DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA AdventureYokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Quiet Country Cafe
MANGA Sci-FiYokohama Kaidashi Kikou

REVIEWS

• 

  Pockeyramune919

  70/100
  Humanity's on the brink of total collapse and she’s just vibin’

  Inhale

  

  What do you find relaxing? Is it gardening, driving, baking, reading, cleaning? Perhaps to properly answer this question, we must first determine what exactly relaxing means. According to the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, to relax is to either “calm emotions and relieve stress” or “to get rid of nervous tension or anxiety.”

  Why am I focusing on relaxation, you ask? Well you see, dear reader, without this framing, the 1998 OVA Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (or Yokohama Shopping Log or simply Yokohama) would’ve never landed on my radar. A YouTuber I watch, Kenny Lauderdale named it the “Most Relaxing Anime Ever Made” and I was intrigued. I decided not to watch the video, deciding to go in blind and see if I thought it could live up to such a lofty title. Not only is it lofty, but it’s pretty nebulous, once you stop to think about it. Based on the definition, I find Ranma ½ relaxing because it always leaves me feeling calm and happy. That said, it’s a zany, frenetic, and kinetic romcom/sitcom, so I know it wouldn’t be relaxing to many people. I wanted to know exactly what type of show this was and if someone else’s relaxation was my own.

  Going in, I already knew a manga that had a decent claim to the title of “Most Relaxing:” Aria. I read the first few volumes at my local library many years ago. I did find it quite relaxing. It was very “chill,” as the kids say. Too chill in fact. I began to grow cold as it dipped into boring territory. Perhaps I was just going in with sci-fi expectations too grand for the series. I might pick it back up one day, I don’t know. I was worried Yokohama might be similarly boring. This worry ultimately was unfounded: it managed to hold my attention throughout.

  Yokohama follows Alpha as she—

  Actually, I’ll let her explain it herself as per the OVA’s OP.

  “Some years ago, the owner entrusted me with the cafe and went away somewhere. Where and why did he go? Will he return someday? I think it's good that I am an android, as I can wait however long that it takes."

  

  So she waits for her owner to return, tending to the cafe in her absence. She doesn’t have to worry about many customers, however. I like to imagine this takes place many years after Weathering With You, because Yokohama, if not the entire Tokyo Bay, is severely flooded, leaving most of it underwater.

  The setting helps foster a relaxing feeling. Things are very quiet. There aren’t many people around, so we aren’t straddled with a lot of dialogue; there are significant stretches where we’re only with Alpha. When this occurs, she seems to bow out of the way to allow the scenery to dominate the shot composition. And my, what gorgeous, yet somewhat solemn scenery it is. Empty suburban streets with grass poking through, as if Mother Nature is peeping through the cracks of her world to see if it's ready to fully reclaim. Rolling, puffy white cumulus clouds to show that even when the Earth’s SNAFU, heaven’s still immaculate. Beautiful mountains in the background, Ghibli plains in the foreground. Water so beautiful you want to go for a dip by just looking at the screen. Then there’s the last scene of the OVA which is absolutely breathtaking. We see streetlights turn on one by one, human pedestrians replaced by schools of fish. It looks like a night sky filled with stars, but under the sea. Alpha is a bit overwhelmed and I am too. Alpha’s house/cafe looks quite cozy as well; I can imagine living there with a significant other. The art direction gives me a feeling of relaxation as well: colors are muted and make me think of a painting (when Alpha takes a picture, it is rendered as a painting and it’s even more beautiful). The characters are neither particularly realistic nor overly “anime,” leading to designs that feel somewhat “safe,” easing tension and allowing me to approach them. I think global warming being the catalyst for the apocalypse was very deliberately chosen to foster a relaxed mood. The aftermath of nuclear bombs can be horrifying. As horrible as it is, you have to admit global warming has a picturesque quality to it, at least as it's depicted here. There’s something poetic about it: the waters of Earth is where we came and it’s where we’ll go.

