The Adventures of Detective Pikachu and His Strange Case of Identity

In anticipation of the film, Detective Pikachu, which will be released in May 2019, fans of Pokémon turned to Twitter, celebrating the epic collab of Pikachu and what appears to be Sherlock Holmes through fan art, hilarious memes and even a countdown to the film. It was time for me to investigate what all this hype was about, so I finally played the video game.

Hurray! Christmas came a little early this year!

Detective Pikachu was released in North America on March 23, 2018, which was a little over two years after the game was released in Japan. It was developed by Creatures Inc., and made for the Nintendo 3Ds, although you can’t play the game in 3D mode... (T_T)

Without giving too much away, the game begins with a boy protagonist named Tim Goodman who travels to Ryme City to investigate the mystery behind his father’s disappearance. His father, Harry, was a detective who went missing after a car accident during one his investigations. Tim joins forces with his father’s partner, Pikachu, who miraculously survived the accident but has no recollection of it, and seems to have lost his thunderbolt powers. It’s hinted at throughout the game that something about detective Pikachu isn’t the same as before. What happened to Pikachu? Where did Harry go? And what’s the connection between the accident and the rise of violent pokémon that threaten the pokémon world order? To answer these questions, you’ll have to play the game where you’ll work alongside Pikachu to solve a series of mysteries that’ll lead you one step closer to uncovering the truth about Harry’s disappearance and the strange case that he was investigating.

The game itself is pretty entertaining although it’s mainly targeted for a child player. As a result, the mysteries are incredibly easy to solve and luckily, I was able to clear the game in two nights. I was disappointed at the fact that Tim is the only playable avatar and it’s too bad that there’s no option to pair detective Pikachu with other characters in the game.

Detective Pikachu is marketed as an action/adventure game on Nintendo’s official website, but it goes without saying that the cover of the game, which invokes an image of Sherlock Holmes is a telltale sign of it also being a mystery (not to mention the word Detective gives it away as well). Pikachu’s attire—his deerstalker cap, cape and magnifying glass—might suggest that the game adapts Conan Doyle’s Victorian sleuth, but I think it makes deceptive use of a British pop culture icon with superficial attachment to the original character. In fact, Pikachu himself comes across as a character who should be dressed in a fedora and trench coat like Sam Spade as the game playfully renders elements of the hardboiled detective fiction genre. Pikachu’s “tough” image, indicated by his preference for black coffee, his attraction to beautiful women, his unusual low, husky voice and his use of colloquial Japanese all pay homage to an image of the hardboiled detective and not necessarily that of the gentleman detective, Holmes.

Although the game seems to invoke qualities of the hardboiled in the characterization of detective Pikachu, it steers away from a world that is defined by cynicism and violence, which is quintessential to the hardboiled genre of detective fiction. This is probably because the game is rated “E” and therefore has to keep content kid-friendly. Consequently, this results in a strange, but interesting blend of tropes and conventions from both the hardboiled and classic genres of detective fiction. For example, detective Pikachu is unlike the typical hardboiled detective who often works alone and is depicted as the story’s anti-hero. In fact, the lone wolf detective character type is replaced with the dynamic duo Pikachu and Tim, and this pairing is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Watson to some degree. Throughout the game, detective Pikachu guides the player to make correct deductions whereas Tim keeps hand drawn records of the crime scene, which is similar to how Watson kept a written record of his adventures with Holmes—though I’d argue that Tim is far more involved in the actual investigative process than Watson is in Doyle’s stories.

I think the creators of the game had some awareness of the world of Sherlock Holmes and its television franchise. Names of places such as Baker Detective Agency and the jingle at the beginning of the game, which reminded me of the soundtrack used in BBC’s Sherlock, are but two ways that Detective Pikachu repurposes canonical material and popular adaptations of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. At the same time, and to put it bluntly, the Pokemon/Pikachu and Sherlock Holmes mashup is profitable because it brings together two pop culture icons from the East and West, and it’s clear that the game utilizes the iconic image of Holmes as a major selling point but transforms the character of Sherlock Holmes beyond recognition—and perhaps for good reason—so as to avoid having to secure copyright permission with The Conan Doyle Estate (?).

Pikachu demanding (asking?) for coffee...

Tim is shocked to learn that Pokemon drink coffee (so are we Tim...so are we...)

