Holmes of Kyoto

Holmes of Kyoto (Japanese: 京都寺町三条のホームズ, Hepburn: Kyōto Teramachi Sanjō no Hōmuzu) is a Japanese mystery novel series written by Mai Mochizuki [ja] and illustrated by Shizu Yamauchi. Futabasha have published twenty-three volumes since April 2015. A manga adaptation with art by Ichiha Akizuki has been serialized in Futabasha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Action from December 2017 to February 2024, later transferring to Web Action. It has been collected in thirteen tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Seven aired from July 9 to September 24, 2018, on TV Tokyo.^[1]

Holmes of Kyoto
First novel volume cover
京都寺町三条のホームズ (Kyōto Teramachi Sanjō no Hōmuzu)
Genre	Mystery, romance
Novel series
Written by	Mai Mochizuki
Illustrated by	Shizu Yamauchi
Published by	Futabasha
English publisher	NA: J-Novel Club
Original run	April 2015 – present
Volumes	21 + 2 extra
Manga
Illustrated by	Ichiha Akizuki
Published by	Futabasha
Magazine	Monthly Action Web Action
Original run	December 2017 – present
Volumes	13
Anime television series
Directed by	Tokihiro Sasaki
Produced by	List Yutaka Kashiwagi Ayaka Sugiura Sau Chiba[a] Tetsuya Aoyama Naoto Nagata Kōhei Yamada Yūichi Nakano Ryūichirō Kawasaki Toshimitsu Saegusa Hideaki Suzuki Gō Morita Taiga Itō Naoki Ishihara Kōji Akio Kōji Hatazawa (#6–12) Kenji Tsujimura (#7–12)
Written by	Kenichi Yamashita
Music by	Akito Matsuda
Studio	Seven
Licensed by	Crunchyroll NA: Discotek Media (home video)
Original network	TV Tokyo, TVO, TVA, BS Japan, AT-X
Original run	July 9, 2018 – September 24, 2018
Episodes	12

Synopsis

There is an antique selling and government-licensed appraisal shop named "Kura" in Kyoto's Teramachi Sanjou shopping district. High school girl Aoi Mashiro unexpectedly runs into Kiyotaka Yagashira, the grandson of the shop's owner, and ends up working part-time at the shop. Kiyotaka is called the "Holmes of Teramachi Sanjou", and he and Aoi solve odd cases connected with artwork or antiques brought to them by various clients.

Characters

Kiyotaka Yagashira (家頭 清貴, Yagashira Kiyotaka)

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa^[2]

Kiyotaka is a 22-year-old graduate student at Kyoto University and an apprentice at his family's antique shop "Kura". He is handsome and seems very gentle, but he is strict with himself and those around him. His nickname "Holmes", while a pun off his surname, also stems from his amazing deduction skills, as shown when he is able to discern a fake antique from a con artist.

Aoi Mashiro (真城 葵, Mashiro Aoi)

Voiced by: Miyu Tomita^[2]

Aoi is in her second year of high school and has moved from Omiya in Saitama to Kyoto, which has caused a strained relationship with her friends back at home. She currently works part-time at Kura. Honest and straightforward, Aoi was hired by Kiyotaka, who is convinced she has good intuition with antiques, can see their true value and can determine if the articles are genuine or not.

Akihito Kajiwara (梶原 秋人, Kajiwara Akihito)

Voiced by: Ryohei Kimura^[3]

A novice actor, but gaining popularity. He is very handsome, and because of the light color of his hair, has an aura like a half-Japanese person. His father, who recently passed away, was a famous author. Even though he grew up in Kyoto, thanks to the influence of his parents he speaks standard Japanese. No matter what, he is very agreeable, but he sees Kiyotaka as his rival for Aoi's affections.

Enshō (円生)

Voiced by: Koji Yusa^[3]

He is said to be a genius art counterfeiter. He entered the priesthood, but began counterfeiting again when after learning that Kiyotaka was exposing counterfeit artwork. He has shaved his head and wears Japanese style clothes. He is extremely nimble-fingered. He is good at sports and has a good eye for things. After he is first exposed by Kiyotaka, he takes the name "Moria" (as in "Professor Moriarty", Sherlock Holmes' nemesis).

