Tamako Market - Episode 12 (Completed)

It's decision time for Tamako - but is she even going to be allowed to make a decision of her own with everybody fussing over her and telling her to "follow her heart" and other such nonsense?

Of course, the appearance of the prince in the flesh has only exacerbated this problem, as everyone in the marketplace is now alternating between cooing over Tamako and cooing over the new arrival while skirting around the big question.  It's not surprising that even Tamako herself is distracted, all things considered.

Eventually it's up to Dera to force the issue and be blunt in terms of asking Tamako what she's going to do about the situation, and there's no real surprise about what her final decision proves to be, to the ultimate relief of many around her.  Not that any of this matters anyway, because it turns out that the entire thing about Tamako being a prospective bride was just a misunderstanding anyway, so effectively the entire series was a pointless waste of time.  Hurrah!

Although those words might seem harsh, they pretty much do justice to my big problem with Tamako Market - it introduced a curiously interesting premise and some potentially juicy character hooks, and then did absolutely nothing with them for twelve long, laborious and often painfully trite episodes.  If it wasn't for one good episode (set around, of all people, Tamako's dad), the entire thing would have been a complete disaster, but it seems like this series couldn't even get being utterly mediocre right.  But hey, at least it isn't all bad news - I can now safely say that Nichijou is no longer Kyoto Animation's worst series.

Tamako Market - Episode 11

News travels fast in the market district, and no sooner has last week's revelation been outed than it seems like all and sundry have heard the news - but is Tamako really princess material?

For Tamako's part, she seems far more interesting in filling her hundredth shopping district point card and winning the medal that doing so allows than any of this talk of marriage or royalty, but for everybody around her it's a decidedly strange time - exciting in one sense but scary in another, especially for those close to Tamako as they have to face up to the fact of losing her; something which is inevitably going to befall them at some point even if she turns down the proposition currently placed in front of her.

All of this reaches a head as some repairs to Dera's communications equipment allows for Tamako and Prince Mechya to talk, albeit briefly before Dera packs up again (he must be using WebEx) - while everyone around her quietly contemplates a future without Tamako and does their best to encourage her to choose what they believe will make her happy, Tamako herself misconstrues this as those around her simply not really caring about whether she leaves or not.  Once Tamako loses her precious medal, only to have it handed back to her in short order, it seems that decision time is right around the corner.  In other words - it's the last episode next week.

Putting all of my negativity towards this series as a whole aside for a moment, there was an impressive "vibe" to be found from the second half of this episode in particular - there was a real tangible sense of the difficult emotions running through it from almost every character as they face that nightmarish conflict between seeing their friend (or even daughter) find happiness and allowing someone who has become an integral part of their daily lives walk away.  Even Tamako's reaction to the behaviour of her friends was a well-realised element of that equation; the kind of near-silent anger and hurt that she is simply too good-natured to show in public.  In a way, it's also this final point that serves as a reminder as to why so much of the series has struggled - Tamako has too rarely shown any interesting insights into her character, and that single, small loss of control has given her more character in one scene than the entire ten and a half episodes that preceded it.  Perhaps now that we've seen that face of our protagonist, we can look forward to something suitably fleshed out to at least ensure that Tamako Market goes out on the right note.

Tamako Market - Episode 10

It's school festival time (don't worry, this isn't Hyouka so it only lasts a single episode), and the baton club have landed themselves a prime position in the schedule's festival.  In other words, it's time to knuckle down and create something fitting for the occasion!

After much discussion about what their on-stage performance should involve (with Kanna's suggestion of "firefighting acrobatics" shot down quickly and repeatedly, in the end it's left to Tamako to deal with the costumes - a smart choice as we get to take a peek at Choi's impressive sewing abilities - while Midori is put in charge of the performance's choreography.

