I will admit, I only wanted to watch this because of the romance scenes I'd seen on social media platforms and through recommendations. I started it for the romance but stayed for the characters and story. It ended on such a good note that I'm even more excited to watch the movie, knowing it will feature exactly what I've been looking for.
Tamako Market didn't disappoint. The first couple of episodes were quite... eccentric. I had no idea where the story would go and wasn't fond of what I was seeing. But as it was only 12 episodes, I thought it wouldn't take too long and after pushing through, I really did begin to enjoy it.
It is funny, heart-warming and sweet. The characters embody your typical personality types in anime, but I personally love Tamako's type. It's not often you'd seen her as the MC but I thoroughly enjoyed watching her interact with everyone. She is the definition of a natural, cute airhead. Kinda like Tohru from Fruits Basket. You have the boy next door vibe from her childhood friend, which is unsurprising, as he is quite literally the boy next door. All her friends, family, their characters are nicely developed. Not properly fleshed out, which is to be expected as this isn't that serious of an anime, but I'm glad there was personality and growth.
In terms of the plot, it is quite chill. Reading the reviews prior to watching, I had some doubts about the mention of a talking bird, but Dera also ended up being a character I loved seeing on screen. And thankfully so, cause he shows up so often. But there is actually a plot, albeit one that isn't crazy serious, but there are hints of serious undertones.
There's a lot more I could say but many other reviews already give detailed, spoiler free... reviews and descriptions. I'd probably move this onto my comfort animes list from how much I enjoyed it. I highly recommend anyone who's a fan of just sweet animes, SoL, romance or just light comedy in general to give it a try, and push further than 3 episodes.
My score of this honestly moved from like a 5, maybe even less to a 7.5, almost an 8 (i wish .5's were part of the ratings). Finishes on a good note and is just overall so heart-warming. I'll definitely be back to rewatch this :)