Seiji Yagashira (家頭 誠司, Yagashira Seiji)

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama^[4]

Kiyotaka's grandfather and the owner of Kura.

Takeshi Yagashira (家頭 武史, Yagashira Takeshi)

Voiced by: Yōji Ueda^[4]

Kiyotaka's father and Seiji's son. He is a novelist and the manager of Kura, but he leaves the actual management to Kiyotaka.

Kaori Miyashita (宮下 香織, Miyashita Kaori)

Voiced by: Suzuna Kinoshita^[4]

Aoi's classmate and the younger sister of Saori. Due to her family's financial issues, her sister being chosen as Saio-Dai caused a great strain on them due to the overwhelming costs of preparation needed to transform one into the Saio-Dai. To persuade her sister to turn down the role, she wrote her a threatening letter telling her to not be the Saio-Dai, but in the end she is convinced it would be the best for her sister to become the Saio-Dai after all.

Saori Miyashita (宮下 佐織, Miyashita Saori)

Voiced by: Yui Horie^[4]

Saori is a university student who was chosen to be the Saio-Dai for the Aoi Festival. Because of her strained relationship with two of her former friends, their relationship took a darker turn when she was chosen as the Saio-Dai, thus she began writing threats to herself in the hopes her friends would worry for her.

Yoshie Takiyama (滝山 好江, Takiyama Yoshie)

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara^[5]

Yoshie is the girlfriend of Kitoyaka's grandfather. Although in her 40's, she looks much younger.

Rikyū Takiyama (滝山 利休, Takiyama Rikyū)

Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi^[3]

Rikyu is Yoshie's son, a cheeky little boy who has been studying abroad in France. Because he looked feminine from a very young age on, he started to train his body and studied judo in France. His respect for Kiyotaka is over the top and he judges Aoi strictly.

Media

Novel

The novel is written by Mai Mochizuki and illustrated by Shizu Yamauchi. Futabasha have published twenty-three volumes since April 2015. During their Anime Expo Lite panel, J-Novel Club announced they have licensed the novel.^[6]

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	April 16, 2015[7]	978-4-575-51775-0	September 8, 2020[8]	978-1-718-37648-9
2	August 6, 2015[9]	978-4-575-51811-5	November 17, 2020[10]	978-1-718-37650-2
3	December 10, 2015[11]	978-4-575-51848-1	January 20, 2021[12]	978-1-718-37652-6
4	April 14, 2016[13]	978-4-575-51882-5	March 31, 2021[14]	978-1-718-37654-0
5	August 4, 2016[15]	978-4-575-51775-0	June 11, 2021[16]	978-1-718-37656-4
6	December 15, 2016[17]	978-4-575-51957-0	October 7, 2021[18]	978-1-718-37658-8
6.5	April 13, 2017[19]	978-4-575-51988-4	—	—
7	April 13, 2017[20]	978-4-575-51987-7	December 30, 2021[21]	978-1-718-37660-1
8	September 14, 2017[22]	978-4-575-52032-3	February 17, 2022[23]	978-1-718-37662-5
9	March 15, 2018[24]	978-4-575-52091-0	April 21, 2022[25]	978-1-718-37664-9
10	July 12, 2018[26]	978-4-575-52132-0	July 8, 2022[27]	978-1-718-37666-3
11	January 10, 2019[28]	978-4-575-52181-8	October 6, 2022[29]	978-1-718-37668-7
12	July 11, 2019[30]	978-4-575-52243-3	November 21, 2022[31]	978-1-718-37670-0
13	January 16, 2020[32]	978-4-575-52308-9	February 2, 2023[33]	978-1-718-37672-4
14	February 12, 2020[34]	978-4-575-52318-8	April 6, 2023[35]	978-1-718-37674-8
15	August 7, 2020[36]	978-4-575-52385-0	July 19, 2023[37]	978-1-718-37676-2
16	March 11, 2021[38]	978-4-575-52456-7	January 15, 2024[39]	978-1-718-37678-6
17	August 5, 2021[40]	978-4-575-52491-8	March 6, 2024[41]	978-1-718-37680-9
0	March 10, 2022[42]	978-4-575-52555-7	—	—
18	April 14, 2022[43]	978-4-575-52565-6	May 23, 2024[44]	978-1-718-37684-7
19	February 15, 2023[45]	978-4-575-52625-7	August 15, 2024[46]	978-1-718-37686-1
20	October 11, 2023[47]	978-4-575-52699-8	—	—
21	June 12, 2024[48]	978-4-575-52761-2	—	—
22	May 14, 2025[49]	978-4-575-52848-0	—	—

