Tamako Love Story Episode 1 Discussion

tsubasalover said:
That short first part with Dera-chan and those two is Minami no Shima no Dera-chan, (...)

tsubasalover said:
(...) even though the three of them also appear in the second half of the movie for a bit.

Wildcat17 said:

Thank you for confirming that. I thought so!


What? I'm almost sure I didn't get to see them for the whole film... :O Can you tell me what scene is that? I mean, what are the minutes when they appear or even some lke to that scene...

SleepyBear said:
BUT DID MOCHIZOU FAIL HIS ENTRANCE EXAM???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I'm sorry that just really bugged me. Cute movie nonetheless.

GohanwaOkazu said:


Um... where did you get the idea that Mochizou was going for entrance exam? I suppose from the shxxty sub which is only about 65% accurate ? The sub of TLS I've seen somehow skillfully manages to get most crucial points horribly mis-translated (perhaps because the pirates of the People's Republic of China [mainland] (mis-)translates hastily from the Japanese version, then another pirate of Hong Kong (former colony of UK) translates it from Chinese to English; in another words double translation as pirate business without a heart).

I hope KyoAni releases its official overseas version at an affordable price.

thelumpur said:
　Then why was he going to Tokyo?

Viteracf said:
　I know that this is what they wanna be in the future, but this future is NOW..?! I wanna mean, the entrance exam to an university is what they gonna do next..?

How old are they..?!

I think that they were 15-16 years old.. and therefore they would be entering in the HIGH SCHOOL, and not in a UNIVERSITY....　

GohanwaOkazu said:


People in the world seem to differ by the age of entering university, as well as maturing.

In Japan, age 17-18 would be the normal age of the 3rd Year of high school (school year begins in April and terminates in March). They become university students at around 18. 20 is the age when Japanese people are seen as becoming an adult; only after that they become fully responsible according to laws and obtain rights to vote, drive, drink, or smoke.

Traditions as well as general longevity of life in a relatively peaceful and prosperous society may be the reason why they are different from some people's understanding of high school/university life. Also, you have to differentiate KyoAni fiction from real life; real Japanese teen girls and boys aren't as innocent as Tamako and Mochizou ! KyoAni is known for slice of life realism but they are also known to avoid any hint of sex beyond the borderline, up to the point that they (almost) never draw girl's panties (save Mio's!) or couples kissing !

But it's also true that the majority of Japanese teens aren't totally exposed to free sex or drugs either.

In the TV series Tamako Market, the characters were about 16-17 in the 2nd Year of high school; in Tamako Love Story, they've become 17-18. According to the TV series, Tamako's birthday is 31st December and Mochizou's 10th October [Day of Mochi, for some reason], and the Movie takes place somewhere around late Spring, so they are most probably 17.

Notice a slight change in Tamako ? She still has trademark tousled hair (Neguse, which became the title of TV ending song), but apparently learns to correct her eyebrows. Both Mochizou and Tamako were redesigned by the Character designer so that they'd be looking one year older than the TV series.

(My guesstimate is that by showing Tamako without pigtails, with hair smoothed down, and looking more intimate in the room or on grass towards Mochizou filming her in the TV and Movie ending, ... they are implying that she had something more than a kiss with Mochizou, but that sounds too dirty and obscene to write down).

Anko has also visibly grown taller; she called Tamako "Tama-chan" (like friends) and avoided calling Tamako "big sis" in the TV series, but seems to have grown over it in the Movie.

GohanwaOkazu said:
I bet some people have missed the best parts of the film, or the whole plot.

When Tamako lost her mother suddenly, it was Mochizo as well as Midori who were beside her. While Mochizo grew to care for Tamako as a boy, Midori developed difficult indescribable emotions towards Tamako (which I would not want anyone to call as lesbianism), as well as sort of rivalry and comradeship with Mochizo over who cares the most for Tamako, their best friend.

Tamako had been helping her family's business after her mother died, and always related the warm, white, and nicely scenting mochi with memories of her deceased mother (for whom she still buys a flower for prayers every day). In her subconsciousness, the problems of maturing and motherhood was growing on her.

Mochizo was initially almost giving up on confession. But knowing Tamako's past sufferings and after hearing Tamako's memories of and helpless admiration towards her deceased mother, he couldn't help but confess his love out of true compassion.
While Tamako is initially very confused, she slowly becomes conscious about maturing and love even by seeing her neighbors. Tamako eventually recognizes how important Mochizo had been after her mother's death.

Midori is seemingly the most mature of girls but is actually the one who needs to grow up the most. She is frustrated by her complicated feelings towards Tamako and probably also about her undetermined future (the others have more or less clear visions about what to do after graduation). She breaks the old strangled bond and sets free Tamako (and Mochizo) by encouraging their love partnership as boyfriend and girlfriend, with her little assisting trick.

