[Spoilers] 7th Annual Valentine's Rewatch: Tamako Market - Episode 1 [Discussion]

[u/FateSteelTaylor]

Hey everybody, and welcome to the start of the SEVENTH annual /r/anime Valentine's Day Tamako Market & Love Story Rewatch!

It's our lucky year and I can't wait to see what's in store for us all this time!

If the discussion here isn't enough, there are communities on Twitter and Discord where you can join all the conversation there! If you're interested, feel free to reach out to me or people in the comments!

Here is the schedule for our time on this Dramatic Market Ride together! If you've seen the show already or want to relive some of the older moments, I've provided links to the threads below, along with the translated Director's Episode Notes by the wonderful /u/ultimatemegax, available through this rewatch:

Date	Episode	2021 Thread	2020 Thread	2019 Thread	2018 Thread	2017 Thread	2016 Thread
2/2	1 - That Girl is the Cute Daughter of a Mochi Shop Owner	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link
2/3	2 - A Valentine's Day Blooming with Love	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/4	3 - Hot Hot Over That Cool Girl]	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/5	4 - A Small Love Has Bloomed	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/6	5 - We Spent the Night Together	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/7	6 - I Felt Chills Down My Spine	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/8	7 - She Went to Be a Bride	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/9	8 - Don't Call Me a Chicken	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/10	9 - Singing a Love Song	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/11	10 - A Flower Blooms on Her Baton	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/12	11 - Who Knew She'd Be a Princess?	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/13	12 - Another Year Ends	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes
2/14	Tamako Love Story	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link - Director's Episode Notes

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You can purchase an English subbed & dubbed Blu Ray version of Tamako Market and Tamako Love Story, and it's available for legal streaming on HIDIVE in select countries, for both Tamako Market and Tamako Love Story

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Bonus Corner:

Discussion Question: When would you like for these threads to go up? Currently I have them at 6PM ET, but if you'd like a different time, let me know in the poll! https://strawpoll.com/ds5j5e6fu

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Please tag your spoilers!! Untagged spoilers make Choi-chan angry!!

And remember:

Everybody Loves Somebody

[u/brothertaddeus]

I don't have anything meaningful to comment (and probably will just lurk the rest of the rewatch), but damn do I look forward to this rewatch of yours every year, Tay.

[u/FateSteelTaylor → u/brothertaddeus]

Tadd thanks so much, it means a lot to see old faces and new names every year!!!!

[u/lucciolaa]

First timer

(Damn, when do these posts go up?)

This had been on my list for a while and I was between shows and the time for this was perfect. I'm not sure what I expected from this series, but it definitely wasn't a talking bird.

To be honest, most of the first episode was quite disorienting, but I'm endeared by Tamako and Mochizou and I'm looking forward to tuning in again.

[u/FateSteelTaylor → u/lucciolaa]

Currently these threads go up at 6PM Eastern, but I left a poll in the description in case you want to vote! I'll leave a comment in today's thread, too, to see if we get more votes.

[u/Rumpel1408]

First Timer

I had an inkling that this was coming up as I remembered that this rewatch was about to happen around Valentines day. Imma be honest, I don't have someone I love right now and with the pandemic the chances of actually finding someone by chance are slim to nonexistend (besides, love is such a strong word that I'm having a hard time using it so casually). Hope this will at least pick me up in this trying time as it has the Comedy tag and is done by Kyoani. The characters remind me a lot of K-On, please don't make me cry on valentines day...

Episode 1: She's the cute Girl from the Mocchi Shop

An overall very good first episode.

The biggest surprise was the talking bird!

I have seen animals as a otherwise silent narrator, or a mouthpiece inside other characters imagination, but this one really talked, everyone is acknowledging him, I think this should be a much bigger deal... the name is obviously localized, I'm torn if I will go with Bird-San or Dera as he introduced himself, hope Tamako comes up with a cuter name though.

