Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

High schooler Aoi Mashiro moved from home six months ago, but her recent breakup has made her want to return to tell off her ex-boyfriend. In need of money for a train ticket, she steals two hanging scrolls from her grandfather's attic and takes them to be appraised at an antique shop in the heart of Kyoto's Teramachi Sanjou shopping district. Little does she know that a fateful encounter awaits her during this visit.

Upon entering the shop, Aoi is greeted by Kiyotaka Yagashira, the owner's grandson and a graduate student at Kyoto University. Nicknamed "Holmes" for a pun involving his surname, as well as for his incredible deductive skills, Kiyotaka inspects the scrolls that Aoi brought with her. Based on the items she selected to sell, Kiyotaka senses that Aoi possesses great intuition not unlike his own. Seeing her potential and sympathizing with her story, Kiyotaka offers Aoi a part-time job so she can earn the required money herself.

Aoi and Kiyotaka begin working together soon after—not only within the antique shop, but also around town whenever the locals ask for help with their various problems. With Kiyotaka's deduction and Aoi's intuition, no case is too tough for this modern-day Holmes and Watson duo!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yagashira, Kiyotaka Main

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Mashiro, Aoi Main

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Kajiwara, Akihito Supporting

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Miyashita, Saori Supporting

Horie, Yui Japanese

Yagashira, Seiji Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Enshou Supporting

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Miyashita, Kaori Supporting

Kinoshita, Suzuna Japanese

Takiyama, Rikyuu Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Yagashira, Takeshi Supporting

Ueda, Youji Japanese

Yamada, Kouhei Producer

Sugiura, Ayaka Producer

Hatazawa, Kouji Producer

Ishihara, Naoki Producer

Reviews

Sep 13, 2024

Ghost-pepper

Recommended

A great watch if you like traditional Japanese culture in general and Kyoto culture in particular.

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes does a good job at being a mystery show, but where the show really shines is in its many references to actual places and cultural phenomena of Kyoto; the city of Kyoto is effectively a third main character. Thus, whether you have any connections to or any interest in the historical and cultural capital will likely play a part in determining how much you end up liking this anime.

The mysteries that the main characters (mostly the titular Holmes) solve range from simple misunderstandings to serious ... incidents. One criticism that can be levied against the show is that Holmes, true to his nickname, sometimes falls into the trope of being a bit too good, to the point that he can quickly solve even complicated cases by observing the parties involved and asking a couple of simple questions. This is par for the course for mystery shows though, and if you are willing to engage in a bit of suspension of disbelief the mysteries are, in my opinion, very enjoyable.

I found that the viewers actually have a fair chance at (at least partly) solving many of the mysteries before they are revealed, although sometimes you may be required to be familiar with traditional Japanese culture to understand some references. For example, [this is not a spoiler as it is not a surprise and has no impact on the plot] Rikyu being skilled at making tea is surely a reference to the historical tea master Sen no Rikyu that will be obvious to any Japanese viewer but probably fly under the radar of most other viewers. A similar but more important example is the final line said by a certain character before the credits (the line that ends with "isn't it?" in English). This line can take on a different meaning in Japanese, and can dramatically change the interpretation of the ending. I'm being purposefully vague to avoid spoilers, but I recommend googling the line and its "hidden" meaning after watching the anime.

What really made the show for me is the numerous references to places, festivals and other cultural aspects of Kyoto. If you've lived in, or even visited, the city you are sure to recognize many of the settings of the show (for example, having lived in Kyoto for a decade and having frequented many of the temples and shrines, I was able to figure out the meaning of the circular mirror in episode 7 before the reveal which made me really excited). If this is something that interests you I think you will find this show very enjoyable.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 31, 2024

lycoping

Mixed Feelings

This is one of those anime where the main character is neither of the, well, main characters. The main character in this one is Japanese history. The supporting character is Kyoto and its historical artifacts and environs. The so-called main characters are really just there in order to provide an avenue for showing those things off.

