First Impressions / TARI TARI

Episode 04:

「怒ったり 踊ったり」 (Ikatta ri Odotta ri)
“Angry and Dancing”

Chances are you’ve had that one moment where you just so happened to stumble upon a friend you haven’t seen in awhile. Maybe you’ve even had that one moment where you randomly met someone who changed your life completely. For the members of the Badminton & Choir Club, that chance encounter comes now, in the form of the Condor Queens. As expected though, the musicians (and the stalker!) from last episode were more than meets the eye, as they turn out to have a past intricately linked with not only Konatsu’s, but also Wakana’s. The result? An amazing amount of character development and one of the most enjoyable episodes of the season.

First off, we have some major developments with Konatsu, who we find grew up with her grandfather dancing (SHE’S SO CUTE!) to their music. Understandably excited about meeting her childhood idols of sorts, she ends up cancelling practices in order to talk with them, and even ends up giving up her festival stage to them too! And well, these developments just really demonstrate what kind of person she is: spontaneous, overly excitable, and not really the kind that likes thinking about things before doing them (not that we’d have it any other way!). And we see the many problems she causes as a result as well: Sawa getting angry for the first time all series, the loss of their stage for the festival, and what looked to be the downfall of their club in general. But with flaws and the realization of one’s mistakes, come maturation and the inevitable chance at redemption. And with a few great quotes from the Condor Queens pushing her onward (“”You’ve got a song you can only sing, with the people and feelings you’ve got now.” and “Go back to your stage.”), we see Konatsu starting to develop as a person in general, as she realizes her mistakes and quickly tries to make amends for it.

Sure, she has to be rescued by Wakana, who’s able to secure another stage… but from her comment later when the Condor Queens ask if she wants to go out with them for an encore (“No, thank you. The stage we have is ours, even if it’s a small one”) definitely demonstrates development, as well as the fact she understood the meaning behind the Condor Queens’ quotes… That things you want won’t come to you by chance. You have to seize it yourself with your own effort. And that there are things you can and should do now, that you won’t be able to do later.

Next up, we have the key revelations regarding Wakana, whose mother helped compose the Condor Queens’ greatest work. There’s not much development here per se, but we do find out a bit more about the kind of person her mother was, as well as a clear linkage between why she ended up dropping music and her mother. Her quote of her saying “she doesn’t have the talent” despite the fact she obviously does… just hammers in the latter and gives us a little look at the mental struggles she seems to be fighting through now that her mother’s no longer here. In the end, it’s probably inevitable she’ll end up picking back music before the series is all said and done, but it should still be an amazing ride to see how she ends up overcoming her inner demons… and well, it seems like the first step towards that comes in the form of the letter Wakana’s mother wrote to the Condor Queens years ago.

Moving on, we also get some small developments on the other characters as well. We get to see Sawa’s first experience riding horses, as well as the fact that even she will get angry depending on the situation. We see Atsuhiro’s manliness and dedication to his friends when he tackles down “the stalker” via jumping from a taxi. And we see Taichi’s belief in his friends when he changes his mind about wanting to do the encore with the Condor Queens.

And all in all, it’s just a spectacular episode. At the core of every slice-of-life are the characters and this time, we get nothing but quality development and insight into all of them. And even better, TARI TARI‘s also able to weave an enjoyable and layered story filled with the light hearted aspects the genre’s known for, while mixing more complex aspects at the same time. Really, the show’s just a fun to watch, and it just continues to demonstrate why my choice for TARI TARI as the surprise of the season during the Spring end of season podcast wasn’t as crazy as some people thought! 😀

Animated GIF: 09 (Something I stumbled upon randomly).

Full Lengths: 13

Author’s Notes:

  • Due to personal reasons, Takaii will be on hiatus until the end of August. I have decided to pick up TARI TARI in his place.
  • Watching this show really brings back some great memories of being in Chorus during my high school days. The nostalgia!

    •  

    Episode 05:

    「捨てたり 捨てられなかったり」 (Sute Tari Sute Rarenakattari)
    “Throwing Away and Holding On”

    It’s been in the works for awhile now, but this week on TARI TARI, the focus is on Wakana. And gosh darn is it an episode full of revelations. Not only do we get the reveal that both Sawa and Wakana’s mothers were originally in the Choir Club with the vice-principal, but we also find out exactly why Wakana is how she is now. And as it turns out, it’s mostly because of the regrets and guilt she harbors following the passing away of her mother. Her regret at not being able to say simple things like “I’m sorry” and “I’m leaving now”. Her guilt at being so frustrated about the coming exams that she didn’t take that chance to compose a song with her mother. And the realization that she missed out on her only chance to do so, as well as the chance to sing with her one more time. And well, now that that’s cleared up, it’s really no surprise why she dropped music in the first place, as I can see many others in real life who probably would’ve done the same thing.

