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「それ町」 (Sore Machi)
“That Town”
What started off as a regular episode with Hotori wrapped up in her antics transitioned into something that caught me completely off guard. Starting with the usual Hotori antics, she somehow thought it would be a good idea to combine a pen and a magnifying glass. In practice, it looks like Hotori’s version would be a bit large to hold in the hand. Plus who would want a huge magnifying glass in their face as they write? Of course the idea of combining those two items has already been created – in the form of a cheap pen with a small magnifying glass on the cap. Besides creating something that already exists, did I mention that Hotori butchered a Montblanc pen to create her penifyinglass? Bad puns aside, Montblanc is a really expensive brand name for really nice fountain pens. By expensive, I’m talking over hundreds of dollars for a single pen here. The look on Futaba’s face perfectly mirrored by own “What the heck were you thinking?” face.
Going home early from work, depressed after learning the origins of her newly butchered pen, Hotori decides to solve this in a way only she can – aiming for first place in a story writing competition. Somehow I can’t help but feel that Hotori let her inner feelings flow out into her writing. Starting with an island made out of Jelly, featuring the entire cast of the show, it sounds like just the kind of story Hotori would write. However, within minutes of docking Tatsuno gets murdered and Hotori is on the hunt to find the killer. After having Tatsuno killed off first and Moriaki praising her for her detective work, I still couldn’t figure out if Hotori is aiming to be praised by Moriaki or if she actually has feelings for him.
I have seen many different interpretations of what Heaven could actually be like, but I think Sore Machi’s version is the funniest I’ve ever seen. Once again, the angels who messed up with Maid-chou’s husband come and take Hotori. While these angels managed to grab the right person, they also managed to drop her off in the wrong spot. Dropping Hotori straight in front of the Egyptian’s portal to heaven. After a Japanese social worker manages to grab Hotori before Anubis took his wrath out on her, I couldn’t stop laughing at what Japanese heaven looked like. I thought it was pretty funny to see it represented as something like the DMV – lines, office workers in small cubicles, and more lines. In this heaven they also have the coolest arcades. They have sticker picture booths like we do, except these photo booths add those ghost type things to other people’s photos instead of words and effects to your own. I thought it was interesting seeing how some things like bunny ears cost more than a hand or a face. Explains why you never see pictures with things beside blurry wisps! Besides the photo booths, they also have these binoculars that give you a first person view of anywhere in the world.
I never expected to get emotional during Sore Machi, but watching everyone in Hotori’s life mourning for her death slowly got to me. Starting with Takeru and Yukiko trying to fight the tears, it just got worse. I never knew Tatsuno, Moriaki, and Matsuda ( the police officer) cared so much about Hotori, but it became pretty clear as all of them let the tears start flowing. As I watched everyone around Hotori mourn, the final nail in the coffin came as I watched Hotori’s father throw everything he had in his wallet into the offering tub at the temple, wishing for Hotori to recover. As Hotori finishes watching, she slowly acknowledges her death. It was pretty bittersweet watching her vow to work hard in the afterlife so she could afford to put bunny ears in everyone’s photos. Just as she comes to terms with the reality of her situation, the DMV-esque center of heaven calls Hotori to inform her she has the choice to return to the living world! As the workers of heaven literally drop her back onto earth, Hotori wakes up in-style at the hospital, bringing a happy end to a great series.
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Final Impressions:
After a whole season of Sore Machi, I wish there were more episodes coming out. I know it’s been a bumpy ride and I’ll admit that the first few episodes didn’t impress me much. But as the weeks went by, I started looking forward to watching Hotori, Futaba, Maid-Chou, and even Tatsuno go through their antics each and every week. I’m sure that the humor in this series doesn’t mesh well with everyone, but I think just about anyone can sit down and watch this show. What I found pretty interesting is that this show pulls from random chapters each episode. It doesn’t go in sequential order and picks what content it chooses from each chapter. While it does create some small plot problems, like Futaba saying “this is where you work?” this episode even though her birthday was held at Seaside back in episode six, it allows SHAFT to spice things up each week. Even though SHAFT decided to pull from different chapters out of order, everything still feels like it flows well together. If you don’t even think about where in the timeline the episode comes from, I bet you probably wouldn’t even notice some of the inconsistencies.
