Interest Stacks

You’ve never heard of this show, and that’s a problem. The quintessential slice of life classic of the late 2000’s that you’ve never heard of, SoreMachi follows the enigmatic Hotori through her everyday life in urban Japan, her exploits with her friends and townspeople while working at a maid cafe — and between the panels, her growing ambitions and dreams. Based on the award-winning manga penciled by Masakazu Ishiguro (“Heavenly Delusion”) and adapted by SHAFT, this title invites you to peer through its window on the world and appreciate the value of community and the day-to-day communication that underpins it. In the end, life goes on, the world keeps spinning, aliens are always watching, and the town keeps moving. After it all, you’ll be left with the biggest question of all; how on earth did this fly under the radar?

A show about finding the balance between living life for fun and for function. Centring on a neurodivergent genius who feels alone in questioning her existence, the show follows our titular lead as she finds company in the extroadinary. Dated in some ways, still funny in others — and more relevant than ever in theme. Haruhi leaves just the right amount up for interpretation and manages the brilliant feat of never for a frame feeling self-indulgent despite its high concept ideas, managing to juggle a dozen themes into a cross-genre generational masterpiece.

Is this a fairly by-the-numbers conclusion to a love story? Sure. Is the ending a bit too perfect and convenient? I guess. But to be honest, I didn’t care: this film has one excellent asset which is rarely discussed, and that’s the theme of legacy that looms large in the background. The decision to frame the film as set years after the fact and present the events of the film as historical is nothing short of genius. A truly great framing device that elevates what would otherwise be the archetypal KyoAni follow-up film into something more clever than it has any right to be. In doing so, it raises the moment-to-moment melodrama into something rather beautiful. There’s one scene where the ancestor visits a museum and is told about the legend of Violet, and how significant the events we’d previously seen truly were. Time had moved on — technology had evolved — and dolls weren’t a thing anymore. Time had washed them away. This scene in the museum was surely meant to be a sombre and beautiful scene but I’m almost not sure the filmmakers realised how clever they were being as it made me tear up far more than the obvious other sad moments. Worth a watch just for this clever idea alone.

The last episode is pure genius and requires no further comments lest I spoil and ruin it. Watch.

There’s brief moments where this show feels like it’s in over its head a bit, but miraculously it pulls it back and avoids the trapping of feeling too arthouse. If SoreMachi goes a bit off the rails with the SHAFTims at times, this embraces them to make something very clever and potent indeed. Just watch a magical girl show or two first.