Tamako works at her father's mochi shop, and along with her friends she enjoys a comfortable life at Tama-ya, the local shopping district. A talking bird suddenly interrupts their little slice of paradise, and things begin going downhill from there. The bird, you see, is a representative of the royal family of a tropical island, on a mission to find his Prince a bride. And while he doesn't (yet) think that Tamako's up to that job, he's happy to tag along with her himself... Two things struck me with this episode: one, I want to throttle that f***ing bird; and two, I think that, as far as my own tastes are concerned, I may have passed 'peak KyoAni'. Tamako Market has all the hallmarks of a KyoAni show: the laid back feel of cute girls doing cute things, the recognisable look & character designs, the sense of light fun without getting too carried away... (Yes, I know these don't apply to all KyoAni shows, but they apply to enough of them.) It's all getting a bit "been there, done that". Heresy? Perhaps. But it's telling that this episode didn't raise a grin or a giggle. Despite (because of?) the talking bird with the ATTITUDE. That probably wouldn't have happened a year ago. There are some hooks here - the bird's mission implies there might actually be a plot this time around for starters - but I don't know if I can be bothered waiting for it to kick in... THE GOOD: It's KyoAni, to production values and attention to detail are top-notch - purely on the visual level, there's no ground for complain. THE BAD: It's KyoAni, who have made this sort of thing their bread and butter. But I honest don't know if I could be bothered anymore. Maybe it's caught me on a bad day - dodging riots to get home doesn't make for the best mood. Maybe I genuinely have gotten tired of typical KyoAni fare. Three-episode rule applies, so we'll soon find out. Tamako Market is streamed by The Anime Network (North America) and Anime On Demand (UK & Ireland).
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