Since Futaba was introduced back in episode three, I remember a point in time where I asked for SHAFT to show more Futaba. Lo and behold the next few episodes were just full of her. I don’t know if it was her small fang, short blonde hair, blue eyes, or her tomboy personality, but I know that after I first saw her, it was game over. Something about her character and her voice just captured me. It saddens me that her seiyuu Yazawa Rieka is a new one. The only listed role she has is as Futaba in Sore Machi! I hope that she gets more roles in the future, as she now holds a pretty large spot on my favorite seiyuu list. Besides Futaba’s seiyuu, I am also quite fond of Hotori’s seiyuu, Omigawa Chiaki. Back when I heard her in Soul Eater, I have never forgotten her unique voice. I consider myself pretty lucky to have caught her in Sore Machi. Seeing as how her list of roles is still pretty small, the only other place I remember hearing her was in Seitokai Yakuindomo as Mitsuba. The way she played Hotori in Sore Machi felt like it was a match made in heaven. Whenever there was scene where Hotori is whining or spouting out her ignorance or crying like a little kid, Chiaki’s squeaky voice just made it perfect.
All in all, I’d recommend Sore Machi to just about anyone. It’s easy to watch and brings on the laughs. While it isn’t Mitsudomoe funny, I think SHAFT’s take on it leaves a great impression. The jokes are still a little slapstick even to the point where some are pretty lame. But it’s not jokes that make the show funny; it’s the scenes and the situations that make each and every episode an enjoyable watch. One of the funniest running jokes is probably Moriaki and Hotori’s relationship with each other. From Moriaki being inches away from strangling Hotori at times, whether it’s her atrocious math skills or her crazy personality, it’s even funnier to see that Hotori take all of it with a grain of salt since she has a crush on him. To things like Eroyuki ruining his impression with Hotori, Hotori indirectly ruining two people’s birthdays at once, or whenever Futaba gets on screen. You can never go wrong with Futaba Kon. It’s this type of spontaneous humor (or futaba overdose) which makes Sore Machi, Sore Machi.
Great ending for Soredemo Machi~ I’ll miss my weekly Kon dosage and lovable Chiaki too… Merry Christmas Takaii <3 Thanks for blogging even on the holidays!
Even after you go out of IRC you manage to steal first on Sore Machi again? Pretty slick Kyzel. Hope you have a great Christmas day and thanks for reading my posts!
Tish what I do. I too am sad there hasn’t been any other confirmed roles for Rieka Yazawa… I love her Kon voice so. I still remember when I first saw this and kept hearing and imagining Mitsuba there instead of Hotori… until she grew on me with her antics. That emotional trip when Hotori finally realized all the people that cared about her was a great touch, specially when Kon let it all out. Also, this time, I refreshed my page every three minutes. XD Thanks I hope you enjoy your day too Takaii. I also look forward to reading more from you!
I hope I wasn’t the only person who shed tears while watching the finale. 😛
No. You weren’t.
Such a weird finale lol. This episode gave mixed emotions to me, from that detective story in a jelly island to everyone mourning for Hotori’s death. Not to mention Hotori complaining that her life is worth 3400 yen lmao.
I was amused and entertained by the series overall, and I’ll definitely miss my weekly dose of Kon-senpai’s awesomeness <3. Thank you for blogging this series Takaii, I enjoyed reading your SoreMachi posts every week.
Those poor Japanese…after a whole life time slaving away at boring corporates heaven ends up being just the same, at least Egyptian afterlife had interesting deco. Wonder if they got the setting from the movie “Wonderful Life”.
