Tantei Opera Milky Holmes was a series that caught me by surprise with its eccentric characters and ridiculous humor. This special, however, is Milky Holmes devoid of the charm that made the original series so enjoyable. Imagine if the Milky Holmes detectives were actually competent and solved real mysteries. That’s what you’ll get in this alternative episode. In short, the four Milky Holmes girls solve a mystery in London with the help of their mentor, Kobayashi Opera. Sounds like a recipe for a good bit of fun, right? Well, not really. The episode is, in a word, dull. The girls’ new competence is a double-edged sword:while it is interesting to see Milky Holmes using their toys properly for the first time, the humor that accompanies their usual clumsiness and air headedness becomes absent. The mystery is also nothing to write home about; it’s not especially clever and is typical Saturday morning cartoon kind of fare.

The art is what you’d expect for Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: colorful and cutesy. The animation is decent but has noticeably less energy than that of the original series. The music, including the new ending song, is forgettable.

All in all, this is a very subdued, tamed version of Milky Holmes, lacking the wackiness and humor of the earlier seasons. If you are a fan of the series, you might want to watch this just to see Kobayashi, who makes his first real anime appearance here, but there’s not much more to see here beyond that. For newcomers, this special can be readily watched without seeing the parent series, but I would highly recommend watching the original series first to get more familiarity and attachment with the characters.