    But in the end, it turns out that wasn’t even one of the bigger developments this episode, as Wakana reactions to these memories really hit the emotional heartstrings. Giving away the piano her mother used to use, as well as most of her music collection… She ends up trying to get rid of everything relating to her mother and music, to the point where she even gives up the “whale” that her mother made for her years back. And darn it, did I spend practically all episode mentally screaming at the monitor hoping she wouldn’t do it. I mean, it’s perfectly understandable why she did it… but it’s clear it’s something she’ll regret later on. I’m just hoping it ends up being something that makes her realize her need to go back to music and stop running away, rather than falling into the depths of despair… which would be unfortunate considering the pace and developments in the show so far.

    Regardless though, it sure seems like next episode will give us some semblance of a conclusion towards the Wakana “arc”, and I know I’ll be watching to see how it works out. On that note, it was nice to see Atsuhiro getting more and more used to Japanese culture with his “Ganba Red” routine, as well as Konatsu’s usual antics involving her cheering for Taichi at the tournament. He loses ultimately (HOW DO YOU LOSE WITH TWO CUTE GALS CHEERIN’ YOU ON THE SIDELINES LIKE THAT!?) but we get to see some of his prior motivations that led to him playing the sport in the first place (a particular person he admired who also went to Shira High). Also, it gives us some nice interactions between Sawa and Taichi, the former whom expresses a desire to become a jockey. I can’t help but wonder if they’ll end up together by the series’ conclusion…

     

    Episode 06:

    「笑ったり 想ったり」 (Waratta ri Omotta ri)
    “Laughing and Remembering”

    I don’t know if I’m just going soft or something, but quite a few episodes recently have gotten me teary eyed. And well, this was one of them. I mean, I foresaw the regret Wakana would have at throwing out everything related to her mother and music, but actually seeing her realize that… was just something else altogether. Combined with the fact that her father predicted this as well, and made sure to save the piano and the whale keepsake… now that was just amazing. But no! That’s not all! Because they just had to top it off with the fact her father also kept the preliminary music to the song her mother was planning the compose with her AND a new version of Kokoro no Senritsu. And as a result, by the end episode, I was done. Done. Emotionally spent, practically bawling, and sitting there with this really stupid smile on my face.

    And that just showcases how much of a winner TARI TARI has been, to the point where I’d argue it was one of the best shows of the season, period. I don’t know how more people aren’t watching this, but I guess that’s another topic altogether. Either way, this episode was a darn masterpiece and one I’ll definitely remember for quite awhile. There’s just so much in this episode (in addition to the moments I talked about above), that I mean, I’m just speechless on how to talk about it at the moment. I mean, this is like the apex of series of this nature, giving us a seamless, perfect mix of light-hearted moments, lovable characters, and a simple story told in such a way that it just hits the right notes on your emotional heartstrings. To top it off, it has some very enjoyable music, great animation, and just… wow.

    Regardless though, despite my speechlessness… I feel like I have to at least try to talk about some of the other key moments this episode had, because I wouldn’t be able to give it enough justice otherwise:

  • Seeing Konatsu talk with Wakana really hammers in how much of a contrast they are from each other. Sure, you could tell their personalities were pretty different from the start, but seeing Konatsu’s view regarding fulfilling promises (“It’s okay not to have fulfilled the promise, because everytime I remember it, I remember my grandfather.”) versus Wakana’s (“Promises should be kept.”) just shows how they’re really on opposite ends of the spectrum. Yet, it’s pretty obvious they get along well and that both can really learn a lot from each other. Just a great demonstration of how opposites attract and how just because someone’s different in some way, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.
  • Seeing the things that Wakana’s father did for her, as well as the sheer amount of sadness and tears he had to deal with in the past and even now… he’s just a great dad to say the least. Sure, he’s a bit off a goofball who goes asking a cat where her daughter is, and doesn’t cook meals most of the time, but that’s the kind of dynamic I feel every dad out there should have with their kid. And it’s just amazing to watch how well TARI TARI shows this aspect of family life and the interactions between the various members in a typical family. Notably, we see this with Sawa a little bit as well, with a brief introduction to her father, who doesn’t want her to ride horses for a career.
  • And last but not least, let’s talk a bit about the light hearted moments, which included: Sawa trying to get her mother to cut the bushes into a penquin… Wakana trolling her dad for breakfast… The lengths Atsuhiro and Taichi are going through to try and improve… The horse blatantly smiling at Wakana… The misconception Konatsu had that Wakana was gonna jump off the cliff and the resulting fall afterwards… and the Metal Gear-isque sneaking attempt to get there.

