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Sunday, September 30, 2018

'Holmes of Kyoto' Is Mediocre Yet Endearing

As a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, I just had to check out Holmes at Kyoto Teremachi Sanjo, or Holmes of Kyoto.  The flimsiness of its connections to and parallels with Sherlock Holmes are evident from the get go.  But that didn’t stop me before, so why now?

It starts off with a high school girl named Aoi Mashiro setting foot in Kura, a prestigious antique shop in Kyoto’s Teramachi Sanjō shopping district, so that she can sell a valuable family heirloom she has sneaked out of the house.  Having just recently moved to Kyoto from Omiya in Saitama, she needs the fare money to return back so that she can chide her ex-boyfriend, who broke up with her and starts dating her best friend because of her move to Kyoto.

In Kura, she meets its brilliant, handsome, coffee-loving appraiser named Kiyotaka Yagashira, a 22-year-old graduate student at Kyoto University.  He observes that she has a good eye for antiques, and convinces her not to sell the family heirloom she has brought with her, but instead work part-time in Kura, where she can earn the money she needs.  Aoi agrees, and thus begins her experience getting mentored by Kiyotaka and witnessing his extraordinary talents.
Despite his young age, Kiyotaka Yagashira is already a well-respected appraiser due to his remarkably deep knowledge of antiques and keen sense of observation.  Moreover, he has been nicknamed “Holmes” by others – partly as a pun of his surname (which I don’t get, since I’m not Japanese), but also partly because he has been using his intellect and skills to be a consulting detective on the side, and has gained a reputation for being good at it.

In this setup, Aoi obviously plays the “Dr. Watson” figure.  However, aside from being a sidekick, she also serves as his protégé – at least, when it comes to appraising antiques – as well as the love interest.

Yes, romantic feelings develop between the two characters in this show’s run.  However, they don’t want to act on them – probably because of the belief that it could ruin the pleasantness of their current non-romantic relationship.
Come to think of it, aside from antique-exploring and mystery-solving, romance has a significant presence in this anime.  I noticed that a good amount of the cases are romantic in nature or involve a romantic angle.

This is one of the reasons why I found this anime tedious and bland at first.  There was nothing imaginative or exciting about its mysteries.  In fact, they were rather lazy.  Meanwhile, the featuring of antique items wasn’t totally boring, but it was clearly a “for a niche” thing.  The sappiness of the romantic aspect – since it involved some melodrama from heartbreak – only further made me strongly consider dropping the anime.

However, I actually ended up watching all 12 episodes of its debut season; it kind of grew on me eventually.   I started finding some enjoyment from the cases that Kiyotaka conveniently solves, and the exploring and discussion of Japanese antiques, art, and history even fascinated me somewhat.  But most importantly, because the romance between Kiyotaka and Aoi wasn’t rushed and shoved down the audience’s throats, it no longer felt bothersome.
It also became more interesting when the “Moriarty” figure, Enshō, entered the story.  This Enshō is a forger and conman who can create counterfeit works of art that are nearly impossible to distinguish from the genuine stuff.  He has already decided to give the life up and be a monk, but after encountering Kiyotaka, his pride for his skills and the sense of competition urge him to return to his old ways.  His rivalry with Kiyotaka is easily the best thing about this anime.

In the end, though Holmes of Kyoto isn’t great, there’s something strangely winning about it.  I can’t quite put my finger on it.  The characters are two-dimensional, but surprisingly likable.  The plot is shallow, and yet amiable in its lightness.  I couldn’t care less for its subject matters, but was captivated nonetheless.

It’s as if it has managed to be ironically endearing with its mediocrity.

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