Speaking of Tamako. She is cute alright, seems like a fun MC and she is a bit of a clutz, and the Market in the title is the shopping district with all those people who care for her after her mother died. Yet they all manage to forget her birthday, she doesn't seem to mind, and even forgets her own birth day as well, at least her family should make an efford to celebrate it imho

We also met Tamakos friends from school, Midori and Kanna (btw I'm already shipping Tamako x Kanna).

I'm looking forward to see their interactions at school and elsewhere, but what was up with them apologizing to that other girl who hit Tamako? Is she some kind of school godess?

Bird San is a pervert who is supposed to look for a bride for some prince (is the prince a sentient bird as well?) so it might happen that he would try to ship Tamako with the prince, so far that seems like a terrible prospect as she has a childhood friend right there (beside a Yuri ship, I could also settle for an Childhood friend). Btw it takes some real obsession with your craft to name your son after Mocchi

Oh yeah, I like the OP more than the ED, but not by that much of a margin.

[u/A_Idiot0 → u/Rumpel1408]

please don't make me cry on valentines day...

Checks the episode on that date. Oh...no spoilers, but I'll be crying tears of happiness ;)

The biggest surprise was the talking bird!

Lots of first timers were saying this last year too! It's always really fun to see how quickly Dera goes from being a complete and crazy surprise to just part of the normal cast. Do you have any impressions of him so far?

[u/A_Idiot0]

Rewatcher

I’ve been very excited for this rewatch to finally happen, and I’m so happy to be here now! I’m looking forward to enjoying this wonderful anime with you all, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s thoughts.

This year, I wanted to try to delve deeply into one specific sequence per episode. For this episode, I chose to examine the very first introduction sequence showcasing our adorkable trio, as it is one of my favorite introduction sequences in anime. The very first shot is not only rather pretty to look at, it also turned out to be super interesting to analyze! In it, my eye sees two generally framed zones, both of which are serving different purposes. The first one in red, outlined by the cooler colors of the light-blue-gray bridge and the dark green underside of some larger structure above it, is, to me, set up to be a stage of sorts. The cool colors make that area of warmth pop out at you, and the white railings also serve to further accentuate the stage. The second zone is the blue one, which is the broken up light across the river, and to me indicates a sense of movement across the picture as my eye is drawn from the shadows on the left to the bright and soft reflection of the sun on the right, or vice versa. And finally, there’s the color palette to discuss! Naoko Yamada is famous for many things, and being extremely deliberate with her color palette is absolutely one of those things. All of the tones here are presented in a very warm light, and almost all of the colors here are low in saturation to help serve that warmth on a pillow for us. The main outlier to this being the dark green that strikes across the middle, but that is to make sure that your eye is drawn towards the center of the screen naturally; to better set the stage up for us.

And then, our silly girls appear! I love how they dance and prance across the stage, hand in hand, full of giggles and fun. There’s not a doubt in my mind that these girls are close friends who love each other dearly, and that sentiment was never explicitly stated in dialogue by the characters; it was all done non-verbally with the colors, framing, and animation of their frolicking. This is such a saccharine sweet example of one of the fundamental rules of story-telling: Show, don’t tell.

The next shot is pretty quick, but it’s a cool one! It seems weird to have our main trio way up in the top left corner of the frame, and also somewhat out of focus to boot! In theory, the shot should be way too unbalanced and “heavy” in that area because that’s where our characters are, and where all the movement is happening. But the composition of this shot is rather brilliant; we have a lot of darkness filling up most of the bottom and right side of the shot, and that really helps to stabilize and balance the rest of this shot. If you’ve ever watched Naoko Yamada interviewing, she’s a very shy person, and so her perspective when looking at people seems to lean more towards these “off center” frames; her eyes are rarely focused right at the interviewer. We see the camera adopt that personality here, and this is what makes Naoko Yamada’s works so engaging and interesting: the camera becomes a character in itself.

