# 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.

## Synopsis

There is an antique shop in Kyoto's Teramachi Sanjou shopping district. High school girl Aoi Mashiro unexpectedly runs into Kiyotaka Yagashira, the son of the shop's owner, and ends up working part-time at the shop. Kiyotaka is called the "Holmes at Teramachi Sanjou", and he and Aoi solve odd cases brought to them by various clients.

## Characters
### Aoi Mashiro (真城 葵, Mashiro Aoi)

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

### Kiyotaka Yagashira (家頭 清貴, Yagashira Kiyotaka)

    Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa
    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.

### Akihito Kajiwara (梶原 秋人, Kajiwara Akihito)

    Voiced by: Ryohei Kimura
    A novice actor. He is very handsome, and because of the light color of his hair, has an aura like a half-Japanese person. His father is 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.

### Enshō (円生)

    Voiced by: Koji Yusa
    He is said to be a genius scammer. Once, he lived as a priest, but when he met Kiyotaka, he started scamming again. He shaves off all his hair and wears Japanese style clothes. He is extremely nimble-fingered. He is good at sports and has a good eye for things.

### Seiji Yagashira (家頭 誠司, Yagashira Seiji)

    Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama
    Kiyotaka's grandfather and the owner of Kura.

### Takeshi Yagashira (家頭 武史, Yagashira Takeshi)

    Voiced by: Yōji Ueda
    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
    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
    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

### Rikyū Takiyama (滝山 利休, Takiyama Rikyū)

    Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi
    Rikyu is a cheeky little boy. 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.
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
| 1 | April 16, 2015 | 978-4-575-51775-0 | September 8, 2020 | 978-1-718-37648-9 |
| 2 | August 6, 2015 | 978-4-575-51811-5 | November 17, 2020 | 978-1-718-37650-2 |
| 3 | December 10, 2015 | 978-4-575-51848-1 | January 20, 2021 | 978-1-718-37652-6 |
| 4 | April 14, 2016 | 978-4-575-51882-5 | March 31, 2021 | 978-1-718-37654-0 |
| 5 | August 4, 2016 | 978-4-575-51775-0 | June 11, 2021 | 978-1-718-37656-4 |
| 6 | December 15, 2016 | 978-4-575-51957-0 | October 7, 2021 | 978-1-718-37658-8 |
| 6.5 | April 13, 2017 | 978-4-575-51988-4 | — | — |
| 7 | April 13, 2017 | 978-4-575-51987-7 | December 30, 2021 | 978-1-718-37660-1 |
| 8 | September 14, 2017 | 978-4-575-52032-3 | February 17, 2022 | 978-1-718-37662-5 |
| 9 | March 15, 2018 | 978-4-575-52091-0 | April 21, 2022 | 978-1-718-37664-9 |
| 10 | July 12, 2018 | 978-4-575-52132-0 | July 8, 2022 | 978-1-718-37666-3 |
| 11 | January 10, 2019 | 978-4-575-52181-8 | October 6, 2022 | 978-1-718-37668-7 |
| 12 | July 11, 2019 | 978-4-575-52243-3 | November 21, 2022 | 978-1-718-37670-0 |
| 13 | January 16, 2020 | 978-4-575-52308-9 | February 2, 2023 | 978-1-718-37672-4 |
| 14 | February 12, 2020 | 978-4-575-52318-8 | April 6, 2023 | 978-1-718-37674-8 |
| 15 | August 7, 2020 | 978-4-575-52385-0 | July 19, 2023 | 978-1-718-37676-2 |
| 16 | March 11, 2021 | 978-4-575-52456-7 | January 15, 2024 | 978-1-718-37678-6 |
| 17 | August 5, 2021 | 978-4-575-52491-8 | March 6, 2024 | 978-1-718-37680-9 |
| 0 | March 10, 2022 | 978-4-575-52555-7 | — | — |
| 18 | April 14, 2022 | 978-4-575-52565-6 | May 23, 2024 | 978-1-718-37684-7 |
| 19 | February 15, 2023 | 978-4-575-52625-7 | August 15, 2024 | 978-1-718-37686-1 |
| 20 | October 11, 2023 | 978-4-575-52699-8 | — | — |
| 21 | June 12, 2024 | 978-4-575-52761-2 | — | — |

### 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 | 978-4-575-85119-9 |
| 2 | July 12, 2018 | 978-4-575-85185-4 |
| 3 | January 12, 2019 | 978-4-575-85257-8 |
| 4 | July 12, 2019 | 978-4-575-85329-2 |
| 5 | January 10, 2020 | 978-4-575-85403-9 |
| 6 | August 8, 2020 | 978-4-575-85480-0 |
| 7 | March 12, 2021 | 978-4-575-85558-6 |
| 8 | August 11, 2021 | 978-4-575-85622-4 |
| 9 | March 10, 2022 | 978-4-575-85701-6 |
| 10 | November 10, 2022 | 978-4-575-85776-4 |
| 11 | March 28, 2023 | 978-4-575-85827-3 |
| 12 | October 12, 2023 | 978-4-575-85886-0 |
| 13 | June 12, 2024 | 978-4-575-85966-9 |

### Anime

An anime television series adaptation by Seven aired from July 9 to September 24, 2018, on TV Tokyo. The series is directed by Tokihiro Sasaki, with scripts handled by Kenichi Yamashita, and character designs by Yōsuke Itō. 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. Crunchyroll streamed the series. Discotek Media licensed the series and released it on home video in July 2022.

#### Episodes

| No. | Title | Original air date |
| 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 sees through it and denounces him, and he flees the shop. Afterwards, 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 and are both genuine, worth a lot of money. The second has such a rare picture of a baby, he deems it priceless. Kiyotaka is impressed she 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 moved to Kyoto six months ago, leaving behind her boyfriend and best friend. Last month her boyfriend broke up with her to start dating her best friend and she wants to tell them off. Kiyotaka tells her about the scroll of the baby and she realizes 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 quit 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. There, 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 sons describe the scrolls, Kiyotaka names them and says each had a message the father left for them. Fuyuki's was "Kiyomori Calls Back The Sun" was an expression of Kiyomori's power, so he believes his father 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 if Akihito is serious about his art he should aim high and wanted him to succeed. When he gets to Haruhiko's, Ayako says she burned them because she got such a small share but wouldn't have done so if she knew there was 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, rumor went, 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 he 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 he doesn't think Kajiwara resented them. Aquamarine stands for freedom, so his message was 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) |
| 5 | "The Lost Dragon" Transliteration: "Ushinawareta ryū" (Japanese: 失われた龍) | August 6, 2018 (2018-08-06) |
| 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: 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."

### Series reception

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." 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." 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."