This isn't really a bad thing, all told. But you should know what you're getting into.

This is ostensibly a romance. But, let's be honest, there's not really a plot here. It's just a series of vignettes, one per episode, about a preternaturally gifted man ... (deliberately presented with some harmless flaws) who is a good appraiser and/or detective, and his high school girl consort who has a talent of her own. They just go around solving mysteries - kind of like the "bloodhound gang" (remember that? Dang, I'm old) in anime form, wandering around Kyoto instead of New York or wherever that was set.

That's all you really need to know about this anime. I've just told you enough to give you a pretty good idea of whether you'll enjoy it or not.

Now, did I enjoy it? Well, kind of. I watched it through, which is something, I guess. The Japanese history and Kyoto stuff was interesting, well, to some degree. However, the romance and interpersonal relationships were... inscrutable, I guess. If you're there for the romance, well... you can probably find better anime out there to scratch that itch.

Basically, if you don't engage with it on its own terms, you're just going to be confused and leave disappointed. Which is why I think the score is as low as it is. This is not a "turn-off-your-brain-and-watch-while-doing-chores" anime. There's a certain amount of intellectual effort required to enjoy this anime, and, well, let's be honest. That gets exhausting sometimes.

Technically, this anime was meh. Just meh. Music was meh. Animation was on the low end of meh. There were a couple of scenes where characters wore patterned kimono, and it's pretty clear that in order to put the patterns on the kimono they did the anime equivalent of a pattern fill. I get that animation is difficult, but that was just sloppy and lazy. When arms move and the pattern doesn't, you got issues. I'm not expecting "girls band cry" or kyoani levels of animation, but there's a certain base level of effort you expect from an anime, and this anime failed absolutely on it.

On the other hand, the other positive things I mentioned aside, this is a reasonably wholesome anime. There is zero ecchi or fanservice, the plot is relatively wholesome (if occasionally a bit violent), the antagonist is not too overdone, and, well... it's one of those anime you can have your kids watch and not feel too badly about it. So, there's that.

Mixed feelings for me. You might like it. But if you're having doubts based on what I said, you should move on. You likely won't.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 3, 2022

tyrandriel

Not Recommended

My first review for an anime...this was disappointing :/

I'm an avid romance fan, but this really did not do much for me. I will say, I LOVE antiquing and I found myself interested in the explanations behind the pieces and whatnot. I was super excited during the first few episodes, and loved the direction of Aoi & Holme's relationship. I really like more mature, straight-forward romances and none of the harem garbage. I appreciated that it checked those boxes.

However, the ending was very much a "non-ending" and lukewarm at best. It wasn't terrible, but felt like a waste of time overall. Aoi/Holme's romantic relationship was ... pushed quite a bit at times, so I was expecting more of a satisfying ending and stuck it out :(

The premise was interesting, and if you're a big antique/history fan you may find those scenes enjoyable. If you're someone who prefers more of a side romance and don't mind a non-ending, give it a shot. There's a bit of conflict with a semi interesting antagonist, too.

The animation was very poor, music not notable and the characters were okay. Not something I'd rewatch, but if another season came out I might give it a shot in hopes of a better conclusion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 24, 2018	53 replies	by KiliianSleipnir »» Mar 18, 1:17 AM
	Poll: Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 27, 2018	18 replies	by KiliianSleipnir »» Mar 17, 10:53 PM
	Poll: Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes Episode 5 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 8, 2018	11 replies	by KiliianSleipnir »» Mar 17, 9:36 PM
	Poll: Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes Episode 4 Discussion WolfWood37 - Aug 12, 2018	7 replies	by KiliianSleipnir »» Mar 17, 9:08 PM
	Poll: Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes Episode 3 Discussion Mayuka - Aug 8, 2018	12 replies	by KiliianSleipnir »» Mar 17, 8:18 PM