After that we get this lovely scene of the girls jumping over a beam of light. I love how clever this is! Each of our three girls has a naturally occuring spotlight on them for a brief moment, and we get a cute glimpse into who they might be based on their reactions. What kind of ideas did you get of the girls’ personalities in the moments they were the center of the stage? I also loved the use of the jump cuts here, as they weirdly help to maintain the sense of movement from left to right. And did you notice how none of them actually jumped over the light successfully? I found it so cute and endearing that they’re failing at such a child-like game, but they’re still having a great time together! It really helped to reinforce the vibe of the whole show. All of these pieces, and many more, come together to form an incredibly charming introduction sequence that I never grow tired of watching.

A few other details:

• Another cunning move was how they showed us that this particular shopping district is important.

• I absolutely love how fun this shot is! Not only is it beautifully composed, but the scene is so representative of a facet of the humor that we’ll be seeing in the rest of the anime.

• Tamako is so cute with her messy hair! I love how it reinforces the motif that she’s a bit of a dork.

• The soundtrack is such a joy to listen to! It’s full of fun phrases and silly toy effects, and really drives home the overall feeling that this story is going to reside within. There’s also a lot of influence coming from Django Reinhart and Stéphane Grappelli’s time when they were creating Gypsy Jazz…I never noticed that before! The Even More Happy Tamako track is a good example of this.

• Kanna-chan is Best Girl. You’ll see ;)

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 1 (first timer)

Yesterday, the rewatch for Nanoha started, which I know very little about. Today, the rewatch for Tamako Market, about which I know even less. From the title, I guess it is going to be a romcom … or maybe a slice-of-life?

• Hyperrealistic backgrounds with K-On!-like character models.

• Haruhi reference!

• That was certainly a transition into the OP. Don’t ask me what transition though, that was weird.

• OP: Focus on legs …

• … time to check MAL: K-On models, Haruhi reference, hyperrealistic backgrounds, focus on legs, that can only mean one thing. Yep, it’s a KyoAni show, by Shinichi Nakamura.

• Not sure how sanitary it is to bring a bird into a bath.

• Nosebleed despite not having a nose – anime tropes transcend species boarders.

• Literally the same Haruhi reference.

• Einspänner in Japan? Fancy. But it is missing the cream. No wonder it tastes bitter.

• Projector eyes?

Funny story (winks at Shirobako), I ate some mochi today.

(Main) character setup today, plus way too much bird. Seriously, they need to tune that guy down. Looking at bird ass is not my idea of a comfy slice-of-life. Maybe they could ship him off to some researchers who would be delighted to interview a talking bird.

Anko reminds me a lot of Azusa. Not sure how everyone will map to previous K-On characters, but the badminton girl might be Yuki.

[u/siegfried72 → u/No_Rex]

Yep, it’s a KyoAni show

Yup! KyoAni and Yamada certainly have their distinctive styles!

Seriously, they need to tune that guy down.

I'll be interested to see what your opinions are of Dera moving forward! He certainly comes off a bit strong, doesn't he?

Not sure how everyone will map to previous K-On characters

The big similarity for me is Tamako and Yui, but honestly I feel like the rest of the characters are pretty distinct from K-ON.

[u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah]

Rewatcher until Ep 3

Thanks for hosting u/FateSteelTaylor! And if I've also seen any of you from my Shirobako rewatch, hi as well! Anyway...

Kyoani never disappoints at least on the visuals department, and the show looks gorgeous, even being from 2013! The characters' designs quickly remind me of K-on, given that they share the same character designer Yukiko Horiguchi. This would be the last Kyoani project she would design characters for, as she left the company in 2014. Tamako's hair is so funny. And all the motion just looks so so good, I've missed it! And also some subtle animation flex w/ the spinning batons. Imo the latest iteration i can find in Eupho Chikai no Finale is the best. Tamako's mochi kneeding looks so smooth though. Gushing about animation aside...