Although initially thrilled by the prospect of creating this, Midori soon finds that choreography is far, far more difficult than she perhaps imagines as she struggles to come up with any ideas at all.  Rather than turning to her friends for help, she remains determined to go it alone, and the longer she struggles with this mental block the more impossible she finds it to admit her troubles to Tamako and Kanna as she wears herself into the ground with worry and attempts to drum up ideas.  Eventually, the other girls realise what's going on in plenty of time to assist and ensure that all goes smoothly come the big day.  Oh, and Tamako is the princess that Dera was sent to look for.

That throwaway previous line almost exactly mimics the big problem with Tamako Market to this point - it introduces some interesting ideas, does nothing with them for considerable periods of time, and then suddenly returns to them out of the blue by throwing something out there; something that was, on this occasion, entirely obvious from episode one to boot.  In a wider context, this episode worked reasonably well, powered along by Midori continuing to be the show's easiest character to relate to with a plight that I'm sure many of us have suffered from ourselves in the past.  That doesn't really excuse the fact that Tamako Market has delivered a lot of fluff throughout the series when it seemed to promise so much more, and no matter what it does in its final couple of episodes it's hard to imagine it being seen as anything much other than "just another slice of life show" by the time it's finished.

Tamako Market - Episode 9

We begin this week's Tamako Market with rather a blast from the past, as we catch a glimpse into the youth of Tamako's parents before... well, before they were even close to being her parents.

Although Tamako might think that Mochi Day is the centrepiece of this week's episode, it is in fact all about love, and more specifically we zoom in once again on Anko's budding relationship with her classmate that we first explored earlier in the series.  While Anko's eagerness to give young Yuzuki some mochi is understandable, there's something "off" about her behaviour that soon attracts the attention of those around her.

In short, Anko's ennui is down to the fact that Yuzuki is about to move house and transfer schools, and what's more he's set to do so on Mochi Day himself.  Paralysed by her indecision as to what she should do with regards to sending him off, or even whether she should do anything at all, it's up to her friends to intervene and give her a nudge in the right direction.  In the meantime, we finally find out the source of the song that has been so redolent of memories of her mother for Tamako - believe it or not, it's a song that comes from a source decidedly close to home...

No matter how much I've ragged on Tamako Market over the past couple of months I know a good episode of anime when I see one, and this was a decidedly good episode of anime.  After a somewhat disjointed early few minutes, the episode managed to nail everything that it wanted to pull off - Anko's behaviour and indecision was a nigh-on perfect interpretation of the struggles of youth when it comes to love and friendship, and there was something surprisingly satisfying about the quick, feel-good reveal regarding Tamako's father.  Throw in some more reasonably funny moments and that usual Kyoto Animation attention to detail and you have by far the most enjoyable instalment of this show to date.  I still have no idea what the point of Dera and Choi is at this point in the show, and it remains the clumsiest slice of life that KyoAni have served us as a whole, but this week gave us a glimpse of what Tamako Marketcould have been if only it had found its inspiration much sooner.

Tamako Market - Episode 8

In case it hadn't been made absolutely clear during the series so far, Dera is getting fat, and in this eighth episode of Tamako Market the chickens finally come home to roost (sorry, I had to squeeze that pun in there) for our rotund bird of love.

The final straw for Dera is an attempt to clamber into Kanna's latest creation, a custom-made bird house, which proves to be more than a tight squeeze for the poor fellow.  Rather than any fault in Kanna's handiwork, it's clear that Dera has literally gotten too big for his boots, meaning that it's time for a strict diet to be put into place - a tricky prospect given Dera's obsession with Mochi, and his standing with the other members of Tamako's family in particular.

To keep him away from any food, Dera is thus press-ganged into being dragged around with Tamako and company everywhere she goes, which in turn leaves Choi following them in tow.  This involves both going to school with the other girls under the auspices of visiting as a transfer student, and enjoying a shopping trip with them as she seems to feel ever more at home in the area.

