Tamayura

Tamayura (たまゆら) is a Japanese anime series written and directed by Junichi Sato. The initial four-episode original video animation (OVA) series was produced by Hal Film Maker and released over two Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes in November and December 2010. A 12-episode anime TV series produced by TYO Animations, titled Tamayura: Hitotose, aired in Japan between October and December 2011. A second TV anime season, Tamayura: More Aggressive, aired between July and September 2013. The first in a series of four animated films was released in Japan on April 4, 2015. Two manga adaptations illustrated by Momo have been published by Mag Garden.

Plot

Tamayura centers around a young girl named FÅ« Sawatari who moves to Takehara, Hiroshima to begin her first year of high school. Her late father grew up in Takehara and this is her first time back in the town in five years. FÅ« enjoys photography and is often engrossed with taking pictures with her father's old Rollei 35S film camera. A shy girl, FÅ« tries her best to make friends early on, spurred on by her childhood friend Kaoru Hanawa. She quickly becomes friends with two other girls, Maon Sakurada and Norie Okazaki. After a year has passed, FÅ« forms a photography club and meets fellow photographer Kanae Mitani.

Characters

Main characters

FÅ« Sawatari (沢渡 æ¥", Sawatari FÅ«)

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu

A high school girl with a love of photography. She uses a Rollei 35S camera passed on to her by her late father and is particularly interested in finding pictures containing specks of lights which she refers to as 'Tamayura'. She is a little clumsy and will often hurt herself while trying to find the perfect shot. She also has a habit of adding 'na no de' to her sentences. She is nicknamed "Potte" (ぽって) after the noise she makes when she nervously walks.

Kaoru Hanawa (塙 かおる, Hanawa Kaoru)

Voiced by: Kana Asumi

FÅ«'s childhood friend who used to play with her back when FÅ« first lived in Takehara. She has a self-proclaimed 'smell fetish', taking interest in all sorts of smells, and her hobby is making various blends of pot pourri.

Maon Sakurada (æ¡œç"° 麻音, Sakurada Maon)

Voiced by: Yuko Gibu

A somewhat quiet girl who often likes to whistle. She dreams of becoming a children's book author.

Norie Okazaki (岡崎 のりえ, Okazaki Norie)

Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi

An excitable girl who is infatuated with FÅ«'s little brother, Kou. She enjoys making various sweets and cakes and dreams of becoming a patissiere.

Kanae Mitani (三谷 かなえ, Mitani Kanae)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

Introduced in Tamayura: More Aggressive. A local girl who is FÅ«'s senior in high school, who joins her photography club. Like FÅ«, she also enjoys photography and uses a Pentax Q camera.

Family members

Kou Sawatari (沢渡 香, Sawatari Kō)

Voiced by: Kanako Miyamoto

FÅ«'s little brother, who is sometimes mistaken for a girl. He is the one who rekindled FÅ«'s love of photography following their father's death.

Tamae Sawatari (沢渡 珠恵, Sawatari Tamae)

Voiced by: Megumi Ogata

Fū and Kou's mother who decided to move to Takehara after Fū expressed a desire to return there. She works in her mother's café, often trying out new recipes.

FÅ«'s grandmother (æ¥"の祖母, FÅ« no Sobo)

Voiced by: Kanako Miyamoto

Fū and Kou's grandmother who runs a café where Fū and her family live.

Kazuma Sawatari (沢渡 å'Œé¦¬, Sawatari Kazuma)

FÅ«'s father, who died before the start of the story.

Sayomi Hanawa (塙 さよみ, Hanawa Sayomi)

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara

Kaoru's older sister and the one who gave FÅ« her nickname. Her hobby is exploring small, undiscovered places and she often takes FÅ« and her friends on lengthy trips.

Supporting characters

Riho Shihomi (志保美 りほ, Shihomi Riho)

Voiced by: Erino Hazuki

A professional photographer who took an interest in FÅ« after she sent her some of her photos. She gave FÅ« a train ticket with no destination, which is a symbol of the direction one wants to take in life.

Chihiro Mihoshi (三次 ちひろ, Mihoshi Chihiro)

Voiced by: Minako Kotobuki

FÅ«'s middle school friend during her time in Shioiri, who nicknames her "FÅ«-nyon". She often makes various stuffed animals and often cries easily. She made the cat shaped camera case that FÅ« keeps her father's camera in.

Hinomaru (日の丸) /Maestro (マエストロ, Maesutoro)

Voiced by: Jōji Nakata

The owner of a photo shop who is skilled with cameras and often flirts with female customers.

Chimo Yakusa (八色 ちも, Yakusa Chimo)

Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki

The owner of the Hoboro okonomiyaki store, who is affectionately known as Hoboro-san. She is quite passionate about making okonomiyaki.

Kazutarou Dougou (堂郷 å'Œå¤ªéƒŽ, Dōgō Kazutarō)

Voiced by: Junji Majima

FÅ«'s homeroom teacher who is quite passionate and often makes puns based on place names. He has a crush on Chimo.

Komachi Shinoda (篠ç"° ã"まち, Shinoda Komachi)

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi

Kou's classmate who has a crush on him, sporting a rivalry against Norie for Kou's affections.

Mutsuko Shimokamiyama (下上山 むつã", Shimokamiyama Mutsuko)

Voiced by: Chinami Nishimura

A new teacher at FÅ«'s school who becomes the advisor of her photography club. She is also quite excitable and often tries to get FÅ« and Kanae to enter various contests.

