Being a part of the conventional genre of high school drama, Tari Tari is certainly no stranger to this pattern.
The story takes place during the final year of high school for Wakana and her friends Sawa and Konatsu. Immediately after receiving a scolding from the strict vice principal, Konatsu decides to quit the choir club and start a new one by herself with the aid of her friends, as well as the later addition of two male characters: Taichi, a diligent badminton player, and "Wien", a peculiar transfer student from Austria. Of course, things don't go as smoothly for Konatsu as she was hoping they would, receiving an initially hostile reaction from Wakana who accuses her of fooling around and treating music as a game. In an attempt to show overcome her stress, Konatsu sings outdoors in public and gathers the attention of her aforementioned friends - finally assembling enough members to establish the club and push forward with her ambitions.
On the surface, Tari Tari seems like a standard coming of age story with a musical focus. Though the music remains a principal aspect of the anime, it primarily serves as the catalyst to bring the characters together and force them to overcome their own individual issues. For Wakana, these issues involve the regret surrounding her deceased mother, an accomplished musician who taught her how to sing and play piano. For Sawa, it involves her equestrian passions and love for horseback riding, much to the disagreement and discord with her parents. For Taichi it follows his ambition for badminton, while for Wien it is about his desire to preserve justice.
While the series is focused on teenage drama, what it excels at is making each character's issue relevant and believable by using the strengths and weaknesses of the characters to evoke emotion from the viewer, instead of relying on the tired routine of melodrama. Much of the episodes focus on Wakana's previous passion for music, with her past and the relationship between her mother being explored as her story arc progresses. Her avoidance of music is given explanation and reason, while the revival of her passion feels meaningful as she comes to terms with the past and begins to see things in a new, positive light. Each question is answered and each issue is resolved, while new ones are carefully set to take their place and give reason for the viewer to be interested in subsequent episodes. A frequent problem with teenage drama in fiction has always been the reliance on trite dialogue and melodrama instead of a coherent narrative, but Tari Tari manages to feel realistic while capturing the important stage in one's life between adolescence and adulthood. The 13 episodes here have been used in a highly productive fashion which succeeds in giving each character substance.
Sadly, the same amount of detail and depth isn't given to all of the characters. Taichi in particular receives very little growth over the course of the series, resulting in his own passions and issues being seldom explored. Aside from filling the necessary role as the fifth member of the club, Taichi ultimately adds very little to the story aside from developing a romantic interest in Sawa that is only vaguely hinted towards. Other issues in the characterization come from Wien's backstory and story arc, and while he's given sufficient character development in the later episodes, the resolution is surprisingly trivial given the amount of foreshadowing earlier in the series. His childish desire to defend justice is sympathetic but the lack of consistency obstructs his story arc from wrapping up in a satisfying manner. It's fortunate that Wien himself is a unique and exciting character, being an amusing transfer student that frequently misuses and exaggerates Japanese gestures, often with comedic results. It's hard not to grow attached to him over the course of the series.
Another common element in Tari Tari is the presence of an antagonist: the vice principal, who strongly opposes the club for what she perceives as them simply fooling around. As with most stories, she's initially portrayed as being cold and unlikeable to build up conflict, though remarkably her character is given just as much growth and backstory as any of the main cast. By the end of the story, her cold behavior makes full sense and she herself learns to overcome her past issues as a result of another character's own growth. Rather than simply serving as a plot device, the vice principal develops into a realistic and believable as well, which makes her cooperation with the main characters during the final episode all the more significant and meaningful.
Being that Tari Tari is an anime focused on music, it's a bit disappointing that the quality of the music itself is nothing outstanding or noteworthy. The background music is rarely noticeable and the songs that the characters perform are all fairly juvenile and amateur, though the emotionally-driven "Kokoro no Senritsu" is a great addition to the soundtrack. The climactic song performed in the final episode is also well-executed, having full instrumentation to back it up and give it a more professional approach. A clever trick is also used during the ending track, with Wakana pensively sitting apart from the rest of the main cast until her passion for music is revived in the later episodes.
Though not visually superb, Tari Tari benefits from its complex and detailed scenery which is based and modeled upon real locations. The school and the area in which the characters all live in feels very much authentic and distinctive, with impressive lighting and many dynamic camera tricks used to further accentuate the scenery. Many titles involve a high school setting but Tari Tari is one of the few that effectively build the school environment. For an anime that focuses on realistic characters, a realistic depiction of the setting is paramount, and luckily this important detail is not forgotten. The end result is an anime that looks and feels polished, with very few off-model scenes.
Tari Tari is a title that stands out not for its setting, nor its story, or even its well-developed characters. What sets it apart from the multitude of other similar titles is how it manages to synthesize all of these elements and convey a story with eloquence and reason. It exemplifies exactly how teenage drama should be conducted in a story. When so many series subscribe to the notion of "the more crying and yelling, the better", a title such as this is a breath of fresh air and proof of how effective this genre can be when executed efficiently. It certainly has its share of mis-steps and doesn't achieve excellence in any one aspect, but it would be hard not to recommend Tari Tari as a solid title and one of the more noteworthy in recent times. Why not cast aside the preconceptions and enjoy the ride?