Having been so critical for so much of this series, allow me to throw at least some breadcrumbs of praise in this episode's direction - it made me laugh out loud a couple of times, with its opening scenes providing some superbly orchestrated physical comedy while the simple use of the compound word "birdmington" also gave me the giggles, lover of silly puns that I am.  It's a shame then, that this arrives alongside yet another episode where nothing happens - remember when we were trying to get a handle on Midori's romantic proclivities?  Or Tamako's admirer?  I hope so, because this series sure doesn't seem to.  Add in some far less well timed and targeted humour, and no amount of praise for its production values or those rare moments of comedy genius will sway me from my impression that Tamako Market is one seriously mediocre series.

Tamako Market - Episode 7

It seems that ol' projector eyes has a visitor on the way - a visitor who turns up in short order as this seventh episode of Tamako Market kicks off.

However, it seems that neither Dera nor this visitor are particularly happy to see one another - for Dera's part, he seems downright terrified of the girl who arrives on the doorstep, while she isn't exactly thrilled by the bird's new, rotund nature.  It turns out that this visitor is a girl named Choi, and rather than a princess or anything of the like she's actually a fortune teller for the prince of her island, with Dera serving as her conduit for such fortune telling.

Having identified that Dera's Skype client is clearly faulty (I blame Microsoft), Dera is quick with the excuses to explain away his communications issues and... well... being a fat bloater, suggesting that Tamako et al tricked him into slave labour.  Needless to say, this changes Choi's thinking towards her current hosts, although in the face of their overwhelming kindness it slowly but surely dawns on her that Dera may not have been entirely straight with her.

To be fair to this week's Tamako Market, Choi's appearance has at least brought a little life to the show if only in terms of its character line-up - the series was crying out for a feistier individual in the midst of all these cardboard cut-out goody two-shoes, and she goes at least some way towards delivering that (by KyoAni standards anyhow).  Beyond that, what to say about this episode?  Everything it reveals or sets up is or has been horribly telegraphed, leaving Choi's love story and her marketplace allegory for her feelings to seem clunky, and no matter how much slapstick physical comedy it employs there's no hiding the fact that the show as a whole is as dull as dishwater.

Actually, I kinda enjoy washing the dishes, so that's probably a little harsh on the dishwater...

Tamako Market - Episode 6

With the heat of summer at its peak, things are quiet - too quiet - in the market district.  But fear not, for Tamako has an idea as to how to draw in the crowds... a haunted house!

Yes, I know that it doesn't really make any sense, but deal with it.  With the other occupants of the market caught up (as per usual) in Tamako's enthusiasm towards this project, they agree that it seems like a great idea and leave Tamako and her friends to create and market their masterpiece to the masses.  But is there a real curse which has struck the market?

The occupants certainly think so, and find themselves torn as to whether or not to tell Tamako as the "evidence" behind the curse amplifies - funnily enough, the hysteria amongst the shopkeepers seem only to be serving to bring more people to the haunted house once it finally opens.  It's almost as if the whole thing was some kind of smart viral marketing campaign...

As glad as I am that this week's episode at least ended with some progress as to Dera's task and background, with the news that he's about to receive a visitor, this was but a small consolation after around twenty minutes of dull, moronic slice of life gubbins that was as unfunny as it was tepidly boring.  This wasn't really helped by the fact that most of the episode was predicated upon everyone within the show being complete idiots, which was rather a stretch in itself to leave its "twist" to be utterly predictable.  While previous episodes of Tamako Market haven't exactly had me shouting from the rooftops, they were at least okay - in contrast, this week's instalment was really, genuinely bad.

Tamako Market - Episode 5

In the height of summer, what better way to cool off than a visit to the swimming pool?

That said, Tamako and her friend's pool visit is more about business than pleasure - with a school trip to the beach that involves a fair amount of swimming coming up, teaching Tamako how to swim takes top priority.  Meanwhile, Mochizou's inability to join the girls on said pool visit sends him into a malaise as he ponders his relationship (or relative lack thereof) with Tamako.  Maybe this is something that self-professed love expert Dera can help with?

