Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

Title:Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes
Holmes at Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou
Holmes of Kyoto
京都寺町三条のホームズ
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , ,
Notables: ISHIKAWA Kaito
R1 License - Discotek
R1 License - Subtitled Only
TOMITA Miyu
Partly because of the way his name is spelled and partly because of his uncanny ability to reach the truth based on scant evidence, Yagashira Kiyotaka was acquired the nickname of 'Holmes'. He now runs his grandfather's antique shop and uses his ability to accurately identify genuine and counterfeit items. High School student Aoi Mashiro came in one day to sell a piece of art for a few Yen and wound up as his employee and assistant.

12 episodes
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 8 6 8 5 5 5 Ggultra2764 [series:3558#1552]
The mystery offered up in Holmes of Kyoto is unique in that our titular Holmes is an apprentice antiques appraisal, who is able to identify traits with people and elements to antiques down to the minute detail. Episodes of the series involve Kiyotaka resolving cases regarding antique items for clients, usually coming to blows with a counterfeit artist, and seemingly developing a relationship with his new part-time assistant. A major weakness I do see with this series that could affect its reception is the lack of gravitas in its mood to show importance and dignity of the antiques and mysteries that Kiyotaka dabbles into, as the more mellow mood it offers up acts more as a detriment to the series. In addition, the series is left incomplete due to its novel source material being incomplete at the time of the anime's airing, as things involving Kiyotaka and Aoi's relationship and Ensho's continued efforts to torment Kiyotaka are largely still ongoing by the end of the show. Unless the low-key mystery and niche subject involving antiques grabs your interest with this, I'd largely consider Holmes of Kyoto to be an acquired taste.

Last updated Thursday, October 13 2022. Created Thursday, October 13 2022.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:3558#628]
(One episode watched):

The gimmick here is that this guy knows almost everything about antiques and therefore has a Sherlock Holmes-like ability to figure out the answers to difficult questions regarding them. Actually, it's not just antiques that he seems to know so much about that he's sometimes mistaken for a mind-reader. His ability to figure out detailed explanations from very meager evidence about everyday matters was hard to take seriously; it would have made more sense if he really did have ESP or something like that. And the fact that a scam artist had a distinctly ugly and repulsive look about him suggested that not a whole lot of effort was being put into character development. We don't really know Holmes or Aoi very well at the end of episode one. It seems that a counterfeit network is pissed at Holmes and a campaign to trick and humiliate him may be in the cards; Aoi will presumably be his Dr. Watson. I was mildly intrigued by the notion of 'cases' involving various types of Japanese antiques--sort of like watching Antiques Roadshow. But I wonder if such a premise can remain fresh and interesting for a dozen episodes; if the case in this episode is typical, it definitely will not. Succeeding cases will need to be a good deal more sophisticated than this one was. Ultimately I chose not to watch any additional episodes.

Last updated Monday, October 01 2018. Created Monday, July 30 2018.

Community Anime Reviews

anime mikomi org