And Yet The Town Moves...
Recently, I started watching And Yet The Town Moves aka Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru...
And Yet The Town Moves is certainly a quirky title that is a bit off the beaten path. When I initially picked up this title, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but, I thought it might be worth looking into. First off, I really enjoyed the opening theme "Down Town." The pacing of the series, which is quite fast, actually caught me by surprise. Some of the situations Hotori and company find themselves in, are just amazingly mundane, but, fun to watch. Some of life's tough questions are posed in the series. Such as: will Hotori ever pass her math class; will Hotori ever be able to remember what to buy at the grocery store; and so on and so forth...
The animation quality in And Yet The Town Moves is very good considering that nothing actually happens. It is apparent that the animators paid a great deal of attention to detail in their work. For instance, every once in a while the animators have a bit of fun with the fourth wall -- the TV screen. At one point, Hotori puts a bare foot on the TV screen and leaves a frosty foot print behind -- as if the inside of the TV screen was cold and the heat from her bare foot had caused condensation to form.
What really elevates And Yet The Town Moves to a level that is beyond its mundane appearance, is the humor and story telling. At times, the story tellers do indulge in teasing Hotori, but, Hotori's strength of will and determination still manage to shine through, making Hotori not just an object of ridicule, but, someone to be admired. I wasn't sure what to expect with this series, but, I'm thoroughly pleased to have taken the opportunity to visit Hotori for a while.
There are, of course, no naughty bits, gore or violence to speak of in And Yet The Town Moves. Those of you who don't like to read your anime are advised to stay away as the series is subtitled only. The series is very fast paced and is full of word play and puns that may not be immediately obvious to non-Japanese. There is a lot of dialogue and quite a few on-screen notes explaining some of the more obscure in-jokes and Japanese references. I found myself having to use the rewind button on my remote quite a bit in an effort to keep up. Overall, I enjoyed And Yet The Town Moves very much and gave it a 3 out of 5.
According to John on the AnimeNation forum:Hotori Arashiyama loves mysteries, but there's one she just can't solve: why does the solution to one problem inevitably seem to lead to another? Like how when Hotori has to start working at the Seaside Maid Cafe after school to pay off a debt and her friend Toshiko fortunately knows exactly how a Maid Cafe should be run. Which is fortunate since Hotori has no clue. Except that, unfortunately, Toshiko has no interest in working at the cafe - until she discovers that Hotori's childhood friend Hiroyuki is a regular. Which SEEMS fortunate. Except that Hotori doesn't know that, while Toshiko likes Hiroyuki, Hiroyuki secretly likes Hotori, while Hotori secretly has a crush on... No, no more...!
But if that's not enough drama, there's work, angst with a certain math teacher, table tennis between her classmates, her younger brother versus the school's bad girl... And yet, even though everything seems like it's going to crash at any moment, somehow Hotori's life keeps going hilariously forward.
The fall 2010 Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru off-kilter slice-of-life comedy will be released domestically under the English title "And yet The Town Moves." The adaptation of Masakazu Ishiguro’s manga revolves around the daily lives and whimsical thoughts of high school girls that work part time at a small, suburban Japanese cafe.
And Yet The Town Moves is certainly a quirky title that is a bit off the beaten path. When I initially picked up this title, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but, I thought it might be worth looking into. First off, I really enjoyed the opening theme "Down Town." The pacing of the series, which is quite fast, actually caught me by surprise. Some of the situations Hotori and company find themselves in, are just amazingly mundane, but, fun to watch. Some of life's tough questions are posed in the series. Such as: will Hotori ever pass her math class; will Hotori ever be able to remember what to buy at the grocery store; and so on and so forth...The animation quality in And Yet The Town Moves is very good considering that nothing actually happens. It is apparent that the animators paid a great deal of attention to detail in their work. For instance, every once in a while the animators have a bit of fun with the fourth wall -- the TV screen. At one point, Hotori puts a bare foot on the TV screen and leaves a frosty foot print behind -- as if the inside of the TV screen was cold and the heat from her bare foot had caused condensation to form.
What really elevates And Yet The Town Moves to a level that is beyond its mundane appearance, is the humor and story telling. At times, the story tellers do indulge in teasing Hotori, but, Hotori's strength of will and determination still manage to shine through, making Hotori not just an object of ridicule, but, someone to be admired. I wasn't sure what to expect with this series, but, I'm thoroughly pleased to have taken the opportunity to visit Hotori for a while.
There are, of course, no naughty bits, gore or violence to speak of in And Yet The Town Moves. Those of you who don't like to read your anime are advised to stay away as the series is subtitled only. The series is very fast paced and is full of word play and puns that may not be immediately obvious to non-Japanese. There is a lot of dialogue and quite a few on-screen notes explaining some of the more obscure in-jokes and Japanese references. I found myself having to use the rewind button on my remote quite a bit in an effort to keep up. Overall, I enjoyed And Yet The Town Moves very much and gave it a 3 out of 5.
