their respected, live-action, adaptations.
A series like this tough to rate. The watered down nature of the show is to make it as kid friendly as possible, but the purist in me wanted something a bit more mature and accurate. But, I liked it nonetheless. It doesn't cover every one of Poirot and Marple's works, that would be very difficult given some of the subject matter and the target audience, but that also gives viewers something to seek out on their own and start reading. You get so many Anime shows as bait to read the Manga, (there is one for this show, btw.) here is one that might inspire kids to pick up a classic book. And that's admirable. It's like mystery candy. Marketed to kids, but still just as enjoyable for grown-ups. Cheers!