    • And well, that’s a wrap I guess. I could go on all day, but alas, the post is already probably longer than anything you’ve ever read on RC… so… yeah. But, phew* Nothing like the feeling you get after completing something as big as a triple post! But hey, we’re all caught up again here on RC, and I hope you’ll join me again next week.

    Full-length images: 02, 08, 28.

     

    ED3 Sequence

    ED3: 「心の旋律」 (Kokoro no Senritsu #06 ED ver.) by 花江夏樹, 瀬戸麻沙美, 早見沙織, 高垣彩陽, 島崎信長 (Hanae Natsuki, Seto Asami, Hayami Saori, Takagaki Ayahi, Shimazaki Nobunaga)
    Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼

    Preview

    67 Comments

    1. Maybe I overlooked this but when did “Wien” turn into “Atsuhiro”? I saw that on MAL and I was like “who the heck is Atsuhiro…oh it’s Wien”. Anyways a nice improvement for this show, ep 6 was definitely quite solid.

      webkid94
      Reply

    2. Well, I was very angry at Wakana in episode 5 and wanted to slap her repeatedly, but I guess she redeemed herself in 6. Even so, Konatsu remains the highlight of the show for me.

      Still, despite its frankly all over the place pacing, its still remaining an interesting show to watch and worth your time.

      eharper256
      Reply

      1. Same here, had a very strong urge to slap Wakana (both the present day and the younger one) because of her stupidity in Ep5 .. i’m mean come on .. even the cat ran away from her XD

        I haven’t seen ep 6yet .. but hope she makes up for the annoying mess she made ep5 into XD

        HunterWulf
        Reply

    3. At the start of the ep i was like : oh god no wakana focused episode again ? enough with her…

      then i’ve seen her laugh <3 she is so cute when she is open like this, i reaaaaly hope she will stay this way and blend with the rest of the group or i'll go back to hating her.

      this show need more godess sawa, and i'm glad next arc seem to be focused on her.

      Zeross
      Reply

    7. I was actually very confuse with Wakana at ep.5 when she want to get rid of all her mother’s belonging, I mean what is she trying to achieve, erase her mother’s proof or exsistence, her memory her love all together? I know Wakana is sad and felt regret but why would you do that? I mean everyone would feel sad when someone they love past away but I would never try to get rid of their belongings that like saying I am trying to get rid of all the good memories I had with them as well.

      Andy
      Reply

      1. Ehhh… it’s not really that hard to see why she did it eh. Theoretically it’s a pretty natural reaction to try and throw everything away in order forget about it… just one of those impulse decisions. Yes, there’s good memories associated with them… but you can argue remembering those also make it even harder to forget the bad ones, especially when you were the cause of it, ya know?

        Zephyr
        Reply

      2. I agree with Zephyr. Many people eventually get rid of some or even all the belongings of someone whose died – for many different reasons of course but the underlying one is usually just so they can move on. Besides, its not like your memories of someone lie soley in their possessions afterall. For Wakana, it’s probably the opposite of what you thought (that she did it to get rid of the good memories and her mother altogether) – its more like despite the good memories, she was reminded of her guilt each time she saw these things so she tried to get rid of it. It at least helped set things in motion for her, leading to her dealing with her guilt and focus on all the good again.

        On a side note, I’d like to mention that despite many people disliking Wakana for her behavior then, I’m pretty sure a majority of people have acted that way toward a parent or loved one at least one time in their youth or even adulthood. Her behavior then happens to intersect with her mother’s death so she’ll always remember how she acted but if her mother didnt die then, her and her mother would’ve most likely reconciled and forgotten that short period in their lives. Almost like Sawa’s situation with her father now – she’d regret not speaking to him if something bad were to happen to him.

