This feature-length anime title is based on the fey 12-episode anime series Tamako Market. In the film version, Tamako is a high school student who works in her family's mochi (Japanese rice cake) shop, located in a busy shopping arcade. Tamako, now in her third year of high school, faces uncertainty over the next step in her life. Complicating matters is Mochizo, a male friend planning to leave for film school, who surprises Tamako by unexpectedly declaring his interest in her. For anyone familiar with the earlier Tamako Market, this film will be somewhat disappointing due to the absence of the scene-stealing Dera, the bizarre talking bird from a distant country who winds up living in Tamako's family store and helping himself to the rice cakes. Dera's zany personality helped keep the series wonderfully off-kilter. But even for those unfamiliar with the earlier series, the story here is not particularly compelling, playing like a teen soap opera with emotions that are anvil-level obvious. Presented in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition, this is an optional purchase. (P. Hall)
Tamako Love Story
(2014) 85 min. Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.98. Sentai Filmworks (avail. from most distributors). Volume 33, Issue 1
Tamako Love Story
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