What’s it about? 18-year-old Suzugamori Chika recently won the top prize in a Newcomer Manga Artist competition, but since then she hasn’t been able to get any of her pitches approved. Her editor suggests looking to things she loves, but it’s not until she sees a TV program about traveling in a randomly chosen direction that inspiration strikes, and her journey begins.
Say, do you like the fine country air? Do you want to enjoy the scenic local landmarks of rural Fukushima? Why, you can! Just call your local tourism board, who are presumably running their telephone number along the bottom of this program as it airs.
Anime-as-tourism is well-established by now, such that I practically expect some extra-lovingly drawn background art and food porn to crop up at least once in my slice-of-life anime. ZatsuTabi, on the other hand, seems determined to singlehandedly revitalize the economy of rural Japan. As Chika takes her hike up the 1,225 steps of Mt. Haguro, a narrator pops in to give the viewer fun facts about the shrine there and the local festival tied to it (no, not like that). She wanders past the bar at the inn where she’s staying and happens to overhear the bartender giving his full pitch on the virtues of the local liquor. There is not just food porn but hotel room porn, showing off sinfully squishy pillows and a glistening tile washroom (which could be yours for a mere ¥13000 a night!).
This isn’t offensive (though the focus on Fukushima prefecture is interesting, given how strongly the area is still linked to the nuclear disaster in Okuma, which haunts the area still) so much as it’s terribly naked, and it does some weird things to the texture and pacing of the episode. The need to cover as much ground as possible, complete with narration, means that Chika is thinly drawn as a character. She’s inspired by episode’s end, but we’re not really given any indication about what kinds of stories she’s drawn to or why manga called to her. I don’t need it to be ZENSHU or Look Back, but if these trips are supposed to be recharging her artistry it would be nice to see the places she visits connect back to her art. Manga and Chika herself are more of an excuse to do the Travel Channel thing, so the episode simultaneously feels like it’s dragging its feet before the main attraction and rushing past character setup that would help it out.
On the other hand, there is an almost meditative quality to the scenes of Chika walking around in nature, and it culminates in a nice cathartic beat that’s pleasantly underplayed. I’m also very for a story about how manga artists not only deserve but need to have lives outside of cranking out pages, lest they burn themselves out. It’s also pretty clear that Chika will be taking friends along on future trips, which will ideally leave a bit more room for characterization. I suspect that while this is never going to achieve the heights of Laid-Back Camp, it might shape up into a relaxing, low-stakes edutainment experience. Sometimes that’s what you need when the world is on fire; while I’m not sure I’ll be keeping up with it, I do hope it finds its audience.
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