Although Dera does succeed in getting Ouji sufficiently psyched up to consider writing a love letter to Tamako, he soon runs into an obstacle in the form of Midori, who not only prevents this letter from being delivered but also warns Ouji off confessing to Tamako in no uncertain terms.  Is this jealousy she's feeling, and if so is it feelings for Ouji or Tamako that's getting in the way, and do those feelings consist of friendship alone or something rather more substantial?  It's this mystery that effectively sustains this episode.

Well, I say "sustains", because it's still pretty boring and largely unfunny in the way it goes about things - the traditional KyoAni physical comedy has been done too many times before to get any big laughs by this point, and the main cast of characters all remain largely dull; even Midori, perhaps one of the more interesting individuals within the show, becomes a whole lot tougher to like thanks to her attitude and behaviour in this show.  And hey, remember that whole thing about Dera finding a bride for his prince?  Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was some kind of plot point within this series before we got sidetracked by beach and festival episodes.  Maybe if we get back to that side of affairs this series can prove itself to be something more than schmaltzy and mediocre.

Tamako Market - Episode 4

It's festival time for the market district in this week's Tamako Market, giving us some reminiscences about Anko (sorry, An) and her own festival experiences as a younger kid.

It seems that young Anko is growing up as quickly as Dera is growing fat (and boy, is he growing fat), as this week's episode reveals that she seems to have developed something of a crush on one of her classmates.  Shy those she is around the boy in question, an ideal opportunity to spend some time with him seems to develop when some of Anko's friends invite both her and the lad in question to an afternoon at the local museum that weekend.

At least, it would be an ideal opportunity were it not for Anko's responsibilities towards her family's mochi store on that very same day; an extremely busy one given that it clashes with the festival in the district.  Even when Anko's grandfather figures out a way to allow her to get what is required of her done at the store so that she can also leave and visit the museum, it seems as if fate has ordained that she not make it as she finds herself sidetracked.  All's well that ends well though, as it seems that her crush hasn't forgotten about her despite her inability to turn up at the museum...

I feel like it isn't harsh to say this now that we're four episodes into the series, so here goes - I'm really not sure what the point of Tamako Market is any more.  Its first couple of episodes seemed well-placed to set the scene and put Dera into a position where he and his situation could work their magic upon the story, but since that point he's become little more than the comic relief in what is ostensibly just another sweet slice of life show.  There was ample room even within this for Anko's situation to be given some more interesting narrative to work with but no, instead we stay ensconced in our happy little world where any upset is strictly temporary.  Within an idealised comedy world (such as that of K-ON or Hidamari Sketch) it works just fine, but although there are a couple of pretty funny moments here Tamako Market sold us the initial promise that it was going to be something more - a promise that it can still deliver upon, certainly, but one that it's neglecting terribly at the moment.

Tamako Market - Episode 3

Spring has sprung, but there isn't much spring in Dera's step as this third episode of Tamako Market begins - that's what you get for constantly stuffing your face with mochi, I guess.

Luckily for him, Dera has someone to catch him when he falls, in the form of badminton club ace Shiori Asagiri - a girl who now just so happens to be in the same class as Tamako and Kanna.  Never one to miss an opportunity to make new friends, Tamako looks to seek out Shiori's friendship, only to be given the coldest of shoulders.  When another plummet from the sky reunites Dera and Shiori however, the latter finds herself ended up at Tamako's before circumstances contrive to keep her there for dinner and bath-time.

After all this, it turns out that Shiori is just dying to make some friends and hang out with them like this, but her shyness and inability to verbalise her feelings and opinions leaves her isolated and alone, made worse as she chooses to avoid her shyness by ignoring people who try to talk to her, leaving Tamako assuming that she was overly familiar when she gets the cold shoulder again the next day.  It takes another contrived visit to Tamako's place and some wise words from Dera to allow Asagiri to open her heart to Tamako, and come the episode the two are officially friends.

