Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Tamayura (TV) Japanese: たまゆら～hitotose～
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 3, 2011 to Dec 19, 2011
Duration:
24 min. per episode Rating:
G - All Ages
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 7.311 (scored by 4000 users)
Ranked: #19112
Popularity: #1269
Members: 12,132
Favorites: 29 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
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SynopsisThe story takes place in Seto Inland Sea and is about a girl who likes taking pictures. |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Tamayura
Prequel: Tamayura
Side story: Tamayura: Hitotose - Attakai Kaze no Omoide Nanode
Sequel: Tamayura: More Aggressive
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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Don_Don_Kun
84 of 186 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Here’s a show that I never even knew existed.
I only found out about Tamayura: Hitotose after hearing that Satou Junichi, who did the Aria series, was also directing this. Since I loved Aria for its wonderful portrayal of a fantasy world and relaxing atmosphere, I decided to watch Tamayura: Hitotose to see if Junichi could allow me to relive the same experience. While it’s not uncommon for a good director to eventually lose some of his or her magic, I was still confident that Junichi would be able to deliver another anime that completely draws you into its universe. So after reading a very brief synopsis of the show, I started watching Tamayura: Hitotose.
Tamayura: Hitotose tells the story of Sawatari Fu, a shy middle-school girl who moves back to her hometown, Seto Inland Sea, following her father’s death. One of the things that Fu remembered about her father before he passed away was that he was an avid photographer. To move forward with her life, Fu takes up the hobby of photography in a similar vein to her father and returns to the place of her birth. There, she becomes re-acquainted with some old friends and begins to form many wonderful memories while discovering the small, magical secrets of the world.
Immediately, I was happy to know that Tamayura didn’t end up becoming another depressing family drama, since it had the initial premise of one. Instead, Tamayura is a show that is very similar to the Aria series in that it depicts a realistic, albeit ideal, way of life between a few close friends. The show does an excellent job of showing how four girls bond and go about living their everyday lives. What stood out to me in particular was that the characters acted the way normal girls their age would. This may not seem like a big deal, but writing and developing realistic characters is not an easy feat to accomplish in any form of storytelling. Many slice of life shows, especially those with an all-female cast, end up getting lost in excessive humour or fanservice, which ultimately destroys any realistic qualities that its characters would have had. With Tamayura, the girls share secrets, bicker at each other and eventually find something that they all want to get good at. The best part is that there is no unnecessary character drama that bogs the show down or destroys the calm, peaceful atmosphere that it has set up. Characters are introduced and developed in such a natural fashion that when there are more tearful or comedic moments in the show, it doesn’t seem out of place.
The characters in Tamayura are all very well portrayed and likeable. Fu is a sweet and shy girl who enjoys the small, unseen beauty of her world. Fu’s other close friends Kaoru, Maon and Norie are all equally likeable and unique in their own ways. From Kaoru’s snarky remarks, to Maon’s whistling to Norie’s loud and obnoxious behaviour, there’s enough to make each character stand out without seeming like a specific archetype. Even the supporting cast is quite well developed and are just as much a part of the foundation that leads to the show’s success as its main cast are.
The sound and animation are another strong point of the show. A lot of detail is given to the surroundings, such as the rustic houses and seaside landscape. What this does is really help you get to know the island as if you were Fu exploring it for the first time in many years. The soundtrack also complements the animation style well, helping to bring out warm emotions and a relaxing mood. Through a number of piano tunes and woodwind instruments, the gentleness of the characters, story and even the island itself comes to life.
There isn't really anything wrong with Tamayura: Hitotose so to speak. It effectively does exactly what it sets out to do, which is simply being a relaxing, slice of life show that accurately depicts a slow way of life between many characters. And while this may not seem like anything special, it is perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects in storytelling today. There are many shows that intended to be either pure action or comedy initially, but ended up getting pulled down by unnecessary fanservice or forced character drama. In recent years, especially with most of the industry shifting towards an otaku-centric fanbase, it is nice to see that there are still original works out there which completely avoid the demand of the market.
So I’ve said all of my thoughts about Tamayura: Hitotose. Now you need to decide for yourself if this show is right for you.