Manga

Written and illustrated by Ichiha Akizuki, it has been serialized in Futabasha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Action from December 2017 to February 2024, later transferring to Web Action. It has been collected in thirteen tankōbon volumes.

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	March 12, 2018[50]	978-4-575-85119-9
2	July 12, 2018[51]	978-4-575-85185-4
3	January 12, 2019[52]	978-4-575-85257-8
4	July 12, 2019[53]	978-4-575-85329-2
5	January 10, 2020[54]	978-4-575-85403-9
6	August 8, 2020[55]	978-4-575-85480-0
7	March 12, 2021[56]	978-4-575-85558-6
8	August 11, 2021[57]	978-4-575-85622-4
9	March 10, 2022[58]	978-4-575-85701-6
10	November 10, 2022[59]	978-4-575-85776-4
11	March 28, 2023[60]	978-4-575-85827-3
12	October 12, 2023[61]	978-4-575-85886-0
13	June 12, 2024[62]	978-4-575-85966-9

Anime

An anime television series adaptation by Seven aired from July 9 to September 24, 2018, on TV Tokyo.^[1] The series is directed by Tokihiro Sasaki, with scripts handled by Kenichi Yamashita, and character designs by Yōsuke Itō.^[2] The opening theme is "Koi ni Saku Nazo, Harahara to." (恋に咲く謎、はらはらと) by AŌP, and the ending theme is "Sasameyuki" (細雪, Light Snowfall) by Wagakki Band.^[63] Crunchyroll streamed the series.^[64] Discotek Media licensed the series and released it on home video in July 2022.^[65][66]

