(L) Tari Tari

[kk2extreme]

We still haven't seen any of Wien's family members yet

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Don't compare Wienner to the likes of Enishi and Jiromaru. That's just insulting.

I don't see why these comparisons to HSI keep happening - apart from PA Works and the broad visual similarity that entails, they're nothing at alike! And while I'd take issue with the argument that HSI gave any serious development to the male characters, the difference is there was never really any attempt to convince us they were main characters. Apart from Kouichi they were all basically extras, and Enishi seemingly existed only for the purpose of denigrating his entire gender.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I don't see why these comparisons to HSI keep happening - apart from PA Works and the broad visual similarity that entails, they're nothing at alike! And while I'd take issue with the argument that HSI gave any serious development to the male characters, the difference is there was never really any attempt to convince us they were main characters. Apart from Kouichi they were all basically extras, and Enishi seemingly existed only for the purpose of denigrating his entire gender.

Cause it's fun to bash Iroha even though I like it a lot

[Soliloquy]

I checked the resume for the guy responsible for scripts and directing and I find it very impressive that this anime is his major debut as script composition. So far this anime for me progressed the story smooth as a butter without awkward mood shifting and very consistent plotting. It may lack ambition and the whole setting is so safe and uninspiring but the characters do make it work.

What I like about this anime the most is that the characters that seem often unimportant or undeveloped have some sort of motivations or agendas. This anime is one of the few that actually give the adult characters some meaningful roles. Anime like this kind from what I've seen struggled a lot with the character drama.

The episode 6 did just that. This episode supposed to be focused entirely on Wakana but like the others I concur that her dad was the one that received a lot of development. While he could've saved all the memento for Wakana, this episode showed that he had the good reason that he treasured them just as much as she does like the piano and the unfinished work of his wife.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

I checked the resume for the guy responsible for scripts and directing and I find it very impressive that this anime is his major debut as script composition. So far this anime for me progressed the story smooth as a butter without awkward mood shifting and very consistent plotting. It may lack ambition and the whole setting is so safe and uninspiring but the characters do make it work.

While I agree that it has progressed very nicely so far I wouldn't actually say that it was always perfect. Remember episode 2? The one that felt like a finale? Yeah, you can tell the director is new at this...

[Pocari_Sweat]

Would like to point out the director for Tari Tari is the same director (Masakazu Hashimoto) as the Professor Layton and Eternal Diva movie (also done by PA Works).
I mentioned this a few times already and hardly anyone knows but it's by far PA's most financially successfully series grossing over $6m USD during its theatrical run over a span of 3 months, which is significantly more than even what Disappearance earned in the same time span. That makes it substantially more financially successful than what Angel Beats was, which everyone mistakenly believes is PA's most successful franchise.

So no, the director is a not really a newbie when it comes to anime.

[Arya]

Letting aside the number of episodes left, so far the only romance small hints I've spotted are those related to Sawa toward Taichi. Realistically Wakana has been too absorbed by her personal issues to notice any boys advances. Anyways she was really clear about what the boys lack, common sense. And I agree with her. Speaking of Wien, well his character is too much underdeveloped to be able to reach romance peaks in a short time. They need to burn his books first and give him .. "common sense" before starting to thing to romance. (Ok, I've used underdeveloped, but probably he is just out of the group, so he had to tune on their frequency first). Taichi instead seem to be too much focused on his sport. He is like wearing blinkers. So he also needs to grow first. Or give up to that "player" who inspired him, maybe?
Anyways they are not romance worthy right now
So, with the number of episodes left and Sawa arc incoming there is room for their character development, but not even for the romance IMHO. But it's PA Works we are talking about so who knows what they are going to do in the last episodes (Joking).

Regarding un-ambition, comparisons and hamburgers I don't know what to say, because to me it's more a matter of approach. Looking at this season we can say that KC is on paper more ambitious and it could have been, I'm enjoying the show btw, but I can't compare it with Tari Tari, not anymore. KC looks more unoriginal than Tari Tari. Hyouka pointed every effort to the animation with the result of a stunning hamburger, but flavourless. One of the big points Tari Tari has is that it looks refreshing even not being original. And it's not like "what a tasteful hamburger!", but more like "oh, so that's how an hamburger should taste!", sort of.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

Would like to point out the director for Tari Tari is the same director (Masakazu Hashimoto) as the Professor Layton and Eternal Diva movie (also done by PA Works).
I mentioned this a few times already and hardly anyone knows but it's by far PA's most financially successfully series grossing over $6m USD during its theatrical run over a span of 3 months, which is significantly more than even what Disappearance earned in the same time span. That makes it substantially more financially successful than what Angel Beats was, which everyone mistakenly believes is PA's most successful franchise.

So no, the director is a not really a newbie when it comes to anime.

No but he is not only new to the TV series format but also new to actually providing the writing for the show. He surely has a very short but also very impressive resume and I hope to see more from him in the future.

And people actually think that Angel Beats was that successful? People sure bought the hype hum?

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Dextro

No but he is not only new to the TV series format but also new to actually providing the writing for the show. He surely has a very short but also very impressive resume and I hope to see more from him in the future.

