Veronin

For a long time, people have argued whether originality truly plays a role into the quality of a title. In any media where there is an audience and a profit to be made, it's natural for many writers and artists to take inspiration from a tried and true formula. Though they may take steps to break from the circle of homogeneity and establish their own identity, deriving elements from other successful titles is inevitable. Being a part of the conventional genre of high school drama, Tari Tari is certainly no stranger to this pattern. The story takes place during the final year of high school for Wakanaand her friends Sawa and Konatsu. Immediately after receiving a scolding from the strict vice principal, Konatsu decides to quit the choir club and start a new one by herself with the aid of her friends, as well as the later addition of two male characters: Taichi, a diligent badminton player, and "Wien", a peculiar transfer student from Austria. Of course, things don't go as smoothly for Konatsu as she was hoping they would, receiving an initially hostile reaction from Wakana who accuses her of fooling around and treating music as a game. In an attempt to show overcome her stress, Konatsu sings outdoors in public and gathers the attention of her aforementioned friends - finally assembling enough members to establish the club and push forward with her ambitions. On the surface, Tari Tari seems like a standard coming of age story with a musical focus. Though the music remains a principal aspect of the anime, it primarily serves as the catalyst to bring the characters together and force them to overcome their own individual issues. For Wakana, these issues involve the regret surrounding her deceased mother, an accomplished musician who taught her how to sing and play piano. For Sawa, it involves her equestrian passions and love for horseback riding, much to the disagreement and discord with her parents. For Taichi it follows his ambition for badminton, while for Wien it is about his desire to preserve justice. While the series is focused on teenage drama, what it excels at is making each character's issue relevant and believable by using the strengths and weaknesses of the characters to evoke emotion from the viewer, instead of relying on the tired routine of melodrama. Much of the episodes focus on Wakana's previous passion for music, with her past and the relationship between her mother being explored as her story arc progresses. Her avoidance of music is given explanation and reason, while the revival of her passion feels meaningful as she comes to terms with the past and begins to see things in a new, positive light. Each question is answered and each issue is resolved, while new ones are carefully set to take their place and give reason for the viewer to be interested in subsequent episodes. A frequent problem with teenage drama in fiction has always been the reliance on trite dialogue and melodrama instead of a coherent narrative, but Tari Tari manages to feel realistic while capturing the important stage in one's life between adolescence and adulthood. The 13 episodes here have been used in a highly productive fashion which succeeds in giving each character substance. Sadly, the same amount of detail and depth isn't given to all of the characters. Taichi in particular receives very little growth over the course of the series, resulting in his own passions and issues being seldom explored. Aside from filling the necessary role as the fifth member of the club, Taichi ultimately adds very little to the story aside from developing a romantic interest in Sawa that is only vaguely hinted towards. Other issues in the characterization come from Wien's backstory and story arc, and while he's given sufficient character development in the later episodes, the resolution is surprisingly trivial given the amount of foreshadowing earlier in the series. His childish desire to defend justice is sympathetic but the lack of consistency obstructs his story arc from wrapping up in a satisfying manner. It's fortunate that Wien himself is a unique and exciting character, being an amusing transfer student that frequently misuses and exaggerates Japanese gestures, often with comedic results. It's hard not to grow attached to him over the course of the series. Another common element in Tari Tari is the presence of an antagonist: the vice principal, who strongly opposes the club for what she perceives as them simply fooling around. As with most stories, she's initially portrayed as being cold and unlikeable to build up conflict, though remarkably her character is given just as much growth and backstory as any of the main cast. By the end of the story, her cold behavior makes full sense and she herself learns to overcome her past issues as a result of another character's own growth. Rather than simply serving as a plot device, the vice principal develops into a realistic and believable as well, which makes her cooperation with the main characters during the final episode all the more significant and meaningful. Being that Tari Tari is an anime focused on music, it's a bit disappointing that the quality of the music itself is nothing outstanding or noteworthy. The background music is rarely noticeable and the songs that the characters perform are all fairly juvenile and amateur, though the emotionally-driven "Kokoro no Senritsu" is a great addition to the soundtrack. The climactic song performed in the final episode is also well-executed, having full instrumentation to back it up and give it a more professional approach. A clever trick is also used during the ending track, with Wakana pensively sitting apart from the rest of the main cast until her passion for music is revived in the later episodes. Though not visually superb, Tari Tari benefits from its complex and detailed scenery which is based and modeled upon real locations. The school and the area in which the characters all live in feels very much authentic and distinctive, with impressive lighting and many dynamic camera tricks used to further accentuate the scenery. Many titles involve a high school setting but Tari Tari is one of the few that effectively build the school environment. For an anime that focuses on realistic characters, a realistic depiction of the setting is paramount, and luckily this important detail is not forgotten. The end result is an anime that looks and feels polished, with very few off-model scenes. Tari Tari is a title that stands out not for its setting, nor its story, or even its well-developed characters. What sets it apart from the multitude of other similar titles is how it manages to synthesize all of these elements and convey a story with eloquence and reason. It exemplifies exactly how teenage drama should be conducted in a story. When so many series subscribe to the notion of "the more crying and yelling, the better", a title such as this is a breath of fresh air and proof of how effective this genre can be when executed efficiently. It certainly has its share of mis-steps and doesn't achieve excellence in any one aspect, but it would be hard not to recommend Tari Tari as a solid title and one of the more noteworthy in recent times. Why not cast aside the preconceptions and enjoy the ride?

