Holmes of Kyoto – 06 – Oh No They Cela-Didn’t

At school we see Aoi has remained in touch with Kaori. Aoi has been invited to the Owner’s 77th birthday party, which is apparently quite a bash. Aoi learns quite a bit of new things the day of the party.

First, Holmes has a kind of male version of her in Takiyama Rikyu, a kid whose 40-ish mom (who looks half her age) is the Owner’s girlfriend, Yoshie. When Aoi finds she’s under-dressed for the occasion, Yoshie hooks her up.

The “mystery”, which is a bit contrived almost to the point of exhibition (though I guess that was true of last week with the monk too) involves the Owner’s most valuable antique—a Chinese Celadon vase—that for some reason is not encased in glass like the rest of the less valuable vases. That was weird for a start. Even weirder is that Holmes has the key to the hall of antiques, and leaves that key in Aoi’s possession. To which I say…why?

The story about the two proteges of a famous magician exacting revenge on the owner by pretending to break the vase by switching it out for a shattered fake, getting everyone to look up at what would have been an obviously visible chandelier, and using some kind of portable speaker to make the shattering noise…again, it’s all very strained and artificial.

Unlike previous “cases” I couldn’t help but ask questions the show wasn’t interested in addressing like “why aren’t there servants in such a big house?”, or “how did Owner make so much money?”, or “why was the vase out in the open like that for anyone to knock over?”

Elsewhere, Aoi’s nebulous/intermittent interest in Holmes is starting to wear thin, as is Holmes’ seeming omniscience with the cards. And don’t get me started on the show’s looks…it doesn’t have any. But I’m probably being too granular and harsh on a show that’s just trying to tell a series of fun little mysteries.

Holmes of Kyoto – 05 – The Forger of Nanzenji

Aoi mostly sits this one out, with her brief appearances book-ending the episode. Instead, it’s Akihito accompanying Holmes on his latest mission, with the added objective of giving the actor some pointers for a Kyoto-based TV role. Despite Holmes still being weary of Akihito, he does admit his true nature regarding women (he’s through with long/deep relationships, but would be open to flings).

In another example of the “culprit” showing their face almost immediately, the monk Ensho is their guide as they tour Nanzenji Temple, which is full of several magnificent works of art…and one that is merely “impressive.” Holmes’ suspicions about the scroll in the entryway are confirmed when the vice abbot informs him that Nanzenji’s “dragon” has indeed been stolen as the note indicates. To be more precise, it was swapped.

It turns out Ensho is the forger, and he’s a very good one, but not good enough to get past Holmes. While Holmes didn’t sense the “malice” and desire to deceive in the fake dragon scroll, it still lacked the aura of the genuine article, and Ensho was walking, talking, and breathing strangely when the scroll caught Holmes’ attention. And make no mistake; while the fake was impressive, Holmes does not consider it art; he’s even pissed enough about it to lapse into his drawl.

There’s likely a part of Ensho that’s glad he was acknowledged, but he’s determined to evade Holmes’ sharp appraising eye, as well as justice. Since he has shinobi training, he won’t be easily caught, but in the meantime Holmes can commit himself to exposing every fake work of art Ensho tries to pass off as real. Now that he knows so much about the forger, his task shouldn’t be beyond his abilities.