We follow the choir and sometimes badminton club as they sometimes do choir and very rarely play badminton.
Tari Tari started out strong, with an exciting first episode about forming the choir club. And then we just forgot about that. We worried about Wakana’s mom and whether Wakana should become a composer like her mom. Wakana attained sainthood, and then we worried that Sawa was too tall to be a jockey. Wien and Taichi never amount to anything.
The show has no real direction. One day we’re worried about doing music, the next we’re worried about dead people, then we’re worried about horseback archery, and we end up crying about the school closing with some old rich guy who likes to bully high school girls and doesn’t let them sing songs. What’s the point?
My biggest pet peeve, however, is Wakana. This girl spends three episodes worrying that she hasn’t ended up composing just like her mom did. What’s the big deal?
Well, apparently she wasn’t being true to herself. Because Wakana has to do exactly what her mom did with her life. Anything else would be a disgrace to her mother’s memory.
This isn’t even the worst part though. After that she becomes the Buddha. She lectures all her friends and teachers and there’s this halo on her head and angelic music. Her advice is completely insipid, but comes as if she’s attained all the knowledge in the world. Everyone respects Wakana, the fount of all wisdom.
This show shares a lot in common with Hanasaku Iroha, which was also made by PA Works. Both were about girls who attended high school, started with a strong episode, and then disintegrated into tedium. Hanasaku Iroha did come back occasionally to the good drama of the initial episode, but Tari Tari never did. In addition, Tari Tari’s setting was comparatively boring.
I can’t bring myself to recommend Tari Tari.
- Storytelling – D – No direction.
- Voice – C – Not particularly engaging.
- Characters – D – F for Wakana, C for everyone else.
- Attention Grab – C – Varies wildly by episode.
- Production – C – Some cringeworthy moments in the animation. Not up to PA Works usual standards, I felt.
- Overall – D+
Recommendations – Hanasaku Iroha, AnoHana, Sora no Woto
How does Wakana’s neck even support her gigantic head in that second screen cap?
Glad I skipped this one.
Because the angels carry it around for her.
Lol max, damn i was laughing at this one so bad i nearly split my stomach.
I think it’s pretty funny that someone who likes Simoun would hate on this show.
At the very least, Simoun had a unique setting and culture. Maybe that’s the big difference in draw?
Why? I didn’t think Simoun was anything like this. They both had… people who looked female? I can’t see much in common between the two…
I can’t help but feel a bit sad about the low scores on this show, despite having excited quite a while ago that it was not going to be what I had hoped for. After realizing that I needed to lower my expectations, the story was much more bearable. As for characters, I couldn’t help but really like Sawa and Konatsu–the first for her unconventional curvier body and sweet connection to her horse (also loved the relationships she shared with her parents), and the second just for her quirkiness.
Considering how much Draggle was ragging on this show, I would say D+ was being very generous. I agree with your point that halfway through the series, I just had to check my expectations at the door otherwise I’d be just hating it. I do, however, have to disagree on your opinion of Konatsu. I have met a Konatsu, and it is not quirky, it’s just flat out annoying. lol why do the most useless character be the one leading clubs? The other example would of course be K-On.
Yeah, this was a borderline D.
I could see a real life Konatsu being pretty annoying. But at least here we only got her in moderation. Come to think of it, she barely mattered at all after the first episode.
Either way, I’d prefer a real life Konatsu to Wakana. If I met a Wakana I would end up punching her in the face.
Sawa does have a “nice body” as they would say in Engrish.
I don’t know, I’m not good at this lowering expectations thing. If the show’s not going to be what I expected, that’s the show’s fault, not mine. They should raise their standards to meet my expectations and not the other way around. 🙂
If I should describe this series in one word it would be: awkward. The creators did have some budget to spend and some good ideas as well but they managed to botch this show.
Personally, I would rate it slightly (but not much) better, though. I confess that I really enjoy this sleazy but unobtrusive type of fanservice P.A. Works already had in HanaIro. No panties flying in your face (everyone always properly dressed actually) but stuff like Sawa riding her horse in a miniskirt, Sawa dancing in ep. 11, lots of random shots of the girls’ legs and feet – e.g. http://bit.ly/VZkcPA – and not to forget all that girl butt slapping!
I was torn between a D+ and a D, it was awkward but not nearly as bad as some of the other stuff airing this season.
I did enjoy this type of fanservice as well. 🙂 Too bad the rest of the show didn’t deliver…