Tamako Market

There's something about anime which allows us to derive entertainment from the mundane events of an ordinary person. Coincidentally, ordinary is the best way to describe Tamako Market.

Starring the young lady Tamako and a flamboyant talking bird, Tamako Market is yet another anime that attempts to cash in on the slice of life phenomenon. It is not an anime that prospers through the strength of its plot, setting, or themes, but instead subsists through the cuteness of its characters. Should we criticize an anime for not going beyond that? Maybe not. But there is certainly a problem when such a simple anime still falls ... short of its potential.

Tamako Market's biggest weakness is regrettably its characterization. Each characters has about the same depth as wrapping paper, as none of them even once prove to be more than their established archetype. Tamako is merely your ordinary, dense heroine (think Chitanda with pigtails) who is no more memorable than any other generic slice-of-life lead. There is little to make her stand out aside from the fact that she is cute and naive. Even when the story shows small signs of her developing as a character, it will simply fall back on her denseness in order to prevent any growth. The result is not pleasant. You cannot have a character-driven slice-of-life anime told through the perspective of a weak character. It does not work. Though one might think: if not the protagonist, the rest of the cast may be better, right?

Not here, it seems. For nearly all of the side characters are a superfluous addition to an already large cast. The biggest offenders are Tamako's school friends: Midori, Kanna, and Shiori. They do not serve any purpose but to quickly provide a sense of friendship in Tamako's daily life. While there are a couple of episodes that focus on these characters and attempt to give them personality, once the next episode starts, the show will treat it as if nothing even happened. This is especially an issue in the case of Shiori, where an entire episode is spent introducing her to Tamako's group of friends— yet afterwards she is not seen for almost the entire story. What was the point? You could remove these characters from the show and nothing would change.

Tamako's childhood friend, Mochizou, is yet another victim to the weak characterization. His character design at least carries some degree of promise, but the lack of screen time compounded with his unfortunate role as a plot device do not do him any favors. There are a few heartwarming scenes between him and Tamako, such as when they talk at night through a string telephone, but the overall execution of this romance is invariably poor. It is entirely composed of Mochizou woefully attempting to convey his feelings to no avail, with Tamako conveniently being blind to Mochizou's evident feelings. In many ways, their relationship is reminiscent of the cliches from harem anime. To be fair, this isn't a story that focuses on its romance. But can one forgive what could easily have been so much more?

The show's mascot, Dera, will either amuse or infuriate you. Considering that he has more screentime than any other character in the story, this can potentially destroy any entertainment value that the show might otherwise hold for the viewer. There are a few witty moments here and there, but most often he is simply detracting from time that could have been better spent developing the human characters. While you may hate him, the one thing that can be said in his favor is that he creates personality within the show: he is anything but a bland character. Whether you lean towards hatred or endearment, Dera will leave some lasting impression on you by the end of the story. Hopefully a positive one.

On a more positive note is Tamako's younger sister, Anko. She does not receive much screentime in comparison to Tamako or Dera, but what little she receives is written considerably well. Her two episodes focus on the innocent crush that she has towards a classmate, and the way in which the anime conveys this is surprisingly subtle. Anko does not outright state her feelings, but through her body language they are made very clear to the viewer. As well as being sickeningly adorable, Anko is surprisingly the most believable character in the show. Too bad she is treated as irrelevant in all but two episodes.

Aside from the characters and romance, there are small problems within the story itself. Most notably is during the last few episodes. After an abrupt twist at the end of the 10th episode, the show immediately tries to rush in some semblance of a story at which it fails quite miserably. Not only does this undermine the slice-of-life aspect of the previous episodes, but the writing is marred by contrivances such as when the Prince somehow travels (or is it 'teleports'?) from a distant country to appear at the most convenient time possible. The ending is scarcely better either as it completely disregards these events in order to revert back to the mundane slice of life. I am not sure that KyoAni knew what kind of anime they wanted to make with Tamako Market.

While the content of the show feels uninspired, at least there is some charm in the presentation. There's an interesting contrast between the mundane activities of the shopping district and the unique carnival aesthetic they are presented in. The soundtrack compliments the style of the show especially well, while even the shopkeepers and background characters are given distinct (often eccentric) personalities in order to breathe life into the world. Not that you will remember them, though.

Artistically the anime shines, but those looking for something of the same level as previous KyoAni works will likely find themselves disappointed. The animation is fluid, the facial expressions and scenery are fairly detailed, and the color scheme is vibrant— though little is actually done to enhance the experience. It is an anime that looks and sounds pleasant, but the lavish budget often feels more excessive than beneficial.

In the end, Tamako Market is another disposable slice-of-life anime to be consumed and forgotten. The fundamentals are intact, and while there are still signs of potential waiting to be realized, this is an anime that will probably leave you with a bitter feeling of emptiness once it is over. One would think that after KyoAni's success with K-ON, they would understand what is needed to create a quality slice-of-life anime. Apparently not. Perhaps KyoAni should stick to animating existing material from this point on.

Tamako Market may not be a bad anime. But it is certainly a lacking one.

(NOTE: This review is written for general anime fans and assumes no familiarity with other series. If you dislike moe, I still think this series is worth watching, for reasons I will discuss below. After episode 5, I decided to bump up the rating to an 8.)

Kyoto Animation is very well known for their cute character designs and on the whole, Tamako Market seems like it was a consummate effort on their part. It's not new and it's not original, but it seems like it was created very easily and with great refinement and polish.

So what is this series about? Not a lot, if ... I'm going to be honest. Tamako is the daughter of a mochi (a kind of Japanese rice cake) maker and the episodes seem to revolve around what kind of new mochi she makes for each different occasion. There's a certain educational appeal in this.

Tamako Market also focuses on the bonds Tamako has with her friends and family. It captures the feeling of living in a small yet close-knit community. People from all walks of life populate this town and they all interact with each other in simple yet heartwarming ways. This series is a slice of life in the purest sense of the word.

The most praiseworthy aspect of the anime is the cozy atmosphere it manages to create. It's as if nothing bad will ever happen in this town. It's definitely escapist - but in a different way from most anime. The world of Tamako Market is one where you want to escape to and live in because it's so simple and innocent. If the world was just a little bit more like the one in Tamako Market, it would be a much better place. That's the appeal in these sorts of shows.

In addition, KyoAni seems to have crafted their ultimate cute girl in our heroine Tamako; she is nice, polite and liked by just about everyone in the series. Though she is not a particularly quirky or memorable character (besides being totally dense when it comes to romance - I pity her love interest), her traits are very balanced and she has an air of genuine sweetness that's impossible to dislike.

I do not think Tamako Market is "moe pandering". That is an unfair slight against the anime. Yes, the girls are cute, but so is everyone else in the series, even the old men. One particularly charming episode focused on Tamako's FATHER of all people. If anything, this series is targeted for general audiences and has a family friendly feel. It is not an otaku series and it is not trying to be one. I am neither a moe fan nor a moe hater so I would prefer to look at this series through the merits of its STORYTELLING.

The problem I detect with this series isn't so much in the content so far but in people's expectations of it. I believe the first episode was not a strong indicator of what the series is about. The first episode was high on energy and comedy, mostly through the slight supernatural aspect of the show. A talking bird is the main comic relief mascot of the show and this character featured prominently in the opening episode.

But Tamako Market isn't really a screwball comedy, even if it does have a quirky sense of humour. It is really a laid-back sort of anime that takes its time to develop the various characters and let the mood sink in. While the premise of the bird character's subplot reappears in the second half of the series, his main role in the series is for a bit of laughs and to support the character development. The few subplots and promises of development lead to nothing in the end, and while it's not necessarily a bad thing to see a story that isn't so focused on a tight storyline, Tamako Market feels particularly light and frothy, all the more so because what plot it manages to build up is deemed irrelevant by the end.

Tamako Market sets itself up to be one thing and turns out to be something else. I do consider this to be a flaw in the writing. Even slice of life fans should take note that the dialogue isn't particularly witty and the charm comes across as somewhat calculated. As I said before, it's not moe pandering, but there's a certain "been there, done that" aspect to a few of the more emotional scenes - most likely because seasoned anime fans may have already seen them done in previous KyoAni shows, or just in anime in general. That doesn't stop this series from being good at what it does, but there is a distinct feeling that it could have been stronger. Some episodes do drag in their pacing.