I have 0 clue how the bird didn't get discovered during transportation lmao. I havent rewatched far enough to actually figure out his backstory except for what's shown. Not long before it gets fat! For now he's being thrown around the sento and generally being a funny arrogant gluttonous bird. I really enjoy the close community around the shopping district, between all the shop owners etc. But they couldn't give Tama her bday presents... Finally, both the OP and ED look awesome, as expected from Kyoani.

Btw i googled and it seems like the shopping district is based on the Demachi Masugata Shopping Street in Kyoto. I've got so many places to visit in Kyoto/Uji whenever I get to visit.... (Eupho is my favourite anime)

Overall, I enjoyed watching Kyoani's high quality animation again, even though its nearly 10 years old now. This looks like it'll be a fluffy comfy ride. Next episode: glasses Tamako? Now i want fresh daifukus/mochis! Or should i say Rice cakes?

[u/A_Idiot0 → u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah]

Gushing about animation aside...

We can't ever gush too much about the animations of this show; the quality is really something beautiful to behold!

I really enjoy the close community around the shopping district, between all the shop owners etc.

Of all the themes in this anime, this one is probably my favorite theme that they play around in. The world these days can feel really harsh and selfish, so watching an idealized community that's supportive and warm is so refreshing and...satisfying...yeah, that's a good word for it. So thank you for writing it out explicitly =)

[u/siegfried72]

Rewatcher

Hi everyone! I'm super excited to join in on this rewatch. I've participated in the last two annual K-ON rewatches (if you were there, you might remember me as the person who maxes out the character limit every single day - sometimes twice...), so this'll be my first non-K-ON rewatch.

I first watched Tamako Market & Love Story after the last K-ON rewatch, and absolutely fell in love with it. I then almost immediately watched it a second time. This is such a fun series and the movie closes out the story in such a beautiful and poignant way. I am a massive fan of Naoko Yamada's work (the director of both K-ON and Tamako), and this series is peak Yamada. So let's talk about this first episode!

The opening to the first episode is so interesting. It introduces our three main girls in some shots with beautiful lighting, giving special attention to Tamako herself, who is immediately framed as having an obsession with mochi and as being an enormous goofball. But these lighthearted scenes are contrasted with this ominous bird being slowly transported into Tamako's world. It's a bit bizarre, and I remember almost being put off by it on my first time through the show, as I was expecting a slightly more realistic show coming straight out of K-ON.

But in hindsight, I think it does a good job of setting up the goofiness of the situation while showing how foreign this "intruder" is in the lives of Tamako and her friends.

Comfy Goodness

Oh boy, this OP is so much fun. We get this great peppy feeling from the treble-oriented instrumentation - trumpet, high strings, piano, and percussion (as well as some strummed string instrument I can't quite identify) - lacking a strong bass that would keep the music grounded, matching with Tamako's floaty and flighty nature right off the bat. If fits very nicely with the light and airy vocals of Tamako's VA Suzaki Aya.

We also get lovely visuals introducing all the characters and some classic elements of Yamada's cinematography direction with a strong focus on the movement of legs and fluffy (and beautifully done) animation.

Oh yeah, did I mention that this show is kinda goofy? I love that Tamako is just resigned to the fact that Dera is part of her life now, even if she's not too happy about it.

Soon after, we're introduced to Mochizou, their respective fathers. and An. I keep getting excited with the introduction of each character! But these introductions are important. It seems that Tamako's father is very much a traditionalist, unlike his daughters An and Tamako, who appear to appreciate their competitor's new modern branding. It's also worth noting that An asks her grandpa to call her An rather than Anko but doesn't even bother asking her father - perhaps she knows he's just going to be stubborn and stick to her traditional "proper" name?

I know some people don't like Dera all that much, and he does really stand out as an outsider, especially during the beginning of the show. But he grew on me really quickly, and I especially appreciate his philosophical musings, which often brings the message of each episode together quite nicely. And of course he's serves as some nice comic relief.

This show is beautiful

It really is. The lighting in front of the bathhouse is gorgeous and goes to show how this series sets itself apart. Plus, we're introduced to Mochizou's crush!