Skadi

The drama based on the school club is about as tried and true of an anime theme as giant robots and beach episodes. In that case, Tari Tari certainly doesn’t break any new ground. It doesn’t particularly do anything amazingly well or put a new spin on the genre or feature memorable characters or scenes that will stand the test of time. But despite it all, it managed to still be a fun, fully enjoyable, and worthy investment of my time. Tari Tari revolves around a group of five high schooler's who even though they all have very different goals in life doshare a common interest, music. Singing, in particular. They all find themselves in a newly formed club to sing together, for the joy of singing, and not under the structured rules of the other related clubs. As expected we have plenty of drama and squabbling with the power that be as they try to crush our little upstarts at every chance. But despite the clichéd sounding themes of the main plot it does manage to deliver an overall story that is pretty well rounded and within the realm of reality. Probably what Tari Tari does best is give us five believable protagonists who all struggle with their own problems, mostly typical of your average teenager on the cusp of adulthood. They have realistic and achievable dreams and goals that I think the average viewer can relate to, unlike many of the fantastical settings most anime are based in. Not to say this is a bad thing in all cases, I just think that it’s refreshing now and then to have more down to earth characters. The storylines featuring Wakana and Sawa were clearly the highlight of the series, and even though some of the smaller subplots weren’t really adequately wrapped up I found myself with little to complain about overall. Because it doesn’t allow itself to get buried underneath a girth of over exposed side characters, Tari Tari's cast really shines. I would challenge anyone to find even one of the main cast that they couldn't like. Even though the show does not really have any one character in which the story is told through, the majority is seen, not unexpectedly through our three female leads. Mostly because of the strength of their own personal arcs, Wakana and Sawa really stand out from the rest. In particular I found myself drawn to Wakana who has the most heart-wrenching back-story. The whole dead parent plot device has been done to death but I felt her story was very moving and powerful. Of the series antagonists and side characters really only stands out, the vocal club advisor and Vice Principal Naoko Takakura. While she is at first glance just you’re run of the mill constipated anime bitch, she has a humanity about her that makes you feel for her. Too be honest I felt her story was just as interesting as any of the main characters, perhaps because it was also tied to Wakana's story. The vocal cast features a good mix of seiyuu veterans and newcomers. While I enjoy hearing some new voices, it’s always nice to hear a couple of my favorites such as Saori Hayami and Ayahi Takagaki and a great deal of my overall enjoyment of Wakana’s and Sawa's characters was due to their performances. As a show about music you would also expect a great deal of songs, which there are. Most of these are performed by the cast. The ED theme in particular was my favorite and never found myself growing tired of it. The OP, sung by AiRI is a veteran of many other anime/game projects people are likely to be familiar with but this was best song I have heard from her yet. I loved all the character designs for the main cast, as they all had believable body types and mostly looked their ages. Konatsu looked a tad young but a pretty minor complaint. The backgrounds and settings were gorgeous; however some of the animation looked a little stiff and awkward (Such as Konatsu's running). Some of the adult characters looked pretty strange and unappealing to me as well, particularly the adult characters that all had some really creepy looking lips. It's just a style that generally does not appeal to me. So despite my high rating of Tari Tari is it a really amazing anime? No it isn't. But it is very good. In a year that really hasn’t featured a lot of really great shows, Tari Tari stands out as one of the years' better ones. If you’re in the mood for light hearted school drama, you should find plenty to enjoy with this one.