[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Ceral

I would not classify either of those three as dramas, but to each their own. I actually watched Natsuiro Kiseki and 4-6 eps of the other two I mentioned. And I stuck around as long as I did for the girls and the slice of life comedy element. I never cared for melodrama that felt manufactured. For as much Tamayura as I recall, it wasn't very dramatic, it just had some sad plot elements in the story, which actually seemed pretty similar to Tamako's mother and the scene in the cafe. Sad moments in the past but moved on.

Well, I only watched a few episodes of Tamayura but those early eps were relatively heavyhanded in drama barely crossing the melodrama line but each to their own like you said. I am surprised though you didn't mind Air though despite your dislike of melodrama, since I thought that Air was one of the series that pioneered the whole sad girls in the snow with heavy melodrama genre.

The bird was meh for me. At first when I saw it, I was hoping it'd do something interesting like start talking, and it did! But after establishing his character, I didn't feel like he did anything all that surprising or funny.

Comedy is a subjective thing afterall. I actually dislike anime slapstick comedy most of the time. If you want to talk about Kyoani specifically, I dislike most of the comedy-heavy sections of Key adaptations Kyoani did (and by extension PA works' adaptation of Angel Beats and the currently airing Little Busters by JC Staff) because after all the goofing about in the 1st halves, the 2nd half does a 180 and suddenly turns mega melodramatic causing mood whiplash. I'm hoping thats not the case with Tamako Market, and it'll stay lighthearted and fun throughout its whole run. The melodramatic 2nd half is the primary thing that killed Chuunibyou for me for example.

He establishes himself as some sort of perverted royalty of sorts, he did some edgy things, but I guess it just wasn't very original other than being inside a birds body. OFC you could tell he wanted to look over the wall at the public bath right? So I expected that to happen, and it did, and between that there wasn't really anything that made me laugh... Too much bird I guess.

Well that part didn't make me laugh. The scene that actually made me laugh was when the bird ate so much mochi to the point he gained so much weight he couldn't fly as an example.

Despite being perverted he seems rather family friendly?

I still remember a certain scene with Mio in K-on flashing her panties unintentionally and then someone in the background took a picture of it. Yet, K-on is still considered a family friendly show by many. I also remember various daytime J-dramas/K-dramas having these short-bursts of "perveted" comedy so I'm pretty sure it's a common cultural comedy tool in at least East Asian entertainment.

Having a talking bird mascot taken seriously is something I'd expect from a show aimed at a younger demographic I guess.

I disagree. What about all those "traditional" (not the more otaku-centric ones like Nanoha) magical girl based shows that are actually aimed at young girls which all pretty much have animal mascots? I consider these types of shows family entertainment so I don't see how Tamako Market can't achieve it either as long as they tone down the excessive moe antics Kyoani tends to do at times. Not to mention, if you wanna veer off into Western Entertainment, a significant portion of family entertainment are films, usually animated, with talking animals of all sorts.

I for one won't be getting hooked by that bird, anyway. Tamako and the boy didn't do anything all that interesting either that pops off the top of my head. Tamako seems to have her head on straight and is pretty normal. The boy seemed to be a little unassertive but that's normal as well. There seems to be some crazy plot points at play, but I'm not concerned about that, I'd rather have interesting personalities. If the arrogant perverted bird is the most interesting character, there's no way I'll get through this show. That type of character I just can't stomach for more than a few jokes an episode, unless he does some really witty stuff, which iirc he didn't.

I guess I'm watching the show differently. I do like witty comedy the best (in the form of smart deapan, sarcasm, black, irony), and I can't remember the last time Kyoani did a series that had significant amounts of "witty" comedy period. Most of their comedy is slapstick iirc (no fault to Kyoani alone though, since the majority of anime comedy is slapstick), but that doesn't mean it can't be funny at times. The closest to "witty" was in Hyouka but that wasn't a comedy series in the first place. I guess it's genuinely funny since a talking bird doing bizarre random things in a "slice of life" series isn't really something you see everyday.