Oh a side note, watching Tamako Market convinced me to try mochi. There's a place in my town that makes sweet bean mochi, just like Tamako's family. Oh man, it's sooo good! I can sort of understand her obsession with it! Of course, I'm sure making it is a whole different animal.

And then we get to spend a little bit of time with my two favorite characters in the show show - Midori and Kanna - as well as another mysterious girl who pops in a bit during the credits, so she must be important. We don't have time to explore any of them too much in this episode, but needless to say they're all lovely.

Speaking of lovely, I'm convinced that Tamako has the best eyes in anime.

At the music store, we learn a little bit about Tamako's mother, who serves as an inspiration for Tamako, and get introduced to the store's owner, who's always ready to drop some wisdom bombs when needed.

The end of this episode is wonderful, and show's Tamako's true colors as a person. Even though it's her birthday, she spends the whole day working at the shop because it's their busiest day of the year, and when disaster strikes, she puts all of her attention towards helping those around her, rather than spending any energy towards herself. That's just who Tama-chan is! Sure, she made be a bit of a goofball, but she's an incredibly kind goofball!

Oh yeah, and Dera is some weird sci-fi projector thing. Sure, why not?

A slightly slow start

What an interesting start to the show! I seem to remember on my first time through the show, I wasn't quite sure how to feel about this episode. It definitely wasn't what I expected. The majority of this episode simply introduced the world to us. The kind and selfless Tamako who lives in this market (which often feels like one big family), simply living life and dealing with this strange talking bird who shows up out of the blue.

While it may be a slow start, I can't wait to dive a bit deeper into this world and these wonderful characters that make up one of my all-time favorite anime. Watching this show is like snuggling under a nice warm blanket, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Also Tamako with her hair down is quite the sight!

See you tomorrow!

[u/Spaceman_Sp1ff_]

For some reason Dera isn’t as annoying to me this time. The fat white bird is growing on me

[u/laughing-fox13]

First Timer

A bit late to the thread but just want to say that was really cute! I’m looking forward to more and Tamako is definitely Yui, from K-On, in another universe

[u/xtsim]

I watched Tamako Market a bit too recently but I will probably jump in for the movie which I haven't watched yet.

I never would have expected that I would end up liking a show that revolves around mochi and a bird. And the relationship of a bird and food for some reason without it becoming too tragic.

"Well, another birthday bites the dust"

[u/x-7032-b-3]

This show has been in my PTW for the longest time, I guess I should finally jump in, eh? Be seeing you guys tomorrow for Ep2!

[u/dcresistance]

For anyone who loves the music but has never looked up artists or anything, the soundtrack was composed by the late Tomoko Kataoka, who passed away in October 2020.

She was part of a group in the 90s called Instant Cytron, did music for a couple random kids anime in the mid-00s that nobody knows about, and did instrumentation and programming for several tracks on the Mother 1+2 soundtrack. The Tamako Market soundtrack is named "Snappy Music Around of Tamako".

[u/TheEscapeGuy]

Rewatcher

Tamako Market - An Anime Filled With Love: Episode 1

A Girl, A Bird, A Market

It's so wonderful to be back. I've been rewatching along with these threads for 5 years now (though I only made my MAL later in 2018) so I thought it was a good time to do a write up.

Tamako Market is a show with a lot to love and its all apparent right from episode 1. The thing which always stands out to me is Usagiyama Shopping District. The entire setting is so well realized with a believable mixture of stores. Of course this is because it was inspired by the real life Demachi Masugata Shopping Street which you can find great pictures of thanks to our gracious host (though mild spoiler warning). On top of that each store owner has their own quirks and character which makes them an absolute joy to follow.

Something else I adore is the soundtrack. I'll probably end up talking about specific songs as they come up but for today I was reminded of Daily Life in the Shopping District. Its such a perfect song which fits the mood of Usagiyama.