Episodes

No.	Title [b]	Original release date [67]
1	"Holmes and Zen Master Hakuin" Transliteration: "Hōmuzu to Hakuin zenji" (Japanese: ホームズと白隠禅師)	July 9, 2018 (2018-07-09)
Two weeks after she started working at Kura, an antiques shop, Mashiro Aoi is happily settled in her new job. The store is owned by Yagashira Seiji, who is often out traveling the world, and his son Seiji is an author who manages it, but is more of an author. Seiji's grandson Kiyotaka, often nicknamed Holmes, a young antiques' appraiser, runs the actual store. After Seiji leaves to talk with his editor, a man comes in and attempts to pass off a counterfeit ancient Kizeto tea bowl, but Kiyotaka exposes the fake and he flees the shop. Afterwards, while Kiyotaka and Aoi take a break, Aoi remembers when she first came, having stolen two hanging scrolls from her grandfather to have appraised for money. The scrolls were painted by Zen Master Hakuin; both are genuine and worth a lot of money, but the second (a rare picture of a baby) Kiyotaka deems priceless and is impressed that Aoi managed to pick the two most valuable pieces out of an attic full of various antiques and junk. Aoi admits she wants to buy a ticket to go back to Saitama; she had moved to Kyoto six months ago, leaving behind her boyfriend and best friend. Last month her boyfriend had broken up with her to start dating her best friend, and she wants to tell them off. Kiyotaka tells her the story about the scroll of the baby, and she realizes that selling off such a treasure just to scold her friends is wrong. He offers her a job at Kura so she can earn the money for the ticket. Back in the present, a man angrily smashes the counterfeit tea bowl he made for the conman, promising to remember Kiyotaka's name.
2	"In Days of Aoi" Transliteration: "Aoi no koro ni" (Japanese: 葵の頃に)	July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16)
Miyashita Saori is chosen to be the yearly Saio-dai, "Queen" of the local Aoi Festival, a high honor. Kura's Owner brings Mrs. Miyashita and her daughters Saori and Kaori (who is a schoolmate of Aoi's) to the shop. Saori has found threatening letters in her bag telling her to drop out, and Owner thinks Kiyotaka can help. It's assumed a pair of girls, former friends of hers, are behind it. Kiyotaka goes to a gallery showing off the flower arrangements of their class, seeing two pieces from Saori, but they are very different. He meets the girls in question, Yuko and Keiko, at the gallery. Kiyotaka leaves to answer his phone, but it turns out to be a ruse as he believes the girls will speak more freely to Aoi, which happens. They reveal they are jealous of Saori, but with her family business on the decline and the expense of being the Saoi-dai, they're sure it'll ruin them. After hearing this, Kiyotaka arranges to meet with the Miyashita women with the answer. He accounts one letter to Kaori - she is conscious about how much money the role will cost the struggling family business and became worried. Kaori admits she hoped the letter would give her parents a reason to stop but when she learned the publicity would make up for the cost, decided not to go through with it. However, Saori put the first letter and a second she made herself in her bag. He points out the different flower arrangements, having realized from the styles one was made by Kaori, which also let him determine the letters were made by two people. Saori hoped the letters would make Yuko and Keiko worry about her and maybe they could go back to being friends. Kaori tells Saori to stop worrying about them and be such an amazing Saoi-dai they'll brag they used to be friends. Saori goes ahead as the Saio-dai, and Aoi and Kaori become friends.
3	"The Case of the Mt. Kurama Estate Inheritance" Transliteration: "Kurama sansō ihin jiken-bo" (Japanese: 鞍馬山荘遺品事件簿)	July 23, 2018 (2018-07-23)
A hike of Kiyotaka and Aoi's to Mt. Kurama turns into a visit to the Kajiwara estate at the request of Kiyotaka's father. Mr. Kajiwara passed away a few months ago and they are requesting Kiyotaka's help. They enjoy the day and stop at a restaurant, Aoi in a good mood. Kiyotaka admits he lost his girlfriend when he was her age as he wouldn't have sex with her until they were in college and she left him for another man. After they eat, they are escorted to the estate by Kurashina, Kajiwara's secretary, where they meet his widow Ayako and three sons: Fuyuki, Akihito, and Haruhiko, the youngest. Akihito is a rising actor and dismissive of Kiyotaka's abilities. Kurashina explains he was given two wills, the first a division of assets, the second a request he open three months after his death. It had instructions to a safe and orders to split three hanging scrolls between the sons. The scrolls were fakes, but were also burned by one of the five, though they don't know who. Kiyotaka learns Akihito was given the lion's share of the inheritance and Ayako was given an aquamarine ring. By having each of the sons describe the scrolls, Kiyotaka identifies them and says each had a message the father left for them. Fuyuki's, "Kiyomori Calls Back The Sun", was an expression of Kiyomori's power, so Kiyotaka believes Kajiwara was telling Fuyuki to aim for great heights, certain he could succeed. Akihito's was "Dragon Flying Over Mt. Fuji," an expression of the artist's ambition and a message that if Akihito is serious about his art he should aim high and wanted him to succeed. When he gets to Haruhiko's, Ayako confesses that she burned the scrolls because she got such a small share, but wouldn't have done so if she had known there were such messages. Done, Kiyotaka and Aoi are escorted out by Fuyuki and Akihito, who ask about their brother's painting. Kiyotaka reluctantly tells them it's based on the "Tadamori's Lantern" tale: Tadamori went to slay an oni but realized it was only a monk, and the emperor thanked him for clearing it up by giving him a present, which (according to rumor) was the emperor's beloved, and Tadamori's son was born shortly afterwards. Kurashina once saved Kajiwara and developed feelings for Ayako, so the message was that Kajiwara knew of the affair and Haruhiko was the resulting child, so Ayako burned the scrolls to hide this. The second will was dated for shortly after Haruhiko's 20th birthday, so Kiyotaka believes he meant to tell him when he came of age, but doesn't believe Kajiwara resented them. Aquamarine stands for freedom, so his message was that he wanted his wife to live a life freely after his death, with Kurashina if they wish. The brothers thank him and promise to tell their family about this. Later, Kiyotaka says he realized Haruhiko was Kurashina's when he first saw him as they had the same-shaped ears, which meant they were related.