Merry Xmas everyone~
The loss of this series is leaving me in despair. The thought of no more ahotori and futabaka is hard to take. Thanks for blogging this show. It deserved some attention.
great ending!
Yes! It ended, now i can one shot the entire thing. :p
Put me on the list of people that didn’t notice any inconsistencies as an anime only viewer, although the direction seemed quite random. Ahhhh Omigawa Chiaki. I love her voice I was thinking after SYD i wouldn’t get to hear it for a while. I totally agree she puts a spin on her characters that only she can pull off. I hope she doesn’t get typecast though. Mitsuba wasn’t playing with a full deck either lol. What a laugh this series brings.
Takaii!
I remember when I first saw the preview for Soredemo and pretty much overlooked it, until I read your posts.
After watching the second episode I was instantly hooked. Thank you for blogging this wonderful show 😀
the Ascension of Hotori Arashiyama….and the descended into the earth, by waking Hotori by Kon
Going to miss the craziness of Hotori and what she’ll do week after week. I pretty much overlooked this as well and glad I just happen to pick this up and found this to be a fun series.
You kinda skipped how she got devestated that her writing abilities in her mind did not compare to how the outside world perceived them. And how she made a horrible near death experience into an excuse to get out of a problem.
O hotori 🙂
Thank you for blogging this series.
Probably the best anime of the past season for me, along with Ika Musume…. with Kuragehime close behind.
The last 2 eps didn’t hit the highs of previous eps for me, but still, good viewing.
Hoping there’ll at least be a couple more titles like this in the coming season, as opposed to the usual tasteless glut of chicks with fat thighs surrounding a spineless male twat.
This last episode was amazing. One of the best of the series in fact. The subs I watch always have what chapter that anime episode comes from so I knew they were bouncing all over the place and didn’t think about timeline inconsistincies.
Also like Omigawa Chiaki’s voice very much. Not only does she play Maka from Soul Eater she is also P-ko (Arakawa Under the Bridge) and Jun (Natsu No Arashi).
i enjoyed the falling hotori fanservice
Did anyone else get “Elsewhere” (Gabrielle Zevin) vibes from this episode?
Yes! While I was watching it reminded me of that book.
Will there be a next season?
Without a doubt the best show of this season. very sorry that it ended so quickly. apparently the continuation will not be soon. if it ever will be.
Very good ending, surprisingly touching and heartfelt considering this is meant to predominantly be a comedy.
Omigawa Chiaki’s normal voice is completely different to the voice she’s used in shows. Her normal voice is so high pitched, it’s annoying as hell, which is somewhat ironic because a lot of people hate her anime voice.
This series is funny and excellent in its own right, even though it is not as “clean” as Ika Musume. I think the anime production did an outstanding job of spicing up the atmosphere in those paranormal episodes. As for casting, Hotori’s voice is so annoying that it fits her character perfectly. All in all, this is an well-made and memorable series. I hope there will be a second season.
Thank you for devoting your time to blog about this series.
I had initially skipped over this show based on the Fall preview information, but checking out the earlier posts peeked my interest enough to check it out. I’m glad I did so, for me, it have been one of the best shows this Fall.
man, i wish everyone i knew would be as sad about my death as hotori’s friends were about hers.
HAHAHA oh my god, this was a genius finale. I couldn’t stop laughing at the egyptian rep. of heaven, and her tsukkomi reaction.
“THERES NO WAY A HEART CAN BE LIGHTER THAN A FEATHER!”
“OH NO–THE SACRED FEATHER!!”
Thanks for blogging Takaii, it was a lot of laughs and your posts were good reads.
Thanks for keeping up 🙂
I hope heaven isn’t really like that, ya know?
Amg, that was the finale? Fudgeee. Dx I’m going to miss this show a lot! One of the funniest I’ve watched.
annoyed with all your futaba-centric reviews of the series. wonder how much you would have complained (more) if she wasn’t there. the series was awesome, with or without a futaba.