Who informed Midori about Mochizo's short trip (and not his definite farewell) to Tokyo is not shown in the film; it's left as a mystery. I suspect it was Tamako's little sister Anko who really liked Mochizo and Tamako, who knew about their difficult feelings, and who heard and knew what Tamako was planning. I assume it was Anko worrying about the two and seeing Mochizo go off to Tokyo that morning, she informed Midori.

Midori after seeing Tamako off running towards her love is broken-hearted as well as feeling satisfied with what she had done. She is not alone, as Kanna her best friend had always known Midori's emotions (see the TV series) and comes to her rescue, telling that Midori looks beautiful after having done what had to be done (that is maturing by letting Tamako go free; poetically shown by the pictures of dandelion flying off). Kanna in turn asks Midori to lend a hand in her growing up; that is her overcoming of fear of heights in order to become a carpenter.

Thus, this isn't a simple story of a boy meets girl, but it's about acknowledging love of the family, friends, and good peoples of the neighborhood. It's about overcoming of burdens and maturing. Kiss or no kiss, is unimportant, as we know that Tamako's and Mochizo's story will go on, and the future is implied in the film (the ED of the series and film) which we now know that Mochizo took featuring more confident and intimate looking Tamako. The two shadows side by side colliding in the ED tells their relationship well enough.

The phrase used for promotion of the film was "Tamako peeled off" and "About maturing", btw.

How to mature and find true love is a difficult issue, but there are hints given in this film. If we are careful, we should recognize the reference to the gravity pull, the Sun and the Moon, the apple, and Isaac Newton, who when asked about how he found the law of universal graviations replied that "By always thinking unto them".

This is a well thought-out and very clever film with a good script and superb direction. If you didn't get it, watch again.

Saburo-kun said:
I hadn't realized beforehand most of what you said, it means a lot now that I do.

Vellamo said:
I'm not really confident that Tamako 'loves' Mochizou. She might have said that only to stop him. She has seen him as her childhood friend and she wants him around, but not that 'way'. Also, I'm kinda inclined to think that she's not into love stuff, I mean, maybe she's not grown up inside and still doesn't see the world from the way adult people see, which she implied in a scene saying the world changed all of a sudden as she grew up, that's why she got so shocked.

GohanwaOkazu said:


Your views are interesting and thought provoking.

Something might be lost in translation by the poorly done pirate sub, though. It's not Tamako's wish to "stop" Mochizou from going to Tokyo for university that made her yell out for him in the end. It was her wish to confess love, to let Mochizou know directly her feelings before his departure, that made her run for him. As we know, in reality Midori laid out the trick for Tamako to face up to her emotions (and set Tamako free of Midori's bonds); Mochizou is not leaving for good that day but just going temporarily to check the campus to see how things are at the university.

You're partly right that maybe she's not grown up inside and still doesn't see the world from the way adult people see it. She must have felt like clueless "standing at the gate of the universe" (as Kanna said in the series, and as implied in the movie). We won't know just how deep Tamako becomes emotionally and physically attracted to Mochizo in the future, although we see her start to think about him all the time in the movie. She even surprisingly realizes herself looking at Mochizou subconsciously while the teacher is talking about his wife in classroom. The station scene is just the beginning of her love story, but we see from the expressions in Tamako's face in the film that was taken by Mochizou after the events how intimate they become after the events in the movie.

Tamako is a bit special girl as she lost her mother in childhood. Ever since that her wishes were to become like her mother and support the family in the mochi business. Tomako's extreme focus on mochi, copying of mother's actions in relation to little sister Anko, and her innocence or bluntness in love affairs and sexual symbols is partly explained by that (which is a contrast to how Anko has become). Thus she is shocked by Mochizou's confession, while she nonetheless seems to be pleased by it and admires his boldness in moving step ahead for the future.

Tamako doesn't know how to reply to Mochizou's confessions. After hearing Shiori's suggestion that "I am happy" might suffice (see the now inverted relation of Shiori and Tamako from the series Episode 3?), and particularly hearing mother's equally simple but honest reaction on tape, she becomes more confident and makes her decision.

However, Tamako is still not entirely proactive in how she decides to reply to Mochizou, taking advantage of the school's flu leave, for passively expecting Mochizou to turn up. Anko is not convinced by Tamako's actions when she overhears the telephone conversation and is asked what happens if the information isn't passed over (if people think Anko is just a little sister and not aware of what is happening between Tamako and Mochizou, you need to see the series and the movie again!).

While it's not directly shown in the movie, Midori must have been informed by Anko that morning what Tamako has been up to. Feeling the necessity of a final push as a friend, Midori must have made that decisive move. And Kanna with a sharp intuition must have been watching over Midori without being intrusive all along (notice Kanna's own small lie in saying that she just came over to build shelves while noone's around, and Midori's chuckle given to that).