Let's get the headline for this week's Tamako Market out of the way - it was boring as hell.  If you're playing anime cliché bingo, you probably managed to get a full house by the end of this episode between its character tropes and well-worn scenarios, while the contrivances pulled to keep Shiori's side of the story moving were mind-numbingly stupid.  On the positive side, there were some good touches of humour sprinkled throughout the episode which amused me suitably, but it really isn't enough to dodge the fact that there was nothing original or interesting about the episode, and without any particularly lovable characters (Shiori might as well be a cardboard cut-out) to invest in the whole thing falls flat.  This instalment also worries me that this series is going to turn into some kind of "problem of the week" affair for a while, where someone has an emotional issue that Dera somehow helps to resolve in some subtle way - if so, it's going to be a loooong winter.

Tamako Market - Episode 2

For a talking bird, our feathered friend certainly seems to have integrated himself quickly into Tamako's family and circle of friends - thankfully for him the topic of this week's episode also seems to be his specialist subject.

The reason for this is that everyone is abuzz with the approach of Valentine's Day - a day of love, chocolate and more chocolate, usually followed by some chocolate.  For all of the excited girlie talk with her friends about who may or may not give or receive chocolate to whom, Tamako is disappointed to find a complete lack of anything suitably celebratory at the local market.  Of course, this simply won't do, and thus she submits a proposal at the market's all-vendor meeting to suggest that they spruce up the place with some Valentine's Day flavoured marketing.

It's an idea that goes down incredibly well with everyone present... everyone, that is, apart from Tamako's father, who is insistent that the idea is stupid.  Still, as a minority of one he can do nothing to prevent the cornucopia of colourful (well, pink mostly) decorations and the like which flood the market, topped off by the recording of an advertisement by Mochizou with helped from Tamako and her friends.

On the surface, this all adds up to another fluffy piece of slice of life fare that just so happens to feature a talking bird.  Look a little deeper however and there are some interesting undertones to the episode - Tamako's friend Midori is the focus of much of this, as Dera discusses the pain of hidden-away emotions that can't be described or understood and Kanna pipes up that it's okay to love anyone.  Add this to the video messages played back by Dera starring his master, and there are things going on here that are yet to be fleshed out, and you can't quite shake the feeling that they could all do so in an emotionally impactful way as the series progresses.  I certainly hope that is the case, as beyond that Tamako Market could threaten to be little more than a sweet little series with a line in funny little moments, high production values and not a lot else.

Tamako Market - Episode 1

An original series from Kyoto Animation for the winter anime season?  Count me in!  The result of this brave experiment.... Tamako Market.

The series starts simply enough as we're introduced to the show's titular character, Tamako, the daughter of a mochi shop owner who seems a little bird-brained (with every future pun intended) but is generally a nice girl with some nice friends who lives in a nice shopping town next to a nice neighbour whose son seems to have a bit of a thing for her.  In short; life is nice.

However, things threaten to get turned upside down when a random visit to the local florist shop puts Tamako into direct contact with a rather unusual bird with a decidedly unfortunate name.  So unusual is this bird that it talks... actually talks, none of your "Polly wants a cracker nonsense".  According to this bird, Dera Mochimazzi, his goal is to find a bride for his princely owner; or at least it was before he was whisked away to this market.  Then again, nobody really seems to care about what this bird has to say, as there are more important events at hand, such as the New Year and Tamako's birthday.

As we've come to expect from KyoAni these days, there's a pretty solid vein of slapstick comedy and amusing moments that runs through this opening episode of Tamako Market - but is that really enough?  At this point in time, there are clearly plot elements for the series to focus upon moving forward, I'm just not sure whether they're substantial enough to take us through the series.  It's also rather difficult to instantly fall in love with any of the characters - our avian friend risks being annoying more than he is adorable, and Tamako herself feels too much like an amalgam of other similar characters without anything to make her stand out from the crowd.  Tamako Market is inevitably easy on the eyes and none too challenging to watch, but it will need to deliver something more tangible than that if it's going to become one of the studios best-loved shows.