Tomo (ともちゃã‚", Tomo-chan)

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama

Chihiro's friend and classmate, who helps her design characters based on her ideas. She speaks in a kansai dialect and gets over-excited when something piques her interest.

Momoneko (ももねã")

Voiced by: Yukari Fukui

A strange, pink, fluffy cat that FÅ« is always trying to take pictures of, but can never get a good shot.

Media

Manga

A manga adaptation titled Tamayura, illustrated by Momo, was serialized in Mag Garden's online Eden magazine between October 8, 2010 and March 11, 2011. A single tankōbon volume was released on May 14, 2011. A second manga adaptation titled Tamayura: Hitotose, again illustrated by Momo, was serialized in Eden between October 5, 2011 and January 20, 2013. Three volumes were released between February 14, 2012 and February 14, 2013.

Anime

Tamayura was first produced as a four-episode original video animation (OVA) series produced by Hal Film Maker and directed by Junichi Sato. The episodes were released over two Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD volumes on November 26 and December 23, 2010. Each episode is about 15 minutes long and is combined in a single video in two parts: the first two episodes in volume one, and the latter two episodes in volume two. The episodes had previously aired on AT-X between September 6 and December 6, 2010. A 12-episode anime TV series based on the OVAs titled Tamayura: Hitotose (たまゆら〜hitotose〜, Tamyura: The First Year) aired in Japan between October 3 and December 19, 2011. The TV series is produced by TYO Animations and directed by Junichi Sato. The TV series is being released on seven BD/DVD compilation volumes between December 21, 2011 and June 27, 2012. A 13th episode for Tamayura: Hitotose, which takes place between episodes five and six, was released on the final BD/DVD volume. A 12-episode second season, titled Tamayura: More Aggressive (たまゆら～もあぐれっしぶ～, Tamayura: Mo Aguresshibu), aired on AT-X between July 3 and September 18, 2013. An OVA episode was released on June 14, 2014.

Four animated films are being produced, which cover the final year of the story. The first of these films was released in Japanese theaters on April 4, 2015.

Music

Opening themes

• "Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta nara" (やさしさに包まれたなら, Wrapped in Kindness) by Maaya Sakamoto (OVA)
• "Okaerinasai" (おかえりなさい, Welcome Home) by Toshiyuki Mori (Hitotose)
• "Hajimari no Umi" (はじまりの海, The Sea of Beginnings) by Maaya Sakamoto (More Aggressive)

Ending themes

• "Melody" (メロディ, Merodi) by Megumi Nakajima (OVA, eps 1-3)
• "Natsudori" (夏鳥, Summer Bird) by Megumi Nakajima (OVA, ep 4)
• "Kamisama no Itazura" (神様のいたずら, God's Mischief) by Megumi Nakajima (Hitotose, eps 1, 3-6, 8-10)
• "Natsudori (Uta to Piano)" (夏鳥-うたとぴあの-, Summer Bird -Voice and Piano-) by Megumi Nakajima (Hitotose, ep 2)
• "Hoshizora" (星空, Shooting Star) by Megumi Nakajima (Hitotose, ep 7)
• "Ashita no Hidamari" (あしたの陽だまり, Tomorrow's Sunshine) by Ayana Taketatsu, Kana Asumi, Yuko Gibu and Yuka Iguchi (Hitotose, ep 11)
• "A Happy New Year" by Maaya Sakamoto (Hitotose, ep 12)
• "Hanabi" (花火, Fireworks) by Natsumi Kiyoura (Hitotose, ep 5.5)
• "Arigatō" (ありがとう, Thank You) by Megumi Nakajima (More Aggressive, ep 1-10)
• "Kazeiro no Film" (風色のフィルム, Wind-colored Film) by Megumi Nakajima (More Aggressive, ep 11)
• "Saigo no Haruyasumi" (最後の春ä¼'み, The Final Spring Holiday) by Haruka Chisuga (More Aggressive, ep 12)

Insert songs

• "Naisho no Hanashi" (ナイショのはなし, A Secret Talk) by Megumi Nakajima (OVA, ep 2-3)
• "Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta nara" (やさしさに包まれたなら, Wrapped in Kindness) by Marble (Hitotose, ep 4)
• "Himawari" (ãƒ'マワリ, Sunflower) by Ayana Taketatsu (Hitotose, ep 5)
• "Yume no Kizashi" (夢の兆し, Sign of Dreams) by Yuko Gibu and Yuka Iguchi (Hitotose, ep 6)
• "Zutto Issho (Uta to Guitar)" (ずっと一ç·' -うたとギター-, Together Forever -Voice and Guitar-) by Megumi Nakajima (Hitotose, ep 9)
• "Momoneko Ondo" (ももねã"音頭, Momoneko's Dance) by Yukari Fukui (Hitotose, ep 9-10)
• "Kibō no Katachi" (希望のカタチ, The Shape of Hope) by Kana Asumi (Hitotose, ep 10)
• "Tsutsumareta" (つつまれて, Wrapped) by Marble (More Aggressive, ep 7)
• "Okaerinasai (Acoustic Ver.)" (おかえりなさい 〜Acoustic Ver.〜) by Toshiyuki Mori (More Aggressive, ep 8)
• "Kamisami no Itazura (Uta to Piano)" (神様のいたずら 〜うたとぴあの〜, God's Mischief -Voice and Piano-) by Megumi Nakajima (More Aggressive, ep 9)
• "Kibō no Katachi" (希望のカタチ, The Shape of Hope) by Marble (More Aggressive, ep 10)

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Tamayura (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia