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.

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.

“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?

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.

The "Cute girls, doing cute things" has become somewhat of a staple towards the slice of life genre and shows offering such themes have quite evidently been flooding the medium ever since it became a thing. While looking at it from a more basic perspective, Tamako Market, too, belongs under the same theme but quite thankfully offers more to look towards that allow it to stand out from the rest. Though, even considering what it does offer, the real question arises.. Is it enough ?

===Story===
The story starts out basic enough and is quite easy to digest which works as a plus point for most situations. ... Now what stems from this is that the show remains easy to pickup, there's no intertwining plot or any such material which would considerably need one to wrap his/her head around. Not to mention that most of the start is pretty episodic thus strengthening the fact that it's easy to pick up at any given time. While it all sounds dandy, this also serves as a disadvantage as there's not really any major plot to consider, which might turn off some viewers. Though there are some story elements which eventually develop into something bigger, it still isn't exactly anything worthy of consideration as it ends up feeling like just another small scenario within a larger collection.

===Art and Animation===
Tamako Market delivers fairly well in this regard. The art style is very good, with a bright but soothing color pallet that fits with the theme very nicely. There's also some good attention to detail at points such as characters even showing stray hairs, just to name one such example. Movements are also very well animated which makes the characters look more expressive and puts more life into them. Thankfully, Kyoto Animation does always manage to deliver when it comes to visuals, and Tamako Market was no exception.

===Sound===
Taking into account, the soundtrack first, its a very fitting collection of different tunes. The soundtrack does well to compliment the nature of the show and fits well into the different scenarios that are presented to us. It's nothing I would call exceptional but is indeed a good match for the Anime in question.
Now, if were to look towards the voice acting, I'd say a very good job was done indeed. The characters would not have felt as lively as they did without the efforts of the voice actors, especially towards the main character, I could not help but feel that half of the reason for her cute and innocent flare was due to the voice acting. While I won't say that it was 'Realistic', It was indeed very charming.

===Characters===
The characters introduced to us in the show are thankfully not the common stereotypes you'd see in most shows, but they're not anything I'd call 'Unique' either. They are however, charming and cute in a more natural way than shown in most other shows within the same genre. While they did come out as charming and did well to provide an enjoyable experience, they were very much lacking in development. For almost the entirety of the show, we almost never really see any of the characters grow in any way, and while there were hints of some deeper backgrounds to some characters, they were never given enough time or the chance to be explored further.

===Presentation===
Even with its issues, the show does indeed provide an enjoyable experience. It has a nice atmosphere to it and does soothe you with its fun scenarios during times when you really don't feel like doing much. The execution and presentation of these scenarios is done well and did manage to get a chuckle or a smile out of me a few times. And even though the plot might seem linear, there are some moments which were somewhat heartwarming and sent out a feel of familiarity during cases some viewers might empathize with. The only bad point I would point out in this aspect is that most scenarios felt discarded due to the show's episodic nature and there were some story elements which needed more explanation but were never given that. Leaving viewers feeling somewhat void by the end.

===Conclusion and Verdict===
I will go by saying that this show isn't for everyone. It either requires people with certain tastes or a good amount of boredom to truly like this show. Even with that said, I would not call it a bad one as it does work as a good show to watch for a change of pace or during times you need something lighthearted and easy to pickup. Because of this, Tamako Market has managed to find a place for itself within the community despite being a pretty mediocre title altogether.

Tamako market was a pretty average slice of life series and not really an interesting one, I'll give credit that it's one of the few modern anime shows that isn't filled with tons of ecchi and can be watched by every age group with its' lighthearted quirks, but overall it was an underwhelming anime where the supporting characters don't have much screen-time and development and the ending was pretty weak. The talking bird was also rather annoying.

The only reason I watched this anime is because it's awesome ... animation and cute character designs. This anime reminds me of Hyouka (the main character's personalities and appearance are very similar).The character design is the same as Hyouka because it's being made by Kyoto Animation but I don't mind that at all.

The music throughout the episodes are mostly really simple songs, that fit the situation. Except for in the coffeeshop, where the guy plays records and these always seem to help out the situation.The sounds and music are befitting for Tamako market

Overall Tamako Market is a light, easy-to-watch series.i recommen for you to watch it if you like to watch moeblob anime.

So this show reaffirms my theory that Kyoto animation just can't produce two back to back animes that are truly entertaining and doesn't have to rely heavily on there animation and production skills (because seriously what else do they do consistently) to sell anime. *sigh* Welcome to Tamako Market a show about a young girl who loves to make mocchi.... and...
thats it. Depending if you enjoy watching cute girls do cute things, such as girls making a band buy spending 10 out of the 12 episodes eating cake and drinking tea then you will enjoy this anime alot.... you poor, poor soul you.

Story: (3)
Finding ... an actual story in a show like this is pretty rare these days as anime that has the ever so popular "moe" aspect in them, basically kicks Story to the curb, I mean who needs a show with a story right. Tamako is a young girl who loves to make mocchi and meets a talking bird calls dera who is on a mission to find the bride of his prince from his country. Kinda cool concept when you think about it, meeting different girls and trying to find which one is the perfect girl for your friend but thats barely looked into until like the last 2-3 episodes. The episodes prior to the last 2-3 episodes are basically slice of life moments of seeing tamako and her friends work around a market making mocchi and doing all sorts of things ranging from a mocchi making contest and making valentine mocchi. Stuff of pure legend right here.

Art (8)
When talking about Kyoto animation and there art its really really hard not to have high expectations due to there previous works always having to rely on their art work to make their money (think im joking just look at Little Busters... oh you don't know little busters well thats my point since they didn't produce that anime which was done by J.C. staff; but you would think that if key visuals anime were sooooo good then it wouldn't matter if the animation was a little off at times.)
Tamako Market animation is really nice and fluffy but thats about it they look like they rehashed alot of the character designs from hyouka and K-on to make this anime as well so if you watched those two anime before you will notice that alot of the characters look alike.

Sound (8)
Another field where Kyoto Animation works hard to excel as they basically live off the motto "if the story don't move them to tears, these soundtracks sure as hell will," and it must be said that they do have a plethora of music that wouldn't be recognized by the common audience so i applaud Kyo-ani for that.

Voice acting is done pretty well and im not gonna lie i really did like Kanna's voice which was done by a relatively new VA so whoop whoop to that.
Also another person note worthy of being mentioned is Mister Takumi Yamazi AKA Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi (Fate/Zero) thats right folks the big man actually plays as Dera-chan and he does an epic job at sounding super pretentious all the time. love this guy

Character(5)
I put a 5 because really the characters aren't to great i know that this show is a moe slice of life half comedy type thing but after watching hyouka and chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai (which i would recommend more than this show) Its really no excuse to have such bland characters when they had relatively good ones in those two shows named. Tamako is happy go lucky alllllllllll the time and every other character is bascially a different type of "cute" with a different name, examples: Kanna (irregular cute), Midori (energetic cute), shiori (shy cute), Anko (rebellious lil sister cute)
Really all the girls in this show are cute in one way or another and i know its supposed to be that way but its hard to define these girls without using the word cute and a word describing there niche such as being shy or energetic.

Enjoyment (6)
My enjoyment fluctuated between episodes as some episodes were just flat out boring especially when it focused more on Tamako (i mean really its her show but nearly all the support and side characters are more interesting and fun to watch.) I genuilly hoped that the plot moved faster and that it kinda became a love showdown and become a classic game of who gets the girl but alas Kyo-Ani doesn't seem to want to instill romance in an anime for no more than once a year (guess there saving there romance points for fall season :p)

Overall (6)
Okay anime, not going to be remembered for anything for years to come as it will most likely be labeled as another moe anime but your free to try it if your into watching girls sit around making mocchi and eating moochi.

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All right… My second review. I know Tamako Market from short advertisement in other moe-moe-whatever-anime titled Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai. Everyone watch Chuunibyou should see that advertisement in the end of last episodes. I’m certain all of you already know moe-moe anime like this has been showed since several years ago. You know, we can’t underestimate them. I mean, they gain many fans because of these kind of movies. I can see many of my friends in the certain i-net forum have revered the musical anime K-ON. They also praise the heart-touching-anime, Kokoro Connect. Besides other group of them can’t stop laughing after watched ... loli-comedy-anime Chuunibyou. So it’s true that these moe kind anime have their own band of fans. Wait, I have watched the last one and I think I’m the one of Chuunibyou’s fans club since it’s a foolish funny anime. It isn’t bad at all. I’m always looking for comedy anime. I’m crazy in comedy.

In the other hand according to me a story line is one of the most important things in anime. So if these kind of anime just sell about moe-moe things without considering the story, what’s for? Maybe they will say “Hey, did you already watch Kokoro Connect? And you’ll have your opinion are totally wrong”. Ok fine, it’s not always like that and I never blame the kind of anime watcher who’s just seeking for moe-moe things. But this Tamako Market isn’t counted. Here some synopsis.

The story tells about slice of middle schooler’s life named Tamako. I had thought she has an egg store since the meaning of word “Tama” should be an egg in english and she holds something round in her hand. In fact I was totally wrong. Tamako is the daughter of mochi shop owner who lives in the certain shopping district. And the ball like thing in her hand which I ever saw must be mochi. She loves mochi so much and she enjoys her daily life as mochi maker. She has younger sister named Anko, gandpa, and father of couse. She is very cheerful person and never complains about a single thing in her life. She goes to school at the morning, attends some club activity in the school, does a lot of fun with her friends, and other general middle schooler activity. Loving mochi doesn’t mean just eating it. She’s also really good in making some mochi. Since she’ll continue the family business of course. Her life’s suddenly changed when she meets…wait…there’s nothing like that because this anime isn’t about shonen battle or supernatural martial arts. Just kidding. But it’s true that there’s something new in her life when she meets with a strange talking male bird named Dera. For real, Dera can speak fluently just like ordinary human. Dera has been lost from his mission to find his master’s bride. It means he’s the stray bird. Tamako sincerely helps him and invites him to stay in her house for long time without hesitate. Dera is the kind of bird who always butts in at other people business and he’s really elegant as well. He’s getting fat because Tamako always feeds him with many of mochis. Actually Dera has absurd ability. He can make some hologram message with his eyes just like projector. Even I’m still wondering what kind of animal Dera is. Better if we don’t discuss it. It’s an anime after all.

The story doesn’t develop so much. I mean there’s nothing serious case as long as the running of this anime. Every episodes were spent with the story of normal daily life. Tamako’s childhood friend named Mochizou loves her so much but in the end he never be able to confess it. Last arc is about the appearance of Dera’s owner called Mochimazzi Mecha. Mecha’s servant, Mochimazzi Choi, revealed that Tamako is the bride who he’s always looking for because Tamako has a mole in her neck. That mole is convinced as the mark of Mechas’s bride. Tamako just stays cool for facing it. She never had a good mind to leave everyone in the order to become Mecha’s wife. Everyone started to worry about Tamako’s decision. They’re afraid Tamako will leave the shopping district. Everything is clear when Mecha said that he has no intention to take Tamako away. Even if Tamako is really her bride. He just wants to met his servant, Choi, and take her back to their home. And everyone can be relaxed now.

So, here some of my opinion
Plus :
- I’m afraid I can’t say it a lot. Because this anime just serves some humors without strong meaning in there. Even I love comedy I could say that it isn’t my cup of tea. It’s like a childish humor.
Minus :
- I have said it. There’s no one serious case which can make some story developing here.
So, I doubt I would give a high score at this anime even I’m easy to give a score. Without underestimating moe-moe-anime series I think 6 is proper score for Tamako Market.
[/ALIGN]

"Brilliantly Boring" - Times magazine

Indeed, there is not much to say. I can only do as much as to spell the word 'Boring'. The letter "B" is the second letter of the alphabet, and on first glance, is fat. Thus identified as a fat letter, it is not surprising that it should form the base of the word 'Boring'. Sitting on the couch, doing nothing, remaining inactive, such are the daily events of the letter B.

Drawing parallels to our anime here, Tamako Market is the daily portrayal of such events - that is referring to those which begin with the letter 'B' and are ... followed by none other than the letters 'oring'.

This is a lighthearted story about a moe girl, who's mother is dead. But unlike in My Neighbor Totoro or Grave of the Fireflies, where the missing mother is played for tragic and dramatic story arc, here it's barely even touched. Tamako misses her mother, but in a cheerful and positive way. And the mother being dead is pretty much the only hardship Tamako has to deal with in the series. Everything seems to just go her way all the time, which further feeds into her already cheerful and positive disposition.

Nothing particularly dramatic happens, so it's not a drama. Nothing particularly funny happens, so it's ... not a comedy. It really is just a slice of moe.
I didn't hate watching it, but the story really lacks any substance. But I'm not going to pretend like Tamako's overly optimistic attitude wasn't kinda infectious at times. I'll give it a meh+. Might cure your depression. Might not. If symptoms continue, please contact a licensed physician.

BAD THINGS

The score reflects my disappointment with the fact that Tamako Market could have been an awesome Slice Of Life show, with already having a lovely setup of a narrative. It could have been much better with interesting characters and character quirks, and really funny or charming daily anecdotes. Great SOLs like the "Aria" series, "Non Non Biyori", or even "Is the Order A Rabbit?" do a great job in this. Sadly Tamako Market does not. To me, MOST of the episodes did not end in a satisfying note that good SOLs achieve.

Ugh the MC is so bland. Ugh the MC's admirer is so ... bland. Ugh Dera could have been so better without the constant babbling. Ugh The bride "plot" is so badly executed. A good chance is wasted. :-|


GOOD THINGS

So what really kept me going? Good animation, glimpses of Anko the sister, Midori and Kanna the friends, and Tamako's dad, the ... dad. Keiji Fujiwara shines wherever he appears.

Also, it made me interested about Mochi, and I fell in love with the sweet when I visited Japan.

Lastly, I have finished watching this anime a while back, but one thing that'll give me company for a long time in my playlist is the beautiful ED Neguse. :-)


VERDICT

So.. if you have a lot of time and just want to look at pretty imagery in a nice arcade setup with many shops without thinking much, go ahead. But if you are looking for a great satisfying SOL, this is definitely not it.

But watch or not, remember to listen to Neguse at least once.

I sat down expecting some generic moeblob slice of life kind of thing and that's more or less what I got.

My problem with Tamako Market however is that unlike really good slice of life series, the characters lives have literally nothing interesting about them and their relationships with each other are nearly non-existent.

In better slice of life shows the characters are doing something interesting (playing in a band for example), have a unique personality or outlook on life, and or have enough chemistry with their companions to evoke any amount of emotion from the audience.

There's a magical talking bird that's exciting! But ... all it does is talk and everyone in the show treats it like it's completely normal, the show taking an insane matrix dive to dodge any kind of intrigue or suspense. Birdo has his own story line but it's very short and incredibly meaningless.

Whatserface MainCharacter-chan is an unremarkable girl leading an unremarkable life. She lives with her father and sister, she goes to school, she helps out in her community. Maybe this show is made for people who have spectacular lives full of skydiving and jetskiing who just want to see how the common people live, but if I wanted to get a peak inside this life I'd... continue to live.

I just really can't recommend this to anyone. If you want slice-of-life moeblob cuteness go (re)watch K-ON or something. This is a bad show, and while it is not offensive in any way, it succeeds in being boring as hell.

Tamako Market
Tamako Market is a show about a community, and how that community allows itself to grow and prosper by interacting in and outside of itself.
The setting is a colorful shopping arcade in Usagiyama*, and its full other colorful shops and shopkeepers which help reflect the tone and themes of the story.
All the different characters express their personalities and emotions through the animation. This is one of the main factors that separates this shows from other shows of its type. Careful detail is given to how each and every character moves and emotes their face. This gives a great amount of information to ... the viewer in a fun and interesting way. It engages the viewer and makes them think, which helps create a relationship between the characters and the audience.
The main plot of Tamako Market revolves around small moments of joy and growth that one pertains when interacting with a community. These range from different types of communities as well. Such as family, friends or strangers. These small moments are perfectly captured throughout the story in nearly every aspect of its production, and is never convoluted or mislead.
Music was fun and poppy and thrived in small moments just like the theme.
The feeling of progression is missing though. Or at least it is not obvious. Someone can look back and see how the characters have changed throughout the story but is almost subconscious in the characters and the viewers mind. This is great but the emotional bits lack impact because of it. That and the characters could have been more complex.
All in all GOOD SHOW GO WATCH

This anime was very cute. The animation was some what similar to K-On.

Although it was cute, it kind of lacked a proper plot. It would have been more enjoyed if there was a full, well developed plot instead of just random episodes. It kind of reminded me how OHSHC had the random little episodes then bam! Suddenly a dramatic turn of events at the last two episodes of the anime.

I personally liked the anime though. The characters were all cute and enjoyable. If it had a better plot, I would have given it a high rating.

