The manga adaptation of the BBC series Sherlock will be officially translated from Japanese into English this year, it has been revealed.

British blogsite Bleeding Cool reported the news after the majority of Sherlock pages uploaded to scanlation sites – where comic frames are uploaded online and unofficially translated – were taken down.

Another Sherlock Holmes adaptation-translation to add an ever-growing list; this time, however, in a quite unique and culturally significant medium.

The global success of the Sherlock television series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, has been astounding since its debut in 2010. The series has been sold to over 200 territories making it one of the most widely exported British series of all time.

However, in quintessentially Japanese fashion, the series was not just broadcast on television, but adapted into graphic novel form. The manga adaptation has proven extremely popular with Japanese readers with a second volume currently being serialised. While set in London, it offers the audience with a much more localised portrayal of the plot and characters.

Such is the beauty of exporting cult fiction. It can be translated, readapted and re-exported. And we eagerly await to see first-hand Japan’s imprint on one of Britain’s most revered literary characters.

But Holmes to still boast the same idiosyncratic character traits that every generation of reader and viewer will come to expect.