Tamako Kitashirakawa is the eldest daughter of a family which runs the Tama-ya mochi shop in the Usagiyama Shopping District. One day, Tamako encounters a strange talking bird named Dera Mochimazzi who comes from a distant land searching for a wife for his country's prince. After becoming overweight from eating too much mochi, Dera ends up becoming a freeloader in Tamako's home. The series follows the everyday life of Tamako, her friends, family and neighbors, and this peculiar bird. As well as keeping track to the main course of events, Tamako Market and the following Tamako Love Story film cover the emotional lives of the characters, particularly Tamako's childhood friend Mochizō's crush on her and both of them being too shy to open up to each other.
The Tamako Market anime television series is produced by Kyoto Animation and aired on Tokyo MX between January 10 and March 28, 2013. The series is directed by Naoko Yamada and the script is written by Reiko Yoshida. The art director is Ikuko Tamine and the character designs are provided by Yukiko Horiguchi. The sound director is Yota Tsuruoka and the music is composed by Tomoko Kataoka. Bonus short episodes are included with the Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes, which began release from March 20, 2013. The opening and ending themes respectively are "Dramatic Market Ride" and "Neguse", which are both performed by Aya Suzaki under her character name Tamako Kitashirakawa. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and it is streamed on the Anime Network. It is also streamed in the United Kingdom on Anime on Demand. Anime Limited acquired the series for distribution in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A film sequel, titled Tamako Love Story, premiered in theatres in Japan on April 26, 2014, paired with a short film featuring Dera titled Dera-chan of the Southern Islands, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara. The feature film was produced by the same staff and featured the same cast as the television series. The film's opening theme is "Koi no Uta" by Mamedai Kitashirakawa. The film's ending theme is a different version of "Koi no Uta" sung by Aya Suzaki and the film's main theme song "Principle" is also by Suzaki. Unlike the anime series, which focuses on everyday life comedy, the film focuses more on romance and drama. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the film in North America. Anime Limited also acquired the film for release in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Light novel
A light novel titled Tamako Market, written by Mutsuki Ichinose and illustrated by Yukiko Horiguchi, was published by Kyoto Animation on April 8, 2013.
Reception
Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network gave the anime an overall score of B, praising the light atmosphere and sense of fun while criticizing the characters for lacking enough depth to be memorable. As of May 11, 2014, the film has grossed 124,894,754 yen in Japan.