I'll confess: I bought the hype. "New series, directed by Naoko Yamada, about a girl who loves mochi!" What I'd forgotten was that Yamada had a good foundation in Kakifly's K-On manga, and this is an original work, which can be hit-or-miss, even for Kyoto Animation. I did enjoy the innumerable (all right, 2 or 3) Munto remakes, though, so I gave this a fighting chance to the end.

It was... all right, but following the heels of Clannad and K-On (both tough acts to follow), it felt lacking. This isn't KyoAni's strongest work.

I think there are two principal reasons for this: (1) For most of ... the show, the heroine is like the trees in Japanese school plays. We really don't see her developed until the final 2 or 3 episodes of the show, and after that she goes right back to being Happy Mochi Girl (her childhood friend/hetare Mochizo is even worse). (2) Dera, and to a lesser extent the other characters, steal the show.

I think the production crew was deliberately avoiding the "mascot character = cute little animal that talks, explains stuff, and is cute/comic relief" trap and hoped that Dera would be kind of a partner to Tamako, which would have been great had there been actual chemistry between Tamako and Dera. Unfortunately Tamako wasn't written as a particularly assertive girl, and where a different character would be like "Get off my head nao!", she's more apologetic: "No, he's not my pet, he's just sitting there." In contrast, Dera is written as a preening, strutting narcissist. You'd have to make him comatose to prevent him from stealing the spotlight. He has his moments ("de-panning your bird bread" is probably the biggest LOL I had in the show, the comedic timing was perfect), and making him the comic foil to Choi helped a bit, but I feel like his role could've been smaller, or better yet, Tamako written as a better straight girl in this double act.

I don't know exactly why, but I found Dera grating on the ears. I guess Takumi Yamazaki (fun fact: he voiced Isamu Dyson in Macross Plus) was cast because he does a hilarious squawking voice, but the rest of the character feels like Jouji Nakata's voice might be a better fit. I won't go so far as to say it's a miscast, but I feel as though the timbre of the non-squawking voice was a little on the high side.

So what do you do with an upstaged heroine? KyoAni's answer was "not much", unfortunately. We get episodes that feature her friends, her little sister Anko, the merchants of the shopping district, her father and mother... but it seemed as though developing the central character was off-limits until the very last minute. I found Kanna more interesting, and it's not like she got an episode of her own. This was frustrating to watch.

There was better chemistry between Tamako and Mochizo than between Dera and Tamako, and yet it seemed the production was going out of its way not to further their relationship. I can understand doing this if, say, Tamako was a bit more of a cliche shojo character (An "I don't want to admit to myself that I love you" sort of thing), but in this show it's like any attraction on her part is surgically removed. It just doesn't feel organic, for lack of a better word-- it felt like an invisible wall in a AAA video game, and it felt ridiculous considering the importance they put on the "everybody loves somebody" episode. It's as though someone high up the food chain didn't want a straight-ahead romantic subplot or was saving it for a sequel/film... which, credit where it's due, does eventually happen in Tamako Love Story.

I'm still wondering, was there a good reason to hold off until the film? A good part of me says, "Nope-- the show would've been a lot more interesting if the characters of Tamako and Mochizo were more dynamic."

By this point this is something like the 3rd CGDCT I've reviewed and they all play out more or less the same

Tamako Market tells the story of Tamako, a young girl who is the daughter of a mochi (rice cake) baker, and her encounters with her other cute young friends. The comedy and animation and the rest of it is all well done, but not exceptional.
Realistically there isn't a great deal I can say about a show wherein nothing happens. The characters are cute and all but if you don't think that's enough to carry a show then it's not for you.
Give it a try ... if you want but expect the expected because that's what you're going to get.

Episode: 12 (About 20 minutes each)

Plot: C *The show follows a ditsy young girl named Tamako Kitashirakawa who is the daughter of the mochi shop Tama-ya's owner. She is very passionate about her work and is part of a close-knit community in a small shopping plaza in Japan. Things get a bit exciting when a flamboyant talking bird named Dera Mochimazzi shows up explaining that he is there looking for a bride for the prince he serves in a distant land. The show mainly follows what Tamako is up to in school with her friends and the goofy events the little shopping community performs for ... each season before finally introducing us to the prince by series end to get us ready for the たまこラブストーリー [Tamako Love Story] film where we'll find out if Tamako's childhood friend Mochizou will be able to win her over. There are some fun moments, but overall, the plot is super simplistic and is definitely not going to be for everyone.