  

  Still, this very setting is what jolts me out of this “relaxation mode.” I wouldn’t go far as to say it stresses me out, but it certainly leaves me more on guard than I think the creators were intending. For one, picturesque or no, the apocalypse is the apocalypse. How sudden was the flooding? Were the majority of citizens able to evacuate? What’s the status of the government and how is society organized? Naturally, this isn’t the anime’s angle, so these questions aren’t answered, but I still have them. While the setting is beautiful, if you stop and think about it, it starts to become just a little unsettling. Just a little. There’s a somberness to the anime that makes me a bit sad, and I personally can’t relax when sad. Plus it’s hard to be completely at ease when Alpha has a gat on her table and even takes it with her to the door when she doesn’t know who’s on the other side. It’s never talked about in the first episode, but in the second, she casually mentions having a holster for it. It’s hard to have an idyllic atmosphere when your main character’s strapped because it means either she or the owner believes in the need for a gun. Has she been attacked? Is it likely she’ll be attacked? Plus there’s the second episode where she’s struck by lighting and it’s played 100% seriously. I appreciate the details, both big and small that point to the waters not being so calm, but it takes away from the relaxed feeling. The only thing that actively stressed me was Alpha not taking pictures, especially at the end. She has 300 pictures per role for crying out loud.

  

  I talked about quietness, and what better way to create quietness than through sound design? The OP is certainly not what I expected. It had a distinct beat to it: definitely hip-hop-like with some reggae influences. There’s an entire genre of hip hop that’s chill, so I don’t object to its inclusion, I was just pleasantly surprised. The ED is also quite nice and mellow. For the most part, however, the anime is oddly quiet. It’s a bit calming and helps me better take in the scenery and the characters. Each episode features insert songs that are more like music videos to the backdrop of calming imagery. Other than the midway insert songs and OP/ED you’re not getting much in terms of music. This quietness helped me reflect more on the anime. It’s pretty zen. It’s a really minor point, but I really enjoyed the sound of wind in the second episode..

  The characters are fine. There’s not much to them at all, but I feel they’re not the focus, so I give it a bit of a pass. Still, I think a fun atmosphere could have been fostered if they interacted with Alpha more. Kokone’s the best candidate for a character to bounce off of. She’s a fellow android with a somewhat benign job (delivery girl in her case). Kokone delivers a camera to Alpha and their interactions are quite cute. Kokone even says she’ll visit when she’s off work, but that’s never explicitly followed up on. I say explicitly because the ED does show Alpha in first-person serving someone, so it logically could be Kokone, but I’d prefer if this were more explicit.

  

  Honestly, maybe “fun” isn’t the tone they were going for. Maybe it was just supposed to be quiet and reflective. In that’s the case, they nailed it. I’d say there’s no harm in shooting for both, but with a runtime of a little under an hour, it’s probably best that they limited their focus.

  There’s not much in the way of situations. No overarching plot, just a day in the life, nice and simple. It works for two episodes, but with the amount of character interaction we have, I feel like this could wear thin easily. Still, I’m curious to see how the sequel OVA fares. Maybe we could see Alpha do some more, you know, shopping?

  

  At the end of the day, this was a good anime. I can’t say it was the most relaxing thing ever, though. It had some elements that kind of bucked against its calming qualities, but maybe those helped the anime as a whole. While it’s relaxing, it’s not to the point where it becomes boring, unlike Aria for me. That could be due to the length, however. Yokohama doesn’t stick around long enough to overstay its welcome. I might actually decide to watch the sequel OVA one of these days. Hell, might give Aria another shot.

  Yokohama had to balance calm and engaging and it did it pretty well. My score doesn’t come from disliking the anime, it comes from not loving it. It’s good, not great, not mediocre. If you’re a fan of “chill,” atmospheric anime, you may get more out of this than me. It’s a lovely anime, just not one I’m gushing over.

  “The dangerous times have since been called the ‘Age of Evening Calm.’ I think I will continue watching this twilight world as long as time flows.”

  7/10

  C-

  

  And exhaaaaaale

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• 

  FestivalsOfComf

  75/100
  Slow-paced and tranquil, this show follows the characters’ lives after parts of Yokohama have flooded.

  Setting expectations:

  • This review is being written under a subjective lens and mainly for enjoyment.

  • The number of spoilers will be as minimal as possible to none.

  • If you come to expect opinions from a very critical sense, sorry, but I’m not your guy as we may have different tastes.

  • I’ll try my best to explain what are the things that worked for me and what doesn’t in this review. Then you’ll hopefully be able to understand my point of view and maybe come to your own conclusion about what this will be like for you.

  I preface because a lot of people online come to expect reviews to fit a mold of what they want which isn’t always realistic. For me, I just like to talk about anime I enjoy. And so this review is about such things. Sorry if this ain't what you're looking for.