        Watt
        Reply

      3. I’ve posed a similar question before, but haven’t been able to get an adequate answer. We assume the letter Wakana got at the end of episode 4 convinced her to get rid of the piano, and yet at the end of episode 5 it was that same letter (narritive voiceover from her mother) that made her cry at the end of episode 5. How does 1 item extract 2 highly different emotions (emotional separation/detachment and remorse/catharsis)? I find that “impulse decision” is just a bad excuse because it also reflects negatively upon Wakana’s character (she’s a coward for not dealing with her guilt). It’s her mother’s most valuable heirloom for God’s sake. Coupled with the face that she’s a famous songwriter and practically a saint according to the flashbacks, that piano’s damn near priceless. Allowing “impulse decision” to fly as an excuse is to allow all sorts of bad writing.

        plushkin
        Reply

      4. I kid you not, I just came back from a day trip to Kamakura and Enoshima today, and true enough, the shops and train stations were full of TARI TARI advertisement posters. I even managed to find the exact location of the post office near Wakana’s house.

        There were still some Tsuritama posters, but they’re slowly being replaced. Oh, of course, I climbed the observation tower seen in that series. My legs are still sore after a whole days’ walk.

        Enoshima’s just an hour’s train ride from Tokyo, so planning a day trip there should you ever pop by Tokyo is totally possible.

        Kinny Riddle
        Reply

    12. Absolutely love Konatsu in this series. I teared up watching episode 6, Wakana’s dad is such an amazing person. What hit me the most was the flashback of Wakana’s parents and then her dad just teared up. Then finally Wakana runs up into her room and cries. Oh such a touching episode.

      cowazaki
      Reply

    13. Yeah, this is one of the better show, if not the best, of the season. The characters are great and the story is really well done. Konatsu is adorable, Sawa is cool and collected, Wakana tries her best to get over the past, Taichi finds some love in music and Atsuhiro being Wien.

      Not to mention the musics are absolutely beautiful. Kokoro no Senritsu 5-people version is just so good I can’t stop listening to.

      Serapita
      Reply

    14. Tari Tari is awesome! Sawa is Awesome! P.A Works is Awesome. Zephyr is awesome (for picking up this series)!

      Thank you to pick up this Zephyr. It will be a waste if RC don’t have this series. Definitely the best show of this season. This time Pa works has definitely produced something with quality and memorability that match True Tears.

      Don’t worry Zephyr, you are certainly not the only one who got teary eyed watching. I was teary eyed myself wathcing all thre episodes above. And boy, we are only at 6 episodes so far. So much goodies to come yet.

      Salbazier
      Reply

    15. A minor detail- but I do like the fact that this is based around choir. How many times in anime (especially slice-of-life) do we get to hear girls sing in pitch lower than 3000 Hz?

      Anyways- I’ve no complaints about the pacing, and will withhold judgment upon the structural aspects of this show for when all is said and done. In the meantime, though- I gotta say that it’s hitting all the right notes (no pun intended).

      Stranger
      Reply

      1. I know right? The amazing part is how all of the VA’s are able to adapt and actually sing choir songs like this, which are a ways away from the typical pop/rock type insert themes you usually see. Not to mention how most of the elements they depict in terms of practicing and what not are actually things I’ve done or seen similarly when I was in Chorus for a few years.

        Zephyr
        Reply

    16. Sure Tari Tari has lovable characters, GEAT choir music and smooth animation etc., its a GREAT series to watch. Though despite that, there’s something inexplicably lacking in it for me to sayirs THE SHOW of the season for me. That title belongs to Kokoro Connect who’s in a 3 way race to the top with 2 other shows

      c2710
      Reply

      1. I agree. What TT lacks is that sense of taking risks with its story. Stuff just happens and we already see the ending way ahead of time. KC really excels as a story-driven narrative that takes those risks and in turn becomes very memorable. I can’t say TT is as memorable; just cute girls doing cute things. It’s that moe genre that’s seeping in and affecting the narrative.

        plushkin
        Reply

    18. When I saw Wakana cry, I was starting to tear up myself. The whole time, I was thinking “if her dad starts crying in sadness for what was lost and joy that his little girl was growing up”, I was going to start bawling myself.

      And boy did P.A. works deliver. o(╥﹏╥)o

      Kaosu
      Reply

    19. This was an amazing episode. While I really liked the ending of it I think that scene when she closes the door on them in the choir room made me pause so I could stop laughing before I could continue. That was just a perfectly placed scene in the episode. There was just no preparing for it.

      estron
      Reply

    20. I was actually getting annoyed at Wakana’s arc. The Choir Club to develop their club with fun antics while Wakana became the designated party pooper. Worse was that the other cast members just stand around doing nothing and saying “Hey something is wrong with Wakana” (no s***!). Wakana’s story ended up feeling really invasive to the other subplots.