And people actually think that Angel Beats was that successful? People sure bought the hype hum?

Financially, it was by far the best selling Key anime adaptation 34k (average per volume) vs the 2nd highest ranked Key adapation Clannad's 25k. Of course, critic/reception wise it was probably the most mixed . But quality =/= sales . Imo, I think it's by far PA's worst work and is the only work done by the studio that I flat-out dislike. Then again, I'm probably biased since I don't really like Key in the first place - only Key adaptation I actually liked was After Story.

[Soliloquy]

Originally Posted by Dextro

While I agree that it has progressed very nicely so far I wouldn't actually say that it was always perfect. Remember episode 2? The one that felt like a finale? Yeah, you can tell the director is new at this...

I don't know. I've seen almost every anime from PA Works, so far all of them felt at times it didn't go anywhere and the pacing was awkward. The only thing I really watched for was the animations. On the other hand, this anime handles itself well despite the overabundant number of characters. When I started watching this, I wasn't really expecting out of this. If anything, another fluffy high school slice of life anime and it gave much more.

Episode 2 indeed felt like a finale but it was still acceptable because it accomplished what it needs to. Instead of focusing only on the main characters, it gave the minor characters the role to make them feel just more than stick figure.

Maybe I'm just growing cynical, I have the lowest expectations when I'm watching high school drama by well-known anime studios because you read all these raving reviews and end up very disappointed at too much melodrama. I think it's too much exposure to Key anime. It really helped me appreciate this one. This one is great and very down-to-earth without being too weird to stand out.

Now that I think about it, I cannot really think of high school drama that was really well done. Most of them were watchable but nowhere near raving. And this is the problem with some otakus. They sometimes rave the anime too much as long as it has all the necessary elements.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

Financially, it was by far the best selling Key anime adaptation

Sorry,can't resist making the smartass remark that AB is anime original and not an adaptation

Anyway another thing that I find intriguing is that for the last two episodes the director/scriptwriter has shared the scriptwriting credit with this person
PA Works: we don't need writers anymore we'll just have our scripts wriiten by our animators

[Vena]

Originally Posted by totoum

Anyway another thing that I find intriguing is that for the last two episodes the director/scriptwriter has shared the scriptwriting credit with this person
PA Works: we don't need writers anymore we'll just have our scripts wriiten by our animators

Well holy crap, this guy needs to script more because these past two episodes were damn fine.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

Maybe I'm just growing cynical, I have the lowest expectations when I'm watching high school drama by well-known anime studios because you read all these raving reviews and end up very disappointed at too much melodrama. I think it's too much exposure to Key anime. It really helped me appreciate this one. This one is great and very down-to-earth without being too weird to stand out.

Nope, it's not just you. But to be fair, it's not only anime related, but the whole entertainment industry. People like flair, theatrical, over-the-top from whatever genre be it drama, action or comedy. Style over substance in other words. It isn't inherently bad per se, but it is a problem if THAT's the only type of entertainment that gets advertised and THAT's the kind of entertainment people watch and only watch. Who here for example knows what the movie won the Palme d'Or and Grand Prix prizes for the Cannes Film Festival this year? Compare that to the Oscars/Academy awards winners.

Now don't get me wrong, I like the odd whizbang action flick or the laugh out loud comedies, but sometimes I like to use my brain and watch something that makes me feel smarter once in a while . Unfortunately, all the peers I talk to always talk about the whizbang or laugh out loud stuff.

Now that I think about it, I cannot really think of high school drama that was really well done. Most of them were watchable but nowhere near raving. And this is the problem with some otakus. They sometimes rave the anime too much as long as it has all the necessary elements.

It is extremely rare indeed but there are a few that at least try to be "genuine", "subtle", "restrained", which is for me is more than enough for the TV anime medium considering how much "melodrama" stuff there is. Recent examples that comes to mind include Cross Game, Wandering Son and True Tears (this one is arguable and might be just my fanboy talking).

Anime films and OVAs are significantly easier though and a fair few do exist. Some on top of my head includes: 5 Centimeters Per Second, Colorful, Ocean Waves, Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora and my personal favourite Baby Blue (Genius Party Episode 7). Baby blue in particular left me completely speechless. Made Watanabe's latter involvement in Sakamichi no Apollon smell like cat piss, even though Sakamichi was pretty damn good on its own ground.

And if you take out "high school" and just leave drama in, then the list becomes exponentially bigger.

-----------------------------

Anyways, getting back on topic regarding Tari Tari. Sure, there are some obvious attempts at "commercial" gimmicks. The most obvious one being it's a high school anime with 3 moe girls as leads, particularly Konatsu whose actions get's half the audience to "hnnng" over her (me included! But hey, I do like to think I have a "smart, pretentious side" alongside my "who gives a a damn about being snobby, if you enjoy it you enjoy it" side ).

However, outside of that I love the way how Tari Tari is restrained and genuine. This episode (ep6) in particular could have easily have been one of them "waaaah cry buckets" type of melodrama episodes, but nope Tari Tari took the less trodded path by staying true to what it initially was.