Still, it's a nice slice of life show, very clean and perfectly harmless, even though it doesn't do anything new with the genre. Do give it a shot.

Do you like MOE? Are you a fan of Kyoto Animation's other works? Do you enjoy watching cute girls doing cute things? Do you like a talking bird running his narcissistic mouth 24/7 about his superiority and the world around him? Well, if any of those registers a response of “yes”, then this series might be somewhat of an interest for you.

Tamako Market is a new original series from Kyoto Animation. The series is directed by Naoko Yamada with the studio known for their other works such as Clannad, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!, Hyouka, and K-On! The series is a standalone title with no ... other adaptations from any sources of LN/Manga as of known. Now, I admit, this series is a quite something especially in the 'kawaii' department. But beyond that, I'm not sure if Tamako Market lives up to the hype and humor that I originally thought it had.

Well, the series lacks a direct story but takes on a more slice of life style of things in more of the fun way. Take for example, we got that bird named Dera “Tori” Mochimazzi (if that even its real name). He claims himself as being “noble” with a sharp tongue and often talks in an aristocratic pattern. He also seems to be dense of the real world and how it functions. For instance, he takes the girls' actions of colliding into his face as a way of “declaring their devotion” towards him. In reality, this is obviously not the case but only a case of allergy. It happens quite often too and Dera being the silly bird that he is takes everything in the way his culture taught him to be.

As for most of the other characters, the series presents them in the usual cute way, the Kyoto Animation way. There's Tamako Kitashirakawa who stars as the main protagonist of the series. She is a first year student in high school who is enjoying the time of her life. Despite her denseness especially to those in her life, she is very hardworking and strives to help out her family the best way she can. In fact, she is easily able to make friends at school and even at earned the affections (or maybe I should assume here to be accidental fondness) of Dera. Tamako is the main star of the series and hell, even some girls got the hots for her.

Among some of her friends includes her childhood friend Midori, Kanna (a member of the Baton club), as well as the cool girl Shiori. Oh and let's not forget the guy friend, Mochizō Ōji. It is hinted throughout the series that he has a thing for Tamako but who are we kidding here, it's Tamako after all and she gives 'dense' a whole new meaning. In fact, there is even a sort of “love triangle”. Unfortunately, it is quite weak and blend that most viewers will not be able to notice it much. Even so though, the characters all have different personalities as well as what they hope to be in the future. They just seem to be too simple and not enough depth. Given the premise of the show and its genres, it's not too surprising in the case of Tamako Market.

On the other hand, the adults of this show (besides Tamako's cool dad) seems to be more in the background. In this show, the kids are the stars and the adults are the ones on the other horizon.

As mentioned before, this show is rather plot less and lacks any if at all, strong development. In other words, don't go into this series with some sort of strong story because the way it's being handled. However, there are some little things that are amusing to reference to if a viewer pays more careful attention. Most of Tamako's family members' names are related to mochi as well as having meanings. For example, Dela Mochimazzi hates to eat mochi. His last name reflects on the 'mochi is terrible' taste in which he dislikes the taste of mochi. Tamako is also born on New Years Eve which just happens to be the busiest time of the year so her birthday is often forgotten. Well, at least it's better than February 29.

The series' episodes typically spotlights a certain event in Tamako's daily life as well as spotlighting some of the other characters (including that bird Dela). Even Tamako's little moe sister Anko gets her own episode when she demands to be called “An!” Shiori had her moments during her own spotlight as she made an impression for Tamako and her friends. Now, they are the best of friends. I won't get to that bird Dera since he tries to steal the show (like he did with the first episode) every week. I do find him quite annoying though as his mouth never seems to stop talking about his ethnics and culture.

At many stances, I find this series to be cute. We have the Tin-to-Phone talk as a little theme to bring back some childhood nostologia. I mean, ask yourself, when was the last time you talked to someone with a tin can? Nowadays, we got cell phones, androids, and whatever else you watch your anime on. But going back to the old school of using old fashioned tin cans is just something so nostologic. Not only that, it is cute. Among other things, there is a sense of innocence especially with Tamako. Those headbands on her hair and the way she displays her postures in the OP song are all part of this. In fact, Tamako is one of those girls that you can't help but want to be friends with. For Anko's case, her seemingly crush on a fellow classmate turned out to be someone else that most of the cast did not see coming. It's one of those instances where innocence kicks in again and we can't help but smile for Anko; or maybe, I should call her 'An' as she wants to be called.

Despite all cutesy moments and fun, the series does have some dramatic moments and even a somewhat antagonist of the series. This is reflected in the face of Kanna Makino when she has some plans of her own against Midori. Otherwise, some of the drama involving Anko and her classmates are occasionally a pleasant watch.

Unfortunately, this show does not escape the typical beach episode. Although not for fan service reasons (I think?), there is a beach episode where the main characters relax and have fun in the sun. It's been done by Kyoto Animation in the past before and here we are again. Otherwise, the series' blend storyline does not make up for its other attributes. Also, that damn bird named Dela tries to steal the show every single episode. He's almost everywhere whether it's on Tamako's head, at the beach, the mochi shop, or at school. He tries to be the star of the series but more often or not, he stays as the comic relief. This is reflected in his personality and the way he behaves himself where the only attention he gets is seemingly what he least expected. He claims to be some kind of aristocratic prince but let's face reality here folks, he is just a flat bird with not even an ounce of hunting skills considering the place he is freeloading in. Talk about being worthless, just like the 'plot'.

In terms of visuals, Kyoto Animation does it again. The series has very rich scenery and displays fantastic features of the characters' expressions. The luscious backgrounds along with its strong balance of artistry sets this series as a top tier in the art department. More so though, Tamako Market gives more of a realistic feeling of what is being like in the show. There's the beach, the mochi shop, the neighborhood, and school. It works out right and along with the character designs, we can clearly see that Kyoto Animation is behind this. I mean, just take a close look at Tamako's face. Aren't you CURIOUS about what mystery series' female protagonist that Kyoto Animation worked on previously from where she resembles from?

For soundtrack, I would say that the ED song is quite catchy. It is playable on repeat and seems like an orchestra that is crafted with a fast rhythm and catching pace. Most of the soundtrack is composed of that lighthearted tone with some added fun choirs in between. The voice actors did an okay job to reflect their tone style although there's a certain character in the series that seems to display some gender confusion. More noticeably though, Tamako's dad displays some musical skills of his own and a few of the background music later on seems to be based off of famous works.

Overall, I think this series gets a '6'. If I was judging it based on cuteness, I would score it something like a 15/10. However, the weak story and seemingly lack of character development makes it less convincing against some other titles from Kyoto Animation's works. That bird by the name of Dera (again, is this even his real name?) is quite annoying and gets repetitive to watch. I do admit though that the series is quite cute and brings a smile to my face whenever I watch it. This time around, I'm not sure if Tamako Market is really that good. Well, it definitely is kawaii.

Before watching Tamako Market, I had to prepare myself. I mean cold showers, a critical state of mind stemmed by delirium, and eating a cup of ramen filled with enough hot sauce to burn my tonsils off. Distraction from the cuteness is key—because the cuteness is paramount. It springs up in all corners, in every moe smile, in every darned bit of music, in every bright color. Beneath a tactful disguise of a thousand hues of pink, a conniving truth festers. If you let your guard down you will never see it.

I’m here to tell you the truth. And the truth is that Tamako Market ... is any moe-lover’s dream—on the outside, at least. In case I haven’t mentioned this already, everything is cute. In fact, the cuteness is played up to such a level that all you see, all you notice, is cute. The animation is bright and bubbly and perfectly moe; it fits an anime of this caliber and deserves praise for setting the stage. The voice acting and music will not disappoint. On the outside, Tamako Market is glorious and if one is content with this then good enough for them. But for those of us who begin to question the cuteness, for those of us who find that the cuteness isn’t enough to stop critical analysis, a deeper look is in order. For the sake of this review, I will break through Tamako Market’s façade. There are few layers beneath. Actually, it’s painfully simple, even more so than some other slice of life anime out there.

