Tamako Love Story Episode 1 Discussion

Hyack said:
Finally some good subs are out, I like the movie, feels everywhere. Too bad no kissu-scene. Kyoani pls

heiqi1hu said:
Seriously, this couple doesn't need a kiss to show their love for each other.

GohanwaOkazu said:

Tamako lets go the titty-mochi stone, the symbolism of infancy.

GohanwaOkazu said:
Some people might have missed some details out the movie and the series.

1) Mochizou was only going to Tokyo for a preview. Midori hyped it up as if he was leaving for Tokyo for good for the sake of Tamako.
2) There are moments when viewers are made to question whether it was just rivalry (enmity) that Midori felt towards Mochizou in the course of the series and the film. You'd have to watch the series and the movie to know that she doesn't just have harsh feelings towards Mochizou.
3) Tamako is a character almost wrapped in a hard shell in the series. She had been helping her family business ever since her mother passed away, and if you watch the series closely, she is trying to act like her mother towards Anko (particularly when Anko is sulky). She denies any approaches by Mochizou unconsciously and rejects becoming a princess consciously for the love of her family, family business, and the market arcade in the series. She is tough as Robocop. Now in the movie, she's peeled-off/stripped off (たまこ、むけました). What makes a girl like Tamako change ? Has Tamako as character drastically changed from the series? No, not at all.

Watch the confession scene again. Tamako talks about titty mochi while talking to a boy of her age (Mochizou almost gives up on confession, hindered by her infancy). She then talks about mochi, or in reality, memory of mother, being white, soft, warm, that she's grown much larger but still aspiring to become like her mother (Mochizou decides to confess, knowing her past hardship and from true compassion, grabs her arm). Tamako lets go the titty-mochi stone, the symbolism of infancy.

Acropyre said:
I loved the fact that the movie ends with " I love you Mochizou, Dozo "

Is KyoAni implying that there's gonna be a sequel after this ? Hopefully, so

Hikigaya said:


I hope not. A season and a movie was enough, and it ended off well. Having some kind of epilogue special in the future wouldn't be bad, but a second season would be completely unnecessary in my opinion

also midori best girl

thelumpur said:
That's some interesting analysis right there. I wonder how much of this comes from actual scriptwriting and how much is just coincidence.
I still think that Tamako's transition from a childish and careless attitude to a more mature one was a little too sudden. And while the series and the movie are nicely linked, they're still really different from each other, like night and day. It's not necessarily a bad thing, I appreciated both of them in different ways.

GohanwaOkazu said:

I understand what you mean, but these are not something of coincidence but careful movie-making. They've gone through some serious brain-storming to make the film successful.

The more focus on the story of family/mother and the use of cups was Director Naoko Yamada's idea, and the Scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida and Director went over how to present Midori's "Exit" properly. The many versions of parts of film were shown with the Producer Senami for final approval. The final scene and the matching music was a result of long relays on how the movie should end, between the sound creator Kataoka (Manual of Errors) and the Director. The storyboard was entirely drawn by the Director alone but Tamako was not drawn in until the last moments, as she suffered from creative barriers (she even went into the waterfalls in the mountains alone for aesthetic training while making the film).
Even the ending was quite different with the initial idea having Principle first then the father's song next, but changed by the Director's single verdict.

You may also listen to the Audio Commentary by the staffs on the officially sold discs.

All this I know from the published interviews and essays related to the movie in Japanese. I am fond of Kyoto Animation and Director Yamada, Chief Animator Horiguchi, and the scriptwriter Yoshida, but I am not any stalker. I just happened to read them in Japanese.

y123y said:

Midori should have ended with Mochi. That would have been a great plot twist.