"Agatha Christie's Great Detectives" is a thirty-nine episode Japanese anime series directed by Naohito Takahashi and produced by Oriental Light and Magic with its original run starting from July 4, 2004 until May 15, 2005. Unlike many Japanese anime titles, Agatha Christie's Great Detectives is not adapted from a Japanese manga. Instead, Agatha Christie's Great Detectives is based on and adapted from the works of Agatha Christie's stories.

The anime series is a complete adaptation of the detective stories written by Agatha Christie. The series uses both of Agatha Christie's famous detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple.

Hercule Poirot is a Belgian detective that uses conventional methods such as clues and logic. The anime counterpart does stay true to how Agatha Christie had portrayed Poirot. From the first episode, the Poirot in the anime uses his common phrase: "the little gray cells" in reference to his brain. But, the anime counterpart portrays Poirot as a bit more cheerful. In Agatha Christie's novels, Poirot is portrayed as an egocentric creep his is pretty bitter.

Like the novels, in the anime, Poirot is assisted by Arthur Hastings. In the past, he was a former British Army Officer in World War I. Though he is not a great detective, Poirot values Hastings' friendship.

Miss Jane Marple is an elderly woman who is an amateur detective. She has a sharp mind for logic and an almost unrivaled understanding on how human nature works. Like Poirot, Miss Marple is able to embarrass the local police by solving all sorts of mysteries that have them boggled. Her experiences of the negatives of human nature come in valuable. She does have a nephew who is an author, named Raymond West.

But, the anime series introduces a new character named Mabel West with her pet duck named Oliver. Mabel is the daughter of Raymond West. That means that Mabel is the grand-niece of Miss Marple. It would look as if through Mabel, Poirot and Miss Marple are connected through the series. Mabel becomes Poirot's assistant.

While this is interesting, it may seem out of character for Poirot to be taking in an apprentice. The introduction of Mabel and Oliver is the most obvious change in regards to the conversion from novel to anime form. However, the series does stay true to the stories authored by Agatha Christie.

The various episodes are adapted from the short stories known as "Poirot Investigates." After watching a few episodes, I must say that Agatha Christie's Great Detectives is by far a very interesting conversion to an anime series. However, I have to say that it does not surprise me as something like Poirot and Miss Marple can be adapted into such a medium.

However, the feel along with the introduction of Mabel gives the indication that the anime is geared towards the younger audiences. If this was geared towards older audiences, the series would have a much darker and serious feel of things.