  

  ---

  Defining Iyashikei

  Before I talk about this anime, I feel like I have to define Iyashikei because this is the core/crux of the anime.

  It’s described by AniList as “primarily aims to heal the audience through serene depictions of characters’ daily lives. Then the question becomes: “What is the appeal of this genre/tag?”

  Here’s my attempt to answer it in a general sense.

  Life can get tiring. This fatigue can be attributed to a lot of factors - school work, individuals, interactions, paying taxes, survival, work, drama, mental health, etc. How this fatigue affects people will differ on a per person basis but the same state of fatigue is common amongst all. To remove this fatigue, people have different methodologies.

  What makes this Iyashikei purpose unique is that it attempts to ‘heal’ the audience. In other words, it essentially creates a comfy environment where partaking in it is like a break from the busy and energetic reality of the world. It feels like a vacation. Sometimes these storylines expand beyond being slow and offer differing storylines or incorporate other elements such as comedy, drama, philosophy, etc. Regardless, that comfy atmosphere is present and that appeals to certain people.

  For those who dislike the genre, I tend to find that they’re not looking for a slow-paced show. It doesn’t fit their needs in the kind of story that they’re in the mood for - energetic, heavy drama, etc. Essentially, Iyashikei shows are for those looking for the mood to relax a bit. This relaxation again can differ from person to person but for those who appreciate slow-paced, tranquil, and slice of life stories - this genre is for them.

  Will you as a viewer be able to enjoy this genre? It depends on your mood and openness to this style of storytelling.

  

  Verdict

  Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou / Yokohama Shopping Trip is a 2 episode OVA released in Spring 1998. It was animated by Studio Ajiado and directed by Takashi Anno. The anime’s source material is based on a manga by Hitoshi Ashinano.

  The main appeal of this anime is its slow and chill approach to presenting its world and story to the viewers. We see their daily lives unfold on the screen and with only 2 episodes, this OVA can only cover so much. Despite the short run-time, it offers a nice preview of what this genre can offer to people. Apparently, the adaptation isn’t the greatest and so it’s recommended to read the manga for the full experience that this property can offer.

  This show does a lot of show-don’t tell and it allows a lot of speculation regarding how this world came to be as well as who these people are. To me, I have seen a lot of resemblances in other modern works that took inspiration and elements from the focus on the tranquil backgrounds to its science fiction world such as Non Non Biyori, ARIA, Yuru Camp, and others.

  Given the focus of it being slow-paced, the OVA can’t explore a lot beyond setting up the world and its characters. Sometimes the slow-pace might be too slow for others but for me, I was completely happy with its pacing.

  I recommend this show for all that are in the chill mood to explore a new world and experience a slice of life.

  Based on the other Iyashikei shows I’ve seen and on the anime adaptations themselves, I’ll give this a 7.5/10. It’s pretty good at what it does but it’s not exactly the best that this genre can offer to people in respect to just anime.

  

  ---

  Explaining my Rating Scale

  I think the common mistake with ratings is that we all tend to judge and associate each review rating on our own personal scale. When people see an average anime - they see that as a 5, some see that as a 6, and others as a 7. As you all know, we all have different tastes hence different rating scales and this is why I’ll post my scale below.

  My Personal Rating Scale (Anime):

  4 and below = I would've dropped this show already but made myself suffer through it for some reason. Regardless, this is the drop zone generally.
  5 = This was really meh and I wouldn't take the time to rewatch.
  6 = This was meh and I wouldn't watch it again unless I was forced to.

  7 = It was okay and acceptable, it was good entertainment and you enjoyed the ride.
  8 = This was a great story and you enjoyed the show/movie but it wasn't considered one of the best experiences. Just a great time overall!

  9 = If you watched this show/movie for the first time, you'll love this a lot. It ain't life-changing but god damn you'll have one of the best experiences.
  10 = This show resonated with me so hard - chills and intense emotional catharsis.

  ---

  Background

  I’m a big fan of Iyashikei shows. It’s my jam and when I experience something good, it gives me a comfy atmosphere. This affects my rating above majorly because I’m rating it based on stories in relation to other comfy stories like Flying Witch.

  While watching this show, I was using km fansubs and watched it in Japanese Audio, with English subtitles.

