Story 6/10:
Tamako Market follows Tamako Kitashirakawa (say that 5 times fast) through her daily life after she has a run-in with a particularly narcissistic bird named Dera Mochimazzi. Her day to day life includes her after school activities as a baton twirler, greeting and talking with every shopkeeper in the market district in which she lives, conversations with her friends and family, and helping her father run the family mochi shop. The story doesn't go anywhere for a long time but as you're introduced to characters it becomes more clear the direction it's heading.
Art 10/10:
There's something to say about Kyoto Animation and their ability to make everything so sickeningly sweet. The masters of moe put more skill into the OP than a lot of 2 cour series have, and that is not an exaggeration. The characters are cute, the animation is fluid and the eyes peer into your soul and manipulate your emotions. I've noticed that every time I come back to watch something from KyoAni the first two episodes I get so dizzy and nauseous from the amount of in-betweens, the camera pans, and general flow of animation. I've come to call this moe-tion sickness.
Sound 8/10:
The OP is like a parade and gets you excited before the more relaxed, yet still bouncy pace of the show kicks in. The background music is often silly but emotional scores can be heard through the use of the record store when it's needed.
Character 6/10:
Tamako is....basically Yui Hirasawa, if not a slightly more competent Yui Hirasawa. Her interests and mindset pretty much revolve around the market district she's grown up in and that's basically her character. She's oblivious to the romantic affection of those around her due to being coddled by the entire market district and while she herself feels a great amount of affection towards everyone around her it becomes clear that this will not be a love story early on. Her father attempts to raise his two daughters will the help of their grandfather due to her mother's long since passing, and across the street lives the rival mochi shop owner with his son Ooji. The various shop owners of the district aren't given much more depth, but the few of Tamako's friends that the story introduces you to are fleshed out to a believable level.
Enjoyment 8/10:
Overall 7/10:
You'll like Tamako Market for a unique setting and quirky characters, but it is far from a revolutionary tale or a stand out piece in slice of life. If you like Kyoto's character designs or animation it's definitely worth a watch, but there are moments where the series is just boring, where the tone shift doesn't work, and the resolution after the climax felt really weak. Despite this I found it to be an enjoyable experience more or less.
