One of the posters for Tamako Love Story.
Trailers are great for getting people excited about upcoming films. Then there are trailers that sum up a film in less than five minutes, like the trailer for Tamako Love Story.
There have been a few stories I have read and watched where the content is interesting, but lacks closure to the story or character relations. It’s almost a tradition in East Asian literature, as with the classical Chinese piece, The Three Kingdoms. Many shonen manga and anime series as well as a number of thirteen-episode anime series follow this tradition, too. Though this makes it possible for writers and production companies to expand on their works if they so choose, it more often than not leaves me dissatisfied when a series comes to a close. It’s interesting to think about how Japanese literature has adopted this technique and how Western literature shies away from it. Not that using this literary style for anime and manga series is bad per se—it also allows readers to imagine what the future holds for their favorite characters—especially in a world where content creators can reach their desired audience relatively easily and still manage to make a profit off their respective creations. Thus, it’s no surprise many anime production companies will choose to expand on their popular franchises with more seasons of a televised series or with a film.
The anime production company Kyoto Animation has done this with many of their productions. Yet, when they expand a franchise of theirs, it often looses some of its charm. One need look no further than Takanashi Rikka Kai ~Gekijo-ban Chunibyo demo Koi ga Shitai!~ or Eiga K-on! as works that expanded on their respective stories, but lost much of what made them appealing. Yet, when the production teams at Kyoto Animation make an exceptional work, they do a phenomenal and almost unparalleled job, as was the case with their 2014 film Tamako Love Story (たまこラブストーリー). While I may have taken issue with the TV series Tamako Market, the film truly lives up to its name as a little love story involving the protagonists, Tamako Kitashirakawa and Mochizo Ohji. What made this an excellent film, though, was despite being in the romance genre, rather than developing the story around one party eventually confessing his or her feelings to the other, it focused on how that confession affected both parties. While Tamako Love Story lacked two of Tamako Market’s characters, Dera Mochimazzui and Choi Mochimazzui, the film actually benefitted from their absence. There were also two aesthetic choices I enjoyed, even if those choices were a small portion of the film.
Of the numerous romance anime and manga I’ve been exposed to over the years, it seems many of those stories center around the protagonist, whether a man or woman, developing a romantic interest in his or her counterpart, with the climax being his or her confession of love. There’s nothing wrong with this formula, and thankfully not all romance series decide to follow it. However, I feel as though there are very few romantic anime or manga that place a heavy emphasis on the fallout from a confession of love. This fallout can be awkward for all the parties involved, can weigh a person down, and make the protagonist feel as though an eternity is passing the longer a response is delayed. I would imagine this experience is difficult to convey, but a skilled writer, or even a team of writers, can make it fly off the pages.
Honestly, I was a bit worried the trailer for Tamako Love Story had revealed the climax of the film—the confession of love by Mochizo—and when it came so early in the film, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When it dawned on me the story was in fact about the awkward time until Mochizo got a response from Tamako, I was frankly astonished. It’s expressed tremendously well and we see how it weighs down on Tamako and Mochizo for the entirety of the film. That weight is expressed in various ways, from Tamako not knowing how to behave around Mochizo right after the confession to Tamako’s lack of focus on all things, and also from Mochizo’s feelings of regret over their lost friendship to questions about how he, too, should act around Tamako. It’s very sad to watch the two grow apart for a short time, yet somehow it’s heartwarming seeing the two characters, but mostly Tamako, explore their feelings for each other.
Mochizo (right) confessing his feelings for Tamako (left).
It’s a marvelous conflict for the franchise as well. Considering Tamako had no interest in romantic relationships in the TV series, and her love for mocchi (Japanese rice cakes) is boundless, a sudden confession of love from her childhood friend and neighbor, Mochizo, would of course be startling to say the least. Compounded with this confession, Tamako is also forced to dwell on the conundrum many people in their final year in high school face: the realization the people around her are planning for the future, while she believes everything will stay the same. Thus, because Tamako is such a lovable character, when her world is shaken just little we see how these small things begin to weigh her down. In turn, when we look at Mochizo and his bottled up feelings towards Tamako, I found it appropriate he would have a difficult time composing himself when he wasn’t instantly gratified with an answer from Tamako. While he doesn’t pine or moan about this, the regret he feels is clearly illustrated and very painful to watch. It’s not an easy feeling to deal with, and I’m sure people close to those two characters’ age will empathize much more with them, but we can all understand how difficult it was for the characters.