It's also avoiding giving in to shippers because as we all know with 99% of shows, if it's about high school and has a mixed cast, romance is inevitable (for the moment anyway until PA realises pre-orders for Tari Tari are even worse than True Tears which leads to their sponsors pressuring them to add "commercial" traits).

It's also absent of any halfass supernatural gimmicks that seem to more often than not harm a series than benefit it - see my rant in the previous page and the Kokoro Connect link which was also on that post. "Hey look! We haz magicks, miracles and alienz! We different from average high school dramas and cute girls doing cute things!" Not if you're halfassing them and giving stupid explanations and plot twists resulting in feeling "tacked on" you don't!

And lastly but not least, the comedy. With the exception of crazy Spanish stalker, comedy moments have largely been pinpoint, precise and didn't drag. None of that Manzai/Family Guy like comedy crap where the same gag is used over and over again, which implies ORDERING people to laugh - much like the case melodrama ORDERS people to cry. I tend to do the complete opposite and unintentionally laugh at it if it's trying too hard *cough cough Anohana*. I should really stop bashing this show because it makes me sound like I hate it when i reality I actually liked it...

And it's actually about music! Omg! It has one or two musical performances per episode and musical theme is embedded in the series' plot and drama .

No ambition my ass. Takes ambition in avoiding being tempted to turning the series into some soap opera or shipping fuel

Anyways, I should stop soapboxing before I decide to write another tl;dr post that no one will give a damn about and/or before I jinx this show. *goes knocks on wood immediately because I suddenly remembered what happened to Iroha episode 3*

EDIT:

Originally Posted by totoum

Anyway another thing that I find intriguing is that for the last two episodes the director/scriptwriter has shared the scriptwriting credit with this person
PA Works: we don't need writers anymore we'll just have our scripts wriiten by our animators

Just keep Mari Okada distracted with so bad it's good material that she'll devilishly enjoy trolling away from PA's scripts and everything should be fine from now on

[Julio C]

Looks like we are getting deep into the drama now. I hope they keep it up.

[EroKing]

Couple of freebies.

[Snuffle]

Very nice Wakana episode, she had a ton of character development here which is fairly hard to do within just 22mins.

Her scene with her laughing just melted me. I couldn't just help saying "wow omg so cute lol"
I must've re-watched that scene at least five times before continuing to go through the rest of the episode for the first time. The staring at the baby wasn't bad either.

I hope she doesn't get sent back into the background now like how Konatsu is... That would just suck.

[Archon_Wing]

Just watched up to episode 5 and it was a wonderful episode that led to to the ED song nicely.

It's partially because I'm a sucker for sad backstories, but it was nice that Tari Tari presented it in a non-melodramatic fashion in a manner that I would say that outclasses any of other PA's previous attempts and they've done quite a few nice ones. The backgrounds and the quiet music in the background really worked together to bring us down in a trip down memory lane, interspersed with the flashback. They also saved the heavy hitters for the end, especially the scene near the end with Wakana in the empty room that really just summarized everything, being full of regrets and things she shouldn't have said. Maybe she blames herself for being too uptight and not appreciating things until their too late, or is just frustration that she wasn't fitting in her mother's dream.

But of course, there will be music.

This kind of thing tends to get done much, but it takes some skill to just say "Oh look this girl was really sad when she was young, go feel bad for her". The difference here is how the events created this rather detached and withdrawn girl, and thus we may see where the story develops.

[wontaek]

I am still waiting for that Sawa+Konatsu dancing gif

[Qilin]

In terms of emotional impact, this show takes the cake over everything else I've seen in this season so far.

It took a while, but I'm beginning to appreciate the utter simplicity of the story that this show is trying to tell, one of regret, forgiveness, and acceptance. Most importantly, it does so without relying on cheap melodrama or constructs to keep things going. The storytelling relied on a nice tapestry of interwoven flashbacks, in addition to Wakana's own subdued reactions. The result is a warm tale that came off as genuinely heartfelt.

Now, while we're talking about the effects of the death of Wakana's mother, I'm now quite interested in knowing how it affected the current vice-principal emotionally. It's been hinted that the two shared a close friendship during their days in the choir club, so I'm looking forward to a glimpse into the actual nature of their relationship.

At the very least, it's now clear why she was so adamant about not letting Konatsu use that particular song for the recital, seeing as it was something she and Wakana's mom created together.

[Quadratic]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I don't see why these comparisons to HSI keep happening - apart from PA Works and the broad visual similarity that entails, they're nothing at alike! And while I'd take issue with the argument that HSI gave any serious development to the male characters, the difference is there was never really any attempt to convince us they were main characters. Apart from Kouichi they were all basically extras, and Enishi seemingly existed only for the purpose of denigrating his entire gender.

Because Tari Tari is just a reboot of Hanasaku Iroha (though a bit better)?
You have the fighter, the tsundere, the princess and the antagonistic hag (she's actually a good person deep down inside!).
The central theme in both shows is about girl power (girls are strong inside! girls can do anything! girls don't need boys! etc etc), and boys are stupid and weak without girls (or just stupid and week, full stop).
I think this show is subtly (or not so subtle?) trying to insult us guys.