Despite the bubbly aura that the animation and music emanates, Tamako Market feels uninspired and, weirdly enough, even bland. This isn’t because it’s a slice of life anime. In fact, anime of this genre often have an inexplicably entertaining quality despite the commonplace happenings. Where other similar anime stand strong, fortified by character chemistry and those signature quirky events, Tamako Market can’t seem to establish itself. Everything is there to create another wonderful edition to the world of moe—right? Actually, no. The deeper parts of moe and slice of life, the parts that leave a good anime fan satisfied, are not merely looks but what’s on the inside. It’s just like the question of best girl. She may have to be cute, but there are a lot of cute girls and when it comes down to it, her heart matters more.

For anime, the heart is something known as plot and characterization.

Tamako Market starts off pretty well, introducing us to the cool and friendly place where Tamako lives and Dera, a pompous bird that she just happens to encounter. The story basically revolves around Tamako’s daily life with this bird, her friends, and mochi. The one thing that Tamako Market tells us consistently is that mochi is great, mochi is good, and mochi is life. Otherwise, everything is loosely about friendship, family, and some sort of plot revolving around Dera that comes in when it wants to, only to be remembered when convenient and then sloppily handled at the end. For some, the amount of moe cuteness is enough; getting absorbed in it is fine for them. But the reason why all you see is cuteness and the reason why there’s so much of it is because there isn’t anything else. The best thing that Tamako Market could do was play that up, and it definitely did that. However, those of us looking for something deeper will only be content in watching this anime (though that does not mean they won’t enjoy the ride) instead of absorbing all that it has to offer. Tamako and her friends are the only thing that would make this anime remotely interesting—and that fact doesn’t fare well for it.

The dialogue is bland, the jokes are bland (and barely noticed), the crushes are bland (and very badly handled), and the characters (especially the ones with the most screen time) are bland. The latter is the reason why the former is bland. The characters that had promise on episode one bore you by episode twelve because they’re exactly the same. The archetypes that you were introduced to don’t have any deeper facts, quirky characteristics, or new emotions to show you that twelve episodes have passed. Where many slice of life anime keep you interested with facts or entertaining life stories or at least a deeper kind of characterization, Tamako Market doesn’t stretch its legs. All of them are insipidly themselves—Tamako is forever cute and naïve, Kanna is forever unusual, Midori is forever bubbly-ish. In fact, perhaps unsurprisingly, but definitely unfortunately, the most interesting and promising characters are the ones with the least amount of screen time.

The reason why Tamako Market fails to inspire praise is because it doesn’t handle itself well. Though another (not implausible) reason is that perhaps it thinks it doesn’t need to, so long as there’s cuteness. Many will agree with that and many anime veterans will not.

Look in each corner, my friends. In one, we have cuteness, the appealing shell. In the other, we have a gray, murky goop, the unappetizing innards. The question of which one will win can only be answered by you, the viewer.

This will be my second review, now updating for 12/12 episode. Before you watch Tamako Market, you should read this review.

It's obviously that specific genres of anime are often intensely focused on a certain genders and age groups, including a female protagonist with her friends. In fact, KyoAni giving many adorable scene to made the fans adore their cuteness. There's one alternative different anime, had same producers like K-ON!. ( Kyo Ani. Why.) This story is mostly apparent when one considers the slice of life and comedy category.

This all seem to have several things in common - cute characters, adorable face, a funny face, ... "cute" costume changes then.. a fat bird APPEARS! I can say this anime looks funny. I'd rather to give my grateful for this anime because many people always looking at their art and characters, a good storyline. If you really likes Dandere, A bit tsundere, cheerful female protoganist, and you have it. I've read your mind. It was like you want to say; "I wanna to take the girls in my home. then HNNNNNNNNNGG."

Back to main topic, there is a "can't resist the moeness" girl named Tamako Kitashirakawa, A first-year in high school student whose family runs a mochi shop in their town's shopping district, She helps her family run the shop and invent new various of mochi. the shopkeepers loves them. ( Everyone loves Tamako. *Thumbs up*) along with her two best friend. Midori and Kanna. Fortunately, there's one guy who fall in love with Tamako. You have no regret to watch this. So it's a good thing theanime is as entertaining as it is.

The rest is yours. I ended my review. Thank you.

“You used to be much more... "muchier". You've lost your muchness.” - Alice in Wonderland.

Not that I'm a fan of that series, nor that I even know the story (please don't shoot me), but this perfectly describes studio Kyoto in a ball. They've been famous for making various key adaptions such as Clannad and Kanon, and other series being described as far as controversial like Haruhi. But lately, they've been said that the rising hill is sloping downwards now, and Tamako Market contributes to more evidence for that hill, with less and less 'muchness'. That hill consists of weaker attention for the story, and with ... more delicious amount of budget and moe to sprinkle the... fillings, not just the topping. That's right, it's the infamous "style over substance" type, and Tamako Market went exactly in that route. It'd be really nice to have a good balance of substance, but that doesn't mean we should completely ignore the style either, and it's styles like in Tamako Market that are actually pretty rare.

Hence why I used Alice in Wonderland for quoting.

'Tamako Market' means a market full of Tamakos. Just kidding, but please stop laughing at my hilarious well-made joke which was carefully crafted in three whole seconds. It does take place in a market though, and a rather lively one at that. There's several mochi shops rivaling each other, and a high school girl named 'Tamako' is part of the shops. She looooves mochi, and makes 'em for the market who has the happiest atmosphere going around. Also talking bird appears and strange love triangles occur, whilst the mochi shops does the most epic contests against one another, rivaling themselves out with their wild mochi-cooking skills to the point of exhaustion and hardships.

Okay, I lied, there's no real cooking rivalry. There's talking birds though.

As a complete, shocking surprise, it's about nothing, or at least for the majority of the time. However, the way it structures itself gives both an avoid alert and a treat for those for can bear the first few episodes. My initial first response to the first three episodes were that they were "boring as a wall", as well as "stupid as a talking bir- oh wait". Nothing happens, and it seems a little pretentious with a smiley face to try and keep me engaged with a talking bird hitting on girls. It's only after I finally picked up the series again when it was nearing its end on airing, where the episodes after three actually became a little more than entertaining. It's ironic because, for those of you who follow the three episode rule, you'd be only watching the lowest of the TM episodes.

The structure follows a episodic layout, and it's not surprising as it's a slice of life. They're purely episodic to the core though, as they each contain stories of both main and side characters, dealing with simple problems and affection towards different people and such. This kind of layout already sets you up with the characters in front of you, and since the story doesn't follow a linear line, not much changes or developments grow much, if it has any at all. With that said, it allows you to familiarize yourself with the happy market, and as you get more into the market's pace, you'd find it gets much more enjoyable and natural with different kinds of stories later on.

That said, it can go the opposite effect if you're not fond with the market itself. If you feel the urge to burn those flowers in the shop, that fat talking bird who didn't save the show, those puffy mochi-like cheeks on Tamako and those puffy mochis themselves, then feel free to get up and leave to collect your fire, as you're not going to like the show at all. Don't burn Kanna's hammer though, Kanna's the best in the show. How dare you.

But I'd be a little surprise for anyone to hate the atmosphere of the anime, particularly the market. I find the atmosphere to be a little more... magical. Which is a little bit of a surprise myself, since I don't tend to find this sort of lovely, bouncy atmosphere in anime often now. The show presents itself in a more musical-play fashion rather than a relaxing one. Things play out like a fantasy musical, if there's anything else to describe it best; the lovely, light soundtrack fleshes the musical style out quite a bit, as some scenes feel as though it's actually a music video. Things flow like flipping through a happy and merrily written book, sometimes ending in a fashion where a message warps up the episode as if it actually ends a good night sleep. It's a lovely atmosphere, and gives a tingly sensation of joy inside... though, it takes a bit of time until it really gets into you (at least after episode 3 for me).

Oh, did I ever tell you there was actually a story in the show?

Dera, the bird who I just called 'the bird' for a while now, actually comes to the country for a specific reason. That background of the story stays behind the shadows for the majority of the show though, so the reasoning for him lurking in the market isn't because he tried to make a 'moe slice of life about nothing' show more interesting, but for a future reason to be revealed later on. The storyline of the whole situation with Dera isn't so surprising though, and in fact it's fairly simple to get your head around without the need of developments or plot twists. It's ever so simple writing, with a vague climax that doesn't really make up for the entire series, so if you're expecting your wow meter to be of the chart, don't be.