      Thankfully, Episode 6 fixed that because everyone actually got involved helping Wakana out of her funk. Hopefully now, we get to see a more involvement with what is supposed to be an ensemble cast.

      Also Wien is awesome. “Saving” Wakana by jumping of a cab to tackle a speeding bike? He may be be a European dork but that was manly as f***. More of Wien please.

      fragb85
      Reply

    22. Thanks so much for picking this up in Takaii’s place, Zephyr!!

      Glad to see all the neat developments thrown in, episode 5 had me raging at Wakana a bit, but thankfully Dad stepped in to save the day in episode 6!! Yay for Dad!! (I’ve not seen many anime nowadays where the parents will anticipate the hotheaded/melodramatic actions of their kids and actually do something about it using common sense to counter)…

      Autumn The Cuzzy
      Reply

    23. I threw this series under the bus after eps 1 and 2, but 4-6; esp 5&6 have vaulted it back to the FREAKIN’ AWESOME series I was hoping for.

      Watching Sawa get mad was really a turning point that forced Konatsu to make up her freaking mind. Somehow I’m not surprised Sawa practically stole the horse ^_^;;. She’s definitely my favorite, but Wakana has put in some serious effort, and now that we get her story; things finally make sense.

      Seeing the guys put in some honest effort is pretty legit. They both could probably totally blow it off, but they’re really working at it, and their efforts shall be rewarded. That Ed sounded pretty sweet ~w~…

      Until next week!

      kumakaori
      Reply

    24. …the post is already probably longer than anything you’ve ever read on RC…

      I could be mistaken, but I believe that honor would go to Stilts and the epic Horizon S1 Retrospectives. /snicker

      Either way I’m glad to see this show being caught up. I had almost given up on Tari Tari coming out of episode 3, but decided to stick with it a bit longer. Sooooo glad I didn’t drop it and was dying to see thoughts on Eps 5 and 6.

      Anonymous2112
      Reply

      2. Since Takaii has been taking too long with Hyouka, as the Cultural Festival arc is about to finish next week, I suggest Verdant should wait till next week before covering all the episodes in said arc in one go.

        Kinny Riddle
        Reply

    27. Wakana’s dad ought to get an award for “most perceptive anime dad 2012”, first for allowing Wakana to sort out her grief in her own terms, and only intervening in the right moment, like when he handed her Mahiru’s unfinished musical notes, or revealing that he never did threw away the piano.

      Kinny Riddle
      Reply

      1. Lol that was my main gripe with episode 6; the parents are too perfect, especially her mom. Unfortunately, that affects my enjoyment of the show in a bad way, bacause not only are Wakana’s parents too good to be believable, but also with saintly parents like that, Wakana still had the gall to be a pissed off angsty teenager? I actually started the series liking Wakana’s character the most, but after the episode involving her parents, it made me NOT like her character.

        plushkin
        Reply

    28. All I can say is:
      Wien is the best. I cry tears of joy whenever he’s on screen. He’s so incredibly cute that it hurts. Hopefully they give him more attention in the future.

      staticphrase
      Reply

    29. Glad to read the review from you, Zephyr! :DD
      It’s nice that you seem to REALLY enjoy this show, ^-^ totally different perspective from Takaii-san.

      I have to say too, Tari Tari hasn’t been like the cliche shows so far…though I think there can definitely be more potential. =3
      But I’m LOVING THE NEW ENDING! xD

      Eburin
      Reply

    31. Wow… that second half of the sixth ep. Granted I cry pretty easily, but… still. Wow. Now, this is drama done right.

      Konatsu really redeemed herself, too, as it was pretty difficult for me to like her for the past five episodes. But her comment about her grandfather started the tearfest LOL

      BakaMochi
      Reply

    33. Kudos for episode 6. I was really angry with the ED of episode 5 for messing up the mood. (Posted in the Horizon thread). To err is human; to forgive, divine
      I take my hat off and kneel to the ED of episode 6 that’s how you do it RIGTH!!!
      Also Wakana teaching vocal lessons to the guys , like her mom did to her, is part of her healing process. That Aaaa from the hearth did it for me and my tissues. Can’t wait for the vice principal to hear the tape or the choir, that is going to be another heartfelt moment!!!!!

      Yes!@
      Reply

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