There’s not anything special in the pedigree for Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes that I can see.  The director and writer aren’t big names, the source mangaka isn’t either and Seven is very much a second-tier animation studio.  But the idea of the show has a certain appeal for me, both thematically and geographically, and in a season pretty light on sleepers this was one of the few that was giving me kind of a vibe.

Teramachi is Kyoto’s big covered shopping street (shoutengai), and it’s a place that I spent a fair amount of time in when I lived in Kyoto.  Teramachi literally means “temple town” and it took the name because Hideyoshi ordered a large number of temples moved there during his reign for political and economic reasons.  A few of these temples are still there, surrounded by an eclectic mix of Kyoto’s modern (its Toranoana and Animate reside here) and traditional (tea shops and smoky izakayas abound).  It’s quite a fun atmosphere and a great place to wander, especially on a rainy day.

There are indeed antique shops at Teramachi too, and while I haven’t ventured into any of them a number to look quite a bit from the outside like Kura, the shop at the center of this series.  The owner is Yagashira Seiji (Koyama Rikiya) but he’s rarely around.   Nominally the shop is in the hands of his son Takeshi (Ueda Youji) but he’s focused on his writing career, meaning grandson Kiyotaka (Ishikawa Kaitou, quite against type) handles day to day operations.  And since he’s a genius at appraisals and an ikemen, that seems to work out fine.  It certainly does for Mashiro Aoi (Tomita Miyu) who’s quite taken with him when she brings in two of her late grandfather’s wall scrolls for an appraisal.

Long story short, Aoi ends up working part-time at the shop – ostensibly to earn money for a train ticket to Saitama so she can tell off her old boyfriend and the girl he’s shacking up with, but in truth to learn about antiques and life.  And to assist Kiyotaka in solving mysteries, it seems.  He’s nicknamed “Holmes” as a play on the two kanji in his name, and the fact that he’s got the mind and eye of a master detective.  As he appraises the Hakuin Eikaku wall scrolls Aoi has brought him, Holmes-sam tells her a story from Hakuin’s life that puts her quest for petty revenge into perspective.

I don’t get the sense that the mysteries are going to be life-or-death for the most part, or even plot-dominant – I think they’re just a hook, and this is basically a slice of life series.  Kyoto Teramchi Sanjo is a fascinating place, and Holmes seems like an interesting character – he has a good deal of impish snark to him (and folks from Osaka seem to think most Kyoto-jin have) and he’s smart as a whip.  I don’t see a lot here that will hold commercial appeal, but I found this premiere quite winning in a low-key sort of way.  It’s not going to be everyone’s Kizeto bowl of tea, but this premiere delivered almost exactly what I expected, and I suspect Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes is going to continue to provide a nice change of pace this season.