Tamayura: Hitotose - Attakai Kaze no Omoide, nanode

It is a shame, a fucking CRYING shame and I say that because I am crying, that this episode was relegated to being a special instead of a part of Hitotose's 12 episode broadcast. I say that because this is by far the best episode in all of Tamayura, and I'm pretty sure like half the people that watched this series missed it.

Tamayura is all about the main character following in the footsteps of her late father, and the emotional impact that comes along with such a heavy theme, but nothing hits as hard as the gut-punch this special delivers. When I think about episodes ... of anime that make me cry, I generally think of episodes from shows on my favorites list first. Hunter x Hunter 135, Clannad After Story 22, K-On!! 20. But I also remember this one, a special from my least favorite season of a decently-long slice of life franchise I watched and moved on from 3 years ago or so. I was reminded of it again today, so I went and rewatched this episode for the first time ever. And I cried again, hence the opening line.

If you're far enough in this series to even be looking at this special, you'll recognize the basic gist of the episode. Some hijinks, some contemplation, wholesome vibes, comedic interludes, and then the gut-punch. Junichi Satou, I don't know what kind of life you've lead to direct so many wonderful and emotionally fulfilling shows, but you really know how to pull on the ol' heartstrings.

I won't spoil the premise. It's only 20 minutes long; saying anything about the finer details will give away more than I should. Go grab a tissue or two and enjoy the best Tamayura has to offer (until the final movie, that is).

Most OVA specials relegated to a Blu-ray purchase are either some kind of fan service episode, hot spring episode, some self indulgent filler, or anything you can imagine that would have no consequence to the overall story. That is not the case for this OVA.

This OVA feels like a (much needed) missing episode to the series. It has all of the iyashikei you would expect from the series, but the subject matter is much more potent and emotive than your typical episode in Hitotose. It's honestly a better ending to Hitotose than the original, in my opinion.

All I know is that if I knew ... I was getting a bonus episode when buying the Blu-ray to this series, I would be very happy with what I got. Actually, maybe a bit upset, because it feels like this should have been a part of the series all along rather than relegated to a Blu-ray disc only a few people bought.

If you liked Tamayura, do not skip out on this one. Unlike most Blu-ray specials, this one really is special.