Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House Review

Ahoy Captain Cats here and today we are going to review an anime that was on NHK World and went under the radar all of 2021 and that series is Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House.

The series is based on a manga of the same name and was created by Aiko Koyama and started its run on the December edition of Weekly Shonen Sunday of 2016 and is still on its current run. As of now, the series has a total of 18 books and in 2020 the series won the 65th Shogakukan Manga Award for the Shonen category.

The anime series follows childhood friends Kiyo and Sumire who moved to Kyoto from Aomori to become maiko (apprentice geisha). While Sumire shows the potential to be a wonderful maiko, Kiyo had a difficult time learning the basic skills and was expelled, but luck would have it she is a wonderful cook. Soon we see Kiyo being hired as the new cook for the maiko house that she was expelled from and now supports Sumire and the other girls as well.

While the story sounds simple and plain, it is here where the series shines due to the series showcasing the city of Kyoto and its culture that make Kyoto a one-of-a-kind place in Japan. The voice acting here is wonderful because they use the Kyoto and Aomori dialect here. To go that extra mile with that and also showing the culture and the daily life there is also wonderful and educational at the same time. Studio J.C. Staff outdid themselves here and it shows.

Make some time and watch all 12 episodes of this series and sit down and enjoy it. Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House is on Crunchyroll now.