Story:
In the woods lives the little people, a species of three inch tall elf-like beings who live their daily lives in the woods. In Hakumei to Mikochi, we peer into the lives of the titular duo, Hakumei and Mikochi, as they quite literally live their lives in the woods in the town of Makinata.
Not surprisingly, Hakumei to Mikochi is a show that follows the day to day lives of these two girls as they encounter various obstacles in their lives like surprise adventures, daily disappointments, overcoming various hurdles, or unwelcome guests in their home. Each episode is structured mostly in an A part and B part format, with the occasional roundabout episode with an overarching episodic narrative. As such, the show is mainly episodic in nature, and very contained within its own story with aspects such as character relationships carrying over from episode to episode to give it natural progression.
But beyond that, the thing I feel makes Hakumei to Mikochi special is its generally somber and relaxed tone. Even in tense situations or scenes with higher stakes, the show never elevates itself to a level that separates it from its established tone, doing all of this surprisingly well due to the show's themes of life and self reflection. Often in the show we see moments of characters by themselves collecting their thoughts by the adventure or event that has just occurred, letting what has happened sink in both for the characters and for the audience. As such, the show exudes this strangely natural feel about it, an almost therapeutic feeling that has put me at ease with each proceeding episode. The show never goes out of its way to be too outlandish, and stays grounded in being about its characters, telling its stories simply for the desire to tell each episode's story.
Much of this is also spiced up by the show's more fantasy elements, creating a society filled with talking animals that live alongside these tiny people with a surprising amount of details slowly fed into the overall narrative to give the audience more to process. My favorite aspect of the world building is the 'tiny' element to all of this, as fruits and vegetables, as well as their animal coworkers/neighbors are scaled to match the actual size of the characters, which while small, gives the show a stamp for attention to detail because of how consistent these elements of the show are, and quite hilarious how something like one whole peanut can serve as a fulfilling snack for two people.
When culminated, Hakumei to Mikochi is comes off as a whimsical and episodic story that exudes both charm and whimsy with its episodic stories and world building that ends on a nice somber note that lets the entire self-contained adventure or event come to a solution that feels both comforting and satisfying to watch. It's for this reason why the story feels worth investing into, and makes the show something more than just a 'slice of life adventure'.
Overview:
+ Good worldbuilding
+ Rooted and consistent tone
Characters:
The titular characters Hakumei and Mikochi are in a way two sides of the same coin. Hakumei is the more rowdy of the two, working as a repairwoman and enjoys more physical labor whereas Mikochi is more of the homemaker, usually cooking for the duo and makes homemade products to sell. But this only scratches the surface of these two girls, as each episode slowly feeds in more details about their past, more of their talents and fears, ultimately giving them both a nice and smooth polish that turns them into well-rounded characters that work well both individually and when together. I felt really invested with these two because they always had this nice positive vibe about them, and the show's whimsical and lax nature prevented them from having any annoying traits that would spoil their overall positive qualities.
But more than that, the side cast manages to be just as impressive than the titular characters. Adding in various characters both animal and little people like Konju the songstress, Iwashi the weasel repairman, and Sen the 'necromancer', the show provides an expansive cast full of recurring characters that get built upon with each proceeding episode. As a result, the cast feels like a group of people rather than one-sided background fodder, providing a richness to the cast that makes them all feel alive and enhances the already solid worldbuilding that the show establishes.
Overview:
+ Well-rounded characters
+ Equally well-built side-cast
Art:
Produced by Lerche, Hakumei to Mikochi has bears much of the company's style in having a lighter color palette with more of a white blend to give everything a light air about it. The show also provides extensively detailed background images from the various towns, the forests, and the main characters' home, all of which are very consistent in quality and are very nice to look at, especially with how leafy and full of life the forests look.
I do also want to bring attention to the character designs and just how much I love them. If nothing else, the designs for the little people especially are adorable. The chibi design of them really makes them look far more appealing than they have any right to be, and Konju's design especially with the linens on her arms and the harp on her chest is something I really, really like. They also all wear an adorable hat that looks just slightly too big for their heads. There really is just something to love about how they look.
Overview:
+ Adorable character designs
+ Consistent and quality art
+ Very detailed backgrounds
Sound:
Much like the story, sound plays much into the series's overall somber and relaxed tone. "Urar", by Chima is a mix of both bizarre yet calming, where the song is primarily harmonious tones with Chima's voice primarily acting as the song's melody. It's an interesting song that took some time for me to grow fond of, especially because the accompanying visuals were real life pictures of the forest rather than either Hakumei or Mikochi doing anything in the show, which at first glance is quite odd.
The ED by contrast is something that sounds more on par with the series. "Harvest Moon Night", sung by Aoi Yuuki and Shino Shimoji, the voices of both Konju and Mikochi, is a more energetic piece in comparison to its OP counterpart, providing a piano flourish that leads into a more festive beat that comes with a joyful duet of two characters noted as being some of the best singers in the series' canon.
Overview:
+ Great ED
+/- OP is a tad strange to me
Personal Enjoyment:
Hakumei to Mikochi is my favorite slice of life of the season. And that's rivaling Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, a series that takes the title as one of my favorite romance series. For me, I appreciate this show more for what it did to expand more from the 'slice of life' bubble, providing highs and lows throughout each episode, always making sure to end on a nice somber note as a sort of closing statement so the audience feels relaxed, something that I felt after every episode and pushed me more to want more.
More than that, I love Konju as a character. Aoi Yuuki is already an amazing voice actress, and having her play my favorite character in this show made Konju even more fun to have, especially since she was a recurring character. More than that, the show made me care about these characters. At the end of it all, I felt happy about Hakumei's journey from where she came from to where she is now, I smiled at how even the grumpiest of characters managed to smile, and how not a single character in this entire show was either annoying or overly annoying that I wish they weren't there, cause there's always one I'll tell ya. I've even gone back and forth on which of the main duo is my favorite, often times switching from Mikochi to Hakumei, to back again because each episode managed to give more information about them that made me favor one or the other. I just think they're that good as characters.
If you're looking for a diamond in the rough, Hakumei to Mikochi is the show to provide that. It's a show that I haven't seen under may peoples' radars, and I feel goes unappreciated for more popular picks. Its emphasis on the somber and relaxed parts of life are something that gives the show its own identity, a rare occurrence in a genre that's oversaturated with many of the same or similar shows that battle it out for dominance. So if you ever feel like you want something to relax to, something to end the night off on a pleasant mood, this is a show that's definitely one for that role.