That and the fact the actual story is literally behind the shadows doesn't keep any sort of substance following, since it's pretty much hidden in the entire series. There's not even a sense of mystery either; the market's being too busy smiling so much that a fat bird that can talk is something that should be subjected upon, since even scientists can't find birds in the world who can freaking talk, let alone a noble perverted one. The point though is that it's a super simple story which doesn't get put on subject until the few last episodes of the show, and so the rest of the episodes is just about character stories in the market, as said earlier. There's no linear story to follow; only those in the market.

Let's talk about the lovely dovely production values for now, and take a break of the main cake of the show. What do you expect from Kyoto Animation then? In comparison to ChuChu and Hyouka, the budget doesn't go as astounding as those two. It's more comparable to the likes of K-On!! though, as they are done by the same sub-team as each other. The animation is very fluent with its movement, making them extremely fun to watch and building up a good amount of gif files in your folders. The main girls are in the baton club too; what's more fun than looking at cute girls throwing and spinning batons around in the hall? Also, there's quite a blob of moe in the anime, though it's not focused upon as much as people state it is. If you are allergic to moe and get itchy spots down there, you can stay away from this, but I honestly don't see how or why it's a big problem for the show.

The OST is ever so musically lovely. I wish the OST is already out, but it seems like it only goes as far as the character songs for download. Anyway, the soundtrack provides the magical atmosphere even further, and fits the entire show almost perfectly, as said earlier. The opening contributes to the magic musical style too, though not so much of the ED as that's more of a J-Pop serious song. It's not much of a problem, since it's musically very well-done, and it's a must-have to get the full version of. Sound effects and directing is consistently good, and the OST is used wonderfully, fitting from a cute AMV to a mini musical narration play thingymajigy, as described earlier. Voice acting is great too, and Dera's voice gives of the royalty feel of his being quite well. Well... mostly royalty.

But umm... about Dera....

Some say he's the life saver of the anime, whilst others state he's a big, fat thing wasting precious screen time for the anime. In theory, he's only set in the market because of plot (oh how convenient!), right? But, as said three main paragraphs ago, the actual story is bored behind the shadows, so Dera's not actually needed 9 tenths of the time. His personality is of a king's noble servant, yet he's not aware that all his 'charm' are not actually capturing any of the girls' hearts at all. Even mochi proves him as a clown, turning him bloated and heavy. He's in the show listed as a main character, but it's in fact that he only proves to be a comedic clown character who can in fact be super annoying to some and praise-worthy to others.

Whether or not he saves the entire show is an entirely different question. Without him, Tamako Market would be a normal slice of life about mochis, lesbians and magical happy atmosphere floating around. It can only prove Dera as a little bit of a plot device to bring the "plot" to the market, but even without him the effects of being bored as a brick in the first few episodes would be the same. His existence is very polarizing in opinions because of his strange noble personality, with a sense of weird affection birds shouldn't even have towards girls, and sometimes he just kills moments by narrating with a somewhat cheesy voice. That said, if you really hate to see him, he's hardly the center of attention in the majority of the time, so be glad or be sad; either way, this talking bird isn't going to leave his mochi behind you'd still have to deal with him in the show.

Aside the case of the talking bird though, there's a whole cast of other characters too. You got the group of girls being Tamako's friends (Tamako being the main character, if you haven't noticed), who are blond Midori, glasses Shiori and the best character in the entire show, Kanna. Her ruler and hammer wins me over, and so she proves best award for Tamako Market person. The market has a ton of people living there; a flowerist whose gender is unknown, other mochi makers and shop keepers plus the families, the friendly elderly people, dancing old man, newly bird couple, little kids and so on. It's quite a colourful bunch, and the entire cast brings the happy and lively atmosphere in the area, so lively that it's a little unnatural to be in, but nevertheless fun. Several of the characters get a decent amount of screen time, but not much can be said about the developments. They're pretty interesting and likable in their own right, especially having the center of attention in some of the episodes (though Kanna doesn't weep weep...). The cast is a fun bunch, in conclusion, but even with some background and attention, development doesn't really grow upon nearly all of them (except Dera, funny enough).

Tamako Market can be regarded as another moe creation from Kyoto, and with even more style and less substance than before. Popularity sure got them "muchier", but now their muchness has shrunk over the years to the point where great things wave bye-bye to their opportunities of potential (talking about that one Key VN which got rejected because Kyoto was 'too busy'... forever cry weep weep...). That all said, Tamako Market wasn't as bad of a ride than I thought it'd be, but stating that the story is extremely unique and well-written is worth face-palming.

I wonder what Kyoto's going to do in the future then. And should I look forward to it?

This time KyoAni surprised me with stuff and things. THINGS.


There has been quite a lot of criticism about how Tamako Market is nothing but a slice of life moe silliness. I, however, spotted quite a few things which I think should come to the knowledge of others in case not everyone notices THINGS.

Tamako Market has a strong position taking message about moe and cuteness in generally. It's rather simple, actually. Tamako Market is an anime about nothing. Tamako Market is cute. And thus nothing =is= cute. Self-irony much? I think this is pretty much a big deal considering that majority (read;all) KyoAni shows are ... considered cute. Also moe = mochi over everything. Deep and lots of THINGS.

The other thing that has been bugging so many is this series is the originality. Talking pimp bird who is secretly a video projector? Nigga whose ass looks like a peach? Has been done before? I don't thinks so. Eva didn't do it. Logh tried but failed. In my eyes it is very original, and peach-like.

There sureasfuckinghell was no inbetween. The animation in this series was reversally made. Pretty sure majority has seen some crazy-ass amount of .gif's about cute girls doing cute THINGS and whatnot. Tamako Market often looks like a collection of those. The characters are jumping and teleporting all over the screen without any sense, making the series look like a .gif slide show.

The voice acting, themes and bgm are all quite fitting to the series. Though, I still don't know if that one blond who likes flowers is really female because she(?) really sounds like a dude. Trapsome pick there I guess.

This series made me feel kinda happy and smile and STUFF. I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone who wants to see something good and amazing because this is neither, but I think anyone who wants to see something light without overwhelming amount of moe and melodrama could enjoy this STUFF.

Tamako Market may be derived from the same recipe as KyoAni's other SOL anime, but its taste is a little off.

As always, my reviews are spoiler free.

Kyoto Animation, the makers of the wildly successful Haruhi and K-On! series, realized something a few months after K-On! finished airing. Cute girls doing cute things (afterwards CGDCT; call it "moe" if you want to, that's another argument entirely) really sells. The following seasons, and to the day that this review is being written, there have been dozens of series that tried to ride the CGDCT wave all the way to the bank. Most have tried ... to stand out from the crowd by adding a unique flavor, but in the end it's obvious that they are just trying to scrape up a little more of K-On!'s success. Most have faded into obscurity, but one that is just trying to keep its head above water is Tamako Market.

Chief among the culprits of these "copies" are KyoAni themselves; aside from K-On!! (more ! means more seasons), they released a continuous string of SOL/CGDCT (or CBoysDCT in Free!'s case) with Kyoukai no Kanata being the only break in sight. Among these was Tamako Market, the subject of review today.


Story - 4/10

To begin, here is the short and simple premise: Tamako is a high school girl whose family runs a mochi shop. One day she meets a talking bird from a faraway island who is in search of a bride for his prince.

Let's put the premise aside for a moment though.

SOL anime are very difficult to approach in the story category. Rather than a near-objectively good story (such as Steins;Gate) or near-objectively poor story (such as Skelter Heaven), a SOL story has a "feel" to it. A personal favorite of mine is the Aria series, giving an overarching sense of serenity as the characters go about their lives in a beautiful setting. Even when restricted to high school life, as so many SOLs are, one can find much better "feelings," such as Azumanga Daioh or Hyouka. Each has their own unique charm or interesting characters that draw the viewer in. The problem with Tamako Market is that it doesn't have charm or interesting characters.

The charm that it tried to present was a combination of the talking bird, Dera, and some manor of suppressed romantic subplot around Tamako. Neither one is anywhere close to interesting enough to save the biggest problem in the series: the characters.

Animation - 7/10

KyoAni is not one to slack on the animation budget. All of their recent works are above average in the animation and art department, especially Hyouka. However, compared with each recently animated series, Tamako Market gives off a "good enough" feeling. Those backgrounds are "good enough." Those side character designs were "good enough." That fluidity was "good enough." It's hard to fool a KyoAni fan when they see what the studio is capable of with releases such as Disappearance and Hyouka. Even the previous season's Chuunibyou was leagues ahead.