Tamayura is an all around clean show that accurately depicts a specific way of life, while exploring the stories of four middle-school girls. People who like shows full of action scenes, melodramatic moments and fanservice should probably avoid this altogether. Those who expect some sort of deep and profound character development will also be rather disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a relaxing experience with a bit of light comedy and philosophy, I would urge you to give Tamayura: Hitotose a watch. It has much of the same appeal that the Aria series had back during the 2005-2008 era, while still feeling new and refreshing. And watching an episode or two before bed is the perfect way to get settled in. read more
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CyndNinja
45 of 105 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Dreams. Small or big, simple or far-fetched, related to hobbies, future job or just dreams of making friends. Almost everyone have dreamt of something at least once. Tamayura is an anime about chasing these dreams. And no, not about huge triumphs. It's about achieving small successes and enjoying them.
First of all, if you:
a) automatically mark every anime similar to K-On! as moeblob crap, without even bothering about things like story or characters;
b) don't like slow-paced shows that, unlike mentioned above K-On!, mainly focus on drama than on comedy;
just give up already. You will not like Tamayura either.
Tamayura ~Hitotose~ is a sequel to OVAs (which take place in between 1st and 2nd Hitotose episodes on the timeline, however) and should be watched after them. Otherwise you'll not recognise some gags, and start without knowing most of main cast.
Story - 8/10
Tamayura is, just as the MAL description for OVAs says, some kind of "healing anime". It makes viewers be able to unwind a bit. The main plot is very simple. It resolves around a girl, Fu, who's interested in photography. It's somehow similar to Aria in many aspects (not to mention they share the same director).
However, unlike Aria, which shows an idealised vision of future, Tamayura takes place in our times. It doesn't show how the world could be beautiful, but how it actually is.
Also, in contrast to other shows focusing on everyday life of groups of friends (eg. A-Channel, Yuru Yuri, Lucky Star, Kimi to Boku or mentioned above: K-On! and Aria) Tamayura: Hitotose doesn't contain any completely filler episodes, which don't advance the story at all. Almost every single one either develop characters a bit or shows some of the backstory, which explains their current behaviours. The OVAs hadn't so well-thought story, so it's already the first thing, that shows that Hitotose is better.
Nevertheless, even through everything seem to form a coherent whole, the show is still episodic and not really ambitious in comparison to more complex stories we can see in other series.
Characters - 9/10
Characters are definitely strong point of Tamayura ~Hitotose~. Like I've already stated before, characters are somehow developed in almost every single episode. They backstories are very well-presented, too. As the characters develop, we can also see that they have more depth than it was shown in OVAs.
Every girl has a bit different personality and different interests as well. Yes, different hobbies. You won't see anything like light music clubs or gondola companies here. Photography could be the core of story here, like mahjong in Saki or drawing in Hidamari Sketch. However, not focusing on only one thing makes Tamayura somewhat more universal.
These two things also makes them seem more realistic. Probably no one wonders why Azusa Nakano started to play guitar, or why Akari Mizunashi decided to become undine in Neo Venezia, leaving her family behind on another planet. Such information usually aren't considered as important, but in fact they are essential for the most of the story to take place. And they are provided in Tamayura.
Art & Sound - 10/10
As far as I'm concerned, only average thing here is design of characters. Sceneries are really wonderful, they just make you want to take a photo of them (oh, well, you can still take a screenshot).
Taking into account, that the production hasn't very high budget and its studio is almost unknown, backgrounds in urban areas have really many details such as irregular bricks in the old pavement. So do many objects such as Fu's camera.
The animation is fine, however unlike in fantasy or shounen shows, in slice of life anime it isn't something you pay much attention to.
Music fits very well, at least if you don't find singing in BGM annoying. The opening and ending both fit in climate of the series, whereas the second one is quite meaningful, especially if you connect lyrics, story of Tamayura and photos shown in it.
Enjoyment and Other Aspects - 7/10
The sole purpose of this series is to relax viewers, allow them to chill out after rough day and forget about the shadows of everyday life. In this aspect, Tamayura is almost perfect - it has calm slow-paced story, sympathetic characters and pretty sceneries, it also has some kind of 'warm feeling'. OVAs, with duration of only 2 regular anime episodes couldn't do that better than TV series, cause there wasn't enough of them and viewer, who happened to like it, was left with deficiency, wanting for more.
It also has an ability to show how beautiful the world is. For me, who live in industrial region, chimneys of factories, power plants or ironworks doesn't beautify the surroundings. Nay, it even makes them uglier. Therefore, it was quite shocking for me, when Noire and Maon looked at a red-and-white-painted factory chimney and said that it was... beautiful. It made me come to conclusion, that maybe they really aren't that bad as I always thought. It forces to think, if it is Tamayura's reality being idealized, or it is just our view of the real world as something vile, foul.