4	"After the Festival" Transliteration: "Matsuri no ato ni" (Japanese: 祭りのあとに)	July 30, 2018 (2018-07-30)
Waking up from a dream in which she remembers how her ex-boyfriend Katsumi broke up with her telephonically to be with her former best friend Sanae, Aoi receives a text message. At the shop, she sees that Akihito is visiting and is startled when Kiyotaka enters wearing a yukata; he explains that he has been ordered to wear one on the Owner's orders in honor of the Gion Festival. Aoi is given a yukata by Mieko, which makes her feel self-conscious, and Akihito has to be pulled off her by Kiyotaka when he gets too familiar. After Mieko and Akihito leave, Izumi (Kiyotaka's former girlfriend) enters, asking to have a dish appraised for her husband. Kiyotaka identifies it as a Royal Copenhagen plate, and Izumi confides that her husband had cheated on her multiple times and she has considered leaving him; however, Kiyotaka appears to be completely unmoved. Before she leaves, she gives him a leaf-patterned tea bowl that she made at a mountain in Shiga, saying that she will return for it in two days at the Yoi Yoi Yama portion of the Festival. Later, Kiyotaka reminisces with Aoi about how he and Izumi first met, and Aoi tells him that the text she received was that her friends from Saitama will be coming to Kyoto for the Festival and that Sanae and Katsumi may be part of the group. Two days later, Kiyotaka leaves to make a special delivery, leaving Aoi to watch over the shop. Aoi does some research to try and learn the meaning of the tea bowl, and believes that the message Izumi is trying to convey is that she still loves Kiyotaka. As Aoi prepares to leave to meet her friends, Izumi finally arrives. When Aoi does meet up with her friends, Katsumi and Sanae are with them; they ask her to forgive them, and she realizes that her friends have set her up. Kiyotaka shows up as they try to get her to enjoy the Festival with them and cleverly extricates her. Katsumi reveals his jealousy and gets slapped for it by Sanae, who then storms off. As they stroll away, Kiyotaka reveals that he was worried about Aoi and Aoi reveals her disappointment about the group's behavior towards her. Aoi finally allows herself to cry as Kiyotaka consoles her. Later, back at the shop, Kiyotaka tells Aoi that he replied to Izumi's hidden message with a poem of rejection and a suggestion that she talk out her problems with her husband and parents...a suggestion that was not received well, which secretly pleases Aoi.
5	"The Lost Dragon" Transliteration: "Ushinawareta ryū" (Japanese: 失われた龍)	August 6, 2018 (2018-08-06)
At Nanzenji Temple, a message is found stating that a dragon has been stolen. At the shop, Kiyotaka, the Owner and Aoi discuss the amount of counterfeit art work that has recently infiltrated museums, with Kiyotaka theorizing that the counterfeits are meant to test appraisers like himself and the Owner. Akihito, who's in Kyoto to appear in a television program, drops in drops in needing information from Kiyotaka about Nanzenji Temple and begs him to come with him to the temple; Kiyotaka agrees, since he has to go there anyway. The next day, they tour the temple with Akihito trying to learn about Kiyotaka's personal life, especially about his relationship with Aoi. They are met by a priest named Ensho, who gives them an impromptu tour of the temple's art treasures. The Vice-Abbot Unsho explains about the found message, but that nothing appears to have been stolen. Examination of the message compared to examples of the handwriting of everyone at the temple appears to show that the handwriting is that of the Head Abbot, but Kiyotaka concludes that the dragon in question has been stolen and a counterfeit put in its place, identifying the fake as a Zuiryu scroll he had seen earlier. He exposes Ensho as the counterfeiter who had also tried to implicate the Head Abbot and created the counterfeit tea bowl Kiyotaka had spotted in Episode 1. Ensho reveals that he was behind the flood of counterfeits in the museums, all to test Kiyotaka's appraisal skills, and flees. The Vice-Abbot confesses that he was aware of Ensho's criminal activities, but that it was their duty to accept Ensho's desire to join the priesthood and in a strange way Kiyotaka's acknowledgement of him made Ensho happy. Back at the shop, Akihito tells Aoi everything that happened, and Kiyotaka, after giving a detailed analysis about Ensho, is determined to expose all of Ensho's counterfeits.
6	"The Connoisseur's Philosophy" Transliteration: "Mekiki no Tetsugaku" (Japanese: 目利きの哲学)	August 13, 2018 (2018-08-13)
7	"Straying and Enlightenment" Transliteration: "Mayoi to Satori to" (Japanese: 迷いと悟りと)	August 20, 2018 (2018-08-20)
8	"Christmas Eve Tears and a Broken Alibi" Transliteration: "Seiya no Namida to Aribai kuzushi" (Japanese: 聖夜の涙とアリバイ崩し)	August 27, 2018 (2018-08-27)
9	"The Sound of the Bell at Gion" Transliteration: "Gion ni hibiku Kane no Oto wa" (Japanese: 祇園に響く鐘の音は)	September 3, 2018 (2018-09-03)
10	"The Bisque Doll's Smile" Transliteration: "Bisuku Dōru no Egao" (Japanese: ビスクドールの笑顔)	September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10)
11	"Valentine's Party" Transliteration: "Barentain no Yakai" (Japanese: バレンタインの夜会)	September 17, 2018 (2018-09-17)
12	"Conditions of an Heir" Transliteration: "kōkei-sha no jōken" (Japanese: 後継者の条件)	September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24)

