Iyashikei Goodness

25 Nov 2011 5 Comments

by bobbierob in Anime, Editorial, Tamayura ~hitotose~ Tags: calming, editorial, healing anime, hitotose, iyashikei, soothing, Tamayura

Alright. After the one-year point of my blogging career has passed, I figured it would be a good time to take a stab at an editorial. So here goes a (probably vain) attempt.

Iyashikei. I don’t think there’s something that’s ever been so big a part in my anime-watching career, yet I was not able to put a name to it. In fact, a few of the first anime titles I’ve ever watched, as well as some of my favorites, all gave me what I call “the Iyashikei effect”.

So, what brought all this on? It’s a show airing right now, called “Tamayura ~hitotose~”. It’s not the first Iyashikei show I’ve watched, but so far it’s managed to trump all the others.

What is Iyashikei? TV Tropes defines it as “Iyashikei is Japanese for ‘healing’, a term used for anime and manga created with the specific purpose of having a healing or soothing effect on the audience.” This is usually, for the fans of slice-of-life, something to be looked for and desired in a show. That said, although Iyashikei is often found in slice-of-life (or realistic fiction, I guess it could be called), the opposite is not true. Not all slice-of-life possess elements that make it “Iyashikei”, and not all Iyashikei shows are slice-of-life. Exceptions to this pattern exist, but are very few in number.

With that in mind, there are a great number of shows that do satisfy these criteria, some I have even encountered before I began to seek out shows of this sub-genre. Irrefutably Iyashikei ones include ARIA, Kino no Tabi, Mushishi, Sora no Woto and a plethora of Ghibli movies. While, also, there are some that are only considered Iyashikei for their possession of some soothing elements (e.g.: Bounen no Xamdou, Usagi Drop, maybe even K-ON).

The first time I’ve encountered and actively identified a show as “Iyashikei” was (if memory serves correctly) when I watched Spice and Wolf. I vaguely remember describing the show to someone else as “therapeutic”, despite it being strange to describe an anime in such a manner. Now that I know what Iyashikei is, I ask myself: “what makes a show Iyashikei?” There is no single answer to that, as the “soothing or healing effect” is a result from many different factors.

Tamayura ~hitotose~

The main focus here today, though, is Tamayura ~hitotose~ (not to be confused with Tamayura, which is an OVA of the same story, preceding the currently-airing TV series. I’ll call the TV series Tamayura from now on because typing tildes makes my hand hurt). It is the reason I got the ideas (and the willpower) to write this post in the first place. Tamayura is the show that made me feel the effects of Iyashikei the strongest. In short, Tamayura has made a fan out of me.

Perhaps the show that draws one into this particular subgenre is not the same for everyone. A combination of many different elements and personal preference of the viewer dictate whether if they become simply aware of Iyashikei In general, or are made a follower. For me, I watched ARIA the Animation a while ago, and I enjoyed the peaceful flowing of the characters’ interactions and the beautiful music. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel bored at times. Watching Tamayura, however, I didn’t exhibit this feeling of mundane-ness. It’s because I found the ordinary lives of the characters interesting and beautiful, one of the ideals of Iyashikei anime.

It’s not just how the characters and their lives are portrayed that makes Iyashikei so appealing to its fans. Although the usually care-free and conflict-less interactions in each episode are what people recall upon most readily, I’ve also noticed that (almost) every Iyashikei anime I’ve watched had a masterful, if not at least memorable soundtrack. For this, I’ll take Aria as a classic example. Despite having simple animations and visuals, Aria more than made up for that with its soundtrack. It, for a lack of a better analogy, embodied the beauty of Aqua and Neo-Venezia in its music, as opposed to conventionally showing it through its visuals. Tamayura is no exception. Although the landscapes and characters are not as detailed ad your average show, there is also a beauty in the soft, lush watercolour-like backgrounds. Speaking of music, though the example that comes to mind first is the excellent OP and ED(s). Maaya Sakamoto’s voice may have had something to do with it, but the melodies and texture of all of the songs fit perfectly with the tone of the show. The background music, too, absolutely shines. Especially in dramatic scenes where it suddenly pushes to the foreground, taking me by surprise. Such use of background music is not unprecedented, as I am constantly reminded, again, of Aria, which used its OST probably the greatest extent I’ve ever seen used in an anime.

One of the fundaments of Iyashikei is the placement of a slow-moving plot in the background. Even though plot is by far not the main focus of any Iyashikei show, the lack of one is also very rarely seen. In Tamayura, the over-arching backstory of Fu’s return to Takehara, and reliving memories of her childhood was a beautiful addition to give a backbone to the subtle drama in the show.

After much contemplation, I’ve realized that this addition is what made me love Tamayura more than any other similar shows I’ve run across. Coming to mind as an example this time is Kino’s Journey. Despite Kino’s travels having a mysterious, profound atmosphere to them, its episodic style did not invoke such strong feelings of attachment to any of the characters as Tamayura did. I’m not saying one show is necessarily greater than the other, this is merely proving a point.

I speak lightly about how “Tamayura has made a fan out of me [of Iyashikei]”, but in truth, it has. Before I met this series, I merely appreciated Iyashikei for its harmless entertainment, pretty sights and beautiful music. It is only with the introduction of this seemingly trivial non-plot that drew all these parts together to allow me to fully appreciate this delightful sub-genre.

Well that just about wraps it up, as I have not much more to say about Tamayura and Iyashikei in general. Hope you enjoyed reading, and perhaps even agreed with some of my points. If you have anything to add, any questions at all, please leave a comment!

A quote from Ohara Sayaka (voice of Alicia in ARIA) sums up the “Iyashikei Effect” quite well: “Nothing really happens, but in a really good way”.