Visuals: B *Is it just me or does Kyoto Animation do hair better than any other studio? The character designs of Midori and Kanna are both really good and I love how detailed their hair looks. Other than that, like most Kyo-Ani shows, the backgrounds are really pleasant to look at and the shopping plaza is vibrant and full of pretty colors and realistic looking settings.

Voice Acting: Other than Dera who is hilarious and somehow even more fantastic and flamboyant in the dub, stick with the sub for this one. But for the most part, the voices of the characters are cute with very little annoying voices. Kanna's voice is probably my favorite in the sub because her personality is already weird and then you you add her goofy deep voice to portray her quips and it makes her comments even funnier.

Film Score/Soundtrack: C *There are a few stand out tracks that play during the more "emotional" moments in the show and some fun upbeat ones too, but for the most part, this isn't a score you will be listening to outside of the show's context.

Characters: C *Tamako Market is a bizarre show. I didn't really feel like I connected with any of the characters, but I enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

Tamako is likable enough as your token ditsy friendly girl who obsesses over mochi. Her childhood friend Mochizou is a hardcore simp for her that is downright pathetic at times, yet he has a habit where he throws a string telephone to Tamako's window at night to talk to her which is super cute. Shiori was a super shy girl that had no friends and Tamako tried super hard to make her friend in an early episode... only for her to become a background character that we hardly see again. Kanna is there to throw sass at every character and to be super weird. But she is a good friend to Tamako and I enjoyed every second of her despite her being underutilized. Midori has my favorite character design of the bunch, but is bossy and does the whole "I can do everything myself" cliche where by episode's end she realizes she needs help and all's well ends well. I loathe morale lesson episodes of tv shows. Anko is Tamako's little sister who constantly complains about living in a family that makes mochi so she doesn't help them with anything. Yet she has a friend that she has a crush on who is moving away so she uses the mochi shop to give goodbye gifts to him and still doesn't help in making them. She is a whiny little brat and if she was my sister, I would whip her entitled little butt into shape real fast.

And as for the adults, they felt more like cliches of character types as opposed to actual characters. Especially the dude that owned the record shop. He mainly existed as a plot device for other characters to feel better or to learn something and to move on. Dera the talking bird has his moments of brilliance and his moments that will make you head palm. But I will say for the most part, he was a likable character and I thought it was funny how scared of Choi he was. (Who btw also has an adorable character design)

Cringeworthy Anime Moments: I get it that this is a moe anime and everything is meant to be cute about it, but I don't think Tamako losing her badge needed to have music that dramatic playing. In fact, just about every time sad music played in this anime, the reason a person was crying was so ridiculous that I couldn't take it seriously. At least in K-ON!, in most cases, the sad music is mainly for comedic effect because they know that the situation is goofy and should not be taken seriously. I also found Tamako's father to be extremely annoying as he screamed all the time every time people say anything negative about mochi, and when anything about his past would come up, he would just yell and be a huge tsundere to his daughter. I typically am not the biggest fan of tsundere's that are excessive in their outbursts and refuse to allow people to connect (and that are abusive) so if you think the idea of a tsundere dad is cute, I guess I apologize for placing it in my cringeworthy anime moment section, but I for one found it to be an annoying ongoing joke. Dera trying to peak on the girls in the bath and then getting a nosebleed when he saw them in their bathing suits was about as cringe as it gets. And when he does it a second and third time, it unsurprisingly got even less funny than it was the first time. I did find the part about girls sneezing on Dera as a sign of affection to be cute and funny, but the pervy lets add some fan service real quick scenes that plague anime drive me nuts.

Opening: *This song is everything I love about J-pop. It's got an assortment of instruments, upbeat and fun vocals, a memorable chorus, and is just cuteness overload with the beautiful visuals to accompany it.

Ending: *The beat and vocals both remind me of Kylie Minogue's Miss a Thing which is a super groovy disco-esque pop song. Absolutely love it!

Final Verdict: 5/10 *Tamako Market is a show to c h i l l to. I can't really say it excels in any way (other than it's BOP of an intro and it's super catchy ending track), but I did enjoy watching it even though just about every episode had it's moments to roll your eyes at or really was about nothing of interest. It's definitely the weakest of 山田尚子 [Naoko Yamada]'s works that I've seen thus far, but I am intrigued enough to watch the たまこラブストーリー [Tamako Love Story] to see how it all ends.

