Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Quiet Country Cafe

In the twilight of the human age, mankind continues to persevere, resisting the lull of nature's reclamation. For Alpha Hatsuseno and her café, things have not changed. The familiar sights and scenery instill a comforting solace—a sentiment cherished by Alpha. One day, however, a radio weather report forecasts an approaching typhoon that threatens to undermine the enduring peace.

After taking refuge at Ojisan's gas station and returning to the café, Alpha is devastated to see that her beloved shop had been ravaged by the storm. Determined to restore it back to its former glory, she resolves to find other jobs as a way to fund the repairs. The journey into the unknown is an opportunity to explore what remains of civilization, and Alpha seizes this chance to expand her view of the outside world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hatsuseno, Alpha Main

Shiina, Hekiru Japanese

Takatsu, Kokone Supporting

Nakagawa, Akiko Japanese

Misago Supporting

Ojisan Supporting

Iizuka, Shouzou Japanese

Takahiro Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Matsuki Supporting

Nagasawa, Miki Japanese

Nai Supporting

Naitou, Ryou Japanese

Okamura, Masahiro Producer

Mochizuki, Tomomi Director, Storyboard, Screenplay

Iwasaki, Taku Theme Song Composition, Music

Shiina, Hekiru Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Jul 9, 2020

stmwg01

Recommended

Quick take: Purely slice-of-life, the second set of OVAs continue to explore the concept of learning to find the beauty in everything around you and learning to understand what it means to live.

Whereas I felt sad most of the time in the first set of OVAs, I felt much more “at peace” and optimistic about YKK:QCC. We see that Alpha has moved on in search of experiences and her personality and emotions grow. It seems that in order to make this move and discover life, she needed a push. Through this transformation and symbolic destruction of her previous life, we experience new emotions with her; ... worry, fear and optimism.

I still enjoyed the art, much like I did in YKK. It felt like an 80’s anime much of the time, despite being released in the early 00’s. I was given some satisfaction from slight use of richer colors compared to YKK, but would've liked to see more. Sadly, YKK:QCC seems to have abandoned the world detail and lighting that made YKK so unique. The art is overall slightly worse, andtwith the loss of the detail and lighting, I can’t rate it as high as the first part.

Sound is great throughout the OVAs. Acting is well done (Japanese) and the music branches out into bossa nova and some classical while still retaining smooth jazz. In my opinion the music remains a perfect compliment for this slice-of-life show. The music was much more plentiful and enjoyable compared to the first OVAs and I will likely be adding some to my relaxing playlist on Spotify.

In my review of YKK, I talked about my concept of “surface characters.” This idea carries along to many of the characters again. In reality, this remains something that is not bothersome as the story really revolves around Alpha learning the meaning of life. Speaking of which, her growth is much more apparent and enjoyable in the second part, making the second set of OVAs more agreeable. Although the storyline continues to move slowly, it doesn’t feel nearly as slow as YKK due to this aspect.

So why did I get more enjoyment out of YKK:QCC versus the original, YKK? I’m sure partially because I was a little more prepared with what to expect going in. More than that however, is that the use of additional music and a more complete feeling of growth in Alpha makes the second part more tolerable. The situations are much more interesting and even the minute long scenes of her enjoying a moment feel more relaxing to watch.

So would I recommend this anime? Yes, still with, but slightly less, reservations than YKK. You’re treated to better relaxing music. Well drawn scenes are still present, although not as good or detailed as the first two OVAs. The storyline moves a bit faster, making it more tolerable and the story feels much more optimistic about the future. Most of this makes YKK:QCC slightly better than the first part in my opinion and worth a watch if you're looking for a slice-of-life anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 26, 2024

rooster_

Mixed Feelings

The second pair of YKK OVAs feels quite different, and worse. There's an attempt to emulate the meditative qualities of the first, but the sort of chibi-fied character designs and flat coloring feel like artistic sacrifices made for the sense of "more" animation, and this ends up not being the case at all, so... what happened there. The soundtrack and background paintings have also taken noticeable hits, even if the original OVA wasn't always a looker it had a sense of atmosphere. Here there's a lot of surprisingly uninteresting scenes which fail to take advance of YKK's unique setting and instead seem to be going ... for a "comfy small-town show" vibe. There are also some attempts to inject titillation into the story, which seem really misguided.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jul 2, 2018

TeKSMeLater

Not Recommended

One of the things that makes Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou a beautiful piece of work is how Hitoshi Ashinano meticulously draws the minimalistic lines that visualize a post-apocalyptic world slowly coming to a silent state of peace. Despite how effortless it may look with the natural flow of curvy lines his pen traces, you could very well see the thought put into every bit of detail within a single panel or illustration. The second OVA, Quiet Country Cafe, may not have consideration of how important these factors are into exhibiting the transient effect of the manga, and the end result is something that falls below average ... than what the source material has much to offer.

Being two episodes adapting several chapters from the manga, it aims to have a theme about Alpha temporarily leaving the cafe after it being swept up by a large typhoon, albeit the other chapters that were adapted doesn’t really bear any connection to this beginning-and-end motif. The Misago even appears briefly with regards to a segment adapting Takahiro’s perspective, yet with no relevance whatsoever. In this mishmash of random chapters being adapted it sadly takes away the fact that no matter how slow or lacking in story YKK is, it has a clear direction with each chapter meant to complement the other, yet standalone in its own right. It may have to do with this OVA consisting of simply 2 episodes, but the previous OVA also had the same amount but is structured and executed better according to its themes—a presentation of what Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is. Quiet Country Cafe lacks none of these, making up a messy, out-of-context set of stories.

With a watercolor palette, the background art of Quiet Country Cafe is remarkable, blending well with the relaxing atmosphere accompanied by the Choro Club’s very playful pieces. The distinctiveness of the music plus the softly-colored set pieces within this OVA may as well be an unforgettable combination of audiovisual stimulation...if not for the lacking animation direction and jarring character models. Ashinano’s character designs, specifically his female protagonists definitely live by curvy—from the body to the face to the eyes—but the OVA takes it too far. Alpha looks like a blob, with neon green hair that is not even remotely close to her manga shade of green. In addition, the animation goes for some sneaky fanservice shots here and there, which would be fine in a normal anime, but this is supposed to be Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou—a work void with these elements. It takes away the wistfulness of the passage of time and distracts you with primal instincts. I do not discredit fanservice, but there are times when something needs to be put in its place, and it absolutely does not belong here.

The true saving grace of this OVA lies in its soundtrack—as mentioned, with the Choro Club’s anime debut, their rendition of Cafe Alpha and several entries to mix along with the environment establishes the atmospheric mood it’s aiming for. It may be arguable on which of the two soundtracks between the first and second OVA stands out, but it’s undeniable how both have contributed to the simple and laid-back feel in the animation. As for personal preference, Choro Club’s depiction of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou sounds a bit too similar to their work in the Aria series, which is why comparisons between two iyashikei works abound more. Another thing worth praising about Quiet Country Cafe is Hekiru Shiina’s reprisal of Alpha, which I believe did a fantastic job of portraying her—cheerful, yet also composed. Much of the voice cast did their characters some justice, although not to the same level Shiina has managed to justify Alpha.

Quiet Country Cafe may not be a wholesome successor to the first OVA, but in its portrayal of what composes the source material is remarkable. There may not be much to gain from this series in terms of technical and artistic prowess, but if you love the manga, it is more than enough reason to give it a try.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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