  

  ---

  The Review

  Now the review. I’ll be talking about the anime in the following categories:

  1) Story / Plot / Characters

  The story follows the main protagonist and some fellow side-characters along the way. Story is structured as multiple short stories like Girls Last Tour. Characters are quite interesting despite the short run-time with them. Since it felt like this was all mainly an introduction, it doesn’t feel like there was enough time to explore more of their backgrounds. The problem is that rushing through the story would defeat the purpose of the atmosphere it tries to create. Regardless, the characters feel interesting and fresh from generic characters you may encounter in some modern anime.

  2) Visuals / Animation

  Visually, it looks really great in many shots. I can’t recall any bad looking scenes and that helps the show a lot.

  Animation-wise, there’s a lot more animation than I expected. Maybe this is the power of OVAs without crunch deadlines. It was refreshing to see the amount of animation in the show versus the typical slideshow I would generally expect.

  3) Audio / Soundtrack / Voice Acting

  Audio-wise they put a lot of effort into capturing the sounds of nature and the like. Pretty well-done on that front. As for the soundtrack, it was tranquil and chill which helps the show go for what it’s trying to do. For the voice-acting, it felt satisfactory for what it is. Nothing stood out and so I see it as serviceable.

  Opening and Endings are quite great with it being upbeat to energize the viewers before having them enter the world. The usage of narration during these sequences was interesting and adds onto it versus general songs.

  

  4) Overall

  I liked this OVA series, it piqued my interest in the manga and what it has to offer. I’ll watch the sequel OVA to see what that’s about and then move onto the mango.

  ---

  Hopefully, you learned something useful from the review. Thanks for reading. :)

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• 

  C00kieMaster

  100/100
  Finding peace in the mundane, seeing beauty in the damaged

  

  Watching Yokohamma Kaidashi Kikou feels like gently enjoying a cup of hot English breakfast while looking at a calming scenery. There seems to be something so mesmerizing about watching carefree characters enjoying the little things in life in a quiet and tranquil environment. Despite being introduced to a cast of chill characters relaxing in an ostensibly beautiful and peaceful country side, it is subtly implied that the world these characters are living in is a post-apocalyptic world and they have survived some harsh conditions likely due to climate change or natural disaster. The specifics of what this potentially apocalyptic event is never specified nor explained and it is definitely a conscious writing decision because it is not suppose to be the focus of the series but rather just the stage.

  This series follows closely a female android named Alpha being left alone by her owner to take care of a quiet country side cafe. It is unclear how long her owner has been missing but the tone of the story certainly implies that he or she has not been seen for a very long time. Alpha gets visited by another female android one day that delivers a message to her by her owner informing her that she is given permission to go out and explore the world. In addition she is also given a camera to take pictures of her adventures.

  There is a serious calming attitude towards a world that seems to be recovering from disaster not only from the characters in the series but in the tone of the art direction. It seems to be conveying a sense of acceptance, moving on and a focus on healing rather than dwelling on what has been damaged or whatever that cannot be fixed and instead trying to focus on the potential beauty of it. This reminds me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi where broken pottery is fixed together by connecting the broken pieces with gold.

  Yokohamma Kaidashi Kikou is created using traditional hand drawn animation which is perfect for the style of this series. I really enjoy the beautifully illustrated backgrounds and the charming details that is added on top such as shadows, shading, moving leaves water droplets, etc. These little details really makes the environment feel alive and immersive. There is a strong sense of verisimilitude that makes this peaceful post-apocalyptic world feel like a place where I want to be in despite being the result of disaster and the fantasy sci-fi elements. This sense of realism is further enhanced by the really solid sound design depicting crisps sounds such as the cooking of coffee beans, a creaky window blown by the wind, a puddle splash, etc... More often than not the series lets their animation, art and direction speak for themselves without the need for a backing track to set the mood. There is often a calming silence that makes it really easy for me to soak in the tranquility that is presented. But this does not mean there is no good music, the OST for this series is as calming as the series itself and are generally really good music by their own.

  A quintessential example of the Iyashikei genre, there is no real plot and the events are just mundane and boring. Just like the snail paced life environment that the characters live in, the pacing for simple tasks or adventures that Alpha undergoes takes its own sweet time which is a good thing because my lazy bones just want to bask in this peaceful experience for as long as possible while I was watching this completely relaxed on my sofa.

  This is one of those series I can see myself re-watching several times because the enjoyment is not in the story but the mere viewing experience that heals the mind and soul.

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