Ladies and gentlemen, today I am going to speak to you about a dark and evil force that is threatening our way of life. An menace to society that should be feared. That menace is Kyoto Animation. Tamako Market is the latest moelogical weapon to come out of their arcane laboratories.

I wanted to see the diabolical science up close, so for the purposes of investigative journalism I flew to Kyoto and disguised myself as a contractor to sneak into their studio. Kyoto Animation is unlike any other animation studio I’ve ever seen. The basement is a labyrinthine network of tunnels that finally leads into a vast underground lab. There, the animators are dressed in lab coats, and the room is only dimly lit by the glow of tanks housing developing moeblobs. Blueprints and schematics line the walls, dangerous knowledge acquired from vast experience and expertise in the field. Tamako Market is the latest and greatest “anime” from Kyoto Animation, far more capable of destruction than its predecessors, so precisely and mercilessly engineered it puts anything Michael Crichton could think of to shame.

Just when you were recovering from Shiori last week, Tamako Market attacks you right where you are vulnerable with the most fearsome loli in recent memory. hngggggggggggggg.

Tamako Market is slated for 12 episodes, so that means we are already one-third of the way in. While the show is doing a great job building up its characters, I question what it’s going to do with them. Themes run deep in Tamako Market, and it’s obvious that there is more that meets the eye with this show. I’ll be surprised if Tamako Market is really just going to show off the girls and end. I brace for the inevitably dramatic plot that should be arriving soon, and can only hope for a smooth transition. But in the meantime, I will enjoy the weapons-grade moe this episode spews at my face.

I am curious what  Tamako Market will do with its vinyl music motif. I also wonder what will become of the romantic tension held by Mochizou. Most importantly, I wonder what the show is going to do with Dera. He’s fun sandbag humor for now, but a talking bird in an otherwise realistic anime is quite jarring. If Kyoto Animation can some how wrap it up with any semblance of organization, I will be quite impressed. I think it would be neat if Dera was some kind of thematic supernatural entity, like Beloved from the eponymous novel by Toni Morrison. Except with mochi and islanders instead of slavery. Alternatively, Dera’s journey to the marketplace could have some kind of parallel to the tenants of the marketplace. His journey draws focus to the flow of life in the shopping district. Whatever it turns out to be, it will come later. For now, here are more pictures of Anko being cute.

 

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