Aside from this issue, the most memorable thing about the game by far, for me, was Pikachu who is a coffee connoisseur and lover of sweets. If pokémon were to exist in this world, then, I’d definitely search far and wide for a detective Pikachu. One of the things I really like about the game is how the cute, little Pikachu that I remember from the original Pokémon series is transformed into an おっさんキャラ (ossan kyara: old man character type) who loves coffee, sweets and not to mention beautiful women. While I’m not surprised about the representation of most women in the game, I found Pikachu’s love for coffee and sweets quite relatable. I love how at the end the game, you can access the gallery of “Pikachu’s Coffee Memo” and replay selected chapters of the game to collect them all! If anything, I learned some valuable lessons about how to enjoy my coffee.

“Ha— —!! Shadow clone!” …. wrong anime Pikachu lol

If I was asked to rate this game out of five stars, I’d give it a 5/5. The story is compelling, the gameplay is fairly easy and I love how Pikachu is revised in slightly humorous and unexpected ways.

Knock, knock! Holmes, are you home?

Visiting the Sherlock Holmes museum in London, England is probably every Sherlock Holmes fan’s dream. Even if you’re not a die-hard fan, you should find it amusing!

For starters, if you’re in London, take the metro to Baker Street Station where you’ll find the iconic silhouette of Holmes smoking his pipe along the walls of the station. Then, head down to 221b Baker St, Marylebone.

There used to be an online system where you could purchase tickets in advance but for whatever reason that service has been discontinued. To get tickets, you’ll have to walk into the gift store, which is right next to the museum. The tickets cost £15 each (around $26.00 CAD) for adults. Once you’ve obtained your “golden key,” line up in front of the door to 221b, which is guarded by men from the Scotland Yard, but have no fear because they aren’t real police. In fact, they’re super friendly and funny. Don’t forget to snap a few photos with them too! For details about the museum click here.

I visited the museum on a weekday sometime during the first week of September in the late afternoon, and the cue wasn’t very long. The museum allows a large group of people (I think 10-15) to enter at once, so even if there’s a long cue, you won’t wait that long. The tour begins in the famous study, and if you haven’t read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, it might seem underwhelming since many of the small details in that room—the violin, chemistry set, the wall covered in bullet holes—speak to Holmes’s hobbies and habits that any aficionado would pick up on. Luckily, there’s a guide who’ll explain the significance of each room, and because we’re all squeezed in a small space, there’s no way you’ll miss anything s/he says.

For me, the study represents an iconic space. It’s the place where Sherlock Holmes met many of his clients and where many of his adventures with Watson began. Unfortunately, when I went, there was rope barricading me from sitting on the chairs so I couldn’t role play as Holmes or Watson and snap a few pics (as I have heard others have done), but the museum showcases other really interesting artifacts. What stood out for me was a bound collection of fan made works and letters sent to the museum from China, and a framed, leaflet-like-poster titled “Holmes’s supporting cast” featured in both Japanese and English. This speaks to the sustained influence and popularity of Sherlock Holmes in Asia (and on a global scale) as Doyle’s work have been adapted across linguistic borders and cultures.

I’ve also been to the Sherlock Holmes exhibit in Kobe, Japan, which I visited in 2011, where the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was also highly anticipated (as you can see in the photo below). The study was set up in a slightly different way than at the location in London, but I love how the wax doll of Sherlock Holmes was placed in the study at the Kobe location. Is Holmes peering out the window because he spotted something suspicious? Is he waiting for his next client?

Upstairs in the London location, you’ll find a wax exhibit. I was most intrigued by the wax dolls of Holmes and Watson standing in the graveyard because it reminded me of a scene in a video game called Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2: Naruhodou Ryuunosuke no Kakugo (Great Turnabout Trial 2: The Resolve of Ryūnosuke Naruhodō), which adapts Doyle’s famous detective. It’s possible that the creators of the game had visited this museum (as well as Madame Tussauds), or it’s also possible that they utilized images of the museum(s) through online sources. Either way, it was cool to see how elements from the Sherlock Holmes Museum were integrated into a Japanese video game that not so many people know about (but now you do!). I presented a paper on this game at the British Association for Japanese Studies, which you can read about here.

Of course, all great tours end with a visit to the souvenir store (the so-called tourist trap), which I usually bypass at other museums, zoos and aquariums. Not this time. Like any fan girl, I felt like being in a candy store and at the end of the day, I paid for a watch, a book, a postcard and a pin as tokens to remind myself of my little adventure in Holmes’s abode.

BUT WAIT! Your adventure shouldn’t end here! Don’t forget to check out the bronze statue of Holmes and if you have time, go on a Sherlock Holmes tour, which you can find more information about here. There are many more attractions that you can indulge in, so here’s to many more fun adventures as you explore the world of Sherlock Holmes in London!

The game (is always) afoot!