Overall, the series is below average effort from a far above average studio, but it looks as good or better than most comparable series.

Sound - 7/10

The backing tracks were good and upbeat. The OP was catchy and fun. However, the real thing I want to mention here are the voice actors and actresses. This series used many brand new seiyuu, and they did a great job. They need to get more roles.

This was well above the standard of most similar series, but still not up to the bar of K-On! or Hyouka.

Character - 3/10

This is where things really went wrong. Let's do a roll call...

The main cast:

-Tamako, the world's densest girl who is always smiling and optimistic to a near-creepy degree. She loves nothing in the world more than mochi, which is probably why she can never notice the obvious advances of her friends Mochizou and Midori. She has no other features at all.
-Kanna, who is as poker-faced as Tamako is smiley. She does not appear to have emotions or react to many stimuli. She is just a token friend.
-Midori, the closet lesbian. She shows obvious romantic interest throughout the series that Tamako never notices. Other than being token friend #2, she tries to "protect" Tamako from the romantic advances of others, as if she needs more protection than her denseness.
-Dera, the stuck up bird comic relief. He will be very polarizing, with some viewers loving his aloof humor and others hoping Dera hunting season will soon open in Japan. He also has a video-phone feature.
-Choi, the bride hunting brown girl. She arrives in Japan from a small island kingdom, coming after Dera. She is often harsh for no reason, especially to Dera, as she is his handler. She can use him in some sort of divination ritual. She believes Tamako may the bride for her island's prince.
-Mochizou, who likes Tamako too. He is from the mochi shop right across the street (capitalism ho!). He constantly tries to confess to Tamako, but it is like trying to explain your love to a rock.

The supporting cast consists of many characters who are mainly family members or store owners. They all serve their sole purpose to populate the world or fill a space in the story.

If you think I am summarizing character personalities, I'm not. I have written full biographies for each of them. They are incredibly boring.


Enjoyment - 3/10

I did not enjoy Tamako Market because of the boring setting and the "feeling" I talked about earlier. I've seen hundreds of similar shows, and Tamako Market falls right into the "average" category. The only reason it hasn't been forgotten like other K-On! chasers like A-Channel is that it was made by the same studio.

Other Thoughts

KyoAni is one of my favorite studios, but I think they really dropped the ball on this one.

There are many, many better CGDCT/SOL shows that you could watch. Do yourself a favor and give this one a miss. Take a look at K-ON!, Aria, Hyouka, Chuunibyou, Tamayura, Haruhi, Yuru Yuri, Azumanga Daioh or any other of the dozens of better series of this nature.

I've had a close eye turned toward Kyoto Animation since Haruhi and Lucky Star, Nichijou and K-On! are all anime I would count among my favorites. Needless to say I wasn't going to be able to stay away from a Kyoto Animation produced show from many of the people who brought us the last of those forever. K-On! was a fun, lovable, funny, sweet anime with a set of characters who could be described in equal terms. I expected similar things from Tamako Market and to an extent that is what I received, though the packaging was quite a bit different that I was expecting.

Most ... of the shows I name dropped above had a certain formula. They focus on four-five high school students, mostly girls, trading elliptical comic dialogs, doing cute things and engaging in some manner of mischief or silliness. It's a working formula; one that allows a show to easily entertain while keeping the focus tight so the characters can be developed. Tamako market has a set of four cute and somewhat quirky high school girls, but they're not actually where the focus is at all. The focus quite fittingly enough is on one girl, Tamako, and the market where she lives and works. Oh, and some weird talking bird too.

This is kind of an odd approach. It takes away from the humor potential some. It gives the show a lot of work to do, more than it can possibly hope to do or even try to do with twelve episodes. It's unusual, especially if the goal was to repeat the success of K-On!. I can't actually see this show doing that as a result. However, for what it is, Tamako Market just oozes a lot of charm. It's an easy series to like.

Part of that is that KyoAni have made another great looking anime. It doesn't have as much great visual flourish as they brought to Nichijou, mind you, but this show doesn't really need all that. It's a fairly understated series, and the animators do a good job of setting just the right tone. Character designs are distinctive and attractive yet generally believable. On the sound end, most of the actors do a pretty good job and music is well utilized at points. The OP and ED are both rather charming and cute, though a little less memorable than KyoAni's best themes.

Most of the plot to Tamako Market is tied to its characters, and they are an interesting cast. The main character, Tamako herself, is an odd main character. She's rather ordinary. Somewhat dense and excitable, but put her next to someone like Yui from K-On and she's downright understated. She's a hardworking, cheerful, bright-eyed girl and that's really all there is to her. I could see this same character being a well-liked minor supporting character in practically any other anime. I think that's likely the point though; she's universal, she's believable and she's easy to like, both by the viewer and the characters. She doesn't develop noticeably as a character all too much through the show, but it's clear she touches the other characters in certain ways.

Tamako has two romantic interests, not that she seems very aware of either of their advances. One is Mochizou, the son of the shop which is rival to her family's shop. The other is Midori, Tamako's best friend from childhood who is beginning to realize her feelings for Tamako are deeper than normal friendship. It's an interesting setup, but nothing ever really come of it. Mochizou isn't developed much beyond just being a likable and good natured everyman. Midori's feelings are conveyed effectively and believably without dwelling on them excessively, but are never really confronted directly. More could have been done with these two, but as it is any potential dramatic tension there is ignored.

Rounding out the school girl set with Tamako and Midori are Kanna and Shiori. Kanna is the one of the bunch who probably could actually fit in a more K-On! type show; she's hilarious and a bit of an oddball and is delightful whenever she's around. Shiori is the shy one who at first seems cold; while cute and having a good design, she gets a bit lost in the shuffle after her episode and ends up being a character without much place in the story.

Then there's Tamako's family and the shopping district. The family is pretty well done. Tamako's younger sister is a very believable child character with her own little arc. Tamako's father also ends up being a very well developed and likable character, who seems to grow through the story more than a lot of characters. The other shop keepers in the market don't get much time individually to be developed, but the designs are good and the warm, familiar way they're constantly being portrayed makes them quite likable as well.

Then there's the bird. I'm not entirely sure what to make of Dera. He's an odd character, and one that steals the focus a lot. He's perhaps supposed to be the source of most of the comedy in the series, and in that capacity he does have his moments, particularly when he and Kanna interact. He is a character who it's easy to get too much of though, and at times it does seem like the show would be better if he was shoved away somewhere for a while. Of course he's also the instigator of the overarching "plot" of Tamako Market for what it is, but not much comes of that save another fairly fun and cute character, Choi, being brought to the show for the second half.

The cast is very likable on a whole and there are spots of good character development. The show just seems unable to get to everything it should, and for that it suffers some. However, while KyoAni doesn't have another masterpiece on their hands, they do have what I'd still call a very good anime. It has a few flaws and could have just generally used more episodes to do more with its setup and characters, but Tamako Market remains a quite enjoyable offering all the same.

Tamako Market could best be described as like watching a 5 hour long advert for mochi. The shallow story never really allowed me to feel a connection with any of the characters, but was sure to tell us that mochi is, in fact, quite delicious, and something about the power of friendship and family. Special attention to Japanese culture is also given, through the introduction of foreigners who, despite having perfect (and never explained) Japanese language ability, are completely oblivious to aspects of life in Japan.

Character design is by Yukiko Horiguchi of Lucky Star and K-On! fame -- in fact, the characters look almost ... identical to those from K-On!, with the main character Tamako appearing deceptively like K-On's Mio with twin tails. And indeed, this is yet another installment of cute girls doing cute things. However, unlike K-On!, Tamako Market lacks any of the charm of similar shows, and is only memorable for a handful of things: an obnoxious talking bird who apparently is trying to be the second coming of Casanova, a beautiful florist voiced by Daisuke Ono, and -- oh yes, not least of all -- mochi and more mochi. It's mildly amusing, but don't expect too much.

Most of the character voices are bland, with a few exceptions, and the opening theme is utterly forgettable or even slightly annoying. In contrast to the dull sound, however, the artwork is beautiful -- one of the few redeeming aspects of this series.

