Image by こよる

This time, we visit the 兎山商店街!

Tamako Market is KyoAni's latest creation after last season's wonderful Chu2. Bright colours and cheerful cast of characters make this series easily the happiest one this season. Like the others, I'll be rating it on a scale of 10 under various categories.

Story: 6/10

Think of Dera as Keroro. They're not exactly the same, but more or less end up in a similar situation. I consider the day to day happenings of the shopping arcade as a secondary string, that is almost always at the forefront of the story, while Dera's story to be the main string flapping around somewhere in the back. Giving this one a 6 not because it's a bad story (it's not great though) but rather because the story isn't a major focus of the series. 

Art and Animation: 8.5/10

Being a Kyoto Animation produced series, we're to expect a certain level of quality, and this one delivers to us KyoAni as usual. Vivid colours and great animation all around. Character designs are...typical of KyoAni at this point to be honest. Tamako's design is often said to be half way between Asuza, Mio (K-ON!) and Chitanda (Hyouka). Initially, they bugged me a bit because of how similar the designs are to previous characters, but as you stick with the series, the characters grow on you and you stop seeing other characters. I don't think I've seen any major flaws in the art or animation (as in oddly animated scenes) so far, and the art has stayed consistent throughout.

Characters: 7/10

Characters are where this one shines. The almost sickeningly upbeat and cheerful Tamako is your necessary air headed protagonist, much like Yui (K-ON!) but less so. Tamako's got a better head on her shoulder and is a lot more tolerable than the latter mentioned. My favourite character so far is the obnoxious talking bird, Dera. Without him, the show would be just another moe slice of life, something that's been run into the ground and beat with a stick more often than it should. Unlike the other characters, where we more or less see one side of them (Tamako's cheerful, air headedness, Mochizou's shyness, etc.), we've seen that Dera wears more than one hat in the series. He's one of the more comical characters (I'd say the only one who's actually funny), but he's perceptive and has a serious side. The characters don't really develop much (if at all, though some have more than others), but then again, the type of series it is doesn't really call for a lot of character development.

As for my least favourite character, it'd be Tamako's dad. God damn, I can't bring myself to like him. It's not because he's mean or anything, it's his freaking tsundere-ness. No. Just no.

Overall Entertainment: 7/10

An enjoyable series for sure. It's bright atmosphere makes this one always fun to watch and hasn't had a time where it drags on and on. The characters are fun, though I wish some of them could develop a bit. I'm looking at you Mochizou. Shiori's fine around Tamako, so why can't you? I'm looking forward to how this one plays out with the bird's story and the shopping arcade. I have two ideas on how it'll go, and both end with 'life in the shopping arcade go on as usual'.