my humble opinion on 'Tamayura' OAV

though I was going to watch this in December, I ended up having no free time in the end of the semester, and somehow I did not feel like watching it during the New Year holidays. 'twas yesterday when I realized I want to watch exactly this anime, slow and soothing

the first thing to be surprised

the episodes are so short that to make a usual OAV one we need to couple 1-2 and 3-4 ones

a 'disclaimer'

do not take this as a prejudice, but I am going to compare this anime with 'Aria'. constantly

seiyuus

though Hazuki-san and Oohara-san are present, they take supporting roles this times, and the main ones are given to young girls whom I simply hear for the first time. well, to be precise I know the names of Iguchi Yuka-chan and Asumi Kana-chan, as I heard one role of each of them, but those doth not count as serious ones, as they did not leave a lot of impression

and those young girls were pretty good, better than I could expect. they had their style and expressed quite the necessary image, I should say, they did understand what they were meant to do, and they were not boring to listen to

I should also mention Ogata-sama - she was unrecognizable >____< I mean, 'twas so unusual to hear her in the role of a middle-aged woman and a mother...
Matsuki Miyu-san and Nakata Jouji-san were also great. both of them had interesting voices and intonation, and the accent which their characters used was contributing to their overwhole cuteness

as for Hazuki-san, she was great. someone who doth not know her voice might notice no difference between the voices of the main company of cute girls and Shihomi's one, but I, who was waiting impatiently for Hazuki-san to appear, was very delighted. if we think of Fuu from 'Tamayura' and Akari from 'Aria', they are supposed to be of the same type - clumsy young girls, but friendly and cheerful. Shihomi therefore seemed to be the same as Alicia, something like a 'preceptor'. however, both the personality of Shihomi and her voice make her equal with Fuu, though older

and Oohara-san voiced a character of the same type as her 'Aria' one, as well. though 'tis a little strange to understand that Shihomi is if not older, than at least of the same age as Sayomi

the music

the OPED is awful. well, 'tis quite nice and 'tis nothing wrong when we have them framing such a calm anime, but hey, every OPED of 'Aria' was a masterpiece, and this two songs sound like there is nothing instead of them. no feeling, even the peaceful bliss or bright joy, which could be expected. btw, 'yasashisa' is a song by Matsutoya Yumi-san, and I would kill the person who gave it th Maaya as she doth not only sing worse than she did in 'Wolf's Rain', but she even soundeth like a very, VERY cheap pop girl

as for the background melodies, they are not much better. I cannot say they are bad, and they follow the general mood of the story, but Choro Club created a real compilation of masterpieces, while I can name no outstanding piece in 'Tamayura'

the plot, or the concept, better to say

is very good, no wars with aliens, no drama, no tension, nothing to disturb thy mind with a feeling of uneasiness

the views of a small Japanese town, the everyday trifles, the friendship of the girls and the help of every other person around them - 'tis very nice to see. however, 'tis all we have. though 'tis very good to relax, 'Aria' was also intriguing and surprising. sometimes I miss it

kawaii element detected!

Momoneko....... incredibly cute and cheering up even a 3-month-depressed person like me. again, Momoneko's role here is the same as that of cats in 'Aria'

food
is a big love of HAL and Sato-san. food is portrayed for us to go crazy every time 'tis shown. food in Tamayura is killing me the same way it did in 'Aria'...

the graphics

HAL is HAL. HAL is full of specialists both in moving and static objects with a perfect knowledge of composition and colouring fully applied in creation of the photos frequently shown in the episodes, as well as drawing of funny elements, such as Momoneko or girls' SD (superdeformed, if someone doth not know) faces. and the style is lovely, too, the shapes and the outline and whatever is simply superb

conclusion

though the music is a little too plain, the anime is a great example of a slice of life series which is not dull and doth not leave that usual impression that thou simply killed some time watching the piece

I am looking forward to watching the TV