I can't say I hated Tamako Market. It's pretty, occasionally funny, and depicts idealised life in a small shopping district with a bit of surrealism thrown in. But it felt like a lot of time to spend watching something that never managed to rise above mediocre.

Tamako Market, your seemingly storyless moe anime variety. I don't exactly remember what made me start this, but I loved it near instantly. I'm actually really disappointed that this wonderful anime is over, and I very much would love a second season. Yes, TM's cute. Does it have no story? Is it pointless? To answer those questions it'd be a heck no! It has it's both sad and heartwarming scenes, and more.

TM's story is simple; a girl, Tamako, works at a mochi shop with her father, sister, and grandfather. Across the street is a rival mochi shop and home of a boy, Mochizou, who's interested ... in the oblivious Tamako. The story is of Tamako's life in both the shop, a bit of her school life, along with her two good friends. In the midst of all this, a strange talking bird appears to Tamako, and tells her he is here to find a bride for his prince. There's a decent amount of humor included. Another fact is that my younger cousins who are definitely NOT into moe, who play FPS and strategy games all the time, ENJOY this anime. TM is a simple, but heartwarming and sweet one story. If you're like me, it's able to give you feels. Happy emotions, bittersweet emotions, sad ones... this anime is able to pack many feelings into one.

The art of this show is of course by KyoAni, so it should seem familiar. The animation is fluid, the colors are bright, warm, and cold; it's high quality. However, anatomy-wise, it might be a little bit less accurate than K-ON!, especially with all of the characters' legs, and this applies to 99% of everyone. The female characters' hands are really small and inconsistent, and at times are either too small, other times, they're actually correctly drawn. It's not too big of an issue, though. Expressions are well-done, and lively. All in all, the animation is pretty great.

Both the opening and ending for Tamako Market are amazing. The colorful, upbeat op is a lively tune. The song matched the op sequence very well. The ending, stunning, and very catchy to boot. I find it stuck in my head, often... the seiyu for Tamako sings both of these, and she is a pretty good vocalist! The voice acting for TM is great- the cast's voices match very well. Even the bgm's great- matching, quirky, catchy songs. Love the music for TM.

Characters of this show, I find unique and lovable. Tamako is just darling and it's hard to not love her. Her friends are also unique, and have nice quirks to them. I adore both Tamako and Kanna, her brown-haired, measurement enthusiast friend. The shopping district residents are colorful, and they're all depicted very, very warmly, and are all individuals of their own right. We can't forget Dera, the characteristic bird who comes to visit. Also a lovable "character" indeed.

I thoroughly enjoy Tamako Market, even when I thought I wouldn't. It's one of the most promising series for this season for me, so you can imagine how much I like it. Every time a new episode arrives, I get really excited and smiles appear on my face no matter how down I feel. A great anime to go to if you're not feeling very happy, or you're down in the dumps.

Overall, you should watch this anime if you don't mind lightheartedness and slice of life. This anime is the one I very eagerly wait to see every week this entire season. It's a warm and sweet story, so please enjoy!

It’s shit.

★☆☆☆

I began this show back in November 2014—and I’m still trying to finish it… even though it’s only 12 episodes. I’m in the middle of episode 12, but I can’t bring myself to finish it. I don’t care anymore. I don’t care about you, Tamako, or your friends or whatever mundane crap you’re doing. And that’s the problem, isn’t it? There’s nothing to care about.

Tamako Market is about a cute girl (Tamako) that works in a mochi shop. She has cute friends, she has a cute sister, and she lives in a quaint neighborhood market. She goes to school, she talks with a guy ... that has a crush on her, and she has a talking bird.

By the way, the talking bird has more screen time than any of those little dipshits in the show. He’s flamboyant and has some passion. His dialogue is decently interesting. He’s probably the best character because everybody else is bland moeblob.

Slice-of-life is not a bad genre. No genre is unless you’re doing “Magical Girl Sports Military Harem Fighting Furry Adventures.” I’m gonna throw out this original, patented thought and say King of the Hill is one of the best animate slice-of-lives out there. I’ll even put in those Nickelodeon cartoons like Hey Arnold!.

Why? Because every episode gives you something to care about. It has plot and character development. The most basic definition of SOL is anything episodic without a main story, but it still needs to follow the rules of good writing. Every season of King of the Hill is Hank selling propane (and propane accessories), Peggy being a bitch, and Bobby being a little shit. Hey Arnold! is Arnold solving everybody’s problems whether they want him to or not. In Tamako Market, there are no conflicts for me to care about. Nothing. That's why Tamako Market is so boring, and took me 6 months to get through.

So does this garbage have any redeeming value? Well, it looks fantastic as do all KyoAni shows. The animation is colorful and bubbly. The characters are cute. It always puts me in the mood for mochi.

But what went wrong? It’s the sheer lack of anything to care about. The characters are actually decent. It’s just that without any conflict there’s nothing about them to root for. The closest thing that resembled a conflict was one of Tamako’s friends couldn’t come up with a dance routine for school and she spent the episode hiding it. If this plot sounds familiar then a Saturday morning cartoon has probably done it and better.

Cute girls, but nothing to care about. Another painfully boring slice-of-life.

Everyone knows what to expect from Tamako Market even before it aired. Kyoto Animation's on a roll and churning out the cute-girls-doing-cute-things anime ever since K-ON became a smashing success and that their moéblobs literally oozes money. Plus, Tamako Market is an original; meaning they had free reign to stuff moé into the show in any way and every way possible.

So is it a cheap strategy that banks on a recycled stereotype? Shockingly, not at all. The gargantuan budget allowed superb production quality and a fair amount of creativity as well; the moéblob of the season, Tamako, proved that there still could be something new ... for this archetype. She's bubbly, but not clumsy. She's energetic, but not loud. She's mellow, but not air-headed. She's friendly, but not insensitive. She could have carried the whole show by herself.

Not that she has to. There's also the ridiculous obese talking bird of royal heritage, which is half of what made the show so funny. There's also the friendliness and homeliness of the shopping arcade, Tamako's quirky friends, the childhood friend that has a crush on her, and the tsundere dad. I ended most episodes knowing that nothing important has actually happened, but those factors made sure I never had a boring time.

And while endings has always been a weakness of these plot-less titles, Tamako Market has managed to end things on a surprisingly enjoyable high note. If I had to complain about something, it would be that their pinafore-styled uniform made then look like elementary students. Maybe that's actually the intention?

Once again, KyoAni delivered. Damn it, man. They're setting the bar too high for me to enjoy the other stuff. Giving something like this a full score makes me look stupid, man, but even if I try, I can't see it deserves any lower.

The winter 2013 anime season brought to us many good anime series, a great starter for the year and as always KyoAni has delivered something that I really enjoyed. Nothing special, just something that helps delivers one’s moods to spring. (I will try not to spoil too much)

Tamako market is a simple slice-of-life story about a Tamako Kitashirakawa, a high school girl in a small town, who’s the daughter of a mocchi (Japanese rice cake) maker in a shopping district. The show allows us to have a view of her and people in the community, their personality and lifestyle, with a small twist... the ... Talking Bird, Dera Mocchimazui; who enters the community accidentally while searching for a bride for his prince, in a tropical kingdom far away.

The whole series seems to represent the ideal small town life in Japan, with an extremely close knit community that could be considered one big family and the simple happiness of their seemingly bland, mundane life. From New Years to summer festivals, it shows us to how they handle their lives and new situations and problems, mainly with the introduction of Dera.

The series has little plot, but staying true to real slice-of-life, I think that this is befitting of the series. The series is mostly a series of short stories about the things that happen in the community surrounding Tamako’s family and friends, from school to trips to different events that takes places. While there is a underlying plot involving Dera’s original mission, I personally think that this was just used in order to be used to bring the series to a more conclusive ending, though I think that it didn’t make it any more conclusive then it can be.

The thing that made is series for me is the atmosphere that the characters and community produced. They’re personality and mood makes you feel warm and happy as they live on their simple lives in a small neighbourhood. Individually the characters are somewhat stereotypical and not well developed, but as a whole they produced a welcoming and lovely atmosphere for the viewers.