Tamako Market is one of the worst things KyoAni has ever created. I'm sorry. There's no way around it. I wanted to love Tamako Market. I desperately tried my best to enjoy every episode, yet, I absolutely couldn't. Everything was just way too mediocre for me. I'm a huge KyoAni fan, but I gotta call it like I see it.

Let's start with the few good things that Tamako Market has to offer. KyoAni has pretty much never failed when it comes to animation. The winning streak continues here. Everything is full of color and life. Character designs, while simple, fit the show and what it ... has to offer.

Music, as per usual, is great. I love the OP soundtrack. Definitely can listen to that for days upon days. It joins the ranks of other OP's that I don't skip after the second episode. The ED is nice. Nothing too special. When it comes to the soundtrack in every episode - it works. Literally have nothing bad to say about the soundtrack at all.

Tamako Market suffers greatly in the story department - more so than any other KyoAni I've ever seen. Here's the thing. There's pretty much no story to speak of in Tamako Market. I mean, there's a "story", but it's barely there. It's one of those things that's brought up at the beginning of the first episode and then kinda slumbers for awhile. Then, before you know it, the story awakens near the end of the series. But by that point in time, it was too late and I had already suffered enough.

Don't me wrong... I don't need a story when it comes to slice of life anime. In fact, some of my favorite slice of life anime have no story at all. Lucky Star, A-Channel, YuruYuri - all of these contain little to no story, but I love them anyway. The reason they work is because of the humor and characters. Sadly, the humor hear is pretty poor. Many of the jokes fall flat and don't have a lot of weight to them. Timing is also off when it comes to certain gags. The majority of the humor used in Tamako Market is something I like to call "cute humor". It's basically characters doing cute things, like children, in order to make the audience laugh. Some of the humor worked for me, but I wasn't laughing for the majority of the series.

When it comes to characters, there's not really a whole lot to talk about. Tamako, the main character, is alright. She's a cute girl who who does cute things. She's nice. And.... well.... that's about it. I actually liked Tamako quite a bit, but she felt out of place. Her character would be better suited in the world of Aria. Tamako isn't necessarily a strong character, but it's hard not to like her. She's an angel - harmless. Tamako also has some friends, but they aren't memorable at all. I honestly can't say much about them. They're in every episode and they do stuff. That's their job - to do stuff. Tamako has a little sister as well named Anko. And guess what Anko does? She does stuff. Some cute, and some no so cute. She's just kinda there.

There's a character in Tamako Market who shows up every now and then that works at a flower shop, named Kaoru Hanase. He appears to be a trans. I don't think I've ever seen an anime that represented the trans community so fairly. I greatly appreciated the fact that he wasn't used as a character to be made fun of or seen as a joke. He was represented equal to everyone else. I'm not trans, nor do I know anyone who is, but I thought that was rather sweet. KyoAni could've easily gone the other route and used his character as a tool for jokes. Definitely respect KyoAni for not going that route, although I woudn't have been too offended if they did.

And now.... the bird.....

This guy really deserves his own paragraph because, in a way, he is the virus that made me suffer as much as I did while watching Tamako Market. He has a name - Dera Mochiyucky, but I'm going to be calling him "bird" for this review. Why? Because he deserves no respect for the torture his character put me through. This piece of work was annoying from start to finish. Before watching Tamako Market, I assumed that the bird was only in a few episodes. I also had no idea he could talk. But boy.... I was wrong. I hated everything about him. His character design, his voice, his humor - it infuriated me to no end. At the end of every episode, he would say a few lines that were supposed to be meaningful, but they never meant a thing to me because it was HIM saying those lines. Would've been better and more appropriate for Tamako to say such things. In my opinion, one of the worst characters in the history of anime. Dreadful. Awful. Stupid. Just the worst of the worst. Literally had no choice but to lower my rating by one full point due to his presence, which rarely ever happens when I watch anime.

Tamako Market is one of the weaker efforts from KyoAni. The only reason I rated it a 6/10 is because of the beautiful animation, the score, and Tamako. If this were made by any other studio, with a low budget, it would probably get a 4/10 or 5/10. If you are a die hard fan of KyoAni, then I guess I would say to give this series a go. It's harmless. It won't leave you angry the entire day or anything. There are no villains either. It just kinda felt like a waste of time for me.