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Just some of my impressions of Tamako Market (mostly the show, but I do know how the movie ends so that might factor into my commentary here) **Some spoilers!**


I started Tamako Market initially because it was KyoAni and had the same character designs as K-On!, so I figured it was sure to be cute at least. And right away, something about it pulled me in. It reminded me, in a strange way, of the Soviet-era cartoons my mother showed me when I was little: a talking bird from a southern island, a plot with a prince seeking out a princess…even though everything surrounding Tamako Market, ... its main setting, is completely Japanese (you could argue that the profession of making mochi is one of the most Japanese ones out there), was completely relatable to me. The warm, homey feeling of the market transmitted itself to me and made me feel at home just watching it all on a screen.

This anime is a story about a community, leaving aside the princess plot, and about the new generation growing up within it. Even if a lot of it might seem like cute, simple fluff, it’s fluff with heart. All of the characters are so loveable that you just want to root them on (even comic relief Dera). I will say that I wish Choi’s story had gotten more resolution without being moved to shorts/pre-movie scenes because her romance was kinda skimmed over. But in its place came the much stronger development of an unexpectedly progressive love triangle.

As a dense 14-year-old on my first watch of the show, I completely and totally mistook those scenes of Midori’s crush as her liking Mochizou (admittedly, this is because I had a massive crush on him myself at the time, and still think he’s the cutest love interest ever). But after being educated on who Midori actually liked, I realized that her romantic interest in Tamako is never depicted as a bad thing or something she comes to grow out of, but with sweetness and care and sensitivity. Her love is just as valid as Mochizou’s love for Tamako. The show revolves around “everybody loves somebody” as its mantra, and that doesn’t mean that love should fit some kind of predetermined standard or societal norm. I also thought it was refreshing that Kanna was just doing her own thing the entire time and not given any romance, but that’s a whole other thing. Even if Midori’s crush doesn’t end up progressing past that stage, it’s never knocked down or disparaged, it’s simply a one-sided love. This is the kind of love triangle (love V?) that had me rooting for both sides interested in Tamako. Also, it took a couple rewatches to realize the pun of Mochizou’s last name being Ooji, basically the same as “ouji”/prince, which means he was Tamako’s prince the entire time. Just a little nod from the writers there, I guess.

I think more people can articulate better than I can why Tamako Market is an exemplary slice of life, and my review here is mostly a summary of my strongest impressions after having rewatched it a few times over the years. But that warm, welcome, accepting feeling that I get from it every time, that’s something that I don’t think this review alone can speak to. It might just be me, but Tamako Market is one of KyoAni’s stronger examples of making an extremely atmospheric and real-feeling world that, in the strangest way, coexists alongside talking birds and southern island kingdoms in the same 12 episodes.

In Praise of Shin Sekai Yori (spoiler-free)


It’s been nearly ten years since this anime aired and already since the pandemic started I’ve rewatched it twice, the second time with a family member who never really watches anime, and still enjoyed it just as much as when I first saw it. Why?

I first discovered this show when I was a couple of years older than the characters in the second arc (going on 16 at the time) and I’m writing this years later, having bought all three of the novels, downloaded the soundtrack, and rewatched it enough times to practically have it memorized. To be honest, ... I’m not actually sure why I decided to watch it in the first place: the cover picture and description on Crunchyroll, probably? But that summer that I picked it up had such an impact on me that I’m so glad I stuck with it.

An adaptation of an extensively written trio of novels, watching this anime makes me feel like I’ve been immersed in the story completely. The story is one that definitely benefited from being told in an animated format because of the brilliant, eerie world that it’s set in and with all the actors that move among it. Some of the episodes with the wonkier animation still work in my opinion, making some of the most tense scenes even more creepy. Even with timeskips and purposefully misheld information, each episode blends well together into the next, and plot points continue throughout the series for a satisfying sense of continuity.

I think what’s especially important to note is that, really, Saki is an ordinary protagonist. Her resilience and intelligence are not to be underestimated, but her power as just a regular person is what makes her shine. Perhaps because of the setting and structures of her society, nobody stands out because of their backgrounds or any influence they might have with others, but because of their actions, and Saki’s actions speak for themselves. Say what you will about the other characters/their development, but she’s very dynamic and the story explores her growth in so much depth that she feels like a real person. The worldbuilding is also fascinating and really serves to highlight the themes of the story—you learn about it along with Saki and even though there are info-dumps along the way, they are brought up again later and are actually essential to the story. And it all makes rewatching it that much more fun.

So if you’d like a break from some of the mainstream anime out there and are looking for a deeper story, I’d definitely recommend this show. To me, it brings a story to the screen in a way not many novel adaptations (even live action ones) do.