Tantei Opera Milky Holmes the Movie: Milky Holmes' Counterattack

This is a Milky Holmes movie. It isn't a Futari wa Milky Holmes movie or a Tantei Opera TD movie. It's the Milky Holmes we know and love. I'm one of the many who loved season 1 and 2 of Milky Holmes, but hated season 3 and 4 and consider them slanderous to the Milky Holmes name. Almost everything that was missing from season 3 and 4, and what made season 1 and 2 so great, is in this movie. Kokoro is back to her old, IQ-proclaiming self and the rest of the G4 aren't mere cameos. Shery, Nero, Herc, and Cordelia are the main focus again,and the comedy is back in full swing. If you're worried about what role Kazumi and Alice (the 2 new characters from season 3, and yes I had to look up their names too) have in this movie then I can tell you they make only 3 very brief appearances. So if you hate them then they will only be minor interruptions to a movie that's otherwise enjoyable all the way from start to finish. The plot is relatively straightforward. Without going into spoilers, a great phantom thief is revived and Yokohama's existence is threatened, and the Milky Holmes have lost their Toys again. At its core it's a slightly more serious, retold version of the ending arc of season 2. You can expect the humor from season 1 and 2 back in overdrive with some excellent animation that can switch between cute to bizarre and comedic at the tip of a hat. It always felt like Milky Holmes was just a little short on money in the animation department, and I believe everything was given just the right amount of animation and detail in this movie. If I have any complaints at all about the movie they are minor ones. The sound levels shift sometimes, with some sound effects being particularly loud compared to the dialogue and music. It only happens a handful of times but it was grating to hear such unexpected loud sounds with my headphones on. The plot is very straightforward and that's not something I have an issue with, if anything it's what I expected of the movie. I was just a little disappointed that there was so much "action" for the Milky Holmes this movie. It felt like there was little downtime for them to do slice of life stuff, which is what made up the bulk of season 1 and 2. They were quite proactive and didn't fail at their tasks as much this time around, but perhaps that was a necessary change for the movie to not have a 2 hour runtime and to make sure the story moved along at a solid pace. Moriwaki Makoto (director of seasons 1 and 2) returned to direct this movie and it really shows. If Futari wa was a U-turn from the style of season 1 and 2, and Tantei Opera TD was a 90 degree turn back in the right direction, then this movie was the final 90 degree back on the right course. I'm not aware of how successful this movie was in terms of revenue or critically, but if seasons 3 and 4 were failures and this movie was well received then perhaps Moriwaki will return to direct future seasons of Milky Holmes and make the series great again. If you enjoyed the first 2 seasons of Milky Holmes and desperately want more of it, this movie is a must watch and brings back hope that Milky Holmes might get a new season that brings them back to their roots.