Consisting of only 4 episodes, with each of those being just shy of 8 minutes each, Tabi Machi was a show that was intended to evoke feelings which arise from going through the different stages in life, saying goodbye to people you know and meeting new ones to replace them.
There wasn't a story to speak of; each episode was an individual one which had different characters in different settings. The only similarity was the theme they all shared, of 'endings and goodbyes' as the synopsis puts it.
The problem was that none of the episodes were long enough to make the viewer care. When you have less than 8 minutes to tell an episodic story, there's only so much you can do. There's no time to develop the characters; they're barely even introduced. It severely hampers how much one can become invested - and seeing as it's meant to be a bittersweet show, if you aren't invested then the entire point flies right out the window.
The short time allotted was further worsened by how slow a lot of the dialogue was. Many of the characters spoke really slowly, and the conversations were punctuated by unnecessary pauses and silences.
As far as the art was concerned, it was okay. It had a homely feel to it, which was fitting for the theme. However, there wasn't that much animation to speak of. It was almost like a picture drama, so as fitting as the art was, it did feel a little boring at the same time.
The sound was okay too. It had gentle background music present throughout; as with the art, it was fitting, but it was also rather repetitive.
My overall enjoyment was a 3/10. The anime hinged itself on evoking bittersweet feelings, but with slow dialogue, no character development, and incredibly short episodes, there was no reason to feel invested in it.