It is also really good, that they resigned from fanservice that appeared once in OVAs. In my book, such series shouldn't have any, really.
It seems everything is fine, but... you wonder, why I gave enjoyment only seven points of ten? Well... Despite all the relaxation and manifestation of world's beauty, the humour in this series is just average. In combination with really slow-paced story the whole thing can be really boring for everyone, who is expecting comedy, action, or just isn't in mood to watch something like that. Enough boring to quickly give up on it.
Final thoughts:
Tamayura is an anime about world around us. However, it shows everything around in way more positive, yet gentle way If you are in mood to spend your fabulous time on watching something peaceful and optimistic, something without overcomplicated story, deaths, sex or shocking plot twists, I can highly recommend Tamayura to you.
Final grade: (8+9+10+7)/4 = 8.5 => 9 of 10 read more
Recommendations
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Both Tamayura and Aria are cute, slow paced slice of life animes. They're both about a group of girls doing their everyday things, if you like slice of life these are excellent for you.
These shows also have same director, Junichi Satou, wich might be the reason for the similar feeling they have.
Aria the Animation has just a bit some fantasy & sci-fi shades, when Tamayura is slightly more realistic, but both of these are really enjoyable and relaxing shows, so if you liked the other the other might be just perfect for you.
-Both anime's moods, animation, and flow of the story/plot are very lighthearted.
-Both are slow-paced and centered around Slice of Life over Comedy.
-Both have the calming quality.
Aria and Tamayura both have a nack of just making you feel better about living. Both series are slower paced but have characters and stories that will make you glued to the screen. All the characters are very much likable. As a result, both series make you feel for the characters, through their ups and downs.
These two are one of those series where you wonder why isn't my life like this?! Both excellent series. Tamayura should follow Aria, however, and air again in more seasons.
They have the same director. The depiction of the everyday joys that can be found when living an idyllic life. The same feel-good slice of life, only Aria has fantastic fantasy setting.
Both are about the girl protagonist who moved to a new and fresh place (Aria - Aqua, Tamayura - childhood town), with a certain goal in mind in which their jobs/hobbies reflect on it. Plus, a group of girls hanging around each other as they do various things.
The pure side of the slice of life genre, both shows are episodic "Iyashikei" (meaning healing), in which they both convey a soothing effect to the audience (same director makes all the more reason why). They are very slow paced and despite nothing much happening in either, time flies by really steadily when you're into the shows' atmosphere and aura.
Their healing effect makes both shows give a very similar and comfortable vibe, although Aria focuses much more on the Iyashikei effect than Tamayura, and has a very different setting (it is on another planet after all). If you really enjoyed Aria for the soothing relaxation, I'm sure Tamayura is a cute addition.
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Sato Junichi doing what he does best -- making series that heal your heart. If you like one of these sweet, touching, easygoing, heartwarming series, I am fully confident you will love the other as well!
-Both anime's moods and flow of the story/plot are very lighthearted
-Both are slow-paced and centered around Slice of Life over Comedy
Both have similar pacing and main character has almost the same haircut and personality
Both anime give a very similar feel whilst watching and, to me, the main characters look alike
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Opening Theme"Okaerinasai (おかえりなさい)" by Maaya Sakamoto
Ending Theme#1: "Kamisama no Itazura (神様のいたずら)" by Megumi Nakajima (eps 1, 3-6, 8-10)
#2: "Natsutori -Uta Tobi Ano- (夏鳥-うたとぴあの-)" by Megumi Nakajima (ep 2)
#3: "Hoshizora (星空)" by Megumi Nakajima (ep 7)
#4: "Ashita no Hidamari (あしたの陽だまり)" by Ayana Taketatsu, Yuka Iguchi, Kana Asumi, Yuko Gibu (ep 11)
#5: "A HAPPY NEW YEAR" by Maaya Sakamoto (ep 12)
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Fansubbing Groups
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Related ClubsAnime boys who are looking like girls, AniTR Fansub, Nakajima Megumi Fan Club!!!!, :3 , Jouji Nakata Fanclub, Slice of Life Club , Iyashikei, Ryou Hirohashi Fan Club, Maaya Sakamoto fanclub, Minako Kotobuki FC, Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, Missile Punch, Tamayura FanClub, Бессюжетные девочки, True Anime
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