The characters also come with a wide variety, allowing them to have a more vibrant feel. From the various shop owners in the area to Tamako’s friends, to the newcomers in the block, Dera and later his boss, Choi, each of them have their own quirks and personality that helps to build the feel of the story. The main character, Tamako; is a first-year high school girl who is described by Dera as “head with nothing but hair and mocchi” is the sweetheart of the district and is loved by her friends and family. She loves the shopping district and said that she will never leave and her carefree and loving attitudes made her a joy to watch as she felt natural, for me anyway as she lives out her life in the community, having fun and feeding Dera mocchi.

The most interesting character in the show is by far Dera, who was added as a supernatural element to the show and also as a comedic mascot. A flamboyant talking bird’s whose name is like a taboo in the Kitashirakawa household as Mocchimazui means “mochi is bad”, despite becoming a stuffed bird due to mochi, so stuffed in fact that he couldn’t continue on with his journey and decided to stay in the area. Dera acted as a sort of catalyst that allows us to explore the lives of the community as he follows Tamako around engages with people in the community. His personality is a bit obnoxious and narcissistic but acts as a comedic joke to lighten the mood.

There is also Tamako’s family, whose members added little stories to the series, from her father, who was found to have written a song for Tamako’s deceased mother to confess to her while he was young, a song which from the beginning of the series Tamako was trying to find. Then there is her sister, “An”ko; who had her own little section where she dealt with her crush and came to term with her own feelings.

Her friend’s also had a lot of time on screen, from Kanna, daughter of a carpenter who was the series’ joker, always having weird lines in a monotonous voice, to Shiori, a shy girl who as the series progressed made friends with Tamako. Then there is Mocchizou and Midori, the former being Tamako’s childhood friend from across the street who has a deep crush (despite the fact that their fathers are competitors) on her but always fell short of confessing, even so that he took advice from Dera…..The latter is one of Tamako’s closest friends who seem to be very protective of her from others, especially Mocchizou, who she considers as somewhat of a rival.

There are also various members of the shopping district, each of them vibrant and sweet in their own way. They all love district and is often seen as Tamako and Dera often goes shopping and helps around in the area.

There were also a few melodramatic moments in the series, but these serve as nothing more than a simple representation of those bad moments in your lives, where you have friends and family to support you, even if the problem is not that big and you may have made it too hard on yourself.

The music of the series also helped to contribute to the wonderful atmosphere; it made the whole show more lively and natural to me, especially the OP and for some reason the whole thing made me feel like the show was set in the 70s or 80s.

Overall, the series is a simple and sweet show, and if you want a conclusive storyline then I don’t think that this is for you as it’s just supposed to be a view into the somewhat normal life of a certain group of people and that's what I love about it, being simple and being yourself. As Dera described the town: “Even in days that seem to chill you to the bone, but despite that, you always feel warm right here”. I would describe this series as sitting in the cool spring wind with a cup of tea and eating sweets(maybe mocchi, but I’m not Japanese), nothing extraordinary, nothing great, but just simple warm joy that satisfies your soul.

Thanks for listening to my rants, I don’t like to give number scores but if I had to, u can see it above ,No?
Btw, can somebody pls explain to me wat moe is, till today I can’t understand it???

I gave this a 10 because the ammount of enjoyment and pure happiness Tamako Market brought me has no comparison.
It slaps you with its cuteness in the face, and it never stops being cute.
The story is simple but wholesome, not much happens and you don't even realize it because you are so immersed in this comercial district and the ordinary life of this girl that you just let yourself go and enjoy.
Tamako market made me laugh, it made me cry, but most importantly it filled me with a sense of happiness I never thought I could experience watching a TV Show.

When I heard about Kyoto Animation's latest series Tamako Market, my expectations were probably unusually high. I had just come off of watching, and loving both Hyouka and Clannad, and was expecting another spectacular series in a similar vein to those two. Of course, that's not at all what I got.

Being directed by Naoko Yamada, written by Reiko Yoshida, and character designs provided by Yukiko Horiguchi (all of who worked in the same positions on K-ON!) this series has quite a lot of similarity with said series. However, I was unaware of this fact before I started the show, so maybe my expectations were ... slightly unreasonable.

However, there's a lot to talk about in Tamako Market, so let's get on to the review.

Story (7/10): Tamako Market doesn't really have much of a story. The series is almost a textbook example of a slice-of-life series. The show follows the main character Tamako who is a carefree, bouncy energetic girl who absolutely loves mochi. She has a friend named Mochizuo who, like Tamako, is the child of a mochi making family. She also has a few friends from school who pop into the story, but I'll explain about them in the characters section. In essence, one day a talking bird name Dela Mochimazzi wreaks havoc when he jumps into the shopping market, saying he's looking for a bride for his prince, and the story follows their daily, mostly episodic lives.

The story doesn't really have much weight, but the individual episodes range from enjoyable to boring. I was really put off by the first episode when the bird came off as more annoying than funny, but I'd say the writers of the show got better at using him as the show went on. The series bills itself as a comedy, and in that regard, its a hit and miss. While the slice of life stories were somewhat enjoyable, I would have preferred an actual story. Which was why I was surprised when in the second half of the show, it did try to give us an actual story. When the series decided to go down this route, I was really excited, hoping for a very interesting finale.

Instead, I got a very lackluster ending with a forced, and very anti-climatic resolution. Sad as it is, the ending almost ruined the show for me, as this was the part of the series I was looking forward to the most. None of the character drama was really resolved, and I felt the ending just could have been done SO much better. Overall though, I found the story fun to watch, and I was really waiting during the second half to see how the ending would play out.

Art (9/10): Easily the best part of the series. While the character designs are simple enough, and are all too familiar to K-ON!, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The animation is of very high quality, and really helps to sweep the viewer away into this simple, yet relaxing world the vast amount of colorful characters in the shopping district live in. The backgrounds are simple, yet really help to bring out the best in the character design and animation brought to the series.

Sound (7/10): The music definitely isn't spectacular, but it does fit the show. The opening theme is really catchy, while the ending theme is very forgettable. The BGM fits very well in the series, and the shining moments for the music is truly when they played with the comedic timing. I know, a rather skimpy entry, but that's all there really is to say about the music. Fitting, yet mostly forgettable. The voice acting is really well done though, and I found especially fitting of the characters, especially the bird's voice (which always cracked me up.)

Character (8/10): If there is one thing Tamako Market is not, its being a character driven series. Most of the characters are given broad character types, and don't show much depth. I was annoyed by this through most of the series, but eventually came to realize that the characters are still very fun in their own right. In addition, they did start to flirt with character depth in the second half of the series, with Tamako having a partial emotional breakdown, Dela actually showing himself as more than just a bossy bird, and even the dad shows some depth. Regardless, none of this is fleshed out, and as someone who absolutely loved the characters in Hyouka and Clannad, this disappointed me.

However, that doesn't mean the characters aren't a lot of fun. Tamako is bouncy, a bit of an airhead, yet as with the other girls in this show, really cute, and reminds me of Chitanda from Hyouka in a good way. Her friend Midori was an interesting concept, and I was really hoping they'd give some resolution to her possible feelings for Tamako. Dela started out as EXTREMELY annoying, but actually became a really funny character as the show went on. Tamako's friend Kanna gets some laughs to, even if she doesn't have much character, and so does Tamako and Mochizuo's fathers, who are both really funny characters as soon as they first appear. Mochizuo himself is a rather large stereotype with zero depth, but still has his own charm as being the childhood potential love interest.

One character is a surprise character who doesn't appear until the second half of the show, so I won't spoil it for you, but this character easily became one of my favorites. Overall, I thought this diverse cast of characters may lack much depth, but were still a lot of fun to watch on screen.

Enjoyment (7/10): Because of the mass disappointment of the ending, I had to drop this down to a 7. Regardless, I did find a lot to enjoy in the series. The atmosphere is so calm and peaceful, you fall in love with it almost immediately. The characters are a little wacky, but that's partially where they get their charm from. Everything in this series is peaceful, and rather mundane, even when considering the second half of the series, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it. I just would have preferred more deep characters, and a story with more weight.

While my favorite part of the series was definitely just staring at the gorgeous artwork, it wasn't just the art itself that ended up giving the series a boost, but it really did bring the characters and the setting to life. All of the designs are simplistic, yet gorgeous, and its almost exactly how you'd envision such a setting in your imagination. However, with all its bells and whistles, the series' ending was still disappointing, and I definitely would have liked more character development and an actual story.

