Overall thoughts on Tamako Love Story

“Everybody loves somebody.” 

This technically isn’t a review, just my thoughts on the movie, so once again there’ll be no scores whatsoever, and I may end up rambling a bit.

TL;DR It is definitely one of KyoAni’s better works. Very lovingly made, and is worth your time even if you’re not familiar with/like the original TV series, Tamako Market. This film will please romance fans in particular. 

The original Tamako Market TV series was one I enjoyed, but didn’t love. I adored the setting – Usagiyama Shopping District was a warm, loving family. Technically it was a character in the series, and the main one at that. The majority of the TV series’ airtime was meant to flesh out the setting, less so the characters that lived within the setting. The characters in Tamako Market, while likable in their own rights, were definitely lacking real substance; they were more like the furniture in the house than the people that lived in it.

There is technically nothing really wrong with that, as the series did manage to fulfill its goal of endearing you to the setting, but I believe it had another aim. It was trying to tell a coming-of-age story, and that’s where the series faltered for me, because there was no real connection I had to the characters in Tamako Market, as much as I enjoyed watching them.

The movie though, is an entirely different scenario altogether. Instead of taking place in Usagiyama as an entire district like the TV series, we get up close and personal with the central characters of this film – Tamako and Mochizou. We see them in their rooms, in school, at the river….but not in the shopping district as much. As someone familiar with the original series it did feel a bit lonely, without the noise and overall liveliness of the shopping district. Until it hit me that that was probably the intended atmosphere the film was trying to get at – it was about growing up, making your own decisions, maybe separating from your loved ones in the process. And that can get a bit lonely sometimes.

What I got from the film, was that it is okay to never truly let go of your home, you past, even as you grow up. That it is okay to live on with strings attached to your past, sticking with the people you love. Growing up can be lonely, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be alone. It was a genuinely heartfelt message, and it was very lovingly told through the film’s 90 minutes or so of runtime.

Of course, at its heart it was also a love story, and a really charming one at that. The original Tamako Market characters (aside from Dera, who kind of only gets like 5 minutes of attention at the beginning of the film) make their return, but the film really puts in much more effort in characterizing them further. In particular Tamako’s characterization was really quite well done. Her confusion, her nervousness, her final realization of her feelings…it was simple, but expressed in subtle manners that never made the film feel too heavy or cheesy.

This is mostly due to director Yamada Naoko’s work here – the directing here is a little on the simple side but is very effective. The overall direction was really quite excellent, the film was truly a visual treat because she has a pretty damn good eye for framing (in particular sequences in Tamako’s room and when Tamako and Mochizou talk over the string cup phones), and does occasionally use less commonly-seen (in anime, at least) cinematography techniques (like selective focus for example) to keep the viewing experience extremely personal. The soundtrack was also quite pleasant as well. The overall atmosphere of the film was simply lovely – vibrant, bubbly and very youthful.

I did feel that the last twenty minutes or so of the film felt a bit rushed as I watched the film, but on hindsight I think it worked well in relation with the story – as the last act was mostly emotions all let loose. Characters were impatient, words were rushing out of their mouths in desperation; I think the faster pacing near the end actually did help to convey this quite well.

So there, Tamako Love Story is a lovely little film. Very thoughtfully and lovingly put together, and while it wasn’t very original in the slightest I never once really minded. I was pretty invested with all the characters even despite my short time with them, and I was definitely satisfied with what I got. It was sincere and heartfelt.

Alternate Anime Recommendations: 

Whisper of the Heart (this one is a personal favourite of mine, one of Ghibli’s best IMO)

Harmonie