As interesting as this conflict was, I feel many fans of Tamako Market will be disappointed to find a few of the characters pushed to the background or even missing all together. Yes, the core members of the Baton Club and the Movie Club play a key role in the story, but many of the business owners of Usagiyama shopping arcade play no role in the story. One would think these are people both Tamako and Mochizo would confide in and that they would receive a great amount of wisdom from them. True, Kinio Yaobi, the owner of the Star and Pierrot café, does impart a small amount of wisdom but alas, other than him, the shopkeepers offer very little to the narrative.
The lack of Dera and Choi is also apparent. However, unlike the club members or the shop owners, Tamako Love Story is better served without them. In Tamako Market, Dera and Choi both made great comic relief characters when an episode became too somber. Yet, with a touching story like the one in Tamako Love Story, having Dera or Choi make flippant remarks would have greatly deteriorated the quality of the narrative the writers were trying to present. Nevertheless, there’s no need to fret. Thankfully, there is a short before the film opens with Dera, Choi, and Mecha Mochimazzui, and it serves as a good comic introduction before such a momentous story. After this short, though, these three characters do not appear again, except for one cut late in the film. It’s out of place within the narrative of the film and felt inappropriate to the events on screen. Not only did the story fair well without them to that point, but it also nearly ruined the emotions being put forward. While fans may appreciate this cut, I would have preferred it better if it hadn’t been added. I realize this is a small gripe and that the scene can be overlooked, but it stands out so much and was such an odd plot choice on the production team’s part that I couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about its presence.
Despite my dissatisfaction with this one aspect of the film, the art department and the music department made two aesthetic decisions I was very satisfied with. While I admit the art direction was for the most part very much akin to Kyoto Animation’s televised works, there was some remarkable animation when Tamako was reacting to Mochizo’s confession of love. At first it was the standard gag artwork with Tamako becoming rigid in her movements. Yet, as the scene progressed, the art team was able to portray her confusion by making the background at first become blurry before turning it into just an amalgamation of burred colors representing the different characters and backgrounds. I really loved this scene and found it to be a great demonstration of how with some creative art direction, even the most complicated emotions can be articulated.
It was the same with the music department as well. It was, again, only one scene in Tamako Love Story, but the selection of music was such an obvious, though not commonly used piece that I had to laugh to myself. I am speaking of the instrumental version of the 1963 song by Kyu Sakamoto, Ue wo Muite Arukou (known as Sukiyaki in foreign markets). I say I laughed to myself when I heard the piece only because the lyrics of the song clearly communicated what Tamako was feeling, removing the need for the writers to have to explain it to the audience. It’s so subtle, yet so evident, as with the artwork, that I felt the music director chose perhaps the most appropriate song he or she could have since almost every Japanese person has a passing familiarity with it. However, I fear many non-Japanese viewers may not notice this, unless they themselves are familiar with the song and the meaning of the lyrics.
I’m going to say this simply and clearly: I loved Tamako Love Story. I’m normally not a fan of romance stories involving teenagers, but the writers took such a unique approach to the narrative I couldn’t help but find it exceptionally pleasing. I also have to admit it helped I had a very low opinion of Tamako Market so I had set the bar very low for this film. In addition to that, I was also expecting a compilation film rather than an original story. But, even with my biases, had I seen Tamako Love Story with no prior knowledge of the franchise, I would have still enjoyed it. Though it doesn’t outclass Wolf Children or the ninth Crayon Shin-chan film with its themes and motifs, as a simple love story, Tamako Love Story lives up to its name and does not disappoint.
Work Info
Title: Tamako Love Story (たまこラブストーリー)
Under: Kyoto Animation
Official Site: http://tamakolovestory.com/
More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamako_Market