Reception

Previews

Anime News Network (ANN) had five editors review the first episode of the anime:^[68] Paul Jensen felt the first antique appraisal wasn't engaging and lacked "emotional involvement" for the viewers but praised Aoi's appraisal for delivering "a much better story" with both personal and emotional stakes, saying the subject matter being used for character development was a "novel concept" and is worth seeing more of the show; James Beckett praised the "lush, colorful aesthetic", Aoi and Yagashira's characterizations and their "undeniable chemistry" elevating the "potentially dry material", concluding he expects the antique mysteries to stand alongside the slice-of-life elements with intriguing threads; Theron Martin praised Yagashira's character work and both the Aoi romantic angle and counterfeit story arc showing potential but was critical of the "measured pacing" and limited "visual variety" making the show fall "a bit on the dry side", concluding the show will find its audience and encourage more to watch it. Rebecca Silverman commented the show's set-up of appraising Japanese antiques will depend on the viewers' interest in subject matter, concluding "if you're a fan of slice of life, it may be worth checking out." The fifth reviewer, Nick Creamer, wrote that: "Holmes of Kyoto offers a surprisingly natural mix of mystery, pawn shop drama, character drama, and slice of life atmosphere. Making natural use of its Sherlock Holmes gimmick and offering a satisfying narrative even within this first episode, it's a low-key but confident and engaging production. Holmes gets a thumbs up from me."^[68]

Series

Silverman and fellow ANN editor Amy McNulty chose Holmes of Kyoto as their pick for the Worst Anime of Summer 2018, the former calling it disappointing with its "tedious mysteries" and "slow-burn romance" causing the show to feel unfocused and conflicted with the billing of its main genre, and the latter saying it suffers from "poor story choices and bad characterization" that makes it come across as "melodramatic" and "strain[s] credulity."^[69] Silverman chose the series as her pick for the Worst Anime of 2018, saying that despite the Aoi-Yagashira relationship being "fun to watch" she criticized the overall premise for lacking in quality mysteries and neglecting the counterfeiter subplot, concluding that "as far as an anime series goes, this alternately bored and frustrated me, which is not what I'm looking for in my entertainment."^[70] Tim Jones, writing for THEM Anime Reviews, wrote that: "Holmes of Kyoto isn't a bad show, but it's largely forgettable. It has decent leads, but the side characters are either underutilized or obnoxious. The art is solid, but the animation is bare-bones. It has a lot of stories, but few of them are particularly engaging."^[71]

Notes

1. Unconfirmed romanization of 千葉唆宇.
2. All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.