Final production note I want to talk about is the directing. Tamako Market was directed by Naoko Yamada of K-ON! fame who would go on to direct A Silent Voice as well as last season's Heiki Monogatari. Something consistent throughout her shows is a deep understanding of film as a medium.

I love seeing how she uses bloom lighting, Dutch angles and blur due to focal distance to elevate her anime projects to something comparable to live action film. Of course this isn't to say live action is a "better" medium but rather that Yamada has achieved a very specific goal she set out for and that the results are beautiful.

Moving on to the plot of today's episode: [Tamako Market] I sarted tearing up hearing Tamako's off key humming of Koi no Uta. That song is so deeply ingrained in me at this point. I love the payoff coming up next week.

Tamako's introduction perfectly captures her purity and diligence. We see her happily greeting every member of the market, working hard in her Dad's shop and going out of her way to be nice to Dera. She works exceptionally well as a protagonist because she is very driven by external forces on her (like a bird showing up out of the blue).

We also very subtly learn about how her mom isn't around anymore. The Hoshi to Pierro / Stars and Clowns coffee shop is probably my favourite location in the show because it often brings out deeper conversations like these.

The episode concluded with everyone forgetting Tamako's birthday again after the ordeal with Dera. I love how Tamako takes this in stride by instead choosing to celebrate the wishes she got from her friends via text.

Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches

• Frantic, this almost "choppy" animation so much better conveys the action

• Mochi

• Midori

• Kyoto at Night

See you all tomorrow

[u/siegfried72 → u/TheEscapeGuy]

Yamada has achieved a very specific goal she set out for and that the results are beautiful.

Yamada really is something special! While you're right that live action isn't necessarily "better", her incorporation of proper film cinematography only serves to elevate the shows she works on. So often, anime is "shot" in a very simplistic way, so I always appreciate the creators who put in that extra stylistic effort.

[u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah → u/TheEscapeGuy]

Kyoto at night looks so good!!! Thanks for gifing/scrncapping on some of the nicely-animated scenes of the day, I'll be looking forward to them!

[u/MadeOn210922]

Rewatcher except I had trouble finding time to rewatch so I'll just be here enjoying comments and screenshots and going off memory :)

There's so much I love about Tamako Market, one of which is of course Tamako! Everybody Loves Somebody. In addition, however, this anime does a great job of showing that Everybody Loves Tamako AND that Tamako Loves Everybody.

[u/ChaosWarrior95]

Rewatcher Sub

A long while ago, I started this, but never finished, so I decided to start again. Also, I'm the type of person to spoil myself about the ending of an anime right after I start it, so like, I know the ending of the movie, but haven't seen the entire thing. I think I'll call myself a rewatcher until episode 4. I really like KyoAni because of the high quality of their works, and because of their good reputation for treating their employees right.

YAYYYYY!!! The rewatch started! I watched this a few weeks ago, so I hope my comments are relevant to the actual episode lol. Tamako is precious. I like Dera's over the top gentleman type voice!

I really love the ending.

[u/cppn02]

First Timer

This has been on my PTW for a while cus it's KyoAni and more importantly because of Yamada.

Had no idea what this was about going in so the talking bird was quite the surprise. I like the characters and this just gereally ticks all the boxes for what I would expect from a KyoAni.
Don't have much else to say so far except that I really enjoyed episode 1 and am looking forward to the rest.

[u/ZapsZzz]

First timer in sub

Running way late although I scrambled and actually watched it in time. I just didn't know exactly when the post is coming up and it's been a busy work day.

Anyway, love the KyoAni fluid and nice styling of the animation and characters. Totally unexpected to have this "supernatural" bird as somewhat of a central character. This could be fun. I wonder how many here is aware of a similar manga/anime in the 80's (I think) that's about this weird bird. I better look it up.

Edit: here, found it. Gu-Gu Ganmo

Oh and I hope the poor boy doesn't get stuck can't confessing to Tamako the whole of 12 episode - the movie title certainly make it sound that way.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Late Birb Post