Tamako Love Story

That forgets it has an overarching plot until the final episode where it crams it all in thus making it an inessential viewing experience to enjoy the Tamako Love Story movie.

While the show is still enjoyable, the movie really shines both as a finale to the show and as a standalone film because it tells the tale of two teens nearing the end of their high school days and having to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Everyone has their own goals and dreams for what they want to do in the future, but feelings often can get in the way of it, and learning how to deal with said feelings is an important part of life that everyone has to learn. Some act on those feelings and try to initiate change, while others are willing to keep things the same and stable. In Tamako Love Story, Mochizou makes the first move and it throws Tamako's life balance all out of whack and she must learn how to deal with it.

It's a really cute movie that is beautifully animated like most of Kyo-Ani's works. I particularly love how detailed the hair strands are on Tamko's closest friends Midori and Kanna, Midori has an incredible character design and is super pretty to look at. But Kanna steals the show in every scene she is in and brings a lot of laughs in this fun and really likable film. Naoko Yamada knows how to make stories that just feel so human and she's a wonderful director.