tamako market 4

“Sure, you little runt.”

“Close your eyes and count to ten in your head.”

My favorite moment of the episode. I loved how the mom taught Anko the trick, and then she teaches it to the younger girl. And the you can see the moment where Anko’s heart breaks as the little girl asks her, “You’re leaving?!” Just a great scene that shows the full potential of the show. I like how Kyoto subtlety told a story about a young girl’s love in a charming way… it’s almost like all the staff working on the show were once little girls in love. (Oh wait, they most likely were.) The subtlety of this show is what I think sets it apart from other shows in that it is the one show this season that doesn’t need a vocal wall of text to explain what is going on, and this episode is a great example of how anime can be enjoyable with a simple story done really well.

My second favorite moment of the show. When we first saw Anko gushing and blushing at the boys, I was thinking, “Well, they want us to think it’s the cool one, but watch– Anko’s in love with the geeky one, since, well, that’s a more interesting story.” It’s a nice twist, and as evidenced by how he was thinking of her at the museum, it doesn’t look like she chose badly.

“The bunny on his back is crying.”

Unlike this dude. He chose poorly. He is the Fujioka of Bunny Mountain Shopping District, completely and helplessly in love with a girl who has her head in the clouds more than Yui. Just a terrible, terrible fate. At least he hasn’t started cross-dressing. Yet.

Third favorite moment of the episode. Once the bird broke, we all knew Dera would be the new golden bird. It is forseen.

I can only imagine Dera by episode 9 when he’s featured as a TLC reality series: My Big Fat Cockatoo. Or, on the other hand, he could be a Discovery Channel series about the evolution of animals. They could use him as an example of how turkeys got too fat to fly or something. Still, I would love to drink a magic potion and lose all the weight I gained from a mochi-eating binge. And isn’t it unhealthy for Tamako to carry Dera around on her lead like this scene? Wouldn’t the weight be bad for her neck?

One thing about Kyoto these days is that they seem to enjoy making anime with actual families. Looking at the show roster for this season, there’s no families. Characters in Maoyuu, The Unlimited, and Mondaiji (get sucked into an alternate world, don’t worry about contacting mom and dad?!) don’t have families at all. Characters in other shows like Kotoura-san, Vividred, Minami-ke, Da Capo, and Sasami-san are characters who were basically abandoned by their parents. Tamako Market? Dad and grandpa who are not only alive but acting like real parents and doing parenting things. My gosh.

Looking back, a theme to Chu2 was family, about how Rikka’s 8th grade syndrome was brought about because she couldn’t handle the loss of a family member. But that show also had a real functioning family for Yuuta, and a real family for Rikka. Hyouka had a family for Houtarou (albeit you didn’t see much of them), and a minor theme of how Chitanda wants to be more than her family obligations. K-On! is the one show in recent Kyoto history with missing parents, but they eventually showed up. Clannad is all about family, contrasting Tomoya’s broken family with Nagisa’s happy one.

(I do wonder if the dad and grandpa were playing dumb concerning Mochisou’s love for Tamako. I think they know, but they’re just playing along like parents. The dad can’t say, “Mochisou just wants to pound my daughter’s mochi.”)

Another cute scene showing friends being friends. Would a Yotsuba anime produced by Kyoto be too much to ask for? (Dammit, with our luck, Feel is going to make it.)

Three MVPs.

1. Anko. Her episode, her MVP.
2. Dera Mochimazui. I can’t wait for when he actually does something helpful.
3. Tamako. For being so utterly clueless.

6 Responses to “tamako market 4”

  1. “Would a Yotsuba anime produced by Kyoto be too much to ask for?”

    – I wholeheartedly agree with this. Other studios I can’t accept, but KyoAni? Bring it on.

    Andohbytheway Jason, you got the 3rd picture wrong. Well, I know that image is cute and all, but come on, even poor Mochizou deserves some attention :))

  2. I was thinking the exact same thing about Yotsubato just an hour ago. Personally, while I don’t think the manga creator for Yotsubato would ever allow an anime production of one of the best manga series ever, I think the only studio who could pull it off w/ style and grace is Kyoani. They are probably the only ones who could capture the magic of that manga.

  3. Considering he let Azumanga be adapted, I don’t think he is fundamentally against it. I think it’s more of a modesty thing mixed with seeing all the terrible anime out there at th time. But that was his stance in 2008, and I haven’t found anything more recent. I think Kyoto is making a good case with it with this show. This needs to happen, much like Fred Armisen getting together with Carrie Brownstein.

  4. “One thing about Kyoto these days is that they seem to enjoy making anime with actual families.” – But strangely strangely enough, families in anime (or at least of the main protagonists) almost always lack a parent (usually the mother). The last time I remember seeing a mother in an anime was in Clannad.

    Why is that?

  5. For me, Dera retains his perch as MVP #1. And is it bad that I couldn’t remember who Shiori was until the end of the dough scene?

    For the general obliviousness of Tamako’s family, I prefer to think it’s hereditary. I seem to remember KyoAni were doing families as far back as Kanon and Lucky Star too.

    The dad can’t say, “Mochisou just wants to pound my daughter’s mochi.

    This is why no other anime blog can top this one.

  6. KyoAni doing families ?? Ewww ….

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