The comedy, meanwhile, like I said earlier, is hit and miss. Some of the jokes were really funny, while others were irritating and a bit annoying. However, I did feel the comedy helped bring out the characters, and the jokes were funny enough to give the series a breath of fresh air in order to get me through some really boring episodes.

Overall (7.5/10): If you could give .5s on this website, that's definitely what I'd give this series. While the ending was very disappointing, the characters didn't have much depth, and the art was a bit simplistic, the characters were still hilarious, and very fun to watch, the artwork and animation was gorgeous, and the comedy aspect of the series was really funny when it hit a stride.

While I definitely wouldn't recommend this series to those who only enjoy a series if it has a deep story, riveting characters and or lots of action, for those who are willing to get swept away in this calm, peaceful, sometimes hilarious story with its simple setting, and quirky, funny characters, this series is probably worth a watch, even if its just to relax from watching said heavy action,plot, character development series.

I am a fan of romance combined with comedy, after a friend of mine suggested me to watch Tamako Love Story, and I happen to find Tamako Market. Which Tamako Love Story serves as a sequel, I may be late by 6 years ;-; and by hearing the news of the Arson Fire. But I'd like to spread my opinion for old times sake. And sorry for a quantity of mistakes.

ART
What did you expect from KyoAni's art? KyoAni mainly focuses on Character Design and this was made in 2013, still shocked. The eyes were spot on and the hair's were really good. The color combination ... of the characters were really well done. I couldn't really suggest anything besides being really good.

STORY
The story is more about the comedy than romance, though sometimes Dera was really annoying to me. It was really unique, and it wasn't based on anything which is really well done. Naoko Yamada you bish deserve more fame. This is really a shojo-lover's dream. Giggles and entertainment I love it.

SOUND
The opening was really lively and cute, when he high fived Mochizou it was freakin CUTTTEEEE. Shipp omg, cant really say anything about the sound, besides the voice actors/actress were spot on and they really suit their characters.

CHARACTER
My personal favorite character was Mochizou Oji, and he surely is memorable because of his character design being cute asf. The characters design were unique and lovable, so cute mygod.

ENJOYMENT
Definitely worth watching, really entertains me, and so far this has become one of my favorite anime and I'd suggest you to watch this

STORY - 9/10
ART - 10/10
SOUND - 8/10
CHARACTER - 10/10
ENJOYMENT - 10/10
OVERALL - 9/10

Thanks for reading my review, I really appreciate it.

Episodes: 12
Genre: Comedy, school

First thing first, this anime is super moe. Moe is everywhere. If you want an anime just to see some more stuff, this is the anime for you.
Now, moving on to the story. This anime is about a mochi(Japanese sweet) maker's daughter, Tamako and a talking bird which she meets by chance. Alongwith them, there are Tamako's friends, sister, parents and the rest of the shopping district.
So, the anime shows her daily life at school, at her dad's shop and her meetings with the shopping district. There is a boy who likes her, but no romance aspect.
The talking bird is the center ... of comedy in this anime though the others also make you laugh.
Let's get to the characters. One word: MOE. I've never seen an anime in which every female character is uber kawaii.
The rest of the story I leave to you. It's got a nice ending like all simple anime do in which everything goes back to the way it was in the first episode.
I enjoyed watching this anime, it was a nice change of pace from the typical shounen, action anime I was watching.
So, I would recommend it to you if you're tired of the action stuff and just want to pass the time watching cute stuff.

Enter the life of a young girl who lives and breathes life as a devout mochi-maker: what does it look like? Tamako Market gives us a pretty accurate answer, all within a year of foreign visitors coming to "bride-search" for a new princess, keeping up friendships at school and boosting the spirits (and sales!) of the local market. Although the story seems quite simple (since it is catered towards a younger audience) and the protagonist is a little towards the shallow edge, I still enjoyed Tamako Market because of the impact of its simplicity and the light-hearted feeling of watching the daily lives of the ... characters play out. It's one of those series that literally lets you step into the local life and see the characters for who they are whilst maintaining the positive vibe of the overall anime.

We enter the world of Tamako Market when a royal bird named Dera, who is looking for a bride for his foreign prince, gets stuck in Tamako's house by mistakenly believing that Tamako was in love with him (actually he just wants to stay for the mochi haha). The ensuing story is fairly simple in that it explores different situations involving Tamako, her friends and her family (and the rest of the local market) within the backdrop of Dera "trying" (he really doesn't try at all, it's just an excuse to stay) to find a bride for his prince. In terms of storyline, it is a pretty standard slice-of-life style anime with episodes about making friends, falling in love, hosting a haunted house and dancing at a cultural festival. But these episodes are still unique in the way they explore the characters, it's a lot more about the characters than the content of the episode.

In terms of characters, the story revolves around Tamako, who is a charismatic, but slightly dense, young girl who absolutely loves mochi. Surprisingly Tamako's character can become a little exhausting from an overload of positivity coupled with naivety, but since this series is admittedly geared towards younger girls, the slightly over-optimistic personality can be forgiven. What kept me interested was not just Tamako, but the rest of the characters and their individual troubles: how Anko (her sister) has a secret crush on her friend, how Mochizu (her neighbour) is trying so hard to confess to Tamako, how Tamako's father consolidates his feelings about the past and how Tamako's school friends (who are very different from Tamako) fit together as a group. Then there's the overarching interactions with the local community - I found it heartwarming to see the solidarity of the people in the markets and their support for Tamako and her family. All these character issues might sound childish due to their simplicity, but even where the character stories are simple, it actually makes it easier to appreciate the theme underlying the episode.

This art is very fitting for that "kawaii" kind of feel and there's no denying that the opening theme is one of my favourites: the song, Tamako jumping down from the sky and the dancing markets make me so happy!

To wrap up, Tamako Market is a sweet anime (literally because of the mochi overload), and I would recommend watching it if you're looking for something simple, but still meaningful and enjoyable.

Tamako Market is the most underrated show in the entire KyoAni catalogue. If you like cute girls doing cute things, you can't miss this show.

I think this show gained a poor reputation on release for being a show about nothing, and to be frank, it's not wrong. If you're not a fan of CGDCT or slice of life, this one won't do anything for you. And for animation buffs, it doesn't have the long sakuga sequences of some of their other shows, and some may find the fluidity overall lacking compared to other KyoAni titles. But what makes this show great is exactly why those ... issues don't matter. It's a work that's laser focused on one thing: being sweet.

Being the only original series that KyoAni has done other than Free!, it really feels like they were allowed to be fresh and creative as they wanted to be, and they definitely delivered. The main cast all have a charming set of quirks that bounce off each other nicely.

But what surprised me are the side characters. Being a show centered around a shopping district, the shop-owners have a lot of personality that you wouldn't usually see in side characters; my favorites are the androgynous florist (who is lovely nonetheless) and the jazz cafe owner who always has the right record for the situation. While the backstories of these side characters are never expanded on, they really do their part in making this feel like a real world despite all of its exaggeration.

And speaking of exaggeration, I have to talk about the colors. Tamako market is COLORFUL. Gone are the trio of blue-white-green-pink that a lot of slice of life anime employ. The background artists pop in colors from every end of the spectrum to make the shopping district come alive, and add all sorts of life detail in the background to sneak in bright accents. The backgrounds in this anime not only feel lived-in like most Kyo-Ani environments, but also feel alive.

All of that visual goodness supports a story that is equally sweet, while having a lot of heart. "Let's make a story where we don't depict any dark side," was what director Naoko Yamada was quoted as saying when beginning work on this series. All the drama (if it can even be called that) is resolved in the most wholesome way possible. Yes, the characters are simple, but they all have an earnestness that somehow grounds them, a kind of "purified essence of the good we all strive for." Even if I couldn't exactly relate to the characters, I was rooting for them the whole way through.

As a result, there was a big, goofy smile plastered to my face the whole time I was watching the series. This is a show that sets out to do a very specific thing and succeeds magnificently at it. Frankly, I think the only people who wouldn't enjoy this show are those who don't know what they're getting into. If you're looking for something relaxing to get your spirits up again, put on some Tamako Market.



p.s. I didn't hate the bird. I think he had a lot of character (supported by some lively animation) and added a whimsical element that supported the show's happy-go-luckiness.